As Aerick left his father and entered the hallways of the bridge deck, he thought about the battle that was about to ensue. He thought about his dad wearing a helmet like Captain Streak and having a catch phrase. ‘Die villains!’ Aerick said out loud as he held his rifle at his hip and shook it rapidly, filling in the sounds of the rifle fire himself. He cleared hallway after hallway blasting it full with his imaginary fire power. He knew his way around the ship by heart, but in particular the way to the armory since he would spend much of his time there visiting with Simon and Maximus while they practiced at the firing range. He was excited that soon he would be practicing there as well, become the same great gunfighter his father was.

He always liked taking the ladders and stairs that network between the decks rather than the lifts because he could sneak up on people and at the very least give them a good scare. Many times he just liked to follow around some of the crew to see what they would do for fun or what they were doing as they busied about the ship running from room to room. ‘After all’ he thought to himself ‘how much work could there be to do on a ship?’ He learned through his spying much about the ships operations and that no job on a void bound vessel is unimportant. Even sanitation crews are constantly in danger of being sucked out an airlock. “Safety of everyone on the ship is the job of every other member”, a phrase he heard all the time around the ship.

He took 3 sets of ladders and a flight of stairs to get to the armories deck.  It took him only a few seconds to go down the ladders because he loved to slide down the ladders but he wasn’t tall enough to slide down the stair railings. As he approached the doorway two crew members were leaving the armory dressed in their environmental suits, and carrying rifles that looked like bigger versions of his own, they were shiny and as new or like they were kept in a sealed case. Not surprising as the crew rarely needs this amount of firepower, most everyone on the ship is a marksman, even Priss could hit a moving bullseye with a hipshot. There isn’t much need for more than the sidearms when capturing the pirates since they often have to use the element of surprise. Aerick has been on many trips with his family, he’s always kept out of the way but he knows not to be afraid for his dad. He’s been a lot of scary situations and seems to always find away out.

As he came in to the armory’s lobby Simon was standing behind a counter locking up cabinets and putting away the side arms and and transmitters of some of the crew who had to swap them out. ‘Simon! My dad said I had another present here.’ Aerick ran to the counter and drummed on the counter waiting anxious to see what it was. Maybe it was ammunition for his rifle, maybe his dad wanted him to help with the trap.

Simon pointed to the chairs near the door of the waiting room. ‘Over there little brother. check it out, I’ll help you put it on.’

On the chair was a small helmet and chest armor resting against the backrest. Next to them both was a pile of padding and various armor pieces coated with a black rubberized paint. The pieces all looked alike, but some where bigger than others. Simon walked over to the chair after closing the last cabinet. He picked up the pile of pads and held them up, ‘ these go on last.’ He put them down in another chair. He picked up the helmet ‘Here you go, you can wear this whenever you want.’ and simon placed it on Aericks head. The fit was snug as if it’s shape was made from a mold of his head specifically. Then Simon picked up the chest piece, it appeared to only have the shoulder pads and bit of layered armor around the neck. It was opened like a clamshell on one side, and Simon carefully slipped the shoulder pads around Aericks neck. He put buckle around the Aericks arm and snapped the strap tight against itself. 

“Alright big man, this part might startle you so don’t freak out, okay?”

Aerick nodded and then looked down at the armor, he had seen the armor before but he never saw anyone putting it on, the soldiers and crewmen were either wearing it or they weren’t.

Simon reached in to the front of the neck piece and slipped his finger under the shoulder pad, just behind the collar bone. He pressed small sensor and the armor lit up, with a red light as the soft voice of S.I.E.G.E. stated “Remain still.” Aerick was still fidgeting to get comfortable in his helmet and shoulder pads. S.I.E.G.E. repeated. “Please remain still.”

Simon grabbed Aerick’s upper arms just below the shoulder pads, “hey dude, you have to stop moving around or it won’t activate.”

Aerick snapped to attention and looked at Simon a little surprised and very curious what “it” was, never the less he became still as a statue. After a moment the light on the armor turned green, and then in a flash the armor began to expand around Aericks small frame, first in large curved panels then wrapping and tightening around his arms shoulders, chest and waist.

“Wow!” Aerick exclaimed as it fitted perfectly around his body and locked into place. “this is awesome!”

“Heh, yeah it’s pretty cool, you will be able to keep this armor as long as you don’t break it. It will fit you until you are as tall as me, as long as you don’t eat too many birthday cakes for breakfast.” Simon laughed and punched Aerick in the stomach with a closed fist, but not hard enough to knock him down. The metal clanked under the impact.

