The hull was damaged, and @dustcaller was having difficulty breathing, strapped into his station while the ship dipped and spun. He hated this feeling of helplessness. It wasn't him. Death or not, he needed to take control of the situation.

  "Help me!" @stardvark yelled.

  He had unstrapped and was stumbling, grabbing onto control panels, making his way to @kittyboy. That was all @dustcaller needed to hear. He sprang into action, tossing the straps aside, launching himself forward to the back of @kittyboy's chair.

  He grabbed on, his left hand on the chair and his right wrapped around @kittyboy's chest. The man's chest was heaving, his arms shaking, but his hands were somehow still and steady. @kittyboy was oblivious to everything around him, and at the same time, he seemed completely in control of the battle at hand. The trance. It had nearly killed @kittyboy the last time, and @dustcaller knew this would be no different. @dustcaller couldn't believe @kittyboy hadn't passed out yet.

  Moments later, @stardvark was at his side, a large cable in his hands.

  "Hold him down," @stardvark shouted.

  @dustcaller wrapped his left arm around @kittyboy now, linking his two large arms by grasping his other hand. As long as he could keep his grip, neither of them were going anywhere, despite the lurching of @kittyboy's body as tremors shook him.

  @stardvark plunged the cable into @kittyboy, and @dustcaller felt a quick zap of electricity run through him.

  Power cables? @dustcaller thought. Why would a man need power cables? But he had to remind himself that these aiways were part machine as well.

  His grip slipped as the ship banked hard to the solar southwest, and @dustcaller fell to his knees.

  "Hold him!" @stardvark repeated.

  The older man stumbled away, looking for something else. @dustcaller stayed down on his knees and wrapped his arms around @kittyboy again. Slowly, he started securing the straps of the station to help hold @kittyboy in place. When @stardvark returned, he had two more cables. One looked different, and @dustcaller could only imagine what he had in mind.

  But that's why he's here. He knows what to do. We'll be fine.

  @dustcaller was still skeptical, though. @stardvark continued his routine, connecting tubes and cables. Slowly, @kittyboy's shaking subsided, but now @dustcaller was aware of his own difficulties breathing. They didn't have long.

  "Okay," @stardvark yelled. "Release him. Get oxygen." He pointed toward the back of the bridge beyond @dustcaller's station.

  @dustcaller let go, staying down on the ground, crawling and grabbing what he could to keep from being jostled about. He looked back, and @stardvark was back in his own chair, strapping in.

  "What about you?" @dustcaller asked.

  @stardvark waved him off.

  These aiways have a different understanding of life and death, @dustcaller reminded himself. He knows I'm human.

  He wished he had been able to port, to experience the aiways life, but he couldn't dwell on that. For now, all he could do was try to survive. Bit by bit, he crawled his way to the back, tumbling occasionally as the ship maneuvered. Against all odds, it seemed they were winning, but that might not be enough to spare the people on the ship. Oblivion was becoming a death trap.

  @mechanica and @weathermagic were still strapped in toward the back in their jumpseats. @dustcaller waved to them, calling for them to go with him. @mechanica was calm, stoic, somehow unfazed. She simply smiled back and motioned for him to go on.

  @weathermagic, on the other hand, was clearly struggling, but the fear in her eyes told him that she wouldn't be leaving the chair without help. He lifted himself up, using the arms of her chair, and reached for the belt holding her in place. @weathermagic shook her head vehemently at him.

  "No! No!" she shouted.

  "I'll bring you a mask," @dustcaller replied.

  He clambered on, pulling himself along the floor until he found what he was looking for, the lockers along the entryway. He steadied himself as best he could, staggering, and managed to open the locker. @dustcaller grabbed a mask, sensing his own breathing being at the brink of uselessness. There wasn't enough breathable air in the cabin.

  He took a deep breath as he strapped on the oxygen mask, letting the cool air flow down through his lungs. He closed his eyes, holding firm to the edges of the locker, and took two more deep breaths to recover.

  Satisfied, he took two more masks from the lockers. He wouldn't be able to carry more without dropping them with the ship shaking as it was. He tossed the oxygen masks as far as he could into the bridge. @dustcaller had to hope that it would be enough for @stardvark and @zerogstar to get to them in time. Then he took two more, holding as tight as he could, to move back toward @mechanica and @weathermagic.

  The cold hit him next. Damage to the hull was accelerating the loss of both oxygen and heat. He might be able to breath now, but he would soon freeze. He looked back into the bridge. A coating of frost was starting to form over the displays. He knew it was useless.

