*Blast Off!

Intro: Another attempt at Space Opera.

“Take the helm while I weld the hull shut.” I jumped from the chair and hurried to the back. “We can’t go saving anyone when we’re taking in space.”

“But, Mom!”

“You can do it. Just dodge the blasts.”

The ship shuddered as another bolt slammed into the hull. My husband had built the ship, using the various technology from the different civilizations we visited as orphans passed around from group to group.

“Sorry!”

I steadied myself against the bulkhead and took a breath. My mag boots kept me upright, this time. The ship rolled and I hooked my arm around a support. When the ship stopped twisting I took a second to orient myself. As long as the ship was just moving forward or turning slowly, the broken gravity generator wasn’t a problem. I had promised Jackson two years ago that we would fix the generator. When we saved up enough money, he always chose something else to fix up. When he was old enough I would drop him off at the colonies. From there his life would begin. He didn’t want to accept it, but that was how it had to be.

I grabbed the tool bag, breaking the magnetic connection and drag it behind me. I slipped a mask over my head, connecting it to my suit. After a minute the suit was pressurized and I opened the blast door that had sealed when a bolt ripped through the metal.

“There’s another one coming through the gateway. I can’t outrun all of them.” Jackson’s voice came through the intercom in my helmet.

I checked the pressure in the room. It was holding steady.

“I’m on my way.”

My boots clanged as I hurried up.

Jackson was white-knuckling the wheel. Five ships was more than she could expect even her husband to take.

Another blast sent us into a spin.

“Help!”

When my hands took control, Jackson moved out of the way.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said.

Jackson helped secure my belt then strapped himself in. I spun the wheel and dove out of the way, towards the gateway.

“If we leave now, it could take years for us to come back.” Jackson said. “Dad may not be alive when we make it back again.”

I nodded, my teeth gritted against the force and my vision blurred. “I know.”

Jackson worked the switches in front of him. “Boosters ready.”

Blasting through a gateway was roulette. We didn’t know where we would end up, or even if our ship could withstand the pressure. My husband was dead to me. Jackson was the only reason I looked for a body.

“Last chance. Do we stay?”

Jackson shook his head. “Thrusters engaged.”

We slid our goggles in place as the gateway illuminated space around us, sling us into the distance.

I let out my breath as the pressure lessened.

“We have a problem.”

I removed the googles and stared at the backs of the five ships. “Throttle full.”

“It is,” Jackson replied.

I pried my fingers from the wheel and let my hands drop. A blast cracked the glass. I reached out and held his hand. I fumbled with the belt. “Get out. Get out of the belt.”

“It’s not going to do any good.”

“Do it!”

I dragged him behind me.

“You will survive.” I shoved the helmet at him.

“Mom, no!”

I used my shoulder to shove him to the stasis pod.

“No!”

Jackson had just enough sense to move his hand out of the way as the door slid shut. The pod hissed as the seal took and was ejected. I heard the glass break and took my last breath looking through the porthole as the pod blasted towards the gateway. Another orphan of the war.