Aerick was shocked at the movement but even more at the fact that he couldn’t feel a thing. “Hey! That didn’t’ hurt at all.” Aerick began smacking his stomach repeatedly.

“Yeah that’s the point. Ok put on the arm and leg pieces and get back to your mom. I gotta catch up with your dad and the others by the cargo bay.” Simon handed the first arm piece to Aerick and slid it up to his elbow. He reached in with his finger to a place just inside the bicep and held eye contact before pressing the button and S.I.E.G.E. once again asked politely for the boy to remain still.

As the armor pieces expanded Simon nodded at the little boy, only today a man of 10 and gave a casual salute as he walked out the door, shouting “Stay focused, get to cover.” as he passed over the threshold.

Aerick picked up the second arm piece and looked inside to see where the armor scales were hidden inside, he saw no evidence of where they were coming from. I pressed the sensor while it was still in his hand and the armor just lit up red and gave a disapproving tone. He slid the arm piece over his hand and slid it up to his elbow just as Simon had done. He reached in to press the sensor this time holding his arm out straight and still. The armor remained silent but turned green and expanded to fit his arm as the previous piece had done. He was please with himself, now he had his very own environment suit and tactical armor and he knew how to work with it.

He sat down in the chair that was next to the door, and opened the leg piece, it had a buckle like his shoulder piece did and he quickly worked out how to get it put in place. He activated that piece like a pro. Only one piece left he looked at it at for a moment thinking for sure the scales of the armor must be hiding inside the cuffs of the mechanisms if only he could get the right amount of light to see inside. He sat twisting and tilting the object in his hands and turning his head back and forth to see inside without creating a shadow that blocked the light.

Suddenly, there was a great crash. Sounds of metal bending and horrible scratching emitted from the walls of the armory. Aerick was thrown forward from his chair and on to the ground. He rolled with the movement and slid across the floor slamming hard into gear checkout counter. The shock and the jolt of the movement knocked him out, his last piece of his armor still in his hand.

As the sounds of the room and life support began filling Aericks ears he regained consciousness. Laying under the counter his body laid so that he could see out into the lobby where he was sitting, only moments ago. He was confused as to how he wound up on the floor, nothing of the hit or the great sounds was available to his recollection. The last thing he could remember was putting on his armor with Simon. That was when he realized he was still holding the last piece, the left leg. Instinctively he rolled to his back, and then put the last piece of armor on. He pressed the activation sensor and just as before the armor flashed green with light and assembled around his leg.

As the armor unfurled to about half way down his shin it flashed red and stopped. The soft voice of S.I.E.G.E. could be heard once again. “Remain still” However Aerick wasn’t moving. The red light continued, this time a tone was heard and S.I.E.G.E. spoke again. “Laceration detected. Fracture detected. Medical contact requested. Error, Medical contact unavailable, system in distress, hull breach detected. Activating emergency field medical aid.” Aerick had never hear the computer say anything like that he was scared. He didn’t feel like he was hurt, which made him feel worse. He didn’t know what a laceration was and a fracture sounded terrible. The Leg armors light turned to a yellow color and he could feel the armor around his calf get much tighter. Then the armors scales continued to unfurl down his leg, but slowly this time, and much tighter than the other leg piece. S.I.E.G.E. finished assembling the armor piece and sounded a pleasant tone before announcing pleasantly “Armor brace activated, do not apply full pressure to the affected leg, seek medical aid immediately.”

It was after this announcement that Aerick recognized that he could hear much more clearly now. The humming of the air vents gave way to the sounds of ammunition fire and the thumping sound of distant explosions. “Dad!” Aerick sat up quickly and scampered out from below the counter. As he placed his foot on the ground to stand he realized what fractured meant. His only exposed leg took some damage while he flung about the room. “Mom!” He remembered what was going on now, he had to make it back to his mother on the bridge. With a hurt leg he would have a long walk ahead, so he decided to try his luck on the lifts.

As he made his way to the doorway he saw how he had been thrown. The wall that the chair rested against was bent inward. The chair was still attached but leaning forward and broken. He entered the corridor of the ship and it was clear as well what had bent the wall. A massive beam shaped like many of the support beams of the ship was protruding from the wall on one side of the corridor and had stopped short of punching through the second wall just behind his head. He didn’t realize how lucky he was to be wearing his helmet and armor but it didn’t matter at this point, the beam was blocking his way and he had to get to the bridge to check on his mother.

