Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Bad luck" was perhaps an understatement, Shepherd thought as she walked down a hall of her own space plane. Missing for more than thirty days by this point, his SOS signal sent from an uncharted planet. They had rushed to the signal's source the moment they received it, of course – they were the Rescue Corps – but it didn't change the fact that travel took time. Both for signals and space craft.

At least Olimar's ship was a nice company ship. It should have all the amenities he'd need to survive for upwards of a year. Ideally longer, if the company wasn't stingy. So he should be fine. Should be.

She hesitated a moment as she considered reading more of his file. According to her Right-Hand, Olimar had attached his entire log to the SOS signal. No doubt that slowed down the transmission, so why do that? She'd been meaning to read through it and maybe find out why, but... She couldn't bring herself to. She was worried about it being too personal. Silly, probably, given he willingly attached it to a signal he then broadcasted into space, but still. A captain's log was a chance to reflect and decompress away from the eyes of your crew. Not... That he had a crew.

Shepherd groaned and put her tablet away in its designated slot in her spacesuit. It was stupid. She knew it was. But something just told her she shouldn't go snooping through his things. But now she had more important matters to focus on.

She looked up at the curled letters spelling out "Laboratory" printed over the interlocked sliding doors. Despite the supposed soundproofing her ship had, she could still hear her scientist doing... Something in there. Taking in a deep breath, she quickly typed in the entrance code and–

"Oh! Greetings, Captain!" Her scientist was standing in the middle of his lab, holding onto some sort of large... Dog collar? His pale skin was superficially burned, his eyebrows – the only hair he had, really – were singed, and he and wasn't wearing any safety gear. Actually, most of the lab looked VERY burnt.

Shepherd pinched at her helmet as she stepped inside. "Okay, Russ, what are you doing?"

"Keehehe! Why, I'm just testing out my new invention! The Pup Scorch Guard!" Both his eyes and smile were wide as he held the collar up for her to see. "It'll protect our precious rescue pups from the perils of the flame! It's also one-size-fits-all! Er..." He then held it around his neck, revealing how massive it really was in comparison to him. Yes, their rescue pups could easily tower over most people, but it still didn't change the fact that it emphasized how much of a twig he really was. "For the pups, at least."

"Russ, why are you not in your suit? Your IVA at least?" He knew he didn't have to wear his helmet if comfort was the issue - the IVAs had breathing masks – but the rest of the suit was a hard requirement.

At that, he seemed genuinely surprised as he adjusted his glasses. "Well, how else am I supposed to make sure the collar keeps the dogs from being burnt?"

"For stars' sake Russ–!" Captain Shepherd let out a groan then, followed by another sigh. "... Thanks for the device. I'm sure the pups will appreciate it – Oatchi especially. Just. Don't get yourself killed. Okay? We care about you."

Russ did smile softly as he put the work-in-progress collar away on a hook. "I appreciate it," then a smirk overcame his face "though, are you sure you don't just want to avoid the wrath of my dear mother?"

"I mean... That too. You know how she is, Russ; I'm pretty sure Dingo still has nightmares."

At that, Russ began to cackle in his strange "kee-hee" style. Once he calmed down, he turned back to Shepherd. "So, why did you visit me in my lab this fine–" he paused to look at the clock, "–evening, back home on Giya!"

"Well, first, you need to get your suit on – helmet included. Since you're not already in it," she spoke with a tone of teasing, "then you need to meet up with everyone else in primary command. Bernard contacted me earlier, said we're nearing our target planet."

Russ nodded, quickly assuming the Rescue Corps salute – straight back, right hand over heart, left arm stiff at side. "Copy that, Captain. I'll be quick."

Shepherd nodded in return, slowly leaving the room. As she opened the door up again, though, "Oh, and Russ?"

"Hm?"

"No more dangerous experiments."

"Kehe, no promises on that front, Captain!"

The captain rolled her eyes. "You're so lucky we have Dr. Yonny on board."

"I'm fully aware."

Shaking her head, she stepped out of the lab and closed the door behind her. Stars, what was she ever going to do with that man? At least he only ever got himself in danger. Minus the times Dingo willingly decided to be involved. Key word: willingly, thank the stars. She'd say those two were a bad match, except for the fact she's seen worse. With Dingo and another, no less.

