Space Rescue One

by Atk. Butterfly

  ***

  Richard opened his eyes to see Shelly sitting next to him with her head upon her chest while propped against the bulkhead. Her robe was open enough that he could see whatever he wished to see of her. He shifted a bit to reach the safety strap when she opened her eyes.

  She said softly, "Hi there, Richard. You went sleepwalking last night. Alex, Jimmy, and I put you to bed. I guess I fell asleep here while checking on you. Are you all right?"

  Richard growled, "You didn't need to bother. I'm a grown man."

  "I know that, but shipmates are each other's survival. Isn't that what we learned when we signed on?"

  "Yeah, what of it?" he asked.

  "Well, we're shipmates. I'm just doing my share."

  "All right, thanks."

  "You're welcome, Richard. How are your ribs coming along?"

  "Why? You want to barbecue them?" he asked.

  "I'm just concerned. You don't have to be so snappy with me."

  "Sorry. I just think you're carrying this shipmate thing too far."

  She replied, "Well, I don't. But, just to show that I'm not, I'll get out of your way now."

  "You're not in my way. I can get up without your help."

  Shelly exclaimed, "Ouch! Damn it! That's twice in less than ten hours that I stubbed my toe on that damn box. The same toe, too."

  Richard glanced down at his chest.

  Shelly asked, "Why do you keep it right there where people can hurt themselves?"

  He reached down and shoved it farther under the bed. "Well, I don't usually have visitors around to kick it. Anyway, I keep it under there in case we go into zero-gravity. That way nothing will float out of it."

  "I don't see how. It's got a magnetic bottom and a lock on the lid."

  "That lock? That's all that's holding the top to the bottom. The hinges are both broke. If I don't keep it under the bed, the lid will float open and scatter everything."

  "Really? I didn't know that. I guess you do have to keep it here under the bed then."

  ***

  "Chief, you remember that chest I couldn't pick the lock to?" Shelly asked.

  Isaac replied, "Sure, I remember that, Shelly. What of it?"

  "You'll love hearing this one. The hinges are broke. The lock is all that holds the top in place. It's not really locked shut at all."

  "You're kidding? How'd you find that out? Have you been snooping in Richard's cabin, again?"

  "No, he told me himself after I stubbed my toe on it."

  Chief Dickson said, "I suppose this means I have to keep him busy again so you can go sleuthing."

  "Please? I also heard something last night that convinced me that Richard is worth saving. You were right about a good man being lost inside him. You and I, we have to help that good man get back out. I know we do."

  "How long are you going to need Richard kept busy?" Isaac asked.

  She answered, "Is two hours too much?"

  "Don't go in until I arrange everything and give you a time."

  "I won't."

  ***

  "Attention all personnel. Space Rescue One is on scramble alert. Attention all personnel. Space Rescue One is on scramble alert."

  "Where's Richard?" asked Shelly.

  "He's reporting for station radio duty. I saw him leave already," said Isaac.

  "I guess we won't have to keep him busy then. I'm going to take a look now. You'll know where to find me when you need me."

  "Yeah, I guess we have the time before we have to suit up. I'm on my way to the briefing. Let me know what you find out."

  "I will."

  Shelly entered Richard's cabin, bent down, and slid the magnetized chest out from under the bed. She looked at the back of the chest and shook her head at her own stupidity in not checking the hinges before. Both were broken and the lid opened easily. Inside were numerous papers weighted down a bit by a small fancy box. She set the box aside and looked at the first sheet. Immediately, the name on the paper leaped out at her. Lieutenant Richard Saberhagen. With a start, she recognized the name. There was no need to read any further or dig any deeper.

  She reached for the box to place it back on top. It slipped from her grasp, fell into the chest, and opened. Inside it lay a gleaming United Nations medal for lifesaving. On the back, Richard's name was engraved. It was for the action she recognized his name from. Carefully, she closed the small box and placed it back inside to act as the guardian of Richard's papers. She closed the chest and slid it back under the bed. Then she sat back and cried.

  ***

  Isaac entered Richard's room. He gazed down at Shelly for a moment before asking, "Are you all right?"

  She answered, "Yes, I am."

  "Then why are you crying?" he asked.

  "I know who Richard is. I mean, was. There's nothing evil about him to hide. It's his own personal monster causing him to be the way he is."

  "Well, aren't you going to tell me who he was?" asked Isaac.

  "Richard Saberhagen. Lieutenant Richard Saberhagen, Merchant Spacemarine."

  "I thought he was dead."

  "So did I. That's probably what he wanted people to think. He's ashamed of himself for failing to save the rest of the crew. He only got four others and himself onto the bridge with the three already there."

  Isaac said, "Yes, I remember the news stories about it. His ship was the last level one disaster before the Space Rescue Service was chartered by the United States with United Nations blessings. Even with that, it took several years to design the ships and build them."

