Chapter 15: Chapter 15
"What? So that’s your plan to get rid of her?! By killing her?!" Jimmy yelled, his voice echoing in the vast, quiet cabin of the ship. The argument had been building for the last minute, reaching a fever pitch.
"I’m not trying to—! Okay, listen, here’s the deal." Eric’s voice was filled with a mix of frustration and exhaustion. "Her body’s in a kind of deep stasis, basically off. We need to deliver a precise electrical shock that targets specific nerve centers, like the spinal cord and brainstem." He gestured to his cobbled-together device. "Think of it as jump-starting a vehicle."
"Then why did you say you’ll give her the shock of her life she’ll never recover from?" Jimmy retorted, feeling deeply uncomfortable about Eric’s earlier words.
"I was being sarcastic, you piece of junk! Jesus!" Eric exploded, a frustrated groan escaping him as he put a hand over his face.
"Well, that’s a bit too much, my guess is it’ll really kill her," Jimmy said, his voice laced with worry as he stared at Eric.
"She was wide open to light-speed, then came crashing down from orbit like a bloody meteor. And how did that go? Perfectly fine! Yeah, sure, she’s absolutely fine. Nothing at all wrong there." Eric said, stretching his arms wide to emphasize his point.
Jimmy turned to look at Yelena, who was lying still on the strange, messy creation Eric had built. "Does she look fine to you?" he said with a worried look on his face.
"Kid, there’s nothing stopping me from throwing you off this bloody ship right now," Eric said, his frustration boiling over. He turned his back on Jimmy, rubbing his forehead to try and calm down. "In case you don’t know, she’s a—"
He turned back to face Jimmy, his tone now a little calmer.
"Super-soldier. Yeah, I’m well aware she’s tougher and stronger than an average person but running twenty thousand volts through her body is a bit too much."
"She’ll take the hit just fine," Eric said, gently placing Yelena onto the flat platform. He then connected a few cables and set up some final adjustments before holding up two separate cable connectors.
Jimmy felt a deep sense of skepticism. He knew this was a dangerous process, but if a genius like Eric said it was fine, it was probably fine. He tried to stay calm, watching intently.
"Alright, here we go," Eric said. He plugged the two connectors together. A massive electrical current surged through the ship. The platform Yelena was on began to exhibit powerful electrical bolts, sending a shocking amount of energy through her body, causing her to vibrate aggressively. The sound was a loud, continuous crackle that pierced the air, forcing Jimmy to cover his ears.
Within seconds, the sheer electrical draw caused a power surge that shut down the entire spacecraft. It stopped dead in its tracks, drifting slowly in the cold vacuum of space.
"Crap," Eric said, his surprise evident. He rushed to the deck, clicking buttons on the dashboard. "The engine’s fried. Must have drawn too much power."
Jimmy slowly lowered his hands from his ears, staring at Yelena. Her body was radiating heat, and hot vapor steamed from her skin, but she was still unconscious. "I don’t think it worked," Jimmy said.
"I can clearly see that, thank you," Eric said, his voice clipped. "Hold up a little. I need to check if this ship has a backup engine or at least something to start it up again." He walked past Jimmy and descended into the ship’s lower levels.
Now alone with Yelena, Jimmy knelt and watched her silently. He wondered if she was still okay after such an intense shock. He slowly leaned down, placing his ear against her chest to check for a heartbeat. Unbeknownst to him, Yelena’s eyes snapped open just as he did.
Eric wandered through the lower deck, searching for anything useful. The ship was vast, filled with corridors and different sections. As he walked past a small room, something caught his attention. He walked back to the corridor and froze.
It was a micro ship. A small, single-person craft, just as Commander Ellen had described.
The sight of it brought a flood of memories to his mind, the tragic event from eighteen years ago. Tears welled in his eyes as a wave of guilt and sadness washed over him. His legs grew numb as he walked slowly toward the ship. He remembered his daughter, who was said to be the only survivor.
"I’m sorry, Cire," he whispered, his voice cracking as he reached out and placed a hand on the ship. "I didn’t mean to." He sank to his knees, burying his head in his hands, weeping silently. "I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there to stop it from happening... to save everyone. I’m sorry."
For a few moments, he wept, the pain of the past a physical weight on his shoulders. A thought then flashed through his mind, he could escape alone in this ship, find his daughter, and leave everything behind. He wiped his tears and stood, his hand on the hatch. But the thought of leaving Jimmy and Yelena to die didn’t sit right with him. He knew the possibility of Yelena waking up and saving them was unlikely since the procedure to revive her wasn’t completed. He had no other choice.
"Can’t just leave the kid here to rot," he said to himself, a frustrated sigh escaping him.
He turned away from the micro ship, a defeated expression on his face. "Ah, what a bummer," he muttered. He was about to continue his search for a power source when something else caught his eye. Stacked above him were dozens of solar batteries.
"Well, would you look at that," he said, a new idea forming in his mind.