Red lights and blaring alarms send her running to the engine room. She shakes the sleep off her and catches a scrolling warning: ABNORMAL VITALS.
Damn it. She warned them that just punching in codes wouldn’t work.
The beast heart engine stutters and whines behind her as the transporter enters free-fall, accelerating them towards an unfavorable atmosphere.
She catches herself on one of the fleshy carapace’s tubes. It pulses under her touch. She embraces it, cooing gently
“There, there.”
The engine purrs and then they’re no longer falling.
On the monitor a new message: ALL SYSTEMS STABLE, THANK YOU MOTHER.
Bibi Osha is a speculative fiction writer living on the East Coast. Her work can be found in The Dark.
themartianmagazine.com 