Things to be Proud of... (A Short Story #4)
20 Aug 2021Isabella Levine
[August 10th, 3307][Time: 22:32]
[System: LHS 2522]
Karl Levine watched out the flight deck's viewport of Eriks Anaconda as it traversed through the hyperspace for the final time. It had been 20 or more jumps from where they started and it was all finally coming to an end. Karl stood in place by holding the handholds attached to the sides of the pilot's chair in front of him keeping himself firmly planted in zero-G as the hyperspace tunnel began to close upon nearing the exit. Karl held on a little tighter and awaited the dropout.
"What the hell?"
Erik said once the ship exited hyperspace. Before them was the brilliant bright bluish-white glow of a White Dwarf star nearly blinding anyone who looked directly at it. Two large ejection cones ejecting on either end. Erik looked back at Karl with a mix of confusion and frustration.
"What the hell is this place? I swear if this is some bullshit your pulling."
Karl pointed out the window.
"LHS2522. The exact system I said she was known to visit and stay in for work I can only guess. Look at the Nav panel."
Erik opened the Navigation panel and looked through it for a second. He stopped and looked back at Karl.
"All I see is one station and it's a refinery station. That's it. A woman like her is living in a system of miners?"
Erik motioned to his mercenary hire that stood with them on the flight deck. Karl immediately felt the end of a gun jabbed into his left rib.
"I truly have the suspicion that you're playing games, Karl. I told you what happens if you put me on a wild goose chase. One call and you listen to your daughter die. Then I shoot you to really make sure you get the message."
Karl balled his left hand and with his right, squeezed as hard as he could on the handle on the side of the pilot's chair Erik was sitting in. He took in a deep breath but did so nonchalantly. He knew there wasn't a chance of turning back on this now. It wasn't possible. He felt his blood pressure rise.
"I know what you'll do to her. I know what you'll do to both the women I know and love. Look at the Nav panel again. Maybe you missed something?"
Erik shook his head and smiled going back to opening the Nav panel.
"Your daughter I get. Your ex-wife? Didn't she leave you? If it were me, I wouldn't give a damn if she was about to face justice for crimes committed. Hell, I'd cheer it on."
He chuckled only to himself as he continued looking.
"She left for her own reasons. That doesn't mean I hate her enough to enjoy throwing her to the wolves. In fact, I'd never do something like that to her because my daughter wouldn't forgive me if I did."
Karl turned his head to look at the man holding the gun to his lower ribs and quickly glanced at what it was. A burst laser pistol. Commonly known as the TK Zenith.
"You're too close."
The man holding the pistol raised an eyebrow clearly confused.
"The fuc-"
Before the rest of the words could come out, Karl used his grip on the pilot's chair to push himself into the gunman forcing the man's weapon and arm into the control of Karl's free left hand. He then quickly brought his right fist into the mercenaries' face before attempting to control the gun in his hand. Erik looked back in his chair with sudden surprise seeing the two fight so spontaneously. Curses and yelling were ineffective at stopping anything as the two still struggled over the weapon until the gun suddenly discharged and sent three laser bursts straight into the console panel at the pilot's chair missing Erik by inches.
"Goddammit! Stop this shit now!"
Another shot discharge and this time it struck Karl in the lower abdomen. He'd lost his footing in the zero-Gs to have the leverage and control on the firearm that he needed to disarm. Zero-G was a bitch. Everything worked differently. But it didn't matter anymore now as he clutched where his wound was once his suit sealed the damage.
"Are you kidding me! What was that? You out of your mind?"
Karl winced at the pain he felt as the man with the laser pistol kept his weapon leveled to his chest. Both men looked at Karl as Karl looked out the Anaconda viewport and laughed slightly.
"Damn."
Didn't take long for the flashing red lights and the "Warning. Temperature Critical!" to draw the attention away from Karl and out towards the viewport. They all noticed the ship heading towards the White Dwarf. In a panic, Erik grabbed the controls and tried to throttle down but the throttle didn't do anything. The burst from the weapon discharge damaged it. It was stuck at 75% throttle. He cursed and desperately yanked on the yoke to bring the Anaconda out of the red exclusion zone but alas, he only made it worse by now crossing the ejection cone in his attempt to avoid the emergency drop. But to his dismay, it happened anyway.
"NO!"
