Library Challenge - May "Mayday"

[loulabelle]

It's that time again... my group settled on "Mayday", ie m'aidez (help me).

No word limit here, ready, set... go!

[Swift]

Hummmmmm.

Really don't want to do a stereotypical nautical themed story for this.

[loulabelle]

Hummmmmm.

Really don't want to do a stereotypical nautical themed story for this.

Then don't

[loulabelle]

Looks like I am getting this party started...

This month I wrote straight up Sci Fi... I hope someone likes it!
Who's next?

---
“Help me” She whispered.

But no-one heard her.

She didn’t know how long she had been repeating the words. At first they had been drowned out by the screams of the other passengers. But now she was so alone, that the merest whisper, was deafening. She didn’t know how long she had been alone. How much time had passed. She had been hungry, thirsty and at some point she knew she had soiled herself. She blushed at that memory.

It had been her birthday treat. Turning twenty one in zero gravity on one of Virgin Galactic’s many tourist flights was the latest fad and her parents had been happy to indulge their daughter on her special day. The takeoff had been exhilarating and that first moment when she felt herself rise out of the seat had been magical, breathtaking and a hundred other words that failed to do it true justice. Earth had rocketed away from them as they shot towards the moon. She knew the flight path, she’d been studying the pamphlet for years. The pilot would take them around the dark side of the moon, then back towards Earth. They would orbit the planet in a specially planned route relevant to the passengers upon the flight and then land back at the Mojave Spaceport.

The stars had been the first thing she noticed. They littered the sky and gave her a strange sense of vacancy. Even now, in this desperate situation, it was hard to not be impressed by them.

They had never made it back around the moon.

Crashes were frightening enough on Earth, but in space they escalated to a whole new level of terror. It had happened suddenly, the cabin plunged into darkness for horrifying seconds before sickly green emergency lighting flickered on. The pilot had sounded confused trying to explain what had happened, but people were already screaming and pulling on spacesuits at the request of the calm recorded voice. Her parents had helped her into her suit before pulling on their own, a direct but poignant defiance of the instructions. At first when the suit was on, it had silenced the screams. For just a moment. Then her mother had connected the wire from her helmet to the back of the bulky suit and the screams cut through that merciful vacuous silence with added digital clarity.

The pilot’s voice was clearer too. They had hit something and depressurisation was inevitable. Virgin Galactic had received his mayday and everyone was to stay calm. Help was coming.

“Help me” She had said, her eyes fixed upon her parents. She did her best to help them into their own suits but quickly realised her gloved hands provided more hindrance than assistance and left them to help each other. This was not the Titanic, there were suits for everyone. No need to fight.

But the spaceship had exploded. The force had propelled the passengers into an ever increasing circle around it. She thought her ears would bleed with the intensity of the screams even though her own voice was silent. Some of them had not made it into their suits. At first, she had pitied them. But now… she wished she had been one of them.
She drifted, backwards, scrabbling at nothing, trying to pull herself forwards. She blacked out and when she came to, all was silent.

“Help me” She had said and no-one replied. She had looked at the gauge on her air tank. It was already half empty. How long had she been unconscious? Her stomach had rumbled then. She searched the sky, but the endless stars gave her no reassurance. Earth, she had looked for home and saw it. Was it further away? She couldn’t say.
That was when she felt properly panicked and had screamed until she was hoarse. Flailing limbs, taking her nowhere as she gently drifted backwards. From screams had come tears until her eyes were dry. She didn’t want to die out here. But after the tears came, nothing.

She whispered, “Help me.” And gazed at the stars. A glance at the tank. An eighth. Not long now. Perhaps another screaming fit would hurry things along. But she was exhausted.

After an age that passed in the blink of eye, she began to feel sleepy. She closed her eyes cutting off the stars, denying them her attention. This was it, surely.

When she opened her eyes, she was inside something. The light was different, rather than the gentle yellow of the sun. This was a strange purple light and she quickly realised it was ultraviolet. She was no longer in her spacesuit and she was in some form of gravity. Using her hands to explore what lay beneath and behind her, she slowly began to piece things together. There was a flat surface beneath her. It was warm but hard, perhaps a bed. It was comfortable. She must be on the Virgin Galactic rescue ship.

Her eyes filled with tears, in part from the discomfort of the light as much as confusion and relief. She looked around, hunting for some sign of identification with her eyes. But there was nothing. She was also alone. Surely she could not be the sole survivor. A flash of guilt washed over her so hard that she shivered, despite the warmth of the room. It was very warm in here and humid.

Slowly she sat up, her heart was starting to beat a little faster. Where was everyone? Where was the nurse or first aider or whoever Virgin Galactic had sent into the atmosphere and beyond to answer the distress call? Sitting up had made the blood rush to her head or maybe that was the room, she was starting to feel light headed. The ultraviolet light probably was not helping either, perhaps it was some kind of sterilisation procedure. She wondered how long she had been lying in it. She touched her face and it hurt, she knew she was burned.

Walking across the room was not easy, but she made herself do it. Her feet were bare and the soles burned as much as her face was. It made it painful to walk.

“Hello?” She said nervously. Her heart beat faster than ever, she went back to the bed she had been lying on and yanked at the strange fabric that covered it. It was glued down or stitched and she had to tear at it with her hands to get it off. But persistence, or desperation and fear paid off and she was able to pull the fabric free. She draped it over herself as some protection from the light , shrouding herself like a nun. There was little she could do for her eyes except squint and try to keep away from the source of the light. Hard to do, it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

She reached the wall and began running her hands over its smooth surface. There had to be a door, somewhere… how else had she gotten into this strange room? She made almost a complete circumference of the room, before she found something. When she touched the wall near to where to she had begun her futile search, the surface shrank away from her fingertips and sank into the wall before silently shifting sideways. What was left was a window.

She stared.

Outside she could see Earth, blue with oceans and white with cloud cover. She almost thought she saw an electrical storm wink at her from what could only be the equator. There was also something else. Another ship was beside the rescue ship she was on. And another identical ship beside that. Her heart skipped a beat and she clutched at the smooth transparent surface. An entire fleet drifted beside her… and what would be drifting on the other side? What were they waiting for? Did this have something to do with the crash? Is this why the shuttle had exploded?

The fleet was slowly encroaching on Earth. She stared, horrified but waiting to see what would happen. Someone had to help them.

Behind her, the door she had never found, slid opened. She turned, frightened, but curious at what she might see.

“Help us” She said uselessly. But they did not answer her.

[loulabelle]

Bump.

New theme forthcoming tonight, but of course all previous ones remain open for your inspiration. I may take mine down, so don't be alarmed if this thread gets empty/deleted.

[maxcell]

I am not a writer, but even if no one else got sparked off this, please don't make it go away. It really gripped me. Touched on some phobias, some real some imagined: dying alone, dying in space, plane crashes, falling for ever, helpless suffering, etc...

you have a gift!