Prologue
Orion-6
PROLOGUE
Records of Admiral Dawson, Commander of the PLTV Sun-Moon – Orion-6 Orbit
“Sir! We’ve lost power from section 12 and down. Hull thrusters will not be able to keep us out of Orion-6 orbit.” The flight deck pilot said from behind his controls.
“The Category 7 solar flare killed our communication network as well Sir.” The Communications Officer said. It was worst-case scenario. We were floating in an unexplored constellation and moments away from locking in a planets orbit.
“Launch our emergency beacons back down our flight path before we enter orbit. Get someone down to the engineering deck and get the power back on.” I said to my flight deck crew.
Days earlier I received a report from my Communications Officer that there was an emergency beacon in the orbit of Orion-6. It was only a 48-hour detour from our original flight path. Rothcard Corporation Statute, Title 12, Emergency Beacons & Space – Sub-chapter B.10 States: ‘Any Rothcard Corp. vessel classified in emergency status within Testral travel will be inspected and reported on.’ As the Admiral of the Sun-moon it was my job to adhere to those rules.
We were now moments away from entering Orion-6’s orbit. One of the constellations red dwarf stars was creeping its way out from behind Orion-6. It was beautiful, but with it came a looming feeling of mortality. I found myself staring into the glowing ball of red, as its particles circled and flared, arcing and lashing. A black spot emerged at its center. The longer I stared the more it curled, slowly it took the shape of an eye, looking back at me, looking into me, into my soul. 26 years of space command and I have never experienced such a feeling. My heart burned inside as my darkness ached to get out. Great affinity grew with this red star. A stranger to me but somehow I knew it. I recognized the star slowly like a moment of Déjà vu. I felt eyes watching me, the feeling of someone standing over me. Darkness began to close in around me like staring into in a single spot in a dark room, my eyes adjusted to the black eye of the red sun and the rest became dark. I began to smile. Uncontrollably my cheeks pulled and ached as the smile grew and my jaw clenched. The corners of my mouth expanded more and more, rising, and pulling. My lips began to tear and bleed as the inhuman smile took over me.
“SIR!” The words brought me back, years of habitual laser focus when I hear the word saved me from the insanity of the star. I looked to the source of the word. It was my flight pilot so engulfed inside his own fear he did not notice my captivation of the darkness. “We lost power to the entire ship!” His fear of death took over his ability to think past the issue and problem solve. I looked around the ship. Some looking towards me for guidance, some hacking away into their controls, most frozen in time gazing into the red star. I couldn’t help to feel a feeling of relief. We were burning to the surface of Orion-6, ultimately to our deaths from impact but I was happy.
“Gentlemen…” I said loudly, grabbing the attention of every soul on the deck. All eyes filled with fear and regret. Hope was lost. My grin slowly grew back in the fearful eyes of my crew. “We’re home.”
