Mars 8

It's been two weeks, fourteen days since we left Earth, and everything is running smoothly. If we continue to run the way, we are we should reach the red planet in six months' time. I was at the helm while Captain Miles was doing roundabouts. Judy was with me on the deck and we just enjoy the silence. "June why did you come here when you were so vocal about not going?" She asks me. I looked over to her and saw her caramel color eyes shine with curiosity. I looked away and thought about my answer. "I stay... I stayed because the person I loved the most love the stars. It was her passion. She wanted to live among the stars like her favor Greek tragedies. She saw life beyond and wanted to reach out to it."

My voice my raw with emotion and my eyes sting with tears that wanted to be free. Judy didn't say anything. She moves closer to me and wrapped her arms around me. I tense at the action, but she didn't let go. My body started to relax on its own and I was able to breathe. When she let go, I could tell she wanted to ask me more about her but choose not to. She just smiles and went back to her seat. I refocus my attention on the screens and stars before me.

Everything was normal. The pressure in all three engines was normal. The thrusters we're running at maximum speed, pushing us forward. The oxygen intake and recycling systems were running. The water and power were all good numbers as well. Everything was running smoothly. I was about to release the controls to Captain miles when I was called by my favorite guy onboard Paul Stevenson. "We kind of got a little problem down here in the cargo bay area I was wondering if you could come down and check it out with me, "he said. I saw it and replied back saying okay. I was about to leave the controls to Captain Miles when he answered Paul's call instead and said that he will be the one going down to check out the storage area with him. That meant I would spend a few extra minutes controlling this ship, but it was easy and I didn't want to go down there anyway.

I opened up the video feed for the cargo area and saw are captain and Stevenson walking towards an unknown container or would seem to be an unknown container. It just turned out that the shipping label was ripped off and we didn't know what it was, so they open it up it just turned out to be more supplies for our trip. It was more like the settlement issue gear like the uniforms that would identify you as a doctor, a teacher or security and civilian who was not assigned a job yet. I totally forgot that we had those uniforms, but it wasn't just uniforms in the container it was materials books things that could help us even had baby clothes. I found the baby clothes a bit strange because we didn't know the effects of pregnancy and space just yet, but I guess settling on a new planet do you know it would be the perfect time to experiment with that.

Then I started to feel a slight tremble in the controls. It was something that I recognized before in the simulations when the air pressure was rapidly declining. But it was too late before I can set off the signal. The ship rocked with an explosion and I saw Captain Miles and Stevenson being thrown off their feet and blow into the opposite wall. The fire alarms went off water was coming down the alarm was blaring. We lost auxiliary engine 3. The fire was spreading. People were being sucked out until open space suffocating and turning into blocks of ice. I'm hit the emergency shut-off button and seal the areas where they were. The fires were being put out by those who were. That's what I noticed the stasis pods. They were outside floating there were at least 12 dozen of them. My first thought was 'oh no'. All those people they're all gone.

I immediately on coms and asks everyone to check in with me. Just barely half of my crew answered me. We lost 25 people. We lost a third of the people who were sleeping. And now some of the stasis pods are failing and if we don't remove those people will die. I called the Captain Miles, but he wasn't responding. I need him to respond. I call it my subdivision leaders and ask them to start an emergency triage for those who are badly hurt and to wake up the people who need to be woken up or they'll die in their pods. I also asked for a headcount. I need to contact command back on Earth with the communications are shot. Damn it all. Damn it all!

I'm starting to lose control over my emotions, but I can't let that happen. Just can't let it happen I need to stay in control I need to be in control. I take a deep breath and I gain control of the ship from spinning off course. But it's harder than it looks the controls are in a lock position they're not responding. I need some manually restart the system in order for it to work but that can cost us 10 maybe 15 minutes of time and months away from being Mars and further away from Earth. I can't do anything if I can't fix the controls. I'm shaking but that doesn't stop me from ripping over the panels just below the controls. I start by re-attaching the wires to the control panels and rerouting power from the secondary and tertiary controls. I siphon some of the power from the video monitors and slowly but surely, I regained control of the ship. I can't move it any faster because of the whole damage. We are further away from Earth than before, but we are all so far away from Mars. It should have taken us 6 months but now it's going to take us a whole year or longer to get there.

I knew that this would happen there was a 5% chance of it, but I wish that it didn't. I need to go check on my crew, but I can't. Someone said I go on the ship's radio and send out a broadcast signal to those who are awake. "This is your second in command June Hernandez and we just experienced an explosion that caved the left side of the ship. We are experiencing major haul damage and we lost some people and some of the cryostasis pods," I pause and take a deep breath and continue. " I know that some of your hurt and I know we all knew this was a possibility that could happen but we can't return to Earth we are too far away and with the haul damage we can't enter the atmosphere it would kill us all so we're going to continue our journey to Mars This is what we signed up for and if we all die well let's just say we'll go down in history."

Matthew came running into the deck with Judy right behind him. They're both speaking too fast and Judy kept switching between Spanish and English. I yelled at them to shut up and take their turns. Matthew spoke first "We lost axillary Engine Number 3 auxiliary Engine Number 2 is failing because of the coolant leak, and there is a giant hole in the left side of the ship but we could probably patch it up it wasn't that big of an explosion, well who am I kidding it was that big of an explosion we lost several rooms and I can't even think anymore," he said. Then Judy spoke she was talking about how Ava and Peter were helping the injured and waking people up and how Matthews's sisters one was hurt but she was fine and the other one was waking up those who needed to be woken up.

Then Paul came on coms. "Hey June I know that we aren't you know the greatest of people here but the Captain he's not looking so good he has a gash on his head and won't stop bleeding and he's not waking up, "he said and I immediately ordered Matthew to go down and check on them. I want to go myself, but I need to stay here and correct the ship's course. We're just two weeks in the space travel and he almost died imagine what 6 months would have been but now the six months could possibly turn into a year or longer and we don't have more than a year on this ship.