Far From Home: The Complete Series Read Online Free Page A

spat white sparks. Chang took a fire extinguisher from the wall and smothered the console with it. The ventilation systems whined as they sucked toxic fumes from the bridge and out into space.
    Before the bridge crew could say that it came from inside the ship, King knew it was the Missile bay.
    She unbuckled herself, got out of the chair and ran to her own station below Chang’s. She saw the flashing red sections of the ship illuminated on her screen and swallowed, hard.
    She jabbed a finger at the comm. panel. “Captain Singh. Come in please.”
    Silence.
    “Captain Singh?” King repeated.
    Silence.
    She looked at Lieutenant Banks. She tried not to let the distress register on her face.
    King stood.
    “Lieutenant Banks, you have the con,” she said on her way off the bridge. “Keep her flying until I get back.”
    She caught a few looks of bewilderment as she left, but they were background noise to her need to see that Captain Singh was still alive.
    I shouldn’t be leaving the bridge. This isn’t the time to have a personal crisis, she told herself.
    But it was no use. She’d already reached the end of the corridor and slid down the ladder to the deck below. Then she ran.
    * * *
    Immediately following the explosion, the fire team had dragged the bodies of the wounded and deceased out behind the nearest blast door. The tear in the hull made short work of sucking the atmosphere into the vacuum of space, along with the fire. The blast door separated them from the severe pull of the void through the broken hull. If the fire team had wasted any time they would have been sucked out as well.
    King spotted Singh straight away. He lay on the floor, his helmet off. Two medics worked to keep him alive. They looked up as King approached.
    Doctor Clayton stood. Jessica went to fall at Singh’s side, but the doctor stopped her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, held her at arm’s length.
    “Commander, look at me. Look at me ,” he said.
    Her eyes locked onto his.
    Dr. Clayton’s eyes were full of regret, his voice firm but tinged with sadness.“He’s dying. The explosion tore him apart. There’s too much … there’s nothing I can do for him now …”
    Jessica looked over his shoulder. She saw the blood that covered the Captain and coated the floor around him. Her hand went to her mouth.
    “I’m sorry,” Dr. Clayton said. “He doesn’t have long.”
    He let go of her, dug his hands into his jacket pockets.
    She walked past him and knelt by Singh’s side. He looked up at her and smiled. He was burnt all over. She fought to hide her horror. Jessica knew the Captain needed to see all the strength she could muster.
    The mangled mess of his legs. The blood pooling from his mid-section. His face grey, washed-out. Tears streamed down her face.
    Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Please don’t go, please.”
    Captain Singh shook his head slowly. Smiled. “Jess … We each have our time. My own is at an end …”
    “No …” she managed to say.
    Singh reached up, stroked the side of her face. “Now it is your turn to do as much as you can with the time you have …”
    He smiled again, then his eyes seemed focus on something far away. The light in them faded. Singh’s hand fell away from hers and the sound of his last breath issued slowly from between his lips.
    “No …”
    She cradled him in her arms.
    * * *
    “Water, Commander?”
    “Yes please,” King said.
    Admiral Grimshaw handed her a glass. She thanked him and took several mouthfuls of it before setting it in front of her on the desk.
    “Why do you think he insisted on going down there and helping to fight that fire?” Grimshaw asked her.
    King shrugged. “He was like that. He was hands-on. I remember one morning the cook fell ill so he got behind the kitchen counter and made the breakfast himself. That’s just how he was. It’s what made him such a good Captain, in my opinion. He was involved in all aspects of the ship. It’s one of the