CLANG! The vibration rushed from the door to my feet. I turned and saw the welded lock start to crack and give, as a crowbar had been stuck in between the door and its frame. I recognized it as the object that had held the cockpit open.
That was quicker than I would have preferred, but I’d had enough time. I was almost done setting up.
I welded the last of my five screwdrivers to the ceiling, pointy end downwards. I stepped back and powered my terminal, which was locked onto the remote-control screen, and slightly pushed a slider. The gravity of this room, and only this room, became somewhat stronger, and my feet connected with the ground. I immediately put it back to normal.
Gravity control was terribly power-hungry, and it’d be one of the first things to be turned off during an emergency. If the batteries were due to last an hour powering just the lights and life support, by doing this they’d hardly last a couple of minutes.
This plan didn’t have second chances, but I did have a few avenues for victory. I stuck a washer in the trigger mechanism of my welding torch, and securely taped the hilt to the end of my ten-foot-pole, which I had shortened moderately.
“It’s a plasma spear.” I said, feeling oddly proud of myself despite the life-or-death situation. Perhaps I was happy precisely because I came up with this in such a situation.
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For the finishing touch, I had unscrewed the lid off —coincidentally— the shield panel’s wiring compartment and welded an improvised handle onto it. I was fairly confident it’d be made of the same alloy as the rest of the starship — one capable of resisting a portable laser gun’s fire, at least a few times.
Armed like a spartan and with my terminal taped onto the inner side of my improvised shield, I took position right before the door slid open. The vibration of a slam reached me through my feet, that were barely sticking to the ground.
I was hoping for him to barge in, but I had also prepared for him to peek first. I saw him move by the corner of my eye, and just as he decided to come in, I rose with my shield and thrust my lance at him from behind its cover. I had no way to know if I hit him.
No noise was made, but I did feel the heat of laser fire. It meant he reacted and shot twice. He took a step back and I placed my foot on one of the consoles, tackling with my improvised shield.
The zero-gravity impact pushed me backwards, but I had been expecting it. He had not. Not daring to peek my head out of my shield’s safety, I threw my spear like a javelin, and pulled the slider as far down as it went.
BAM! The shield touched the floor before me, and my entire arm shook with the impact’s energy. I had almost dropped it, but I held on with both hands and turned to him.
He was down with his hands on the ground, but he yet clutched his handgun. He rose his head to me and I used all of my strength to reach my terminal despite the heightened gravity.
I pushed the slider to the opposite limit and was thrown against the ceiling.