16 June 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2769: confidence in the system

This post was inspired by today's 5-minute writing prompt in the Freewriters Community - 16 June 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2769: confidence in the system

Enjoy !

Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio

Alarms shrilled, lights flashed. The cockpit was full of smoke, the forward screen was cracked and flames were licking around the console on Rick's left.

"Shitshitshitshitshit.... we're all going to die !"

It was only thirty seconds since the space liner had clipped the dead satellite, an object that shouldn't have been there. The thing must have been quietly lurking in orbit for decades, untracked and uncharted.

And now the Mars to Earth liner had been hit. It was Rick's second flight, he'd only qualified a few months previously.

Captain Harwood's voice came through his earphone with a tone of absolute calm.

"Breathe, Pilot. Stop, count to five and re-orient. Follow your training, have confidence in the system. What does your training say the first thing to do is ?"

Rick tried to calm himself. "Umm.... check atmosphere integrity, ma'am. It's... it's not good. Cockpit is cracked. Port reserve fuel tank is breached. Starboard engine is burning pure oxygen, out of control."

"Very good. So the passenger compartment is fine. Check chutes. If they're good, jettison it. They'll land somewhere safely. Then we can focus on getting this bird on the ground."

He pulled the red lever on his right, the one with the large "Do NOT pull" ribbon. Then he hit the big red button. The plane lurched as the passenger compartment was flung into the upper atmosphere. They would hopefully be safe, although might not be happy turning up somewhere in Mongolia instead of Florida.

Then Rick followed his training. He hit extinguishers, toggled the switch to release sealing foam into the forward half of the cockpit, and pulled on the controls to level the plummet out.

Ten minutes later, the space liner careered along the runway in a shower of sparks, grinding to a halt with a three mile gouge in the asphalt behind it.

Rick relaxed, slumping over the control column. He couldn't resist a shaky grin when Captain Harwood spoke up from behind him, still icy calm. "Nicely done, Rick. I told you that you could have confidence in the system if you followed the training."