Carbon Life

by HR Ringer

  Olivia watched and waited to see what Yuán would do next. Surprisingly, she had calmed down completely. Using the hand she was holding, Xiùlán pulled them together slightly, reached in and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Kenzie… for standing up for me. I had totally given up… didn’t have a clue how I was going to live without Sà mǐ in my life. Thank you.” Looking at the chrono on the desk, she said, “Better get back to bed, see if we can get some sleep.”

  Olivia got to her feet and crawled back into her own bed. “Good night, Lieutenant.”

  “It will be now, Kenzie, thanks to you.”

  * * *

  * ARCTURUS STATION AND SHIPYARD · AT LARGE *

  Samantha Traynor had delayed leaving her quarters until she had barely enough time to reach the yard and begin her shift, and still there was no word from Xiùlán. Sammy wasn’t too concerned – yet. She was aware that unplanned schedule changes affected all shipboard personnel at times, with the least senior officers being most likely to be affected.

  She left her personal comms terminal in receive/record mode, so that any call sent there would be picked up with an automated invitation to leave a message. Traynor hated having to do that, but she had been called in to work a weekend shift; apparently, one of the contractors had accidentally severed a bundle of fiber communications cables, and Traynor was the only comms specialist available to make the repair. Her supervisor promised her some additional time off to make up for the missed weekend, a promise Traynor assured him she would hold him to. She knew the Tokyo would only be in system for a limited time, but still hoped Xiùlán would contact her – she simply had to apologize for being so insufferable, before the cruiser went out on its next assignment.

  As she toiled over a large bundle of hair-thin cables, laboriously tracing the cut ends to their terminals, then testing each one for continuity after making the repair, she thought about her time in the Terminus, when working with Xiùlán meant she had someone constantly watching her back. Thinking about the woman’s total selflessness brought additional moisture to Sammy’s eyes, something that really interfered with her ability to discern differences in fiber optics strands of similar diameter. Putting thoughts of the raven-haired beauty out of her mind, she swiped at her eyes and refocused on the task at hand. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to have even one pair of these minute cables crossed during the repair.

  Taking a quick look at her chrono, she was surprised to learn it was barely 0945… ‘Looks like it’s gonna be a long day,’ came the unhappy thought.

  * * *

  * ALLIANCE CRUISER SSV TOKYO · 2-Km FROM ARCTURUS STATION *

  As she was still technically on leave, Xiùlán had slept in for an additional half-hour; upon waking and looking at her chrono, she thought that Sammy might still be in her quarters, as it was supposed to be her day off. After rereading the message Sammy had sent to her omnitool, Xiùlán moved to the day room, where she sat in front of the comms unit; activating the device, she entered Traynor’s comms address and waited for the unit to connect. After several moments, the device in Sammy’s quarters replied with an automated response that was obviously intended for Xiùlán, apologizing for not being available, explaining that the specialist had been called in for an extra shift, would return at her normal time and to please leave a message.

  Xiùlán’s message couldn’t include everything she wished to say – not in the brief amount of time allowed by the comms unit – so she simply expressed her profound regret at not being more supportive of Sà mǐ during her original call, and finished by saying she still loved her… deeply, and hoped they could get together later in the day.

  A bit frustrated at not being able to speak with her Inamorata, she went back to her sleeping quarters, there to make up her rack, after which she pulled on her exercise clothes, grabbed her nángùn and headed for the smaller of the two martial arts areas adjacent to the large gym.

  Once inside, she accessed the environmental controls – as Sà mǐ had taught her – in order to change the artificial gravity on the exercise floor from .95 G to 1.25 G. Working out at a higher gravity than Earth-normal insured that her body would be subjected to a more intense workout than would ordinarily be possible. Before beginning the intense exercises, she cleared her mind of all thought, including her troubles with Traynor, and went through her daily exercise routine, a form of Tai Chi called Neigong.

  Upon completing the quiet, contemplative moves – which served to stretch and limber up all the muscles in her body – she energetically powered through the routine movements of Wushu Nángùn three times; with a five minute break between each set, followed by a cooldown repetition of her Neigong routine.

