by Ben Winston
“Well, yes and no, I can only wonder at the conditions after so many years of war, but there are several ... vessels, for the lack of a better description, so, for at least part of the war, the base had to have been underwater. We could use one of those to recover any survivors, if we knew how to drive/fly/operate them. I should mention that all of them seem to be armed. There is a lot of technology there that we simply don’t understand yet.”
“How long would it take you to figure it out?” Ben asked.
“Well, we called on a couple of former pilots from our sister pods, and a few ex-military to help us go over them. One of the pilots says she thinks she could fly it, but wouldn’t feel comfortable or certain until she had some time behind the controls. As soon as we get power back to the base, we should be able to supply power to the simulators we found. That way, they should be able to safely get some flying time in,” Marcy explained.
Ben seemed disappointed. “So, not for a month or so. I don’t think this guy’ll have that long. Maybe someone will find him before the storm kills him. Besides, a technologically advanced society should be able to locate a life boat, right?”
“I would think so, Ben, but how long should we let him float up there?” Marcy asked.
Instead of answering her, he was thoughtful for a moment. “Could you send that pilot to see me please? I’d like to talk to him.”
“Sure, I’ll send her to see you as soon as I get back to the base. It’ll be nice when we get that reactor up and running. Then we could just call over there,” Marcy said as she left.
He was distracted now and couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a person or people might be in the lifeboat. He imagined they were scared no matter what else was going on. They had to have known about the storm and that they were in very deep water.
But what about the explosion that stranded that lifeboat? Was it simply an accident, or had it been deliberate? Was there still war in the outside world? Should he plan to keep the people safely hidden? He didn’t know and he desperately needed more information about the outside world. The survivors of that accident could certainly provide that information. However, was it worth risking the life of one of their pilots to find out?
Forcefully controlling his thoughts, he set the dilemma aside so he could finish the report he had started. He needed to decide if they could use the transportation system for long distance travel between pods.
When he finished the report, he ordered the replacement of several important sensors, as well as the servicing of all the emergency shelters before he would approve the use of the system.
He was about to read about the progress made in the hydroponics areas when there was a discrete knock on his door.
“Come in!” Ben replied automatically.
An athletic woman in her mid-twenties entered and smiled at him. “You asked to see me, Sir?”
Ben grinned at the ‘Sir'. It was going to take some getting used to. “Please call me, Ben,” he said as he stood and held out his hand. When she shook it, she introduced herself as Gail Greenwold. He asked her to sit. “Can I get you anything? Something to drink perhaps, coffee? Tea?”
“Just water, please. I forgot to grab a bottle when I got here.”
He got a bottle of cold water from the replicator and got himself a cup of mocha before he sat back down. “I assume you are aware of the situation above us?”
“Yeah, I was one of the ones standing there when Marcy got the news. I was in the cockpit of one of the ships when she came back and asked me to come see you,” Gail replied.
Ben nodded. “Sorry to take you away, but I need to ask; if it comes to it, do you think you could safely take the ship out and rescue any survivors in that lifeboat?”
The woman frowned slightly. “Sir, any rescue is inherently dangerous simply because of the nature of the situation. If you meant to ask if I could drive the ship safely, I believe I could. The controls are not very different from the helicopters I flew in the military. I would call them a mix of Apache, Comanche, and Chinook, with a bit of Blackhawk thrown in for good measure.
“They do have weapons as well. I’m not so sure about those, but if I needed to use them chances are the mission would be a failure anyway. I’d need time in the simulators before I could comfortably say I could fight the ship too. However, I feel confident I could do what was needed to get a team up to the surface and back safely,” she finished.
“Who would you need for a team and do you have any suggestions?” Ben asked.
She paused thoughtfully. “When we ran combat med-evac ops, we had two medics and four armed grunts. I think for this, we’d need the two medics, and at least six grunts. After all, we have no idea what caused the explosion.”
“So, two doctors, yourself, and four others with guns?” Ben asked.
“No sir, the medics shouldn’t be doctors. It’s too dangerous to risk them. My whole squadron, except for the doctors, was assigned to the pods, Sir. I can call up my flight crew and we can do this,” Gail said.
Ben went through the lists of the local pods and didn’t find any military included. “I don’t understand, there are no military units on the population lists for our pods."
“As I understand it Sir, we were listed as civilians since the military dropped us when we were assigned to the project. Ours was the last pod sealed, since we were handling transportation for those too far away for ground transport to recover,” Gail explained.
“So then the other pilots Marcy mentioned ...” Ben began and Gail nodded.
“They are the other pilots from my old squadron. I would imagine there are others that were included as well, spread out all over the world. A lot of the folks helping out at the base are ex-military.”
Ben snorted. “I hate surprises; at least this one was a good one.”
She chuckled and nodded agreement. “No leader likes surprises; it’s inherent to the job. Would you like me to get my old team together, Sir?”
“I told you; call me Ben!”
“With respect, Sir, you are my Commander, addressing you any other way would just be wrong!” Gail replied.