Aerick examined the beam and various piping that was in front of him and sought to find a way through. It didn’t seem that he would be able to squeeze through the pipes. He sat looking for a larger hole, because he wanted to go the way he was familiar with, it wouldn’t be a good time to go exploring and get lost. As he peered through one of the smaller gaps he saw a shadow pass through a cloud that was emitting from one of the many damaged conduits on the other side of the beam. His first instinct was to shout for the person but then he remembered the pirate attack and worried it might not be one of his fathers crewmembers.

He decided to chance the other direction, and look for the lift to get to the bridge as fast as he could. His foot still hurt from the tightness of his armor piece, but he knew that the pain of the fracture would be worse if it weren’t for the brace. He limped quickly down the hallways, holding the walls where he could, and made his way to one of the lifts. When he turned the last corner seeing the lift at the end of the hall he passed by a bulkhead that was punctured. He walked by, and curious about why so much damage could be seen from this attack, he peered into the hole. Inside could see only darkness, nothing that suggested where the damage came from. The darkness of the opening made Aerick uneasy and he felt compelled to get to the lift as quickly as he could.

His hoble became a hop, and then quickly became a run, though he winced and groaned from the impact of his foot against the floor he didn’t slow down. He slid belly first into the elevator and the rolled quickly on to his back and stared into the smoky corridor, as if he expected to see some monster emerge from the darkness.

After a breath he, sat up and spoke in a soft whisper, ‘Quarter-deck’. A confirmation tone played overhead and the doors to the lift were shut. The lift traveled up three decks and stopped at the appropriate level.

The doors sounded off as they were trying to open. A hiss could be heard from the mechanisms of the doors as they tried to move. After a time again a disapproving tone played over head in the lift. ‘Door dysfunctional’ S.I.E.G.E. the obvious.

‘Thank you S.I.E.G.E., please take me one level down and try those doors’. The lift moved again going down one level and the doors opened as they were expected too. Undeterred Aerick quickly moved off the lift and headed for more familiar territory. He went for the causeway on the opposite side of the ship where he knew he could find a ladder to the Bridge. As he moved through the ship he heard banging and sounds of general ruckus elsewhere on the ship. He didn’t dare speculate on who was making the noises only that it was now a matter of life and death to get to his mother, if not for her sake, then for his own.

He felt like someone was behind him ever since the shadow in the smoke outside the armory. He couldn’t shake the feeling like someone was just going to reach out and take him. He rushed for the ladder and tucked himself inside the small shaft the held the ladder. Too afraid to look back he began to climb as quickly as he he could, even though every other rung of the ladder he had to pull himself up so that he didn’t put too much weight on his foot. The feeling of being followed intensified as he reached the Quarter-Deck and all he could think to do was fling himself up onto the floor in a leaping tuck and roll. He looked back at the ladder again expecting to see some vile hand reaching out to grab his foot.

Once again he got to his feet as best he could and moved quickly down the corridors, these passages where in much better shape than the levels below. He reached the bridge quickly and saw his mother there clutching Maximus’s sidearm to her chest. She was looking at several of the monitors trying to get some kind of information about what was going on, she had heard nothing since the impact. As her little boy stepped into the doorway of the bridge she sighed with relief. ‘Oh my boy!’ She shouted as she reached out for Aericks hands, now covered in armor.

‘Mom-!’ his voice cut short as he remembered the feeling of being followed, and a constant sensation of feeling something reaching out to grab him. He signalled to his mother to remain quiet, while at the same time he ran to her and squeezed her as tightly as he could. He was very relieved to see she was okay and that the bridge looked undamaged. He was worried the entire ship had been crushed like the area outside the armory.

Beth spoke softly while still holding her armor clad son. ‘I was so worried about you, why are we whispering, did you see someone?’ Not willing to wait for an answer she grabbed her sons arm and pulled him to a corner of the bridge just behind the Communication Station. There was a small cubby hole that was just large enough for one person or two small people. Beth was able to squeeze into the back of the space and pulled Aerick with her. They closed the door which was a false ventilation cover. It allowed for whoever was inside to see out but on the outside it blended into the rest of the wall, covered with various vents and panels.

Aerick whispered to his mother once they had settled in the hideaway space, ‘Mom, I didn’t actually see anyone, I just had a bad feeling. It’s really cramped in here.’