The ship dropped out of Supercruise and immediately the systems began chirping as well as COVAS giving warnings. "Warning! Hazardous Environment! Catastrophic System Failure". The Anaconda violently tossed itself around as Erik desperately tried straightening the ship but to no avail. He even tried charging the FSD but a system overload rebooted the drives.
"We're stuck now. You can't steer her out of this. The hauls being ripped apart. Horrible flying, pilot."
Karl said with struggled breath as he held onto the pilot's chair for stability. "Canopy integrity at 50%" COVAS warned. He could see the sheer and utter bewilderment on Erik's face. A million things going through his mind. The next facial expression was rage as he looked directly at Karl. The ship jerked violently but Karl held on.
"You sonuvabitch! This was your plan? To bring me out here to kill yourself along with me?"
He stepped out of the pilot's helm, Mag boots keeping him rooted to the deck, and approached Karl.
"Not exactly this, no. You weren't supposed to fly into the most danerou-"
A quick fist came crashing into Karl's face so hard it sent him backward.
"You tried to kill me!"
The Anaconda jerked again and Karl met the cold hard deck. Blood pooled from his nose but hung in front of him in zero-Gs. He spat it away and looked towards Erik. The Canopy began to crack considerably more and COVAS only confirmed it to be true. "Canopy integrity at 25%"
"I did kill you, you prick!"
Karl spat back. He oriented himself to face Erik upright.
"There's escape pods, genius. You can die here. I'll get out. Your daughter will have to do. I saw you say something to her before you walked away from her. Couldn't have just been a goodbye and a hug, right? Nooo, no-no-no."
Erik equipped his helmet and motioned to his one gunman.
"Just shoot him. He's not worth it anymore."
He began walking towards the flight deck's exit but Karl suddenly launched off from the deck hurling himself towards Erik. Erik attempted to block but the two collided hard enough to disconnect the magnetic hold of his boots and sent both flying towards the canopy viewport. Both of the bodies hitting the cracked canopy glass was enough to completely shatter it sending the two hurling out the viewport and across the bow of the Anaconda. Karl's flight suit automatically activated his emergency helmet protecting him from the sudden pressure change that was the vacuum. He noticed Erik frantically flailing his arms but lost sight of him as he continued his uncontrolled tumbled across the bow.
"Awe hell!"
He said noticing an antenna sticking out. He tried to grab it but failed only sending him into more of a spin. A spin that caused him to smack headfirst into the haul of the ship. It was hard enough to fracture his visor and cause his suit to rapidly lose pressure. Didn't matter much anyway because his suit had reached its critical at trying to regulate the temperature and the elements he was exposed to. He sighed deeply know it was the end as he watched the tip of the bow float away. Nothing could be done for him now as we watched the Anaconda float away. His body rotated for a brief moment to face the blinding blue light that came from the White Dwarf. He winced as he felt the temperature get to uncomfortable levels. He was surprised, his suit really did try to protect him but just couldn't being in such a hostile environment. The dead star would've been beautiful to look at just not his close, he thought with a smile. He closed his eyes thinking back on all the regrets he had in life. The biggest one was bringing someone into this world and not being there for them like he should've been. Trying to coerce them into something they probably didn't like. That's what he regretted doing to his daughter. She was tough enough to resist though, he thought. She grew older and told the old man to go screw himself. He smiled at that thought. They say you should live your life with no regrets. But is that even possible? There were too many. No, he was going to think of the things he was proud of. He made mistakes but the best thing was having a daughter and remembering the times they did spend with each other on the surface of Ekono. The time he took her for a hike in the large forested park when she was 6. The time he was able to take leave and bring her to a large Zoo with not just animals from Earth but some exotic animals native to natural Earth-like worlds. She was only 12. He remembered the time he took her up into orbit to explore the Majestic Class Interdictor he captained. That was her first time into space and seeing home from above. Heaven, he remembered saying to her. It was heaven way up here looking down on the beautiful planet below.
Karl took one last weak breathe in. It was getting harder and harder to breathe properly and consciousness became difficult. His O2 meter was at 0% now. His suit failed and his body began to go numb. He pictured his daughter's face knowing she'd be safe and taken care of by that guy she'd been with. James was his name. At the least, he knew she was strong enough to take care of herself. He was satisfied. No, he was happy. The corner of his vision became black and everything blurry. He couldn't see anymore. He didn't need to. He just Imagined...home.