by F. E. Arliss
She and Katyia had done the same. The absolute insolence of it had been a total rush. Not that jumping without shields or lights, which is what they were doing, wasn’t rush enough. Johanna loved it! She and Katyia often joked about dying happy by splatting onto a deck somewhere endorphins roaring, then smack! Nothingness. Awesome! What a way to go!
Johanna had to give the Major credit. He took it well. Complimented them on being ‘complete psychopaths’, winked at Johanna, then stumped off barking orders. Katyia had, unfortunately, caught the wink and teased her about it. Johanna wasn’t sure if he’d just winked at her as a fluke, he had something in his eye, or if he liked her. Any of those things could have been true. She’d shoved those thoughts out of her head and was currently bent over a hydraulic tube that was malfunctioning on one of the jump ship loaders.
Toby Cook came over to her and asked how things were going. His mine field project was progressing a little more slowly than he would have liked and he had come to commiserate and gossip. Sometimes she thought he was worse than any little old lady back home. Toby knew everything about the goings on of the supply platform and they’d only been there a day or two.
Today, the gossip was about the incident in the training room upstairs. Did she know that Captain Sedgewick and Lieutenant Rustalov had double-teamed Major Bergstrom and brought him to the mat? Did she know that he’d then bench-pressed two-hundred and fifty pounds? He’d taken the mat take-down well, and Captain Sedgewick had been equally impressed with his weight-lifting prowess. Did Johanna think that Major Bergstrom was earning the respect of the men. What did she think about his leadership?
“Stop Toby!” Johanna exclaimed. “Give the Major some slack, will you,” she demanded. “He’s new here. Think back to what it was like when you were new. He’s also replacing a traitor and taking command of a guard unit, Tiger Guard, that has been completely demoralized! You need to lighten up!” She exclaimed.
Toby’s kindly face fell. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I was letting my love of gossip, commandeer my good sense,” he said with a sad sigh. “I do so love a good confab. You certainly defended the Major with aplomb. Are you sure you weren’t on a debate team?” he asked suspiciously.
“No, but my roommate, Sophie, was. And she was good. I had to practice with her for eons over the space of years. If I’m good at fending off verbal nonsense, it’s because of Sophie!” Johanna said laughingly. “Now you know! Fear the Van Heusen,” she said waving a light wrench at him threateningly. “Go back to your mine field and try not to get blown up, ok,” she said to his retreating back. Toby flipped her a grin and the bird.
Johanna went back to the jump ship and leaned thoughtfully over the hydraulics. In her opinion, Chloe and Katyia might have been a little hard on the new Major. Her brow wrinkled slightly. Why was she defending him? A guy like that in Paris would have had her complete and utter disgust. French men knew better. That was why. This poor guy didn’t have a clue. He just needed some sensitivity coaching. Man, she was going soft in the head, she thought to herself despairingly. Shaking it all off, she went back to work.
At the same time, Carlo Bergstrom was leaned back in a lounge chair in the station’s observatory room wondering if he’d just seen the most beautiful woman he’d ever clapped eyes on. Why had he been such an idiot when addressing them? Why had he winked at her like some sort of lecherous weirdo when he could have taken the time to introduce himself and acted like a normal guy?
She’d been so beautiful with her long wild black curls, long neck and creamy latte-like skin. Geeze, those legs and a beautiful tush. Italians liked tush and Carlo couldn’t disagree. He’d never actually thought about it much before, but that Johanna Van Heusen rocked the most gorgeous pair of long legs that ended in a lush rear-end. She was stunning.
He’d try to act like less of an idiot next time. With that thought he heaved himself back in the lounger to try to visualize how to better handle the situation with the Corpsmen. He needed to get a handle on this.
Over the next several weeks, he forced himself to greet her and ask her how her shifts were going. He questioned her about her work and complimented her on some of her projects. She really was a very good engineer. He’d tried to channel his suave brothers when he talked to her and so far, hadn’t made a complete idiot of himself. He’d refrained from winking at her too. Thank God!
