Not so peaceful...

" ... descent ... action required ..."

You woke up to the sound of a female voice saying something you couldn't quite make out.

"Huh?... what?" You managed to croak out.

Your head was spinning, your vision was still blurry and all the while you felt slightly nauseous. Waking up from stasis was a lengthy process that usually required 20 minutes of resting before the subject was back to full capacity. You're not sure who this woman was but she would just have to wait a bit if she expected a coherent response from you.

"... atmospheric... Crew action..."

"Is it over?" You weakly asked the voice. You knew your stasis sleep would feel instantaneous, but still part of you expected... more fanfare or something. All the same, you began to stretch you arms and blink rapidly in the hope of regaining your senses.

"Alert! Unplanned atmospheric descent detected. Crew action required." repeated the voice.

The words were like a bucket of ice cold water. Suddenly your senses began to snap back in place and you could hear the alarm going off throughout the ship. You stumbled out of your pod and took a few steps forward before falling on all four. You looked up to your section of the gravity ring to see that everybody else seemed to still be in their pods.

"Computer..." You paused, nearly being sick "... status report."

"The Skidbladnir has dipped into the atmosphere of Gliese 1061 c to dangerous level. Uncontrolled reentry is inevitable if no crew action is taken." Said the ship's computer's interface, her cool and ever sultry voice at odds with the seriousness of her statement.

"Well go get the captain!"

The computer waited for a moment before adding.

"Captain Foster. An emergency requires your immediate attention."

What!? You thought. Was the computer broken? You were only a junior officer, nowhere near the rank of Captain.

"Computer, check your database I am not the captain."

"Incorrect. You were promoted to acting captain 5 years, 3 month and 12 days ago after acting captain Harris died in accordance to the ship's line of succession."

Your head was spinning again and your arms felt week. Even then you grabbed the nearest hold you could find and tried to stand up. None of this made sense to you. The ship's commending officer was captain Benzakour. You weren't even aware of any Harris' among the senior officers.

You were brought back to your own pressing situation by the loud crashing sound that reverberated throughout the ship. It felt like a whole building had just came crashing down next to you.

"Computer, what was that?"

"Primary mast A, B, C and D of the stellar sail just experienced catastrophic structural failure due to atmospheric drag. Rapid action is recommended."

"Shit! Well... huh... fire up the fusion torch and get us to safety!"

"Negative. Fusion torch is currently offline."

{if class_eng == true}"Computer, run diagnostic of fusion torch system." You were no nuclear scientist, but you figured that if there was a chance to fix this thing then it might be your only shot.

"Fusion torch propulsion system is functional. Fusion torch fuel at 0%. Fusion torch is offline."

Well that's not good you thought. Not good and not possible. The fusion fuel wasn't ever meant to be fully used.{elseif class_sec == true}Well double shit! You're a security officer, no way were you ever going to be able to bring that thing online.{elseif class_med == true}Well double shit! You were a doctor, and not the kind that came with knowing nuclear physics. There was no way you were going to be able to bring that thing online.{else}Error: player class not detected. Make sure game mode is active{endif}

There was nothing for it you decided. The ship had to be evacuated.

"Computer, get everyone out of stasis and tell them to board shuttles for emergency planetary landing."

"Yes sir." The ship's personality interface acquiesced.

All of a sudden every pod gave a low whistle as vapour poured out of them.

"Attention all crew members. Per captain's order, you are required to board a shuttle for emergency evacuation. This is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill."

To your horror what came next were the thuds of dozens of mummified corpses falling out of the pods. Your stomach made a flip and it was finally too much. you bent over and emptied your stomach as the ship's computer repeated its message.

Was everyone gone? Was this it, were you alone?