by Ryk Brown
Despite the young physician’s best efforts, they had still lost another three members of their crew over the last two days. One of them had not been expected to survive his wounds. But the injuries of the other two had not been that severe. They had succumbed to infections due to the lack of medicine on board, something that never would have happened in a proper hospital.
Nathan had come by to check on Doctor Chen and her patients at least once per day, usually under the guise of having his own wound checked. But she knew better. He was coming to check on his crew. She knew that he still felt guilty for every one of their injuries, and even more so for the ones that had not survived. Admittedly, she had also blamed him at first. But as details of the chain of events that had befallen them became available, she realized that he had done the best he could under unbelievably difficult circumstances. She knew it had not been his fault, as did most of the crew. She also knew that he would continue to blame himself for some time to come.
She was not surprised when Nathan again walked into the main treatment area, stopping by each bed to spend a moment with the members of his crew. She expected that he didn’t really have the spare time to spend visiting patients. Surely he had many other things to attend to that were of higher priority. But perhaps he needed these visits as much, if not more so, than her patients did.
She had seen this type of behavior before. During her internship back on Earth, she had spent time as a volunteer in a field hospital located near a border dispute between two warring tribal nations. Despite the global unity that had come about due to the discovery of the Data Ark, there had still been a few places on Earth where lands were controlled by the tribes that had lived on them for centuries. A group of about fifty soldiers had been overrun by the enemy, and the unit’s commander had also spent considerable time in the treatment wards visiting his wounded soldiers. The look on his face had been similar to the one she now saw on Nathan’s.
She waited at the far end of the room for him to make his rounds, using his visit as an excuse to take a break herself. She sat in the utility room on the far side of the treatment area, watching through the doorway. She had a stash of nuts and dried fruit on which to nibble from time to time. She hadn’t sat down and eaten a proper meal in several days, and sleep had only come in short naps at best.
It took Nathan nearly half an hour to visit everyone in the treatment area. She had no idea if he ever managed to visit the others recuperating in nearby cabins. She simply assumed he had.
“How’s the leg?” she asked as he entered the utility room.
“Pretty much healed, I expect,” he bragged, bouncing slightly on it as if testing its sturdiness. “I’m not limping any more, and it only throbs a bit from time to time.”
“Yeah, it’ll probably do that for a few more days. It’s a side effect of the bone-knitting serum. It’ll pass.”
“What about you? How are you holding up?”
“I’ve been better,” she chuckled. “But I’m managing to snack here and there, and take quick naps. Eventually everyone will stabilize enough that I can get a bit more rest. But until then, I’ll survive.” She took a sip from a bottle of water before continuing. “So how’s it going out there?”
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We’re headed for a world called Haven.”
“That explains the acceleration. You might want to give us more than a few seconds warning next time. It takes us a few minutes to prepare for something like that down here,” she scolded.
Nathan suddenly felt guilty. “Sorry about that. It never occurred to me,” he admitted.
“So why are we going to this place, anyway?”
“We’re using a local contact of Jalea’s to try and get some food and supplies. I was wondering if there was anything in particular you might need.”
“Another doctor would be nice,” she said, only half-joking.
“From the sounds of this place, I doubt that’s possible.”
Doctor Chen shrugged. “Real food would be nice. I’d ask for medicine and such, but I don’t like the idea of using strange substances on my patients. I’ve got enough trouble as it is.”
“Food is at the top of the list,” he told her. “And as much as we can get of it.”
“By the way,” she added. “Make sure anyone who goes down to the surface comes by for medical screenings when they get back. We don’t want to bring any strange diseases on board.”
The idea had also never occurred to Nathan, just like a lot of things recently. Every time one of them came up, it served to remind him how unqualified he was to be in command. “Yeah, Doc, I’ll make sure we do that.”
* * *
Despite the fact that they had no prepared meals left to eat, Nathan and Vladimir still managed to meet for lunch each day. It was an excuse to take a break from their seemingly endless duties, and it provided Nathan with a way to keep up on the status of repairs without having to constantly nag Vladimir for progress reports. Although he was a gifted engineer and systems technician, getting him to write even the shortest of reports was like pulling teeth. Considering all there was to do just to keep the ship running—let alone trying to repair her—it was understandable.
Until this morning, they had been down to nuts and dried fruit in the pantry, and even that had needed to be rationed. Cameron, who was turning out to be quite a resourceful executive officer, had realized that all the escape pods were fully loaded with dehydrated meal kits. They weren’t the tastiest things around, but all you needed was a cup of hot water and you had a filling meal. Since they had at least fifty escape pods and only a skeleton crew, it would buy them some time. Nathan didn’t want to use all of the escape pod rations for fear that they might someday need to use the pods for their intended purpose. So they had used EVA suits to access the escape pods in the forward section of the ship, which was still open to the vacuum of space. Until that portion of the ship was repaired, no one would be using those escape pods.
