by Garion Swann
After he'd finished sorting through the job list he went to see the wounded, they were being readied for transport to the Galen, he spotted Tina who seemed awake.
"Hey you," he said softly.
"Grey" she smiled as she said his name weakly, "What are you doing here?"
"Engine room in trouble where else would I be." he paused, "You did a hell of a job Tina, thank you."
"You've got to protect what's yours. Otherwise, you'll lose it." She said. Being on painkillers made her voice slurred.
"I'm so sorry to hear about Erin, so she was a good person and a damn fine engineer,"
"She was just doing her job," Tina said, the weakness was replaced by a cold tone. The death had devastated her, it didn't take Grey long to work it out. He'd decided to create a role for her of Assistant Chief Engineer, he was going to tell her to give her something to look forward to but decided now was not the time, he did have to talk to Alex about it first though as he'd want to pay her a bit more. He watched as the injured were stretchered out of engineering. He felt tears coming, he should have been here.
Jenny had just received word that the last of the patients had been picked up, and the team were on there way back to deck two. They had established defensive positions as per hers and the Major's plan. The Major was in command of the P1 and P2, defending his ship and keeping an eye on enemies from that side. Jenny had command of S1 and C1, they were quite far apart, so she'd given the job so commanding S1 to the Major's second in command. They had set up sensor traps, and she was monitoring them from a command post she had set up at the dig in. Command post was a bit of a glorification, it was a bunch of pads linked together, she had various camera feeds and alert monitoring showing on the screen. The pad received an alert that the team dealing with the injured was about to come down to deck two.
"Keep an eye out team, they may choose this time to strike." she transmitted to all defenders. She wondered what the enemy was doing, they most likely had casualties to deal with, but it had been hours, why hadn't they made a move. It was unlikely any reinforcements would come to them now that they had the Trulen fleet watching the Michelangelo, and anyone in the nearby system would have noticed Trulen's fleet deploying into a defensive pattern now that the military had been put on alert. Jenny had read that it was policy to recall all capital ships to Trulen for defence, this included the huge Colossus class carriers, Trulen had two of the three kilometre long behemoths that were usually patrolling the outer perimeter of Trulen with their escort fleets, predominately the border zone that they had recently dropped cloaked sensors in. They also had a fleet of destroyers that were about half the size of the Colossus class and thousands of smaller ships of varying classes. Trulens fleet was powerful and very rarely messed with. The main governments had considerably larger fleets, and estimates said the Lady Jeans factions had fleets twice the size of Trulen's, but the main advantages of Trulen are that they had considerably less space to defend, and the station's weapons were extremely powerful.
She heard the knock at the hatch above and she and two other aimed their weapons at the hatch which then opened, she saw friendly faces. Lowering her weapon, she unlocked the larger hatch. The Michelangelo was not advanced enough to have lifts between decks, it instead had a large hatch that could be opened to allow moving equipment and stretchers with wounded to different decks. The smaller hatch was built into the larger but could be opened independently and had enough room for one person to fit down. The larger hatch opened fully, and some of the team climbed down and then took stretchers that were lowered to them. She saw Grant and Tina get lowered, Grant looked in terrible shape, but one of the Doctors informed her that he thankfully looked worse than he was. Tina was awake but stared into the distance at nothing, she and Erin were close, due to be married, Tina was going to hurt for a long time.
The team and the stretchers were halfway to the docking hatch when the Majors voice boomed over the comm.
"Contact! Approaching P1, thirty meters. Looks like a man in a large metal suit. Three times the size of a normal person. Open fire, our main priority are the wounded. Continue to the airlock, quickly!" The Majors ordered. Jenny fought to urge to run and assist, but her job was to defend the hatch if the first defences failed. She heard the shooting, looking at camera feeds she could see a massive metal object moving towards the barricades, why wasn't it fighting back? It suddenly dawned on her what this was.
"Major, retreat it's a bomb suit!" she shouted down the comm.
"Shit," he responded. "We hold until the patients are loaded on," he ordered.
Jenny patched into the camera feeds from the Galen to see what was going on in their docking port, the last stretcher had been loaded. The Majors team had not yet fallen back.
"Major, fall back now. That's an order! Get back behind the emergency bulkhead!" She commanded. His team started to move back, but the Major stayed to hold off the bomber.
"Bridge, this is Major Obadora seal bulkhead four on deck two, do it now!"
"Jenny?" Alex asked in reply. She was about to reply, but the Major shouted.
"Do it! DO IT NOW!" he screamed. Jenny could not tell if the bulkhead had been closed or not. The ship rocked violently as a massive explosion shook the ship and everyone on it, Jenny and her team were thrown to the ground, and all they heard was that depressurising alarms had been triggered as the ship lost sections of air as a result of the explosion.
"Report!" Alex shouted as he steadied himself.
