Follow Your Dreams (Part Two)

Submitted into Contest #58 in response to: Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.... view prompt

204 comments

Science Fiction Drama

Alissa Robertson was in her space-shuttle, nervously piloting her ship to the moon. Her hands were sweaty, and she was wondering if she could make the three day trip. She would have co-pilots, of course, managing from the ground when taking her naps, but she was always wondering what would happen if she would suddenly fall asleep or faint.


Alissa communicated with the people, occasionally just asking if she was on the right track. Her ship was meticulously planned to meet the moon at just the right time.


She concentrated on remembering her training. It was hard, because there were so many switches and levers she could press. One wrong move, and her oxygen levels would drop or the emergency abort system would be activated. 


Alissa knew the dangers of flying. She also knew it was a low chance of her making it back. But she took the chance. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. It was her dream.


So far, it was smooth sailing. No bumps or obstacles yet. But, she knew no space ship had ever gone to the moon and back without problems. Something wrong was sure to happen.


Alissa also knew that her parents and other friends were watching her on television. In tiny corners of her spaceship, there were cameras. The television channels were occasionally switching angles, seeing all what Alissa was doing.


She knew they were watching her, but she ignored it. She stopped her brain from thinking about all the pressure that was on her.


“Hey guys. Everything okay?” Alissa asked into her microphone headset.


“Everything’s fine, Alissa!” The person on the other end answered. “I think every⎯”


Static. 


The lights suddenly went out. There was no noise.


“Hello?” Alissa asked. “Is anybody there?”


Static. No answer.


Alissa stopped her brain from having a panic attack. Keep calm. She thought. You got this.


Her spaceship was still running, because it was run on gas. Her power, however, was blocked or disconnected. 


Deep breaths. Deep breaths. You got this.


She could still pilot the ship on her own; she wouldn’t be able to communicate with the people on earth. She would have to do it all by herself with absolutely no help from earth.


I can do this.


She also knew that it would be hard to pilot in the dark. She had all the levers memorized, but it was still complicated.


You trained for this.


First, Alissa made sure the power was really and truly cut. She made sure it wasn’t a problem that she had made for herself. 


Nothing. It was all an antenna issue, or some weird connection.


She made sure nothing else was wrong with the ship; checking the fuel levels, and looking at the engine. There weren’t any problems.


Now, she checked her course. She was right on track, heading straight for the moon. No obstacles were blocking her way.


Now, she needed to adjust the liquid hydrogen levels, as the atmosphere was getting thinner and thinner. She pushed the right levers, and made sure it was at the correct level.


Okay. That’s done.


The rest of the trip should be smooth, unless something else comes up. Hopefully nothing else happens.


Alissa had a habit of talking to herself, so she started to do it now.


“Let’s see, the liquid hydrogen levels are set. Nothing else is in the way now, I think.”


Suddenly, she heard something else in her headset.


“Alissa!” The person on the other side exclaimed. “We are trying to get you connected to us again! Somethings wrong with the ship! Abort now! I repeat, abo⎯”


Static.


Alissa gasped. What was wrong with the ship? All of her levels were normal, at least, from what she could tell. She checked and rechecked. Nothing was amiss.


What should I do? Abort?


No. She had worked too hard on this mission to abort. She couldn’t just leave. Walk off. Do nothing about it.


She checked all the levels on her screen. Everything looked normal.


What should I do?


Her hand floated near the abort button, but she quickly snatched it back.


No. NO. You got this.


“I got this.” She said, talking to herself. “Just remember your training.”


She took a deep breath, then focused on getting to the moon. She adjusted the ship, because it was veering off course. 


She looked at the levels on her screen again.


Wait. Wait.


Her oxygen level needle was stuck in the same position as it was a few minutes earlier when she checked it. It should have risen or fallen.


She checked her heart pulse. It was beating slightly faster than normal.


Alissa realized her head kind-of hurt. 


Uh oh. People can die from lack of oxygen. Alissa thought. 


But wait. If I could find out the problem, maybe it will adjust back to normal.


Alissa decided on that thought. She would try to fix it.


First, she tried to remember when her head started hurting. How much time until she passed out? She couldn’t recollect when.


Then, she tried to adjust the oxygen level. No luck. The needle stayed exactly where it was.


She sighed. She would have to leave her seat, and go back to where the oxygen tank was. It was not that far, but she would have to be careful not to disconnect any major wires. Also, she had to do it in the dark.


She got up, took off her headset, and slowly walked toward toward the door. She opened the door that said:


DANGER! DO NOT OPEN UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.


