Twenty seconds until critical condition in hyperdrive chamber.

The robotic voice of the Arquebus’s emergency protocol rang through the ship, hammering in the paranoia and panic that filled the already frazzled crew. The ship’s AI, Hannison, had been offline for more than an hour and any attempts to restore him had failed, leaving the crew marooned as the broken ship rocked around them. Metallic screeches filled the air of the ship, bouncing off the walls and ringing the ears of anyone too close. Things had been going smoothly until what felt like only moments before. None of them had seen it coming, not even the ship’s sensors had seen it come, it was just there, set upon them like a great beast.

“Max!” A woman called, sparks spraying across her face and almost catching in her inky curls. “Where’s the damn Hark wrench!?”

“I don't know, Davia!” Maxim, her sandy-haired counterpart shouted back as liquid from the cooling system sprayed his face, splattering his round-framed glasses. He sputtered, his bloodshot eyes bouncing to her and then back to the panel. “I can’t keep track of your shit too, I’m eating chemicals over here!”

Davia scowled and stood, only to be tossed to the floor once again as the ship jerked violently to the side. Curses rang out as the pair scrambled back to their stations, trying to get the ship functional enough to get them the hell out of there and away from that…thing. Davia had been able to get a good look at it when it flew by on her way down into the bowels of the Arquebus, and to her, it looked like a gigantic, mechanical eyeball. But it was almost like it was only a piece of something bigger. The thought that there could be more of it out there gave her a strange sense of helplessness as she sprinted through the ship.

A cursed screech rang out through the ship as it rocked again, sending even more personnel into the bowels of the ship in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. They were quite literally, a sitting duck, now that the hyperdrive’s internal elements had been knocked out of place. Not twenty minutes ago they had been attacked, it didn’t take long for the eyeball to overcome the ship, it had even been smart enough to preemptively rid them of their tug, effectively throwing away any chance they had to win. It was like the thing knew exactly what their defense was like it had encountered WatchTower ships before.

Davia didn’t know if it was just her nerves, but she felt like the metal orb was intelligent in some way, like it was more than just a giant, mechanical eyeball. Whatever it was, she didn’t have time to think about it before flinging herself down into the reactor room to rip any cover panels she could off the walls.

Fifteen seconds until critical-

“Yes! Yes! We know!” Davia’s frustration didn’t stop the automated voice from talking, nor did it help the nerves of those around her. “Damnit! Where is it!?”

She glanced over her shoulder and finally, she found that damned wrench. The ship shuddered around her once more but this time Davia heard a sharp crack and then deafening white noise as heat crawled up her back and licked at any exposed skin. A shrill ringing filled her ears as chunks of shrapnel landed around her. Her first instinct was to look at the reactor, then at the leaking pipes that she’d only just been working on moments ago. The thick smell of burnt bio-oil and reactor fluid filled her nostrils as her eyes filtered over the debris and landed on a form. It was Maxim. There, on the ground, a large piece of metallic shrapnel sticking out of his chest. While it was only his right side that had been struck, he still lay there, gasping, eyes wide at the ceiling. His glasses cracked and laying on his forehead, blood began to stain his shirt. It seemed like an eternity before Davia regained the ability to move her body but as soon as she had, she scrambled over to him.

“Max!” She cried, hovering her hands around his head, afraid to touch him. “Max, no, why didn’t you move!?”

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Max gasped a bit, a shadow of an angry glance filtered over his features before he seemed to realize the situation and the harsh lines on his face softened. A racking, pained gasp left his body.

“We have to pull this out-” Davia began to cry.

“Davia, just…just sit with me.” He said, catching her arm as she moved away.

“No! You need a medic!” She was frantic, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as they shifted around looking for something to help him, a cloth, something. Her mind tried to remember what she was trained to do, but nothing came. Why had he so readily accepted this?

“ We need a medic…”

“Just sit with me.” He managed, his hand sliding down from her bicep down to her hand, there wasn’t much time.

Even if they did make it through the mangled bowels of the ship and up to the med bay, there wouldn’t be anyone to treat him. Half the crew was, unbeknownst to them, already dead and the ship was torn in half. They were careening off from the top half of the ship at that very moment. The only reasons the pair of them had survived was because of the reinforced casing around the reactor and all the air-tight doors had shut just after the explosion. Lights blared around them as the final door, the door to the reactor room, sealed shut causing Davia to panic even more. Hundreds of thoughts filtered through her mind, they had a daughter, how would they see her again if they were shut in here? How would they tell her they loved her if Maxim didn’t make it to the med bay? Davia began to sob before she shuffled around Maxim to the side that wasn’t housing shrapnel and caressed his face, her tears streaking the grime left from the explosion.

“Don’t cry,” He said, his face beginning to lose color. The lights in the reactor room flickered off. “Don’t cry, Davi. I need my rock.”

“What am I going to do?” She sobbed.

“Sit with me,” He repeated. “You can’t get through that door anyway.”

He was right, there was no getting through that door. The second blast door was meant to protect the ship from an implosion, once it was shut, that was it. Unless you were a tech at the shipyard, there was no opening that door. Clearly, something in the emergency system had gone awry when the explosion happened, the ship was supposed to warn them that the door was closing, they were supposed to have gotten out. It felt like hours to Davia as she sat there and stared at him, lamenting the failure in the system, too scared to move Maxim even a little for fear she might hurt him more.

“Monday sent us a video,” Maxim said with a gasp, trying to flick his wrist link open. Davia helped him. “I got it yesterday, while you were sleeping.”

“She did?” Davia’s voice was hoarse, it hurt her to speak. That wouldn’t stop her, however, as she navigated his link and opened the recent messages.

A video of a cute little girl with curls that matched Davia’s and striking, glass-blue eyes that matched Maxim’s popped up. Maxim pressed it weakly, letting the video play. Laughter could be heard in the background.

‘Hello mommy and daddy, we went to the academy planetarium today! Miss. Forsithe showed us all the planets close to the school and all the cool big ships! She even showed us a map and taught us how to use it! Tomorrow, Mr. Iliad is going to come and teach us our math and science, he’s my favorite teacher. I miss you, mommy and daddy, I can’t wait to see you again. When I get big and grown up, I can go with you and see you every day! I can’t wait to grow up. I love you, mommy and daddy!’ There were a few more seconds of her talking, showing them the toys they’d seen hundreds of times, explaining the intricate plots of her imaginary world and the relationships between them. Davia couldn’t help but cry, seeing her little girl’s face for what could be the last time. One glance at the locked blast door only served to dash her hopes. There was no getting out of this, not this time. Davia had always known her job was a dangerous one, and yet she never thought she would be the one to have to face the reaper. Life was such a cruel mistress.

The pair continued to watch the videos their daughter had sent them until Max grew quiet and cold. Davia had done her best to keep him awake, even as the red seeped around him and filtered into the cracks between the riveted sheet metal, she tried her best. It wasn’t long after Max had grown quiet that oxygen in the room started to dissipate, the punctures in the hull around them slowly leaking. Davia looked down on her husband, the father of her child, and laid down with him, her head on his chest. The low hum of the ether around them and the mix of low oxygen pulled her into a dreamless sleep and together, they floated off into the cosmos.