Well, onto the next crew member. It'd take a bit for her to walk to his station; both the lab and the med bay were large spaces. Still not able to will herself to dig through Olimar's file, she decided to just take in her ship. Has she been down this hall countless times before? Yes. She practically grew up in the S.S. Shepherd. Did she still need a distraction?... Also yes.

It would be faster and more efficient to just use the intercom system to do this job. Then everyone would be in the same place within moments. But asking them one-by-one served an additional purpose, one a disembodied voice couldn't fulfill: it allowed her to check in on her crew one more time before landing.

Her father taught her the importance of keeping a personal, though professional, relationship with the crew. She couldn't help but snort a little as she let her hand mindlessly trail along the cream-colored walls of the S.S. Shepherd, paint chipping at the ceiling and floor. Yeah, "professional". Sure. The ship had ways to keep the Captain distant and cold if needed, something that was apparently a necessity on occasion, but such tools were to be used sparingly.

A gentle humm pulsed through the ship then, and she sighed. Oh, what was her pilot up to now?

Later. She'd interrogate him later. The cockpit was at the end of the hall, and she had just reached the med bay. Better to talk to Yonny now, and deal with everyone in order so that she could have some semblance of efficiency. What did her great-uncle call that again? Dandori?

The med bay had no entrance code needed to enter it. It consisted of a small hallway with four rooms either side and a fifth at the end. Shepherd knew that, due to the ship's strange interior layout, one of the main four was larger than the others. It was where most patients would rest if needed, with special equipment set up to keep them safe even during deep space travel. The other three served as diagnostic rooms, though could be turned into individual spaces for individual patients if needed. They could be locked, but usually were not.

They needed a bigger med bay. The number of wounded or ill rescuees did not proportionally match the total number of people they could fit on this ship. The numbers didn't even get close. But it was a miracle that they were able to retrofit this thing to have a med bay at all.

At the end of the hall was the only room that was locked. Dr. Yonny's office and makeshift pharmaceutical lab that was, somehow, legal. In most jurisdictions. Already, she could hear him cackling about something, and already she was dreading having to enter. Steeling her nerves, she punched in the code for this room. For a moment, she wondered if it would be worthwhile to replace the keypads with card or thumb readers or if she was better off saving up for a new ship entirely. Then the doors slid open, revealing someone standing over a metal table messing with... Something. The room was dimly lit, but well enough for her to see.

"Uh... Dr. Yonny?" Shepherd slowly stepped inside.

The man looked up from his task, turning to her and revealing something red and wet on his cheek. He smiled wide. "Yeeeees, Captain?"

Shepherd paused for a moment. "Uh – um, what... Are you doing?"

"Hmm?" He looked down at the table, stepping aside to reveal... Some sort of disaster that may have once been food. "Just working on something for Bernard. You know how how picky our dear pilot is."

All at once, the tension left the captain's body. "Star's sake, Yonny, I thought–!" She shook her head. "There's... Some on your cheek."

"Ah! My apologies, Captain," he reached over for a paper towl and wiped his face clean. Seeing the red stain, however, got a giggle out of him. "Oh? Did you really suspect me of misdoings, dear Captain?"

"This is you we're talking about," she answered flatly.

Yonny huffed and threw the paper towel away. "I'm an innocent man! I'd neeeeever get up to mischief," he then began twirling one of his dreads around a finger, an oh-so sweet smile on his face.

"Except for that time you gave Dingo something weird. And that other time you... Also gave Dingo something weird."

"Best friend pass," he waved his hand. "We've known each other since we were itty-bitty. He usually agrees to my little experiments."

Shepherd raised an eyebrow. "Usually?"

"Wellllll, there was one time, when we were nine or so, we were playing Warrior Cats and–"

"Actually, you know what, I don't think I want to know."

Yonny began to laugh again, much harder this time. Shepherd just sighed and shook her head. "So... The ration for Bernard?"

"Oh! Right," he lifted it up to show her. Even up close, it failed to resemble food. "A failed experiment, I'm afraid. Just needed another option for him to eat, you know?" His tone had shifted to something a bit flatter. Shepherd knew from experience that meant he was hiding something. Patient details, most likely.

"Well, I'm sure he appreciates the effort. I know I do," a pause, then, "RIGHT – uh, speaking of Bernard, get your helmet on. He says we're nearing the planet."

Yonny's ears wiggled. "Copy that, captain."

"And were you ever able to get any of Olimar's basic health info?"

"Negative, I'm afraid," he sighed. "Though reading through his logs helped me glean a few things. Still not as much as I'd like in an emergency."

