by John Scalzi
EL-MASRI: All right.
DAMANIS: So we fall out of bunks, get dressed and then wait for the announcement about what the drill is this time. Is it a micrometeor puncture, or is it a systems failure of some sort, or what is it. Then finally Chief Officer Khosa comes on the public address system and says, “We are being boarded.” And we all look at each other, because this is a new one; we haven’t ever practiced something like this. We have no idea what to do. Doctor, my leg is really hurting.
SPURLEA: I know, Malik. I’ll give you something as soon as you’re done talking.
DAMANIS: Can I get something in the meantime? Anything?
GANAS: I can give him some ibuprofen.
SPURLEA: We’re running low on that, Magda.
GANAS: I’ll take it out of my own stash.
SPURLEA: All right.
GANAS: Malik, I’m going to go get you that ibuprofen. It will be just a minute.
DAMANIS: Thank you, Doctor Ganas.
EL-MASRI: You said you never drilled for being boarded. But there have always been pirates.
DAMANIS: We’ve drilled for being pursued by pirates. For that, most of the crew locks down while defensive teams prep countermeasures and the cargo crew preps to jettison the cargo. We work in space. Pirates can’t swing over on ropes and take a ship. They run you down and threaten you to get you to hand over your cargo. Only then do they board the ship, take the cargo and go. That’s why the last resort is throwing out the cargo. If you don’t have it anymore, they have no reason to keep pursuing you.
EL-MASRI: So these weren’t pirates.
DAMANIS: We didn’t know what they were. At first we didn’t know that there was anyone. We still thought it was a drill. Chief Khosa tells us we’re being boarded and we have about two or three seconds to wonder what that means, and then he comes back on the PA and says, “This is not a drill.” That’s when we knew something was really up. But we didn’t know what to think. We weren’t drilled on this. We stood around looking at each other. Then Bosun Zarrani came into the quarters, told us we were being boarded and that we were to stay in quarters until they heard from him or the captain sounded an “all clear.” Then he picked seven of us to follow him. I was one of the ones he picked.
EL-MASRI: Why did he pick you?
DAMANIS: Me or all of us?
EL-MASRI: Both.
DAMANIS: He picked all of us to be a security detail. He picked me, I think, because I was where he could see me. I didn’t know he wanted me to be part of a security detail until he took us into his office, opened up a footlocker and started handing out shock sticks.
SPURLEA: Shock sticks? Why didn’t you have firearms?
DAMANIS: It’s a spaceship. Guns with bullets aren’t a good idea on any ship that works in vacuum. And the only reason to have weapons on the ship at all is to deal with someone who’s gotten into a fight or is drunk and out of control. And for that, a shock stick is what you want. You zap someone, they go down, you shove them in the brig until they sober up and calm down. So we have shock sticks. Zarrani handed them out to us. There were six of them and eight of us, so I and Tariq Murwani didn’t have any. Bosun Zarrani said that we got to be scouts and told us to turn our PDAs to a general channel so that everyone would know where the enemy was. That didn’t make much sense to me. I figured that we knew where they would come in.
EL-MASRI: Through the airlocks.
DAMANIS: Yes, sir. They’d open them up from the outside and then get through that way. I think Zarrani and Captain Gahzini were thinking the same thing because Zarrani took two of the crew with the shock sticks with him to the port maintenance airlock while the other three went to the starboard maintenance airlocks. But we were wrong.
EL-MASRI: How did they get in?
DAMANIS: They cut through the hull forward and aft and dropped in maybe a dozen soldiers in each spot. I saw the aft breach and the soldiers dropping in and yelled into my PDA about it and then ran, because the soldiers were carrying assault rifles.
SPURLEA: I thought you didn’t want projectile weapons on a spaceship.
DAMANIS: We don’t, sir. The soldiers did. Their job was to take over the ship. And maybe they thought that since they were cutting a couple of holes through the hull anyway, what’s a few bullet holes here and there, right?
GANAS: Here we go. Three tablets.
