Solacium

Ch 1: Vorian

Shit.

I cursed as the red light flashed at me again. The loud wailing of my ship's alarm only intensified the pounding in my head from my recent hyperspace jump.

With shaky hands, I managed to reach out and try to set a course back to my own solar system. Pressing the button to engage the course set function of my ship, I was greeted with yet another flash of red light followed by a warning from the robotic voice of my ship's computer intelligence system.

WARNING.

NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION.

RETURN TO FLEET FOR IMMEDIATE REPAIRS.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" I yelled and smashed my fist on the control panel. The sleek silver panel vibrated beneath the force of my clenched fists. I sucked in a sharp breath and pressed my fists against the cool metal to collect myself.

I could not become emotionally compromised, not yet. I repeated to myself, focusing on slowing my breathing.

As I calmed down, I let my eyes wander out the viewing panel of my ship, looking out at the endless expanse of space. I could see myriad groupings of stars out in the distance, none of which patterns I recognized. I closed my eyes in frustration, pinching the bridge of my nose as I thought of potential solutions to my predicament.

Fine. If I must, I will navigate my ship manually, I thought after a moment, shifting to lean back in my seat. Taking a steadying breath, I straightened my back and grasped the ship's navigational toggles.

"Computer, disengage autopilot," I commanded, bracing myself to steer.

AUTOPILOT DISENGAGED.

With a click, the toggles loosened in my grasp and my ship suddenly began drifting right. The sudden change in trajectory threw me off and my blaster detached itself from where it was loosely strapped to my leg. Immediately, I engaged the toggles and straightened out my ship. At the movement, my blaster slid across the floor beneath my feet. I glanced down at my weapon, gritting my teeth.

It would not bode well for a loose blaster to slide around my ship, especially one with such a sensitive trigger.

Not unless I was intent on losing one of my feet...I thought dryly.

Letting go of one of the toggles temporarily, my ship violently jolted right as I reached for my weapon with my freed hand. With the ship, the blaster began to slide across the floor and toward the wall, trigger first. I only had seconds to secure it before I blew off my hand, foot, or worse.

Quickly leaning forward, I picked up my blaster from the sleek silver floor in front of me just seconds before it hit the wall. Letting out a breath of relief, I struggled to sit upright before securely tucking it back into the holster on my thigh. This time, I made sure that it would stay there.

Once my blaster was secure, I placed my hands back on the navigational toggles, trying to regain control of my rapidly drifting ship. Tightening my grip, I thrust them in the other direction to change my course. My ship shook and groaned under the pressure of my attempted change in direction, but my efforts were in vain. I could not correct my course. Whatever force was pulling my ship in this direction was too strong.

I must be near a planet. The thought filled me with a chilling sense of dread. After my last encounter with an alien planet, I was in no rush to return to the chaos. However, the more my ship continued to drift despite my efforts, the more obvious it became. A nearby planet's orbit was the only explanation for a gravitational pull to have this much effect on my course.