Well, I guess it’s absolutely necessary.


She opened the door and saw all the wires and stuff that she had to get through. Her eyes had adjusted to the faint light around the tanks.


You can do this.


She got to the tank and carefully fiddled around with it. She made sure all the wires were connected. They were.


She looked around the tank and checked to see if anything was blocking the tank. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing wrong!


Alissa cursed under her breath. What was she missing?


Wait. Wait.


She looked at the front of the tank. The tank had a needle that showed how much oxygen was in the tank. Alissa gasped.


The tank was empty.

September 11, 2020 23:46

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204 comments

Avery G.
23:47 Sep 11, 2020

Hey Guys! Just a few quick notes: I don't know much about space ships or anything, so if I got anything wrong, please tell me! I was racing to get this finished before the deadline, so please tell me if I had any grammer errors! This is a part two, so it's better if you read the first part. I know. THE CLIFFHANGER! Why, Avery? I will make a next one when a good prompt comes up. I think that's it! Thanks everybody!

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OOOOOOOH THAT CLIFFHANGER! AWESOME STORRRRRRRY BTW BUT PART 2 (THAT’S DEFINITELY GONNA HAPPEN) BEEEETTER COME SOOOON!

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Avery G.
03:55 Sep 12, 2020

Thanks so much! Yeah, a part three might come up if a good prompt comes up.

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😄

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B. W.
02:20 Sep 12, 2020

I'm not sure if she will and i hope its alright if i tell it for her she told me about it a bit ago and this story is actually already a part 2, so it would be more of a part 3 later.

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Well yeah, a part two of the part 2

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B. W.
02:58 Sep 12, 2020

oh- yeah, i need someone to talk to tbh im bored and a lot of people aren't always on during the night. so have you maybe started to work on the third CQ since you have already done the second?

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Actually, I’m about to got to bed. Sorry! But 11 is late for me seeing I’m used to 9:30 for school and all. Well, I haven’t finished Book 2 yet—I’m close, but I stopped writing to finish editing book 1. After book 2, I’ll probably take a break from the Color Quest story. I have a couple series and trilogies and stand-alone I plan to write (overflowing with ideas) so I might write a stand-alone novel or two before circling back to CQ. Goodnight!

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B. W.
03:06 Sep 12, 2020

Aw night i'll talk to you tomorrow. Its alright though i understand for it ^^ oo will ya tell us about those ones as well besides the CQ stories when you'll start doing those?

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Hriday Saboo
05:59 Sep 14, 2020

Hey Avery nice story Liked it Upvote spree??

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Hriday Saboo
08:16 Sep 20, 2020

Hey hey hey would you mind chking out my new story The Zombies Do share ur feedback

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The Cold Ice
05:33 Sep 15, 2020

Wow!!!super story.Nice cliffhanger.Are you going write the third part.Great job keep it up. Would you mind to read my story “The dragon warrior part 2?”

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Hello Avery! I'd just like to say, thank you for being one of the first people who recognized me on Reedsy! You've really inspired me! I hope to see your stories again!

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16:31 Nov 27, 2020

This is Sythe, from the Doc!

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B. W.
14:17 Sep 16, 2020

hey Avery could you maybe help me with something? it won't take long and its something with the novel

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B. W.
20:58 Sep 15, 2020

:D could you check out "Universe" and tell me what you think? its a preview thing to my story with the first two chapters

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D. Jaymz
22:33 Sep 12, 2020

A well-written story, Avery 👏 A smooth ride through your words even without oxygen 😁 It's easy to make the story a little more 'techy' with the world of the web at our fingertips, all it takes is a bit of research (but some time is always the cost 😢). For example, gas for your spaceship would probably be liquid hydrogen — the fuel of choice for space exploration (according to NASA). Cliff hangers are great for the reader's imagination, the reader can fill the void with so many of their own possible endings, but they are going to ...

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Avery G.
22:45 Sep 12, 2020

Thank you so much! Okay, I'll try to make it "techy".

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D. Jaymz
00:15 Sep 13, 2020

Just enough to give it some authenticity, not so much that only a rocket scientist would drool 😁

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04:53 Sep 12, 2020

Fantastic job. The cliffhanger was really good (well bad for me, I want to know what happens next!!!) Your description and way-of-words for this story were amazing! Are you going to do a part 3??