  She had been on the exercise mat for an hour and was soaked in sweat, with loose strands of hair plastered to her face. Upon returning to her compartment, she sat at the comms unit and placed another call to Sammy’s apartment, even though she knew the specialist would still be at work, she was still disappointed to have it answered with the message saying she had been called in to work. Xiùlán left another message, again conveying regret at not being able to speak to her and finishing with a promise to try again in the evening. After closing the connection, she opened her omnitool and sent a text message in response to the one Traynor had sent the previous evening, expressing how happy Sà mǐ’s message had made her and saying that she still had a bit of time off if Sammy wanted her to visit.

  She gathered up her toiletries, slipped on a pair of shower sandals and took the short walk to the woman’s head, there to take a nice, soothing shower. Returning to her compartment afterwards, she dressed in casual, off-duty clothes, finished drying and combing her long hair, then walked to the junior officer’s mess hall for a late breakfast. She looked around the compartment for McKenzie; Xiùlán hadn’t really expected to see her, guessing her friend was already at work on one of the lower decks.

  She finished her second mug of tea after downing a plate full of pancakes with eggs; the dish was similar to what she might have had in her native Shanghai, with a fried egg on top of a thin, quickly-cooked pancake, which was then wrapped around a deep-fried crispy dough slice. She had added some finely chopped onions with grated cheddar cheese on top of the egg, making it even more like a dish from her distant home.

  As it was late mid-morning when she left the officer’s mess, Xiùlán decided to use her free time to study for the upcoming astro-navigation exam; she would attempt to call Sammy later – perhaps catch her during her lunchtime. She still hoped to see her tonight in her residence.

  Xiùlán had spent the rest of the morning and a bit of the early afternoon studying; she had tried calling Sammy again at 1245 without success, so had left another message. It was frustrating to be so close to her lover and still be separated by their career choices. She had entered into her relationship with Traynor with her eyes wide open, realizing from the very first time she’d declared her love for the specialist that they would most likely be apart more than together; still, she had expected that she’d be able to take her few days off in the Arcturus system so they could have some alone time.

  Returning from the mess hall after a light mid-afternoon lunch, Xiùlán was taken completely off guard by the chimes sounding general quarters; as she was still effectively on leave so didn’t have to be at a duty station, she continued on to her quarters as people ran by her in both directions.

  Upon entering her shared ‘dayroom’, she heard the tail end of a general information announcement – something about an immediate deployment. Activating her comms terminal, she played the entire message. The Tokyo and its accompanying frigates were being sent to the Iera system in response to yet another pirate attack on the colony world of Horizon. When she heard the words ‘… all leaves are hereby canceled,’ she quickly went back to her quarters and began changing out of her casual clothing. As she was pulling on the pants of her SDU, McKenzie burst into the compartment at a dead run, drawing up in surprise upon seeing Xiùlán still on board
the ship.

  “My God, Xiùlán! I thought you’d be ashore! Captain’s recalled everyone – cancelled all leaves! We’ll hit the relay just as soon as everyone’s aboard.”

  “So I heard! I have to get a message to Sammy, let her know I won’t…”

  “…Comms blackout’s in effect, Yuán… not even any texts. Captain seems worried any comms leaving the ship might be intercepted. I’m sorry!” Olivia placed a hand on her roommate’s upper arm. “Traynor will have to learn of this from her co-workers. She’ll understand, Xiùlán.”

  Xiùlán’s expression revealed the doubt she was feeling. “I called her on comms, Kenzie. Had to leave a message – three of them, in fact. She’s not in her quarters… got called in to work an extra shift. Damn! I hope she realizes I’m a victim of those pirates as much as the colonists on Horizon.”

  “It’s all going to work out, Xiùlán… we’ll go to Iera, kick some batarian ass and get back in time for dinner.”

  A wane smile was all Yuán could manage. “Hope you’re right, Kenzie. I was really looking forward to some cuddle time with Sà mǐ tonight.” Shaking her head as she looked down at the deck, she muttered, “Qīcǎn dì hǎidào húndàn! [淒慘的海盜混蛋！– Miserable pirate bastard(s)!]