Hm, maybe she was right to avoid reading his logs then. "At least it's something. I'll go meet you in Primary Control, okay?"

"Copy that," he repeated.

They walked together for a short moment after that, though it wasn't long before Yonny took a turn to head to the suiting bay where his helmet was.

The suiting bay wasn't in a great place. Nothing in the ship was, really, beyond the bare necessities. Everyone was used to it by now, but when she first hired most of the current crew they all struggled to navigate the ship's layout. Dingo also struggled back when he was a rookie.

Dandori. Distant memories of her great uncle surfaced again. He didn't like this ship. Said it was inefficient. He wasn't wrong. What was his successor thinking in buying it? Shepherd frowned. Better not to get lost in memories of family drama, let alone right now.

No, she had to go to her right-hand man. Knowing him, he was probably already suited up. Both because he was just proactive like that and because the communications station was literally right next to the cockpit. Good chance that Bernard has told him to suit up for her. Still, she wanted to check on him. If her suspicions were right...

At the end of the hall was an automatic door that opened up into Primary Command. It wasn't as big a room as the name would make most think, but it got the job done. Even if everyone was cramped together. There was a slightly tiered floor, with two desks at the bottom, two more above and behind, and one more above and behind the door. Each desk had space for a computer and... That was it. The room was just tall enough for the tiers to work out and the entire thing was very narrow. To the front were wide doors leading to the cockpit. Flanking it were smaller doors, each leading to communication centers. Ideally, they would be using both, but they only had one man to spare for the task. The other center just served as a backup in case the first needed maintenance.

Russ was already at his desk, suited up and strapped in, doing something on his computer. He waved at her as she passed by, but seemed engrossed in his task. Shepherd knew that there was an eighty-percent chance he was working away at some design for another invention and a twenty percent chance he was playing Minesweeper.

As she passed by him and to the communications hub, she heard a groan come from Russ. Minesweeper it was then.

The hub was already unlocked, allowing her to step inside of the cramped room. There sat her right-hand man, Collin, pouring over some diagnostic information regarding the ship. His helmet was to the side rather than connected to his suit, probably so that he could have his headphones on. She referred to him as her right-hand, but on paper he was just the communications operator. But he already did some off-script mechanic work, why not consider him second in command? Only one who was a better fit was Bernard. And Russ... in an emergency.

"Hey, Collin?"

He jumped a bit, taking off his headset and turning to her. She could hear static coming from them. "Y-You startled me!"

"Sorry, Collin. Why are the lights off?"

"Uh–" he barely got a word in before she hit a button to turn on the lights, revealing dark bags under his eyes that were very obvious against his pale skin.

She withheld a sigh for now. "Nice music," she instead teased.

"Oh, uh, this?" He lifted his headphones. "Captain Olimar's SOS signal suddenly got corrupted. It's still there, just... It doesn't sound right. I was hoping to see if my frequency or something was just wrong, but..."

At that, she frowned. That was troubling, but morale was a priority. So long as she didn't lie to achieve it. "I see. It is more than thirty days old by this point, Collin. There's a chance he did something in his ship to divert power or something else that unknowingly messed up his signal. But so long as it's still there and still in the same place, we should be good."

"True." He let out a sigh, body relaxing, as he properly put his headset away. "Thanks, captain."

"No problem. I see you also have the S.S. Shepherd's diagnostics up still – how is she doing?"

“Same as she was five hours ago,” he answered, running fingers through his silver hair. The hair color would also be a concern for Shepherd, if not for the fact he was simply born with it. “Fuel consumption is as expected and everything is stable. The artificial atmosphere is still chugging along, too. Should have more than enough air to supply the ship and all of our suits. Depending on the atmospheric composition of PNF-404, it may even be able to compose more air.”

"Uh, more air good, got it," she chuckled a bit. All of that science stuff wasn't really her area. She adored Collin and Russ, but talking to them was sometimes... Hard. Best to smile and nod along. "Anyways, I'm gathering everyone up in Primary Command. Need help getting your helmet on?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I got it." He reached over for it and began twisting it in place. "I'll just need a minute to latch it in place... And re-pressurize."

"If you say so. And Collin?"

"Hm?" He had gotten his helmet on, and was now sitting down to latch it in place.

“Take a break as soon as you can. You’ve more than earned it.”

