Fifty-five minutes and counting. {{Redux}}00:24 Feb 04 2012
Times Read: 650
The firefight between the Earthforce ships and their enemy raged on, without Simon Chevalier, as his starfighter had crashed an hour earlier.
Although it’d become standard practice to be hooked up to life-support during a battle, so as to conserve the pilot’s suit power, Simon was glad of his paranoia, which had meant he would go into battle fully suited up; and with little or no reliance on the ship.
This time, his penchant for self-preservation in combat had saved his life. Yet…
The ship had taken a hit.
But, Simon Chevalier had been on a run and caught in that moment of Now, he had not noticed the small red light indicating a power outage.
And, that’s when his ship had begun to behave as he’d been taught it shouldn’t and as the small craft lurched violently out of his control it had been caught in the asteroids gravitational field.
And then he had been dragged toward planetfall, far faster than he had expected.
He’d tried several bursts of retrofire… which should have been sufficient to slow his rapid descent, under normal circumstance.
But, for Simon Chevalier this had been anything but normal circumstance: he was right in the middle of a battle: - a life and death experience that he’d just escaped alive from.
Yet, as he had descended, laserfire tore at his craft, doing further damage… and that was when the hit to his craft had taken out the ships stabilizers and life support system.
He hadn’t known the crash itself, which had cracked the cockpit and rendered him unconscious.
And abruptly, Simon was awake once more: his time in battle; time-spent unconscious?
Chevalier panicked, momentarily.
As a vestige of sanity retuned, he began to calm down somewhat: and survey his surroundings and then, any damage done to the craft.
“Okay,” he began, as he looked at the gauge on his wrist, “so have much air have I got left?”
“Fifty-five minutes of air left and counting...” He mused aloud.
>“Simon, are you okay?” It was the radio. It was Raeo, his WingCo.
The radio? Why hadn’t he checked that already?
Oh.
‘Fifty-five minutes of air left and counting...’
>“Simon, are you okay? C’mon answer?” It was the radio, he reminded himself; and it was Raeo, his friend and WingCo.
Simon Chevalier picked up the mike and spoke slowly, as he calmly explained his position.
Raeo in turn, explained that the battle was nearing its apex - - and he needn’t worry: they’d be there, for him.
And, Simon Chevalier thought mournfully, ‘Uh-huh…and counting.’
Time wasn’t on his side and he knew it.
But, he had no choice: he was here.
He needed rescue.
And, before rescue could be attempted he would be dead through lack of air.
‘But,’ he mused, ‘it is as is… what can I do about it?”
He was stoic about his situation.
Simon picked up his map-reader and read in his current coordinates.
“So, where am I?” He asked, hoping that something might distract him - from his thoughts of a probable slow death, or a very improbable rescue.
And, he knew which was more likely.
But, to his surprise, this rock, AZ1472, was listed, as his reader told him.
Granted, there was little atmosphere, but AZ1472 was big enough to have gravity, as he had learnt to his cost.
It also had some form of primitive life - - ‘one form being a lizard, which would poison itself, in order to ride out the solar winds that could tear at the asteroids surface.
In suspended animation, the lizards would live on, while around them many would die.
Adapted variants of this lizard had been found in several known stellar systems.’
Hearing this, Simon smiled, a little: “There’s hope.” He said, aloud.
The idea of its self-imposed hibernation gave Simon Chevalier an idea.
If his heart rate were slow enough, he would need little air. He might have enough air to survive long enough to be rescued. It was simple. But… how?
>“Raeo…” he called, keying in his Mike.
>“Uh-huh, ears on. Go on Simon. What is it?”
>“Sorry to disturb you Raeo. I’m going out awhile…”
>“Simon, wassup?”
>“Nuthin fella,” he told his friend; “just needed to ask summat. Kay?”
>“Yeah!?! Gowan?”
>“When you get here – don’t forget… I’m alright. Kay?”
>“Simon, you kay?”
>“I’m fine,” Simon Chevalier reassured his friend.
>“I just needed to tell you that…” he finished, then killed the line to Raeo.
Simon stepped out of his craft and turned slowly…
“And, I’ve got to find a lizard, on this barren hunk of rock… and then get it to bite me!”
*
And, near his right boot, one beady eye blinked.
It’s companion nearby blinked both his eyes and they thought:
“You hear its words?”
“Yes.”
“You understand its words?”
“Yes”
“Do we help it?”
There was silence.
Its companion was distracted; watching the various exploding colours, as the firefight continued above them.
“Do we help it?” The lizard asked its friend again,
Then it too became distracted by the myriad colours of the firefight; and both lizards, watched the battle above with increasing fascination.
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