Chapter Eleven
Explosions
Several weeks later Johanna finished fastening the last of the bolts into the new laser turrets and stepped back carefully in her thruster suit to admire her work. Her projects were really coming along well. The new Major for Tiger Guard, Carlo Bergstrom, had sought her out and asked her about some of the work she was doing. He’d communicated just fine and she was beginning to like him a lot. If the look in his soft brown eyes when he talked to her meant anything, he was beginning to like her a bit too! Stop ruminating girl, and get on with your work, she chided herself and turned back to the magnetized work bench to check the status of her other work orders.
Just then a great cracking, whump sounded throughout the platform, causing vibrations that made Johanna clench her teeth to stop the eerie energy that coursed through her suit’s system to stop. Taking several leaps through space, Johanna headed for the interior hatch and tabbed her comms to find out what happened.
“Toby, let me in! What in hell is going on?” She demanded.
“Mine explosion in the outer ring,” he retorted brusquely. Being abrupt was not one of Toby’s usual tactics, so she knew something was up. “Hatch opening now,” he continued.
Johanna dived into the hatch and punched the red lever that would equalize the pressure. As soon as it turned green, she tore off her helmet and heavy mechanized boots, and punched the green button to enter the mechanics bay. Technicians were running everywhere.
“Major Bergstrom ordered a ship-wide ordnance scan,” Toby Cook gasped out at her, his face red, as he tried to take orders from one set of comms and give them on another. “Here, you take the incoming comms. Then tell me what to do,” he begged. “This shit is just way above my pay grade,” he continued exasperatedly. Then shoved one set of comm devices in her direction.
Johanna took it and calmly clipped it in place. “This is Corpsman Van Heusen. Ensign Cook has been deployed to…,” Johanna scanned the list of new projects. “He’s been deployed to check for ordnance on the dark side of the platform. What can I help you with, Major Bergstrom?” She continued calmly.
“Find Lieutenant McCormick and get his ass on this ordnance sweep!” barked Major Bergstrom. “We’ve got wounded out in the mine field, as one of the mines exploded pre-maturely. It may be sabotage! I need McCormick checking the rest of that mine field for any off-norm sensor readings,” the Major continued. “Are those laser turrets operational?”
“They should be, sir,” Johanna replied. “I just finished fastening the last external anchors when the claxtons engaged.”
“Then fire them up and let weapon’s systems know they’re online. We may need them shortly,” Bergstrom barked.
“Yes, sir,” Johanna answered, then proceeded to begin a laser turret test.
“Are you the lead engineer down there right now?” Major Bergstrom demanded.
“Uh, yes sir,” Johanna answered uncertainly, looking around for anyone else who might want to take the comms. The entire bay turned their backs on her. It looked like she was in the hot seat, as Lieutenant McCormick and Ensign Cook were nowhere to be seen.
“Then stand by, I may need you,” he snapped and then was gone. Johanna heaved a sigh of relief and proceeded with her laser check. It was looking good, so she commed weapon’s systems and let them know it was operational.
Just as she looked around to start on another project, there was another crunching whump as explosion reverberated through the station. Now that she was on the interior, she could feel that this detonation was different. It was part of the station. The other explosion, from the sabotaged mi
ne, had rippled through her suit when she was outside on the hull. This feeling was different. Deeper and more grinding, as it shook the platform.
Before she could even process how this made her feel, Major Bergstrom was in her ear again. “Get down to starboard side, level 1. There’s been a detonation on the exterior of the hull. Get it sealed! Now!” The Major bellowed.
“On my way, sir!” Johanna replied, and was off and running. She grabbed up an emergency engineering go-bag, and asked two other Ensigns to accompany her. When they reached the locking door to the area that had been breached, they each stepped into protective suits and attached helmets over their heads. The materials would all be cold to the touch as they were exposed to outside air temperatures. Not having direct skin contact was essential, not to mention that the oxygen would have all been sucked out into the void.
