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“Please, head to the escape pods!” another flight attendant said, waving her arms and motioning for us to keep on moving.
“What’s happening?” the sheep-like passenger asked. “Why are we evacuating?”
“There’s time for answers later!” the flight attendant said. “Right now, you must proceed to the escape pods! Please proceed to the escape pods!”
Either the flight attendants weren’t telling us anything for a reason—blind panic was my guess—or they didn’t know what was going on any more than we did.
I wasn’t sure which situation frightened me more.
I followed the crowd, which grew thicker as we approached the escape pods.
Teams of flight attendants motioned for us to form a series of lines. They were long.
I leaned over and spied a group of ten travelers climbing into an escape pod. They strapped themselves in beneath a flight attendant’s watchful gaze before the attendants climbed out and hit a button. Orange warning lights flashed as the door hissed shut. The escape pod launched and headed for the nearby planet.
The nearby planet.
Now, I was no expert when it came to planetary geography, but wasn’t that the same planet we had taken off from?
We’d never left?
We never even jumped into hyperspace?
What the fuck?
They put us unnecessarily to sleep and now they realized they’d forgotten to run a full safety check?
I folded my arms and tapped my foot. The manager of this company would be getting a firmly worded letter of complaint from me the moment I returned to the planet’s surface.
I expected a full refund.
My line stepped forward as the next ten passengers prepared to climb into the next escape pod that slotted down from above. An attendant ran them through the process. The passengers watched, enrapt, and more than a little confused.
I knew exactly how they felt.
This didn’t seem real.
I boarded this ship to go home and get as far from Dyrel as I could. Now I was heading straight back to his planet?
Maybe he would come see me.
Maybe he would come check to make sure I was okay.
I couldn’t deny the thrill it gave me.
The flight attendants motioned for the passengers to step forward and climb aboard the pods.
Somebody screamed at the far end of the evacuation room.
Great. Screamers. Just what we need right now.
Above us, a series of bright lights struck the ceiling like a laser light show.
The passengers panicked and pulled back, heading backward, toward us, crushing those behind.
I noticed the threat and stepped out of my line. I ran back to the gangway I’d come down to reach this room.
Another series of plasma shots struck the ceiling.
