Hello all! I know this place has been used for posts about the vineyard but I am rotating into doing something a bit different. I will be sharing my own writings and stories here. Starting out I will be sharing a re-write of a story I wrote about a year ago that I felt needed a pretty serious touch up. 1 Minute by Gage Goldman|
Science Fiction ~700 Words “1 minute until warp core meltdown,” the intercom blares to a ship all but empty. Sun Saulman sits with a screwdriver in one hand, sweat rolling down his forehead. The warp core of the Voidrunner sits in front of him. It is an alien-looking machine. Four prongs rise to the sky that, when functioning properly, surround a small, perfectly round globe of pure energy. It is now functioning anything but properly. Tendrils of lightning lick up and down the prongs, and the ball of energy at the center pulses wildly. Sun Saulman buries his arms elbow-deep in an open panel on one of the prongs. “Come on, come on,” Sun grunts as he unscrews the hatch buried in the mess of wiring. The metal falls on the tangle of wires, and a spark leaps up. It hits Sun’s hand, and, with an agonizing shock, he drops his screwdriver. Sun sighs and grabs one of the newly exposed wires. The shock pulses through his arm like a soldier’s march, and it burns the nerves. He screams but holds on as he grabs another wire with his other hand and pushes them together. The circuit completes, and Saulman falls back holding his burnt hand. The intercom blares again, “Core Critical,” The warp core starts to fracture, and lighting is no longer contained to the prongs. As the core overloads, Sun Saulman wishes to be anywhere but here. The intercom rings out. “1 minute until warp core meltdown.” Sun Saulman sits in the commissary of the Voidhawk, enjoying a coffee and a muffin. He glances at the intercom with a passing interest. Someone should probably do something about that, he thinks to himself. People run back and forth in a panic, but Sun Saulman doesn’t move. He doesn't know the first thing about repairing a spaceship, anyway. He sips his coffee. The explosion is sudden but slow. Sun Saulman sees it coming. The bloom of fire rushes down the hall at him. Sun Saulman wishes to be anywhere but here. “1 minute until warp core meltdown.” Sun Saulman tugs on the hem of his mother's dress. “Mommy, what does it mean?” He asks, pointing at the intercom. “Nothing, dear, now hurry along,” She replied, pushing him onward. She and the rest of the colonists of the Voidhunter hurry down the marked emergency exit paths. Sun Saulman doesn’t understand exactly what is happening, but he can feel the fear of everyone around him. He is scared. A huge bang rocks the very floor they walk on, the end is fast approaching, and San Saulman wishes to be anywhere but here. “1 minute until warp core meltdown.” Chief Engineer Sun Saulman grips tightly to the groaning metal of the Voidripper’s maintenance corridor. The ship has been through a beating, the artificial gravity is gone, and so is the back half of the ship. He pulls himself through the tight hallway and into the warp core room. He slams his palm on the door control and the door seals behind him. Sun pushes off the wall and glides to the control panel. He types in his code and tries to wrangle the system. Sun types code in madly, trying to correct the anomaly, begging the core not to explode in his face. The core pays no mind to his struggle and explodes anyway. Saulman closes his eyes, expecting the explosion to rip him away, but when he opens his eyes again, he sees a tear in space itself. Sun Saulman is an inquisitive man by nature and cranes his neck for a better look. He sees the multiverse reflected. Every different version, every possible timeline stretching out before him. He can see each eventuality of his life; he sees himself sitting and eating while people panic around him if he never passed the engineering exam. He sees himself shoulder-deep in the core, trying to fix it as it melts around him. He looks through them one by one, searching madly for one where he can make it through this. Each reflection he sees ends in failure, time and time again, until there is only one remaining, only one where he succeeds. He leaps for it and hopes against hope he will live. He passes through the gap within reality, and it closes behind him. Sun Saulman will be anywhere else but here.
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Author: gage GoldmanGage is an aspiring creative writer in the Full Sail Program ArchivesCategories |