Peering out through the bulbous amber eyes of the asteroid pod, Lamont considered the strange forms of the other vessels that, at some point, had made a landing here. “I wonder if they tried to leave too,” He said to no one in particular.
“There was an energy discharge of some kind outside,” Abigail explained. “It looks as if Westward may have been damaged by it.”
“Good Lord,” Arthur muttered.
They were startled by the sound of Ed’s voice, which boomed loudly from the intercom despite the fact that the hatch to the cockpit was open, and he was less than fifteen feet from where they stood. “Bishop, man the manipulators.”
Abigail nodded, setting down her helmet and pulling down her compression suit’s hood as she slipped around the side of the cockpit and sat in the copilot’s chair. Her tight braids were losing their integrity, and ringlets of black hair fell around her forehead. “I’m not familiar with these controls,” She admitted, raising her hands above the collection of levers and joysticks that surrounded her knees.
“If nothing opens for us when we get up there,” Spratt directed, “Take the big one in the middle and start punching.”
“Thank God,” Rosemary quipped. “I was afraid we didn’t have a plan.”
“That’s plan ‘A,’” Ed clarified. “Plan ‘B’ is nuclear charges. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
“After what we’ve seen,” Abigail breathed, “I’d expect this place to have a few more surprises.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Ed stated, flipping a few toggle switches above his head before he gripped the steering controls. “Everybody strap down,” He ordered into the intercom.
Lamont, who had been following the conversation, maneuvered himself into one of the passenger seats behind the pilot chairs. Peering out through the bulbous amber eyes of the asteroid pod, he considered the strange forms of the other vessels that, at some point, had made a landing here. “I wonder if they tried to leave too,” He said to no one in particular.
Arthur, who had taken another seat, said: “I had plenty of time to explore this chamber, as it turns out. I didn’t see anything that looked to me like signs of a struggle. On that subject, what the hell happened?”
“Save it,” Ed ordered. “Here we go.”
He pushed the steering column forward and Lamont was pushed back into his seat by the force of the vessel’s sudden ascent. From behind him, he heard the florid Latin curses of Rico, who evidently had been attempting to make his way from the storage bay to the cockpit. The expansive curved wall of the chamber rushed toward them in a matter of seconds. Lamont noted a pressure on his hand and glanced down to see that Rosemary, seated beside him, had wrapped her small gloved fingers around his, biting her lip as she gazed pensively at the approaching barrier.
“Pull that lever back and push it forward—hard—when I tell you,” Ed directed Abigail through gritted teeth.
The navigator nodded and wrapped her hand tightly around the control between her knees. In moments, their field of view was filled with the featureless surface of the chamber’s wall, faintly luminescent and golden-hued in the tinted viewports. Lamont braced himself, feeling Rosemary’s surprisingly strong grip tighten around his hand.
Suddenly, with almost no perceptible movement, the wall was gone, replaced by the star-spotted nebula of empty space outside. A wave of relief washed over Lamont, making him feel momentarily as if he were melting into his seat.
“It is letting us go!” Rico exclaimed, letting out a loud hoot behind him.
Next: A Call in the Dark
Excellent drama here. On another note, it may have been said as a joke, but I can't help but keep thinking of this tower as an alien shopping mall. I'm sure you'll set me straight soon enough. (Or maybe you'll leave it a mystery, in which case, it will forever be so in my thoughts)