《The power cell》


 Chapter 1: The particles

    Rayan, captain of a mercenary ship, was sitting in the captain¡¯s chair scrolling through the MERC list. They have just completed one of the MERC postings on the list and were heading to the Zielara space station to resupply. The last job paid well so he was thinking about upgrading the weapons or the shield systems on the ship. The ship belonged to his father and when his father was killed on one of the jobs, he took over the ship as the captain.While he was scrolling through the MERC list the ship passed through a nebula and the ship¡¯s gravity system stopped working for a few moments. As soon as the ship cleared the nebula everything was back to normal.


    ¡°Luke, what the hell? What happened to the gravity system?¡± Ryan asked his head engineer over the coms.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know yet. Something in the nebula screwed with our systems. Give me a sec, I¡¯m running the diagnostics on all the systems.¡± Luke answered and started the diagnostics of the systems on the engineering console. ¡°Looks like we have two dead power cells for the life support system, which explains the loss of gravity and we have one damaged engine. We have reserve power cells but I need to fix the engine manually.¡± He said.


    ¡°How long before t engines back online?¡± Ryan asked.


    ¡°Depends on the damage. I¡¯m on my way to the engine room to see what I can do. Zeke, you replace the power cells.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m better with the engines than you? Why don¡¯t you replace the power cells and let me fix the engine?¡± Zeke asked.


    ¡°Stop complaining and put the two new power cells in. You are doing it because technically I¡¯m your boss¡±. Luke said.


    ¡°Yeah right. This is not an Alliance ship, there¡¯s no rank here. This is a mercenary ship, here we¡¯re all the same.¡± Zeke said, frowned at Luke and crossed his arms in protest.


    ¡°Well, Ryan offered me the position of the head engineer first, so that makes me your boss. Stop complaining and just put the power cells in. I¡¯ll go work on the engines.¡± Zeke said whit a hint of annoyance in his voice.


    ¡°Stop bickering you two and fix the damn power and the engines!¡± Ryan shouted at them over the coms.


    ¡°Alright, but next time I¡¯m in charge of the engines.¡± Zeke relented and headed toward the power cell storage. He took out two power cells and brought them to the wall where all the power cells were mounted on.


    Each of the containers had a light indicating the power level of the full cell inside. Zeke looked for the two containers with red lights and when he found them, he opened the first container and took out the empty power cell. He put one of the new power cells inside and closed the container. After a few seconds, the light over the container turned green so he moved to the next one.


    The next red container had a black line around the edge. None of the other containers had anything similar to this so he called out to Luke. ¡°Luke! I think something¡¯s wrong with this container! Get over here and take a look!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m busy! Mark the container and I¡¯ll look at it later!¡± Luke shouted.


    Zeke wasn¡¯t sure if he should mess with the container, something inside him was telling him to just leave it alone. But Luke was better at maintaining the power cells, so he guessed that Luke knew what he was doing. He pressed the button to open the container and nothing happened. He pressed it again, heard the sound of the mechanism trying to open it, but it was stuck in place. He hit it a few times and that got it loose. He took out the power cell, expecting to see some damage on the cell, but the power cell looked normal, there was no damage or black lines.


    Still not sure if he should put the new power cell in before Luke comes and sees the container, Zeke stood in front of it looking at the damage and the black spots. ¡°Luke! I really think you should see this container before I put the power cell in!¡± He called out.


    ¡°You know you are starting to annoy me! I¡¯m coming, just give me a sec!¡± Luke replied, finished what he was doing and walked over to Zeke.


    ¡°Look at the damage and the black spots on the container.¡± Zeke said pointing at the damaged areas.


    ¡°Move your hand and let me take a look at it.¡± Luke moved Zeke¡¯s hand out of the way and looked inside the container. ¡°That¡¯s nothing to worry about. It probably happened when we passed through the nebula. And it¡¯s probably the reason the battery inside got fried. Just put the new cell in and we¡¯re good to go.¡± Luke said.


