Space Rescue One

by Atk. Butterfly

  "Captain Reason spotted some missiles headed back toward Earth. His sensors indicated that they're armed with nuclear warheads. Apparently they're a strike force that someone hid in deep space long ago for an occasion like we have now. His ship took out a few of them while they pursued Chaser Two until they were out of range. Our mission is to take out the rest of them. This is going to be a field day for our gunners once we reach them. If we're lucky, we'll make an identification of the missiles so ownership can be established," Richard answered.

  "For a war crime tribunal?" asked Chief Dickson.

  "Most likely for that since it was against UN regulations for any members to put nuclear weapons in space. Since every nuclear power is or was a member, someone's going to be held accountable," Richard answered.

  "They should be. I'll brief my team," Isaac said.

  "Fine. Do that, then resume your training."

  ***

  Shelly said, "I've heard that you and Ceriga . . ."

  Richard admitted, "I'm not going to deny it. I gave in to her. She hit me with those eyes of hers. All I saw was that she was determined to eventually get her way even if she had to start something while I was asleep which she admitted she almost did on the first night. Though I had intercourse with her, I don't love her. I still love only you. Have you decided how you feel about me?"

  "Well, at least you're still honest, even though it hurts. I sometimes wonder if that's one of your virtues or faults. No, I haven't made up my mind yet."

  "Then we're both being honest. At least we have something to build on. I won't be pushy about this. When you make up your mind about how you feel, let me know. In the meantime, I can't promise that I won't take another woman."

  "I think I know that now. I'm responsible for starting this in the first place. I even said as much as it was okay if it happened since I did it once before. You don't have to remind me that I caused this. Besides, you're an easy target," Shelly said.

  "I'm not trying to throw this in your face. Mostly, I just want to let you know that my feelings are deep for you and I'm not considering any other woman, even if I give in to her out of weakness," Richard said.

  "Thanks, I guess that's nice to know, but I'd rather not discuss this in graphic detail. To change the subject, my trainees are coming along much better now. You may have been right about training them to be the replacements."

  "Uh, thanks for the compliment."

  "You're not entirely welcome. Unfortunately for you, you're going to suffer because of them. I've got two female trainees who both want in your bed. I suspect both of them want to do more than sleep."

  "Oh? Then you're going to permit it to happen?" asked Richard.

  "Do I really have a choice? If I don't, then I put us both in a position of further conflict of interest unless I reach some decision on how I feel about you."

  "I see. Well, I guess you'll do whatever you feel is best. Whatever it is, I'll go along since I don't have much choice in the matter. It's either this or have a drunk as a Captain."

  Shelly said flatly, "You're not a drunk.

  "Perhaps I'm not an alcoholic. However, it won't do the ship and crew any good if something happens while I'm in bed asleep and have to be awakened and made sober before anything can be done. They deserve to have a sober captain making the decisions."

  "Okay, I see what you mean now. You're right about that. I guess you don't have much choice since you care too much about others. That's probably why you gave in to Ceriga."

  Richard's face was easy for her to read.

  "You don't have to say anything more. I can see in your eyes that it was. Knowing what I know about Amanda and Sheila, I won't condemn you for what happens. You have my word on that," Shelly said.

  ***

  "Hi, Captain Saberhagen. I'm Sheila. I have the honors tonight of sleeping with you."

  "Oh, hi. Well, you can either hit the sack now or wait until I'm ready. I have a few last minute reports to clear up first."

  "I'm not tired. In fact, this is the best thing to happen to me in the two days that we've been heading out for those missiles."

  "Fine then. Well, you'll have to hold the conversation momentarily until I finish. Computer command, open inventory report," Richard said. Richard looked through the figures with a well-practiced eye to see how his ship's supplies were holding up. Glancing at the potable water supply, he was glad that he had instituted shower sharing when he had. "Computer command, close inventory report. Open weapon status report."

  Once more, he went through the figures and comments on each weapon of the ship, satisfying himself that maintenance was performed properly and on time. Richard ordered, "Computer command, close weapon status report. Open trainee…Cancel computer command. Activate alarms and close computer."

  He turned toward Sheila to see that she was already lying on the bed, her robe on the deck and her legs parted. She motioned him over to her.

  "Isn't this a bit forward?" he asked.

  "I've thought of little else since finding out that I could finally have a turn sleeping beside you. Ever since seeing you in the bowling alley, I've wanted to put my hands on you and feel you within me. Now I can, so if you would, please take me."

  ***

  The First Officer ordered, "Gunners, prepare to fire at will on mobile targets."

  "Which one is Will?" a gunner replied.

  "Should I find out who said that, Captain?" the First Officer asked.

  "Naw, it was funny. Go on with the instructions," Richard replied.