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Megan Sutherland
00:39 Jan 02, 2021

Avery, we haven't talked in so long!!! It's been forever since you've read my storiessssss. Would you mind reading some? hehe How have you been doing?? Happy New Year!!!! Hopefully 2021 is better than last year lol. Your Reedsy bestie, Meg

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Avery G.
02:57 Jan 06, 2021

I know!!!! I'll check out your stories. I've been taking a break from Reedsy. I probably won't check that much anymore. Maybe once a month or so, but it's probably not going to be often. I'm super sorry! Happy New Year!!!

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Megan Sutherland
11:33 Jan 06, 2021

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I miss you!!!!

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Avery G.
23:37 Mar 01, 2023

Megan, I never responded to this (and idk if you'll ever see it) but I MISS YOU TOO!!! I'm seriously considering rejoining Reedsy. I really want to start writing stories again. I've been so busy with school that I want to take a break and do other things, and I miss all of the Reedsy chats and conversations we all had. Haha, those days were so long ago... anyways, wanted to say hey.

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Megan Sutherland
02:40 Mar 04, 2023

Wow, hey! It's been what, two years? I really want to start writing on here again too, I'm just so busy with school also and now my track season is starting so I'm about to get even busier. how's it going?

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Avery G.
06:20 Mar 04, 2023

Hi! Yeah I know...such a long time!!! Yeah, school just gets in the way of things...I mean I start off on Monday but then suddenly it's the weekend and then it's Monday again...there's so much stuff happening it's crazy. Ooh, track?? That's awesome. What events do you do? I'm just doing swimming right now...not for school but just practice/lessons (but they're intense). The prompts this week seem really interesting...I'm not sure I'll get a story out on time but I do want to write something with them anyways since it seems pretty cool. Anywa...

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17:21 Dec 28, 2020

HEY AVE!!!!! 1) Me, Nainika, Celeste, Mira, Kate Reynolds, and Jennie made a group called the marshmallows cuz why not. Wanna join???? 2) I GOT DOWNVOTED 1800 POINTSSSSSSSSSSSS SAD

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Avery G.
06:24 Mar 01, 2023

Hey Luke! you're probably not going to ever see this...but since I never responded to this (I never saw it until now) I feel like I might as well write a message haha. I stopped Reedsy for such a long time...life just got in the way of things. Man, I miss the old Reedsy days during 2020. It was super funny, and all of our conversations and talks about upvoting seemed so important to us back then. Now, there are so many other things that are so important now. I mean, it's been almost 3 whole years! So crazy. life moves too fast. I really wan...

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14:33 Dec 15, 2020

Hey Ave wanna do an upvote-for-upvote?? I'm trying to get to 4000

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16:56 Nov 28, 2020

Hello again, Avery! uwu Uh-oh! I love that cliffhanger ending and the sudden plot twist! However, I hate to disappoint you when I say I kinda saw it coming... when you mentioned that Alissa saw the oxygen level was still at the same place, I was already imaginign the ending... loved the refreshing diversity of your story! Love, Sythe <3

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Avery G.
19:42 Nov 28, 2020

Hello!!! It's okay, I was rushing on it...I had an hour before the contest closed, so yeah. But thanks!

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01:58 Nov 30, 2020

Wow! Considering where I live, I have to finish and submit my entries about 13 hours before the contest finishes... XD I don't think it's rushed at all, though! You're welcome!

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Niveeidha Palani
06:45 Oct 08, 2020

Hi Avery! The last line was quite a cliffhanger! A sequel on the works? I'd be looking forward to it!

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16:01 Oct 05, 2020

This was so good! The descriptions were great, and the character shows like, just the right amount of nervousness (don't know if that's a word) that I would if I was going to space. The cliffhanger is killing me though! Please tell me there will be a Part 3!! PS) I saw that you lost some points, so I'm upvoting you! :)

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Raquel Rodriguez
14:23 Oct 01, 2020

Part 2 is just as good as the first part, so good job, again! You're really good at showing your character's emotions. I love how Alissa tries to boost her own confidence when she's holding the oxygen tank. Her panic in the beginning when the lights go out and all she hears is static is perfectly conveyed. Could you read my new story and tell me what you think? I would greatly appreciate it. :)

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B. W.
15:42 Sep 18, 2020

Hey Avery :D could you go check out "Crossover: the plan" and tell me what you think?

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Evelyn ⭐️
20:34 Sep 12, 2020

Absolutely loved it Avery! Great job, as usual. Lol

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Avery G.
21:43 Sep 12, 2020

Thank you so much! Hehe!

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Evelyn ⭐️
21:44 Sep 12, 2020

Also, I literally just posted a new story if you wouldn't mind checking it out.

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