In the Absence of Light

I glanced out of the frost-covered glass, the emptiness seemed to be watching me, stalking me, following me around until I had nothing left to give. I fell back against the hard seat. I shivered and I shut my eyes, seeing nothing, being nothing, the nothingness pulling me in, drowning my thoughts, changing the way I think, transforming me as a person, as a fighter. But even now all hope had left me, the shrewd darkness taking it over, swallowing it whole. The darkness, the fear, the emptiness all weighing down on me, suffocating me, I could hardly breathe.

Darkness. It surrounded me. Engulfing all noise and movement, not even a whisper could be heard. I shivered as a chill ran down my spine, striking at my core. The absence of light came over me and a wave of fear and constriction, dropped on me becoming heavier with every breath I took. Time was meaningless. Perception of depth was impossible. The physical world meant nothing. It was like drowning, in a bottomless void. A sense of hopelessness flooded the air. The darkness was ominous, almost peaceful, but how did I get here to the quietness of space, just minutes ago shouts and gunshots were ringing through my ears, echoing throughout my chest.

Ares, the most dreaded ship in the galaxy. The Ares is one of the many mother ships of the biggest war fleet in the universe, the Ares Battlecruiser has more recorded deaths of Dianan, than any other cruiser out there. My ship entered the docking bay, “Ares BC to 0248” the commanding voice from the other side of the radio snapped “what are your access codes”. My hand reached for the MPU on the control board and I looked for the access codes that my fellow rebels of Dianan worked so hard to get. “EN7A3GLI93S7H-4BO9R8IN5G0”, I spoke clearly through the transmitter as even I was afraid of what might happen if my voice had faltered for just one second.

I could not afford to get caught or killed without retrieving the necessary data that the General of the Dianan had assigned me to acquire. My hands brushed against my stolen uniform, wiping the increasing amount of sweat on It. After a long hard silence, the voice on the other side finally answered. “0248”, the transmitter wavered, “access granted”. I breathed out in a sigh of relief. As I stepped out from the ship I had used on my journey to sector 8-49, where the Ares waited for their agents to return with news that could and would cause the destruction of families, villages, colonies, and even planets.

I was acknowledged by an armoured soldier, as I stepped through the door that led to a series of light grey hallways. I walked into a room illuminated by a faint red light lining the ceiling and floor. I walked closer to a wall and looked at it only to find a horrendous thing looking back at me. I flinched then went closer, inspecting it. It was in a tank. A grey hairless human-like creature. I looked at the rest of the wall, it was lined with tanks. The things in the tanks were connected to cords, I gulped, swallowing the bile rising up my throat.

I crept out of the room and strode down the hallway and entered a room with organised holographic wires and cords. I looked for input on one of the holographic screens, my fingers briefly touched the cold microchip in my pocket and I flicked through the holographic folder as I searched for the file I needed. I flicked through files in the classified folder. “Building plans, war tactics and battle strategies and, hired assassins”, I mumbled to myself as I searched the database, “ultimate weapon plans, trade routes, restricted sections, revenue”. I copied the classified folder into my microchip, even though they were not the ones I was looking for. “Aha,” I exclaimed, my hand clasped over my own mouth, afraid of who might have heard me.

I heard footsteps as I pressed my ear against the silver cold door. Then I heard orders being shouted, “FIND THEM” someone shouted, “that ship doesn’t have the Ares chip in it!” They must have done a scan of my ship, anger-filled me as I realised the information I was given was wrong. The footsteps stopped and I snuck out the door, my feet making hardly any noise. Then, I ran, I was running down the corridor and I turned the corner, only to see one of those armoured soldiers, walking towards me. “Hey, stop right there” he yelled as he pointed his gun towards me. There was a solemn thud as he dropped to the floor, I had beat him to it. There was something peculiar with looking death right in the face and declining it, saying no, something life-changing, something even I will never forget.

I continued to run, my heart beating against my rib cage, lungs bursting, forehead sweating. I glanced behind me, sweat soaking my body. Fear trailing behind me like a relentless shadow, following my every move, and it had finally caught up to me. The thoughts of failure and what that could mean, haunted me.

Then, I saw it, my saviour, the escape pods. Soldiers ran after me as I jumped behind a corner. I fired into the crowd of armed troops, not giving up, I bolted towards the open escape pod. I fell against the murky dark grey wall, my shoulder bleeding. I couldn’t give up not after I had gone so far, I had made an oath, an oath to me and everyone I fought with and for, that I would stop at nothing to make things right. It was truly a cause worth fighting for, worth dying for, worth sacrificing so much for. I scrambled into the escape pod and ejected it into space.

I grinned, but not for long, as that grin turned into a grimace as I touched my bleeding shoulder. I became dizzy, my vision becoming blurry. I tried to blink off the blurriness when I realised the power had gone out.

It was dark.

I blinked again.

I pulled out my MPU and tried to contact ground control, they had to send a ship out to me, they had to. My screen was blank, I tapped at it again pressing the many buttons on the side. My head leaned against the wall as I bled. I could barely see, my screen flashed, and I felt for the button. “Major Tom to Ground Control do you hear me, I repeat, do you hear me.”  

There was a dreadful silence as I slowly began to lose more blood.

…

“Major Tom this is ground control!”