Fleet Academy

by M. Scott Cottrell

  “Aye sir.” Matt replied as he skimmed down the side of the ship a bit faster. He could hear the commander talking with control about the situation and making repeated calls to Forester.

  “Commander, I have reached the end of her work area. No sign of her at this time.”

  “Understood Mr. Molter. We will execute a man overboard drill. Hold your position.”

  “Aye sir.” Matt responded, getting very concerned now. A man overboard drill would bring out all available search personnel, but survival rate is very low at best. He floated just stern of the slowly moving ship and looking out into space wondering where Trina was. A glint caught his eye, drawing his attention. He focused on the spot, but saw nothing. What was that? He stared out into space, scanning the general area behind the ship again, hoping to see her. There it was again, just a brief flash off to the right. “Commander.”

  “Yes, Mr. Molter?”

  “I thought I saw something off the stern quarter, right on the horizon. Permission to investigate?”

  “Can you tell what it is?”

  “Negative sir. I just get a glint of it every once in a while. It looks to be quite a ways out, but I really can’t get a good bead in it.”

  “Very well Mr. Molter. The rest of the rescue team will not be available for nearly ten minutes. Keep in close radio contact. Watch your distance and fuel reserves. I’m on my way toward the stern now. Remember that you’re still in Earth’s gravity well, and I don’t want you getting stranded too far out.”

  Matt stabilized his gyro pack on the area of the glint and thrusted out. As he flew out he did a quick check of his status. Plenty of fuel and time. Now it was a waiting game. The minutes crawled by as he coasted across space, intent on the flash. It was growing perceptibly larger now. In a few minutes Matt new he was looking at a space suited figure, slowly spinning in space, the flash a reflection off the face shield. “Ensign Molter to command!”

  “Command, go ahead.”

  “ I have a visual on a space suit in an uncontrolled roll. I am attempting to close on it.”

  “Very well. Be advised you are at extreme range. It is recommended that you drop a marker and return to the station.”

  “Negative. She doesn’t look to be that much farther yet, I’m going to go ahead a bit more and see if I can make a capture.”

  “Mister Molter. I don’t have you in sight. Can you give me a ping?” The Commander radioed.

  “Aye sir.” Matt said, hitting a command on his arm pad that he recalled from suit training on earth. His suit automatically calculated the distance from the ship by reading three precision timed signals from the ship and calculating how long it took to receive them. His suit computer then calculated the distance from each transmitter, transmitting on the emergency frequency with the calculated distance from the ship and bearing in three dimensions.

  “Thank you Mr. Molter,” the commander responded quietly.

  Matt didn’t hear any further radio communications as he concentrated on adjusting his course to intercept Trina’s spinning suit. After what seemed like an hour, Matt used his braking thrusters to slow to a crawl compared to the slowly tumbling suit. Tweaking the jets he nudged himself into position before using the small gyro built into the backpack of his hard suit to spin himself at the same rate as the tumbling suit and moved in for a capture. “Gotcha!” he said aloud as he released the gyro control and allowed it to stabilize both suits. Turning the captured suit around he saw Foresters face hanging inside the helmet. He remembered his emergency training from the simulator, and reached down to his leg pocket and pulled out the emergency buddy cable each suit always carried. It took a bit of jockeying to get the cable plugged into his suit pack without letting go of her suit, but he finally felt it click home. Rolling her in his arms so he could reach her connector point, he clicked the cable into place, letting out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. Almost immediately his video screen split into two columns, one displaying his suit stats and the others hers, nearly all in the red. Oxygen content low, power packs nearly empty, comm system down. It didn’t look good.

  “Molter to command!”

  “Command, go ahead.”

  “I have made capture on the suit. It is Ensign Forester. Emergency umbilical is in place. Her temps high, O2 is low, power packs nearly drained. The system shows shallow respiration, but increasing. I am starting back.”

  “Affirmative. We will have med standing by. We have a shuttle prepping to launch to try to intercept you. You are out of recovery range with your suit thrusters. We recommend that you use your thrusters to the eighty percent mark) to get your velocity headed back in the direction of the station. You’re dangerously close to being too far down the gravity well to make a recovery before reentry.”

  “Affirmative Command.” Matt replied, reaching down to activate a control on his arm pad before he rolled them both so he was facing the ship. At the distance he was from the ship, it looked small compared to the massive bulk of Station one, but even that looked much smaller than he had expected. In the back of his mind Matt wondered if he had just done a really stupid thing getting this far down from the station. It wouldn’t be long before the difference in altitude started to take its toll and he would be captured by the upper layers of earth’s atmosphere, slowing him down even further. Even now he felt like he could see the station pulling away from him as he watched. With the line of site set, Matt punched his thruster, watching the fuel levels slowly tick away. Finally at twenty percent, he kicked off the thruster, holding tight to Trina’s suit so he didn’t lose it as the acceleration bleed off. He looked for the station and the ship, and was surprised to see how little ground he had made up. At least it didn’t seem to be pulling away any longer, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before his suit gave out.

