Star Man 1: Star Bourne

by I. G. Roberts

  The medical staff began by putting all of them all on intravenous fluids for re-hydration, to help with nourishment and also to help them to sleep. A few of them were clearly frightened but they were reassured that they were safe now and they didn’t put up any kind of fight. While they slept, we had some of our other prisoners bought in, hoping to identify our new ‘guests’ and point out who the ones were who might be likely cause us trouble. As it turned out only three of them were hard core pirates. We moved those three to the brig to deal with later. For the rest, I left four Troopers in the medical bay to protect the staff when they woke up. From what our older prisoners were able to tell me, there were about thirty of the hard core pirates left on-board their ship when they were first sent to their shuttles. We really had no idea how many were killed during the battle but hoped at least some might have been, and a few more when their life pods were too close to an exploding mine. Really, I hoped we wouldn’t find any of the bad ones on the pirate ship when we finally boarded her.

  I then called the rest of the Troopers together to start planning a boarding operation for the pirate ship. I appointed Ani and Shasi as the two squad leaders for the operation then asked Sarolin to come down to assist in the planning phase. I stayed and listened as the planning session continued but did not have much to add other than to ask a few questions for clarification on a couple of points as the others proceeded. I wanted to understand their plan to the greatest extent possible so I could follow them through the operation and give them any support they may need. The planning session continued for over three hours before it was completed but by then, the group had gone over as many different scenarios as they could think of. The only real input I had was when I decided we needed to give everyone time to organise themselves and to have both food and sleep before launching the operation. Because of this requirement, I set the launch time for the operation, for the next ships morning as soon after shift change as we could manage. I did not want any mistakes resulting from fatigue. After that decision was made, we all broke up to go prepare for the next day’s activities.

  As much as I wanted to, I knew I could not participate in the boarding action the next day because I was needed here and did not have the necessary skills anyway. Really, I had not even had adequate training for working in vacuum. I already knew how much the crew hated it when I insisted on going into the evacuated zones on FNS Destiny so I could inspect the progress of the repairs. I also knew I’d already proven myself to this crew, they already knew I would stand beside them when the need arose. This job was one I knew I had to leave to the professionals. As it turned out, even many of our prisoners wanted to keep me safe though at the time, I honestly couldn’t understand why. I knew the crew did not need me to continue throwing myself into harm’s way, they needed me to be able to lead them home. I also knew I could not afford to risk myself simply because I was the only healthy leader the crew had left. There would have been some very strong objections from the crew if I did try to go. Really, I would have been outrageously selfish to insist on going and I knew it. When my intention to remain on FNS Destiny became clear to the others, I could almost feel a palpable sense of relief. After the meeting came to an end, I decided to go to the bridge so I could keep an eye on things there for a while.

  On the way to the bridge, I tried to think about all the options we had available to make sure the ship remained secure while most of the Troopers were over at the pirate ship. I knew we absolutely could not afford to lose FNS Destiny to the pirates at this stage, not when we’d come so far, not when we were this close to finally making our run to a friendly port and not after we’d just repaired her enough for her to once again be operational. The only viable options I could think of were either to arm enough crew to keep our prisoners in line or to lock them up till the Troopers were back from the boarding mission and ready to take up their security duties again. I worried that if the prisoners were kept locked up, they would have time to become bored and start thinking and scheming of ways to escape. On the other hand, if I allowed them to be out in the ship, even with armed guards we ran the risk that they could start something that might rapidly spiral out of control. At the same time, we would be a little vulnerable with the Troopers somewhere else. I couldn’t really ask Shasi or Ani for input because they were already busy getting themselves ready for their upcoming mission. The last thing they needed was for me to be distracting them with my concerns just then. I stopped by the medical bay on the way to the bridge to talk to Eri. I found her in her office and knocked on the door before entering. She smiled as I entered then asked me what she could do for me.

  I asked, “Would we be able to send the prisoners who are being cared for here in the medical bay to the detention area to be looked after by the other prisoners, or at least some of the prisoners with some medical skills?” Before she could answer, I continued, “I must confess, I am a little concerned about our security while most of our Troopers are away.”

  “Yes”, she said, “I can see why you are concerned. Yes, we could do that. Some of the prisoners have enough medical experience to look after them and they will need a little help from a few of the others. It will probably be better for them to wake up there, among people they know anyway.”

  “Good”, I replied, “with so many of the Troopers being away tomorrow, I want to limit the number of prisoners who are roaming the ship as much as possible. At the same time, I don’t want to tell the prisoners what we are planning to do beforehand because I don’t want to give them any more time than necessary for planning a way to take advantage of the situation. This way, I can release the four Troopers we planned to use for medical bay security to carry out general shipboard security duties instead. You should not have any prisoners in here at all.” Then I asked out of curiosity, “Have we had any cases at all of self-harm among the prisoners?”

