Aces by Craig Alanson

voice, “in an emergency, passengers are supposed
to stay in their cabins, until the crew comes to get us, or they tell us where
to go over the intercom.” Emergency drills had been conducted every Thursday
morning. Sometimes the passengers were instructed to stay where they were,
sometimes they were escorted to the shuttle bay, sometimes they were escorted
to the lifeboat pods. Always, they were escorted, and instructed to stay in the
cabins until the crew came to get them. “Mom will come looking for us here.”
    Kaylee pointed to
the phone on her hip. “The phone isn ’ t working, Mom can't
call us. We ’ ll just go out into the hallway, if anyone is
looking for us, they can find us there, right?”
    Manny considered
that for a moment. “Okay.” If they heard someone coming, they could step back
into the cabin. Gingerly, keeping close to the walls so they had something to
hang onto in case the ship moved again, they walked out of their parent ’ s bedroom, across the main compartment, and to the door leading
into the hallway. The door didn ’ t slide open when Kaylee
pressed the button. “Try the handle?” Manny asked uncertainly.
    Kaylee pressed
the button again repeatedly, then gave up. She flipped aside the access door,
grasped the manual handle, and pulled down on it. The door cracked open a
couple centimeters, enough to get a grip on. She looked out into the hallway,
it looked like the hallway always did, bland, pastel colored, and empty. Brother
and sister held onto the edges of the door and pushed it aside. “ Hello? ”
Kaylee called out. Her voice echoed off the walls. No one answered.
    Manny stepped
into the hallway. “ I don’ t hear anybody. Hello!” He
shouted.
    Kaylee stepped
cautiously into the hallway to join her brother. It was quiet in the ship,
except for the faint creaking sounds that seemed to be coming from the walls.
“Hold my hand.”
    Manny frowned. He
was over the initial wave of fear. Whatever had happened, the huge ship wasn ’ t going to fall apart. He put his hands down by his side. “I ’ m not a baby, Kaylee, you don ’ t need to
hold my hand.” He protested. “I ’ m going to the observation
porthole.”
    “No! We need to
stay here, in case someone comes looking for us.”
    “Kaylee, it ’ s right down the hall.” Manny pointed down the corridor toward
the opening which lead to the observation room. “Maybe I can see what happened.
I promise I ’ ll be right back, okay? You stay here in case
someone come by.”
    Kaylee had
clasped her hands in front of her and was rubbing them together the way she did
when she was anxious. “All right, but you come right back here.”
    “I will.” Manny
was still at the age when he seldom walked anywhere if he could run. Why adults
were so incredibly slow, he couldn ’ t understand. He ran
full speed down the corridor, turned to the right, and ran down the short
hallway ending at a clear bubble that stuck out from the side of the ship. From
the bubble, he could see to starboard, and a bit forward. At first he saw
nothing unusual, then he craned his neck to see forward.
    He gasped in
shock. The familiar rear of the command section's curving saucer no longer
blocked his view forward. Instead, there was empty space. He could see torn
struts, pipes and wires from the access tube that previously connected the
command section to the rest of the ship. Now that he was looking for it, he saw
many pieces of debris floating around the ship, and-
    The command
section itself, rotating slowly end over end. It was already far enough away
that we could no longer read the symbols painted on the surface. “Kaylee!” He
shouted, his voice strained. “Kaylee! Come quick!”
    His sister came
running. “What is it?” She asked breathlessly. Manny silently pointed out the
porthole, unable to speak. She looked out, and a sudden intake of air almost
made her choke. “Mommy!” She screamed.
     
    The walking was
slow going for the three men