At that, Collin went wide-eyed. “Oh, I simply couldn’t-”

“That was an order, Collin, not an offer. Rest, you need it.”

“I –", he began, snapping the last latch in place before looking down. "Copy that, captain.”

"Hey, chin up," she leaned against his chair a bit. "You're the hardest worker here. Just don't run yourself into the ground. Last thing I need is you crashing and burning. Okay?"

Collin nodded, now leaning back, fiddling with dials to start re-pressurizing his suit. "Okay."

Shepherd smiled and nodded, opening the door again and pressing a button to keep it open for the upcoming landing. That was one nice thing about older spaceships: they had more doors. Sure, it was mildly annoying and seemingly silly to have doors separating the communication hubs and cockpit from the rest of Primary Command. That is, until one of those hubs had a breach, and you were able to seal it off completely and save the rest of the ship. Open concepts looked nice but they suffered in functionality. She wondered if it was even possible to find a modern spaceship for sale that didn't have an open concept layout...

How did e-waste practices come to hit spacecraft of all things?

She glanced at Russ and sighed. Yeah, she knew the answer.

Well, only two people left, and they were conveniently in the same place. Thank the stars Bernard told her where Dingo was ahead of time, or she would have torn the ship apart trying to find him. The cockpit did require an extra code to open up, just to help prevent the pilot from being distracted. Not that it did much, because as soon as she stepped inside–

"So, in order to make sure I was still GOING on the correct course, I had to do a quick CRAB–"

"Okay, you have to be fucking with me now."

Bernard was looking straight ahead, hands on the yoke, a wide smile overtaking his face. His dark skin was lightly creased with smile lines. "Oh, AM I now, ma chérie?"

Dingo's face turned a bright pink. "Y-Yes! First you mentioned attitudes, and now crabs, and – and – quit smiling, dumbass!"

That only made Bernard laugh loudly. "Oh, it's so hard NOT to smile when you're so... So... Oh, what's a GOOD word that WOULDN'T make you punch me?"

"What if I punched you anyways?"

"ADORABLE."

Dingo's face somehow became pinker as he clawed at the co-pilot's seat. Which he really had no business being in. "You are so lucky you're flying the ship right now."

"So I am, so I am, Ranger Boy."

Shepherd tapped on the wall, causing Bernard to glance at her and Dingo to jump. Smiling at her ranger, she teased "I thought I asked you to keep an eye on Oatchi?"

"I-I am!" He squeaked. "Mu– pup is right here," he pointed at the floor beside him. Shepherd had to lean to see Oatchi curled up, somehow sleeping through these twos' antics. While most rescue pups wouldn't be able to fit in the space, Oatchi hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, so he was still quite small.

"So why are you in here instead of in Oatchi's room?" She smiled and leaned back.

"He needed his EMOTIONAL SUPPORT pilot," Bernard cut in.

"Dude SHUT UP."

"Or?" When Dingo failed to answer Bernard, he let out a dramatic sigh, "Oh, m'aidez, Captain, SAVE me from this man?"

Shepherd huffed. Yeah, even she could see right through these two. "Save you from yourself, maybe."

"Oh, how CRUEL."

Shepherd shook her head and took a step closer to Dingo, trying to get a better look at Oatchi. "So, how is my little angel doing?"

"Oh! Uh," Dingo's face was nearly as red as his hair. "He's been sleeping peacefully the entire time.”

At that, she smiled wide. “Perfect. I knew I could count on you, Dingo.”

Dingo didn't respond. He just smiled awkwardly and gave her a thumbs up, actively shrinking from her gaze. This behavior, she never understood, but Dr. Yonny always insisted he was perfectly healthy. Usually through a smirk... Hm, maybe he was up to something.

She turned to Bernard, seeing he was slightly frowning and had an eyebrow raised, but the moment he saw her he smiled. "So, 'CAP, what'cha need?"

“I gathered everyone up in Primary Command," she glanced at Dingo, "Mostly everyone. How far are we from PNF-404?”

“Oh, maybe twenty MINUTES until landing, captain!”

At that, the captain smirked as she leaned over the much shorter man ever so slightly. “Awe, still that long? Can't go any faster?”

“NOPE! Would have to break MULTIPLE laws to do that! Both laws of the court and laws of physics!”

“Coward,” she teased.

Bernard just chuckled. “Hey, you KNOW that if I could, I WOULD do it for you, ‘cap.”