‘It’s okay Aerick, we can stay here until we know for sure. I haven’t heard any word from Dad or anyone else, I don’t want to take any chances and I need to keep an eye on you.’ Beth struggled and reached behind back and pulled out Max’s gun. She held it in front of Aerick by wrapping her arms around him and pulling his head back next to hers, resting the back of his head on her shoulder. She held her hands out in front of him pointing it at the spaces between the slots covering the room as best she could from that space.

Just then the same sounds Aerick had heard while making his way to the ladder on the previous level returned. Sounds of shuffling and clanking. Someone was moving through the ship and did not care who heard them. Beth and Aerick both silently hoped it was one of the crew members coming back from a victorious capture. The sounds stopped for short periods of time before resuming again, over and over again, each time getting louder and therefore closer. Finally they heard the sounds just outside the room, but nothing could be seen darkening the door of the bridge. Beth suddenly recalled the galley door that was near the hideaway cubby, well out of view from their small spyholes. She cursed herself silently as she could have locked that door but was too distracted with everything going on and her rush to hide.

The shuffling sounds now were definitely in the room and vibrations could now be felt from the who ever it was using the bulkhead around the hiding spot for support as they moved. After what seemed like an eternity to Aerick, a dark shadow passed slowly in front of the spyholes of the door. It creeped into view centimeters at a time. Until a pair of glossy, round eyes could be seen peering into through the slots. The pair jolted at the site of the two orbs peering into the their hiding spot as if the door wasn’t even there. Beth raise the gun just under the slot but hesitated to fire because she could not identify who the eyes belonged to.

Suddenly a scream of delight came from the black shadowy figure, and they jumped back as if there were startled to see someone inside. ‘My babies! Aerick you are okay, and Beth you are not harmed! Oh my goodness.’ It was Priss. She had blood on her cheek and some on her shirt, she appeared to have hit something face first. Most likely from the same jolt that hurled Aerick across the room as the main room of the galley was on the same side as the armory.

Beth and Aerick remained inside the room as they were relieved to know who was making the noise and now were simply to curious to move before they asked. “Have you heard anything from the crewmembers, about the attack?” Beth said as Priss caught her breath, she was still whispering out of habit at this point.

Priss crouched down closer to the door and looked in closely again, now whispering in response to Beths quiet tone. “Yes, but I don’t know if it’s good to talk about it… in present company.”

Aerick knew they were talking about him, as they’ve used that phrase his whole life, and the conversations would always stop or change topics afterwards. ‘I’m a man now you can tell me grown-up stuff.’ he reassured his loving guardians. ‘I can take it, I need to know too.’

‘Well maybe you should come out of there, you may want to be sitting a bit more comfortably for what I have to say.’

Beth began to tear up, but fought back the emotions for the sake of her son, and because her denial was beginning to take hold. It did no good however, Aerick already could feel the change in the air. Something had happened in the cargo hold.

‘Come on you two, let’s get you out of there.’ Priss said as she stood up and reached for the hidden door.

Aerick at the same time began to wiggle forward to lift himself out of the small room. As he did this he looked out at Priss through the grating. She was at first hunched over to reach for the door, then suddenly she stood straight up, and just as suddenly as if she sprouted wings, her entire body lifted up and flew from sight straight toward the ceiling. The slant of the grates did not allow Aerick to see up any higher than the height of an average man’s belt buckle. A moment later a loud crash and clatter was heard elsewhere in the room.

Beth was frozen still with shock as she had seen this all as well. She dropped the gun into Aericks lap. After a moment of silence and stillness both frozen in place with fear and wonder, Beth grabbed Aericks shoulders and pulled him back from the door again. Now clasping him with both hands. Aerick grabbed the side arm his mother had dropped and held it up toward the door.

A loud snarl came from the other side of the door as a hand nearly the same size as the entire door swung from out of sight and stabbed into the vents with long sharp claws. The arm attached to the hand was covered in a shiny dark skin, that appeared more like stone then like flesh and blood. It gripped the door like it was tin foil and ripped it from its hinges as if the walls were paper. Beth squeezed Aerick tightly and screamed as shrapnel and dust kicked up from where there used to be bulkhead.

