Chapter 2:

Chapter 2: A Warmth in My Chest

Can You Hear My Heart Beat?


Michael was in shock. He spent his entire life not being able to feel a thing but for some reason he could feel this strangers hand. Why here? Why now? Michael tried to understand as the thumping of his heart became louder. Loud enough that he worried it would echo in space. Minutes seemed to pass in silence until suddenly Caleb decided to say something.

So what brings you out here on a day like this? Is something wrong with your ship?”

Michael snapped back into reality. Frantically trying to remember his mission and explained to the stranger that his mission was to recover materials from this scrapped vessel. A vessel that shockingly was not abandoned.

Looks like our beacon isn’t working correctly, sorry about that” Caleb apologized.

Michael has never heard of this before. Pod’s aren’t very large so maintaining them should be a fairly simple task given the importance of the vessel. How could this stranger risk the lives of his crew so casually?

Before he could reprimand the stranger a voice cut in on both of their helmets.

Caleb are you done fixing that beacon? We need some more repairs inside the main deck.”

Caleb sighed. “Well duty calls.Want to come with me? Two hands are better than one after all.” He said with a sly look.

Michael followed him into this new ship. He’s never met someone from another Pod before, let alone been inside another Pod. His chest further tightened from anticipation of what he was about to see.

Caleb led him into what appeared to be a small room as the door behind them sealed to stabilize the atmosphere around them. Michael held his breath as the door opened in front of him, then he saw a blinding ray of light followed by the biggest room he has ever seen. Michael was shocked, how could a Pod this big exist while being able to maintain survivors.

Caleb talked about all sorts of things with Michael as they moved around the ship. They shared stories of their own Pods, talked about the different stars they passed in space and their fellow crew mates. Michael even shared the story of how he stayed up all night with Tony playing Future Fighting Foes 4, an old game relic he salvaged once from an abandoned Pod.

Wow it seems like you’ve gotten to do a lot. This Pod is so big that I feel that I spend all my time fixing it.”

The pair finally made it to the main hangar as Caleb started to get to work. Michael decided it was finally time to ask why this Pod was marked for salvage.

Hey Caleb so about why I’m here-”

Suddenly a familiar voice chimed in as a mysterious woman floated towards them. A stern but beautiful woman with glasses and a clipboard.

There you are Caleb, so when you’re done with this we need to redo work on the residential section. Some of the crew have been complaining about the-” She then looked up from her clipboard and was surprised to see Michael there as well. She then collected herself and then began to greet him.

Oh hello, I see you’ve met our Pod engineer Caleb. What Pod are you from?”

I’m from Pod C-137” Michael answered. Mentioning his Pod made him realize that he hasn’t communicated with them since he first arrived at this new Pod. He then noticed that his intercom signal back to his home Pod was lost.

Sorry but is there something wrong with the signal? I should probably contact my Pod”

You fool!” The woman said as she hit Caleb. “You left the blocking field up didn’t you? Michael you should probably head back to your ship we still have a lot to do here.”

Caleb offered to escort Michael back to the exit. Then right before Michael left he took his hand.

Sorry about that. Julia may seem strict but she means well. I’ll see you around ok?”

And with that Caleb retreated back into his Pod as Michael floated back into space. It didn’t take very long until he heard another familiar voice.

There you are! What happened? We all thought you were dead!” Tony yelled over the intercom.

Michael slowly made his way back to his Pod as the strange vessel he left drifted away. His mind filling with questions and trying to process the new events that have happened. Another Pod, Michael has never seen another living Pod before. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about the whole thing.