Free Command Decision (Project Gliese 581g #1) by S.E. Smith

from the console and floated over the debris that covered the floor. Torn metal and shattered glass from the displays was everywhere.
    Josh bumped against the wall near one of the small windows and held on to its rim when the ship shuddered again. He twisted and pressed his face against the clear material covering the window and looked out. A soft curse escaped him when he saw the entire front portion of the Gliese was missing. Excess fuel and oxygen were being ejected into space.
    He rotated when the ship groaned again. Bracing his feet against the wall, he pushed off so he could float back to the console. He grasped it and quickly scanned the screens.
    Outer hull was failing. The ship was breaking apart. Turning, he held onto the chair he had been sitting in and pulled Ash back in his seat. A thin line of blood dripped from Ash’s temple, but he was breathing.
    Josh glanced at the console again. The interior camera was still pointed on the emergency pods. Three green lights were reflected.
    “Warning, outer hull failure is imminent,” the computer stated. “Warning, outer hull failure is imminent.”
    “Tell me something I don’t already know,” Josh muttered under his breath even as he ripped the straps off of Ash.
    He bent and grabbed Ash’s arm as his friend floated upward. One good thing about not having gravity was he could maneuver Ash a lot easier and faster. He reached out and gripped the back of the chair when the Gliese rocked and a portion of the ceiling tiles dropped.
    “Time to go,” Josh grunted as he began picking his way toward the emergency pods, Ash’s limp body in tow.
    Josh bounced off the walls in his hurry. It took him several precious seconds when he found a section of the corridor blocked. He had been forced to release Ash so he could move it. As soon as it was clear, he pushed Ash through before following. Minutes later, he was in the section designed to keep them alive until help could arrive.
    “As long as it was within fourteen days,” Josh muttered as he pressed one of the empty pods opened.
    The pods were designed to slow the metabolism and respiration of the person inside to prolong life support. There was technically enough oxygen and heat to keep them alive for thirty days in space. In reality, Josh figured fourteen if they were lucky.
    They were also designed with an advanced life support detection system built by a group of students from MIT for extra credit. The group of three students had won a contest to design a program so that if the pod detected a suitable habitat for survival, it would guide the pod to it and open the parachute after entry. In theory, it had sounded great. In reality, the likelihood of finding an alien planet with an environment that could support a human was a trillion to one, by the hundredth degree.
    Josh finished strapping Ash into the pod and settled the mask over his friend’s relaxed face. A gas with a mixture of oxygen and a sedative would keep each of them in an unconscious state until it ran out. Once it did, they would either be dead or hopefully rescued. Personally, he liked the latter option better.
    Closing the lid, he pressed the button on the side, waiting for it to turn green before he pushed it into the chute. He did the same with the other three. Through the clear window, he could see Julia, Mei, and Sergi’s relaxed features. They had each slipped into a survival suit. He and Ash didn’t have time, though he was still wearing a portion of his spacesuit from earlier.
    Floating over to the panel, he programmed the emergency sequence into it. If an outer hull breach was detected, it would automatically eject each of them into space and away from the ship. If not, well, in fourteen days, they would all wake up.
    Pushing off the wall, Josh quickly slipped into his pod and pulled the straps over his body to hold him down. Adjusting the mask over his nose and mouth, he reached up and pressed the button to close the lid. Once the lid