A VILLAIN APPEARS

May 5th 2011, 15:41 by E O Hatterpol | 67 AU FROM SUN

NOBODY thought anything of that first "Thunk!" we heard.  Why would we?  We had just spent the past seventeen days pinging & clanking our way through the Kuiper Belt, after all.

But that second "Thunk!" was much louder & it didn't sound anything like an errant chunk of icy methane.

That's when the captain came over the PA system: "ALL HANDS ON DECK!"  Emergency protocols call for all non-essential crew to rally at the BPOD, so I ran for the bow by way of the loading docks.

Now, most doors on the Flybrary open automatically; they slide outwards just like the doors on the USS Enterprise from Star Trek: the Next Generation.  This, of course, has always been a great source of joy for me & I always make that "psshan" noise when they open since ours don't have any sound effects.

You can imagine my surprise when my own "psshan" was abruptly replaced with a "SMACK!"

I crumpled into a heap on the ground, nursing my injured ribs.  They were still tender from when I had chased that mysterious noise down a dead end.

"What the hell?" I asked.

I got back up & tried again, but the doors wouldn't budge.  Something wasn't right; I knew from pre-blastoff emergency training that doors only sealed like this in the event of a catastrophe - think chemical fire or busted airlocks.

I panicked; my brain quit working.  Looking back, I wish I had taken a moment to collect myself.  Instead, I got it in my head that I had to reach the bow immediately & that this was the only way to get there.  I worked my fingers down into the seam, trying to force the sliding doors open.


I should have known there was somebody trying to force that same door open from the other side.