Ex Nihilo - Abyssal Prophecy

Chapter 1

    “Living in the time since the last of the stars were destroyed, I’ve learned to rely on the stories passed down to us. Without light, the universe is an abyss with no hope of salvation,” Matthew dictated into his journal. Lights flickered in the tiny box he called his quarters on the former prison colony ship Alcatraz. Books he had recreated with dedication lay strewn about, open to various points, each one a testament to his dedication to the past. Hardcovers had been crafted with care. He had made the paper, and he’d written every word. Calloused fingers were testament to his personal sacrifices for knowledge.

    Lights flickered from a sudden drop in the ship's power before failing. Only a few glimmering lights from datapads provided illumination in the room. The soft glow taunted him with everything that had been lost in the last war. He knew that the datapads mimicked all that had been lost to foolish vanity in the Great Wars of the Ancients. Staring into the pitch-black room, he struggled to organize his thoughts.

    He was used to these periods of power failure. For as long as he could remember, the ship had been struggling with power issues. The problems only seemed to increase with time. It was almost like an old friend who stopped by now and again to visit, but each visit only brought more problems. Matthew thought how he felt more at home in the absence of the light on the failing Alcatraz. Each day, the fear that the ship would fall apart grew in the pit of his stomach, and the crew throughout the ship echoed the rumblings of these fears.

    Matthew felt a gnawing pit in his stomach. He knew that whatever life remained in the universe had to be clinging to survival just like the Alcatraz and its crew. The words from great writers and the history before the last war echoed in his churning thoughts. Many different cultures, races, and people once thought that the deepest parts of despair needed a glimmer of hope. The truth of that was scatted in the books and datapads throughout his quarters. These people believed that a spark of hope only made despair that much more potent, but Matthew knew how wrong they had been.

    He knew the deepest part of despair was where there was no hope at all. That was just reality. The abyss watched, waited, and prepared to devour the Alcatraz and all of the people who lived on board.

    Humming electricity broke the silence, and the lights flickered back to life. With one hand, Matthew covered his eyes from the pain caused by the sudden burst of light. His vision blurred for a moment before the room came back into focus. Rusted metal walls revealed their age and deterioration. Water stains revealed where a pipe had been steadily leaking for some time. Metal bulkheads creaked and groaned under the pressures of space. The Alcatraz seemed to have a voice, and every day the ship screamed in pain.

    “Each day we struggle to keep this dying ship alive, but our greatest threat isn’t from the raiders. We’re told these threats lurk in the old systems that existed before the war, when the stars illuminated the universe. The greatest threat to our survival comes from my father, Captain Gabriel Soloman.” Matthew watched the words appear on the screen. “There is no help for us, and no hope of survival. We are awaiting death.”

    Lights went out again and the entire room shook. Matthew stood up. He knew that wasn’t normal. Even in the dark, Matthew knew where to go. He moved through the room, stepping around the clutter on his floor. Reaching the door, he pressed the button to open it, but nothing happened. He hit the button again to the same result. Combatting racing thoughts, Matthew worried about his friends and family. There was only silence for a moment, and the lights flickered back to life with a buzz.

    “Warning! Hull decompression reported in the Lower Wards and all emergency personnel are required to assist. Repeat: Warn--” The lifeless automated voice cut out as the power fizzled and darkness returned.

    Matthew stepped through his mess of books and opened his tool kit. Pulling out a metal pry bar, he returned to the door and wedged the tool between the cracks of the door. He knew the poverty on the Lower Wards would only make whatever happened worse. He put his weight into opening the door.

    “Hold on, little brother,” someone said through the door.

    Matthew didn’t even hear the words. He was focused on escape. Together, the two forced the door open wide enough for Matthew to slip through. Matthew felt sweat drip from his brow, and he wiped it away with one hand while clenching the metal pry bar in his other.

    “Calm down, Matthew. Try to control your breathing. Oxygen is very thin right now. We’ve had a catastrophic breach on the Lower Wards, and oxygen supply is low.”

    Matthew focused on the mask being offered to him and looked up to see the face of his brother Kain coming into focus. He focused on breathing. With each breath, his vision seemed to sharpen. He could make out tendrils of smoke pouring out of one of the nearby oxygen vents, and he grabbed the mask to put it on before taking the oxygen tank from Kain.

    “What the hell happened?” Matthew asked.

    “Your guess is as good as mine, little brother. Captain Soloman went down to do some inspections on the Lower Wards, and we lost contact with him just before the explosion was reported.” Kain informed him. “I was assembling my team for morning combat exercises and haven’t been able to contact the bridge since the explosion.”

    Matthew saw his brother’s tactical team trying to help the other trapped officers of the ship. The men and women were forcing their doors. He breathed in the clean oxygen from the tank. Both of them could feel the heat rising in the hallway. With each second, the heat grew.

    Kain waited for his brother to follow him.

    “We have to move fast. Whatever happened probably blew out the coolant system, and heat from the reactor is going to cook us alive if we can’t get it fixed and fast.” Kain instructed.

    “What the hell does either of us know about fixing a coolant system?” Matthew asked.

    “You might only care about your plants, but as a first officer, I am familiar with the workings of every system on this ship. I could use your hands to help me if you’re not too scared.”    Matthew nodded in agreement and followed his brother down the corridor. They passed the guards trying to free the other officers. Smoke poured in through the air vents and the corridor was filled with a dim haze. Arriving at the lift, Kain didn’t even bother pressing the button. Instead, he opened a maintenance access panel near the command console. The door slid open about a foot and stopped.

    “Doesn’t anything f*****g work on this ship?” Kain shouted in frustration.

