Chapter 2: Out of the frying pan...

Moments after entering the pod the door sealed behind them, ejecting the two into the star filled darkness. The moons gravity pulled ever so slightly at the vessel as the floated away. The massive ship, its emergency lights shutting off for a final time, faded into the darkness along with multiple other life boats.

Mara, still in a panic, grabbed her radio and tried to contact the other pods that were slowly drifting away.

"Hello! This Lieutenant Mara Kade hailing from life pod C-26, please respond... hello... HELLO!!!"

Nothing... no words, no contact, just static and silence.

In her panic and rage, Mara slams the radio into the cramped wall of the pod, cursing at their predicament. All she can do is watch as crewmates and civilians drift further away, farried off to God knows where.

"Those pods are being pulled towards the planet... ours is being pulled away."

Doctor Elias states as he stares out the port windows, facing the planet.

"What? What are you on about Doc..."

Mara replies in a exhausted tone.

"When they ejected, those pods faced closer to the planets field... ours is being pulled by the moons orbiting."

"So what, we land one of the moons and try to make contact with the group down their."

Despite the situation they find themselves in, the two sit down and try to get composed, Mara with her determination and Elias with his stoicism, the pair start to take manual control of the life pod, adjusting its flight pattern ever so slightly. Before long, the duo maneuver the pod towards the closer of the two moons and being the slow decent to the surface.

Its no planet, but the pull of this moon still makes the ship jostle and roil on its way down to the surface. With a loud THUD the pod lands on the uneven terrain, the control panel showing the surrounding area for the two.

Upon landing, Mara starts to take inventory of the vessel while Elias scans the area with the on board computer.

"So we have a two space suits, a repair kit, radio, flares and at least a months worth of ration packs... "

Mara picks up the slightly cracked radio, brushing off some of the broken glass on the screen. Luckily, it's only the screen that's cracked and is still functional.

"The outside appears to be that of an average satellite, mostly simple rocks and craters scattered... I'm getting an abnormally high amount of silver and zinc but that could be natural resources from the planet, nothing else of note."

Despite the circumstances, Mara and Elias have a moment of peace between them. Mara tosses a ration pack towards Elias as he fumbles to catch it before the two begin to eat and discuss their situation.

"I think our best bet is to establish contact with the others, then we can regroup planet side and call for help."

"I think that's for the best, I can continue to try and contact the others from the computer..."

"And I'll see if I can boost the signal from the outer antenna..."

As a plan starts to form, Mara begins to suit up as Doctor Elias sets up back at the computer. As they collect themselves and move into action, a few thoughts crop up in their mind.

How did this happen? What could've caused such a catastrophe? Who is responsible?

Can we even make it out of this?

As Mara suits up, she pushes those doubts and concerns to the back of her mind, she knows she has to be strong, has to reach the others. She hides her concerns behind the determination to rescue the others and themselves.

Elias however, can't simply let these thoughts go and while he attempts to contact the others, he starts looking through the pods database. Ships charter route, crew manifest, cargo holds, anything that might give an answer to why this terrible disaster took place.

Despite the different approaches to their current situation, both Mara and Elias share one thought above all else.

At least I'm not the only one out here...