  He watched as @weathermagic passed out, and at that point, he had seen enough. The aiways might survive, but chances were that they were destined for reanimation. @dustcaller needed to save himself.

  He didn’t want to die without a chance to fight for his life, and he was helpless here on Oblivion. The loss of life support and a hull breach were only the start of their problems. They were still under attack. He also couldn't be sure that the ship was free from overtaken.

  I need to leave.

  Escape pods for the bridge crew were just beyond the lockers. He would launch himself back toward the Pit. It was overrun with overtaken, but at least he would have control over his fate. Maybe he would die, but he would die on his own terms.

  @dustcaller moved toward the escape pods, ripping open the door to one of the slender, coffin-like tubes. He shut himself in, but the inner tube remained dark. He eyed the panel of controls in front of him. It was basic, which made perfect sense for emergencies. He saw a big eject button, a coordinate pad to enter destinations, and a control stick for basic maneuvering. The escape pod would have minimal thruster control, but it would have to do.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  He pressed the eject button, but nothing happened.

  "Fuck," @dustcaller bellowed in his deep voice.

  He shoved the door open, moving to the next pod. He entered and was relieved that when he closed the door, the interior lit up. "Good, it's got power."

  He didn't know the coordinates for the Pit, but a tiny starmap was on the display. He pressed toward where the Pit was, and it registered coordinates on the screen. That would have to be enough.

  He took a deep breath.

  And then @dustcaller pressed the eject button. He screamed as it shot him out like a torpedo. It reminded him of the feeling of swinging too high on a swingset, his gut falling out from under him.

  Seconds later, he was shooting through space. The pod settled into its trajectory. @dustcaller watched through the viewer as Oblivion, leaking gases and riddled with sparks on the side where it was damaged, began to spin.

  The other looming ship, Extinction, was coming in for an attack run.

  @dustcaller's pod started to slow. He checked the fuel. No problems there. All systems appeared to be normal. In a few moments, he understood. Oblivion's spinning was creating a pulling effect. The large valkyrie was caught in it. @dustcaller was fortunate. His ejection had propelled him farther away. Oblivion was focused on Extinction, and Extinction was swept up in the gravitational force.

  The slowing of his pod, however, continued to grow. @dustcaller grabbed the controls and fired the thrusters, trying to push the pod farther. He began to pick up speed, and his distance increased, but then he began to slow again. @dustcaller wondered how hard he could push the thrusters on the pod, how much fuel he might consume trying to escape, but he wasn't sure if he had a choice.

  The Pit was close, but not close enough.

  Out the window, Oblivion's rotation continued, and Extinction began to come apart as Oblivion pulled it in. The escape pod wouldn't have a chance. @dustcaller pushed it harder, giving the thrusters as much power as he could.

  Then the gravitational pull stopped.

  Extinction seemed to implode.

  But the competing forces created an aftershock. The full power of the thrusters sent @dustcaller's pod streaking away, but it was met by the force of the explosion, which shot him farther and faster. The pod hurled into space, spinning at an odd angle. It was hard for @dustcaller to make out anything clearly through the window, but he knew he had overshot the Pit by quite a distance.

  I hope I can turn this thing around.

  First, he had to stabilize the rotation. He eased the thrusters, nudging them little by little until the spinning stopped.

  Where am I? he wondered, checking the gauges. The display wasn't broken, but the sensors couldn't get a read on his location or surroundings. He floated now in a sea of debris, the remains of the crumbled ship. The occasional scrap pinged off his escape pod.

  Now he had to worry about where he was, the amount of fuel and oxygen he had in the pod, and potential damage from impact with debris.

  But I'm not dead, he told himself. I would be if I had stayed on the ship.

  "But that doesn't mean you aren't going to die," he said aloud.

  His next move, he decided, would be to free himself from the debris field. Impact with scrap from Extinction could be immediately deadly. He had to fly based on what he could see, but it was better than waiting for something to hit him.

  @dustcaller picked a speed and angle that looked promising and fired the pod's thrusters. He swept through cleanly at first, but he was too late to avoid impact with a section of the ship that was coming from outside his vision. He braced himself, trying to redirect at the last minute, but the collision was unavoidable.

  The pod was strong, though, and @dustcaller took a deep breath, relieved, when he ricocheted off. He used the rebound and the pod's thrusters to speed up. A few smaller pieces brushed the pod, but soon he found himself free from the thick of the debris field.

  He had no idea where the Pit was.

  The quiet of space was soothing, but he knew it would end in death.

  "I didn't think I'd die like this," @dustcaller said to himself. "I was in a cryofreeze chamber, not unlike this pod, and here I am again. I guess that's fitting."