    ¡°All right.¡± Zeke replied and Luke went back to his business. He picked up the full power cell and put it into the empty container. As the power cell was sliding into it, it got stuck. The cell was sticking out a few inches and wouldn¡¯t budge. This made no sense because the empty power cell slid out effortlessly.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Not sure what to do Zeke tried to gently push the power cell into the container, the cell didn¡¯t budge. He pushedharder but the power cell was stuck in place. He leaned on the power cell with his forearm, so he could use his body strength to push it into the container. He started to push the cell and accidentally pressed the button to close the container. The container started to close with the power cell still sticking out. Zeke started to panic pushing the button to open the container over and over again but it kept closing crushing the power cell that was still sticking out.


    As the power cell ruptured under the pressure a cloud of shiny power cell particles started coming out of it. A few seconds later an alarm activated throughout the whole ship warning everyone to put oxygen masks on. Zeke panicked, put his oxygen mask on and headed towards the engine room to get Luke. As he started walking Luke ran into the room.


    ¡°What did you do?!¡± Luke asked with anger in his voice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The power cell got stuck then the container started to close and it crushed the cell.¡± Zeke replied.


    ¡°This is not good. Ryan¡¯s going to be pissed.¡± Luke said and a few seconds later they heard Ryan¡¯s voice over the coms.


    ¡°What did you do? Why did the alarm go off?¡± Ryan asked.


    ¡°We have a ruptured power cell boss. It¡¯s not good, it¡¯s empty now.¡± Luke said.


    ¡°Are you crazy?! Turn on the purge of the life support system at once and blow the particles into space!¡± Ryan shouted and continued to speak to everyone on the ship ¡°Guys, put your oxygen masks on at once. We have a ruptured power cell and you know what that means. If you breathe in the particles you¡¯ll get poisoned and we don¡¯t have the vaccine for all of us on board.¡± Ryan said. They could hear the panic in his voice, the same panic they felt.


    As Luke and Zeke activated the purge of the life support system Ryan hoped it wasn¡¯t too late. He hoped no one breathed in the particles.


    ¡°Nolan, Leo how long until we reach the Zielara space station?¡± Ryan asked.


    Leo, the ship¡¯s navigator, took out his tablet, calculated their path and speed and said. ¡°At this speed and one engine down, two days boss.¡±


    ¡°Nolan, you¡¯re the best pilot I know, can you make the ship go faster? If we can¡¯t get rid of the power cell particles we basically have no life support system.¡± Ryan said.


    ¡°Ask Luke how damaged the engine is and when can I have it online.¡± Nolan said.


    ¡°Luke, can you hear me?¡± Ryan asked over the coms.


    ¡°Shoot boos.¡± Luke answered.


    ¡°Did you run the diagnostic on the engine? We need to go faster to reach the Zielara space station as soon as possible. If the purge of the life support system doesn¡¯t work, I don¡¯t think any of us want to be here without life support.¡± Ryan said.


    ¡°I think I know what¡¯s the problem. Give me an hour or two and I¡¯ll have it back online.¡± Luke said.


    ¡°Good. Zeke, work on the purge of the life support system, Luke give me that engine a s soon as you can.¡± Ryan said over the coms and turned towards Leo. ¡°If we have another engine, how long will it take to get to the Zielara space station then?¡±


    Leo did more calculations with the new data and said ¡°Hmmm¡­ A day or a day and a half. It all depends on the engine output.¡±


    Ryan looked at him and said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that¡¯s enough. Now, where are Levi and Aria?¡± He used the coms and said. ¡°Levi, Aria come to the bridge right now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already on my way. And can you please turn that annoying alarm off?¡± Levi asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s getting on my nerves too.¡± Aria said standing behind Ryan.


    ¡°What did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that? I know you¡¯re skilled assassin but every time you sneak up on me like that I get another gray hair.¡± Rayan said frowning at Aria¡¯s smirky smile.


    ¡°Leo, display the map of the ship over the holographic console. We need a plan in case the purge fails and we don¡¯t make it to the Zielara space station in time.¡± Ryan said and together with Leo walked over to the holographic console. Leo used his tablet to display the map of the ship.


    The mercenary ship wasn¡¯t a large ship. The largest room on the ship was the engineering room with the main power containers and engine room, the second largest room was the bridge that was used as a conference room too. The third largest room was the cargo room and the rest were corridors and the living quarters.