  “Command to rescue one. Can you say her status? We’re not getting any telemetry from her suit.”

  “At this time she is unconscious. I saw her move once. Her suit says she’s alive. Most of her suit is shut down though. The suit over temp warning is on, but there is no indication on the internal temp. The cool suit systems are shut down. I have O2 levels coming back up. They were down pretty low. I also have her suit pressure coming back up to a full fifteen pounds.”

  “Very good rescue one. Medical wants you to do a manual override on the cool suit. Punch in service code 2842 on her keypad. That will place it in a test mode and run it at max, regardless of the suit temp.”

  “Affirmative. Code 2842 entered. I still show no indicator of flow on my diagnostic.”

  “Understood. Try a code 2800, then 2842.”

  “Affirmative 2800 then 2842.” Matt punched the new code into her suit pad. This time there was a change in the suit indicator. “I am showing flow now Command.”

  “Affirmative.” command replied.

  Matt floated back toward the ship for what seemed like a week. He turned on the laser rangefinder built into the command suit and noted that he was still more than two thousand meters from the Saint Claire. As he watched the readout the rate of closure slowed noticeably as the station carried the Saint Claire away from them with its slow rotation. Matt gave his thruster another kick bring his velocity back up, noting that his fuel and power were both nearly exhausted. The huge ring of the station rotated slowly in front of them, their approach close to a forty five degree angle from below the station. Timing was going to be difficult and he was wishing he hadn’t been quite so rash about jetting off like he did.

  “Rescue one. We have a shuttle leaving the Saint Claire now to intercept you. You’re going to have to stop relative to the shuttle and telemetry indicates that you don’t have the fuel to use your breaking thrusters with the added mass you’re carrying. The plan at this time is for the shuttle to match speed with you and you will have to get the two of you into its air lock.”

  “Affirmative. I understand. How long on the shuttle. My fuel and power are both below critical already.”

>   “Roger rescue one. Don’t fire your thruster again then. You need enough fuel to maneuver into the shuttle.”

  “Affirmative.” Matt said as he watched a dark rectangle form on the underside of the Saint Claire near the bow of the ship. That dark rectangle soon was filled with the whitish shape of a small atmospheric shuttle. Matt watched as the shuttle jetted down toward him, flipping on multiple axis at once, lining its tail end up with him.

  “Shuttle Debeno to rescue one,” it called on his suit radio.

  “Go ahead Debeno.”

  “We’re going to set up so you can reach our air lock, but you’re going to have to get in yourself. There wasn’t time to set up with any suits or rescue gear.”

  “Roger. Just get close, I’m about out of fuel.” Matt replied as he started a gentle tumble to align himself with the shuttle, now seeming to float only a hundred meters or in front of him. When he thought he was lined up even with the air lock he stopped the tumble.

  Matt saw four red lights blink quickly around the perimeter of the air lock as the door slid from view, leaving the large white expanse of the inner lock visible in the rear of the gray ship. He tweaked the jets carefully, not wanting to increase his speed any more than absolutely necessary, or the crash at the end of his trip could be the end of the trip in more ways than one.

  “Rescue one. This is shuttle Debeno. We are ready for you. Rate of closure is currently one point five meters per second.”

  “Understood Debeno.”

  “Roger. As soon as you get inside we’re going to do an emergency compression. Set your suit for fifteen pounds now.”

  “Roger. Fifteen pounds.” Matt replied as he keyed the pressure value override into the suit. He felt his suit stiffen as the pressure came up, and the airlock grow in size as he slowly slid closer to it. He desperately wanted to speed up, to get in faster, but knew that would be a mistake. Finally the entrance to the lock grew in size, almost too fast now. The crash came almost as a surprise, feeling like he knocked his back teeth clean out of their sockets. As soon as he hit the back wall of the air lock he punched the thruster button and held it down, not wanting to let the two of them bounce back out of the lock. It took several small bounces before they settled back into bulkhead and held still. Matt’s suit shut down the thruster as the last of the fuel emptied from the tank, allowing them to float back the better part of a meter. “In the lock.” Matt radioed to the Debeno.

  “Very good rescue one. Starting emergency pressurization now.”

  His suit seemed to deflate around him as the pressure came up, pressing the flex joints back into the suit. A green indicator over his display blinked on showing pressure outside his suit. He reached up and pulled his helmet off as the internal door slid open and a crew of medics floated in. One unceremoniously pushed him aside and unclipped the power cable between himself and Trina. He drifted across the lock as he watched them disengage the suit from around her, pieces of the suit floating off in every direction. Matt floated back to give them more room.

  “Good work out there Ensign.” The female pilot called from the cabin.

  “Thank you ma’am. I hope she’s going to be ok.”

  “I do too Mr. Molter.”

  The medics finished their work and floated off into the cabin, the door closing with its quiet whoosh.

  “Ok Mr. Molter. You can unsuit.” The intercom said as he felt the shuttle move off, the dampers trying to keep him from banging around inside the lock, still at zero g.