“What’s on the menu today?” Nathan picked up the meal pouch that Vladimir had dropped on the table in front of him, giving it a look. It didn’t appear terribly appetizing.
“Something with noodles,” Vladimir said. “But it is supposed to have meat in it,” he added as he set the small pot of boiling hot water on the table between them. Nathan peeled back the cover on the container and poured in some of the hot water.
“Anything is better than nuts and dried fruit,” Nathan insisted as he stirred the contents to thoroughly distribute the hot water.
“We hope. But it cannot be as bad as a meal-replacement bar,” Vladimir added as he stirred his meal.
“So, how go the repairs?” It was the first question that Nathan always asked, as it usually took Vladimir most of their brief meal period to explain everything he and his staff were doing.
“It is going. Everything that can be fixed is being fixed. But for many systems we will need to manufacture new components in order to repair them. We have several component printers and even some machining equipment stored in the hangar bay, but they have not yet been installed. But, we have propulsion and maneuvering, and we have most of the rail guns working. Even some of the ones that were not yet connected—they are also working—thanks to Danik and Allet.”
“Who?”
“The two rebel engineers,” Vladimir explained. “How do you call them, Karuzari? They are very good. They are working in the torpedo room now. They will have the port auto-loaders ready soon. Maybe even the aft loaders as well. The starboards tubes, however, they are badly damaged and will not be available for some time.”
“Oh, I was wrong,” Nathan said, his face souring as he took his first taste of his reconstituted meal. His face took on a sour expression. “Fruit and nuts are better.”
“Hey, at least it has meat in it,” Vladimir exclaimed as he began to shovel the reconstituted mixture into his mouth. “Although I am not sure what kind.”
“So these guys are that good,
huh?”
“Oh yes! They even improved the power transfer to the rail guns, increasing their rate of fire by ten percent. They could boost it more, but there are other priorities.” Vladimir stopped shoveling food into his mouth for a moment, adding, “You know, our systems appear to be very simple to them.”
“Damn, this really is bad,” Nathan stated, not sure he could finish his meal kit.
“Stop whining. It is food. Listen, Nathan, you are going down to the surface of Haven, yes?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“What is it you are going to do there?”
“Try and get some food and supplies, and some intel if possible. Why?”
“I think I should go down there as well.”
“Why?”
“According to Tobin, there is a vigorous black market there. Perhaps I can find some interesting technology? Maybe something that would be of use to us?”
“You think that’s possible?” The idea had not occurred to Nathan.
“I think it is worth a look. We could use many things right now.”
“Aren’t you busy here?”
“Most important things are working,” he insisted. “And my people will continue working in my absence.”
“Yeah, okay. I don’t see why not.”
“I would like to bring Danik and Allet as well. They would be helpful in locating useful technology. Besides, it was Danik’s idea,” Vladimir admitted.
“Well, I’m not sure we can bring them both. There’s only room for six passengers on Tobin’s shuttle. And Jessica wants to take some muscle along. But I agree it would be a good idea. Maybe you can just bring one of them?”
“You were right, Nathan,” Vladimir admitted.
“About only bringing one of them?”
“No, this stuff is bad. Very bad.”
* * *
“Have you been sleeping in here?” Jessica asked, noticing the pillow and blanket on the couch as she followed Nathan into the captain’s ready room. “You have quarters, you know.”
“They’re all the way down on C deck. It’s easier to just take naps here,” he explained.
“No, I meant the captain’s quarters? They’re right down the hall.”
Nathan shook his head, his expression changing to one of trepidation. “No, too soon,” he protested, waving his hands slightly.
“Wuss,” she muttered as she plopped down on the couch. Just like everyone else on board, she had gotten very little sleep over the last few days.
“That’s Captain Wuss to you, Ensign.”
“Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that. Don’t you think your Chief of Security should at least be a lieutenant?”
“Why? You looking to be next in line for command if Cam and I get killed?”
“Hell no! Just looking for a raise in pay.”
“Let’s wait and see how long you keep the job.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!”
“What’s what supposed to mean?” Cameron asked as she entered.
“Nothing. How far out are we?” Nathan asked.
“A couple hours.”
“You guys get a chance to take a break and eat something?” Nathan looked at them both, seeing that neither of them indicated they had so much as left the bridge since their last meeting several hours ago.
“Well, see to it that you at least get some food into you,” he insisted. “Both of you. And stay away from the noodle and meat thingy. Trust me on this,” he added as he sat down behind his desk. “So, have we given any thought as to what we’re going to be shopping for on Haven?”
“Well, food is the number one priority,” Cameron began. “And one of the environmental systems techs suggested that we look for some seasonings and spices as well. He used to be a chef before he joined the Fleet. Makes sense that if we’re going to start cooking local food, we might want some local spices to go with it.”
