Harris gazed up at the approaching cloud and looked unsure as dozens of explosions pounded the ship's hull. Peterson knew time was of the essence and any pause might make their situation more dire. He moved forward, intending to spur the captain on, but Willard beat him to the punch.

"Reboot!" Willard said, squeezing Harris's shoulder. "Do it now!"

Harris nodded. "System reboot in three…two…" Harris looked back at the rest of the crew. "Hold onto something!"

Peterson dove into the chair like a kid playing musical chairs and held onto the armrests with a python grip. Harris opened a small panel and depressed a single yellow button for three seconds.

Everything went black, which accentuated the approaching bombardment. Petersons's mouth slowly opened as the densest portion of the orb cloud grew closer.  He jolted as the vents in the walls slammed shut and the hum of electricity cut out.

The only thing he could hear now was the shaking ship and each tiny explosion, as they continued to degrade the integrity of the outer hull. His eyes snapped to a single monitor, which blinked to life. Text scrolled across the screen.

Life support off…

Gravity off…

Peterson felt himself become weightless. A surge of nausea filled his stomach, threatening to make him retch. He moved his hand to his mouth, preparing to block any bile that might escape, but the motion created by his arm was enough to move his entire body up off the chair in the weightless environment. He sucked in a breath and noticed the air becoming stale. He glanced at the computer screen and read the text upside down.

Life support systems off…

System shutdown…

Peterson worried that rebooting the system was a mistake. What if it didn't restart in time? What if it didn't restart at all?

Knowing his life was out of his hands, Peterson concerned himself with the only thing he could do to improve his safety. He pulled himself back toward the chair, but pulled too hard. He slammed into the seat of the chair and felt a pain throb in his side as the armrest pushed into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for air, Peterson, righted himself, grabbed the other armrest and pulled himself firmly into the seat's cushion.

When he was finished, he glanced back at the screen and was relieved to see the startup sequence beginning.

System reboot...

Life support systems engaged...

Main electric engaged...

The room filled with a blinding light. Peterson squinted against the harsh glow, but opened his eyes painfully wide when he saw Willard floating ten feet up, clinging to a cargo box.

Robert, who was clinging to a support rail, his body floating horizontal to the floor, noticed Willard as well. "What are you doing?"

Willard had a bewildered look on his face as he spun slowly around in midair. When he returned to facing Robert below, he said, "I thought it was bolted to the floor!"