Fragment 008

We did it. We escaped MatTekni. The endless cycle of day-to-day work was finally over.

At last, Lola and I had what we had always dreamed of.

I let out a relieved sigh as we drifted swiftly onwards, staring out into the vastness of space.

“Oh, so… Lola?” I perked up. “Where should our first destination be?”

A series of beeps and soft whirls sounded from Lola as she processed the question.

“I will scan for the closest hospitable planets nearby. Judging by our supplies, we are not equipped for any extreme conditions or situations. A friendly, welcoming planet would be the most logical first destination, allowing us to gather supplies and establish our bearings.”

She floated upwards as a miniature satellite dish unfolded from a hidden compartment beneath her.

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted. “We left in such a hurry that we didn’t have time to gather everything we needed. We’ll head to the nearest civilised planet and stock up.”

Even so, I couldn’t stop myself from drifting into daydreams about the adventures ahead. We had wanted this for so long.

“This is exciting. What do you think we’ll find out there? Space pirates? Ancient artefacts?” I grinned. “Oh! I know. Giant mutant aliens.”

Lola and I continued speculating about what might await us amongst the stars. Maybe I had simply read too many J. Harvek novels and set my expectations impossibly high.

“Obe…” Lola suddenly said, a trace of concern slipping into her voice.

“What is it?” I turned towards her.

“I am detecting an unusual reading directly ahead. I cannot find a match for it in my database.”

I glanced through the cockpit window.

“I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”

A radar display projected from Lola, revealing our ship alongside an unidentified anomaly directly ahead of us.

And we were approaching it quickly.

“I still can’t see anything,” I muttered. “Maybe we should just change course and go around it.”

I grabbed the controls and sharply steered to the side.

“Obe, the ship is still moving towards the anomaly.”

“What? That’s impossible, I’m steering the other way.”

I leaned forwards, squinting through the glass, desperately trying to spot something in the darkness.

Lola emitted another series of beeps as she ran a fresh scan.

“There appears to be a magnetic field pulling us towards it.”

“Towards what? There’s nothing there!” Panic slowly crept into my voice. “Is there anything we can do?”

We had only just begun our journey. We hadn’t even reached another planet yet. MatTek freight ships travelled in and out of orbit every day, so why were we struggling just to leave?

For several frantic moments, I fumbled with switches and controls, desperately trying to force the ship off course.

Then something extraordinary happened.

“Woah… look at that, Lola!”

I pointed through the cockpit window.

Directly ahead, a small sphere of colourful light flickered into existence. The colours swirled and danced together in impossible patterns. Just moments ago, there had been nothing there.

Now it burned within the void like a match ignited in darkness.

“Have you ever seen anything like this, Lola?”

My mouth hung open as I stepped closer to the glass.

“It is a spectacular sight,” Lola admitted. “However, I must warn you, the readings I am receiving from this anomaly are concerning.”

I barely listened, completely mesmerised by the display outside.

“If we do not alter our trajectory, there is a ninety-eight percent chance that our ship will be torn apart.”

Her voice remained perfectly calm. Machines had a way of sounding composed even when disaster was moments away.

“Correction,” she added. “It is certain if you continue standing there admiring it.”

At first, the words didn’t fully register.

Then suddenly they did.

“What? Ninety-eight percent? That’s basically guaranteed death!” I shouted. “How exactly do you propose we avoid this thing?”

“I have been running calculations,” she replied.

Then she paused.

I waited for her to continue.

She didn’t.

That silence alone told me I wasn’t going to like the answer.

“And?”

“We don’t.”

“What do you mean we don’t? There has to be something we can do!” My voice cracked as the reality began sinking in. Our journey might already be over.

“There is something we could do,” Lola explained. “However, we do not possess the necessary equipment. In our current situation, the optimal strategy is to sit back and enjoy the view.”

“Wait! Then what was the point of telling me all of that if we’re going to die anyway?!”

I buried my face in my hands, peering through the gaps between my fingers as the glowing sphere rapidly consumed more of the window.

“I never stated that we would die,” Lola corrected. “Judging by the increasing vibrations of the ship and the structural fractures forming in the glass, the ship itself will almost certainly be destroyed. The probability of our deaths is considerably lower.”

Relief washed over me and I exhaled deeply.

“Eighty-nine percent,” she added. “That is ten percent lower.”

“What?! Lola!”

Only now did I truly notice the violent shaking surrounding us. Nuts and bolts rattled loose from the walls as the entire craft groaned under the strain. The closer we drifted towards the anomaly, the more unstable everything became.

“I guess…” I stared into the burning sphere ahead of us, unable to look away. “…this is it.”

I reached out and pulled Lola close against me.

“Lola…” I paused. “Thank you for being my friend. I love you.”

A small robotic arm extended from her body and gently wrapped around me.

“I love you too, Obe.”

The ship shook with impossible force.

Though we remained seated, the vessel around us twisted and stretched unnaturally, metal warping like liquid waves as the light finally engulfed us whole.