  "And he spent that time learning rescue techniques so he could return and save lives to make up for his failure."

  "His failure?" asked Chief Dickson.

  "Yes, Richard talked in his sleep last night. I overheard him. Richard believes their deaths were his fault because he failed to save them all. I also talked with Damon Anderson, the bartender. Richard let slip some details to Damon that Damon told me about in confidence. I'm still not sure why Damon chose to tell me, though."

  "I'm just glad Damon told someone on the team. At last we know what we're up against."

  "I know what we're up against, but how do we lead Richard back to sanity?" Shelly asked.

  "You think he's insane?" Isaac asked.

  "No, but he's closing in on it fast. We've got to help him before he goes mad. I'm going to tell Damon what I know so he can help. Richard trusts him. I'm going to trust Damon, too."

  "Okay, I'll go along with that. We better talk to the rest of the team. They have a right to know what's going on."

  Shelly said, "Yes, shipmates are each other's survival. I intend for Richard to survive."

  "He'll hate us if we fail."

  "I know that. I still have to try."

  Isaac said, "We'll all try our best. I'm sure we will."

  ***

  Chief Dickson said, "Guys, I've got some interesting news to tell you. As well, I need your help with what I'm going to tell you about."

  "What's that, Chief?" Alex asked.

  Isaac answered, "We know what happened to Richard to make him behave the way you know him. His real name is Richard Saberhagen. Unless you were in a coma, you ought to be aware of what he once did."

  "I was once in a coma. What did Richard do?" Tim asked.

  Alex tousled Tim's hair. "You were never in a coma."

  "Well, living with my folks on the road in the Outback was like being in one," Tim said.

  "You really don't know what Richard did once before he joined space rescue?" Chief Dickson asked.

  "Really, Chief, I don't," Tim replied.

  The Chief said, "Okay, then. I'll put the story to you in a nutshell. Eight years ago when you were probably fourteen or fifteen . . ."

  "Fifteen, Chief," Tim said.

  "Let him tell you the story. It's fabulous," Alex said.

  The Chief continued, "Richard was the First Officer on board the Southern Pride. She was carrying flour. His ship had a green crew with the exception o
f himself, the captain, and a few bridge personnel. Most of the crew didn't know their asshole from a black hole. A few hours out from Earth, the flour overheated in one of the cargo holds near the engines. Some of it burned and some eventually exploded, ripping the ship apart. Before the ship was torn in two, Richard organized the fire party to put out the blaze. When he saw that it was useless, he ordered the crew to head for the bridge. Like I said, most of them didn't know their way around the ship. Richard led them forward keeping them together like a mother hen guarding her chicks. They were midway to the bridge when the first explosion rocked the ship. One of the structural beams parted and twisted in on the deck where Richard and the crew were. They were faced with a wall of fire pouring in at them from the deck above them. Instead of abandoning his crew, Richard lifted the beam out of the way while urging them on to safety past the fire. He suffered severe burns while pleading with his crew to head for the bridge. Four members believed him and made it past the flames he held back. One by one, the others panicked and ran back for the engine rooms thinking that the heavy shielding of the engine rooms would protect them. Richard held that beam up until he collapsed from exhaustion and his injuries. He survived only because the other survivors just barely reached him in time to drag him onto the bridge. Shortly after they dragged him to safety, the ship experienced more explosions, which broke it in two. The only survivors were those who were on the bridge. Everyone else perished."

  "Six men and two women were all that remained of the ship's crew. Richard was the senior survivor. When he regained consciousness, he went back to work instructing the others on what to do so they could continue to survive despite his injuries. It took three days for them to be found and picked up by another merchant ship. Since there wasn't a rescue service then, everything was up to the merchants, so they backed up each other in everything. You didn't survive in space without help. That was something that was drummed into every Merchant Spacemarine crew. It's one of the first things you learned before you were permitted to board a ship. Shipmates are each other's survival. Richard lived up to that code far beyond the call of duty. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't save those other crew members. Now it's up to us to live up to the code. Richard needs our help and I intend to see that he gets it. Any questions?"

  Tim asked, "He did all that? He should have received a medal for that much bravery."

  "He did get a medal. The United Nations awarded him their highest award for life saving," Shelly said.

  Chief Dickson said, "He received several awards for bravery and life saving, but those couldn't bring back the people who died. Richard saw himself as just doing his duty and living up to the code. I understand that now, I'm ashamed to admit. I saw some of his papers and awards a few moments ago with Shelly. Now I want us to work together to help him recover from the trauma he's still suffering from, regardless of how much shit Richard throws back at us. I hope you're all with Shelly and me."

  "How are we going to do this? What exactly do we have to do?" Alex asked.