Palming the pressurized lock shut behind them, they waited until the green light showed, then slapped open the door and floated out into the cargo bay. It was chaos. Pieces of shrapnel and large twisted waste floated around the area. Slowly jetting over to the gap in the hull, Johanna gestured for the two Ensigns to help her spread the thick, sealing-membrane from the go-bag over the hole.
Membrane was unwieldy, especially in zero-g. It took all their strength to get it stretched over the hole and the edges sealed with the blow torches. Johanna and one of the Ensigns worked in tandem to seal the breach, while the other watched out for falling debris.
As the seal engaged and re-pressurization began to take place, large chunks of floating junk might have taken them and the seal out, if not for the vigilance of Ensign Taggart. Johanna would find out that Taggart and Smith were the two men who had helped her seal the breach. They’d been great help and not afraid to take orders from a woman. She’d remember them.
Once the gap was resealed, they all peeled off their suits. “Thanks guys, I appreciate your help. Let’s get back to engineering and see what’s happening,” she gasped out. “That’s damn hard work! And well done,” she praised them grinning. They high-fived her with return smiles. “Major Bergstrom,” Johanna spoke into her comm. “Hull breach on Level 1 is contained and re-pressurization complete.”
“Good job Corpsman. Return to engineering,” the Major replied. “We’ve got an enemy vessel on the port side by Bay 2. We’re engaging. Get there on the double. We might have engineering issues,” he barked. Even as he said that, another repercussive blast echoed through the platform.
Johanna looked at Taggart and Smith, raised an eyebrow and asked, “Shall we?”
Chapter Twelve
The Major
Friggin’ little bastards seemed to be everywhere. First there was an accidental detonation in the mine field. Captain Sedgewick and Lieutenant Rustalov had suited up and jetted out to bring the injured man, Ensign Collins, back aboard from the minefield. He’d set every team to making a sweep of the station for other intruders. Then there’d been an explosion on the starboard side. Corpsmen Van Heusen had been the only tech available, and she’d had it sealed in no time. She appeared extremely competent.
Then Captain Sedgewick reported a small vessel docked beneath Bay 2. Before she could even get the wounded mine-laying tech on board, there’d been another explosion. He and his squad, the Tiger Guard, were heading at a dead run to engage the vessel. He wanted to blow the little shits into space trash. They were making his first command a real pain in the ass.
Arriving at the door to Bay 2, he slapped the shield on his helmet down, glanced back at his squad to make sure they were in place, and slapped the entrance pad. All seemed calm, then his gaze found the target, as he slid around the wall and into the bay. It was still pressurized, as a temporary landing membrane had been attached to the outer hull above a magnetized portable hull dock.
Two assailants in black were trying to disengage the jammed magnetized plate they’d used to anchor to the hull. It appeared that the they were trying to flee. “What, blow a hole, then run? What the hell was that?” Clearly a distraction. Still they were going to be a dead distraction if he had anything to do with it.
Motioning for two members of his squad to circle to the left, he and his Lieutenant slid to the right. For a large man, he moved with surprising grace. Coming noiselessly up behind a large supply crate, he aimed with slow deliberation and put a laser hole right between the second man’s eyes. At the same time his team on the other side, brought down the other assailant.
Walking over to survey the bodies, he noted that they didn’t seem to be any sort of regulation soldiers. They had on a lightweight, very high-tech body armor and were both of Asian descent. Interesting.
Just then Corpsman Van Heusen bounded into the bay followed by two mechanic’s assistants. She looked at the downed bodies, narrowed her eyes over their Asian features, then dismissed it all to run over and examine the temporary membrane docking bay.
“Want me to get rid of all this, sir?” Johanna asked. Then grinned, and gestured to the temporary anchor and membrane. “We can patch the hull from the inside, then depressurize the bay and disengage all this from the outside. Plus, we can winch the ship into the bay so you can look it over at your leisure, sir,” she added.
Major Bergstrom could tell she was excited to get started. Damn, she was a beauty, he thought to himself. And even more so, when she was enthused about something. When he’d seen her in the landing bay after the dark drop, she’d been on an adrenaline surge and he didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful sight.
