Alpha Squad - Vecto: Voyage

Part 3.8

(Previously: The gravity well that the Corona is traveling through is unstable, so the ship's crew is forced to exit. The ship's AI, Sarah, asks Vecto to help since the ship doesn't have enough shield power.)

"Then you'll help?" Sarah asked.

"Already on the way," Vecto said. "Just remind me that I have a question for you when I get back."

"OK, but hurry," Sarah said, her voice fading as Vecto approached the stern. "Only a few ... seconds remaining. Take care!"

Static interference took over as Vecto rolled to the tip of the ship. The form of his yellow translucent body hunched up from the stern, looking up as if staring into space. He slowly raised one arm above him as if reaching for the stars. The bright-streaking walls of the gravity well zipped by as Vecto stood ready to take the impact.

He knew the force was going to be massive--something he hadn't experienced in a long time. But he was confident his trusty Force Field Shields would hold up. Vecto slammed his shielded foot into the hull of the ship and forced his other one in beside it for grip. All he could do now was wait as the shield from his hand expanded across the ship.

In seconds, the ship jolted and steered to the left. There was no more time for contemplation--only reaction. Vecto expanded his shield completely over the nose as the Corona jerked toward the side of the tunnel. In one massive impact, it collided with the wall, pounding Vecto's shield.

As if human, Vecto could feel the enormous pain from the hit, finding himself screaming from the collision. The wall scraped against his shield, as if he were a human being dragged across a brick surface.

The scraping continued as Vecto took the pain. But as the crucial seconds passed, the ship finally dug a hole into the gravity well. Vecto's vision blurred as streaks of light tore by him as if thousands of needles traveled at the speed of light. Then with one final push, the ship broke through. It was as if it emerged from thin air; half of it was in real space as the other half pulled through. Frenzied asteroids flew by as the ship emerged from the hole at half the speed of light. But the ship kept going, and the rest of it finally escaped from the tunnel--a space-time contortion that was like traveling at hundreds of times the speed of light in seconds.

It was a relief to Vecto as he shrunk his shields and pulled his now-knee-deep legs from the ship. But he noticed the force had slung the Corona wildly in space, too dangerous in this asteroid field. Despite the ship's struggle to gain balance and slow down, Vecto knew he had to step in once more.

Yet before he could, his scanners picked up a fast approaching asteroid. He reached his hand out and braced as it collided with his shield.

It was a head-on collision, both Vecto and the asteroid traveling at astronomical speeds. In cyphen seconds, Vecto stood with a massive rock held back by his palm. The two forces made an abrupt stop, yet the impact was too much for Vecto. His shielded body slammed into the hull of the ship. The deathblow drained the last of his power and crushed his body between the ship and asteroid. It was a force thousands of times stronger than a nuclear blast--a force so grand that not even Vecto's shields could withstand.

The nose of the Corona formed a crater, and the asteroid shattered into billions of pieces. Meanwhile, Vecto's shields were now obsolete, deactivated. All there was left of him was his orb, unresponsive, floating in space as if garbage--spinning and tossing among debris.

(Is this the end of Vecto? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Voyage!)