Ringship Discretion Page 4

  She looked at her gauge. "Not bad. About four hours". The captain looked up at Helen wincing a bit from the light. "We'll be back in two hours and we'll eat while we refill our tanks. Let me know if anything changes." With that he turned and pushed himself out the hatch. Amelia followed.

  They skimmed down the black beams of the Earth ship toward what was left of the rear section. Amelia stared up in awe. "Jesus, they just don't look this big until you're touching them". The crisscrossed beams glided by as the stars winked in and out behind them. When they finally reached the aft section, they could see the hatch that Ben had cut. Atticus went in first. Amelia was looking down at the charred tan wreckage of the Vigilant 100 meters below, its rear superstructure ripped open like a beer can. Attie tapped her. "Come on".

  She turned and pushed herself in. It was dark inside and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. Once her vision began to return, she pushed on, but her helmet caught on something. She tried to shake it loose, but she could feel it had mass. She reached up and tilted back to see what it was. A frozen bloodshot face greeted her. She let out a yell and Attie whipped around and pushed the body away from her. "You OK?!"

  She nodded repeatedly. "Yeah, it just startled the hell out of me!" She moved up close to Attie with one arm holding on to his suit.

  AJ came over the comm. "You guys alright?! I heard a scream".

  Attie responded "Yes, just got startled by a dead crewman. We should be there in a few minutes".

  AJ came back. "Good! I'm really getting the creeps hanging out in this ship by myself".

  As they proceeded down the passageway toward the rear, Attie said "Look, 'United States Homeworld Security', but with black patches. They should be gold"

  Amelia asked "What does this SSD underneath mean?"

  "I don't know, never heard of that. Whoever they are, they're not regular military. Come on, let's keep going". Their helmet lights lit up the main passageway. The emergency lighting was still on in places, but it wasn't very bright. The ship was very stately looking in its colors and residual perfect orderliness. It was probably a very tightly run ship before all this happened.

  Amelia pointed down the passage. "Look! Its AJ!" Attie held her back and pointed to an inward facing metal shard from a hull breach. "Careful not to snag your suit".

  Ben's voice came over the comm. "Good of you to join us! We've found most of what we need and then some."

  Atticus stopping himself at a door frame. "It's good to hear your voice! We are at AJ's location and will be to you in a few minutes. Hey, you have any idea what this SSD on their uniforms stands for?"

  Ben replied "Not really, but by the look of this ship and the tech they've got, this is an elite group with good funding. Probably black ops of some kind working for the president or a senator. We found warp communication probes, so that gives you a clue as to depth of their pockets".

  AJ asked quietly. "What are those?" Atticus looked at him, "I'll tell you when we get back to the ship".

  After a few more passageways, an opened hatchway led to a large hangar area. The port side was open to space, with pieces of what used to be the Vigilant randomly floating about, including a large rocket nozzle the size of a small house sitting half inside what used to be a shuttle craft. Out of the wreckage came Ben and he waved. The three of them pushed off the wall toward the wreckage. As they got close they used their small suit thrusters to slow them. "Hey Ben! Watcha got?"

  Ben pointed to the neat piles on the hangar deck. "M24s with grenade launchers, ammo, AI probes, your grav plate control modules, one from this shuttle and one from that one over there, a pile of C7 explosives with remote detonators, brain scanners, relays, fuses, and a whole case of chocolate! I was just about to cut the front off this shuttle and take the entire radar and sensor assembly too."

  Atticus looked at everything "Chocolate?!....OK, so how are we going to get all this back to ship?"

  Amelia moved up and pointed to the massive hole in the hangar. "If we take back the drive control modules, we can simply bring the ship in here through the port breach and just load."

  Attie looked at her and sent her a kiss. "Brilliant! Let's do it. Atticus looked back a Ben "Great work! Where's Doc?" Ben pointed to the other shuttle. Atticus continued "OK, everyone grab the modules and whatever else you can carry and lets get back to the ship. We will fly back for the rest. Doc, did you copy that?"

  Doc replied "Yes sir, just grabbing medical supplies off this shuttle. Be there in a minute".