    ¡°Boss, the purge of the life systems didn¡¯t work. It only made it worse. I don¡¯t know what the nebula did to the life support system but it¡¯s acting crazy. I think we can expect other malfunctions like gravity or oxygen loss again.¡± Zeke said over the coms.


    ¡°Just what we needed. Ok Zeke, go help Luke with the engine and both of you come to the bridge when you fix it.¡± Ryan said, rubbing his forehead, trying to compose himself.


    Now, the main problem they needed to solve was how to how to get rid of the particles from the power cell, because the purge of the life support system failed and the particles were still on the ship. The oxygen masks were only a temporary solution because the particles can be absorbed through the skin during longer exposure. While they were talking about different strategies, they could use to get rid of the particles or keep the particles contained in one place on the ship, Levi, skilled at technology and making gadgets, walked on to the bridge and joined the conversation.


    ¡°Guys, we have the spacesuits. I can make the inner layer of carbon fiber denser so that no particles can come through.¡± Levi said.


    ¡°Good idea but the suits have a limited oxygen supply too.¡± Leo said.


    ¡°But they are better than the oxygen masks, At least they will protect us from contact with the particles. Good job Levi, go work on the suits.¡± Ryan said and Levi left. ¡°At least this way we can rule out dying from long exposure. Now we just need to solve the oxygen problem.¡± He said.

 Chapter 2: The merge

    While Luke and Zeke were repairing the engine, Nolan was pushing the other engines to the max, flying as fast as the ship could take it. Rayan, Aria and Leo were working on solving the oxygen problem. Every few moments something with the life support system went wrong. The lights flickered, the gravity stopped working or the temperature suddenly dropped. It felt like something was messing with the life support biomatrix at the power room.


    After a while, Levi came back to the bridge with the spacesuits and everyone put one on. Ryan told everybody to let their helmets aside and continued to use their oxygen masks, because the life support system was acting strange. If the life support keeps malfunctioning the whole ship could be left without life support. They needed to conserve their oxygen supplies if the worst happens.


    ¡°Good work Levi. Go take the suits to Luke and Zeke too.¡± Ryan said.


    ¡°I already did. It wasn¡¯t an easy task with all these malfunctions.¡± Levi said.


    ¡°Did you see anything strange in the engineering section or the power room while you were there?¡± Ryan asked.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t see anything except the cell particles floating around.¡± Levi said and continued. ¡°Now that you mention it, I only saw the particles in the engineering section.¡±


    ¡°That is strange. Why would they all be only there, in one place? Are you sure you didn¡¯t see them anywhere else, like the armory or the living quarters?¡± Ryan asked.


    ¡°No, just the engineering section.¡± Levi said.


    ¡°Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡± Ryan asked Aria with a slight shudder in her voice.


    ¡°I hope not, because we don¡¯t have any antimatter.¡± Aria said looking at the floor, frowning.


    ¡°What? What are you two talking about?¡± Levi asked.


    ¡°You remember two years ago when a cargo ship towed a smaller ship with no life signs on board to the Lumia space station?¡± Aria asked.


    ¡°I know about it. I know that there was an alien on the ship and that it killed a bunch of people at the station before they killed it.¡± Levi said.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not actually the whole truth. There was a ship that accidentally found a small ship and towed it back to the Lumia space station. But when they opened the ship there was no crew. They found just four piles of dust on the floor and a few forcefully ripped open power cells. As they explored the ship they found that the life support biomatrix was ruined beyond repair and a strange creature made out of the merged particles from power cells escaped from the ship. It wasn¡¯t an alien¡± Ryan said.


    ¡°But I saw a power cell rupture a few times and never saw that happen. It had to be an alien.¡± Levi said.