“Mmm, if you say so,” she chuckled a bit and turned to set the cockpit door to open. Yonny and Collin were now suited up and seated at their desks. Instead of returning to hers, though, she turned back around to stand next to Bernard.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Not gonna sit in your captain's chair, 'CAP?"

She shook her head. "Nah. I don't like being above everyone else like that. I'd rather be down here with you."

"D'awww," Bernard put a hand to his chest and gave her an exaggerated smile. "How SWEET."

She simply jabbed him gently with her elbow, getting more laughter from him. Now chuckling along, she looked out of the front window and towards the planet that was rapidly growing closer. At this point, she could see it in more detail; large green land masses, some deserts, ice caps, sapphire blue oceans, and countless clouds wrapping all around it. Eyes going wide, she whispered “Is that it? Is that PNF-404?”

“Sure is. Looks like a BEAUTY of a planet from here, huh?”

"Haha, yeaaahhhh," Dingo awkwardly chuckled, though no one responded to him.

Shepherd nodded. “Yeah. You know, it reminds me of some stories my dad and grandparents would tell me.”

“Oh?” Bernard looked up at her a bit, still focused on flying.

“They told me of a beautiful blue planet. One home to many dogs. A-And people!” She hastily added on when she saw Bernard smirking at her.

“Ah, ‘course it's dogs,” Bernard let out a chuckle. “Would expect nothing LESS from the Shepherds.”

"Yeahhh, haha, they've always–"

At that, she lightly punched his arm. “Shut up!” When he only kept laughing, she shook her head. “They always wanted to go to that blue planet. Of course, it being only a legend, no one knew where it was. Or if it was even real at all.”

“Think THIS could be it?”

“Probably not,” she admitted. “Again, who’s to say that planet ever existed? But this is certainly a beautiful blue planet.”

Bernard nodded along, his focus remaining on the plant ahead. “Tell me MORE about this legendary blue planet.”

“Huh?” Shepherd turned to him, “Oh, uh, there’s not much else that’s survived. You realize that I’m the nin-”

“Ninety-ninth generation captain, yes,” Bernard chuckled a bit. “Your father sure never let us forget. But I GUESS that is more than enough time for some stories to be LOST.”

The captain sighed a bit, shaking her head. Stars, dad was never that much of a pest, right? “Well, I know that a lot of Shepherds were drawn to the planet - particularly those alive before the space era and right when it started. The further we got into this era, the more planets we found, the more impossible its existence seemed to be.” She looked back up at the planet PNF-404. Big, beautiful, blue - and indistinguishable from every other blue planet out there. Hell, Hocotate looked just like it, minus the fact that Hocotate had rings.

“Like planet Midas. But for DOGS.”

Shepherd let out a long sigh at that, causing Bernard to break out into a cackling fit. “It wasn’t just about the dogs.”

“Oh? Then do tell me, miss leader of the pa- OW!”

She had punched him in the arm again, perhaps a little too hard this time. Eh, Bernard could survive it. He could survive anything. Leaning in and pointing a finger at his face, she warned “Don’t push your luck, pilot.”

Still, he managed to keep chuckling. “Fine. But don’t push yours either; I’M still flying this ship.”

“You wouldn’t dare–!”

“No, NO I wouldn’t,” he cut her off. “But you may want to get your HAND outta my FACE.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but when staring into his sunglasses she only saw her own reflection back at her – dark skin and bleached hair, all tinted blue in his shades. When he failed to react or say anything more, she slowly pulled her hand away.

“MUCH better.”

“You three sound like you’re having fun,” Yonny teased from the other side of the room. Shepherd shot him a quick look, only for him to rest his chin on his hands and to tilt his head to the side slightly.

"Yeahhhhhh," Dingo squeaked.

“As I was saying,” Shepherd continued, choosing to ignore Yonny’s feigning, “It’s not just about dogs. There’s more to the legend than dogs. There’s really supposed to be people on the planet!”

“I see,” Bernard nodded in a decidedly exaggerated manner. “Anything SPECIAL about the people? Or just that they’re true ALIENS proper – evolved on another planet, not just Giyan decedents.”

“Uh, what I was told growing up was that we - as in, the Shepherd family and–”

As they entered the planet's feild of gravity, the ship suddenly trembled violently. Everyone gripped their seats for support, and Shepherd herself had to hold onto Bernard's chair for support instead.

“W-What was that?!”