  Amelia grabbed the modules, stuffed her pockets with the C7 and picked up the case of detonators. Ben grabbed one of the M24s and stuffed his pockets with ammo and chocolate. Atticus and AJ each grabbed a rifle and slung them over their shoulders. Atticus then grabbed a brain scanner and the AI probes. AJ turned to get the box of relays when his rifle caught on a tube from the rocket nozzle. He instinctively yanked to free it and his right arm cut across a piece of shrapnel and sliced open his suit. He stopped. "Oh shit."

  Atticus asked. "What?"

  AJ covered the slice with his left hand and looked up at Atticus with a look of an apology and plea for help.

  Atticus let go of everything and grabbed AJ. "Help! He's punctured his suit!" Atticus grabbed AJ's arm and applied pressure to the cut. Droplets of blood were spraying out and freezing. "AJ, can you pull you arm into your suit?!" He weakly said "It hurts...no, I can't, I'm trying."

  Amelia asked "Doc, do you have any kind of tape or something to seal a suit?!" Doc said "No! But can you bring him here?! I have O2 and this shuttle still seals."

  Ben reached over and turned up AJ pressure valve. AJ's suit re-inflated slightly, but more blood and air shot out of the arm. The captain looked at Ben. "Grab this arm! Me and Amelia will push. Let's get him over to the other shuttle". They pulled him around to the starboard side of the smashed shuttle and braced to push off. The captain looked at everyone. "Ready? 1, 2, 3!" All 4 of them flew across the hangar toward the other shuttle. Atticus looked at AJ's face. The inside of his helmet had blood splattering. "AJ! AJ! Come on AJ! God Dammit AJ!"

  Amelia yelled "Attie! Brakes!"

  Attie looked ahead. "Shit! Fire in 2, 1!" They both fired their suit thrusters trying to slow them down, but they hit the hatch door hard and almost went over it. Doc grabbed them as they hit and pulled them down. They all climbed in and shut the inner and outer hatches. The shuttle was already powered up. Doc hit the pressurization button and a rush of air flooded into the cabin. They waited as the cabin pressurized. Amelia was having a hard time seeing AJ's face with all the blood and condensation on the inside of his helmet, and she instinctively tried to wipe it clean with her glove. "Attie! I can't see him!" The cabin indicator finally turned green to indicate the air level was safe.

  Doc motioned "Help me get this suit off of him!" They floated him in the air and began to remove his helmet. Fog rolled out of the seal as the doc caught the base of his neck. As AJ's head appeared out of the helmet, blood was bubbling from his nose. Doc removed his glove and reached around AJ's neck to feel for a pulse. Everyone watched anxiously, but no one said a thing, not wanting to block the radio channel from important discussion.

  The captain finally asked. "Doc?".

  Doc kept his hand on AJ's neck and leaned forward. Moisture appeared on the front of Doc's helmet, vaporized and appeared again. "He's alive! I have to get the blood out of his nose. You guys get this suit off so I can seal up his cut next.”

  The captain asked "Where is all this blood coming from?"

  Doc ripped a piece of shirt off of AJ and used it to soak up some of the blood on AJ's face. "I think this is just a nose bleed, but in zero G it's not good".

  They began to pull the suit down and Ben's suit alarm went off. Ben looked at his gauge. "Captain, I only have 30 minutes of air left."

  The captain looked up. "Doc, I assume you don't need all of us in here?"

  The Doc shook his head while ripping AJ's bloody shirt sleeve in half.

 
The captain continued. "Amelia, you and Ben get back to the ship. Forget everything else, just get those control modules installed and bring the ship back here. And grab one of those air tanks there in case you have a problem."

  Amelia looked over at Ben and used her head to signal while she said "Aye, let's go." She touched AJ's face, turned, grabbed a spare O2 container and they headed to the air lock. As they entered the air lock she asked "Ben, you got everything you need?"

  He felt his pockets "I dropped most of what I had, just the rifle and the ammo in my pockets, oh, and a few chocolate bars." as he pulled one out. He looked at her. "I assume you have the control modules?"

  She felt her pockets to make sure. "Yes".

  They pushed off the shuttle and floated toward the hatch they had entered through. Amelia looked over at the other shuttle and she could see the supplies that had been cast away to save AJ drifting in all directions. "We'll have to round up all those supplies again when we return, I just hope none of them drift out the breach."