    ¡°No, the creature that escaped from the small ship wasn¡¯t an alien. It was made out of merged power cell particles and it killed a bunch of people on the space station by turning them into dust. The same way that the power cells poison and kill you. People on the station hunted the creature, but the normal plasma guns just distracted it, they didn¡¯t do a lot of damage to it. They used every weapon on the space station and the only thing that did any damage to it was antimatter particles. That¡¯s how they dispersed the merged power cell particles and were able to destroy it. It¡¯s a shame that only the antimatter particles can disperse it¡¯s merged form, because antimatter can¡¯t be carried on ships traveling at hyperspeed. The antimatter particles, at hyperspeed, become unstable and cause space anomalies.¡± Aria said.


    ¡°You both think this is happening now, on our ship?¡± Levi asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening on our ship?¡± Luke asked as he and Zeke entered the bridge and walked towards them.


    ¡°The same thing that happened at Lumia space station.¡± Ryan said.


    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± Luke asked.


    ¡°There are similarities from that incident and what¡¯s happening now. On that ship the life support system didn¡¯t work, there was a ruptured power cell, a few forcefully tore open power cells and the ship was found near a nebula similar to the one we passed through.¡± Rayan said.


    ¡°Yeah, and did you see any particles floating around the ship or were they all in the engineering section?¡± Aria asked.


    ¡°No, we saw them only in the engineering section and near the life support bio materials on the ship. It can¡¯t be, can it?¡±


    ¡°I think it can. Now we just have to see if we are right and hope that we are wrong. But just in case, let¡¯s make a plan if we are right.¡± Ryan said.


    While they were thinking and talking about different strategies to get rid of the creature if the particles merged, the life support system started to fail. First the main lights turned off and the emergency lightning activated. The temperature started dropping and the air got thin. Ryan told everybody to put their space suit helmets on and as they did they heard a loud noise coming from the other side of the ship.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Ryan shouted and continued. ¡°Guess we were right. So, does everyone know what to do?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The rest of the crew nodded and the plan was put in motion.


    Leo stayed on the bridge and closed the doors after the others left. ¡°Nolan, keep your fingers crossed that we don¡¯t see that blasted thing,¡± He said.


    ¡°Just keep it away from me if you do see it. I don¡¯t feel like becoming a pile of dust today.¡± Nolan said.


    The others went to the armory and grabbed as many weapons as they could carry. They all slowly walked towards the engineering room, looking behind every corner and in every suspicious place. When they cleared the engine room and the power room Zeke and Luke stayed behind to guard the engines and the other power cells so the creature couldn¡¯t get to more of the ell particles. Aria and Ryan started walking through the rest of the ship, searching for the merged creature.


    ¡°Guys come back!¡± Ryan and Aria heard Zeke over the coms.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡° Ryan asked.


    ¡°The creature is here! It¡¯s about the size of a dog but our weapons aren¡¯t doing a damn thing to it!¡± Luke said. Ryan and Aria heard the gunshots coming from the engineering section, turned around and ran back.


    ¡°Hurry up guys! It ripped open two power cells and the particles are now floating around it. They¡¯re merging to it making it bigger!¡± Luke said shouting trough the coms.


    ¡°We¡¯re on our way! Just keep shooting at the damn thing. Keep it busy until we get there.¡± Ryan said and as Aria and he approached the engineering room they took out the strongest guns they had and Ryan signaled Aria to open the doors to the power cell room. As soon as the doors opened the creature, still surrounded by a swarm of power cell particles, ran trough them heading towards the living quarters. Ryan and Aria started shooting after it but in the dark, they quickly lost sight of it.


    ¡°Guys what did it look like?¡± Ryan asked Luke and Zeke.


    ¡°Like nothing I¡¯ve seen in my life. It was the size of a dog but looked nothing like it. It ripped open this power cells and the particles started swarming around it, merging to it.¡± Luke said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it looks like a dog any more. As you guys opened the door it was still shifting its shape.¡± Zeke said.


    ¡°Ok, you guys stay here and hide the rest of the power cells. We can¡¯t let the creature near them again. Aria, you and me are going ahead with the plan.¡± Ryan said.


    Aria and Ryan moved on to the living quarters, slowly walking and looking, guns pointed in front of them. As they were walking, they heard a silent growl coming somewhere near them. They stopped and listened, the growling repeated but the sound echoed off the walls, so it was hard to pinpoint the sound source. The corridor in which they were walking wasn¡¯t big so the growling had to come from one of the rooms. They searched room by room but didn¡¯t find anything in them.