Shaking himself out of that reverie, he grinned back, and said, “Knock yourself out, Corpsman. I’ll expect a full report on the bridge in twenty minutes.”
“It will take quite a bit longer than that, sir. But I can get my team working on it and report to you. Then come back and help them finish it,” she parried, glancing up questioningly.
“Yes, good,” he snapped and left silently.
“That is just so surprising the way he walks without any noise when he’s so huge,” Johanna said to herself. Then said, “What?!” To the two Ensigns who looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “It is amazing that that two-hundred fifty-pound behemoth can slip around like a wraith! Admit it! It’s awesome!” She added. Then shook her head at them and went back to work.
Twenty minutes later she headed to the bridge to report to Major Bergstrom. They’d made good headway and already patched the hull from the interior. She’d gone over a plan with Ensigns Taggart and Smith on how to remove the docking membrane and the magnetized plate. They were securing the small space craft to a winching system as she walked.
Pinging the comm to enter the bridge, she waited patiently for the door to slide open. A whoosh sounded as the door opened to reveal a bridge with a crew of five men at different stations. Major Bergstrom was seated at the main console and turned in his chair to face her. “Report please, Corpsman Van Heusen,” he stated evenly.
“The rupture is sealed on the interior, sir. We’ve also secured the craft with a winching system and it’s currently being hauled into Bay Two. After it’s secured, we will proceed with removal of the temporary docking tube and the magnetized dock clamp. It should all go smoothly. I developed a plan and Ensigns Taggart and Smith are comfortable executing it,” Johanna reported solemnly.
“Good. Excellent work, Corpsman,” Bergstrom said staring at her. Johanna shifted uncomfortably, her eyes straying to a blood-spattered chair just behind the Major. Debris hung from the ceiling and several chunks of metal littered the floor. Seeing the direction of her gaze, Major Bergstrom said, “Explosions tore loose some header. One of the crew got a whacking-good head wound out of it. Your roommate fixed him up and took him to the med bay. She had an impressive sword battle outside the bridge with a masked ninja. It was all pretty well done, wasn’t it boys?” The Major asked his crew.
A chorus of ‘yeses’ came from all around. “Why didn’t you just open the bridge door and shoot the guy?” Johanna asked hesitantly.
Major Berg
strom sighed, “We thought about it. After that display in the gym where she decked me because I was condescending, I thought maybe she would think it was condescending to open the door and shoot him. So, we let her duke it out with him, which was a mistake.” A chorus of ‘uh huhs’ echoed behind him.
“Could you step into the ready-room for a moment, Ensign,” the Major asked, motioning to the small office to one side of the bridge. He followed her in and let the doors whoosh shut behind them. “I think I’ve really stepped in it this time, Ensign Van Heusen. I didn’t help Lieutenant Rustalov and she got very angry about it. It’s very confusing. I’m not sure when I’m supposed to help and when I’m not. Suffice it to say, she’s pissed off again,” he sighed out with a shake of his massive head. “I just wanted to let you know that I regret my actions in not coming to her assistance. I’ll apologize to her as soon as thing are back to a safe status,” he assured her stiffly.
Johanna didn’t know why he was telling her this, but she surmised it was because he didn’t want her to think less of him. He was so sweet. She’d try to explain that to Katyia. For now, she said nothing, just nodded at him confirming that she understood. Well, she thought she understood.
Coming back to his command senses, he said “Good work in Bay Two, Corpsman. Please see about repairs to the control room ceiling and bulkhead. I’ll leave it in your capable hands,” he continued and turned his back on her.
“Yes, sir. I will see to it, sir,” she said, then turned and escaped. Oh, holy shit, she thought. The poor guy is completely lost when it came to women. For some reason, she felt sorry for him. Though Johanna was sure that sweet wasn’t the word Katyia or Chloe would use to describe him, he was. Sighing, she realized he might need a little coaching on things. Chloe could help him, or maybe the new ship’s counselor. She’d ask.