Space Family Robinson

3

The acrid smell of smoke filled the air, making Zephyr almost choke. As he regained consciousness, he began to realise that something was lying on top of him, pinning him to the floor, and when he opened his eyes he thought he'd gone blind. He blinked, trying to see. To his relief, he had not lost his eyesight; he could see the outlines of several things surrounding him. 

This wasn't supposed to happen! Not to me!

Panic threatened to take over, so he pushed it back and forced himself to think rationally. The spaceship had been sent into a hyperdrive, so it must have crash-landed on a planet somewhere. Smoke meant there was a fire somewhere, so he had to get out and attempt to get as many others out as he could. But first, he had to move whatever was on top of him, and hope he hadn't received any serious injuries.

Zephyr took a deep breath and began to crawl forward. Words could not describe how he felt when he found that no bones were broken, and he could get out from under whatever was on top of him without much difficulty.

To say that the sight that met him upon extricating himself from from the desk (that was what it was) was not encouraging would be an understatement.

The windows were smashed, the control panels were on fire, debris covered the floor and the doors weren't there. Well, to be accurate, what remained of one was still there, a jagged piece of metal hanging from its fixings. 

The man scanned the room quickly, searching for any sign of life. Lying next to the control panel was a body, burned beyond recognition and still alight. He looked away quickly, fighting the urge to vomit. That must be Maciver - he'd been the only one near the control panel.

There was another body lying face-down on the floor. He approached it catiously, his stomach still churning from the horrible sight beside the control panel.

It was Jakobsen, and there was nothing to indicate he was no longer among the living. Nothing, until Zephyr's sharp eyes noticed something red staining his shirt. A closer inspection revealed a deep gash at the base of his skull, with a jagged shard of glass embedded in it.

Two confirmed dead, the rest unknown.

As Zephyr turned away in search of the others, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before: a hand beside Jakobsen's head. A hand much too small to belong to the deceased. 

The girl!

He shoved his late co-worker over to one side, revealing the still body of the stowaway. At first glance, she was dead too, but when he checked her pulse it was there, if faint. 

How did she survive? he wondered. Did Jakobsen shield her from the worst of it when he fell on top of her?

Yes, that must be it. He had survived because a desk fell... not so much on top of him as around him, and she had survived because a body fell on top of her.

Ironic, that the only ones who are alive are the ones who weren't meant to be on the ship to begin with.

He had given up hope of any one else being alive - the impact would have been much, much worse on the lower levels, and there were no other bodies here. But something was lurking at the back of his mind, something he couldn't quite think of until he had half-dragged, half-carried the girl outside.

"Captain Daniels!"