The automatic over-ride had dumped Sarah out of the travel pod far too quickly. She slid across the slick metal deck well lubricated by hibernation fluids ejected instead of reabsorbed into the machine. The floor was tilted at an angle hastening her slippery expulsion. Red lights were flashing and the klaxon was wailing. She thudded against the wall in the small chamber and managed to put her feet beneath her and rise. At least there was still gravity.

"Ship, this is Sarah. Status!" she said wiping the goo from her face to clear her eyes.

"Collision alert, Sarah." a voice replied. "We have encountered and struck an unknown object. Ship structural is failing. Life support operative in this and one other unit only."

She cringed. There were originally a dozen crew members on this mission. She slid along the wall until she reached a control panel. Pushing a button she silenced the noisy alarm.

"Disabling audible alarm is not advised" said the ship

"I think everyone on board that is still alive has heard it by now! What unit still has life support?"

"Bay three has atmosphere. It is currently unoccupied. The Sleeping Pod is also empty." said the ship.

"Who was on duty?" she asked, her hands grabbing for and finding the locker with the E-Suit. She began to quickly put it on, fumbling with the flaps. She was grateful that someone had thought the locker's contents should include a large towel.

"Unit one was on the bridge" said the ship.

"Is he still on the bridge?" she asked.

"Internal sensors indicate that the bridge is not longer there, Sarah."

She pulled the small helmet over her head and twisted the sealing ring into place. It clicked and the lights on the HUD flashed on. She turned on the suit's arm mounted flashlight and panned it around. With the crazy angle, the doorway to this sleep pod was almost on the ceiling. She was going to have to climb. She pushed another button.

"Internal ship communication has switched to E-Suit currently occupied. Health status monitoring is enabled Sarah. Suit is at twenty-two percent"

"What? I just pulled this out of the locker! Why is it only at twenty-two percent"

"Manifest information indicates that suit was last safety checked and refreshed thirty-three thousand five hundred and eighty days ago."

"That's almost a hundred years ago!" she said, her blood turning cold.

"Approximate ninety-two years." agreed the ship. "You seemed to have missed a birthday. Happy Birthday. Would you like the standard salutation for the remaining ninety-one or would you prefer some variety?"

"Cancel all future birthday reminders!" Sarah said angrily.

"I was just following your pre-set instructions regarding your birthday on your personal file. It requests that I greet you with a birthday greeting every time another year has passed. There is no need to raise your voice. Your suit's vital readouts are not calm Sarah."

"The pod must have malfunctioned. Why didn't anyone wake me?" she asked incredulously.

"I have over-ride instructions for this pod. Do not disturb protocol is enabled." said the ship.

"That just doesn't make sense!" she said angrily. "Why did you wake me now then?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"A second collision is imminent" said the ship.

"With what?" she yelled.

"With the planet. We are now in a gravity well and descending quickly." said the ship. "This over-rides any do not disturb protocols currently in place. I was forced to perform an emergency fluid evacuation to wake you."

"How long until the ship hits the atmosphere?" Sarah asked.

"Seventeen minutes and fourteen seconds" said the ship. "With the front of the ship missing it will not survive the passage through the atmosphere."

Sarah started climbing.

"Ship? is the other pod still intact? You didn't dump the hibernation fluids in that one?"

"No Sarah, It was un-occupied. There was no need to do that."

She continued climbing toward the door. Everything was very wet and slippery. She lost her grip and fell back against the corner of the wall.

"What about the cargo?" Is there anything on board that I can use when I get down to the surface?"

"There are an emergency survival module and a weapons and flight module in storage exterior to the pressure hull." said the ship. My calculations indicated that you will not be able to reach them before I am destroyed in the atmosphere"

"Can you jettison? Are they strong enough to survive re-entry on their own?"

"Probability is near fifteen percent. If I jettison them now, they may be able to maintain asynchronous orbit for several years before they fall into the planet."

"Do it!" she said.

She felt two distinct thuds through the decking.

"Can you stop the artificial gravity?"

"I am barely able to maintain it as it is." said the ship.

"Please do that" said Sarah. She abruptly felt herself begin to float

"I over-rode normal three minute gravity warning protocols since you are the only one on board Sarah."

"Thank you ship" she said and pushed off gently toward the door. "Cancel life support on this pod and for bay three but keep the Pod powered up."

"Are you going to try and use that pod to survive re-entry?" asked the ship. "If so, I must advise you that the specifications do not suggest that your attempt will be successful"

"A girl's gotta try ship" Sarah said.

"At least you will be unconscious during the fall. That is probably preferable." said the ship.

"Thank you for understanding" said Sarah.

"Your suit is at nine percent, Sarah"

"That went fast" she said a bit desperately.

"It is a very old suit. It must have some degraded seals." said the ship.

Sarah was passing through a passageway. The ship damages were extensive. Huge holes had been rent in the hull. It was a long way from bay twelve to bay three. She had to move carefully around the torn sharp metal destruction.

"What hit us? She asked.

"Unknown Sarah. You have three percent suit power."

Sarah had to pry bay three's door open with a long piece of metal she found floating in the destroyed passageway. The only lights in the room were coming from the pod. She started to climb in.

"You must undress for the pod to be able to sustain you in a suspended state" the ship reminded her.

"We don't have time for that and the suit's cushioning may help a little." she said with resignation. "What is the estimated time for a crash landing on the surface?"

"I estimate that horizontal velocity will cause parts of the ship not completely destroyed to take several hours to impact the planet."

"Can we do anything to cancel that horizontal V and try to free fall?" Sarah asked?

"A free fall from orbit would take approximately five minutes." said the ship "But I do not have enough remaining power to cancel our velocity."

"I'll open the helmet when the pod closes. Ship. Please set the pod for the shortest test cycle."

"It is done Sarah. If the electronics survive they will start to try to revive you in approximately three minutes"

"Do what you can" said Sarah. "I'll pray. Maybe that will help."

"Your shutting off life support gave us a little more power to work with." said the ship. "Please wait. Calculations are in progress. There was a pause. "Burn in progress."

Sarah felt the ship shudder and shake.. There was smoke. The sleep capsule door slammed closed.

"I've done what I could" said the ship.

"Thank you. I know it won't matter, but I felt like I had to try."

"I understand" said the ship. I am turning on pod sleep mode. Test program initiated. Please unfasten your helmet."

Sarah did and felt her ears pop. Then she felt the pod take her consciousness away.

Ship looked across the landscape passing rapidly beneath her. Her hull sensors were quickly burning away. There were beautiful lights on most of the major continents that could be seen from here. She wondered what they were seeing as they looked up into their night sky. A glowing meteor descending from God. There was a place of darkness in the middle of the landmass that she was over that might be a large lake. Anything to give Sarah a little more of a chance. She made the calculation and hit her thrusters. They sputtered and stopped. It was the last thing she did before her hull melted away.

Space debris continued to fall. On the ground the streaks of flaming light attracted a lot of attention.