An unexpected arrival Part 8

As the Event Horizon slipped back into the undulating grotesquerie of the Hellverse, crew members held their breath, their bodies gripped by a mix of anticipation and terror. Captain Miller could feel the weight of their collective fates on his shoulders.

"Steady as she goes, helm," he ordered.

"Ey, sir," Lieutenant Smith replied.

Inside the dimensional gateway, reality twisted and contorted, distorting the very fabric of space. Miller and the crew felt a disorienting sensation as the ship traversed the threshold between dimensions. The cries of tortured souls reverberated across the hull, pleading for help but also threatening unspeakable horrors.

"Captain!" Kilpack said nervously, his hands trembling on the railing he was clutching.

"This isn't the Event Horizon. It's the dimension itself. She's actually holding it at bay," Miller said.

Somewhere, someone shrieked at the top of their lungs.

"You stow that, Peters! You are stronger than that. I know you are!" he ordered

She fell to her knees and clutched her face, sobbing.

"Not that it hasn't been a fucking slice of heaven, Captain. But we're about to come out the other side," Smith announced.

DIMENSIONAL GATEWAY READY

Maggots crawled out from the edges of the screen and blood dripped down in long threads onto the deck. Out of the corner of his eye, Miller saw a dark figure taking shape.

"Captain, you're home. Do you really think she'll let you leave again?" Weir's voice came to him.

"It seems you've learned nothing over the past hundred years, Doctor. She isn't your ship anymore. She's mine!" Miller said and turned to face the figure.

And just like that, it was gone. So too were the sounds from outside the hull.

"That's it, we're past the event horizon. We're back in normal space," Smith declared.

"You did it... you actually did it," Lt. Commander D.J. said, clasping him on the shoulder.

The crew released a collective sigh of relief, their tension giving way to a mixture of awe and trepidation. Some ran to Lieutenant Peters' aid. Others burst into tears themselves. Still others just remained impassively at their station- momentarily devoid of emotion, it having all been spent during their brief return to the hell dimension.

As for Miller himself, he released his grip on the gateway control lever, his hand trembling slightly. He looked around at his crew, many of whom were looking expectantly back at him by now. Their expression were a mix of exhaustion and wonder.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this was just our first step. There will be more to come, I'm sure. But for now, pat yourselves on the back. We've done it," he said.

The crew members nodded. Some even did pat eachother on the back. With that, Miller went to his sobbing crewmate.

"Peters, you good?" he asked, offering her a hand.

"I... I will be," she said, accepting his offer.

"Good. Now let's go see where we've found ourselves."