A Captain's Folly - Part 1 (Short Story)

in Scholar and Scribelast month (edited)


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"It's not going to hold!" One of the crew members shouted, barely taking a second to look from his screen.

"It'll hold hold! It has to!" The captain shouted his reply, praying that it would.

A ship traveling at jump speed was essentially a ball of pure light, flying through the galaxy faster than the speed of light. The captain knew it was down to multiple components housed within the ship. He also knew that a malfunctioning system wouldn't allow the jump to happen in the first place.

In his mind, a picture of a circuit was drawn through a silhouette of his vessel. No breaks in that circuit resulted in jump speed. A break, didn't allow that to happen. A sudden break, mid jump, would tear the little ball of light a sunder.

Debris would be scattered across their travel path, and while it would make for a cool image, the captain knew he would much rather stay whole.

"We need to drop, now!" Another crew member frantically shouted. "Please, captain, you have to let us drop." They pleaded, as they fell to their knees.

The captain tried not to look at him. Tried not to feel their fear.

"We can't."

There was so much more the captain wanted to say. He wanted to give an explanation, one that might just quell their doubts. He could not do that though. He was far too afraid to think straight, let alone speak.

"Why can't we? At least try. Just look at us and tell us why!" The crew member from before jumped from his knees, and his tears turned to white hot anger and frustration.

"He's going to kill us all!"

The captain could barely make out all of the words of the now angry mod of his subordinates.

A once stoic team, was now hate filled. A once calm team, was now screaming with rage. A once loyal team, was now in the midst of a full on mutiny.

The captain didn't have time to reach for his side arm before being swarmed and loosing any opportunity to defend his position at the head of the ship.

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Ouch, an intense situation but one a captain must be prepared to face I guess. Nice work cramming so much emotion and anxiety into a short piece! Going to read part two now.
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