(Y/N)
Dorothy and I share a glance before briskly walking towards the Cockpit.
This is worrying. Usually, the Engineers manage themselves and navigate us through space. To call the Captain and Vice Captain to the Cockpit...
Something drastic must have happened.
We reach the open door of the Cockpit and step inside. It's a massive room, with one wall showing the world outside. There are seats strapped to the floor across the room. The computers make up around 90% of each wall. The remaining 10% has fore extinguishers, alarms and the entrance to the room.
The Supervisor, Kim, and the Head of the Engineering department, Iman, stepped forward and approached us.
Out of all the supervisors, Kim is definitely the least hated among the crew. She's a short woman with tanned skin and freckles dotting her cheeks. She's one of the only Supervisors my crew actually looks up to. She's strict but not unkind. She always tries to help out the Engineers and is the only voice for our getting modifications among the Supervisors.
"What happened?" Dorothy and I ask in unison. Although, I glance to see Dorothy looking at Kim when she should be looking at Iman for an explanation. Considering what happened earlier, you'd think she learnt her lesson.
Apparently not.
Iman places his hands behind his back as Kim nods at him to speak. It is only when Kim does this that Dorothy looks at Iman, however annoyed.
Iman begins to explain. "It appears we've reached Earth a week earlier than expected," he says. Seeing the question in our eyes, he continues, "We seem to have crossed through a tunnel of sorts which led to Earth much quicker than anticipated. A shortcut, if you will. It's not exactly a wormhole since we weren't able to detect it. We asked the Scientists to check for any signatures which could help us identify what exactly we experienced, but the tunnel is no longer visible. It's almost as if someone activated the tunnel just to get us here." he finishes.
I look back at Kim who nods her head solemnly. Dorothy remains as impassive as ever.
"How long before we land?" Dorothy asks.
"At your command, Captain."
"Head back to your stations. Be on standby." Dorothy says.
As soon as they leave our vicinity, I look at her.
"I think Earth has something to do with this." I tell her.
She nods. "Indeed. It's too much of a coincidence. The thing is, they can't have that kind of technology yet. The reports of the Exploration Ship say that life on Earth has restarted. Humans are currently in the colonial era over there."
"But the reports also mentioned that there is one supreme leader instead of the ancient kingdoms Earth had." I retort.
"Correct. Which probably means there's an external factor playing a role in all this. A factor that didn't exist before." Dorothy says.
"I'd advise we don't land on Earth until we're certain they aren't hostile."
"Affirmative. We'll hover out of sight for a while, try to find the Exploration Ship."
I nod. "What about our modifications?" I ask.
Dorothy responds. "I suppose we need to begin the process immediately. I'll tell the Supervising Crew to begin opening the crates. Tell the crew to be ready in an hour."
I try to hide my excitement as I exit the room. As soon as I'm out of Dorothy's sight, however, I run down the halls to my quarters and use the intercom.
"Everyone! Gather in Medbay ASAP! It's time to get what we've all been waiting for!"
Almost immediately, I hear an excited chatter echo through the ship as everyone makes their way to their modifications.
---
An hour later, everyone's lined up in order of their Crew number with their sleeves pulled up. There's a nervous energy buzzing in the air as the silence thickens in the room.
The Galaxy's Medbay is huge, with floor to ceiling windows on one side and a wall full of screens on the opposite wall. There's at least fifteen beds in the room and a separate cabinet lined against the wall facing the door. Our modifications have been placed all over the room, with each crate numbered according to the modification it holds.
The Supervisor of the Medicine department, Josè, enters. He clicks away on his PDD. As soon as he's done, the ceiling shifts to incorporate a claw machine. He opens his mouth to say something when suddenly, a loud bang resounds across the room.
Alarmed, I pull down my sleeve and use the intercom. Since all the crew is here, the Supervisors have been given the task of managing the controls for the next 2 hours.
"Vice Captain to Cockpit, what was that?" I speak through the intercom.
There's static on the other end before I hear faint breathing.
"Earth.. Attack.." Is all I hear before the comms go off.
"EVERYONE TO THEIR STATIONS! I NEED ALL HANDS ON DECK, STAT!" I call out before I rush to the Cockpit.
I walk through the door and gasp at the sight before me. There are at least five ships in front of us, their weapons out and ready to strike. I look down on the floor.
The sight before me makes me scream.
Dorothy and the Defence Supervisor, Micah, are on the floor. Their bodies seem to have taken severe damage because Dorothy's Cyborg parts are strewn about on the floor and Micah has blood pooling around his body.
I touch both of their wrists and feel a faint pulse from Micah. Dorothy doesn't have a pulse.
The Engineers are quick to get to work despite the gruesome scene. Kim and Iman take control of the room as they sit in their seats and put on the seatbelts. I do the same. I call for Medbay and have them take Dorothy and Micah away. They need immediate medical attention if they are to survive. There's a buzz in my ears as everything else seems to fade.
I take a deep breath as Iman turns to me, "Vice Captain, they have a message for us." He informs.
The buzzing gets fainter.
"Tell me."
"They want us to land on Earth. Immediately."
I place a hand on my face in contemplation and panic alike.
"Check their signatures. Any human life signs?"
Iman checks his computer and nods. "The entire crew is human. However, they don't have any advanced weapons, indicating they're from Earth. Our shields can block them and we can obliterate them with our own weapons."
"Why weren't the shields up before? How damaged is she?"
"It appears the Captain gave permission to lower the shields. She received blows to the defence weapons but she's rapidly healing."
Strange. What should I do now? Destroying the ships would remove all possibilities of making peace with Earth.
"Put up shields and tell them to give us a day to decide." I say and stand up.
Kim nods and types away at her computer. "They have given us 24 hours, Earth time." She says.
I nod and head out.
So much for the modifications.
===