"Listen, we need to stop accusing each other and focus on completing our tasks. This ship is a wreck, we've been neglecting our long list of tasks, and there are even more responsibilities for us now that we're the only ones," I said.

"He's right," Black agreed. "Yellow, Brown, leave the scanner as it is. That's not something that needs to be fixed. There are things we must fix, like oiling and refueling the engines. When's the last time someone did that?"

"There was no more oil left. And the rest of the fuel was used up. I checked," Yellow said quietly.

"Are you kidding me?! And you didn't think to say anything?" Black growled, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Why is there no fuel left, either?"

"I'm sorry," Yellow cried. "I didn't—"

"You wouldn't have to be sorry if you'd just done it," she hissed. "They can't be running without oil. Cyan, go to Navigation and stop the ship. Brown, go check to see if you can find any more fuel or oil in Storage; whether you can find any or not, come back to Yellow and I in the engines. Green, go to Electrical. Divert power away from the engines and redirect it to Navigation. Cyan, you'll see the panel light up when the power is diverted; do not forget to accept it."

I nodded and darted down the hallway toward Navigation. Brown and Green trailed right behind me on the way to their individual tasks. They split away in the cafeteria.

Our new commander is definitely good at her job. She knew what to do right away.

In Navigation, I immediately switched on the ship's emergency shutdown, and locked the brakes in place. I took the keys out of the igniter and placed them on the dashboard. Seconds later, the power diversion panel flickered on.

I was just reaching to accept it when a siren blared—but not the same sound as the emergency alarm. This one was higher in pitch and more clear-cut than the blaring of the emergency siren, and was accompanied by rhythmic flashes of light.

Unsure of what to do, I sprinted back to the engines. Shit, shit, what is that? What is the alarm, and why is it going off when there's an issue with the engines?
The other four were already in the upper engine when I arrived. Black was pacing in agitation, cursing under her breath and frantically inspecting the gauges around the engines. Brown and Green were examining the fuel compartments. Yellow stood off to the side, rocking on his heels and looking confused.

"What can I do to help?" I asked, my heart racing as I glanced around.

"Shut up, Cyan. I need to concentrate," Black growled.

"Hold on—does anyone hear that?" Yellow asked.

"Yes, I hear the fucking siren," Black snapped. "Yellow, this wouldn't have happened if you had just reported the issue to me!"

"You don't have to jump down his throat about it. Let him talk," I defended.

"Yes, if I was allowed to speak, I'd point out the whirring coming from the reactor," Yellow said in a panic. "What if it's the reactor failing, and not the engines?"

"Doubt it," Brown muttered, hurrying away to check the next room over. She wasn't gone for long.

"Yellow's right, something is wrong with the reactor," she cried.

"Shit," Black hissed, beckoning for us to follow her as she too rushed to Reactor.

The looming machine in the center of the room was giving off loud mechanical noises. The lights on the side of it flickered red. The buttons on the starting panel flashed on and off.

Black turned to me. "We need to enter our fingerprints on each side of the room to activate the emergency shutdown. Cyan, go over to that panel on the wall and press your hand against it until the blue light comes on."

I rushed over and did as she said. Within a couple of seconds, the reactor gave a loud bang and quickly shut down. The blue light came on, so I pulled my hand away.

"Yellow, thank you so much for saying something," Black said gratefully.

I remembered what we'd learned about reactor meltdowns. They are exceptionally rare, but it's happened on two ships in the past twelve years. We were taught what to do if one ever happened, and were informed about the most well-known reactor meltdown. There was a crew of twelve on board. A frantic call came down to ground control from one of their radios. The reactor exploded within thirty seconds. Everyone on board was killed instantly with half the ship gone when a rescue crew was sent up.

"Do you want me to start the reactor up again?" Green offered.

Black was quiet for a moment. She picked at her nails, something I've noticed she does when she's nervous.

"No. Kill the power to the reactor."

"What? We need the—"

"I said kill the power," Black snapped, her shout startling me.

"Why?" Brown asked. "Don't we need the reactor for energy?"

"Please, just stop questioning it and do as I say," the commander begged. Her voice sounded higher pitched than usual. She began to pace again. "I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want it to malfunction further. The rescue ship will arrive any day now—hopefully we'll have enough power stored to make it until then. Divert the power back away from Navigation. Kill the lights in Navigation, Communications, Security, Reactor, Weapons, Shields, and the cabins. Cyan, can you grab five flashlights and two packs of batteries, then set them on the cafeteria tables? We'll use those instead of the lights."

"Navigation, Communications, Security, Reactor, Weapons, Shields, cabins?" Green confirmed.

"Yes. Do that now, please."

"Can I take a look at the reactor to see if I can fix it?" Brown offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't think we should mess with it any more. I think it's safe to say that neither of us have experience with meltdowns," Black said.

"What about the engines?" I asked.

"There's nothing more we can do about those. You shut them down, right?"

"Yes. I used the brakes, the emergency brakes, and took the keys out of the ignition."

"Thank you. Please go get the flashlights. Actually—Brown, Yellow, you two go with him. I'll stay and check for any additional damage." Black nodded, beckoning us to go.

As I walked down the hallway, I turned back for a few moments. Black was still for a few moments before leaning against the wall and burying her face into both of her hands.

The lights in Reactor flashed several times before shutting down. Directly across from that room, I saw the glow from Security die as well.

Yellow and Brown walked on either side of me as we made our way to Storage. As we passed Electrical, Brown paused. Her eyes creased in alarmed confusion, and she looked over her shoulder. Before I could ask her what she was thinking, she muttered, "Wait a sec," and turned into Electrical.

Yellow glanced over at me. He started to say something, but was cut off by a scream behind us.