DAMANIS: Thank you.
GANAS: Let me get you some water.
DAMANIS: It’s too late. I already swallowed them. How long will it take for it to start working?
GANAS: Those were extra-strength, so not long at all.
DAMANIS: That’s good. My leg hurts a lot. I think it’s getting worse.
SPURLEA: Let me look.
DAMANIS: Ahhhhh—
SPURLEA: Sorry about that.
DAMANIS: It’s okay, Doctor. But it’s like I told you. It hurts a lot.
SPURLEA: I’ll see what I can do about cleaning it out again after we’re done talking here.
DAMANIS: I’ll definitely need some real painkillers for that. The last time you did it I thought I was going to hit the roof.
SPURLEA: I’ll be as careful as I can.
DAMANIS: I know you’re doing your best, Doctor Spurlea.
EL-MASRI: You say these were soldiers. Were they Colonial Defense Forces?
DAMANIS: I don’t think so. They weren’t wearing CDF uniforms. These were bulkier and black, and there were helmets covering their heads. We couldn’t see their faces or much of anything else. I suppose that makes sense, since they were coming in from space.
GANAS: If they were cutting through the hull, wouldn’t bulkheads close off to contain the breach?
DAMANIS: I think they’re supposed to, but the automatic systems are sensitive to pressure loss. These guys were coming through without any air going out behind them. I think they must have made a temporary airlock on the outside hull before they cut through.
EL-MASRI: Your captain still could have thrown up the bulkheads to keep them contained.
DAMANIS: The forward breach was right above the bridge deck. The very first thing they did, as far as I can tell, was to take the bridge and Captain Gahzini. Once they had the bridge, they had control of the ship. I was told by one of the bridge crew that when they came through, they ordered the captain to give them his command codes. He refused and they shot Chief Khosa in the gut. He was lying screaming on the deck and they told the captain they would gut shoot every person on the bridge unless he gave over the codes. Once the captain did that, they shot Khosa through the head to put him out of his misery, and then they had the ship.
EL-MASRI: What happened then?
DAMANIS: The soldiers went through the ship and collected the crew at gunpoint and took them to the cargo bay. I and the others on the security detail were trying to avoid the soldiers as long as we could, but eventually they found us all. I got caught near the mess hall. I stepped out into a corridor and there was a soldier on either side of me, rifles pointed at my chest and head. I tried going back where I was, but when I turned there was another soldier behind me, rifle up. I put up my hands and that was it. I was taken to the cargo bay like everyone else.
EL-MASRI: And through all of this none of the soldiers told you what they wanted.
DAMANIS: No, sir. When I was taken to the cargo deck, I saw all the other crew members on the deck, kneeling, hands behind their head. The only one standing was Bosun Zarrani, who was quoting Colonial Union merchant maritime law to one of the soldiers. The soldier seemed to ignore him for a little while, then drew a sidearm. He shot the bosun in the face, and then Zarrani was dead. And that was it for anyone asking questions.
SPURLEA: So the entire crew was there.
DAMANIS: Everyone but the captain and a helmsman named Qalat. And Khosa, but he was dead already.
EL-MASRI: So you were all in the cargo bay. How did you get from there to here, Malik?
DAMANIS: The Erie Morningstar had four autopilot container carriers. Two of them wer
e full of the supplies for your colony. The other two were empty. The soldiers opened up those two and ordered us in, half into one, half into the other.
EL-MASRI: And you just went in?
DAMANIS: A couple of us resisted. They shot them in the head. They didn’t waste any time talking to us or bargaining with us. As far as I can tell, except for the ones on the bridge getting the command codes from the captain, they didn’t talk at all. There was no point in it, and they didn’t have to talk to get us to do what they wanted.
EL-MASRI: After you were all in, what happened next?