  That made Ben look over. "Oh, yeah. Nah, I don't think they'll drift too far." Another alarm went off and everyone heard it because Ben had his comm open. He then said "Crap! 15 minutes left! Am I using that much air?! There has to be a leak! I am going to lower the pressure in my suit a bit."

  The captain came on. "Careful Ben. Amelia, keep a close eye on him." As she fired her suit jets to steer and slow her approach towards the hatch "I will..and how is AJ?".

  Doc spoke. "He should be fine. He's got some damage to his arm. I think I can regenerate everything, but he might be down for a few days". Amelia relaxed a bit "Oh, that's good news! We are leaving the hangar hatch now. Be back in a short while with the ship."

  Ben and Amelia rushed through the ship as fast as they could go. In under 5 minutes, they were already to the hatch Ben had cut into. Ben looked over at her. "Don't loose that air!"

  She gripped it tightly "Not on your life!"

  He looked at her again. "Exactly!" and they exited the ship and started their way down the superstructure.

  Helen came on. "Hey guys! You're back! I was getting worried."

  Amelia responded. "Helen, AJ's been hurt, but doc says he'll be OK. As for us, Ben is low on air pressu..." Helen interrupted "What do you mean?! What happened?! Are you going.." Amelia raised her voice over Helen's. "Helen! I need you to pressurize the cabin first. Ben is out of air! I will explain everything as soon as we get there". Helen paused, then acknowledged.

  Amelia was watching the cross members float buy when something caught her attention. "What was that?"

  Ben asked "What?"

  She pointed. "I saw a flash and sparks. It came from.." Ben grabbed her and swung both of them into a girder. "Muzzle flash! SHIT! We are taking fire! Amelia hold on to me!" She grabbed the girder while wrapping her arm around the O2 tank and held him with her other hand. He pulled the M24 off his back and loaded it.

  Everyone started trying to talk on the static filled comms at the same time and the captain yelled "Quiet dammit! Ben, what's zzz sit...tion?" Ben swung his head and the rifle around the beam and a spark lit up the insides of his helmet. "We're under fire from small arms on the superstructure. He saw the next muzzle flash and fired a burst at it. The burst made him spin around the beam and Amelia's grip slipped.

  Amelia yelled "Shit! Don't let go!"

  Ben grabbed the girder with his right hand just as Amelia lost her own grip. In a bit of panic, she reached for the girder again and the O2 bottle slipped away.

  Ben pulled himself back up against the girder. "Whoa! That was a bad idea!"

  Amelia then pulled herself to him. "I lost the bottle!"

  Ben turned his head and could see it floating down away from them. He looked at his air. "6 minutes. Captain, we got ourselves in a bit of a pickle here".

  The captain tried to reply "We are..zzzz way zzzz..zzz.be.zzz.oon".

  Ben pushed talk again. "Say again? We did not copy".

  "On zzz way... zz ....ere soon.."

  "Roger, that sir. I only saw a single muzzle flash, so it may just be one guy. He is on the opposite side of the superstructure from us." He looked at his gauge. "Five minutes. Amelia, can you get above me, but stay behind the girder. I am going to try to get a better grip so I can at least return fire". She maneuvered above him, careful not to expose herself past the edges. Ben pushed his feet against the left and right insides of the I-beam and held on with his left hand. He peeked around the right side and took aim. Again he saw muzzle flashes. There were three in a row and after the third, he felt a slight tug on his suit. He pulled the trigger for a single shot. The recoil kicked him back and he lost his grip. He quickly hit the thruster buttons to get back to the beam. "Shit! This isn't working!" He started getting light headed and his O2 alarm went off. He looked down at his gauge "0". "Oh shit!" He turned and looked for the spare tank. It was now about 20 meters down. He pushed off the girder and leapt for it. He bear hugged it as he hit it, his rifle swinging around and smacking the back of his helmet.

  Amelia yelled "Ben!"

  Ben grabbed his emergency connect hose and tried to snap it on the tank, but things were getting fuzzy. He tried again, but still couldn't get it. "Dammit, I..this isn't..it won't.."

  A hand reached around him and snapped the connector on, while a second opened the valve. Amelia's voice came over the comm. "I got you Ben!" She grabbed him tight and fired her suit thrusters in the direction of the Discretion and kept firing them. She could see more muzzle flashes as they accelerated and then there was a second set of flashes from further back on the ship.