  The First Officer said, "Remember that we'll be passing in the opposite direction from them to take the rest of them from behind. Don't let it bother you if you don't get a shot at them all on the first pass. As soon as you feel that you're in range, open fire. By the way, the one with the orange nose is Will."

  The bridge crew broke out in laughter at his remark. Even Richard couldn't resist chuckling a bit while a smile crossed his face.

  "Hope you didn't mind, sir," the First Officer said.

  "I didn't. That was funny, too. I think we all needed a good laugh," Richard answered.

  ***

  The intercom seethed with gunners' chatter as they fired on the targets.

  "They're like sitting ducks!"

  "I got one! Did ya see that? I got one!"

  "I got mine! Hey! There's Will! He's got an orange nose just like the FO said!"

  "I see him! Damn! I missed!"

  "I missed him, too!"

  The First Officer smiled as he intoned into the intercom, "All gun stations report while we come around their rear to pick them off."

  "Gun Station One. One hit with no outward sign of destruction or course change. Sorry, but the rest were misses."

  "Gun Station Two reporting one hit with destruction. Rest were misses."

  "Gun Station Three reporting all misses."

  "Gun Station Four reporting one hit with destruction. Rest were misses."

  "Gun Station Five reporting . . ."

  ***

  The FO reported, "Coming into range, Captain."

  "Fine. First Officer, alert the gun crews. Fire at will," Richard replied.

  The First Officer said, "Darn, that's right! We missed getting Will. Attention all gun stations. Open fire as soon as you have a shot. We'll do our best here on the bridge to keep our course smooth and even for you. Good luck."

  Richard sat in his command chair. It didn't take long before he felt small vibrations in the deck from the gun stations as they poured out a volume of fire at the deadly threats to Earth. As before, he said nothing when the gunners chatted among themselves as they coordinated target acquisition and boasted of their hits.

  "I see Will. Aiming . . . Firing! Yahoo! Will is cooked. He's falling apart!"

  "Gun Station Six reporting two hits!"

  "Wahoo! I got one finally!"

  "Then get another. Don't just sit there patting your gun barrel!"

  "All right! I'm trying!"

  "Scr
atch one!"

  "I see markings on one! Looks Chinese to me!"

  Richard toggled his intercom on and ordered, "Get photos of it before you destroy it!"

  "Aye, sir! Getting photos! Got 'em! Can I shoot now?"

  "I certainly hope you can," Richard replied.

  "Gun Station Four reporting debris heading our way!"

  "Radar, are we in danger?"

  "No sir. It'll pass under us."

  "Under? Never mind. I know what you mean," Richard replied.

  "Wahoo! I got another one!"

  ***

  The FO reported, "That's all of them, sir."

  "Excellent work, First Officer. You have the bridge. I'm going to take a tour of the ship and congratulate the gunners personally," Richard replied.

  "Yes, sir. We saved Earth, didn't we, sir?" the FO asked.

  "We sure did. We saved a lot of lives today. I just hope that no one else hid any nuclear-armed missiles in deep space. This isn't something I want to do often," Richard answered.

  "Me neither, sir."

  "Go ahead and radio a report back that the missiles have been neutralized. Mention also that we have proof that they're Chinese," Richard said.

  ***

  Chief Dickson waited for both rescue teams to enter the briefing area. "Okay, we're going to retrieve one piece from the missile debris that was seen going past us during their destruction. The gun crew was positive that it had markings on it in Chinese. Since it was from a destroyed tail section, there's not much likelihood of any radiation to be overly concerned about. Captain Saberhagen decided that this one piece doesn't present much of a risk to recover as it would be to enter the area where most of the debris is concentrated. It was at my suggestion that Team Two be given the opportunity to gather the evidence since this will be good training as well for them. Chief Laumer, the briefing is yours."

  "Okay, we'll be going out in our usual order as two-person teams wearing full armor with full jet packs and Quik-Cut. Sheila and Ashika will tether the debris. Amanda and Bruno are responsible for making the cut after we identify what we want from it. Irving and I will be backup for both teams. Any questions?" Shelly paused to receive whatever questions they might have. When none came, she said into the intercom, "Bridge, zero gravity please. Team Two, get your suits. Prepare to dress and inspect."

  "Yahoo!" Irving shouted. Then he said, "I'm not hurrying! I'm not hurrying! Just letting off some of the excitement, Chief."

  The intercom blared with an alarm warning and lights flashed throughout the ship. The First Officer's voice calmly came over the intercom. "Ship going to zero gravity in five, four, three, two, one second. Mark!"

  Shelly smiled as she drifted slowly to her locker as zero-gravity took effect. She pulled her suit from it and easily floated it to the center of the room where she hooked it in place. Drifting around it carefully, she inspected it thoroughly for anything that might compromise its functionality. Though she knew that Chief Dickson and his team were on the side watching her team, she still glanced about to make sure that her personnel were all preparing themselves properly.