  Isaac replied, "Treat Richard like a friend, even if he doesn't respond. Accept his remarks as if they weren't intended to hurt. Listen to anything he says and think twice before you respond. Don't say anything you'd be ashamed of saying to your mother if she was sick."

  "His outer wounds have healed, but his inner wounds haven't. No one thought to check for those. It's up to us to treat those wounds and complete the healing process," Shelly said.

  Moments later, the team members each gave their word as a shipmate.

  ***

  Space Rescue One returned to its station. Docking was routine if not boring. Moments after shutting off the thrusters and securing the access corridor to an inner hatch, a number of personnel entered the station for some relaxation after what turned out to be a minor emergency.

  On their scale of one to five, it was a five. Their scale was arranged so that no one could exaggerate the urgency of something by adding onto the scale. Level one was the highest priority threat level. For a ship emergency to deserve that rating, there had to already be a major loss of life or atmosphere from the ship. Very few ship captains wished to be involved in a level one emergency. If anything, most ship captains underestimated their level of danger in their reports.

  That hardly mattered, however, since the dispatcher at the space station was the one who assigned the real danger level to the emergency. Following systematic procedures and policies, they carefully and diligently assigned accurate danger estimates to all assignments the space rescue ships responded to. Only rarely did a rescue ship ever respond without information as to the nature of the incident.

  Those personnel not going "ashore" onto the station either relaxed at their duty stations or in lounges. Others performed necessary maintenance chores, keeping the ship in a state of constant preparedness.

  Technician Jimmy Clarke tuned into the Internet news to pick up on the latest political turmoil. If something happened, he didn't want to be surprised. Keeping at it with a hawk-like diligence, he wasn't likely to be surprised by much of what unfolded. Some of it was exactly as he predicted. With more and more information, his predictions became more accurate.

  "Jim! Aren't you going ashore?" asked Tim quite eagerly.

  Jimmy answered, "Not yet. I want to catch up on the news. My folks barely escaped alive from the food riots in New Orleans last year."

  "So? What good will it do you if you hear about another riot near them? You can't reach them in time."

  "I know that. I'm not stupid, but I want to know anyway. My father told me that a man is better off knowing about things than not."

  "But isn't it useless information?" asked Tim.

  "Not really. For one thing, the stock markets like trouble. They don't like good news," Jimmy answered.

  "Say that again. I'm not sure I heard you right. I thought stock owners liked good news."

  "Not really. Good news means you're not making progress. Bad news is what makes the stock market hum along and make money. You see, bad news presents an opportunity for a new product to come along to solve the problems that make up the bad news. No one has to invent anything new when there's only good news. For instance, when the United States landed on Mars, it represented both good news and bad news. The good news was that we could get there. The bad news was that it had no atmosphere and water to support human life. When the military began terraforming Mars, it presented lots of problems since no one did it before. That's when the military-industrial complex got into gear to create solutions. The military wound up with a mission once more that was important. Industry received hundreds, no thousands of contracts for everything from microbes to rugged land vehicles. It wasn't the quantity of those that the military ordered, but the special purpose of them that mattered. Industry almost set its own pricing for the whole deal. Consequently, it made a bundle and the stock market showed similar profits."

  "But what good is it to know about a riot?" asked Tim.

  "Same principle. The town has to be rebuilt. Some people are going to rebuild the same thing. Others are going to innovate. You evaluate the innovators and invest in the sound planners and products. Pretty soon, you won't have to worry about how much you make as a rescue technician."

  "Is that what you're doing?" asked Tim.

  "That's what my whole family does. However, I'm sure as hell not out here for the money. This is something more than that for me. This is a job I take great pride in. That's why I'm with the Chief all the way in helping Richard. Like the Chief said, I'm not going to constantly hang around Richard so that he figures out what we're doing. I'm going to just be myself and follow the rest of our plan when I have the opportunity to make a difference."

  "You're suggesting that I was going to look up Richard?"

  "Not at all. I'm simply saying that we don't have to place ourselves out of context in order to help Richard. He's not stupid."

  "And I am. Right?" asked Tim.

  "Wrong. You're simply too eager. If you go
ashore, then make sure you hang out where you usually hang out. Don't let yourself stick out like a deckedout runway fashion model at a nudist farm."

  "You sure about that?" asked Tim.

  "I'm sure. Now go on and enjoy yourself. Don't go looking for Richard. All you have to do is remember how to deal with him if he happens upon you."

  "All right, I will."

  Jimmy watched Tim leave while he reached for the volume control. Something was happening judging by the news flash symbols on the news icons on the monitor. He selected one news syndicate and listened.

  "All indications are that this was a terrorist action directed against the colonists on Mars. Our reports are sketchy, but we believe the death toll to be in the dozens. No group has yet claimed responsibility . . ."