Jaxson & Paige

THIS IS CHAPTER 1 OF A STORY ABOUT JAXSON AND PAIGE. IT IS NOT EDITED OR FORMATTED AT THE MOMENT. IF YOU SHOULD READ IT, IT'S VERY SHORT, I WOULD SURE APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK. KENT.

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“You told me we were safe in here.” She said, taking a quick peek around the bulkhead.

“No, I told you we were safer in here.” He replied, adding, “Big difference.”

She turned to face him and started to say, “Wonderful. That’s just wonderful. Do you…” She stopped mid-sentence and said, “Drop.”

He dropped, but not before the intense heat of her laser pistol beam went past his ear, burning it slightly. “Hey, watch it, will you? That hurt.”

“Turn around and look,” she said, motioning with her gun.

Still crouched down on the deck plate he slowly turned while gently rubbing his ear. “Oh, that’s disgusting. Whatever it was.”

“You’re welcome.” She said sarcastically.

“Huh?” He stood up and looked at her.

“You’re welcome.” She repeated, this time with a cold look in her eyes.

“Oh, ah, thanks.”

“Fine,” she said. He found himself cringing at the way she emphasized that word. “So now what? Any ideas on how to get us out of this mess?”

He stood there, thinking of an answer.

“You’re not exactly filling me with confidence right now.” She said.

“Of course, I have a plan,” He replied, trying to sound convincing about the plan he didn’t have.

“We are going to die. You’ve got nothing, and we’re going to die. That’s just great,” She said with a bit of panic starting to build.

“If you don’t mind turning around and using that laser pistol again, I think we’d both appreciate it.” He said somewhat hurriedly.

She spun, fired, and made sure the repellent thing wouldn’t bother them again and turned back to him. “Didn’t mind at all, but perhaps a little more warning next time?”

“Where did you learn to shoot like that? I mean, like, wow.” He asked her.

She smiled at him, which ended that conversation. “Got any bright ideas yet?”

“I’d like to know if any more of those things are around.” Reluctantly, he stuck his head around the bulkhead, and after looking both directions in the corridor, he announced, “Don’t see any. Let’s go.”

“Go where?” she asked. “What if we run into more of them?”

“Hmm. Good point. Well, as I see it, you’re the crack shot with the laser pistol, so I’ll defer that problem to you should it arise.”

“A woman’s work is never finished.” She said under her breath.

“What’s that?” he asked, not hearing her clearly.

“Nothing.” She replied, then went on. “So tell me what’s next.”

“Simple,” he said. “We have to get to the control room.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but do you know the way? She asked.

“Of course I do.” He replied with total confidence.

“That’s the first bit of good news since this started. You know you’re way there, so you’ve been on this ship before.” She said happily.

“Nope. Never been on one of these before.” He said with a bit of a smile creeping up on his face.

“Okay. So somehow you’ve seen the layout plans for it.”

“Nope.” He added with a smile getting bigger.

“Come on. This is serious.” She said. “You’re not familiar with this ship at all, yet you know the way to the control room.”

“I do indeed,” he replied in what he hoped was a serious tone.

“Then how do you know which way to go?” she asked, then added, “And you can wipe that stupid smile off your face.”

He said nothing. He raised his arm with a finger, pointing to something behind her.

She turned and looked and saw what he was referring to. Control Room was stencilled on the wall with an arrow pointing the way.

He was still standing there while she read the words and turned to him. “Don’t be smart.”

He broke into a laugh, and before long, she was laughing with him.

They finally stopped laughing as the same thought came to them at the same time. “If there’s any more of those things around, we just gave ourselves away.” He said for both of them. “Let’s go,” he said, then added, “Ladies first.”

“Like hell, I’m going first,” she said while giving him a push to lead the way.

“Alright already. I’m going, I’m going and stay close.”

“If I get any closer, you’ll feel my breath on your neck,” she said.

“Have you noticed at every corridor intersection, there’s always the direction to the control room stencilled on the wall?” He said as they pressed onwards.

“Good thing it is. This ship is big.” She exclaimed.

Shortly, he came to a stop, and she ran right into him. “Don’t stop like that without telling me.” She said.

“We’re here,” he said, ignoring what she said.

She stepped from behind him and saw a door, more like a steel hatch, with the words Control Room Authorized Personnel Only Beyond This Point stencilled on it. “Let’s go in,” she said, opening the hatch.

