Ben Hammott - Salvage

His eyes glanced around the room. The bed cubicle was his only hope. He waded over and jumped to press the button now high on the upside-down wall. The interior light lit up as the door swished open. Richard climbed up, fell into the inverted pod and rolled into the control panel, accidentally activating the door control that sealed the enclosure. Kneeling on the mattress fallen to the bottom of the upturned pod, Richard gazed out the window at the two monsters swimming in the rising water. One scratched at the side of the pod and pressed its frightening vicious face against the window before the rising current dragged it away.

Richard switched off the flashlight to conserve its batteries and wondered if the airtight bed pod was also watertight. He pressed his face close to the window, which excited the yet-to-drown monsters outside, and looked down. The water was above the level of the bottom of the door. He checked at the seal around the inside of the door and relaxed a little when he detected no water seeping in. Though he might not drown, he was still trapped and the air wouldn’t last forever. Even if it did, he wouldn’t.

His gaze fell on the small screen he must have activated when he crashed into the control panel. Though surprised to see the list in English, he stared at one option in particular that gave him hope he might yet survive this hell― Eject Escape Pod . As he stabbed a finger at the option, he was thrown against the door when the ship tipped to the side and noticed the water had filled the room. He stared into the eyes of the drowning creature outside the window before turning away and redirecting his attention back at the screen, wondering why the pod hadn’t moved. He saw the confirmation screen and reached out to confirm the command.

Outside a door rasped open, the pod jerked into motion and entered the escape pod chute. As it turned lengthwise, Richard stared out at the long tunnel. Hopefully fate would be looking upon him as favorably as she had done on other occasions. Richard fell back when the pod shot forward and sent him tumbling to the nose when it tipped on its end and shot down a hole in the chute floor.

Though worried by the speed the pod travelled, Richard trusted in the alien technology to eject him safely from the sinking ship. His major concern was that if the ship was still encased in ice and not the seawater he hoped, he would be killed, but live or die, he could do no more. He was in Fate’s hands now.

Jack brought the helicopter level and added power to combat the strong gusts and pull it clear of the ice. When he had reached a safe distance he spun the helicopter and fascinated by the incredible event, they watched the colossal iceberg roll over.

Almost majestically, the iceberg rose out of the sea. Streams of seawater cascaded down its sheer side as cracks appeared with deep-throated roars that sounded like heavy artillery guns firing off a salvo. Large swathes of ice calved away and crashed into the sea, sending up towering fountains of spray and creating tall angry white waves rolling outwards like mini tsunamis.

As the iceberg rolled onto its side and began sinking, multiple growls of thunder filled the air as splinters crept speedily across its surfaces, splitting the ice into smaller sections that slid free of the entombed spaceship.

As if reaching for the skies in a last ditch attempt to escape the planet, the front of the spaceship rose clear of the ice and, for a few fleeting moments, hung in the air before slipping back into the sea and disappearing below the surface.

“Oh…my…god,” said Jane, stunned by what she had just seen. “That was by far the most spectacular thing I have ever witnessed.”

Jack nodded. “Mother Nature at her most awesome and impressive best.”

“I guess that’s it,” said Jane, watching the myriad of large and small icebergs drift apart. “It’s over. The alien spaceship and the monsters aboard are gone forever.”

“It’s not something I’m going to mourn. I just hope everyone managed to get out in time.” Jack turned the helicopter away and headed for the American ship.

“Jack, are you reading me? Over.”

“It’s Captain Ramos,” said Jack, unable to take his hands off the controls he constantly fought to keep the helicopter level and on course.

Jane grabbed the mic. “Reading you, Captain. Over.”

“Jane, is that you?”

“Yes, Jack rescued me. We’re returning to the ship.”

“That’s great news, but before you do, there’s another passenger that needs rescuing―well, not actually rescued, but picked up from the Russian salvage ship. Do you have enough fuel?”

Jack glanced at the fuel gauge. It was low, but not dangerously so. He nodded at Jane.

“Fuel is okay. Who do we need to pick up?”

“You already know her. She was on your team when you discovered the spaceship. Miss Lucy Jones.”

Jane and Jack both wore confused frowns when they looked at each other.

“That’s impossible,” Jane argued. “She’s not in Antarctica.”

“I don’t know anything about that, but I just spoke to a female who said her name was Lucy Jones and that she had been trapped aboard the spaceship until she met up with the Russians. She is now on their ship and requested we come and pick her up.”

“What do you think?” asked Jane

Jack shook his head. “We know it can’t be Lucy as she went with Haax, but someone needs picking up and I’m intrigued why someone is using Lucy’s name.”

Jane nodded. “Likewise.” She spoke into the mic again. “Okay, Captain, if you give us the Russian ship’s coordinates, we’ll go pick her up.”

After the Captain had furnished them with the information, Jane replaced the mic in its holder.

“There’s something strange going on here,” said Jane. “Whoever this woman is, where did she come from and how did she get aboard the spaceship?”

Jack shrugged. “Maybe Lucy changed her mind and Haax brought her back.”

Jane shook her head. “Haax would have dropped her off at the base camp, not put her back aboard the spaceship full of monsters.”

Jack glanced out at the dim lights on the horizon. “Well I guess we’ll soon find out. There’s the Russian ship.”

When the large waves caused by the collapsing iceberg dissipated and released their hold on the creature they had swept along, the Hunter gazed back at the ice it had recently vacated to find it was no more. It had been replaced by hundreds of smaller icebergs that offered no salvation from the hostile environment it needed to escape from. When its single good eye scanned the horizon and fell upon the lights of the distant vessel, it started swimming towards it.

It had only reached halfway when the freezing sea began to take effect, and the powerful strokes that propelled it through the rough sea grew sluggish. Aware it would never make it, the Hunter headed for a large chunk of ice and climbed out of the water.

When sensors detected the approaching escape pod, they opened the hull door. Seawater poured through the opening with the fury of a Yellowstone geyser. Richard jumped when the water pounded the pod with a thunderous roar and slowed the pod’s momentum slightly. He watched the turbulent water streaming past the window and though apprehensive, he believed the water was a good sign―an indication the spaceship was free of the ice. A few moments later his optimism was proven correct. The pod ejected from the side of the sinking spacecraft and shot through the cold sea before it slowed and rolled as it sought its bouncy level.

Richard stared out of the window at the expanse of sea lit by hazy light filtering down from the surface and highlighting the spaceship heading straight towards him. Richard shook his head in dismay and groaned. Powerless to do anything about it, he watched the spaceship grow larger in the window and then noticed the yawning opening of the hangar bay he headed towards. He would soon be back inside the ship.