The End is Never Final

Ben Krieg had been in his quarters, immersed in the latest erotica collection to weasel its way on board (partly with the help of Krieg himself, although wild horses wouldn’t have been able to drag that information out of him now that Captain Hudson was at the helm). A little thing with the biggest breasts that Krieg had ever seen is in the midst of unhooking her bra when the view screen flickered then, after a brief struggle, died.

“Fuck.” His curse is interrupted by the monotonous cry, “All hands to battle stations. I repeat: all hands to battle stations.”

Krieg runs, big breasted woman forgotten. On his way, one foot hooked on the closing door and he begins to fall. Struggling to right himself without slowing down, his right knee scrapes the surface of the carpeted corridor. He cries out his frustration while hobbling to the Bridge.

Captain Hudson greets him with an icy stare and Krieg flashes him his trademark shit-eating grin. The sudden appearance of his pearly whites masks the ramble of thoughts that insist that all of Captain Hudson’s expressions look like glares. He sits, scratching his neck in a vain attempt to ignore the eyes that, he is certain, are boring large bloody holes into his body.

The man hates me, he thinks, fingers still reaching for the invisible itch while his mind determined to earn the perceived hatred by showing up late to his next scheduled Bridge shift.

“Captain,” Katie Hitchcock’s blue eyes focus intently on the screen, a small frown leaving tiny wrinkles on her forehead. Krieg notices this and part of him still wants to kiss those wrinkles. “I’m not receiving reports from any of our security teams.”

Arms crossed, Oliver Hudson leans close enough to Hitchcock to smell the light flowery scent of her perfume; despite this, it is not the lovely Lieutenant Commander that captures his attention. “Ford, get me my team.”

“Yes sir.”

Three people leave their stations. Although doom echoes with every step of their highly polished shoes, they are blissfully unaware that only one of them would ever see the Bridge again.