“Yeah. Doctor Chen pointed out to me earlier that we are setting foot on an alien world, with a race of people that although human, could carry many diseases that our immune systems aren’t ready for. She suggested we take caution while on the surface. She also wants everyone who goes to the surface to report for a full medical screening when we get back. So I was thinking, we probably should go over any consumables we bring on board before we start eating them.”
“Agreed,” Cameron said.
“She also gave me a list of possible pharmaceutical substitutes to be on the lookout for as well,” Nathan continued. “Antibiotics, pain killers, basic stuff like that. They were stocked up to normal peace-time levels when we left. But with all the wounded, she’s already running out of the basics. Two people died because of a lack of antibiotics.”
“You really think we’ll find something out here that’s safe for us to use?” Cameron wondered.
“Well, they’re humans, just like us. So it stands to reason that they’d have similar meds and such. And since we’re already seeing evidence of superior technology in some areas, maybe they have better medicines as well?”
“One can only hope,” Jessica added.
“I don’t know,” Cameron objected. “It sounds kind of risky to me.”
“She’s not too keen on the idea either. In fact, I pretty much had to talk her into it. But we don’t know how long we’re going to be out here or how often we’re going to have an opportunity like this.”
“Anything else?” Cameron asked, taking notes on her data pad.
“Yeah, Vladimir wants to go down and check out the local black market for useful technologies.”
Jessica had not been paying close attention to the conversation, until Nathan mentioned the black market. “Whoa, that might not be such a hot idea,” she warned. “Black markets tend to be fairly dangerous places to hang out. At least on Earth they are. And Vlad doesn’t seem like the right personality type to work the black market—too friendly and outspoken, you know?”
“He wanted to bring the rebel engineers with him as guides. He seems to have a lot of confidence in them.”
“I don’t know about that either,” Jessica warned. “I haven’t really dealt with them all that much. But if they’re anything like their lady friend, I wouldn’t trust them any farther than I can throw them.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Nathan admitted. “But the more I think about it, the more I think that Vlad is right. With their understanding of both the local technology and our own, they would be invaluable down there. Maybe it’s worth the risk?”
“Is there even room?” Cameron asked.
“Well, there’s only room for six passengers, according to Tobin. So maybe we leave some muscle behind?”
“No way,” Jessica insisted. “I’d rather take the muscle than some shifty rebel.”
Nathan was a little surprised by her characterization of the rebels, but he understood her point. He had selected her as his interim security chief because of her training in such matters, so he felt it best to heed her advice. “Very well, you keep your two guys. I’ll have Vladimir bring only one of the rebels with us.”
The comm-system buzzer sounded. “Captain, Bridge,” the communications officer called.
Nathan stabbed at the comm with his finger. “Go ahead.”
“Captain, communications. Incoming message from Haven Control, sir.”
“Very well, call Jalea and Tobin to the bridge. We’ll be there shortly.” Nathan broke the connection before continuing. “Then we’re settled on this?” Jessica shrugged in resignation. Cameron simply nodded. “Great. Let’s go see what Haven Control wants.”
Nathan, Cameron, and Jessica filed out of the ready room and onto the bridge just as the communications officer put the incoming message up on the loudspeaker.
“Volander, Volander, Haven Control, please respond.” The message continued to repeat, with the exact same cadence and tone, making Nathan wonder if it was a recorded hail. He was about to respond when Jalea and Tobin entered.
“Captain
,” Tobin interrupted. “Perhaps it would be best if I spoke with them?”
Nathan looked at Jalea, who nodded, and then Jessica, who shrugged. “Very well,” he agreed, stepping aside.
Tobin stepped up to the communications station, waiting for the comm officer to indicate the channel was open and ready.
“Haven Control, this is Volander.”
“Volander, why was your response delayed?” There was a sense of urgency in the controller’s voice that worried Nathan and Jessica, both of whom were standing close by.
“Apologies, Haven, but our deep-space communications array suffered damage in transit.”
“Volander, state you reasons for approach.”
“We seek to harvest from the rings, and to procure supplies from your local merchants.”
“Understood. Will you require local crews?”
“Affirmative, Volander shall require local crews.”
“Understood. Transmit your desired quotas and we will assign you a harvesting position.”
“We will transmit our quotas shortly. Volander out.” Tobin turned to face the captain. “That should do it.”
“Who’s Volander?” Jessica asked.
“The ship that originally used the codes entered into your transponder. It was reported missing many months ago.”
“What’s this ‘quota’ they were asking for?” Nathan inquired.
“They wish to know the amount of material we plan to harvest from the rings, in order to calculate the fees that will be due them upon your departure. A few hundred kilotons is a common amount.”
“Seems like a lot,” Nathan observed.
“Too little, and they will be suspicious as to your true intentions. Too much, and your fees will be difficult to pay,” Tobin warned.
Nathan was uneasy with the whole arrangement. He was sure that Tobin was getting far more out of the deal than he had let on. Nathan figured, for now, it was best to play along. He looked over at Jessica, whom he guessed was thinking the same thing. “Very well, transmit the amount you think best.”