Reignite

A Story by Kaden

Science Fiction story I wrote for English class. I had to shorten it to fit into the 5-page limit, but I'm still really pleased with how it came out.

Davin Walker had been Commander of the Life Star for 8 years now. During that time, not a single being had questioned his leadership. Everyone agreed that he was a fine leader, the best that the space station had seen in centuries. Even more astounding was the fact that Walker was the first human being to ever become commander. The Life Star was built in 2112, to mark the 100 year anniversary of the formation of The United Races. The station was a gleaming icon of the UR, a shining beacon that was famous across the galaxy. It symbolized the harmony and coexistence between the human race and the other races that made up the UR. The Star orbited around the home planet of whatever race it's commander was. Because he was human, the Star now orbited around Earth.

Walker rose out of bed and got dressed. "Good morning, Commander Walker." The words echoed throughout the suite in a soothing automatized voice. "The date is August 23rd, 2358. It is 9:03 AM. Your schedule today is to..." Davin wasn't listening. He didn't have to; his schedule was the same thing every day. As he drank his coffee, the kitchen began to prepare his breakfast. He walked to one of the walls of his suite and the wallpaper melted away, revealing a large glass window. Here, the commander could oversee the central plaza. It was busy as always, humans and aliens alike scurried around. Some were going to work, others were going shopping, or to grab breakfast at a restaurant. The whole space station functioned as one big city in the sky.

"Someone is here to see you, Commander," said the voice.

"Let them in," said Davin, as he took a sip of coffee. The stainless steel doors made a soft whirr as they glided apart. In stepped Keyan, one of Davin's lifelong friends. He was an Amorodon, a race of reptilian creatures that were taller than humans, had thick tails, and were covered in large scales that came in many colors. Keyan's scales were a metallic blue-green color that shined in the warm glow of the suite's lights.

"Naar for'aiq" said Keyan. "Good morning." His voice was low and gravelly, yet friendly.

"Good morning, Keyan," replied Davin. "What brings you here?"

"We have encountered some trouble, Commander. You might want to come look at this."

Keyan and Commander Walker took the turbolift up to the bridge. It was a huge room, filled with navigational machines of all sizes. A large glass dome overhead provided a wide view of space and the planet Earth. Pilots and engineers of all races were everywhere, working to keep the Life Star alive and running well.

"Commander Walker, sir!" An older uniformed man with grey hair approached the duo.

"Admiral Toliver, what have we got here?"

"Incoming ships of unknown origin," stated Toliver. "We've tried to contact them several times, but with no response. They're definitely heading this way."

Walker observed a nearby display. It showed a fleet of dots approaching the station at a rapid pace. "Try again," he said. "Tell them deadly force will be used if they do not reply."

"Yes, sir!" Toliver saluted and moved to give the order.

"Let's see how this plays out..." Davin breathed to Keyan. The Amorodon chuckled nervously. Far on the other side of the glass, the ships came into view as they approached. Admiral Toliver picked up a microphone and spoke into it.

"Unidentified spacecraft, this is the Life Star interplanetary space station. State your business or risk use of deadly force." The bridge seemed to hold its breath as the ships approached. Everyone was watching and waiting to see what would happen. That's when they noticed a small object rapidly closing in on the station.

Keyan squinted his eyes "Is that a-"

"Missile!" Shouted Walker. "Everyone get down!"

The station rumbled as the missile made impact and sparks flew out of computers.

"Damage Report!" Coughed Commander Walker.

"They hit the weapon systems. Our defense grid is offline. We're defenseless!" Said a green-skinned Mitode.

"Scramble the fighters, and go on red alert. Contact the Defense Fleet and tell them the Life Star is under attack!" Walker could hardly believe that he was saying those words. Never in a million years did anyone think this would happen. Red lights came on and loud alarms blared throughout the space station.

"Red Alert," droned a mechanical voice. "Red Alert. All persons proceed to the escape pods and prepare for emergency evacuation."

At that moment, thousands more enemy fighters came out of lightspeed. It was a full scale assault.

"Keyan, grab a rifle and follow me," said Walker. Keyan did so and together they raced down the halls of the station. "We have to get to escape pods and help the citizens evacuate."

The next impact was a bad one, Davin could tell. He stopped for a second to steady himself. He felt himself falling, even though he was standing on the metal floor of the Star. Then he realized what was happening: the Life Star was sinking. Soon it would fall down and collide onto Earth. No doubt it would hit New York City, which was located directly below the orbit path. This is bad, he thought.

"Keyan," he said. His voice was shaking a little more than he wanted it to. "Go on without me. Help everyone get onto the escape pods and make sure they are safe. I have to get back to the bridge."

"Don't take too long catching up" joked Keyan with a smile. "Ocuten dii shi'ira".

It meant I'll see you later. Davin nodded and turned back towards the bridge. Deep down, he wasn't sure that he would ever see his old friend again. Once he had ridden the turbolift onto the bridge, Davin saw that it was deserted. The crew had already jettisoned in their own escape pods. Walker sat in the big pilot's chair in the middle of the room. It was quite comfortable. Looking up, he saw that the Defense Force had arrived, and a great battle was erupting in the vacuum of space. He saw Earth, his beautiful home planet. It was growing bigger by the second as the glorious Life Star plummeted down toward it. Davin also saw the escape pods, thousands of them, ejecting from the side of the station. They looked like snowflakes, he thought to himself. He remembered he hadn't seen snow for 8 years.

A voice crackled onto the radio and shook Davin out of his thoughts. It was Keyan.

"I hope you were planning on being here sometime soon," he rumbled. "I saved you a seat next to me, it's comfy and warm and-"

"I'm not coming." Davin spoke softly. There was a pause.

"What... What do you mean?" Keyan asked.

"If this station goes down, it will collide right on top of New York, killing millions of people. I have to stay behind and manually guide it into an unpopulated area."

"But, you'll die!" Exclaimed Keyan, as if Davin didn't know it.

"It's okay, my friend. I have to do this. It's my responsibility as Commander of the Life Star. Take care of Marissa for me, and tell the kids that I'm proud of them.

Keyan paused again before replying, "Aye aye, Commander."

Davin smiled. "Goodbye, old friend." The radio clicked off. Davin saw the last pod eject from the Star, and he knew that Keyan would be alright. He grabbed hold of the controls and steered far to his left. The massive space station entered Earth's atmosphere in a fiery ball and fell under the cloud layer. The great city of New York was right there, just as he had expected. Steering toward a large open field, Davin was sweating.

"Computer," he said, "start a countdown until impact."

The soothing voice returned. "42 seconds remain until critical impact."

Davin's knuckles were white as he gripped the controls. "Also, Computer, make another journal entry."

"36 seconds until impact. New journal entry added. What would you like it to say? 30 seconds until impact."

Davin gulped and took a deep breath. "This is Davin James Walker, first human commander of the famous interplanetary space station Life Star."

"21 seconds until impact."

"I have spent 8 years commanding this ship, and I wouldn't have missed a second of it."

"16 seconds."

"The United Races show that there can be peace between man and alien, and I have felt the trust that the two can form."

"12 seconds."

"I only hope that this continues into future generations, and maybe forever."

"8"