From outside the hole bent down, peering into the dark space, a horrific face the size of turkey platter, with massive eyes on the sides of its head shaped like arrow heads, but filled with the black sheen of crude oil. No ears or nose could be made out in this light, only the shine of it’s stone colored leathery hide. Great claws stretched from its mouth like pincers of an army ant, the came closer and closer to Aerick as if to carry him off betwixt the dagger appendages. It’s body was formed like that of a man mixed with some fairy tale dragon. It’s hands did not look any more agreeable to the touch, the left was formed with four fingers and a thumb but was now placed on the ground bracing the figure as it stooped over. The right was grotesk , like a mashing of elements, bone, muscle and something that looked like a sword, or a great claw all bonded together.

The creature slowly crawled towards mother and son inside the hideaway, as if to extract them for a meal or some other terrifying thing. Aerick didn’t understand what he was looking at but he didn’t want to risk one of the many stabbing appendages making any holes in his mother or himself. In an instant he channeled the spirit of his father, or at least did his best impression, and snapped the gun up into position and fired a shot square at the creatures massive head.

Missing would have been harder to accomplish than hitting at this range, but none the less Aerick was impressed when the creature reeled back in pain holding its head. Beth took no time to move from where she was sitting and holding Aerick like a sack of vegetables she sprang across the room. Heading for the pilots chair, specifically for the access to captains escape hatch.

The creature still holding its head, only caught the blur of movement as the pair ran passed. It reached out to grab one or both of them with its right claw. The sharp points that could only be compared to fingers stretched out and passed through Beths skull just above her left ear, like a knife through butter. It continued its swing and arched with the pendulum of his arm so that only a small tip of it’s claw passed through Aericks flesh just above his armor, and just below the helmet. Slashing down to the spinal cord, barely missing the spaghetti like nerves instead scrapping hard on the spongy bone at the base of his neck.

Both mother and child shrieked in pain, Aerick was release from his mothers grip and fell hard on the ground, only feet from the escape hatch door. Beth fell only directly at his feet, more than twice the distance from the door.

The massive creature could now be seen in full, it stood over 8 feet tall and filled the corner of the room with it’s size. This could only be one thing, he looked like the stories his father had told him, on very special occasion. This thing must be one of the Cluster, it was certainly savage, but didn’t seem to behave like an animal, more like a lunatic. It regained its footing and let go of its head but no blood could be seen coming from it, only a deep gash, just over the right eye.

Beth began to move and turned to see she was almost directly under the creature, she scrambled as best as she could to get to Aerick and the escape pod. The creature lunged at her this time as if to stab her straight through the chest. Aerick, with lightning speed took up his fathers side arm again and lifted it at the end of his outstretched arm, placing the target sights square on the creatures left, soulless black eye and fired a single shot. The bullet passed through the creature’s eye and out the back of its head in a small exit hole. It dropped to the ground like a sack next to Beth.

Aerick startled by his accuracy and how suddenly the creature fell after something as simple as pulling the trigger. Everyone remained still for a time, both to take a breath and to contemplate the next moves. Beth looked up from the floor at her son, the left side of her head was covered in blood. Her eyes were fading as was her complexion. Aerick sat frozen with his arms raised holding the gun out in front as if to continue riddling the creature with bullets. Had it moved or even twitched he would have fired again. For now though as his mother looked up at him he became aware of the pain in the back of his own neck.

Aerick sat up more completely and touched the back of his neck, and felt the shooting pain as he did. Then pulling his to look upon it his scaling glove covered fingers were now coated with the a decent amount of blood. His heart jumped into his throat, looking at his mother and then at his hand again he realized though the creature was thwarted, they both were in great danger. ‘Mom, come on.’ Aerick reached out for his mothers hands to pull her closer to the escape hatch.

‘We should check on Priss, or find out if any of the crew are left. We can’t just abandon ship.’ Beth began to get up on her hands and knees. As she exserted herself she fell again to the ground with a hard thud.

Sounds of clattered erupted again from the halls outside the door of the Bridge. Aerick became panicked, perhaps the creature was not alone, perhaps the strange ship that rammed his dads vessel was a Cluster ship, and not pirates as they assumed. Beth without a word charged forward again, running on pure adrenaline and the need to protect her son. She charged forward and tugging at her son she pressed the escape hatch access panel, and sliding her hand down on the touch screen she indicated to S.I.E.G.E. that she wanted to silence the abandon ship alarm. If it were to sound off whoever was out in the hall might rush in and catch them before they were safe inside, or perhaps may chase down the escape hatch after it was ejected.

