The Price of Sight

[jammi]

I came around slowly. The control panel in front of me thrummed gently, power now coursing through it. The air I was breathing was back too and the cockpit was filled by a pleasant warmth. I flailed my legs around in an attempt to force myself down into the seat and reapply the harness, without much luck. Catching hold of the edge of a panel on the roof with my good arm, I pushed down, gliding down into the seat.

Landing I jarred my other arm, causing a torrent of agony to race up the limb. I cried out in shock, my vision momentarily tingeing red. I could definately feel my arm now. White hot pain flowed from the snapped wrist, which was now swollen and puffy. Feeling tears of pain and rage wetting my cheeks I gritted my teeth and reached for the first aid kit that was always under the pilots chair.

A few seconds later I had jabbed myself in the leg with a syringe that contained a mixture of adrenaline and other pain-killing drugs. Only then did I pay attention to my surroundings. The Wraith was still there, hanging serenely in front of me. There seemed to be a sort of glow emitting from it. It seemed as if it shouldnt be there, like it didnt fit with its mundane surroundings. It reeked of... Otherness. Four Dimensional in a 3D universe.

And why had the power returned? What did the ship want? With my good hand, I pulled back on the throttle then yanked on the wheel to bring me around, to escape back to the safety of Cadiz. Nothing happened. The steering was dead. I did a quick diagnostic check through the ships computer.

Comms down. Steering down. Radar down. Shielding down. Weapons down. Life support and engines... Active. I gave the throttle another hopeful tug, with only a repeat of my previous attempt to show for it. So, active engines with no way to access them from the cockpit? I tucked my broken arm into my flight jacket and peered out of the cockpit at the Rhienlander that hung in front of me. Why wasnt it doing anything?

It should have been attacking [color=#FFFFFF]**matterbeing** me. Then I [color=#FFFFFF]**awake** paused. Those words werent mine.

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