“I don’t know, captain,” Bernard admitted, now flipping switches that Shepherd didn’t know the purpose of. “Can't JUST be the gravity. Ain’t a GOOD sign, whatever in the stars it was.”

Shepherd then turned around to face the rest of the crew. “Collin, Russ, I want you to refocus your resources on trying to figure out what could have caused that.”

"Copy that."

She turned back to Bernard, waiting for him to be done with whatever his task was, only for the ship to tremble again. This time, it lasted much longer, and some lights flickered.

"... What the FUCK..." Bernard muttered. "I'm going to try and back out-" he gripped the controls to try and U-turn, only for the ship to seemingly resist the movement. "How-?!"

“Hey, Oatchi–” Dingo’s voice called out. Shepherd immediately turned to him, seeing that the ranger was having trouble keeping the scared pup still.

“Hold on, I got him,” she hurried over to the two as quickly as possible, kneeling down to keep call over Oatchi. She gently pet the yellow pup, shushing him. He may be a trained rescue pup, but even brave dogs were right to be afraid of situations like this. In fact, she still had her other hand on Dingo’s chair in case the ship trembled again-

It didn't tremble. Instead, it felt as if the ship was slowly turning one way only to snap back into position, sending them swinging in place.

"Bernard! What is going on?!"

“I don’t KNOW Captain! The ship’s responding, but it’s like something else is over riding it.”

“What?!”

“I tried to turn it PORT SIDE, it went PORT, but then went STARBOARD again immediately after.”

"Yeah, we could feel that, but why–" Shepherd stopped herself. No, no reason to keep pressuring him. The situation was doing that already.

“N-Nothing could be found on what’s causing this captain!” Collin cried out, “Nothing is in the immediate area that’d do something.”

“And the ship’s condition is fine. Aside from. This.” Russ added on.

“Understood, thank you both,” Shepherd let out leaned her ears back. What could they have over-looked – or the ships radars fail to pick up on entirely – that could cause this? It started at the gravitational field, but gravity couldn't do this. So why would the ship course-correct itself so insistently? It was like they were being pulled to the planet–

Olimar.

Eyes going wide, Captain Shepherd scrambled to stand up. She leaned hard to one side as the ship moved faster towards the planet, forcing her to find something sturdy to cling onto. “Everyone! Emergency evacuation, now!”

“What?!”

Already, she was guiding Oatchi along. As a space dog, he was bred for this and didn’t need a suit proper - his collar would be enough to protect him. “This is what happened to Captain Olimar. We’re not getting out of this without a crash landing. GO.”

Immediately, the rest of the crew began to undo their fastenings and stood to follow their captain to the emergency escape pods. That is, all except for–

“CAPTAIN! My – my – I’m STUCK–"

Shepherd turned to Bernard, who was struggling with his fastenings. The repair guy said he had fixed the buckling mechanics on that thing. If Shepherd ever saw that man again, she was going to kill him. “H-Hold still, I’ll-”

“I’ll help him,” Dingo interjected. “I’m closer. You lead the others.”

Already, he was heading towards the struggling pilot. Knowing that Bernard was in good hands, she kept leading the others to the escape pods. They were far, far from the Primary Control, save for one meant for the pilots specifically. But that was by design. They were the Rescue Corps. This was a Rescue Ship. The escape pods were close to were the rescuees stayed, not them.

Another rumble shook the entire vessel, and everything shut down.

Lights went out, the emergency lights failed to kick in, and pressure doors forced themselves open. Wind howled past the ship, and the spot where space met sky was getting ever so closer.

Shepherd’s ears pinned back. More time, they just needed more time to get to the dorms–

The ship tilted a bit, as if it was trying to make them fall out.

Time seemed to freeze for just a moment as reality set in, then she and her crew slammed against the ground. They all began sliding against the smooth metal flooring, unable to claw their way back up, and too far to grab each other for support.

And then there was nothing below or around her as she fell through the sky, looking up at her beloved spaceplane.

Turning her body around to check on her crew, she found that everyone was quickly spreading apart - no! She tried to reach for the closest to her, Collin and Oatchi, but even they were just barely too far out of her reach. No, no, no - they came here to save a stranded man, only to crash and separate themselves?

Turning to face the ship now, she felt at least some relief to see that the pilot's pod was ejected. It could fit two people. Bernard and Dingo were okay. They wouldn’t separate.

Heart racing ever faster, she soon found her vision going dark.