A quick note about my free fiction: this is raw draft with little editing. I don’t know where the story is going, or if it’ll even get completed on the blog. But it’s fun to do.

The clips from this story stay up for a limited time and then they will turn back into a pumpkin. Those available at the time I’m writing this are:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Let’s proceed, shall we?

Deep Space Omega (#8)

by Dawn Blair

“It’s darker than I thought it would be,” Jadz said, returning to the telescope.

“It’s the sun filters. Lots of molten stars being formed out there. You wouldn’t want to hurt your vision by looking at one.”

Jadz turned the telescope toward a brighter section she saw a larger star came into view, illustrating Mouse’s point.

“If you want to look at something not so intense, you can pop the filter off,” Mouse advised.

The star’s light flashed off of something metal to the right of her view. She swung the telescope for a closer look.

“Are you sure there’s no one else out here?”

“Out here?”

The ship Jadz saw was twice as large as the shuttlecraft and black as space. The only reason she could see it now was because of the brightness of the nebula. “Yeah, there’s another ship out there.”

The unidentified craft yawed to a darker spot in the nebula and Jadz lost sight of it.

Mouse started to get up off the floor. Jadz noticed her movement and pointed toward the front of the telescope. “Take the filter off!” She went back to looking for the ship through the lens.

“What did you see?” Mouse asked as she twisted the filter off the end. “Are you sure it’s not the shuttle?”

“Yeah,” Jadz said as she searched space through the telescope for the ship she’d seen. “It was too dark and now it’s disappeared.”

“Maybe some space debris?” Mouse interjected thoughtfully.

“I’m pretty sure it was another ship.”

The ship appeared again, a dark spot over an illuminated gaseous cloud.

“There!” Jadz yelled, stepping back from the telescope. “Look.”

Mouse drew close the eyepiece and hissed in a long breath. “You’re right. Who could that be?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a bad feeling. Can you get through to your husband and tell him they need to return right away?”

Mouse looked uncertain. “I don’t know. Sometimes there’s too much interference. I’ll try though. Stay here and keep an eye on them.” She bolted from the room and a few moments later, Jadz heard footsteps ringing out on the metal ladder as she climbed for the deck where the communications room was located. Jadz wished she’d thought to tell Mouse to listen for a signal coming from the other ship. Maybe they were lost out here and in need of help.

But as Jadz watched the ship disappear, she fought the sensation that they were the ones that needed help.

The ship Jadz watched fired a weapon in the direction she knew the shuttlecraft had been.

No!

Deep Space Omega – copyright ©2020 Dawn Blair * Published by Morning Sky Studios