  “No”, she said, “we have had a few minor injuries but none I thought were deliberate. A couple of them have some older scars I think may have been caused by self-harm but they won’t tell me how they came by those particular injuries. I suspect those scars are either the result of the treatment they received on the pirate ship or they were trying to escape their lives while they were there.”

  “In fact”, she continued, “if I didn’t know differently, I could almost think these people were normal crew members on this ship. They almost seem happy to be our captives, in fact, I think they almost feel as if they are part of the crew.”

  “Yes, I noticed that as well. I think we are probably treating them quite a bit better than their old masters ever did. All of the ones we have been allowing to assist with repairing the ship, and even with some of the less savoury tasks were little more than slaves on their last ship, cannon fodder to soak up bullets and die so their masters could capture undefended traders and such. We don’t even relegate all the nasty tasks to them, they just get their fair share and they know it.”

  I sat thinking for a few seconds then continued, “From what I have been told about Federation justice, assuming people have not been lying to me, or perhaps just misinformed, many of our prisoners will have perhaps a few difficult months when we first arrive back in Federation space then are likely to go into a rehabilitation program so they can eventually be reintegrated into normal society. That is of course, assuming we have judged them correctly. For some of them, they may even be able to go home relatively quickly. Don’t tell them what we are planning to do though. I think we should transfer their shipmates at the beginning of first shift tomorrow morning, right after they’ve all eaten. You are crowded enough in here to justify the transfer so I think as long as these ones can safely be transferred then everything should be OK. Have some instructions and suitable supplies available for them so you and your people don’t need to go in there to help till after we have our Troopers back. I don’t know what we will be finding when we board that ship but if anyone is alive, I expect at least some of them are likely to be your guests for a while when we
bring them back.”

  Eri agreed with my assessment then told me she would have everything ready for the transfer in the morning. After my conversation with Eri was finished, I continued on till I arrived at the bridge. When I arrived there, I asked the sensor operators to explain the capability of the ships sensors to me. Specifically, I needed to know what, if anything they could tell us about the number of people who were alive aboard the pirate vessel. As it turned out they were able to tell me they were detecting life signs consistent with about twenty people still on-board. They told me that as far as they could tell, the life signs all appeared to be concentrated in the ships core just forward of main engineering. They also told me they hadn’t been able to detect very much movement since we came close enough to obtain a clearer picture. I told the sensor operators to make sure they kept an eye on the rest of the system as well and to let me know immediately if anything changed. The last thing we needed, or could afford right then was to have a hostile ship sneaking up on us when we were not paying attention. I relayed the information about the expected number of people on the other ship as well as their approximate location to the Troopers so they would have some idea of what they might be up against when they boarded her the next day. After I told the Troopers about the number of people detected on the pirate ship I started taking reports from all the other departments.

  The engines were still operating within the expected nominal parameters, which was good. By then, we’d basically bought FNS Destiny to a halt near the jump point so even though the engines were still operating, it was at zero thrust. The energy being consumed was effectively just enough to keep them at operating temperature and to keep us in our chosen position relative to the star and the jump point. By this time, repairs to the ship had slowed down significantly due to a shortage of both materials for the fabricators and many of the other spare parts we needed. Much of the work the crew were undertaking now was looking at the available materials and parts to see what could be salvaged or recycled. I decided to talk to engineering to see if we might be able to salvage anything from the pirate ship once we’d secured her.

  While we still had adequate food to last a little longer, we could not afford to stay in this system for long. By this point, with the people we’d picked up on Zafar and our prisoners, we had quite a few more people on board than were intended for this part of FNS Destiny’s cruise. By then, we were beginning to have some minor issues with the atmosphere recycling equipment due to lack of spare parts, bought about mostly by the additional load being placed on it and the fact that FNS Destiny was now several weeks overdue at her home port. Deep space explorer vessels usually undertake journeys significantly longer, and with fewer stops at places where repairs could be made than the Cruisers their hulls were based on. We’d also lost quite a lot of air when the hull was breached during the two ship to ship battles.

  At the end of the shift, I decided to go and eat, followed by a trip to the squad bay to make sure the Troopers were all ready and had everything they needed. When I arrived there they were running through some practice drills in preparation of the next day’s activities. Once the current exercise was completed, Ani and Shasi called them together so I could talk to them. I told them I wanted them all back healthy and well. After my conversation with the Troopers, I felt satisfied they would be ready for the next morning. I came to the conclusion the prisoner transfer would be the most critical time when any issues were likely to crop up so while I was speaking to the Troopers, I also arranged for them to assist with the prisoner transfer before they left on their mission in the morning. After making these final arrangements, I went to my quarters for some much needed sleep. I wanted to be up early to make sure everything went well the next day.

