Fatal Discovery

Chapter 11

Section Eleven

Main Bridge

2056 Hours

April 12th, 2167

Captain Fletcher watched as the shuttle holding the last of the ships crew sped toward the surface.

He waited until he saw the faint orange flash signaling that the shuttle had broken the planets thin atmosphere, wishing desperately that he could be with them. He walked to the helm control station and addressed the computer, "Computer," it chipped signaling that it was listening, "Arm all warheads aboard, security clearance Fletcher Alpha two one seven."

Warheads armed, the computer stated, after a few seconds.

"Initiate protocol one zero eight. Security override Fletcher Alpha two one seven."

Protocol one zero eight has been initiated. Several seconds went by and then, all of the screens on the bridge changed to display a countdown from ten minutes. The numbers counted down in an ominous red color. The computer automatically accessed the ship wide comm system. Fletcher heard, Warning: self destruct sequence is active, all hands abandon ship, echoing throughout the empty ship.

He sat in the command chair and addressed the computer again, "Computer, set a course for the alien probes currently on an intercept course. Set self destruct sequence to start as soon as the probes are within range of the explosion radius."

Warning: command will cause termination of target.

"Understood, override primary preservation protocol."

The computer chirped as the ship rotated and moved toward its target.

"Computer, begin recording a message to be encoded and sent to Director Alyssa Anderson when destruct timer reaches ten seconds." The computer complied and Fletcher began dictating his last words.

* * *

Alyssa ran as fast as she could with a man over her shoulder. She was still at least five minutes from the bunker doors. She checked her watch. The doors would seal in three minutes.

She tried to pick up the pace, but it didn't really help.

She had never really given much thought to how would spend her last few minutes of life. All she could think about now was Fletcher. She knew that the captain always went down with the ship, but she couldn't help but cling to the hope that he could get out somehow.

She wished she had expressed her feelings for him. She wished that this was all a bad dream and that she would wake up and find Fletcher so she could tell him how she felt.

Alyssa rounded a corner and found herself in a domed hallway made of glass, the Martian landscape sprawled out in every direction. She looked up, and what she saw shocked her.

In the sky was an enormous ball of orange flame. It had to be the size of one of Mars' moons, looking like a colossal flower blooming in the upper atmosphere. Then she saw a wave of dust moving at an incredible speed towards the base. The shock-wave.

She turned around and ran back to the last doorway she had come through. The doorways were reinforced slightly more than the open hallway, and she prayed it would be enough to save them.

She laid Tom down on the floor, face first and braced herself for the impact.

I love you Avery Fletcher, was the last thing that went through her head before the explosion shook the very foundation of the planet.

* * *

Alyssa awoke suddenly. Everything was blurry and her head was pounding. She tasted her own blood and felt her head. There was a gash across her forehead and her left arm was pinned under a piece of metal that she couldn't identify.

She could hear a rasping sound that she at first thought was her own breathing, but she soon realized that it was Tom.

He lay on his back, a jagged piece of blood covered metal protruding from his stomach.

"Tom!" She shrieked, her voice cracking badly. She could feel the dust in her throat. Pulling with all of her might, she managed to get her arm free.

"You're going to be okay, don't worry," She whispered, knowing it was a lie.

Tom coughed, spitting up blood. "Tell..." he coughed again, violently, "Tell her I love... her." His head fell back as he let out his last breath.

Alyssa closed Tom's eyes, and then, assuming the fetal position, she cried. She cried harder than she ever had in her life.

Just as she felt she was about to drift into unconsciousness, she heard metal shifting. She looked around and saw that an emergency bulkhead had comedown to seal off the side of the room were the glass hallway had been. The other side was blocked by a pile of fallen metal.

She watched as the metal moved. Piece by piece, the metal fell away until she saw a face looking at her from the hole that had been cleared. A pair of blue eyes peered at her.

Fletcher, she thought, and then she passed out.