  He wondered if he could somehow freeze himself within the pod while preserving his brain. "Escape pods should be designed for cryogenics," he complained. But, he again had to remember that aiways don't think that way. They don't need to save their bodies like humans. They simply reanimate.

  "I'm dead," he admitted.

  And then a ship appeared, as if it were there all along, manifesting from seemingly nowhere.

  "Yep," he said. "I'm dead, and that ship will be what kills me."

  @dustcaller attempted to steer away from this new ship. He couldn't make out the design or shape, but it was clearly there. He didn't think he had imagined it. His oxygen supply was good. He was thinking clearly.

  A tractor beam snagged him. "Better than getting blown up. Better than suffocating or freezing in the dead of space."

  The pod redirected, sucked into a new course that took it toward the ambient ship.

  He hoped he was being saved, but @dustcaller had been on the run since he first awoke. Everyone who knew who he was seemed to be after him. Surely, he thought, this would be no different.

  "I'm not being saved," he noted. "But I'm not dying yet."

  The world around him grew dark as the escape pod entered this mysterious ship. He counted, trying to get a sense of the distance he was traveling. When he reached nine, the darkness dissipated, and the hue of dim lights surrounded him. The pod slowed to a stop.

  @dustcaller wasted no time. He opened the hatch immediately and climbed out of the pod. He was in a landing bay of sorts. He stood near the pod, surveying the space, looking for either a place to hide or a weapon. He saw nothing of use in the sparceness of the landing bay.

  He observed a few smaller vessels, a collection of spacecycles, and two medium-sized ships he had never seen or heard of in his first months of learning about this new world. He doubted these would be easy to steal.

  The steady beat of footsteps caught his attention, coming from out beyond in the darkness. @dustcaller listened closely. Not one person. Two people. He rotated to face them.

  Two legs in tight black armor appeared, followed by two metallic legs. It was a person and a robot.

  The torso was enveloped in black armor like the legs, sleekly designed, with a white helmet that looked as if it could glide through the air. The robot looked like a mismatch of parts, different metals, different designs, but it looked dangerous.

  The two figures walked to within several paces before stopping.

  "Welcome to my ship, the Electric Slide," a low voice announced, the echo of his voice booming in the large chamber.

  @dustcaller studied their stance and appearance. No weapons were trained on him. They had a look of ease about them, the man moreso than the robot, but he did not think he was being threatened. Good.

  "Nice to meet you," @dustcaller said. "I would have died out there." The two figures stood silently. They glanced at each other, then watched him closely. "Thank you," @dustcaller added.

  "No thanks necessary." The voice was smooth and easy, with a touch of playfulness to it. "I wouldn't have let you die."

  @dustcaller nodded slowly. "I appreciate that."

  The figure's helmet slid back, disappearing into the black armor, as he walked forward, arm extended, to shake @dustcaller's hand.

  @dustcaller shrugged, then reached out for a firm handshake. Of course, he thought to himself. His own face was staring back at him, with a curious but familiar smile. Of course, it would be me.

  "Nice to meet me," the other man quipped.

  "Hello, Mickey," they both said simultaneously, with a deep chuckle.

  "I find this unnerving," the robot added.

  "This is Holyshit," @mickeymouse said, introducing the robot, and putting his arm around @dustcaller's shoulder. "You're lucky I found you."

  "Am I?" @dustcaller asked, adding a hint of humor to his tone.

  @mickeymouse grunted. "Of all the people in the universe, is there anyone you would rather meet?"

  He was right. Despite the rumors, @dustcaller sincerely wanted to meet his future self.

  "You've still got frostbite," @mickeymouse stated. "Come on, I've got a bottle of whiskey that will help."

  "That sounds mighty fine," @dustcaller replied, falling into step with him.

  "I'm dying to play myself at chess," @mickeymouse said.

  After a few steps, @dustcaller paused. The moment had sucked him in. He stopped and turned back to the escape pod. @mickeymouse and Holyshit eyed him carefully.

  "You know there's a zombie outbreak and a war?" @dustcaller asked.

  "There is always a war," Holyshit noted, "and always a virus."

  "And you are doing something about it?" @dustcaller pressed them.

  @mickeymouse and Holyshit looked at each other. From @dustcaller's perspective, the robot was smiling.

  "You win," @mickeymouse said to the robot. "I owe you a quantum oscillator." The aiways turned back to @dustcaller and added, "He thought you'd say something like that. I thought you'd want to see my hats."

  "Your hats?" @dustcaller asked.

  "I made one just for you. You can try it on while we discuss this zombie-war business."