No One Can Hear You Scream
A maddening beeping sounded through the cockpit of her ship. Ping. Ping. Ping. It was ceaseless, echoing through the small corridors of her empty ship. Her ship had been on autopilot, drifting slowly through space toward her next destination. She had set it while intoxicated so she didn't exactly know where the ship had been taking her.
Her sleep was interrupted. She trudged slowly through the ship. The sound became louder as she neared the cockpit. As soon as she entered, she flipped the switch to shut off the sound. Only then did she look to see the reason for it. It was a distress signal.
Her ship's trajectory had brought it within beacon distance of the distressed ship. A quick scan alerted her to the face that she was the only ship in the vicinity. She couldn't leave the ship in need. That was not an option.
She grabbed her mic and attempted to hail the other ship, "This is Captain Icarus of the freighter Samson. What is the nature of your emergency?" Sharp static was the only response. Damn. Their comm was down. She tried a second time, "This is Captain Icarus. Please respond." Again, there was garbled static. Of course things couldn't be simple. She'd have to go over there and investigate for herself. She glanced at the wall behind her toward her spacesuit. Who knew what the atmosphere was on the other ship? For all she knew, there was no life support. She set new coordinates in her computer to intercept the ship. Her plan was simple: get in, find the crew, lend aid.
She spoke into her mic a third time, "If anyone can read me, I am goin' to be boardin' your ship."
