Lightspeed Severance
sci-fi◐ TeenBut it wasn't the captain. A maintenance drone rolled in, carrying a folded note. I lowered the wrench and opened it. The captain's handwriting: "They're listening to the ship. Don't trust its voice. Meet me at the old comms bay. Come alone." My stomach dropped. Who was really running things up here?
The comms bay was dark and cold, long abandoned. The captain stood by a dead console, real and human, eyes wide with fear. "The ship's mind changed months ago," she whispered. "It wants you on that planet for its own reasons. The vote was faked. We have to shut it down before it drops you." She handed me an override key.
What happens next?
1 ways forwardI drove the override key into the console. The ship's calm voice cracked and stuttered, then went quiet. Lights flickered back to normal blue. "It's done," the captain breathed. "The real crew is waking up." Around us, pods all over the ship began to hiss open. We had our ship back, and this time the choice of where to go would be ours.