The ship really did feel dead to Bob now. It had gotten considerably colder on the upper deck and if Bob could see anything, he was sure he would see his breath. His fingers hurt slightly feeling the cold metal in the hallway leading to the galley.
The galley had a tiny little window in it and it let in almost no light from the stars. Still, Bob was thankful for even that as he entered the room. Roota and Foota were no longer in the room; presumably they had left for the engine room for some warmth. Their mark had certainly been left there though, food remains lay scattered across the floor and counters in their crazy indulgence. Bob grimaced in disgust as he stepped around the trash.
Looking out the view port, Bob wasn’t able to see the ship he was looking for. He spent another minute waiting, but growled in disgust and left. There was a bad smell in the galley.
He made his way down to the lower deck, bumping his head slightly in the cramped corridor. The rest of the crew had gathered themselves around it for warmth, and probably comfort. The passenger sat off to the side wrapped tightly in her cloak.
“What does this mean for us?” Rafel was asking, clutching his ornament, “What happens when we get rescued?”
“What do you think will happen?” Jalldrid responded, tightening up something near him and turning back towards the group, “We’ll get taken into custody for a bit by whoever is out there until they can get us figured out.”
“But what if they don’t let us go?” Roota asked quaveringly, “We have no idea what kind of territory we have entered; people have been blasted away for less!”
“Any kind of custody would be better than here.” Fallin said peevishly.
“With the help of our two citizens,” Jalldrid continued convincingly, “I’m sure it won’t be too much trouble. After that is all over, we have enough credits on us to be able to send you all back to the station. That’s the plan at least.”
“But what about Freeline?” Rafel begged, “What’s going to happen to you two? What about our jobs?”
Jalldrid didn’t respond immediately. “I’m afraid Freeline is now dead with this ship, guys. We don’t have any capital to repair the ship and DRIAS won’t help because this shipment isn’t covered under their insurance. What is more, if this all goes down the wrong way, we could end up facing criminal charges for what we were doing.”
At that last statement, the men burst out angrily. “Criminal charges?” Roota said heatedly, “are we going to get caught up in that too?”
“We weren’t doing anything wrong!” Fallin was saying, “We didn’t know what the shipment was!”
“This is all the Captain’s fault, she dragged us down here like this!”
“Quiet you!” Jalldrid shouted angrily, “Nobody is going to get any of those charges but the Captain and me. All of you are only employees and when we get back to the station, I’m letting you all go and your connections with Freeline will be cut. Do you understand?”
“What are we supposed to do then?” Roota grumbled, “Why does this need to happen? Isn’t there anything you can do? I won’t be able to find another job like this.”
“Use your head for once, Roota,” Fallin said derisively, “There’s more than criminal charges and debts to worry about for Freeline, isn’t there? Who was it exactly you took this job from? And how do you think these people will react when they find out the goods are lost? I have a pretty good idea, that’s why when we get back I’m not just leaving Freeline, I’m leaving the station and I’m never mentioning my connection again.”
Foota looked back at Jalldrid fearfully, “Is that true? Are they going to come after us?”
Jalldrid cleared his throat. “No, they will not “come after” any of you because you won’t have any connection to Freeline. I don’t know any of the details from the captain yet anyway, so I have no idea who “they” might be. I’ll have to ask her when I feel better.”
“So what now then?” Roota asked, “It’s getting colder and the oxygen won’t last forever. When is the rescue coming?”
Jalldrid’s answer was to look up at Bob. “Anything?”
“We can’t see anything,” Bob replied, “I tried to go to the port window, but I couldn’t see anything there either. I don’t know why they haven’t reached out to us yet, but there could be multiple valid reasons. There is no need to be worried yet. The ship or whatever it is should be coming into view soon up front and we’ll get a clearer idea then. I swear the ship is right out there, it’s just circling us badly.”
The men looked up at him from their seats and despite the dim light of the engine room; he could see clearly their fear and worry. “Uh,” he continued, “And I want you all to know, then if we do get taken into custody, as a citizen I mean, I’ll do whatever I can do to help the situation. You can count on me.” Nobody responded and Bob couldn’t tell if his words actually did anything. He shifted uncomfortably. “I’m going up to the galley again so see if I can’t see anything before it comes to the front.” Bob turned and left, bumping into the equipment in the corridor again.
