The ship was attacked, but it was still able to fly.  In the aftermath of the battle, a few survivors search for the core of the ship.  Deep they descend to the depths of the ship until they come across her, the core.  An android with human capabilities and emotions, she watched over the crew with a fondness and motherlike sense. 

When the survivors walked into her room, they stopped short.  The core lay in her chair, eyes closed.  Attached to her limbs were cords and wires that connected the ships systems to her.  She had been connected during the battle, which did not bode well for the crew or her.

A teenaged girl ran forward, concerned about the core.  Living in the ship the majority of her life, the core had become a mother figure to her.  The core even allowed the girl to address her as a daughter would address a mother.

"Mother!" she yelled as she approached the core.  "Oh god!"  She lightly touched the core's face with her hand.  Her eyes opened and they focused on the girl.

"Oh," came a raspy whisper.  "It's you."

The girl's words were caught in her throat before she swallowed them.  Tears formed in her eyes, but she wiped them away. 

"I'll disconnect you," she muttered.  She ran to the computer console at the base of the chair.  Turning on the system, she was about to start the disconnection when an error appeared on the screen.

"You can't," the core said.  "Because the ship was destroyed in places, I am unable to disconnect.  Even if the error is overridden, I would be unable to move.  Too much has been torn away. . . . It hurts so much."

"Mother. . . ."

The other survivors stepped forward; their leader only an ensign.  Other survivors included a mechanic, a kitchen worker, and some other passengers.  One was a doctor, another a physician.  The ship was one of the transport ships to a colony in an unexplored galaxy.  They would have to send a message saying that they won't be able to make it to the colony in time.  In reality, they may never make it.

"What can we do?" the ensign asked.  "There's no where to go, nothing we can do to help you."

The core looked to the ensign.  "You cannot help me, but I can still help you.  Some of the bridge systems are still working.  We still have our back-up weapons systems I can restore.  There are the navigation systems, the communications systems, radar, sonar.  If anything, we cannot move.  But we are still drifting from inertia.  Our food supplies are still good, but for how long?  You have always been resourceful; use what you have."

The ensign looked at his feet, almost ashamed he can't help the core.  She's helped them so much, he felt it was their turn to help her.  But the tables were turned.  She's still helping them out.  When will they be able to return her help?

The answer would have to wait.  For now, their concern would be their adventure drifting through the dimensions of space.