“
Let me try.
”
Collin sat down next to Bubba and watched him work the controls for a while. He glanced over to Orman.
“
Isn
’
t there some kind of computer assist or AI that does this sort of thing?
”
“
Of course there is. It
’
s not operational. I think that
’
s the reason this ship was abandoned. Flying a vessel like this manually is uncommon
…
would certainly require special training.
”
“
Wait a minute, I think I
’
m getting the hang of it,
”
said Collin. Bubba had tried hovering his fingers splayed apart over the motion controls, but the controls seemed to respond better when his fingers kept in contact with each other.
“
Look, you control the pitch, yaw and roll aspects by tilting your hand around and side to side, like this
…
also by tilting your hand either forward or back.
”
“
And going straight up and down?
”
DiMaggio asked.
“
Bubba had that figured out. You raise and lower your palm. What I
’
m not yet figuring out is its forward acceleration.
”
“
Two of the spider things are approaching. I guess you have less than a minute before they
’
ll reach us,
”
Bubba said.
“
Oh, crap
…
it
’
s right here,
”
Collin said, using his other hand on the motion detector, directly to the left of the other one. The ship lurched forward with such acceleration it threw everyone but Collin to the deck. He
’
d been somewhat prepared for it.
“
Sorry
—
thing
’
s pretty sensitive.
”
Orman reached over and activated something on the console.
“
G-force dampeners. Something else the AI would have taken care of, if it was operational.
”
Collin was smiling now as he confidently took better control of the ship. He brought her even with the top of the closest spider droid. They could now see its oblong central body, where all the legs joined. With amazing speed the spider droid reached up two of its spiky legs and grabbed at the ship. Collin quickly brought his right palm up higher from the motion pad and they all watched as the two spiked legs missed pinning the ship
’
s bow by mere feet.
“
That was close,
”
Bubba said.
But everyone
’
s relief was short-lived. All three spider droids were rapidly rising into the air.
“
You
’
ve got to be kidding
…
those fuckers can fly!
”
DiMaggio said, exasperated.
Collin moved both hands to accelerate the ship while changing their forward direction.
“
They
’
re anticipating
…
see
…
they
’
re now coming at us from the sides as well as from the front,
”
Bubba shouted.
“
I can see that,
”
Collin snapped back. He brought the ship lower, did a quick turn to port and flew between the droid
’
s legs. Reflexively, two spiky legs shot forward, one making contact with the ship
’
s hull. The sound was nearly deafening. Collin struggled to compensate for the sharp glancing blow to their stern.
“
Go back up! Up! Damn it, go higher!
”
Bubba yelled.
“
Everyone just shut up!
”
Collin snapped back. He brought the ship back up but wasn
’
t fast enough to avoid the droid approaching them from the ship
’
s starboard side. With almost simplistic ease, the droid pinned the ship between two outstretched legs. A moment later, a second droid joined in and its two spiked legs held the ship firmly in its grasp.
“
Now we
’
re really screwed,
”
DiMaggio said.
Collin brought his hands away from the controls and sat back in his seat.
“
There
’
s nothing I can do.
”
No one said anything as they watched the two droids carry the ship to another area.
“
Where are they taking us?
”
DiMaggio asked.
“
There
’
s a compactor. It
’
s huge and I suspect it
’
s where the droids will deposit us,
”
Orman replied.
Collin bit his lip and tried to think of something, anything, they could try.
“
I don
’
t suppose this ship has any kind of weaponry?
”
Orman shook his head.
“
I told you, this is a mining vessel.
”
But then he sat forward.
“
Ships like this do have a high-powered laser gun mounted to their underbelly. It
’
s used to open up fissures within a planet
’
s crust
…
part of the excavation process.
”
“
How do you work it? Where are the controls?
”
Collin asked, suddenly very interested.
“
I don
’
t know. I don
’
t see anything on the panel, or on the others that
—”
“
I know where it is!
”
Collin was up and running from the bridge before anyone could react.
As Collin ran through the narrow corridor, he saw the startled faces of the other teens milling around turn to see what the commotion was about. By the time Collin reached the set of consoles he
’
d noticed earlier, located mid-ship, he
’
d dodged three students and knocked over Tink en route.
“
Sorry, Tink!
”
He reached the area Cine had earlier said was used for environmental or geological diagnostics. Collin positioned himself at the console and tried to make heads or tails of the control panel before him. He moved his hands over the various motion pads and, one by one, the different systems came alive. A display activated and Collin saw movement.
“
What the hell am I looking at?
”
he asked himself.
“
That
’
s right below the ship.
”
It was Orman, who
’
d crept up behind Collin without making a sound. Looking back, Collin saw a group forming behind him. Lydia stepped forward and was at his side.
“
What are you doing, Collin?
”
“
Um
…
not really sure.
”
He now saw that Orman was right. What he was looking at were the moving legs of two droids, in unison, stepping through the junk below. They had slowed their pace and it became instantly apparent why. They
’
d reached the compactor, a square and substantial-looking container. Collin felt Lydia lean into him, felt the soft material of her mini skirt touch the skin on his arm.
