I'd rather read a captivating and action-packed sci-fi than write it! This is one genre that is fun to read but writing takes a lot of imagination and research. In response to Hive Book Club Community Contest #12: Lost in Translation Vocabulary Challenge, I decided to take up the challenge of translating some technical words in 
My native language is Yoruba, one of the major languages in West Africa. It's a rich language and translating can be tricky so I used the Languik translator. Here are the ten words from the story:
Deteriorating — Ti n bajẹ
Glass pods — Awọn apoti gilasi
Embryonic — ọmọ inu oyun
Vat — Apoti
Techniques — Awọn ilana
Animation — Idaraya
Longevity — Aye gigun
Microgravity — Untranslatable
Eternity — Ayeraye
Curiosity — Iwariiri
A line in Litguru's story inspired my story. I hope you enjoy reading it.
"The human body cannot last a long journey without deteriorating…." Ray, the med-droid, launched into an exhaustive diagnosis, its silicon-based, oval-shaped head slightly tilted to a side as it examined one of the glass pods. A blue laser beam from its left eye scanned the pod before resting, pinpointed on the temple area of the body inside.
Chris Mitchell, aka C. Mitchell, stopped listening after the word 'deteriorating', her mind going into overdrive. NASA commissioned her crew to search for a distant galaxy, Neo-K10, that five years' worth of intense research assured them existed.
They were seven on board the spacecraft. C. Mitchell led with two medical doctors and four astronauts.
The search that was going on for over two Earth years without success was beginning to take a toll on C. Mitchell's crew. The mission was for eighteen months. It was extended when they almost collided with a Martian in an embryonic state and housed in a vat.
The almost collusion affected the navigational system leading the crew into a space-time rift. Their perception of time changed unknowingly. Thanks to Ray and its fellow med-droid, Zax, C. Mitchell realised they had been in space beyond the commissioned time, a tactful way of saying they were lost in space.
Using advanced astronomical techniques, she discovered they were closer to reaching the galaxy. The crew, with NASA's backing, agreed to complete the mission. They had resources to last them another year.
Sadly, their bodies could not. Their hearts were on the verge of failing.
C. Mitchell put her colleague, Manny, and three astronauts into a state of suspended animation after giving them an intravenous infusion of her longevity drug to combat the effect of microgravity.
"Well? Any improvements?" C. Mitchell snapped at her med-droid.
Ray paused for a second, its neck rotating its head to face its creator. "None, C. Mitchell. Sanders has more neuro-simulations than Joan and Russ. His brain activity is higher. I advise caution—"
"Will you up the dosage?" Kojima, the Martian, asked, strolling into the lab.
C. Mitchell sized him up with a frown. Russ and Joan were the ones who suggested they save him. They brought in his space vat and deactivated the lock. His features, especially his butterscotch skin tone and translucent oval-shaped eyes, shocked them all.
Manny named him Kojima and within a month, the Martian grew tall and his cells registered as equivalent to a grown human adult of twenty-one years. But his intelligence was sharper and almost superior to theirs. This scared C. Mitchell.
Kojima was particularly intrigued by C. Mitchell while the good doctor second-guessed the Martian's intentions due to ego.
"No! Under no circumstances must we up the dosage. Why would you suggest that?" C. Mitchell glared at Kojima.
The Martian shrugged, seeing that was what the humans did when they were being evasive. "Curiosity?"
C. Mitchell's frown deepened. "I gave them the right dosage. Let's hope their systems adapt to the drugs and they wake up soon. We are approaching the stellar disk faster than I envisaged. Zax, update?"
Kojima nodded and went to stand beside Ray as the med-droid continued its examination of the bodies in the glass pods. C. Mitchell glanced at them briefly, noting the way Kojima waved his three-fingered hand at the buttons on the pod, like he was giving her med-droid directions. She shook her head and walked up to Zax peering attentively at the navigations.
All it took was a few minutes…
The alarms inside the glass pods began blaring as red lights blinked.
"What the hell was that? What did you do?" C. Mitchell yelled, rushing to Ray's side. Kojima stepped back. Her med-droid was focused on the touchscreen controls of the pod, pressing buttons at a fast rate. "Ray!"
The med-droid stopped, tilting its head to face her. "You said once that when humans are in a state of unbearable pain, it's better to help them. Your colleagues were in pain so I euthanized them and released them into eternity."
C. Mitchell paled in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. An unexpected sharp prick on her neck sent her crashing into Ray. The med-droid grabbed her arms and held her steady on her feet as the drug began to take effect.
C. Mitchell shifted her gaze to Kojima who suddenly appeared beside Ray. The Martian's straight face gave away nothing but his eyes…she knew. Poison. She let her ego blind her to the enemy in front of her.
His translucent eyes turned dark.
"We, Martians, have been after Neo-K10 for decades which is centuries in Earth's timing. Then we got wind that your satellites had picked up the location of the galaxy. It should have been us! We want Neo-K10 for our people. You humans would merely destroy it like you do everything else. You don't deserve the galaxy so my government sent me. We have studied your kind and I assured them that your soft heart is the way. I was turned into an embryo and released into space. You are a brilliant doctor and would have been of good use to my race but I can't risk it. I must take control of your spacecraft."
Every word out of Kojima's mouth was like arrows piercing every inch of her skin. C. Mitchell groaned as Ray let her go. She crumpled to the ground, her heartbeat slowing down.
"In the next two minutes, you'll be dead just like your colleagues. Your deaths have served a great purpose. Thank you," Kojima said, touching his three fingers to his forehead in a salute.
C. Mitchell groaned, taking deep breaths as her brain felt like it would explode out of her skull. Then she remembered.
No one else knew about the SD except her and Russ. It was a fail-safe in the event alien enemies took over their spacecraft and attempted to invade Earth.
She crawled and crawled. Kojima and her med-droids were busy with the navigations, altering the system to suit their mission.
C. Mitchell was gasping loudly, her eyes red and tears streaming from them when she reached a corner of the lab. She stretched with her last strength and barely pushed a tiny red button hidden beside a floor vent.
Another blaring and harsh red light blinked inside the lab. Kojima froze in shock. Then a computerized voice announced, "NASA SP-170 self-destructing beyond recall in fifteen seconds. 15…14…13….12…"
C. Mitchell closed her eyes with a smile.
The End.
