Meltdown Ophilion - Book One

06_GRIND

"Wait a minute," Orion was struck with a bizarre idea, "what about that mega-asteroid ahead to the right? Doesn't it have a tunnel through it?

Celli checked her charts. "I don't see one here."

"Well, if it did, we could avoid the rest of the twister and still have laser power left for the final run."

"But there is no tunnel there," she said again.

Orion looked at her. "Gut feeling," he said seriously.

A peculiar sensation gripped Celli. She quickly scanned the asteroid and processed the data. "Fires of Ralah!" she turned to Orion, "there is one!"

"Give me the coordinates," Orion said calmly.

Celli shook her head, but the strange sensation clung like a leach to her brain. Processing this phenomenon would have to wait. "Okay..." she said slowly, regaining full vigilance, "here it is... 55-C-5... it's gonna be tight; this thing wasn't on the charts for a reason... here we go... slow to three hundred CTs."

Orion followed her orders.

"There it is," she pointed.

They all stared wide-eyed at the fast-approaching opening that looked barely big enough to accommodate the ship. They felt a jolt as the left side of the ship hit a small outcropping of rock. Celli glanced nervously at the shield meter and raised her eyebrows.

"Tight fit," Fel muttered.

Orion was mesmerized. It's almost as if this is artificial, he thought, incredible. "This doesn't look natural," he said.

"This is spooky," Celli commented.

They glided along the smooth curves in the tunnel for two minutes.

"We should be out in another twenty mecs," Celli reported.

They saw the exit ahead and held their breath. The Calabar shot out of the East side of the huge asteroid much to the relief of the crew, who exhaled simultaneously.

"We did it!" Fel exclaimed.

Celli caught sight of something to the left and received a shock. "Orion!" she yelled.

Orion saw it. He tried to dip and miss it, but the rear of the ship slammed into a small stray asteroid that the scanners had failed to register. They were jolted almost senseless. The ship's power went offline. They drifted back towards the asteroid belt. The three gamers sat stunned. The audience let out a collective gasp and disappointed groans.

"I can't believe it." Orion said hoarsely, "I can't believe we're out." He shook his head, "We were so close."

Celli stared absently at the control panel, then she cocked her head. "Wait a minute," she said, and looked closer. "We're not out."

"What?" Fel asked.

"We're not out, look; we have power, there's just a break in the main line somewhere... all we have to do is..." she closed her eyes. A smile crossed her face. What is this? She thought. She turned her head to the right and saw a small white light blinking. Push the button, she heard from inside her head. She reached over and pushed it. The ship instantly came back to life. The audience cheered.

"What just happened?" Fel asked.

Orion and Celli looked at each other.

"We just got another chance." Orion said. He pushed the controls forward and raced back toward the course. "How far behind are we?"

Celli peered incredulously into her screen. "We're not behind," she said, "we're in the lead! Even with the collision – the twister and the tunnel put us in the lead!"