Captain Valance went back to Stephanie, she had been shot one in the throat and several times down the torso. The punctures were small, but there was a lot of bleeding before he had managed to put her into emergency stasis. He extended his left hand and took a medical reading. “She won't last more than a couple hours like this. Frost, check those rifles and see what they fire.”
He ran over and picked up one of the fallen soldiers rifles. “Looks like they use a kind of needle ammo.” he checked the clip and opened a small servicing compartment. “The shots are razor thin and low velocity.”
“So the needles are probably twisted up inside,” Jake concluded. “We have to get her down to medical.” He looked to Ashley, who was hanging on his every word while holding Stephanie's hand. “Can you make sure we don't veer off course and check our power levels?”
She just looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears.
He stroked her cheek, wiping some of the wetness away. “Ashley, you need to pilot the ship. We can't help her if we end up smashing into a moon.”
“O-okay.” She nodded as she put Stephanie's hand down carefully at her side. Ashley wiped her tears as she sat down at the helm beside her navigator, who was shaky at best.
“Medical.”
“Yes Captain?” Replied Grace.
“Can you spare a stretcher and two trained people to get Stephanie to the nearest stasis pod?”
“I'll go up now with my best. You're only one express car ride away. What's her condition?”
“She was shot with some kind of needle rounds. There are no exit wounds. I put her in emergency stasis. Sending you the scan results now.”
There was silence for a moment as Grace reviewed the results. “She's full of micro shrapnel. You saved her life Captain. Don't know if I can patch her up but I might be able to put her in deep stasis so she'll keep until we can get real doctors aboard.” He could hear her getting ready in the background.
“That's what I was hoping.”
“Sir, a transit vessel is trying to dock with us. I can't raise them on comms.” Cynthia said as she sat back down at her station. She was rattled, had taken refuge under her station during the firefight but was making a quick recovery.
“I see them. They're locking on to a mooring point,” Ashley confirmed.
“Get us away from them. We aren't in a position to help.” Ordered Captain Valance.
“I'll try, but main engines are offline, I can't force a restart. I'm down to thrusters.”
“Do your best. What's going on in engineering?”
Liam shook his head. “We had two power plants running until just a minute ago. Someone's down there shutting things off. We're already on emergency power.”
“How much time do we have left at our consumption rate?”
“About three and a half hours, then everything powers down. I can't do anything from here, someone's disconnected the main lines.”
Captain Valance scanned one of the guards who were shot during the firefight and shook his head as his readings confirmed complete brain death. “We have to get control of something, let's start there. Frost, make internal sensors your priority. I want to see what's going on.”
“Aye sir,” Frost brought up the holographic overlay that explained all the internal security station controls as his hand moved over them to help him work faster. “Can't believe Wheeler never trained anyone for this. Someone with a wee bit o' know how would be a saviour right about now.” He muttered to himself as he changed the bridge's main holodisplay to a cross section of the ship and brought up another image detailing several of the engineering compartments. The live feeds showed several soldiers working at one of the main power plants.
“Liam, can you do anything to stop them or give us more power from here, anything at all?”
“This ship's hull is one big solar and gravity reactor.”
“Gravity reactor? I didn't see any arms out there.”
“The hull responds to pressures and shifts in the gravity influencing it and generates power. We could redirect some of that power to the command and life support systems.”
“All right, that's a great place to start.”
“I can't do it all from here, I'll have to go down three decks, almost right below us.”
“Check that route Frost.” Captain Valance ordered.
He turned and focused in on the route Liam had highlighted and didn't see anyone stationed there. “Clear, don't know for how long though.”
“Ramirez, where are you?” The Captain asked through his communicator. He waited several long moments but got no response. “Can you find them anywhere?” He asked Frost.
He floundered at the controls for a moment, looking for something then his eyebrows raised and he said; “Ah! There you are, little bugger.” to himself. Several button presses later he focused in on a dozen people huddled next to the outer hull above the main doors to hangar two. “There's most of them, all sealed up in their suits enjoyin' the view.”
“Now how did that happen?” Captain Valance asked as he looked at the image on the main holographic projector. “Cynthia, open a line to Price's private comm.”
“Aye sir,” Cynthia replied, turning back to her station.
“In the meantime, how are we for avoiding that transit ship?” Captain Valance asked Ashley.
“Not very well, they're keeping up with us fine, the only problem they're having is docking. If I stop manoeuvring they'll lock with us for sure. They nearly collided with us on a couple tries.” She was doing much better than just minutes ago. Having something to work at was keeping her mind off her best friend's condition.
“Okay, can you lock them out if they dock, Frost?”
He looked over the control panel again then turned a holographic representation of the ship until he could see the mooring point they were aiming for and selected it. “Aye, I can.”
“Good, stop manoeuvring Ash, watch the bigger picture, make sure we're not headed for a bigger collision or worse trouble. Frost, lock 'em out.”
“Aye sir.”
“I have Agameg Price on the line for you sir,” Cynthia reported. “Sounds like he's glad to hear from you.”