“Okay, okay! I’ll surrender for now. Are all your pilots’ rotary wing only?” Ben asked.
“No, Sir. We are all qualified on fighters, attack helos and even passenger jets. Our medics are PA’s certified in combat and emergency procedures, and our grunts are mostly navy SEALs or delta. All of us can teach our skills to others as well," Gail replied proudly.
Ben nodded, grinning. “I guess Dad really did think of everything. Yes, please assemble your team and do what you need to do to get ready for the rescue mission. If we need to do this it’ll be in the next day or so I think. We’re waiting for someone else to recover them, but if this storm gets worse, we’ll have to do it.”
“Again, with respect Sir, we need to go now or not at all. If that storm gets much worse it’s gonna make the surface impossible to work in. We could lose the lifeboat as well as my team,” Gail explained. "I understand your desire to keep us a secret, but if we are going to do this, it has to be now.”
“Can you tell me what you think your odds of success are?” Ben asked.
“I’d say about eighty percent and dropping every minute.”
Ben made the decision. “Go. But if you feel it’s too dangerous or there are unacceptable risks, abort. I don’t want to lose any of you, understood?"
Gail stood and saluted. “Understood, Sir.”
Ben clumsily returned the salute and she was gone so fast he wondered if she could teleport.
Sector 34871, Beta Quadrant
Planet Terral III
Cassian March
Duchy of Cassias
Hyclarion Imperial Consortium
Addson relaxed back into the reclined couch. The simple task of applying the sealant to the cracked canopy had taken all her energy and hurt tremendously. The medical computer had even warned her, twice, that she needed to hurry because she was most likely making things
worse.
“So, since I don’t have a concussion, does that mean I can safely take a nap?” Addson asked, slurring her words.
“Do you believe that your current pain level will allow for you to sleep?” The computer asked.
“Probably not, but I am feeling sleepy. I think it might be that intoxication thing you were talking about earlier. So I thought I would ask, just in case.”
“Understood. If you can sleep, I would recommend you do so. When you sleep your respiration slows, which would allow your body to re-acclimate to this atmosphere easier,” the computer replied. “I will monitor you and the status of the ship. If something changes I will awaken you.”
“Thanks, I think I will just lie here quietly and see what happens,” Addson replied with a sigh.
The medical computer remained quiet while Addson rested. It was pleased that once she had lain there for a time she did indeed fall asleep. While the ohto levels in the cabin continued to rise and finally matched those of the outside, the computer once again checked Addson’s breathing.
She was still breathing, but the computer also knew that although her lungs had accepted the new atmosphere, the rest of her body might be a little slower. Her body had originally been designed to function in an atmosphere very much like this, but since humans had joined the consortium, it had been required of them to adjust to a much thinner atmosphere in order to survive on a mixed race ship in space.
Although there were no records to support it, Addson’s race had to have originated either on this world or on one very environmentally close to it. Since ohto producing worlds were not that abundant, the choices were rather limited. Unfortunately, when the race fled their planet many thousands of cycles ago, they did so as refugees and all of their records were lost.
As the computer sat contemplating these thoughts, the barely functioning survey equipment bleeped out a warning; something was coming up from the far distant bottom. Something bigger than the skipper.
With no other recourse, no weapons and no way to hide, the small AI did the only thing it knew of to do. It began waking Addson.
Addson groaned after the third mild jolt from the computer. “What?” she finally said.
“Sensors have detected a large metallic object coming up from below us. It will surface near us in a few minutes. I awakened you as per our agreement."
That announcement made Addson’s eyes open wide. Was it the same people that had fired those missiles? No, why would they need to travel under the water? Then who could it be? In the records for this planet, there has never been a case of anything surfacing without assistance.
Well, regardless of who was about to surface, there was very little that Addson would be able to do about it. She only hoped they would help her instead of finishing off the job and kill her. She knew the object was under intelligent control since it seemed to be changing course and maneuvering so as not to surface directly under her.
It had to be the Pirates. There was no one else on the planet that needed to hide like that. The thought filled her with dread. She knew the Pirates didn’t take prisoners and had killed anyone unlucky enough to get in their way.
Addson wasn’t sure who it was once the craft did break the surface. Granted, she hadn’t known what to expect, but whatever the hell that craft was, it sure wasn’t what she expected. If these were the pirates, then they were using completely unfamiliar tech.
When the hatch opened she was shocked that the people were moving about without respirators. Suddenly, she remembered hearing that the Pirates didn’t need respirators and her fear returned full force.
The people threw a line to what was left of her skimmer and pulled her and the cockpit section into the hold of the small vessel. She could hear them talking and yelling at each other, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. She did feel a little better when one of the people wiped off a part of the canopy and peered inside. Addson saw it was a woman who smiled and waved at her, making Addson feel a little better.
“Although they appear to be human, I do not recognize the language they are speaking. I would have to connect with the main planetary data net to do more research, however,” offered the computer.