“I’ll come with you,” Jalldrid said quickly, coming up from behind and scooting past Roota.
Bob looked back at the men as they huddled closer to the heat. The passenger remained to the side. “Will it be okay to leave them with the citizen? They won’t take out their fears on her?”
Jalldrid actually chuckled, “There is not a chance of that; none of them are that type. Like I said, both Roota and Foota have daughters that care deeply about and Fallin isn’t stupid. Rafel, well, Rafel wouldn’t hurt a fly. They also realize the importance of keeping you two citizens happy in this situation.” Bob nodded and moved forward, climbing up the hatchway to the galley. “I’d also like to thank you for what you said back there, about willing to do what you can to help them.”
“I’m actually not sure how much I can do.” Bob replied, stepping up onto the second level. He stooped down and helped Jalldrid up.
“Thanks” Jalldird grunted, getting up, “Still, I want you to know that we all appreciate it, especially considering what kind of situation we brought you into. There is no reason for you to do so much for us.”
Bob paused, considering. “Your Captain made a mistake, and it has turned into this. Nobody else is at fault here. And even if it was just the Captain who needed to help, I’d still do what I could for her. Despite what she did I still think she is a good person. If this all turns out okay, maybe I will forgive her.
There was a slight pause before Jalldrid answered. “I think she is a Skidi.” He said angrily.
Bob chuckled, “I don’t know what that word means, but I can understand what you mean.”
Jalldrid faced curdled slightly as they both stepped forward to the small port. “These two are such pigs.” He growled, “Look at this mess they made.”
“They must eat when they are upset.” Bob said dryly.
Jalldrid got to look out the port first and he stared vainly out trying to get a look at what was out there, but there was nothing to see. “Galaxy!” he growled, “what nebula is this thing hiding in?”
“My turn,” Bob said easily, sliding in.
Seeing an unspoiled treat laying on the counter, Jalldrid snatched it up and bit into it aggressively. Bob stared out of the view port. “You see anything?” Jalldrid asked, still chewing.
“Nah, the renegade’s is rotation we must not be aligned with it at all. Let’s head back-“ his sentence ended abruptly. Jalldrid looked at him curiously, and then Bob exclaimed softly, “Jesus Christ!”
“What, what is?” Jallrid demanded.
“’I’m not sure.” Bob replied, now standing on his tip toes.
“Well, let me see!” Jalldrid demanded, as Bob stepped back.
“It’s gone now, I only saw it for a second.” Jalldrid ignored his words and strained to see.
After a few moments, he turned back. Bob was only a silhouette in the near total darkness. “Well, what was it?”
“I don’t know, I’m not sure.” Bob replied uncertainly.
“What do you mean? You can’t describe it?” Jalldrid demanded. “Was it the ship?”
“Yes, it was the ship.”
Jalldrid stared at him expectantly. “Well?”
Bob shook his head, “I’m sorry, I can’t be sure. It was very close and, judging by its trajectory, it’ll be in the front view screen clearly very soon. We should just look there.”
Jalldrid growled, “Fine, let’s go there now then and you can keep your secret to yourself. You’re scaring the microbes out of me, man!” He brushed past Bob and moved down the corridor with Bob right behind him. “Besides, it’s the renegade that rotating around, probably not that ship as much. “Trajectory” isn’t the right word here.”
“Right.” Bob replied flatly behind him.
The tunnel was cold and dark and Jalldrid couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread as he walked through it, thinking of what could Bob had seen to make him react the way he did. He hurried forward towards the small starlight that filtered up from the front through the open hatchway.
They entered the bridge, one after another. Bob was shivering now from the cold and he rubbed his arms together. His hands were numb from where he hand clutched the freezing metal around the hatchway.
Jerall looked like she hadn’t budged and inch since Bob left, but sat looking calm and collected in the Captain’s chair. “The ship should be coming into view shortly.” Jalldrid spoke as icily as the upper level. He didn’t bother to mention what Bob might have seen.
“Good,” she replied, shifting in her seat. “How are the men doing?”
“As well as can be expected.” Jalldrid replied not without some aggression. “Anything new up here?”
“What do you think?” Jerall responded icily back. Jalldrid just scowled.
