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Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.

Posted in Adventure on Mar 30, 2021

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✍️ 86 stories

THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT ON GEORGIE

Submitted to Contest #58

THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT ON GEORGIE By Andrew Paul Grell Stupid song, but the Skipper could no more not sing it before running a test than he could piss on the induction coils. “So, hoist up the Georgie’s sails, and see how the main sail sets.” I never got the point of the original song. Did they go anywhere? Were they carrying cargo? Tourists on a three-hour tour? Naturally, I was compelled to answer his dramatic tenor with my lyric coloratura. “My father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light, slept with a me...

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Out in Space

Submitted to Contest #58

"Med-bay for Commander. Over.""Go for Commander. Over.""We're hav.... s... sporadic power ou... here. Can you co... Over."The automatic door next to the intercom slides open. Pilot Symanski walks through and returns to her seat. The faintest hint of a smile shows on her face, but the Commander is too distracted to notice."Med-bay, go again. Over." The request goes unanswered. The commander finally presses the button and speaks again, "I'm on my way. Over and out." Commander McDowell pivots away from the intercom to address the flight crew in...

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Solar Storms and Starlight

Submitted to Contest #58

Delivery Operative 3478 ID: Vita Tharran Space Bucket Log: Day 12 Delivery to planet Jeggan complete. One Thermal Radiator with Plasmatic Regulators received by a rather nice Yegganite with long golden hair - no wonder they are featured in the latest fashion and beauty treatment magazines. Thermal protection suit works well. Deputy Dex did not sabotage. Pleased with myself for seeing through his scheme this time. Hope he doesn't make my life worse. Ran into a spot of trouble with the capacitor but it should hold at least until I can get to...

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All the Way Home

Submitted to Contest #58

You’ve never seen darkness like this. It isn’t ink, or a blanket, or any other metaphor you’ve ever heard of for night. There is no ink this pigmented, no blanket that could blot out worlds the way this darkness does. All I can think of to describe it is that feeling you get when looking down an unlit hallway. The sensation that danger waits in the shadows, and all you have to do is walk forward.            Fear coats the world outside my windows.       &nbs...

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Light Pollution

Submitted to Contest #58

It’s been forty years since my last shipmate died. I know, because I keep track by etching a line into the metal wall. Or, rather, I estimate, because the days tend to blur together. It’s always dark outside, unless the ship passes by a star. For a couple of hours, I soak up the precious rays. When no star is in sight, I have D-vitamin supplements. They will eventually run out, but they don’t disappear that quickly now that only one of us is left. I was born on this ship. The first of us who had never known Earth. Once upon a time, we were...

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January 14th, 2093

Submitted to Contest #58

I love when Maya gets excited. The way she let out a tiny squeal and a little applause when one of our experiments actually goes right. How her cheeks color up and her eyes become slits of glinting hazel behind a contagious grin. The way her words become a rapid of white water exploding through a collapsed dam. It’s been five years and I still turn into a puddle of goo whenever our team makes a scientific breakthrough causing her to balloon into a fit of joy. “Twenty minutes remaining,” the A.I. system announces. If you asked me what I love ...

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"such are not for the world to hear, not for the world to know"

Submitted to Contest #58

 If you visited the 'MIT hall of the greatest', among hundreds of portraits of great astronomers you would see 4 distinct ones.    What caught the eye of many when viewing these portraits was probably the great discoveries of some or the weird mustaches of others.     But these four stood out, they had nothing. Literally nothing. Only a black picture and some names underneath each.   Some say because those astronomers never returned, NASA considered them nobodies. Others assumed, "...

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Sunderland

Submitted to Contest #58

Story abridged to fit word count:             The USS Basilosaurus— “Basilo”—glided seamlessly into the opening of the passage known as Dolly’s Cathedral. The Seawolf Class submarine was one of about a half-dozen ‘cancelled’ units that the United States had re-commissioned in secrecy. Among those stationed aboard the Basilo was Lieutenant Stefan Kuzmin.            Lt. Kuzmin fingered the wax from his ear—a dreadful orange color—as ...

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Stupid Robot

Submitted to Contest #58

It was strange how quickly yellow flashing lights lost their meaning when not accompanied by a blaring alarm. As the last shuttle departed the Demiana C540 her captain watched from the viewing bay. Days away from any habitable planet, moon, or space station he wasn’t sure if they'd be back before darkness enveloped him and his cargo ship entirely. Alan Bailey Cain was not an easily moved man. Standing 6'4" with broad shoulders and arms the size of railroad beams he maintained that he was stable at all times inside and out. Even now in the ...

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When the Eyes of the World Close

Submitted to Contest #58

It was as quiet as anything she had ever heard. Her ears strained to grasp at anything in the zero gravity air. The USS-Nirvana's engines had always been humming along beside her, always keeping her company. But now, nothing. She floated in the darkness of the spaceship. The only light that appeared, appeared as beam below her. The beam of light casted through the window of the emergency door. Speckles of dust danced alone in the glow of the window. The moon lay infront of her and the ship, big and dead. She didn't know how she was going t...

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Jasper's travels

Submitted to Contest #58

Commander Veronica Wilson replaced the receiver. She returned to the table where her daughter was attempting the art of eating. She was still learning that the concept simply required the use of the mouth. The other facial functionaries have minimal involvement. Her need for an imminent chat made her turn towards Jasper. Sensing her need though, the ginger tom turned onto his side, stretched his legs and closed his eyes. Refocusing on her daughter, she sighed, as she observed the huge cereal bubble. The harbor buzzed with activity. It...

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Earth Sunflower

Submitted to Contest #58

The lights went out. We were stuck in deep space. Travellers trapped in the endlessness. And as we floated, we had no more to do but to look out from the round windows and contemplate the orbiting galaxies. Bill stood by my side. "This is the end." My commander said. The stars reminded me of the freckles on Hilda's cheeks. Her wave orange hair. "What are we gonna do?" Bill didn't say anything. He turned back. Went up and stood on the bicycle. He rolled the pedals of the immobile machine that never got you anywhere, only kept yo...

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The Diving Bell

Submitted to Contest #58

She was 8 years old, and not very brave. It was a very hot July Saturday, and her cousin had spent the last week in Atlantic City dancing in a show called Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow. She was a dancer, and loved performing.  Her cousin Katherine was a few years older, and maybe a bit more independent. Karen was the baby of the family, but that was about to change. Her mother wasn't on this trip because the new baby was due very soon. Karen wanted a sister, but back then, no one new until the actual day of the birth. For now...

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Intergalactic Convicts Adrift

Submitted to Contest #58

Intergalactic Convicts AdriftBy Bunni ReedStupid Metallic walls that change color every 48 hours. Intended to keep us calm, supposedly. I had finally gotten my inner core adjusted to the visual frequency of turquoise and the sense of cool blue water it seemed to evoke. Gods! Now I have to readjust to this accursed vanilla that stabs into my brain. Too bright for the darkly mood that has become my existence over this last week. A sense of foreboding? Or just sick and tired of "existing" like this. I close my eyes and try to sleep for just a l...

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Sinking

Submitted to Contest #58

“What’s our depth?” “25,000 feet ma’am.” “Anything on the radar?” “No, ma’am, we seem to be alone down here,” the captain’s brow creased in confusion. “Is that a good or bad thing, Arthur?” “I’m not sure, ma’am.” Arthur stayed facing the monitor, watching the green line of the radar go round and round. The captain watched him a bit longer than turned to her brother, the second in command. He always wore such a serious face, it wasn’t his fault it was just the way he was. He had a strong build and he liked to keep his body in shape, for his g...

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