"We've lost deck two forward section, parts of decks three and one are depressurised, the hull plating all around that section is gone. The fuel line has been ruptured were losing fuel quickly." The crewman at ops reported once he clambered back to his chair.
"Grey, get that fuel line sealed!" Alex shouted into the comm to engineering.
"On it!" came the response.
"The Galen has also taken minor damage from the parts of our hull that were blown away, they are intact and can fly." The crewmember continued.
"What about Jenny and her team?" Alex asked.
"We sealed the bulkhead in time, they are safe, and the section is repressurising," Alex breathed a sigh of relief. "Do we know casualties?"
"Only that the Major was caught in the explosion we don't how many of the crew were in the sections that were depressurised."
"Get a roll call on the CMS," Alex ordered. Another of Grant's additions to the crew management system was the ability to send out a pulse to all crew tags that gave them two choices. "I'm safe," and "Send help."
Alex's wrist buzzed, and he selected the safe option as did the members of the crew on the bridge. He watched as the results come in. All engineering crew that were not already dead or injured were accounted for. Alex removed those he knew were dead and wounded from the list. All but six people responded he checked the names and those were the people who were already missing, they were assumed to be dead or captured.
"Alex," Grey's voice came over the comm.
"Yeah" he responded.
"The fuel line is sealed but it's useless, we lost most of it and to make our day even better the explosion was well placed, it took out the engines when it ignited the fuel. Our starboard and central engines do not even exist anymore, and the port engine is too badly damaged to be fixed out here we are dead in the water."
"Do what you can to get us ready for towing," Alex cut the comm and opened another line to Jenny.
Jenny woke to her headset buzzing to say she had someone trying to contact her. It would do that if you didn't respond straight away.
"Yeah?" she said, her head was pounding from the explosion.
"Jenny," came Alex's voice. "Get those bastards off my ship, no holds barred."
"Understood,"
"Everyone fall back to the dig in, we're going on the offensive." She ordered, within ten minutes her full squad was ready to go, she'd left a sensor trap at the hatch to the other decks in case anyone got past them it would alert the bridge.
&n
bsp; Her squad moved forward picking up the people who were guarding S1, Jenny stopped them as they approached the sensor trap.
"Take that thing out," she said to one of the Major's team. She produced a small device that she rolled to the sensor. It was a small EMP device which disabled the sensor trap instantly. Moving past the could see the docking port where the enemy ship was docked, and Jenny had visited earlier in the day. Up ahead they saw barricades, one person popped their head up, and Jenny managed to shoot them.
"Let's finish this," she said as the enemy started to fire back, the squad deployed the portable blast shields which they took cover behind.
"Can I borrow that?" she said to the Trulen soldier next to her, she was pointing at one of his grenades. He nodded and she took it.
"Covering fire, blanket them!" She ordered.
She moved forward from the safety of the barricade moving to behind some containers in the corridor, she unpinned the grenade and rolled it to the enemy barricade, it exploded destroying the barricade. She motioned her squad advance forward, they took out as many of the retreating enemies as the could, they were firing back and had taken out a few of her squad, with each casualty she grew more and more determined to end this. They pressed on and approached the entrance to the enemy ship, where another barricade stood in their way. Up ahead about twenty meters was a closed emergency bulkhead, this would have been closed after the explosion. If it were open they would have had to check down that corridor which looped back round to the starboard side, it was an advantage for them as it meant no one could sneak behind them.
"Cease fire!" She shouted, she peered into the enemy ship to see the six missing crew members, they were being held at gunpoint.
"Hold your fire, or they die!" One of the pirates shouted.
"What are your terms?" She asked.
"We go free, you call off your Trulen buddies, and everyone gets on with their day," he responded.
"How do I know you're not going to stick to your end of the bargain?" She asked
"You have a squad of weapons pointing at me," he said, a little amusement in his voice, he was surprisingly calm for someone in his position. Jenny had the feeling it wasn't his first time.
"Fair point, allow the hostages to walk off the ship, and you can go free," she demanded.
"How do I know you're gonna keep your word," he asked.
"You don't, now this can either go round in circles all day or you can as you say, get on with your day." She said.
"Start walking, except you," he pointed at one of them. He pushed one of the other five forward with his weapon, and they started moving. Jenny spoke quietly into her comm so the man on the enemy ship could not hear her.
"Get ready to grab them and get them out, I'll try and get the last one." She looked over to see nods from her squad. The five walking off the ship moved faster as they tasted freedom.
"Now," Jenny said, five from the squad rushed forward and grabbed a hostage they kept their weapons trained. One of the pirates fired and struck a hostage in the back, they dropped, and the soldier escorting them dragged them back to safety. Jenny was filled with rage she took her sidearm and shot the pirate who had fired at her crewmate, she took cover as all the pirates began shooting back. She was trying to work out a way to get the last hostage when she saw the lead pirate put his gun to the hostages head and pull the trigger. That was the final line, the enemy ship was now clear of Michelangelo crew, and they had pissed her off just enough that she opened her pad and triggered the program she wrote earlier that day. The docking hatches closed and the light went red as the ship engaged it automated undocking procedures. The ship turned away, and its engines went to full power, after a few a seconds it exploded, taking the pirates with it.
