As Maria's magic 'show' came to an end, Tom stood and stretched. Not that metal is at all stretchy, but it was more for the sake of body language than anything. He was tired. Having cut short his earlier nap in order to get some food, he decided to go back to bed. He began the walk back to the barracks fairly slowly, not wasting too much energy. Come to think of it, he was running low on energy a lot quicker than usual. Perhaps it was something to do with the way Regina had repaired him.
He sighed and trudged along a little farther, and was just turning the corner into the corridor leading to the barracks when he noticed he was feeling a little warmer than usual... wait, not warm. Hot.
Tom ran a few feet up the corridor and realized he was getting colder, so he turned around and headed towards the front of the ship. The heat gained intensity the further he went, and he heard a dull whine ignite in his back as his cooling system kicked in. Something was terribly wrong.
Eventually reaching the cockpit, he was confronted with a blinding light, rendering the entire room invisible. Damn these modern designers and their obsession with chrome. He stumbled towards the driver's seat, and finding no-one in it, shouted to MAK for help.
"MAK! What is going on?"
No answer.
"MAK? Answer! MAK? ... MAK?!"
It was then that the truth of the situation dawned on him. The searing light from the cockpit window, a thought previously pushed to the back of his mind, made itself known again as he squinted through the glass. He was able to shut out just enough light to confirm his suspicions. A blazing white ball appeared in the centre of his vision, no larger than a football held at arm's length.
They were travelling towards a supernova.
This, Tom reasoned, must be the only explanation for the lack of warning or change of course, and the intense radiation from the blast must have shorted out MAK, along with the on-board cooling systems. He was rather surprised he was still functioning himself.
He spun round, looking for some control to turn the ship around. In doing so, he noticed Dedrik, who had succumbed to the heat and passed out on the spot. He ran over and picked up the limp Vasparti, hurriedly carrying him away from the bridge and down the corridor to the elevator, where it was cooler. He wasn't able to remotely send him down to the medical bay, but this would have to do for now.
Running back to the cockpit, he dropped into the pilot's seat.
"Now. Let's see here..."
Tom found the main control joystick and gripped it firmly. There was no time to lose. The ship's hull would be melting any time soon.