“
I
’
m scared, Collin,
”
she whispered.
“
Are we going to die?
”
“
Maybe.
”
He looked up at her and saw fear in her eyes.
“
But maybe not.
”
He tried to give her a reassuring smile but wasn
’
t sure it worked. He scanned the panel in front of him.
“
Where the hell is it?
”
“
There!
”
came Bubba
’
s baritone. He pointed to an area on the panel that was closest to Collin
’
s chest
—
right in front of him.
Collin moved his palm over the controls and two more sets of controls came to life. Characters were being displayed that Collin couldn
’
t understand. He turned to see Orman studying them as well.
“
What does it say?
”
“
I think it
’
s a measurement
…
no
…
it
’
s a charge level. It
’
s asking you how powerful a charge level you want the laser to use.
”
“
Holy shit. Look, Collin, we
’
re being lowered into that thing.
”
Collin didn
’
t need to look. What he needed to do was figure out how to fire the laser. He moved his palm over the motion pad associated with the weapon and watched as the strange characters changed.
“
Am I increasing the charge level or decreasing it?
”
he yelled.
“
I don
’
t know,
”
Orman yelled back.
“
Damn it!
”
Collin swept his palm again until the characters stopped changing.
Had he turned it up to max, or just turned the damn thing off?
He
’
d have to chance it.
Now, what do I do to fire?
Collin scoured the panel, his eyes moving from one section to the next. His gaze caught sight of the display and their furthering descent toward the compactor. Four massive block walls then separated, like the mouth of a hungry beast ready to devour its quarry.
A big black hand reached over Collin
’
s shoulder and slapped at a section on the console that was high and to the right of Collin
’
s own right hand. The display flashed white and then blue as the ship shook. The noise erupting was so loud Collin and those around him had to cover their ears.
The display cleared, revealing a black, smoldering orifice. Small at first with cracks and tears all around its circumference, the opening steadily began to expand
—
literally rip and tear outward. Within seconds the opening was now so large it even eclipsed the size of their ship.
“
Look!
”
Open-mouthed, Collin watched as debris started to fall through the vast opening.
“
We blasted a hole right through the compactor
…
right through the collector ship
’
s hull!
”
He watched the small display and saw the droids
’
legs straining
—
actually shaking against the forces of the now-breached depressurizing fuselage. One of the droids toppled into the blackness.
“
We need to get back to the bridge,
”
Collin said, getting up from the stool. He made quick eye contact with Lydia and made another attempt at a smile.
Bubba, DiMaggio and Orman were right on his heels as he entered the bridge. He sat down just in time to look up and see they were falling
—
no, being pulled
—
into the dark opening. He yelled,
“
Hold on!
”
Chapter 15
“
You did it!
”
It was Darren
’
s voice and he sounded truly amazed.
“
You got us out of there.
”
Collin glanced back, seeing virtually all on board standing in a semi-circle outside the entrance to the bridge.
“
Don
’
t start celebrating just yet, Sticks,
”
Humphrey said. He
’
d wedged himself into the bridge and was pointing to the observation window. The collector ship, which was even bigger than Collin thought, was starting to distort.
Orman also moved into the bridge area and went to Collin
’
s side.
“
It
’
s imploding! We need to get as far away from that vessel as possible.
”
Collin nodded, seeing his point. He looked down at the console and, for a moment, forgot everything he
’
d learned mere moments before.
Lydia was back at his side and he felt her hand on his shoulder.
“
You can do this, Collin.
”
He looked up to see she was smiling and gently nodding her head.
“
Two hands, Frost,
”
Bubba said, moving into the seat at his left.
Collin brought his hands up and over the motion controls and began maneuvering the ship away from the sim rover.
“
We need to go faster
…
a lot faster,
”
Orman said, his eyes locked on the display.
Collin noticed it too. The sim rover was starting to vent fiery explosions, which were quickly dissipating in the vacuum
—
the total lack of oxygen
—
of space.
“
It
’
s going to blow
…
like a mother fu
—”
The last word never left Humphrey
’
s lips. Collin jerked his palm forward, over the motion detection pad, and the ship abruptly lurched forward just as the sim rover exploded into a magnificent fireball. Lydia fell into Collin
’
s lap with a scream while, with the exception of Bubba, who was already seated, the others ended up on their backsides or sprawled awkwardly onto the deck.
Somehow Lydia
’
s arms ended up encircling Collin
’
s neck
—
her face mere inches from his own. Again, his eyes took in her face: the play of freckles across the bridge of her nose, the expressive lips that were curled up ever so slightly, and her eyes, taking in his own features
—
his eyes
—
in the same way. He felt her hands slide from around his neck and come to rest on his cheeks. She kissed him. It was brief and she was up and off his lap before he could do or say anything.
Was that a
real
kiss or just a
good job
kiss?
Collin wondered.