Written for Chiaroscuro's Writing Extravaganza, Again event.

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  The cold expanse of space spread around the starship. Out in the uncharted reaches of the galaxy, the starship’s crew sought to discover and map the far-flung star systems of the galaxy and to find planets worth colonizing. Now the ship wandered about, seeking for information about each solar system. At this moment, it was orbiting one of the many stars in the area, scanning for planets.

  Suddenly the starship shuddered, flinging its crew to the floor. Immediately the six crew members scrambled to the back of the ship, where the impact came from. There, to their dismay, they saw the damage that was done. An asteroid had collided with the fuel tank, and the fuel was quickly escaping. There was no means to stop the rushing flow – soon it would all be lost.

  As the crew stood there, looking on in silent shock, they felt the despair of what had happened. They were stranded in an unknown region of space. No one else knew where they were; no one else knew that they needed rescued. No other missions had been sent to that region. They were so distant from the settled systems of the galaxy that even their distress signals would be ineffective. They were alone in a remote solar system, far from help.

  The crew knew that they could not last long. The starship’s supplies - the food, water, and even oxygen - were limited. The asteroid had sealed their fate: they would die there. They could see no way of escape. As the six of them looked at each other, they knew the end had come.