  Next morning, I woke naturally about an hour before I really needed to. I rose, cleaned myself up, then dressed and went to the mess. When I arrived there, I found Eri was already eating. I sat with her after I’d collected my own food so we could chat because I always enjoyed our conversations as well as learning so much from her. As we ate, we discussed how the ship was going, how her patients were progressing and a number of other subjects as the conversation followed its natural path. I was pleased to hear that most of the remaining inmates in the medical bay would be discharged to complete their recuperation in more comfortable surroundings within the next day or two. This would make room for the people we hoped to bring back from the pirate ship. In all honesty, I still had some very real concerns for the well being of our medical staff because they’d been run off their feet for so long I felt they needed a break soon or they would collapse from exhaustion.

  Among other things, I told her a little more about my life back on Earth before I was picked up by FNS Destiny. By the time we finished eating, it was time to make preparations for the transfer. I contacted Ani to see if her Troopers were ready. She told me they were and said she would meet me at the prisoner’s quarters. Eri left for the medical bay to make the necessary final preparations, while I headed down towards the prisoner’s quarters to start the process for the transfer. By then, the prisoners had been given their food and were preparing for their day’s work. As soon as I arrived, the Troopers opened the prisoner’s bulkhead doors ready for what was to come. I entered the holding area as all of the prisoners finished lining up ready for the day. As I walked in I noticed them looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and concern. I stood in front of them to tell them what was happening.

  “Today, we will transfer those prisoners who are currently in the medical bay, and who have been identified by you as not being career pirates into this area. As far as we are able, we will provide you with adequate medical supplies and food for the additional people in here. Our medical technicians tell me you will need around five or six people to look after them in the short term till they are able to look after themselves. We expect they will be mostly well enough to look after themselves within a few days so those of you who are helping them here will be able to go back to your current tasking after that.

  We are doing this because we need to relieve the workload on our medical staff. They have been working extremely hard and without let up for longer than anyone else on this ship. It is time for us to give them a break. All of you have behaved well since you came into our custody. You have helped us to make FNS Destiny into a functional ship once again. You have taken on all of the tasking we have set for you without complaint and have clearly carried it out to the best of your ability. I thank you for that. You are likely to notice a lot of movement and changes around the ship over the next day or so”, I said, “Be warned, I will not tolerate any attempt to cause trouble. We need to leave this system as soon as we can, we have been here far too long already so I do not want any unnecessary delays.”

  The prisoners looked quite stunned at this news. A few of them muttered among themselves then one of them attracted my attention, clearly wanting to tell me something.

  He said, “You will have no problems with anyone here Sir. Since you captured us, you have always treated us fairly, far better than our last masters ever did. If you do have trouble with anyone, bring them to me. I promise, I will teach them the error of their ways and not to wreck any chances the rest of us might have to go home soon. I do not want any unnecessary deaths, not now, not when many of our number have a chance to start a life of genuine freedom in the not too distant future. None of us has the right to jeopardise that opportunity for the rest.”

  In reply to this statement I said, “If someone does start trouble, anyone in the work party who does not wish to be a part of it should immediately lay face down on the deck with your hands behind your back.” I paused to let them process that piece of information then continued, “Those who do this will not be punished nor will their record with us be blackened.”

  I noticed a few nodding heads at this. I think they could see I was trying to be firm but fair with them. I then asked for volunteers to help bring their shipmates back from the medical bay. In the end,
I needed to turn a few of the volunteers down as nearly all of them were willing to volunteer for this duty. Some of the Troopers escorted our volunteers up to the medical bay. A while later, they all returned with their people. I watched as they set up an infirmary in one corner of the compartment for their shipmates then sorted themselves out, deciding who should stay to care for the sick and injured, and who should go to work out in the ship. I overheard them decide that the only ones who would need to stay here over the entire time in the next few days were the ones with medical training.

  I decided to make sure I would find a way to give these people who were going to be stuck here an opportunity to stretch their legs at least once per day. While all this was going on, the prisoner who’d spoken up earlier approached me. It was clear to me that he was trying to make the approach as non-threatening as he could manage it and the Troopers allowed him to come close enough to speak to me. He thanked me for giving him and the rest of his people an opportunity to redeem themselves and once again promised to make sure his people knew not to cause us any trouble.

  He then told me there’d been some prisoners on the pirate ship he’d been on before he was sent to board FNS Destiny. He told me precisely where we should be able to find them if they were still alive. When I asked him how many there were, he told me he thought there were about eighteen or twenty of them. He told me they were being held in the core, just forward of the main engineering spaces. He also told me he wasn’t certain but he thought all of these people were taken off two separate Federation registered ships they’d captured about a week or two before we entered the system. He said he didn’t know much more than that, other than he overheard one of the pirates comment to another about how much ransom one of the captives would be worth. I thanked him for the information and he went back to the other prisoners. As he walked away, I realised he knew far more about what we were doing than I was really comfortable with. Unfortunately I couldn’t do anything about it other than leave any survivors on the other ship to die and I don’t think any of us were willing to do that.