Space opera, apparently

Well, I should be studying again, so I'm escaping into whatever fantasy world I can find, even if it isn't completely fleshed out.
Enjoy.


The only indication was a small meter on his righthand side dropping from sixty-two to twentyone percent, but it made Peter Terson release the control handles and quickly wipe his palms on the sides of his pants.
“Sellis, divide weapon power over the shield and engine. Seventy, thirty.”
Elizabeth's hands slid over the control panel in front of her.
The meter went back up to ninety one and he saw the red circle on his radar move further down the screen. “Thanks, love,” he said. He was quite proud of his grace under fire, and in this case 'under fire' wasn't in the least exaggerated. He let the little frigate, shaped like a triangle shoved halfway into a similar one, roll around the protruding top engine to evade a stream of weaponsfire from the pursuing ship. Of course, this wasn't such an unusual situation. The giant discs, that represented the law in the known universe, were great in number and continuously patrolled through every explored solar system. And as they always wanted to scan everything they came across, the little frigate had no choice but to flee. Normally this consisted of transferring all power from the shield and the weapons to the engine and just get the hell out of there, but they had only noticed the disc when it had started firing on them, which would make lowering the shield somewhat too risky an idea. The fact that they hadn't yet sent fighters probably meant that they had been surprised as well.
“Can you scan the planet yet?”
“No,” Sellis said, “in range just a little over a click.”
The small, beige planet – a moon of the nearby gas giant – was their only possible escape. If it had an atmosphere. Terson wiped his hands again. If it didn't have an atmosphere, or one that was too thin, the fighters would cut them to shreds in minutes.
“Looks like you're gonna get lucky, Pete.”
“I like the sound of that. Find me somewhere to hide as soon as you can. And give all weapon power to the engine. The faster we get there, the faster I can get lucky.”
She laughed, surprisingly merry under the circumstances. The cruiser wouldn't be able to fly inside the atmosphere and the fighters would expend their fuel after a minute or so.
The shield had taken a grazing shot and without the extra power it fell back to fifteen percent.
“I'm retracting the engines. Switching to atmospheric flight. Tell them to strap in.”
Sellis tapped the control panel twice and grabbed the microphone. “We're about to go planetside. Pick up and buckle down, boys and girls. It might get a little rougher than usual, what with the incoming fire and all. But no use in worrying, as always.” She placed the mic back in its slot and checked the planetary scans. “Let's see, breathable atmosphere, sand, sand, sand, sand, well, what's this? A rocky outcropping and... What?!”
“What?”
She enhanced the scans. “There's nothing underneath.”
“More sand?”
“No, nothing. A void. Not even caves. Just, nothing.”
“Well, there are fighters on the way, so we may as well check it out.”
“Shouldn't we wait for the captain?”
“The captain”, Peter said, “can make that decision when on the bridge. Otherwise, the pilot is in command. Me, love.”
“Hmmm, your hunger for power makes you even more likely to get lucky, Pete.”
“Yeah, 'Pete', and also more likely to get shot for mutiny.”
“Oh...” Blushing, Sallis sunk deeper into her chair. “Hello, captain Karwin.”
“Hello, Sam.” Terson turned halfway towards her and nearly burst out laughing when he saw the towel wrapped around her head.
“Stow it, pilot. There are still fighters after us, no?”
“Yes, captain. Sorry, captain.”
“Shut up, Peter.”
“Sorry, but it's quite alright, we're going to hide in that rocky area over there. If you agree, of course.”
Sam sat down in her chair, behind the pilot's seat and to the left of Sallis. “Judging from the terrain, we don't seem to have a lot of options. And let's keep the fooling around for a safer moment.”
“Understood, we should be there before the fighters reach us. But, if I may ask, why the towel?”
Sam sighed. “A shower, pilot. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept? It helps to get lucky.”
“Well, I'm already getting lucky, it turns out. Right, Liz?”
Instead of answering, Elizabeth sank deeper into her chair, her face reddening even further.
“Still a prude, lieutenant? How will we ever save you?”
“Oh, not to worry, captain. She doesn't need saving. I can vouch for that.”
Karwin smiled. “Very well, find us a place to land.”
“I don't know about landing, but I think I found an entrance to whatever is down there. Navigation data on your screen, Pete.”
“Thanks, love.” He turned around and gave Sellis a boyish grin. “Almost there.”