“Gods, it feels like I’m encased in ferrocrete and my head is pounding. I could have sworn you just said that you didn’t recognize the language they're speaking,” Addson replied, slowly blinking her eyes. The lights outside the pod were bright and made her head throb worse.
“I did say that. However, I would recommend you release the canopy latch before they begin ripping this hull open trying to get you out,” suggested the computer. “Not all of the equipment is damaged. Control would be grateful if we could return at least some of the equipment for salvage.”
“Somehow, I don’t think getting you back to Control will be all that easy. I don’t think these folks are the Pirates, but I don't think they want their presence known just yet either. However, before you freak out, let me try to figure out what’s going on here, okay?” Addson asked.
“In truth, there is nothing to be done anyway. The self-destruct was completely destroyed in the crash,” the AI said. “Besides, this might be an interesting adventure."
Addson released the canopy latch, and it hissed open. The woman who had waved at her, very carefully stepped inside. She was trying not to jostle Addson as well as not touch any of the equipment in the tightly packed cabin.
The woman asked her a question. Her voice was almost musical and for a brief moment, Addson thought she was beautiful. Giving herself a slight shake, she told herself that it was the drunken feeling that the computer had told her about.
Assuming the question had been either ‘How do you feel?’ or ‘Where does it hurt?’ Addson pointed to her knee and then her ribs and finally her head.
Someone asked another question and this time Addson had no idea what was asked. She shook her head, which was a bad idea and groaned as she felt herself spin and the nausea got worse. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you.”
The woman cocked her head to one side and slowly nodded her understanding. She put her hand to her own breast and said, slowly, ‘Sophia’.
Addson aped the woman and said her name as well.
Sophia smiled and said something that sounded a lot like ‘Greetings, Addson’
Smiling, Addson sighed and rested her head on the cushion of her seat. Sophia spoke to someone outside the pod and soon, people started handing her supplies.
Addson looked at the supplies curiously, and then decided to ask the computer if it knew what was going on.
“It appears that this woman, Sophia, is going to place a pressure splint on your knee to immobilize it. Try to assist her in this. It will help you greatly in the long run, although it might be painful to begin with since she will have to set it.” The injector slot opened once again and Addson took the offered injector. “As before, please inject this three to four inches above the broken area. It will help with the pain.”
Addson noticed that Sophia was watching her and had been listening, although it was clear she hadn’t understood all of the conversation. Addson smiled at her and tried to hold the injector against her leg. She was having a hard time since every time she would get it into place; she began shaking too badly to pull the trigger.
Sophia touched Addson’s hand to get her attention. When Addson looked up, Sophia gently took the injector and placed it against the leg. She looked to Addson for confirmation of the placement and Addson moved her hand a little further down, before nodding.
There was a slight hiss from the injector and Addson felt her leg from the knee down going numb again. Addson nodded to the splint and laid her head back.
Sophia very carefully lifted the broken leg up, onto the couch where she had prepared the splint. Once she had gotten it into position, she reset the bones, locked the stabilizing bars, closed the plastic and neoprene wrapping, and then triggered the CO2 inflating canister. The splint held the leg from mid-thigh, all the way
down to the ankle and would make removing Addson from the pod much less painful for her.
However, those ribs were going to cause a problem getting her out of there. Her team would need to tape the ribs, but even then, they were going to hurt like a bitch. This person seemed like a sweet girl and Sophia really didn’t want to cause her any more pain than was absolutely necessary.
Sophia wondered what kind of machine that was that gave the girl the analgesic. The language she and the machine had been speaking seemed close to Latin, but there were a lot of differences that made understanding unreliable.
Correctly assuming that she had been addressing some kind of medical computer system, Sophia addressed it, speaking Latin, to hopefully try to get a treatment plan figured out for her new patient.
After a few minutes of listening to Sophia, the PA was surprised when the computer answered her in passable Latin and letting her know the patient's name was Addson. They discussed Addson’s condition and the best way to get her out of the pod and into the infirmary.
Sophia smiled to herself. That emergency AI would certainly come in handy when trying to talk to the girl, with its knowledge of the systems that had been aboard Addson’s ship. However, the important thing was getting Addson down to the infirmary.
The fact that the occupant of the escape pod was human was a relief to the rescuers. Up to the point where they actually saw her, there had been no guarantee that she would be. It was also very obvious she was hurt badly, and the PA did everything she could to help and make her as comfortable as possible.
The technology in the pod was pretty advanced and the crew felt it would help the people to learn more about the new world they found themselves in. The fact that the girl did not speak English would hinder them, but not for long. This girl was very important to the survivors. She represented knowledge that they desperately needed in order to decide how to proceed; do they stay hidden? Is it safe for them to come out? Where the survivors in danger?
There were so many questions they needed answers to. The rescuers would report that the damage and wreckage they saw looked more like an accident than an attack, since there did not appear to be any blast damage. However, the bases sensors registered an explosion, although this wreckage did not show any signs of it. So, what caused the explosion? Was there war on the surface of the planet still? Had the human race indeed returned home only to have someone try to take it away from them?