"Good riddance," Jenny said, relieved that it actually worked.
Now the enemy ship was gone, and deck two was secure, Alex had ordered all crew that were not assisting in the preparations for towing to take part in search of the whole ship, each group having armed soldiers from Trulen and security from the Michelangelo. They were searching the last sections of deck one now, they captured two pirates that had hidden away, they would be taken in by Trulen for interrogating. Once the search was complete, he gave the all clear for the cargo to be unloaded so it could continue to its destination. A specialised tug ship has arrived, and Grey had informed them of the best places to attach the two tug lines to the hull. Dean had promised priority repairs and all of it paid for by Trulen, they would also see to the medical care of his crew and provide people to support emotionally if anyone needed it. He started the mission with fifty-two crew including himself, ten had been killed, and four were getting medical attention on the Galen which had now undocked and was on it's way back to Trulen. They had left behind a team of Doctors just in case. One of which was someone they knew very well.
"Didn't think I'd be back here so soon," Doctor Tamber said as Alex walked into the info the infirmary where she had been treating the crew member who had been shot in the back while being rescued and had also performed surgery on Mark's leg to remove the bullet.
"It's good that you are here, the ship didn't seem the same without you." he smiled.
"It's been a tough day, how're you, Alex?" she said in her soothing tone.
"I can't comprehend how all that was fit into only one day, I certainly won't forget today anytime soon." He glanced in the mirror and saw the bruising on his face, both his eyes were still swollen, he'd mostly ignored the pain as there were too many other things happening. Jenny's first aid was only temporary, and the plasters and bandages she'd applied had started to come off.
"Will you please let me sort your face out, it's only going to get worse," she said, in a strange way he'd missed her stern tone.
"Fine, I've got nothing better to do. I'm the Captain of a dead ship," he said sitting down on one of the beds.
"You're not just the Captain of the ship, you're also the Captain of the crew, and they need you now more than ever. If you're confident, then they are confident," she said as she removed some of the bandages to inspect the wounds.
"What did they do you to?" she asked looking at the wounds.
"I'm not quite sure, I don't remember much as I kept passing out," He replied. Doctor Tamber started to clean the wounds causing Alex to wince as it stung.
"Sorry but these really need a clean, it will sting for a while," she said.
"It's better than what caused it at least," he tried to smile, but the bits of the torture that he could remember was clear in his mind. He hadn't really stopped to think or even talk about it.
"You're going to be around Trulen for a while, you can always talk to me you know." She said softly. "You've been through hell Alex, and it's going to be painful, promise me you won't keep it to yourself," she said with her trademark motherly tone. Alex smiled.
"Thank you, Judith, it means a lot to me," Alex replied, he didn't often call Doctor Tamber by her name, as the crew just knew her as Doctor Tamber. He wasn't ready to talk about his experience yet, he still needed to process it, and with the ship in the state it is, and a crew that needs him now was not the time. They spent a while in a comfortable silence as Doctor Tamber checked and sealed the wounds that were on his face. It would still take time for the swelling and cuts to heal properly, even with the medical gel the Doctor was using.
Gray had made his last call to the tug ship to confirm that the Michelangelo was ready for towing. The last time the ship was towed was over three years ago when they first met Lady Jean who had roughly got the two anchor points right but still caused structural damage that wasn't repaired for nearly year as the ship was on the run, that caused a few arguments between Grey and Alex.
Grey signalled the tug ship and heard two metallic bangs when the tow lines attached to the ship, they were extremely powerful magnets.
"Bridge, that was right first time, we're good to go," he spoke into the comm panel.
"Understood, thanks, Grey. Now go and have
a shower and a rest before I get any more complaints," Alex replied. The crew in engineering chuckled, but it was true Grey knew he didn't smell good. He had not stopped working since he arrived on board eighteen hours ago. They'd been continuously working to sure up the structural integrity so the ship would not fall apart when it was towed, it was mainly due to the hull breach caused by the explosion. Grey confirmed that the ship was moving and the stress on the tow lines was not causing any problems, they were well within tolerance. He breathed a sigh of relief, as he breathed in he smelt the stench coming from him.
"Yeah I need a shower," he said to himself. He made his way to the communal showers on deck two, they were the closest. It didn't take him long to get cleaned up and changed. Food was next on his list of priorities he'd made while showering. The canteen was quite busy he noted while limping his way in. Most the crew didn't have much to do now as the ship was under tow, the Captain had told everyone to take it easy. He spotted Jenny and Mark in their usual spot. He heated up a meal, grabbed his hot sauce, making sure it was a new bottle and not one that could have been sabotaged by Grant.