  * * *

  * ARCTURUS SHIPYARD · SPECIALIST TRAYNOR’S RESIDENCE *

  It was nearly 1900 when Traynor finally managed to drag her tired body back to her quarters. The first thing she inspected upon entering and closing the hatch was her comms terminal. ‘Three messages from Xiùlán,’ she noted. Her stomach instantly began to hurt and her heart seemed ready to burst through her ribs. ‘What if she doesn’t love me anymore?’ came the nervous thought. ‘How am I going to live with what I’ve done to her?’ She anxiously played the first message, only relaxing slightly when she heard Xiùlán’s voice telling her how glad she had been to learn that Sammy still loved her; the second one, coming in after her breakfast, expressed regret at not being able to speak with Sam before finishing with a passionate expression of her love for the specialist. Xiùlán’s third message spoke of looking forward to possibly seeing her in her quarters tonight. ‘Damn,’ she thought. ‘Tired as I am right now, the only thing I’ll be doing tonight is sleeping.’ Sammy quickly composed a reply to the last message. After making sure it had a delivery request embedded in the header, she pressed ‘SEND’.

  Moving into the small kitchen, she pulled a frozen dinner from the freezer and placed it in the reheater. While her meal was being thawed and heated, she heard a chime from the comms unit indicating an incoming message. The instant happiness she enjoyed at the sound was all too brief; the reply was from the comms system itself, advising that the Tokyo was currently out of range, and the message would remain in the queue for delivery at the next available opportunity.

  ‘What the bloody ‘ell? The ship was literally right outside my window!’ She pulled her dinner from the small oven and gingerly uncovered the reconstituted meat and potatoes as she thought about the Tokyo. ‘Damned ship must have been ordered to another system… no time for any notifications… or… she had gone silent before hittin’ the relay.’

  Deciding to send a text from her omnitool, she drafted a short message – Looking forward to seeing you when your return. – placed a receipt confirmation request in the header and pressed send. Within half a minute, she received the same delivery denial message as had been sent to her comms unit. Thinking, ‘Why in ‘ell didn’t she send a note? Rapid deployments aren’t usually that much of a secret… unless a colony is being attacked. Shit! I need to find someone that can tell me what happened.’ With this thought in mind, she finished her dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, then went to the bathroom, there to strip out of her clothes in order to take a relaxing shower. Feeling better once she was cleaned up and dressed, she decided to call her supervisor in order to ask about the Tokyo. She knew ship deployments were generally not discussed by dock workers, but she really needed to know what had happened to cause the small battle group to so abruptly, and quietly, leave the cluster.

  * * *

  * SSV TOKYO BATTLE GROUP · SHADOW SEA CLUSTER *

  The SSV Tokyo, accompanied by four Alliance frigates, dropped out of FTL beside the massive relay; before their crews could secure from running FTL, all five ships were set upon by a massive bombardment from a large group of Thar’Van assault frigates that had taken up ideal positions to control the space around the relay. The Alliance frigates, being more maneuverable than the cruiser, made radical course changes in a vain attempt to avoid the weapons fire and multiple interceptors sent to attack them.

  Two of the four frigates were quickly crippled, their main engines either critically damaged or destroyed in the lightning fast attack. While they could no longer jump to FTL, they used their maneuvering thrusters to good advantage, continuously repositioning themselves in order to bring their spinal mass accelerators to bear on the batarian assault frigates. As the remaining two Alliance frigates flew close to the Tokyo in an effort to eliminate some of the annoying interceptors harassing the larger ship, they themselves fell victim to the 150m auxiliary mass accelerators from two of the batarian vessels.

  In less than a minute, the batarians had seriously damaged or crippled all four of the Tokyo’s accompanying frigates, and had inflicted moderate damage to the cruiser as well. Despite several hull breaches in engineering and damage to one of her four main engines, the Tokyo managed to briefly jump to FTL, thus leaving the vicinity of the relay and the Iera system; as she left the system for the dark space between, her crew knew that any hope of immediate rescue from the Alliance was slim – the batarians had entered in force, and the only thing that would keep them from totally dominating the system was the lack of an orbital refueling station. The small Alliance battle group had been crippled; with the system’s comms buoys destroyed, the batarians believed their victim’s calls for help would go nowhere. If they were going to have any chance at surviving the encounter, the officers and crew of the Tokyo would have to somehow repair the damaged engines and get back into the system.