DAMANIS: They sealed us into the cargo containers. Everything went pitch-black and people started screaming, and then a couple of us turned our PDAs on so their screens would give light. That seemed to calm people a bit. After that we could hear the sounds of people moving and talking—the soldiers would apparently talk to each other, not to us—but I couldn’t hear anything clear enough to make out what they were saying or doing. And then there was another sound. It was the sound of the cargo bay’s purge cycle. That’s when people started screaming again. It meant the cargo bay door was being opened and we were being thrown out.
GANAS: They were tossing the crew over the side.
DAMANIS: Yes, ma’am. Although one of the crew members in my container suggested something else. Once the container started moving and it was clear it was thrown off the ship, someone in the container started screaming, “We’re walking the plank! We’re walking the plank! We’re walking the plank!” He kept doing this for a minute or two before I heard a thump and he shut up. I think someone punched him to make him quiet.
EL-MASRI: The cargo containers aren’t designed for live transport.
DAMANIS: No, sir. They are airtight and they’re insulated, so the cargo inside won’t freeze in space or heat up excessively on reentry. But there’s also no artificial gravity or anywhere to secure yourself. The closest thing to that are the pallet restraints at the bottom of the container. We use them to strap down the cargo pallets, but they don’t do much good if you’re not a pallet. I still grabbed one and tied it to my arm, as close as I could to the restraint anchor so at least I wouldn’t go floating off. I thought it might help when we hit the atmosphere.
EL-MASRI: Did it?
DAMANIS: A little. We hit the atmosphere and everything began to shake and move. I held on to my pallet strap, but even then I was being whipped back and forth as the strap rotated around its anchor. I’d be slammed to the floor of the container, whip around in an arc and be slammed down again on the other side. I curled into a ball as much as I could and put my arms around my head to protect it, but it wasn’t enough; I lost consciousness a couple of times in there. If I hadn’t wrapped the strap around my arm, I would have been flung up into the container with the others.
GANAS: What happened to the others?
DAMANIS: People began to be slammed into walls and the floor and into each other, harder and faster as we dropped. A couple of times people hit me, but I was down near the floor, so most of the time they were hitting each other or the walls. They were screaming as they were flying about, and every once in a while you would hear a snap and then someone’s screaming would either get louder or it would stop. After one really hard bump, a woman hit the floor next to me headfirst and I could hear her neck go. She stopped screaming. There were at least fifty of us in the container. I’d guess about ten or fifteen people died during reentry, and maybe that many others broke their arms or legs.
SPURLEA: It was a good thing you held on to that strap.
DAMANIS: [laughs] Look at my leg now, Doc. Tell me again how lucky I am.
GANAS: Is the ibuprofen helping now?
DAMANIS: A little. May I have some water now, please?
GANAS: Yes, of course.
EL-MASRI: Once you made it through the first part of the atmosphere, did things settle?
DAMANIS: Some. The autopilot kicked in and stabilized us, but then the parachutes deployed and everyone who was still floating was jammed to the floor of the container. That was more broken bones, but then at least everyone was on the floor of the container, because gravity had finally taken hold. Then there was a crashing sound, and everyone was thrown around. We were going through the trees, or whatever you have here for trees. Then there was a final crash, the container fell on its side, the doors flew open, and we were finally on the ground.
GANAS: Your water.
DAMANIS: Thank you.
SPURLEA: What was your physical condition at that point, Malik?
DAMANIS: I was hurt pretty badly. I’m pretty sure I had a concussion. But I could walk and I didn’t have any broken bones. I unwrapped myself from the pallet strap and I headed for the door, and as I got outside some of the crew who had gotten out before me were standing in a small clearing, looking up and pointing, so I looked up where they were looking.
EL-MASRI: What were they pointing at?
DAMANIS: It was the other cargo container. It was tumbling and falling. The autopilot must have gotten damaged or something, because it wasn’t stabilizing itself and its parachutes didn’t deploy. We watched it tumble for twenty, thirty seconds, and then the trees got in the way and we couldn’t see it anymore. But then a few seconds later we heard the sound of trees breaking and a huge crash. The container had hit the ground at close to full speed. If anyone had still been alive in that container before it hit, they didn’t survive after. At least I don’t see how they could.
