White Giant

The air was filled with the deep pulsing sound of the micro-rail guns as the Dwarfers were steadily pushed back by a relentless horde of Funglins. The flailing tentacles from the depths of the elevator shaft were still lashing out and swiping blindly.

O’Malley and Pickman were caught in the beast’s grasp, their weapons knocked from their hands and consumed by several hungry Funglins. Slowly, they felt the grip grow even tighter, and they were both gasping for air. Aiming his weapon squarely at a metal beam overhead, Artemis let out a single shot that brought the beam down upon both the tentacles holding Pickman and O’Malley.

‘Can’t have valuable scientists being written off,’ said Artemis as he turned his weapon to more Funglins. ‘Even if they do work in an inferior lab.’

‘We’ve got to get out of here!’ called Thomas, as he beat away an attacking Funglin with his metal arm.

‘No smeg, Sherlock!’ Cass shouted back as she blasted away at a group of Funglins, ‘But us and the Starbug bays are about 12 decks and fuck knows how many of these buggers.’

There was a terrifying roar from the elevator shaft and the tentacles gripped tightly onto what ever it could find. The powerful muscles tensed up and began to pull.

‘It’s going to bring the whole place down around us!’ cried Thomas.

‘I don’t think we are going to be that lucky,’ muttered Cass in disbelief.

With one violent yank, the tentacles pulled and the face of the mutated Fungzilla appeared at the elevator shaft door.

‘Wait!’ said Jamie as he booted a small Funglin into the gaping maw of the Fungzilla, ‘We don’t need a Starbug!’

‘Yeah, we do,’ Tanaka said as a Funglin passed straight through his hologrammatic body, ‘Murderous mushrooms, alcoholic death cloud - try and keep up.’

‘No, there’s a landing bay not far from here. The mining crews use it as a drop off point when they bring in a mineral haul from off-ship.’

‘But those must be, what, White Giants, maybe? I’d be surprised if they even got us out the shuttle bay doors.’

‘Old they might be,’ said Jamie, ‘But we’ve had to fix up a couple and believe me they are tough old crates.’

‘Sounds like a plan, dudes,’ said Holly, his head bobbing up and down on the screen, ‘I’ve opened up the doors to the bay, it’s a right, then a left, and a right again. Or is that the way to the payphone. I always get those two mixed up.’

‘Right, it’s our best chance,’ said Jay, ‘Does anyone know where Jade is?’

‘She’s actually on your way,’ said Holly, ‘Cornered in a medical room just before the turn to the White Giant bay. I’ll let her know your plan and try see if some of the skutters can’t help her out.’

‘Holly, I could kiss you!’ said Jay and he began to run in the direction of the White Giant bay, the other Dwarfers hot on his tail.

***

‘You took your time!’ said Jade as the Dwarfers bundled into the open doors of the White Giant.

It was a large, boxy ship that had originally been white, but grime and muck had stained the paint a dull grey. There was a single large thruster at the back of the ship, and two smaller retro-thrusters at the front. The nose of the craft was dominated by a large mining laser, as well as a scoop like a gaping maw, used for collecting the harvested ores. But it was big, about the size of two houses, including their front and back gardens, and the little allotment shed at the bottom of the lane.

‘Yeah, well, we had a lot to deal with,’ said Thomas, as slammed the door control.

‘Right, let’s get this crate in the air,’ said Jay, hopping into the pilot’s seat and flicking the start-up switches. ‘Jamie, can you get down to the engine room and see if you can’t get these engines warmed up faster?’

‘Uh, I think we’ve got a problem,’ said Cass, leaning over Jay and tapping a flashing light on the dashboard.

‘Of course, we don’t have any fuel, why would we have fuel, that would make too much sense. That would be too kind of the universe.’

‘We can use this?’ said Thomas, holding up the bottle of Nova-shine.

‘No,’ said everyone in unison.

‘Hey, I bet this packs a hell of a punch.’

‘Smeg, what have we got to lose?’ sighed Jamie, ‘It’s blown up by Plisken’s stupid drink or eaten alive by fungus, or we suffocate in a nebula of ethanol. I know which one sounds less painful.’

Jamie snatched the bottle of Nova-shine from Thomas and dashed to the engine room.

‘Will everyone relax?’ said Thomas, taking a seat behind the science desk of the cockpit.

‘We’re all going to die,’ said Tanaka.

‘A horrible, horrible death,’ said Pickman.

‘It doesn’t even make sense,’ said Artemis.

‘This is not the way I saw my life ending,’ said Cass.

‘Looks like we’ve got fuel now,’ said Jay as the fuel warning light faded on the dashboard, ‘At least enough to get us out of here.’

‘Pray to your gods if you’ve got them,’ said Jade and everyone braced themselves for their impending doom.

And with a slow hum, the engines began to start up. Gently, and slowly, the ship began to rise from the landing pad.

‘See, it all worked out in the end –‘ began Thomas but he was cut off as the ship burst forward at a tremendous speed, slamming everyone to the back of whatever room they were standing in. There were explosions everywhere as the Nova-shine coursed through the ship’s fuel system. The White Giant burst through the half-open shuttle bay doors and into the emptiness of deep space.

***

‘Damage report?’ asked Jay as he regained some consciousness.

‘Not too bad,’ coughed Cass, ‘Considering.’

‘Fuel link is down, and it would be leaking fuel if we had any to leak,’ said Jamie, stumbling through the door.

‘Looks like the hull is intact,’ spluttered Thomas.

‘That was a really, really stupid plan,’ scolded Cass.

‘Are we or we not alive?’ asked Thomas.

‘I’m personally not sure,’ said O’Malley, pushing himself from the floor.

‘Uh, I think we have a bigger problem, ladies and gentlemen,’ said Artemis. ‘Either the scanner is broken, which, let’s be honest, is quite possible, or Blue Dwarf is no longer in short range.’

‘What?’ said Cass, pushing past, ‘It’s only a blip on long range, and even then, it might not be it.’

‘How fast was Blue Dwarf travelling when we left?’

‘Approaching maximum so that they would reach the nebula in time,’ said Jamie.

‘And how long were we out for?’ asked Thomas.

‘Long enough for them to be out of range,’ said Jamie, ‘A White Giant can’t catch up with it, even with engines at maximum.’

‘Great,’ said Jay, ‘No fuel, no Dwarf, no Holly, no nothing.’

‘Well,’ said Jamie, ‘Thomas’s nova-shine should give us a little bit of fuel left in the system, but the link is down so we can’t put any more in until it’s fixed. I think it’s done all the damage it can do, so we should be safe to use what is left in the bottle until we find something more suitable.’

‘And there might be a backup computer in here somewhere,’ said Thomas, going to a nearby console, ‘These ships were designed for long distance, far enough away to be disconnected from a JMC AI. There might not be a Holly on board, but we might find something.’

‘So not all bad then,’ said Cass. ‘Right, let’s get ourselves cleaned up and start the scanners. There’s got to be something we can get fuel from out there.’

<<OOC- I chose a White Giant just because I assumed it would be bigger than a Starbug and might have just enough room for us all.
I left Jade's rescue out a bit in case you want to write anything in, Amoeba :)
If White Giant doesn't suit, you can always retro-actively change it

But what are we going to name our new home? Are we going to find a backup replacement for Holly? Where should we search for fuel? And why did the Dwarf leave us abandoned in space? And where in space are we?>>