Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Assistive Technology

"What do you want." She said hoping to dismiss him as soon as possible.

The human, either too dumb, or choosing to ignore her dismissal continued onward, "I had to drop Sunny off on a nearby colony last night to meet with some other Drev factions. She called me this morning and asked me to come join her. I thought that you might want to come along. It would give you more time with Sunny, and a reason to Visit other Drev."

She stared at the human. She had no desire to visit other Drev, and was about to tell him as much when a thought occurred to her. She may not want to visit them, but that would give her more time with Sunny and more time with Sunny meant more time to talk her out of sticking with this man, who she was sure she could work around.

She stood learning on her spear. "Very well."

The two of them didn't talk as they walked down the hallway. He had tried on multiple occasions in the past to strike up conversation with her, and in her own language on one or more of those attempts, but she had shut that down every time. There was nothing that he could say that she was interested in hearing.

She didn't have the time.

When it came between small talk and taking care of her people, she would prefer the latter.

She followed him into the "Docking bay" and onto a small shuttle closest to the airlock. She sat in one of the seats in the back while he sat in the pilot's seat. She probably could have sat in the seat next to him at the front, but she didn't want to foster any sort of conversation between them. Best to keep her distance.

He reached up and began turning switches as the ground whirred underneath them. They were pulled along a rail into the airlock and the lights flashed red and the doors shut. She sat politely in a seat that was just her size, which was a novel experience for her. She heard the ship unlock from the rail and then listened to the engine as they flew out into space. The human controlled the ship with great ease, and she craned her neck to stare out the front window . She could see the distant star glowing through the side window, and the distant planet below that.

They would probably make it in half an hours or so, and she leaned back in her seat closing her eyes.

Might as well take this time to rest before-"

"What the hell."

She cracked open an eye and looked forward to where the human was sitting leaning over the console, one hand still on the steering.

There was a light blinking on his dash and a small indicator off to his right was blinking.

Her curiosity getting the better of her she walked forward and looked over his shoulder as he began fiddling with some of the dials.

"Is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure, I', getting some weird readings off-" He trailed off and then shook his head, "The star." He finished glancing over. She squinted out the window which was tinted just enough for her to be able to look at the star without blinding herself. As she looked she thought she saw it flare suddenly before dying down.

She might have thought nothing of it, if it wasn't for the sudden jolting of the ship. Lights over her head sparked and cut out, the screens before her went dark, the engine cut, and the life support hissed to a stop.

Their ship went dead.

As the system powered down her feet suddenly began to float off the ground. She flailed about grabbing for the chair to steady herself.

"Shit." The human muttered, "That must have been some sort of EMP burst, friend the electronics."

"Than we just call back to the ship, and send for help."