  The captain came on. "Got the bastard! Get to the ship! I'm going to take care of those assholes once and for all! Give them a little taste of their own medicine!"

  Amelia let up off the thrusters, and then she realized how fast she was going, and hit reverse to slow them. As Amelia and Ben approached the ship, Ben's head started to clear and he said "Thanks! I owe you one. Damn that was close!" Amelia turned her head to respond just as all the dark areas of the Discretion and the superstructure lit up. They both turned to look back at the BB ship. The power was back up. "Captain? Is that you?"

  He replied "Yes." Then an intense white light appeared in the direction of Orion, and that's when Amelia saw traces of a beam coming from the rear of the black hulk they had just left. There were several flashes as the detached bridge of the black ship disintegrated under the intense heat of Atticus's laser fire. Then the blackness of the sky returned to normal as the Sun-like glow faded.

  Amelia asked "Attie?" There was no response. Amelia and Ben floated into the airlock and shut the outer door. They could hear the whoosh of air filling the airlock.

  Helen banged on the inner door and her face appeared in view-port. "You guys OK?!". Ben gave a thumbs up.

  Helen said "I set the inner pressure to only 40 kPa, so you guys can come in as soon as the lock equalizes."

  Amelia said "Thanks Helen!" Then the lock lights turned green and they opened the inner door.

  Ben detached his helmet and let it float free. "Damn it's good to be out of that thing! Jesus, I'm hungry! And he grabbed one of the chocolate bars from his pocket.

  Amelia took off her helmet and tried to contact Attie again. "Attie, you there? You OK?"

  Attie's response was "Yes, we are on our way to you. Get those modules installed. We don't want to leave AJ too long".

  Helen's face was horror stricken and she looked at Ben and Amelia for answers.

  Amelia said to her "He is OK. He's in a pressurized shuttle. He cut his suit and arm, but your husband says he'll be fine in a few days"

  Ben started to take off his suit and Amelia stopped him. "No, we still have to install these modules" as she pointed to her pocket. "And remember there's no atmosphere in the engine room." His face sank and he took a deep breath and blew it out. "OK, let's get this shit done". He shoved the rest of the chocolate into his mouth and put his helmet back on. He tested the integrity of the seal by upping the p
ressure of the suit by 5 kPa, but it quickly dropped again. "Damn, I really must have a hole somewhere" He looked at the spare tank he had been using. It read 10%. "Whoa! I was almost out of air again!"

  Amelia started looking around his suit. "Oh my god! You've been hit!"

  Ben's face turned to surprise. "What?! Where?"

  Amelia chuckled. "It looks like your ass!"

  Ben was trying to twist his body to see, but it was no use.

  Amelia radioed "Captain, Ben's been shot. We have to get him out of his suit".

  He replied "We are at the outer hatch now. See you in a second".

  Ben took his helmet back off and they began removing his suit. As they slid the suit past his waist he jerked. "Damn! Felt that! I think the adrenaline is wearing off."

  As the captain opened the inner hatch, he found Amelia floating behind Ben holding his pants down, while Ben was squirming to see. The captain asked "What the hell is going here? What kind of kinky shit you pullin' Ben?!"

  Ben and Amelia suddenly realized how stupid they must have looked and lost it! The captain couldn't help but laugh as well.

  Doc squeezed through. "Let me take a look".

  Ben replied "Sure, why not! Everyone gather round and stare at my ass!". As a committee formed behind him, Ben reached for another Chocolate bar.

  Doc pulled the regenerator out of his pouch. "It's just a graze. Hold still and I'll fix it."

  The captain piped up. "OK, that's enough ass watching! Amelia, you're with me. Let's go get those modules installed".

  Doc applied the regenerator. "OK, it'll be sore for a few days, but you'll be fine".

  Ben looked back and with a mouth full of chocolate. "Thanks doc! I'm heading to the galley." He pulled his trousers up and floated off towards the galley.

  Amelia and Atticus got to the engine room and looked in through the hatch portal. "We're going to have to seal this deck and depressurize the whole thing". She nodded "Yeah, I'll grab the stairway hatch". She floated up the stairs and pulled the hatch down, sealing it. "OK. Helen, can you release the pressure on the engineering deck?"