“Price, what are you doing outside the ship?” Asked Captain Valance.
“Four of the emergency shuttles were filled with Aucharian soldiers. They began firing on us right away and caught Ramirez and most of his team by surprise. I decided we should retreat. I would have told you but our comms were jammed.”
“We need to regroup in the command section. Can your people get to the bridge?” Captain Valance walked over to the secondary holographic display where an exterior view of the ship was being shown, it was as tall as he was. He looked at it carefully, turning the image with his hand so he was looking at the command section of the ship.
“We can if we go from the outside.”
“Fantastic, make your way almost to the observation room. Just beneath it you'll find an emergency airlock. We'll let you in there.”
“Excellent, we'll see you in a minute sir.”
Liam opened a compartment under the engineering station and found a tool kit. “I'm glad whoever had this ship before didn't pillage all the supplies,” he commented as he walked to the front of the bridge and knelt down.
“What are you doing?” Captain Valance asked quietly.
“I'm looking for the latch that'll open this hidden access panel. There's an entire flight control room beneath us according to the schematics in the computer, the access point to external power generation is there. If we're going to reroute power I'd best get to it sooner rather than later.”
“We'll wait for Price and the rest of the security team. I'd rather be safe than sorry.”
“Well, then we may as well open things up for them,” Liam insisted calmly as he opened the hidden panel and pressed a few buttons. Meter wide sections of the floor turned transparent in a radial pattern underfoot and lights came on below. There was what looked like an enti
rely different kind of bridge just beneath their feet. Ramps lowered on either side of the bridge for people to move back and forth between.
The holographic projectors and stations turned on, each showing different tactical grids of the area. Stations were set up with high stools, all made to command groups of starfighters, gunships and larger vessels.
“This is a carrier Captain, and as soon as we get things running right I'm sure you'll do something incredible with her. That's why I want to help you get her back in shape,” Liam said with a smile. “That is, after you've taken it back.”
The Fastest Indirect Route
“Soldiers, bloody everywhere we turn more soldiers,” Grace grumbled as she peeked around a corner to find the last hallway between her and the bridge guarded. “This is the only way to the bridge now that they managed to lock down the primary express cars.”
“Unless we go outside,” Gary, one of the volunteer nurses commented. He had triage training, which was better than most, and had arrived on the starliner.
“Well, two of us are in vacsuits.” Fiona whispered with a shrug. “If we can find one for you we could actually go around.”
Gary looked to her wide eyed. “You're serious?”
“Yup, why not? Probably almost as fast.”
“She's right. It's not like we're armed or trained for a direct firefight. Going around makes sense,” Grace agreed. She walked quietly back down the hallway to a meter wide space between doors. “Show me the emergency escape equipment and facilities in this hallway.” She whispered to the computer. She didn't know for certain if it would work, but since she was able to ask for directions effectively before, who knew what else the ship could do?
A meter wide section of the wall behind her became transparent and revealed four flimsy looking white vacsuits and a hatch leading into a tiny escape shuttle. “Does anyone know how to fly that?” Grace asked.
“I flunked my leisure pilot's test four times, but I could.” Fiona said with a shrug.
“I've got my certification for mid and small sized interplanetary craft. Don't like those vacsuits though, they look more like a bunch of bags glued together.”
“Well, hurry up and get in one,” Grace whispered harshly. “We're going for a very short ride.” She opened the hatch and passed him a vacsuit. “Captain,” she addressed through her communicator. “We have a problem but I've found a solution. We're going to take an emergency shuttle to go around the guards between us and the bridge. How is Stephanie doing?”
“Not so well, she might have another hour,” The Captain replied quietly. She could tell he was trying to keep his response from the rest of the crew.
“We'll try to be there quickly. There might be something in the emergency shuttle we can use to stabilize her. Put her in a deeper state of stasis. I can't see us getting her back to medical unless we use brute force.”
“Understood. Hurry but be careful.”
“Aye sir.” Grace followed Gary and Fiona into the escape shuttle and closed the small hatch behind her. The little ship was made for four, and was hidden behind two thick layers of hull plating.
Gary took a moment to look at the controls and the series of manual buttons and switches. Everything was fairly well labelled, but Grace knew she was probably the worst pilot out of all three of them, so she let him get his bearings and concentrated on keeping a watch on the hatch behind them instead of trying to assist, making sure the guards didn't hear something and decide to investigate.
“Everything okay?” Fiona asked.
“I'm fine,” Gary replied hastily. “I just don't think there's a way to get this thing going without making a lot of noise.”
“I don't think we're worried about that.”
“What about fighters? If there are any out there they can just pick us off.”
“I don't think we're worried about that either,” Fiona said, shaking her head impatiently.
“Did the Captain say if there were fighters or anything out there?” Gary asked Grace.
“He would have told us.”
“Ask him anyway? Just to be sure?”
Grace sighed; “Sure, just get us ready. Captain, are there any fighters or hostiles out there?”
