Fizz's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Fizz stared at the empty bunk where the goggles should have been. His crew member — the one who actually understood — had vanished three hours ago, last signal pinging from the Shard Mines. Nobody went to the Shard Mines without explosives. Which meant nobody on this ship would go at all, except him. He found the emblem on the pillow. Eight blackened spikes around a deep blue gem, scratched and dented from years of use. Fizz's soot-covered fingers traced the central stone. His crew member had worn this since before the moon, back when the crew still smiled at him. Leaving it behind meant something. Fizz tucked it into his vest pocket, right over his heart. The captain's quarters held the navigation desk, covered in maps and hazard warnings pinned with red string. Fizz leaned over the clutter until he found the Shard Mines marker. Beyond it, someone had drawn a skull and written "TURN BACK" in three languages. The desk marked the edge of charted space, the line between orders and choice. Fizz grabbed the maps anyway. He slipped into the cargo bay where his personal stash grew in the corner, hidden behind supply crates. The green leaves rose taller than him now, each serrated frond concealing packages of his best work. Charges, igniters, shaped explosives he'd crafted during off-shifts when the crew thought he was sleeping. Fizz pulled them free, filling his pack with enough firepower to crack a planet. The crew would be furious, but his crew member was out there. And maybe, just maybe, bringing them back would finally show everyone what explosions were really for.