  The batarians mistakenly believed destroying the comm buoys would keep the Alliance ships from calling for help, not realizing the Tokyo had been retrofitted with a QEC terminal; its counterpart inside Alliance Command on Arcturus Station had all the information regarding the batarians attack within minutes of the cruiser’s escape from the Iera System, and had relayed the Tokyo’s plight to the rest of the Fifth Fleet. The SSV Shenyang and the Perugia – along with their accompanying frigates – were being deployed from the Exodus Cluster and Local Cluster, respectively.

  Captain Anderson warned Fleet headquarters to have all the ships arrive through the Iera Relay with their shields at maximum and their weapons hot, to which Fleet responded that one of the damaged frigates was still close enough to observe the batarian ships; they had withdrawn all but one of their assault frigates from the space around the relay, no doubt to continue their attack on the virtually defenseless colonies of Horizon.

  Anderson reported he would reenter the system in a different quadrant and attempt to harass the batarians from long range while waiting for reinforcements; he would also provide assistance to the crews of the damaged frigates. Before signing off, he stated, “I intend to make the batarians pay for this – they need to learn that attacking our colonies is not something they can do with impunity.”

  Lieutenant Yuán had been assigned to lead Damage Control Team Charlie-two; their task was to extinguish the equipment fires in the engineering decks, along with disconnecting the various pieces of severely damaged apparatus from the power grid – a task made more difficult by the pitch-black conditions beyond the limited range of their enviro-suit mounted lamps and the light provided by their omnitools – within a number of equipment compartments in which they had to operate.

  Yuán had been cautiously feeling her way along as she attempted to keep herself and her team-members safe; even with the lights inoperable, some of the m
achinery was still receiving power from the grid, making the danger of inadvertent electrocution by coming into physical contact with the wrong side of a high-voltage cable run quite real. As her team moved through the areas with the most damage, individuals entered the confined spaces of each equipment compartment on a rotating basis in order to keep everyone’s fatigue level to a minimum. Considering the proximity of hot and even live parts, the relief she felt at reaching the end of their assigned area was evident in her voice as she reported to Commander Nolen, “DC team Charlie-two: 8-12-6-E12 through E27 is safe. Fires have been extinguished, emergency ventilation established, combustibles removed, damaged equipment disconnected and logged for repair or replacement. Moving down to 9-12-6-E – we should be meeting with DC team Charlie-three shortly.”

  “Belay that move, Charlie-two,” came the reply. “I need your team on the starboard side, 8-12-5 – the VI reports damaged equipment in several of the main and auxiliary machinery rooms and emergency generator rooms. Nothing on fire, but exercise caution on opening hatches over there – internal temps are high, so use suppressant as you open and enter.”

  “Acknowledged, Sir. Moving to 8-12-5.” Yuán looked at her team members and said, “You heard the commander… we have some more compartments to inspect.” She grabbed the straps of her back-mounted breathing apparatus, pulling them away from her shoulders as she bounced her torso up to resettle the pack, then began moving towards the starboard side of the deck. It was going to be a long night.

  * * *

  * ARCTURUS SHIPYARD · SPECIALIST TRAYNOR’S RESIDENCE *

  Sammy had contacted a couple of members of her team to inquire about the Tokyo; before the night was over she had learned the ship had been deployed to deal with batarian slavers in the Iera system. What had been a real surprise was the news that reinforcements had been called up. Although she couldn’t learn the names of the warships involved or from where they were coming, she could make an educated guess that the Navy would send a cruiser each from Exodus and Sol – these were the closest systems from which any meaningful backup could be deployed, and it was a straight run from Sol to Shadow Sea. A jump from Exodus would involve two additional relays, slowing the response from that system considerably. Still, two additional battle groups should be able to take care of whatever threat was posed by the batarians.