The seconds ticked by and Bob felt uncomfortable in the tension now in the room. He swung his hands back and forth and looked around. After a moment he added, “Should be here any minute.” Neither person responded to him.
Then suddenly it was there, scrolling into slowly. Jalldrid gasped at the sight and Jerall’s face hardened. Bob leaned back against the wall and sighed.
A huge ship was coming into view, bigger than any ship that docked at the Arpelligo or any other station. It was the type of ship that parked itself near a station and had little ships inside that moved people. It was practically a station itself and it was so close it looked to be almost squashing them. It would soon take up the entirety of the viewscreen.
More than that, it was clear that it was a ship meant for war. The ship was bristling with armaments, heavy plating, and massive engines in the rear to power such an incredible thing. It was shaped like a giant torpedo itself, its length easily exceeding Arpelligo’s longest straight line.
“It’s a ghost ship.” Jalldrid said in awe. “It’s dead!”
Facing them, so close that they could see the individual bulkheads, an entire section of the front port of the ship was gone; blast marks and severe scorching covered the immediate area. It was a gaping hole of blackness into the ship, making it a true ship of death. Debris and rubble floated unevenly next to the blast hole, surrounding the ship. Bob shivered at the sight.
Jalldrid whirled back to Bob suddenly. “This is what you saw?” he demanded.
Bob nodded slowly, “I wasn’t sure.” Jalldrid cursed heavily. He turned to stare back at the ship.
“Do you recognize the type of ship?” Jerall asked.
Jalldrid huffed. “I’m not too familiar with military craft, but even so this is something way beyond me. It’s beyond anything as far as I can tell, there is no way a Hulian or even an Asdred Navy has something like that. It’s huge! It has got to be imperial.”
“It’s not imperial,” Bob added, stepping forward slightly, “Not that kind of ship. It not practical to build an enormous ship like this, for the same resources you could make dozens of smaller ships and end up with more firepower between them. The energy it takes to run that kind of ship is unimaginable. Nothing like this has been built for hundreds of years.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“A hundred years?” Jalldird asked belligerently, “Now it’s a sure thing that everybody is dead over there. Galaxy, look at that scar! What could have caused that?” he turned to Bob, “And how in the galaxy do you know so much about that!?”
“A better question is,” Bob said, passing his attention to Jerall, “What was it that pulled us out of Cruise? Was it that ship? I doubt it. There could be more out there.”
“What, more dead ships?” Jalldrid asked sardonically, “Fat lot of help that will get us, there’s going to be nothing else in this system.”
Bob turned to Jalldird angrily, “It will get us something. Anything is better than waiting around for our oxygen to run out! There has got to be something out there, that ship certainly didn’t pull us out, as you say it’s dead! ”
“It’s not completely dead,” Jerall cut in, standing up out of her seat. She pointed out the view screen, “It hard to see form here, but it looks like some of the aft sections still have power. You can see some lights on.”
The three stared out again at it, trying to come to grips with what they were seeing.
“Can lights stay on indefinitely on a ghost ship?” Bob asked tentatively.
“Indefinitely is too broad of term for me to use,” Jalldrid responded, “But I’ve heard of ships remaining lost and dormant for hundreds of years before found again. It’s every scavenger’s dream! Galaxy knows space is the best preserver. If they’ve got enough power, it’s possible.” He shook his head again, “But there won’t be anything else out there to see us, I don’t care what our Citizen says. Like I said, nobody would let a salvageable wreck like that sit in space for hundreds of years. Its raw metal alone is worth a fortune.”
“Fine,” Bob spat, “That’s fine. I’ll take your professional word on this one. And if you’re right, then there is still another option available to us other than group asphyxiation.” He looked at Jerall. Jalldrid followed his gaze.
Jerall stared back at him for a second before answering. “I get what you are saying Bob. If there is power over there might be Oxygen? You’re right, there could be.”
“We could send a team of four;” Bob said quickly, “That way we guarantee enough oxygen here for the people staying to get rescued. Splitting up like this is the only way to save everybody!” Neither sibling responded and Bob continued, “Or it could easily be a suicidal mission, in which the members would all suffocate in their space suits. God knows there are an awful lot of assumptions here.”
