No Turning Back [REWRITTEN]

Prologue

"Please, call me Akik," I corrected her. I turned to face the newcomer fully, resting my hand on the edge of the control panel.

Drykell was, to my knowledge, a marine hybrid of some sort. Judging by the out-of-place pearly feathers that covered the fins on her neck and arms, as well as some of her shoulders, she was probably part angel as well. She had deep indigo, scaly skin, and a tail with a bulb at the end that glowed in the dark.

"Alright, then," Drykell nodded at my correction. "There's... something you might wanna see in the engine room."

I hoped my words from mere minutes ago hadn't jinxed the whole trip and nodded, following Drykell as she turned out the door and down the corridor.

The ship was big, but not too big. It was enough for seven total, even though only five, including me, were on board. Immediately outside of the cockpit to the right was the gardens and kitchen, where our entire food supply was kept. To the left were my quarters, then the bunks where the others slept immediately after. I always found it a bit weird that I got a whole room and everyone else got bunks, but everyone assured me it was fine even after I offered to sleep in the bunks with everyone else. Across from the crew quarters was the airlock, and down the hall were the electrical and engine rooms. Drykell led me into the engine rooms.

The was hotter in the engine rooms than the rest of the ship, even with the cooling systems on full blast in here. That was normal, for the thrusters maintained a steady, healthy temperature of three hundred forty seven degrees. It was much like a living organism, if you thought about it - it had a specific temperature range that, without stability, could lead to failure. As well as us stranded in space.

Drykell showed me a back corner of the engine room. In one of the gas chambers lines on the back wall, there was a sharp, metal scrap stabbed into the metallic outside of the cylinder. There was a soft hissing sound as gas slowly leaked out of the tank, filling the air with the invisible gas.

"Well, that's definitely not great." I exhaled with my lips pressed tight, crossing my arms.

"I'll have to agree with you there, Captain," Drykell said. "It's possible something was loose and it wedged itself in there during takeoff."

Or someone did it. A tiny voice crept into my mind. My own. I shook my head to myself. It was out of simple habit that I was so paranoid. I trusted every one of the crew, none of them would do this. "Yeah. I'll go ahead and patch it up, then."

"Sir, Gregory's our official engineer, I'm sure he can-"

"I'll do it. Don't bother him with it," I sighed. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Electrical," Drykell replied. "There was a circuit broken. That's why there was nothing in the alert system warning about the gas leak."

"Makes sense." Cut wire? The paranoia started to seep into my brain again, but I drove it off. It's all a coincidence, Akik. No one's trying to kill us.

"I'll get to it, then," I said, nodding to Drykell. "If anyone needs me, you know where to find me."

"Not to doubt your intentions, sir, but are you sure you can handle all of this?" Drykell asked with concern. "You've seemed stressed ever since we left Xero."

"I'm fine," I assured her. The marine hybrid looked like she was about to say something, but closed her mouth pretty quickly, simply nodding.

"And like I said. Just call me Akik. No need to get fancy with the 'captains' and 'sirs.'"

-

"Who did it? Who did it?!"

"The system's in critical condition, we have to land somewhere!"

"And where do you suggest that be?!"

-

"Guys...? What... is that...?"

"Zait, that's a wormhole."

-

"Hail the Demon Alliance."

"Kerstyl, no!"

"Eliste, it's too late for him!"

-

"Drykell! Take my hand!"

"Sir?!"

"I can't lose all of you, come on!"

"Sir-!"

"DRYKELL!"

-

"[The external gravitational pressure is currently too intense for the electrical systems to continue operating. Shutting down...]"

-

"...where the hell am I...?"

-

1405 words

so I've given him more trauma