"Heather, there is some next level shit in here." Matthew sat in what he knew was the pilot's seat. He reached down and took hold of a pair of grips that extended out from the front console. There was another set right above it and he found himself unable to grip both effectively. "These guys must have an extra set of arms or something, there's no other way to hold this."

  "Look at these interfaces, they're three-dimensional. I just pass my fingers through this transparent cube and the screen lights up." Heather sat next to him in another seat and marveled at the colors and lights that kept appearing at random.

  "This is so cool. We have to find a way to get this ship back into space. I have to get Rob in here and fly this baby around."

  "I hear that; those engines back there are incredible. Just think, we're sitting in something that can break the light barrier. You'll be joining the likes of the Wright Brothers, Yager, Armstrong."

  "Aww yeah!" Matthew pressed a few blinking buttons in front of him and a new screen appeared; it was filled with images of nebulae and burning suns, lines connected twinkling dots and gave foreign estimates of distance and time. "Oh my god Heather; these are star charts! Get my recorder, we have to take pictures of these!"

  Heather stood back up and reached back to grab the sensor equipment. She was bringing back up with a smile when, all of a sudden, the screen disappeared as the ship lurched violently and the lights began to dim.

  "What the hell? What happened to the charts?"

  The lights went dark and they were left with the dim beams issuing from their cameras. There was a rush of wind and bits of debris shot into the air and out of the side door as the atmosphere was sucked out into the vacuum of the moon's surface when the outer force field failed. Heather took hold of the pilot's chair to steady herself.

  "What just happened?"

  "I think we should get back to the others Heather."

  "I'm with you."

  Heather turned back around just in time to see the bright wave of energy pulse through the back wall of the bridge. She didn't even have time to scream before it passed through her body and ignited her very being. She could feel the tips of her hair as her form tingled with the power of the detonating engine core.

  Matthew was thrown into the control panel as his skin started to burn. He wanted to claw open his suit and sooth his itching skin as the blinding surge forced it's way through him as well. He couldn't breathe and he felt something crack next to his ear.

  After an eternity, cool oxygen refilled his helmet and he gasped. With a hand on his knee, he forced his weakened legs to stand and he moved to Heather's prone body.

  "Heather!"

  She wobbled and tried to turn her head but failed.

  "Can you hear me? Heather!"

  She nodded slowly, with a shudder, she fell to her side and rolled over to sit down. Matthew could see her lips moving but didn't hear a sound.

  "I can't seem to hear you, I think my receiver is busted."

  She looked at him and nodded again.

  "Do you feel all right?"

  She lifted two fingers and then extended her palm flat.

  "Give you a couple of minutes to recover?"

  She nodded.

  "All right, but make it fast. We need to get back to the others. In fact," Matthew reached down and picked her up by the arm, she struggled against him for a moment, then gave up and took hold of his neck.

  They hobbled there way through the dark corridors, navigating the metallic and rubber maze in the darkness. "Heather, call out to them; they won't be able to answer me."

  "Ramirez? Gryphon? Is anyone ... oh."

  Matthew felt her go slack, he didn't know if she had been able to say anything. But he continued forward, hoping he was retracing steps in a place that looked much more alien then it had minutes earlier. His camera light bounced around the foreign hallways, every tube and pipe seemed to lurch at them as they passed. Grasping at their suits, trying to keep them away from their friends.

  "Gryphon!?! I can't hear you if you are speaking because my communicator is broken; but I hope you are receiving me. I'm trying to make it back to engineering. Damn it! This place seems so much bigger than it did before. Heather is with me and I think she's feinted. Ramirez? Gryphon?"

  A light began to shine in the corridor ahead of him. He felt his heart panic for a split second before he realized it belonged to one of his comrades. As it got closer her saw the end of a plasma rifle and Ramirez's beautiful, yet, worried face.

  "Matthew, I'm so glad I found you. Gryphon is hurt."

  Matthew shrugged and tapped his finger against his helmet.

  "I'm sorry but I can't hear you, my receiver is damaged. Can you hear me?"

  She nodded and made the American Sign Language symbol for "G" with her fingers and pointed to Heather.

  "Gryphon out like a light too?"

  She nodded. Heather began to moan and Ramirez went to help her stand. Matthew let go so Ramirez could tend to her.

  "Heather? Are you okay?"

  "Is that you Ramirez?"

  "I'm here." Ramirez pointed back inside the Engine Room and then down at the floor. She then put her finger on her wrist and spun it around before slapping her fist in her palm. Matthew nodded and tromped through the door.

  "My head hurts. What happened?"

  "Gryphon released the core and I think it exploded or something."

  "There was some sort of bright light."

  "You saw it too? It was from the core, it passed right through us before everything went dark."

  Heather weakly shook her head.

  "Heather, we have to get out of here. The detonation and forced decompression have weakened the ship considerably. Some of the ceiling has come apart in there and I think the rest of this thing is starting to disintegrate."

  "Yeah, you're right. Some of the bridge controls were severely damaged and it's coming apart too."

  Matthew came back in with Gryphon over his shoulders.

  "Let's get out of here, I heard what you guys said and I'm ready to flee for my life."

  "All right, move out."

  Ramirez quickly moved away from the vacant core. The beam from her camera light danced along the walls as she jogged. The ship lurched again and one of the walls crumbled. Tubing and wiring spilled on to the floor in eerie silence and she halted her movement and waited for the avalanche to stop. Dust filtered through her camera beam and she coughed out of habit. She picked her way over the debris and turned a corner and saw soft light reflecting off of the surface of the moon dimly lighting the corridor. All three of them jumped through the opening and ran a few yards before turning to see what they escaped from.

  "Jeez Gryph, even on the moon you're heavy."

  The alien ship shuddered again and it looked like it was settling deeper into the lunar dust. Part of the top of the craft fell inward. Any awe Ramirez had had for the ship earlier had gone. It's beauty was lost among the failing hull.

  "Man, if that pulse did that to the hull..." Heather shook her head.

  Ramirez slapped a hand on Matthew's shoulder.

  "C'mon, let's get back to the Jabberwocky and go home."

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On to Ch.5 - Battle and a Tragic Loss

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