Capricious - The Lightning Crew Chronicles

Part Four - 42 - Allan

Min-hee's journal.

We left Kala on Lasa, to learn how to use the Forebears' ship while we fly toward the trap of our making. I hope my plan doesn't get us all killed. I'm confident that this is our best option. But are we ready to face the consequences? I hope that the insane luck we always have will follow us until the end of this.

I hope it is not our end. But if it is, I'm ready to meet it.

Allan grabbed Jessie by the arm and pulled her away from the pilot's chair.

"I can still fly!" she shouted over the chaos.

The rebels were all abandoning the bridge.

"You can still die, you mean! The Voyager is a goner, we need to go!"

Rudra pushed his crew through a hatch. "To the shuttles!"

The ship was still in lockdown but the hatches opened for them with the right code. As they crossed the compartments, more rebels joined them, getting out of their safety seats. The twins appeared and Allan never felt so happy to see their stupid faces. Then Edwin and Lucas were there too.

When they arrived at the shuttles' bay, the first one was already full of rebels. Rudra went with them. Allan glanced inside the second one. Min-hee and Hopper were not here yet.

"Get in here!" he ordered the others.

He pushed Jessie inside, not letting her find her way back to the bridge in a million years.

Rudra reappeared. "We lost five members of my crew in the compartments that the missile took out," he said, face drawn. Before Allan had time to freak out he added, "None from yours. Apparently, Hopper and Min-hee are still back there," he pointed toward the lower levels of the Voyager.

As Allan started to go, Rudra asked, "Do you need my help?"

Allan shook his head. "No. You get your crew out of here."

Rudra nodded and said, "Stay alive, all of you. Or the Lightning Sprite will fry my ass."

Allan smiled. "Of course."

He turned and shouted at his crew to buckle up and for Jessie to be ready to fly the shuttle out of there, then took off running.

Allan found Hopper near the engine room, hammering at a hatch with all his might. Min-hee was on the other side, doing the same.

When the mechanic saw him he said, "The hatch is jammed. It closed during lockdown but the last impact distorted the frame. Min-hee... She wanted to help me fix the damaged propulsor. She was in front of me and got trapped on the other side." He was out of breath. "I tried using Kala's energy but I'm afraid it might set things off."

His scars were still glowing. But unlike Kala, he could not connect with the ship.

"Okay," said Allan. "We have five minutes to do this."

He looked at the hatch, trying to find a weak spot. Those things were made to resist onslaughts like this and protect the compartments from depressurization. They weren't supposed to have weak spots.

Then Min-hee stepped away from the hatch's window and it revealed the fire raging behind her. The engine room was burning.

Allan became livid. "Holy shit..."

A renewed panic took hold of him and he grabbed the first wrench he found in the room and started hammering along with Hopper.

Min-hee had stopped her efforts. She came closer to the glass. The fire spread behind her and he could see her face and purple hair being outlined by the flames. She was drenched in sweat. The temperatures were rising dangerously on the other side. But strangely enough, she put her hand on the glass and smiled at him. That worried him more than anything. Allan screamed and hit the hatch with all his strength, to no avail. Hopper was now trying to rip the panels on the side with the help of a blow torch. It didn't matter, the frame was distorted and nothing but extreme brute force would work.

Min-hee shook her head in negation, catching their attention. Then she said something. Allan stopped long enough to read on her lips.

"Go," she said. "It's okay. It's fine."

Allan raged and hit the glass over and over again.

Min-hee took a step back. She was gasping for air now. It was Allan's turn to put his hand on the glass. She came closer and put her hand over his. Hopper was screaming beside him but he didn't understand the words. All he could do was stare at Min-hee as she said her goodbyes.

Oh, how he hated goodbyes. More than anything in the world.

Min-hee smiled again and repeated, "It's okay."

No, it wasn't okay. Nothing about this was okay.

And then it happened. The damaged propulsor exploded and the entire ship shook. Allan screamed as Min-hee disappeared behind the inferno. Then the inferno got sucked into space as the explosion gutted that side of the hull.

Just like this, in less than seconds, a member of his crew, a friend, was gone forever.

Allan's voice died.

This cannot be fucking happening, he thought.

He stood in front of the hatch's window and on the other side there was only space and parts of burned bulkheads.

Hopper still hit the hatch aimlessly, his face torn by anguish.

Allan realized they had to move. Alarms were echoing in the whole dying ship, hammering the urgency in his eardrums. He grabbed the young man's shoulder and pulled him away. Hopper tried to resist but eventually let himself be led away. They ran.

When they got to the shuttle Allan said: "Jessie, let's go." He was already closing the hatch behind them.

Hopper stood in the center of the shuttle, shocked into immobility, chest heaving.

"Wait," said Jessie, "we can't leave without Min-hee," she was craning her neck to look at them.

Allan pushed Hopper on a seat. "Jessie, let's go!"

She must have seen the tears in his eyes because she fell quiet and started the launch with shaky hands.

Moira was having none of it. "What? Guys! Where's Min-hee?"

She wasn't stupid. She knew what to make of their expressions. But she was denying the possibility. She pulled at her safety harness, trying to free herself. Memphis grabbed her hand, stopping her struggle. His eyes were round and shiny, his lips slowly wobbling. He looked at his captain, then at Hopper.

After a few seconds of silence, Allan said, "Min-hee's dead."