  “Aye ma’am,” Matt responded as he pulled his gloves off and stuffed them in his helmet, letting them float off to the side. He unclipped the safety latch and disengaged the lower part of the suit. He felt the legs stiffen as the drives lost power, and the air bladders deflated. He pushed the top of the suit off, letting it float away. After unclipping the cool suit he pushed himself up out of it, slowly tumbling through the air as he did. Matt floated silently in the airlock wearing nothing but his cool suit as the shuttle maneuvered and apparently docked within the Saint Claire. When the airlock finally opened, no one remained in the cabin but one tall thin Lieutenant floating in the space.

  “Ok Ensign. Let’s get out of here. Leave the suit, everything will need to be inspected for the investigation.”

  “Aye ma’am.” Matt replied as he swam through the air to get to a wall. He pulled himself into the cabin and allowed the pilot to lead him down a small meter diameter tube between the front consoles.

  “Sorry about the ungraceful exit. All the main locks have cargo containers docked.” She said as Matt followed her down the short tunnel into a small airlock. Pressing a couple keys on the pad they slowly floated to the floor until they were standing at full one g again. The inner lock door opened and they stepped back on to the Saint Claire, and to a waiting Commander Haskel.

  “Mister Molter. Go ahead and shower, and then head to security. They’re going to want to get a statement. Make it as complete and detailed as you can recall. I’m going to supervise getting the suit parts to the inspection room. When you’re done with security you can pick up a portable Comm unit and hit the rack. Meet me on the bridge at 1700 hours sharp.

  “Aye sir.” Matt replied with a crisp salute. He turned after the salute was returned and trotted off down the corridor toward the suit room. Matt showered and dressed and headed up to the security office. Matt entered the security office and reported to the Lieutenant sitting behind the desk.

  “May I help you Ensign,” He asked?

  “Yes sir, I was told to report here and give a statement on the accident.”

  “Ok Ensign. Here’s a data pad.” He said holding a small data pad out to him. “Record everything you can remember from the time you entered the suit room, and anything from before that that may seem pertinent.”

  “Aye sir.” Matt said taking the pad from him. He walked over to a small table and sat down. For the next hour he wrote everything that he could remember about the incident.

  Standing up and stretching he handed the data pad back to the Lieutenant. “Here you go sir.”

  “Thank you Ensign. You’re free to go.”

  “Aye sir.” He said as he turned to leave. Matt went to the armory and picked up a portable comm unit, turned it on and tested it, before heading up to his cabin. Matt opened the door and stepped into the dark room. Leaving the lights off, he stripped out of his clothes and tossed them on the bottom bunk. He hopped up into his bunk and pulled the covers over himself, surprised at how tired he felt, and was asleep in minutes.

  Matt awoke to a gentle shaking. “Come on hero time to rise and shine.” A female voice called. His shoulder shook slightly more insistently. “Come on Matt, wake up.”

  Matt rolled over to look at the intruder. Through his bleary vision he could see Bounce’s face inches from his.

  “What time is it?” He mumbled.

  “1600 hours.”

  “Damn. I need to be on the bridge in an hour.” He mumbled.

  “Come on hero. Words all over the ship that you saved Forester’s life.”

  “Have you heard how she’s doing?”

  “She’s not allowed visitors yet, but they say she’s going to be ok. I guess the doc said if she was left alone a few more minutes that she would have suffered permanent brain damage. As it is, she’s not going to be up and around for a few days.”

  “Well I’m glad she’s going to be ok.”

  “Good, now get up!” Bounce said as she pulled the covers off Matt.

  “Come on Bounce!” he almost shouted as he jerked the covers back up. “I don’t have any clothes on!”

  “I can see that!” she said with a smile. Then after a pause she said very quietly, “You know I owe you one.”

  “What for?”

  “Saving Trina. We roomed together my first year at the academy. Good friends are hard enough to get, and even harder to lose.”

  “Well I didn’t do that much.” Matt stated as he rolled off the bunk, hitting the deck where Bou
nce had been standing only moments before. She stepped back to give him some room as he headed quickly to the head, following close behind him.

  “Didn’t do that much? You saved her life.” She said as she held the door from being closed.

  “No big deal, anyone would have done the same.”

  “Boy is that lame or what? Do you have any idea what you did?" Bounce asked emphatically.

  “I flew out, grabbed her and pulled her back toward the ship. No big shake, any rookie could have done it. Hell I didn’t even make it all the way back. I had to be rescued too!”

  “Not the way I hear it. Do you remember what they taught us in class about the echo class suit?” She quizzed.

  “Yeah, 500 meters from the ship maximum on new packs. Why?”

  “Well for starters, when you turned on your pinger you were over four clicks from the ship. And when they checked your suit, the thruster pack was dead empty, and there was barely enough power left in the pack to run a diagnostic. The malfunction in Katelyn’s pack was sucking yours dry also.” Bounce informed him.