    “Well, it’s not like Captain Soloman will take us anywhere to get the supplies or resources we need to fix anything. This ship is being torn apart by ignorance,” Matthew retorted.

    “Not the time.” Kain glared and pointed to the other side of the door. “Help me get this open.”

    The two brothers used all of their strengths to push the heavy metal lift doors open wide enough to get into the shaft. A bright orange light peeked through the smoky haze. The lift shaft connected the bridge to the bowels of the ship, and the fire seemed to be down at the bottom.

    “That’s has to be a fire, right?” Matthew asked.

    “From the smell of it, I think that fire is burning the coolant, and it’s probably ruptured the hydraulic lines in the Lower Ward.

    “So what do we do?”

    “Get your rappelling line out and hook it to the emergency bar. I hope you remember your training,” Kain joked.

    Unfamiliar with the use of the rappelling line, Matthew fumbled with his toolkit on his belt. He struggled to get his line out. Kain reach over and, with a steady hand, helped him. Together, the two clipped the hook onto the bar.

    “Just try to stay calm, little brother, and remember panic will only kill you faster,” Kain said with a calm soft voice, clamping his clasp to a sturdy metal bar.

    “How are we going to put out a fire like that? We’re just two people.”

    “I have a plan. Just follow me, and remember your emergency training. That’s a long drop.” Kain moved over the edge and dropped off.

    Matthew took a deep breath. His entire body shook from a potent mixture of adrenaline and fear as he stared down the shaft. Matthew thought about all of the people who could be hurt and in need of help. The thought steadied his hands and caused his muscles to find their strength. With a deep breath, he stepped over the edge and fell for a few seconds before his rappelling line drew taught and caught him. He swung back hard and slammed against the metal wall of the lift shaft. Dangling there, he was disorientated for a few seconds.

    “You okay?” Kain asked.

    “Yeah, I think so.” Matthew groaned, feeling the pain echoing in his nerves. Finding footing on the wall, his rappelling training came back to him.

    Together, the two began to lower themselves through the rising smoke and haze towards the glowing inferno below. Heat came in waves off the fire rising through the lift shaft. The two men felt the heat hit them throughout their descent. Sweat poured from their faces, their hands soaked the lines holding them, and their uniforms were already showing the moisture soaking in. Crackling echoed up the shaft, breaking the silence and providing a cadence to the brother’s descent.

    Near the bottom, Kain raised his hand in a stop sign. They could feel the tremendous heat coming from the fire now. Looking down, the two men saw the power conduit rupture along the side of the elevator shaft just below them. Matthew didn’t know much about the engineering of the Alcatraz, but he recognized the severe damage. The conduit had blown outwards and ruptured the metal wall of the lift shaft and nearby hydraulic lines. Exposed electrical current had ignited the ship's hydraulic fluid.

    “That’s why the emergency door release didn’t work.” Kain pointed out “The conduit rupture damaged the hydraulic fluid lines. The people who ran this ship as a prison wanted to save money with an old, crude oil-based hydraulic fluid to save money, and that’s what’s burning.”

    “Well, how the hell do you expect us to put it out?”

    “Anyone on the officer crew level that can hear this transmission, respond,” Kain ordered over the communicator.

    “Officer Freeman responding to your transmission sir,” A voice echoed from the communicator.

    “Freeman, can you close that door to the main lift shaft on the officer level? The emergency door release mechanism won’t work because the hydraulic fluid lines are on fire near the lowest levels. You’ll have to use magnetic equipment or find one of the troopers in powered armour.”

    “Roger that, First officer. I’ll have the door shut ASAP. Over and out,” Freeman responded.

    Walking to the wall, Matthew sat down and wiped his brow. The heat from the fire was almost unbearable. He watched his brother attach magnetic lock devices to the door. He still wondered if his brother even had a plan and if it would work. Deep in the pit of his stomach, he felt fear clenched tight, and he tried not to imagine what was happening to people near the hull breach.

    Kain recognized his brother’s distress. His little brother had too much empathy. He activated the clamps and the magnetic pull slid the lift doors shut. Kain pulled out his canteen of water and walked to this brother, holding it out.

    Without a second thought, Matthew took it and began to drink. With the doors closed, the temperature was dropping. The two brothers sat down and leaned on the metal walls, waiting in silence for the officer to report that the doors had been sealed. Time seemed to drag on.

    “First Officer, I’ve managed to seal the doors shut up here on the officer level,” Freeman reported over the communicator.

    Kain stood up and strode to the nearby emergency console. It was lifeless without power. Ripping off an access panel, he pulled out his communicator and began taking it apart. Taking the power cell out of the device, he wired it into the emergency console. Sparks flew when he connected the power cell, and the emergency system screen glared to life. He began accessing the emergency lift shaft decompression cycle, and, in silence, prayed for the decompression system to have not failed.

    Kain inputted his code and activated the decompression cycle. For a second, there was nothing but silence. He could feel his brother was worried that the plan had failed. Typing in a few commands, he brought up the decompression system. The computer reported it was operational. He was just going back to try reactivating it again when the thumping of the gears in the decompression system echoed through the walls. The sound of air being sucked out of the lift shaft pierced the hallway. Kain moved to the emergency damage report in the system and watched the alarm for the fire go off.

    “See? I told you I had a plan.” Kain laughed, trying to cover up his own fear.

    “We’re not far from the Lower Wards. We need to get moving to help Father and the survivors,” Matthew insisted.

    Tapping in a few commands, Kain tried to access the emergency reports on the hull breach, but the entire system was offline in that section. Walking away from the machine, he motioned to Matthew to follow. The two brothers headed down the corridor towards the Lower Wards. Fear hastened their footsteps, and dread filled them with determination. Together, they stared down into the endless darkness of the corridor before them.