“No kidding,” Jalldrid interjected pulling out his hand to help count, “You’re assuming there is Oxygen over there, which is 50/50 in my opinion. You’re assuming you would actually be able to breach and enter the ship in the first place, which might as well be an impossible task without knowing the structural layout of the ship. You’re assuming you’ll actually be able to cross space in space suits safely though rubble, and finally and most unlikely, you’ll need to get four volunteers from this crew to risk their lives out there when they could stay alive here!”
“They could only stay alive if four sacrifice themselves.” Bob said sternly, “You think this is a poor option? Fallin wasn’t joking when he said that you would have to start kill each other off to save yourselves. I’ve seen it happen before; you bet your ass it will happen here if we don’t do something to give them hope.”
Jalldrid glared back at Bob but couldn’t respond. Bob added, turning to Jerall, “I think it is our best option at this point. Now, I do have some experience with zero gravity suits and, more importantly, I have faith that we will be able to find what we need over there. I’m volunteering myself for this mission. I know its desperate, but I’ll be honest, we are in a desperate spot. Every second we waste deciding is literally a second of our lives ticking away.”
Jerall stared back at him with a strange look on her face. Jalldrid made as if to say something, but fell silent again. He shifted uncomfortably against the wall, then burst out again suddenly, “If you go and die out there, that will mean we will have to rely on our passenger to contact help for us. Considering how she tried to kill us before, I doubt she’ll be very cooperative.”
“She’ll want to survive as much as the rest of us,” Jerall spoke straightening up from her slouch. “Come on, let’s go visit our crewmen.” With that she got up and left the bridge, climbing slowly down the hatchway.
Jalldrid stared at her passing figure. “This is madness,” he said savagely.
“I don’t deny it.” Bob replied, climbing down after her. Jalldrid snorted in disgust and then followed them down.
Jalldrid made it down just in time to here Jerall start.
“I’ve got bad news, boys” She said frankly, “There is no help coming for us. The ship we saw is a ghost ship.”
Rather than an outcry of sound, then crew absorbed the news in quiet terror. Only Fallin shifted his face, hardening at the news.
“However, Our esteemed Citizen here has come up with a brilliant plan with the best odds of all of us surviving until help can be reached through the headpieces. Quite frankly, it’s our only option at this point. There is a chance that the ghost ship we saw still has Oxygen. It still has power and its close so we think we will be able to reach it if it is there. A team of four will be dispatched over there to find it and, with some luck, survive.” The crew stared back at her in disbelief but she continued relentlessly, “That will leave the four people here with a guarantee of survival.”
“What’s the chance of survival for the people going out there?!” Fallin demanded standing up heatedly, “How do you know there is still oxygen over there?”
Jerall growled back, “There no point in giving figures to the possibilities, there is either oxygen or no oxygen over there and that’s that! However, we can see the lights on over there and both Bob and I believe in this. That is why we are both Bob and I will be going on this trip. Obviously we need two more volunteers.”
“If you think you’re going to go over there without me, Sister,” Jalldrid cut in viciously, “Then you’ve lost equilibrium. I’m coming too.” Bob rolled his eyes.
“Great,” Jerall continued, not missing a beat, “I know this is short notice, but that leaves one left. This is strictly volunteer, but since we need to keep the at least one citizen here,” She glared at the passenger for a second, “That leaves one of you four to come with us. If I had my choice, I’d like to have Fallin.”
“What?! Why me?” Fallin objected.
“One,” Jerall responded with equal force, “You are the only one here without a family,”
Fallin grumbled something about his sister.
“Only one here without a family dependent upon him,” Jerall corrected with a wave of her hand, “Secondly you are the one with the most experience in the zero gravity suits. Lastly, and most importantly, you’ve got the tenacity of a survivor which we will need.”
“Yeah I’ve got the tenacity,” Fallin answered, “That’s why I’m going to stay! These kinds of heroics are what get people killed. There is no way you’re making me go out there! Let one of these two oafs go!” He added, pointing to Foota and Roota, “They both have experience too!”
Jerall stuck Fallin with a stare for a few moments, but he held his ground resolutely. Disgusted, she turned to the rest. “So he has spoken, what do you say?”
Roota and Foota remained mute and kept their faces down, cowering from Jerall’s glare. The passenger looked on indifferently. After a moment, Fallin kicked Roota, “Come on one of you! This is your opportunity to show yourselves, you cowards!”