“No, nothing offensive on tactical.”
“Thank you sir.” Grace cut the channel and nodded at Gary. “Okay, let's get this thing going.”
“He's sure? It didn't sound like he took time to check.”
Grace smacked him in the back of the head with a flick of her wrist. “Get us flying or I'll give it a try!”
Gary turned to the controls and pressed the launch initiation button. “It's going to be loud.”
The first section of armoured hull in front of the shuttle split in the middle and drew to the side while the outer layer flipped outward, opening and clanging against the outer hull above it. The four meter thick hardened metal plate's impact made the whole section of the ship vibrate. After three seconds the rear shuttle thrusters fired and they were shot out of its storage compartment. The power came on as Gary started decelerating.
The sound of the forward thrusters firing was deafening as Gary struggled to slow the ship down so they could turn around and head to the command section of the Triton.
Fiona looked to Grace, grinning from ear to ear. “We'll have to do this some time when it isn't an emergency!”
Grace didn't agree, the slow rotation of the shuttle was making everything outside spin and she could feel the last emergency ration she ate threaten to make a reappearance. “You know, after being out in space for a while you'd think you wouldn't want to sick up so often.”
Fiona's grin lessened a little. “I didn't realize how small this shuttle was until just now.”
“Don't throw up back there, it'll get everywhere in zero gravity.” Gary said over his shoulder. A moment later he flipped the shuttle end over end to face the Triton.
The stars, the wreckage around them and the distant planet moved past the window with blurring speed. To her relief, Grace caught sight of a sick bag just in time and snatched it from the dispenser. Well, she hoped it was a sick bag. Fiona cringed at the sight and sound of her throwing up.
Grace finished before long and dug into her side pocket for a mini injector. She pressed it to her neck and sighed. “Okay, no more of that now. I should have medicated before getting into the shuttle.”
Fiona handed her a napkin. “You've planned everything else and come up with more solutions than I can track today. I think we can overlook this little screw up.”
“Only if you seal that sick bag properly,” Gary muttered over his shoulder.
“Don't worry, it's sealed and in the bin. Good thing I didn't close my vacsuit yet.”
“Doesn't it have waste management built in?”
“It does, but its cleaning systems really only keep your eyes, nose and mouth clear. Regent Galactic didn't exactly splurge on us.”
“You work for Regent Galactic?” Gary asked.
“I did until Captain Valance took over and hired us on with him. I'm a regular rebel now.”
“Good to have you with us. I worked for them for a year, worst year of my life.”
“What did you do?” Asked Fiona. The Triton was looming larger in the front window.
“Sanitation and recycling systems on a deep space mining station. There were only sixty-one people aboard, but man could they make a mess.”
“You were a janitor?”
“I was a janitor in command of a dozen cleaning bots. The only janitor, actually.”
“Wow, that sounds important,” Fiona replied, rolling her eyes.
“No insulting the pilot during docking operations,” Gary grumbled as he rotated the shuttle and turned it around so it faced an airlock just to the right of the bridge. “Did you guys see the boarders climbing along the hull? You might want to let the Captain know about that.” He said as he lined the shuttle up so he could back in.
“I didn't see it.”
&nbs
p; “There were a dozen of them, looked armed.”
“Good eye.” Grace said as she opened a channel to the bridge. “Captain, we have a dozen or so boarders space walking towards the bridge. They're headed to an emergency airlock right below our mooring point.”
“They're ours. They're waiting until you dock then they'll be joining us on the bridge.” Cynthia replied.
“Good to know,” Grace said as she sealed the head piece to her vacsuit, tucking her shoulder length black hair into it.
Fiona followed suit. “Looks like we weren't the first to have this idea.”
“What worries me is the fact that they were armed, what could be in their way that they couldn't fight through?” Gary said as the shuttle made contact with the ship and bounced away gently. “Crap. One more try and I'll get it.”
“Do you want me to try?” Fiona asked.
“Shhh. Sane people are driving.”
“Hey! I'm uncoordinated, not crazy.”
“Anyone who takes the test and fails four times has got to be a little loopy.” Gary said as he lined the shuttle up carefully.
“Okay, we have to get focused on what we're here to do. The First Officer needs to be put in stasis of some kind or we have to use nanotechnology to get her stabilized. I don't see any stasis systems in here.” Grace said, looking around the small shuttle.
“You're right. Extended life support and a sustenance materializer, but that's about it.”
“Take the emergency medical kit under your seat. Every little bit helps.”
The shuttle made contact again. This time there were a satisfying series of clicks as it sealed perfectly with the station. Its rear door popped open and they stepped out onto the flight command deck. Grace rushed up the ramp to the main bridge and knelt down beside Stephanie. “You didn't move her?”
“Not a millimetre,” Answered Jake.
“Good, there's a lot of damage.”
Fiona and Gary set up a stretcher on the other side while Grace took a detailed scan of Stephanie and shook her head. “I'm out of choices here. If we were in main medical deep stasis might be an option, but even then.”
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3 Page 6