  Moments later, her team undressed in their weightless condition. Having practiced it before, they stripped themselves to the level they each desired and placed their clothing in bags that they secured out of the way. Shelly allowed herself a smile as she glanced from one team member to another and saw how their bodies floated about in ridiculous positions, particularly those who were nude. Weightlessness did that to some body parts and she never tired of the brief entertainment it gave her. Remembering suddenly that she was now the chief, she returned her facial features to something more grim and pulled herself along one of the guide rails to reach her suit. Around her, the other team members did much the same, some of them appearing like inch worms on a branch as they made their way to the suits that hung like leaves.

  ***

  "First pair deploy. All others standby for action," Shelly said.

  She watched as Sheila and Ashika leaped from the hull toward the nearby debris with their jet packs providing the propulsion. The two were tethered loosely together to where they could pull themselves to each other if necessary. The only drawback was that they had to carefully coordinate every movement, particularly with the jet packs. The two space-suited figures reached the debris and braked their forward motion.

  "The writing is Chinese!" Ashika reported.

  "Good. Put a tether line on it and return to the ship," Shelly ordered.

  She and the others watched as the two figures pulled out the necessary line and made it fast to the debris. Moments later, they turned themselves before thrusting back to the ship trailing the tether line from the debris behind them. They drifted back and braked themselves with delicate motions to put themselves back at rest on the hull with plenty of jet pack fuel and tethering line left.

  "Excellent. Make the tether line fast to the hull now," Shelly said. She waited for them to complete their last task before issuing further orders. "Okay, pull it toward us. Remember, slow and steady. We don't want to convert it into a missile aimed at us."

  Slowly, they pulled the tether by mere millimeters as they drew the debris toward them. For the longest time, it was impossible to tell that it was even getting closer, let along moving. Then it was nearly beside the ship, resting only a few meters away.

  Shelly ordered, "That's enough. I can see what we want. Second pair, see that writing on this edge?"

  "Yes, Chief," Amanda replied.

  "That's the section we want for evidence. Be sure you put a separate tether on it first before you put the Quik-Cut in place. Wait for my command to activate the Quik-Cut," Shelly said.

  "Understood, Chief," Amanda replied.

  "Second pair, deploy," Shelly ordered.

  Amanda and Bruno gave their jet packs the slightest nudge to break them loose from the hull. Another nudge sent them across the three meters of space separating the debris from the ship. They each took hold of the debris at almost the same time, setting it into a slight spin.

  "Don't worry about the spinning. This is just like in the drills we practiced before," Shelly said.

  Bruno reached for the portion with the writing and attached a tether between it and himself. He reported, "Section tethered. Go ahead, Amanda. Put the Quik-Cut in place."

  "Affirmative," Amanda responded.

  Amanda pulled the Quik-Cut from her pouch. She uncoiled it slowly to prevent adding to the spinning motion she and Bruno were experiencing. Moments later, she patted it in place around the wanted section. She reported, "Quik-Cut in place. Preparing to set detonator in place."

  She reached into another pouch and took out the detonator. She unwound it and placed the detonating end into the Quik-Cut. "Detonator in place. Ready to return."

  "Stop! We're tangled! Request permission to remove our tether," Bruno said.

  Amanda barely held herself from releasing the debris in time. She glanced along the tether line between Bruno and herself to see how it became snagged and twisted as the debris slowly spun.

  "Granted. When you release your grips on the debris, be sure to push slightly toward the ship. Amanda first. Make your moves when you're ready," Shelly replied.

  "Releasing now," Amanda said. She let go of the debris, giving herself a push as she did. The debris continued to spin with Bruno clutching it. Amanda drifted toward the hull and felt hands grabbing her from behind.

  "We've got her!" a voice sounded in her radio.

  "Bruno, release when you're ready," Shelly directed.

  He replied, "I'm not sure I can now. The other tether is tangled. I think that I can turn so you can make the cut. Then I should be able to pull it to me and get back. Will that be all right?"

  "It's not standard procedure, but this isn't a standard job. Let me advise the ship first before we do anything," Shelly replied.

  "Shall I arm the detonator?" Amanda asked.

  "Negative. Hold off for now. Team Two to SRO. We have a situation that ma
y require some flexibility in standard procedures. Be advised that we may have to retrieve one of the team members if anything goes wrong," Shelly replied.

  "Understood, Team Two. Be advised that the Captain is approving your request."

  "Thank you. Initiating procedure now. Bruno, turn and let me know when you're ready. Amanda, arm the detonator," Shelly said.

  As Bruno turned away from where the flash would occur on the debris, Amanda plugged the other end of the detonator line into her suit. Amanda replied, "Detonator armed and ready. Standing by."

  "Ready! Wish me luck," Bruno said.

  "Activate, Amanda!" Shelly ordered.