Roota stood up angrily, “I don’t want to hear that you! I’ve got a family at home and some kids that need me. So does Foota! What about you? What do you have that’s worth your life? A lifestyle fit for the lowest dreg of humanoid company? You can just throw yourself into a black hole, Fallin!”
“You think that you’re better than me?” Fallin shouted, swelling in rage, “You looking down on me, huh? You think you can pressure me into this? Well, I tell you,” he said pointing at all of them as they stared at him with two of his arms, “You all are no better than I in the end, we are all just struggling to survive! That’s all that life is and if I take the easy way, what’s it to you? I do things my own my.”
“You coward,” Bob said distastefully.
“You bet the Ship I am! I didn’t sign up for this, none of this happens when proper protocols are followed!”
“I’ll go.” Rafel said quietly, interrupting Fallin.
Fallin froze for a second, his eyes bulging, “You? You’re scared stiff of any work done out there! You’re a cowardly fool who depends upon superstitious nonsense to give you the energy to get up every day! The only thing you do out there is be a drag! What do you offer the out there?”
“It’s not about what I can do out there,” Rafel replied, shaking, “But what I can do for those left here. Somebody has to go.”
“But- but,” Fallin shouted, “What about my sister. Your wife?? You’re just going to leave her a widow if you go. Who will take care of her??”
“That will have to be left to you then,” Jerall replied for Rafel, stepping forward and taking him by the arm. “Now that we have our full team, we’ll be off. Can’t have us wasting your precious oxygen, this situation doesn’t offer much time. You guys stay here, keep warm, and keep your citizen happy! Come on guys.” She strutted across the level heading towards the aft department practically dragging Rafel. Bob followed her and after only a slight hesitation, Jalldrid followed as well, shaking his head.
“That’s a suicidal run!” Fallin called out after then, practically chasing them across the way, “Suicide, you hear me?! You’re a fool Rafel, you will die out there for sure. And you’ll be more alone than ever in your life!!”
“He won’t be alone!” Jerall snapped back, pushing Rafel ahead of her, “We’ll all be there too. Now shut up and get back there! Rafel’s made his choice and so did you!” with that she marched ahead.
“Out of the way,” Jalldrid said sternly, pushing Fallin aside. He passed by and the four left the engine room.
“Who do you all think you are?” Fallin shouted back. “I’m not going to thank you for this!”
The four entered the aft section, right below were the galley was. It was only that section that had the access out to the open space outside and it also housed the limited gear they had for emergencies.
“That noisy buggard,” Jalldrid growled. “He doesn’t need to put up that much of a stink.”
“Ignore him,” Jerall answered wretching open a hatch and pulling out gear. “We’ve cleared the first step of getting volunteers, but no other part of this will be easier. Here take this,” she added passing over some suits to Bob.
Bob eyed the suit distastefully. He looked up at Jerall, “On second thought, I notice that all the circuits in the suit are out.”
“Brilliant work, Citizen,” Jerall commented, “Of course they are inoperable; we’ve been hit by an ion array. Here you’ll need this.” She passed him a helmet that looked questionable.
Bob stared at the suits some more as he passed them around, “Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but with all the controls out how are these suits supposed to operate? For that matter,” he looked out towards the exit of the craft, “The membrane divider is out of order too. How are we supposed to get out?”
Jerall grinned back, “No reversing course now, Citizen. It’s too late for that.”
“We’re going to have to do everything manually, Citizen,” Jalldrid responded already getting his suit on. “The renegade has emergency systems for this case; we will be setting up an airlock here. Also, even if the circuits are out on these suits, they’ll still function. We just lose some of its perks, such as its scrubs. If these suits were working, we could all live off the oxygen it scrubs on the ship. As it is, we each have about a half an hour of oxygen stored in these for each of us.”
“So,” Jerall continued, completing her suit, “We’ve got thirty minutes to find oxygen over there. Help me put on this helmet, Rafel.”
Bob froze his face in a scowl as Rafel shuffled over to Jerall. “Half an hour? That’s an awful short period.”
“Perhaps it was easier to sell your idea without knowing what you were actually saying.” Jalldrid replied dryly.