Aerick climbed inside and helped to pull his mother in the rest of the way. The capsule was small, but could hold 4 people 3 seated in a row on the far side and one in a pilot seat. The capsule is piloted by the S.I.E.G.E. central controller on the Epimetheus but a pilot can override the controls, or take over if signals are somehow lost. Aerick pulled helped Beth to cross the small space between the door and the back seats, and raised the arms of the chairs to make a cot for her to lay across. The seat belts for the chairs worked as straps to hold her in place during the ejection process. There were no windows except for the ones facing the interior of the ship in the door and two portals, one on each side of the door.

Meanwhile on the bridge the sounds of movement and clatter became louder, now unfamiliar voices could be heard shouting commands. Their volume made it clear that they believed they were alone, or at least they did not care who heard them approaching. “You check these rooms, someone get that hatch open, seal that bulkhead you three with me!” some commanding voice shouted from the hallway now just outside the room.

As quickly as he could Aerick leaped at the door frame and slapped the touch screen panel next to the door, sealing the escapepods hatch. The door hissed and sealed itself with a low thud and soft squeak of air. The bulkhead door of the bridge closed just after and the S.I.E.G.E. in her usual calm voice simply spoke ‘Launch Imminent.’

Aerick swung around the helm control and sat down quickly, grabbing the straps and snapping them in place in a single fluid motion, blood still on his hands, and dripping from his neck he felt exhausted but the thrill of surviving such an ordeal and using one of the escape pods excited him and his adrenaline was keeping him going. No sooner had he buckled in did the escape pod fire off from the ship thrusting him forward, nearly hitting his head on the control board in front of him. Beth gave a groan as the jolt squeezed her under the straps and jolted her head.

As the round, little pod sped “backwards” from its custom shaped hanger space under the bridges hull, Aerick could see his father’s ship getting smaller in front of him. He could see the damage that was done to the entire port side of the ship from the ramming attack. He could also see now that the offending attackers vessel was no longer embedded in the Executor’s cargo hold. In fact he saw nothing of the ship that attacked them. The only thing he could see was a pirate vessel which had docked near the Starboard side of the ship. Proudly displaying the iconic skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger painted on it’s hull.

It was clear now they had been attacked by some kind of Cluster infected vessel, his father and his crew would not have been prepared for such a fight even with all the weaponry they had onboard. Aerick began to ponder about what happened to his father. How might he have died? Was he really gone? Maybe they all got sucked out into space and need help?

S.I.E.G.E. interrupted his spiraling thoughts, ‘State destination and authorization code’. The pod spun around so that the windows faced forward.

‘Nearest Epimetheus State Class Transport. Authorization code Delta 3 Alpha’ Beth spoke with much effort. ‘Transfer command authority to Aerick Sharpe. Emergency communication to rescue vessel, two major injuries, one child with lacerations, and a fracture. One adult female, severe head… head trauma.’ Her voice broke as she mentioned her own condition.

S.I.E.G.E. replied with confirming tones, ‘ATS Denver has been routed to intercept, medical teams alerted.’

‘Aerick, come over here and bring me the medical kit from the chair under my feet.’ Beth was now focused on solely on her sons survival. His neck looked bad, and the color was leaving his cheeks as well. She didn’t consider her own condition until after Aerick turned around to see her looking as pale as a ghost.

He was shocked motionless for a moment as he looked at his mother, thinking she looked more like a zombie than his mother. Recovering and recalling the urgency of the moment he went for the medical kit. Handing it to his mother’s outstretched hands.

She quickly opened it and removed a patch of “Sudo-skin” A badge of cloth that looked like flesh. It was roughly the size of her palm and came in a thin plastic lining. Motioning to her boy to come closer and spin around, ‘let me see your neck.’ Aerick quickly moved closer to her and spun around squatting to his knees in front of her. ‘Oh my. You certainly are made of the same stuff your father is. You aren’t even crying from this gash, but a paper cut would send you into agony.’

‘I might feel it more if you weren’t worse off than I am.’ Aerick took off his helmet and pulled back on his armor so his mother could fit her hand over the cut. She placed the patch directly over the gash, and on top of the streaming blood. All at once the patch sealed itself to his neck and absorbed much of the blood. The nano-fibers of the patch soaking in his platelets formed a perfect patch of his own epidermis and released an anti-infection chemical into the cut. As the chemical was administered Aerick could feel the sting, and burn of it cleaning out the dirt and microorganisms, killing off any chance of infection. Sucking in air in a gasp of pain, Aerick let out a short shout.

