Silic had been almost unreachable for the last few days, he hadn't slept in his quarters, he huddled in nooks and snoozed in crannies. He'd had no watches and basically taken this to mean he was on holiday aboard the ship for now, making sure that only the most determined of visitors would venture to see him. He hadn't heard from his family since the attack, but he wasn't too worried, Nepleslians living on Yamatai usually had various boltholes they could scramble to in emergency.
He'd given up drinking after a certain incident a few days earlier, at least for now, and had instead been working on other projects. Before him on the dusty floor of a rarely used supply room was his latest masterpiece.
Three salvaged thrusters from broken fighters bolted to a metal board re-purposed from scrap plate with ankle straps. A throttle with a line to the control unit was used to help control the thrusters and a tank for fuel was underneath. It was a hoverboard.
He smiled in satisfaction at his work. It was a hastily put together piece of crap, but he didn't care. Time to fly.
“Silic-san,” said a voice that seemed to come from the entire room, “Numa-Taii is calling all squadron personnel to the flag bridge.”
Silic didn't reply, he put his usual glasses on securely and belted his ankle onto the board. “The mountain is calling, Hiromi.” he said simply, lost in his thrill for speed. He hadn't done this since he was a kid, but it must be like riding a bicycle, right?
He clicked on the control the boards systems and the thrusters slowly warmed up. It was clear he had no intention of making it to the meeting.
“Vas-hei, I really didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice.” replied the computer, sounding oddly satisfied about something.
“Do your wors-” Silic was cut off as the board suddenly jerked out from under his feet, only one ankle strapped in. Silic yelled as board took off, dragging him across the floor rapidly. He screamed as the doors to the corridors opened to swallow him up, the doors shut promptly after him and the supply room fell completely still once more.
Out in the corridors, the terror had only just struck as the screaming Nepleslian was dragged across the floor of the corridors with harrowing speed, his fingers desperately trying to grip the carpet to no avail.
By the time the Nepleslian was forcibly dragged to the proximity of the flag bridge he was still screaming, the jets on the board fizzled and cut out depositing him to a skidding stop in front of the door, still screaming and thrashing belatedly. “Worst carpet burn ever!”
Eventually he stopped squirming in discomfort and stood up slowly, he gripped the metal handrail to steady himself. There was a loud crack and a shower of sparks from the handrail where Silic's hand was and the man fell backwards with a shuddering sigh.
Again, the nepleslian attempted to stand up. This time shakily succeeding and walking into the room with jittery steps without saying anything, seemingly unaware that his hair was standing on end and he was covered in statically attracted dust.