EL-MASRI: Did you see any other containers falling?
DAMANIS: I stopped looking after that.
EL-MASRI: Malik, will you excuse me for a moment?
DAMANIS: Yes, sir. Does this mean we’re done talking now? Can I get that shot now?
EL-MASRI: Hold on a minute, Malik. I’ll be back to ask you some more questions.
DAMANIS: My leg is really hurting, sir.
EL-MASRI: It won’t be long. Aurel, Magda?
[Door opens, closes.]
EL-MASRI: Why did you bring that recorder out here?
GANAS: Malik isn’t going to say anything unless you’re there.
EL-MASRI: Is it turned off right now?
GANAS: Yes.
EL-MASRI: Where did Malik come from? What direction, I mean?
SPURLEA: The couple who found him said they saw him come out of the forest to the east of the colony.
EL-MASRI: Do we have any people looking for the containers in that direction?
SPURLEA: Magda?
GANAS: We sent out five teams, and they all headed in different directions, so at least one of them is headed in an easterly direction.
EL-MASRI: Recall the other teams and have them go east as well. There’s a chance our supplies are in that direction.
SPURLEA: You think pirates are going to eject cargo, Chen?
EL-MASRI: I think whoever took over the Erie Morningstar was interested in the ship, not the cargo. That’s why they kept the captain and the helmsman and made everyone else walk the plank. It’s entirely possible they tossed out the cargo with the crew. If they did, then we need to find it. We need those supplies.
GANAS: What about the survivors?
EL-MASRI: What survivors?
GANAS: Malik said that at least some of the crew in his container survived the landing. Do you want our people to go looking for them, too?
EL-MASRI: I think our first priority is looking for those supplies, Magda.
GANAS: That’s pretty harsh, Chen. These people literally fall out of the sky and crash-land here, and you’re not in the least concerned about them.
EL-MASRI: Look. I’m not going to apologize for the fact that when push comes to shove, I’m going to put the people of this colony before everyone else. This is why you all hired me as your colony leader, remember? You wanted someone with frontier experience, who was familiar with the tough decisions you have to make on the bleeding edge of human civilization. This is one of those decisions, Magda. Do we prioritize finding supplies for our people, who are
healthy but won’t be very soon if we don’t get the soil treatments and seed stock and emergency rations that were in the cargo shipment the Erie Morningstar had in her, or do we prioritize a bunch of people we don’t know, the majority of whom it would seem are injured or dying, who would be nothing but a drain on our almost nonexistent resources? I’m the colony leader. I have to make a choice, and I choose us. Now, maybe you find that inhumane, but at the moment, ask me if I give a shit. This soil here kills everything we plant in it. Almost everything that grows or lives here we can’t eat or is trying to kill us or both. We’re down to the last three weeks of stores, and that’s if we stretch. I have two hundred fifty people relying on me to save their lives. That’s my job. I’m doing it by telling our people to look for those cargo containers first. End of story.
SPURLEA: At the very least, you should ask him to try to describe where he landed so that we can narrow down where we’re searching. Wherever it was, he was able to walk to here from there in only a slightly better condition than he’s in right now. That means it’s not too far away. The more we know, the better we can find the cargo containers, if they exist.
EL-MASRI: You ask him.
SPURLEA: If I ask him, all he’s going to do is keep asking for painkillers. That was the deal: He talks to you, and when he’s done I’ll give him something. So you need to do it.
EL-MASRI: How long until you know about his blood work? Whether he’s got the Rot all through his system.
SPURLEA: I checked on my PDA while you were talking to him. The cultures are still growing. I’ll know for sure in the next thirty minutes or so.
EL-MASRI: Fine. Magda, please let the search teams know to focus east, and that we’ll hopefully give them more detailed information on where to look soon. Tell Drew Talford to send it wideband. It’ll be faster than you trying to raise every party one at a time.
GANAS: What do we do if one of the search teams happens to find the Erie Morningstar survivors?