“I hope everyone is still strapped in. We have to go vertical.”
The frigate shot up into the air before turning around and pointed its nose straight to the small opening the surface.
“Uhm, Liz, how big is this entrance?”
“A bit bigger than the ship, about a metre on each side.”
“Now she tells me. This is going to be damn close.”
“Can you do it?”
“I'll do my best, Sam, as always. I might need another pass.”
“Check your radar, pilot. If you take another pass, the fighters will know exactly where we are.”
“Right. No pressure. Liz, distance.”
“One click. A little left. Five hundred metres. A little to the right.”
“Don't do that!”
“Sorry. One hundred metres. Pete. Fifty metres. Pete? Twenty metres. Peter!”
“Divert all power to the engine!”
The corner of the rear triangle was torn off as the ship raced into the dark tunnel.
“That's not good.”
Terson gripped the handles even firmer, but couldn't prevent the ship crashing into two more walls before he pulled back as hard as he could. With a screeching grind, the frigate came to a halt in complete darkness. Elizabeth was the only one still sitting in her seat. She shook her head.
“You weren't listening when I told everyone to strap in? Again and again. Tsss, tsss. Are you alright, at least? Captain? Terson?”
“I'm fine, lieutenant.” Karwin crawled back into her chair with a small groan. “Pilot?”
Sallis unhooked her straps and rushed towards his motionless body. “Pete?” She saw the blood covering his monitor before she reached him. “Get Lestin!”
Sam moved a little slower than she would have, groaning as she reached for her comm. “Doctor, we need you on the bridge, faster than you can. Everyone all right over there?”
The answer came quickly. “Already on my way. We're fine, just a little shook up.”
The captain nodded and switched on the external lights. The beams showed part of a shining metal plate they had apparently landed on, but otherwise, they just went off into the darkness. Whatever this place was, it was huge.
“Captain!”
Elizabeth looked close to tears, but before Sam managed to get to her feet, the door at the rear slid open. “Captain?”
“I'm fine, doctor. See to Terson.”
“Liz, how's he doing?”
She wiped her sleeve over her eyes. “A head wound, and I think the control handles may have cracked his ribs. But he has a pulse and he's breathing, so he's going to be okay, right?”
Hannah didn't answer as she pulled him to the back of his chair.
“Lestin, he's going to be fine, right? Right?”
“Elizabeth, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker. So be quiet and shut up!”
“Reign it in, doctor. Get him to the infirmary. Lieutenant, give me a scan of whatever this place is.”
While Hannah pulled the stretcher from the wall and suspended it in mid-air, Sallis slowly got up.
“I was hoping I could stay...” but Sam cut her off.
“There's nothing you can do for him and I need you. If you really want to help Peter, however, you might want to grab his legs and get him on the stretcher.”
“I... Yes, captain.”


The ramp at the back of the ship opened with a clang on the metal plate.
“So, captain. Why are we going to walk into a dark, eerie structure with the two most likely outcomes being death or nothing at all?”
Keltin Gud switched on the flashlight on his rifle and let the beam drift around in the darkness.
“Because it's the interesting thing to do, private. The repairs are going to take at least five hours, and we've been cooped up long enough.”
“Basically, after the harrowing spacebattle, you're still bored and prefer putting our lives at risk in whatever we might have stumbled upon?”
“Yeah, basically, I guess so.”
“Oh, ok. Nice.”
Kerwin, Sallis and Gud walked to one of the corners of the platform, the captain also with a rifle, Sallis with a handgun and a small computer.
“There's a shaft over there, I'm guessing it's an elevator.”
“Rappelling? I like it?”
“Sorry, Gud, there were some power readings on the scans, and, well, we all know I'm good enough to get this thing reactivated.”
“Peter is going to be all right, I take it?”
“Yes, captain. Two fractured ribs, a minor concussion and he needs a new eye, but he was already awake.”
“Has he made a decision yet? Organic or cyber? I'd go cyber, but then, that's just 'cause it'd go great with my arm and leg.” Keltin laughed loudly, almost a bellow.
“Keep your voice down, private. We don't know what's down here.”
“I don't think that's going to be a problem. No lifesigns whatsoever. We're here.”
The wall looked exactly the same as the floor, except that it was vertical. There was no indication of an elevator, or of anything else.
“Lieutenant?”
“Give me a second.”
Elizabeth traced a square on the wall with her hand, staring at the screen in her hand, before pressing it. The square slid upwards to reveal a small controlpanel.
“Nice!”
“Thank you, Gud.”
She pressed a few buttons, moaned, pressed a few more buttons and let out a triumphant 'Ha!'.
“Lieutenant?”
“Two things: firstly, this facility is old. Old as in before the Truth old.”
“That's old.”
“Yes, it is, Gud. Secondly.” She pressed a button and a doorsized panel vanished sideways, onto an elevator. “Tadaa. If I'm reading this correctly, the main controlroom is at the bottom, twenty floors down.”
“And what does this controlroom control, exactly?” Sam asked as they got onto the elevator.
“Not sure. The language is, well, old. But I think it's something to do with storage.”
“Only one way to find out, ladies. Time to get down!”
“Ugh. Why do we keep him around, captain?”
“Meatshield, lieutenant. He's our meatshield.”