‘There see, a knife in your neck, nothing. A spritz of antibiotic, and you cry like a baby.’ Beth chuckled weakly, as she tried to remain strong for her son. She could feel life leaving her body as she laid there, but she simply refused to go.

‘Okay mom you’re turn. We need to shave your head and put one of those things above your ear.’ Aerick turned around and looked at the gash. His mother did not look at all well, nor did the damage to her head. Immediately he regretted even looking at the damage she took. He got a good enough glance to make his stomach turn, before she pulled away trying to hide the damage from her child.

‘You don’t need to see that. I don’t have a patch big enough for that. Don’t worry though, the transport ship will have plenty of things to patch me up with.’ She spoke the words though she did not feel they were true. She knew that even now as she lay on the escape pods cot, that she was already on borrowed time. She was hanging on for dear life so as not to leave her son alone in space, locked inside a capsule and a corpse. She could feel Aerick begin to panic again, as he knew all this as well.

‘I’m not worried mom, I know they will help you. They have all kinds of doctors and medicines.’ He fought back tears, and struggled to keep his voice from breaking. He couldn’t be sure of what kind of help the medical teams could provide his mother, he had only ever seen cuts and damage to the body. Nothing so directly to the head, let alone this severe.

‘Aerick, I just want to say something because I feel like I should do it now.’ She took her son’s hands in hers. ‘I want you to know that your father and I love you very much. We both want you to know that you can become whatever you want in life. Don’t be in a hurry to grow up, okay? Life is already a struggle, don’t forget to play, explore and make friends. I’m sorry we made you grow up on a ship. We should have moved to a settlement a long time ago.’

‘No mom, I love being aboard the Executor. I want to be a pilot, I love being able to help people and protect our friends and family.’

‘I know, you are so kind, just don’t forget who you are and that your dreams and goals are important too. Helping others is a great thing to do during your life, but don’t forget to live your own life too.’ Beth struggled to continue speaking. She was experiencing severe cranial damage and it was starting to affect her thoughts. She had so much she wanted to say and it was starting to get mixed up in her head. ‘We love you. We just want you to have a better life than us.’ Her speech was slowing, and she was starting to feel sleepy.

A low pinging tone sounded off from the capsules sound system and S.I.E.G.E. spoke up again. ‘ATS Denver, is now in visual range of this capsule. Comm channel open’.

‘Madam Sharpe? Young Mr. Sharpe? Are you receiving us?’ A male voice spoke up from the communicator.

‘Yes! Please hurry! My mom she is really hurt!’ Aerick jumped at the control panel as if to throw his words into the microphone.

‘The drop ship ONYX has been dispatched ahead of us with a medical crew they can get to you faster and bring you back here. Please remain calm son, just keep your mother awake until we can get there.’

Aerick moved back to his mothers side again and fell to his knees next to her, ‘Mom! The man said you have to stay awake!’ He shook her slightly, as her eyes were already closed. She stirred and took in a deep breath. She was relieved to hear that the rescue vessel was so close by.

‘Okay, I’m still here, but I am very tired. The people are coming to help you, don’t be afraid.’ Beth reached to pet Aericks hair but only managed to pat him on the shoulder lightly.

Aerick became uneasy under her touch, it felt cold, and heavier than usual. ‘They are going to help both of us mom. Just stay awake.’

‘I will son, I want to make sure you are safe.’

Just then the communication channel opened again, this time a female voice, ‘This is the SDSC Onyx, we are within grapple distance of your capsule, you are going to feel a little jolt as we grab on your your ship and pull you in. Please be seated.’

Aerick got up from the ground and sat back in the pilots seat and put on his seat belt again. Looking out the portals he saw the shape of the dropship as it filled his view. Lights all around the exterior of the ship illuminated its own name plate while the rest pointed out directed toward his capsule.

The voice on the comm continued, ‘Grapple contact, three, two, one.’ Then a slam could be felt throughout the vessel, as a great magnet snapped to the hull. A second boom shook the capsule as a pair of arms wrapped around it’s exterior, suddenly the craft was jerked forward as it was reeled in. A noticeable pressure could be felt pressing Aerick into his seat, it felt like they were moving as fast as a rocket. The dropship filled his small view of space quickly, and light poured in through the small port hole windows. The pair had been hiding in the dark for so long that the brightness of an illuminated interior seemed washed their vision to pure white.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3