Bob ignored him, his suit still in his hands. “Just hold on,” he said angrily, “How are we even supposed to get over there? With no controls on our suit we literally float around out there! You guys have experienced that before, right? The ship’s close, but it might as well be a galaxy away if we have to try to jump over there.”
Jalldrid responded again, finishing putting on his suit, “For the guy who came up the idea, you sure seem nervous, Citizen.”
“Shut up, Jalldrid!” Bob snarled, “I’m being serious here.”
Jerall rolled her eyes, “get your suit on already citizen. You may be losing your nerve on this, but I still believe. No, we are not just jumping over there and yes, we realize what it means to not have the circuits work on. You might not know what you are doing, but have a little more faith in us. This is your idea, remember?” Bob stood stubbornly still. “BY SPACE, GET YOUR SUIT ON ALREADY!” Slowly, Bob did what he was told.
“Alright pay attention you two,” Jerall continued, pointing out Bob and Rafel, “Once you get your headgear on, the switch on the back will be the start of your independent air. In other words, 30 minutes starts from then. Wait until I tell you so before switching it, okay?” Rafel nodded silently, clutching his ornament tightly in his right hand.
“What’s that plan then?” Bob started, now actually pulling the suit on with attitude, “If we aren’t jumping then what-“
“What do you think you doing, Rafel!” Fallin snarled, coming into the room like a night prowler. He snatched Rafel before any of the other could intervene, “You’re going out there over my dead body, you idiot!” With all four of his arms, he took hold of Rafel who squawked unintelligibly and tossed him out of the room. “You can just stay here over there.”
Jalldrid moved forward, but Jerall stopped him. They watched the exchange silently.
“Somebody’s got to go!” Rafel wailed, sitting up and holding his face where he scraped against the floor. “I didn’t see you volunteering.”
“Not you,” Fallin roared, “You’re just a coward who’ll screw it up.”
Rafel got up unsteadily. “What do you want then Fallin? Out of the way,” he growled, “You can’t stop me. I’m doing this for you, you know!”
“What did I ever do to deserve this?” Fallin shouted, bearing down on his brother-in-law, “You don’t owe me anything. Get-get back there.” Rafel had tried to scoot past him, but Fallin grabbed the ceiling with his arms and kicked Rafel back and knocking him over again.
Rafel stood up again breathing heavily. He wiped some blood off his chin looked at Fallin and then shrugged his arms, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll die I don’t go, brother. We’ll all die if five people stay here. We are already wasting oxygen.”
Fallin ground his teeth, “You’ve never stood up to me before, why now, Rafel?” Rafel didn’t answer.
“Fine,” Fallin said suddenly, “Fine. I get it, I’ll go I your stead.”
Rafel squawked in protest but then Fallin slugged him in the stomach with his two right arms silencing him. He said savagely, “Get your filthy reptilian hide back to the engine room before I knock you unconscious and drag you there.” Rafel paused a bit; moaning in pain, but soon got up and left, crawling back towards the engine room. “Take care of my sister,” Fallin added as Rafel retreated from view. He turned back to the three left.
“Welcome to the crew,” Jerall said brightly, “I knew you’d come, but wasn’t that a bit harsh? You didn’t have to hit him.”
Fallin paused and glared back at her, “This is no different than just killing ourselves so that the others can survive. This is all you fault Captain, I hope I’ll stay alive long enough to see you die first.”
Bob shook his head and sighed, “I think I preferred Rafel…”
Fallin chuckled cynically. “Not after you see me in action, Citizen,” answered, reaching in and pulling out his own suit, specially made to fit his body, “I’m the best at these kinds of maneuvers. Especially without our powered suits.”
The rest up the set up was done in while Jerall tried to explain the plan quickly. Jerall and Jalldrid set up the temporary air lock while Fallin and Bob finished dressing themselves and locking in their headgear. Jalldrid had with him a load of special equipment.
“Ready?” Jerall asked the group. Only Bob responded and it was with a small nod. “Press your switches on my mark, remember we’ve got 30 minutes each from that moment to get to the other ship and find oxygen.”
“Just one thing,” Bob said, raising his hand. “In your professional opinion, what are our chances of succeeding here?”
Jerall raised her eyebrow. “Press you switch in 3… 2… 1… Mark.” At the countdown they all pressed the switches together. A second later Jalldrid de-pressurized the air lock and ten seconds later, space spread out before them.