“Will you look at all that stuff. Gauges, dials, switches, lights, readouts, and I have no idea what all that other stuff is.” He said in amazement.

“This is fantastic,” she said, looking all around. “I’ve never seen anything like this. By the way, what are we looking for?”

“Something that shows our location in space and a communication system,” he replied, adding, “And don’t touch anything.”

“I won’t,” she replied with that tone in her voice again.

He was on one side of the control room and suddenly said, “I think I’ve found the communications panel.”

She was leaning over a console when he said that, and she whirled around, saying, “Can you work it?”

“Not sure. Give me a minute.” He replied, intently studying the panel.

“Any ideas on what this flashing red and yellow light means?” she asked

“Probably just the systems checking the ship’s condition,” he answered, then suddenly said, “Flashing red and yellow light? What red and yellow light?”

“This one.” She said, pointing to it.

“Is there any writing or tags saying what it’s for?” he asked hesitantly.

“Umm, yes, there is.”

He asked, “What does it say?”

“ESDS all in capitals. Why?” she asked.

“That red and yellow flashing light indicates a switch has been activated. Did you

touch it?” he asked as he started walking over to where the light was flashing.

“I don’t think so. Wait, maybe I did when you called out suddenly.”

“Oh no,” he said as his face turned ghostly white.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s pushed in. The button. It’s pushed in.”

“So?”

“ESDS means Emergency Ship Destruct System. And you pushed it.” He said.

“I didn’t push it. I may have bumped it when you suddenly called out, startling me.” She said, raising her voice to make her point. “And even if I did, it’s your fault. You shouldn’t have startled me.”

“My fault? How can it be my fault when I wasn’t even near it?”

She started to argue, but he cut her off. “It was an accident. Okay? An accident. Nobody’s fault.”

“You better mean that.” She said coldly. “And just how do you know what it is anyway?”

“I’ve read about them. All deep spaceships have it fitted in case of trouble and no way out of it.”

She went white. “So, what now?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“We get off this thing, and we do it fast.” He said.

She started to say something, but he motioned for her to be quiet. “Now what? I just …”

He cut her off and said, “Be quiet.” He was straining his ears and moving his head around, trying to hear something.

“What?” she asked.

“Don’t you hear it?” he asked her.

“Hear what? I don’t hear anything.” She said.

“That’s just it. There’s no sound. The rumble of the engine has stopped. The air conditioning system has quit, and I’m pretty sure the life support system has shut down as well. Gravity will most likely go next.”

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we? She asked quietly.

He nodded his head in the yes, we’re in trouble way. “Come with me.” He said, grabbing her arm.

She hesitated and asked, “Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer and just pulled hard on her arm to get her moving.

They were both running now. He knew what he had to find and found it quickly.

“What are we looking for? She asked in between panting breaths.

“This.” He said as he hit the big red button by a hatch. The door slid open, and he shoved her through it just as the gravity in the ship stopped working. He pulled on the edge of the hatch, launching himself in with a bit too much energy, and he hit the wall of the tiny room.

“Escape pod.” He said while trying to get to the controls. She was closer to them, so he said “Push that green button and pull that red leaver down. And grab something to hold onto.”

She pushed the green button, and the hatch slammed shut while there was a sound of escaping air. Pulling the red leaver down as, he said, caused a deafening roar as they were pushed against the back wall by the thrust of the escape pod.

“Acceleration.” He said. “Getting us away from the ship as fast and as far as it can before …”

He was cut off not by any sound but by the light of the ship as it exploded. “Cover your eyes,” he said.

“This is going to be rough” he said as their tiny pod was tossed and thrown in all directions from the blast wave of the destructing ship.

“Wake up,” he said as he gently nudged her. “It’s alright. We’re safe.”

She opened her eyes with a start and a terrified look on her face. “Are we …” she started to ask.

“We’re alive and safe.” He said. “The shock wave from the ship shook us around so much that we must have passed out. No idea yet how long we’ve been out or where we are. But we’re okay.”

She was completely disoriented and started to sit up.

“Stay laying there for a few more minutes until you get your bearings. Getting tossed around like that is hard on a person.” He said.

“By the way, we haven’t introduced ourselves.” He mentioned calmly to her. “My name’s Jaxson, but you can call me Jax.” He let that stand for a moment, then asked, “And yours would be?”

“Paige,” she answered with a smile.