NYCM Prompts:
Genre: Sci-Fi | Action: Wearing a hard hat | Word: process
[Round 1: placed 9th, progressed to Round 2]
Caught in gravity eddies from a distant neuron star, the derelict ship pitches, a grating of metal against metal echoing through the cold darkness. Inside, Arlon tenses, casting a furtive glance in the direction of the sound. Salvaging rare artefacts pays well – but only if they survive.
“You sure this hunk of junk will hold?” he asks Teeve yet again. Their small salvage ship can only produce a minimal life-supported atmosphere through extension of its shields. Anything else is a luxury.
Confident in the chirping bleeps from his handheld computer, Teeve shoves past him. “This hunk of junk is our payday.”
They weave around centuries of disrepair before reaching their prize: the crew quarters. Straining against a warped locker door, Teeve finally hauls it open, barking a laugh at his find. He slams it down on Arlon’s head.
“Looks good on you!”
Reaching up, Arlon fingers the unfamiliar rounded smoothness, only his ancient history studies helping him process what it is: a ‘hard hat’.
“Unbelievable this was called safety equipment,” he mutters.
Too late, an alarm screeches from Teeve’s computer. The relic lurches, throwing Teeve against the lockers, while Arlon is struck from above, sending him sprawling. Dazed, he rolls over to catch sight of the metal joist which has wrenched free, still swinging from the force of its fall.
Teeve is ashen. “Look.” He tugs the hard hat from Arlon’s head. The front is cracked and splintered beyond repair… but not Arlon’s head. “Maybe not so unbelievable, eh?”
C.A. Raine 