    ¡°This would be a lot easier if we knew what we are searching for.¡± Aria whispered.


    ¡°Just shoot at anything that moves. Just don¡¯t shoot me.¡± Ryan replied.


    As they were searching the last room in the living quarters, they heard growling coming from somewhere outside the living quarters. They entered the corridor that led to the last place they had to search, the cargo room. The growling got louder, but the sound echoed off the walls. Ryan turned back, looking behind them while Aria looked in front of them. Positioned like that, they slowly started moving to the cargo room, thinking that the creature will follow them. As they moved the growling got even louder. They increased their pace and hurried towards the cargo room while the sound of growling followed them.


    ¡°Guys, we hear the creature and we are on our way to the cargo room. It¡¯s following us.¡± Ryan said over the coms.


    ¡°Good. When you get in strap yourselves to something and tell us to open the cargo doors.¡± Leo said.


    ¡°Just keep your finger over the button.¡± Ryan said and as his words echoed off the walls the creature dropped from the ceiling, right in front of him and snarled.


    The merged particles moved around giving the creature shape. A shape that looked like something you would only see in nightmares. It was taller than Rayan, it had four legs, long sharp claws and a mouth with teeth as long as Ryan¡¯s forearm.  The creature snarled and growled as it moved towards Ryan and Aria. Ryan started shooting at the creature, aiming at its head, and each shot dazed and slowed it a little, giving them time to move further away from it and closer to the cargo room.


    ¡°Aria, go open the door to the cargo room! We need to get this thing int there!¡± Ryan shouted and Aria ran down the corridor towards the cargo room. He emptied the gun he was holding and the creature used the moment to leap towards him. It bit his arm and clenched his jaw pulling Ryan¡¯s arm and thrashing its head around. He used his other arm, took another gun and fired repeatedly at the creature¡¯s eye. The creature released his arm and roared in pain as the particles started to disperse around the creature¡¯s eye.


    Ryan started running towards the cargo room shouting at Aria to strap herself onto something in the cargo room. As he entered the cargo room, he saw Aria strapping herself to a wall. The creature leaped through the door, landing beside Aria. Ryan fired at the Creature to distract it and give Aria enough time to strap herself to the wall. The shots did nothing, the creature concentrated on Aria the closer prey. Aria, now successfully strapped to the wall, took out her guns and started firing at the creature as it swung its claws throwing her guns out of her hands and tearing the top layer of her spacesuit.


    Ryan, still not strapped in, ran towards the creature firing at it repeatedly, yelling at it to get its attention away from Aria. The creature turned its head and snarled at him. ¡°Guys open the doors! NOW!!!¡± He yelled over the coms, quickly walking back to the wall, still shooting at the creature that was running towards him with its mouth open, ready to attack.


    The cargo doors started to open and as the cargo room started to depressurize the creature dug his claws into the floor trying to not get pulled out into space. Ryan, holding on to the hook on the wall, strapped himself in and turned around. He saw the creature holding on to the floor with its claws and over the coms he said to Aria ¡°Aria, concentrate your shots on its claws. When I concentrated my shots on its eye the particles dispersed.¡±


    They both started shooting at the creature¡¯s claws and the particles started to disperse. As the particles dispersed the creature started losing its grip. After a few more shots its claws completely dispersed and the creature was sucked out into space.


    ¡°Ha ha ha! We got it! It¡¯s out. Close the doors guys.¡± Ryan said over the coms.


    All he could hear over the coms were sounds of cheering from the rest of the crew. As the doors of the cargo room closed, Ryan and Aria released their straps and headed to the bridge. When they walked on the bridge the rest of the crew was waiting for them and started clapping and cheering.


    ¡°Ok guys, stop that. This was a team mission, we all deserve to celebrate. As soon as we reach the Zielara space station I¡¯m giving all of you a week off.¡± Ryan said and the crew started to cheer even louder. As he stood there on the bridge smiling, a few cell particles flew away from the bite mark on his spacesuit and the claw marks on Aria¡¯s suit.