Bob was quite efficient with his report and I quickly realized I wasn’t out of the woods yet, or in this case, the sun. I never imagined that would be a thing I said, or well, thought. I snorted as I reviewed the status report from the dusty command chair.
Engines, 18% operational.
Weapons, offline.
Life support, 25% operational.
Shields 94% operational.
Sensors, 74% operational.
Communications, 98% operational.
Consumables, 8% remaining.
In a nutshell, the ship wasn’t going anywhere. At least not until I could make repairs. Which I couldn’t do without parts, and I couldn’t make parts without materials… which I didn’t have.
“Bob, are you sure there isn’t any scrap we can feed into the material processor?” The discovery of such a system had given me some hope. It would process whatever scrap it was given and break it down into base materials to be used in the foundry. Thankfully both of those systems were in perfect working order. The AI and RB units (repair bots) had been using them to keep the old ship functioning, at least until they ran out of materials.
“All scrap is stored in the cargo hold aft of the hanger bay,” Bob said helpfully.
“How much is there?” I asked.
Bob paused. “Approximately a third of the cargo hold is full of scrap.”
“That’s a lot of scrap. Why didn’t you feed it to the processor?”
“Scrap materials were not designated for material processing. All scrap was to be dumped into space.”
“Um, okay. You lost me. If it was supposed to be dumped, why is it in the cargo hold?” I asked.
“According to mission parameters, all waste remover protocols were put on hold to prevent giving away our location.”
“But you launched a shuttle full of war machines…”
“Circumstances dictated that was the best course of action.”
“Right. Well, let's go have a look,” I said, brushing my hair over my shoulder as I stood. “How long will it take to make the parts if I can find the materials we need in the scrap pile, Bob?”
“Unknown. Approximate time needed, two hours.”
“I’m not sure I heard you right. Two hours?” That was faster than I was expecting.
“That is correct. It may take you longer than anticipated to collect the proper materials to process. Once the process begins, it should only take thirty minutes for the material processor to break down the materials and the foundry to make the parts.”
“Holy moly! That’s fast!”
In the cargo hold, I found piles of broken repair bots, war bots, and other junk. They were piled nearly to the ceiling along one entire wall. Other trash was tossed in another pile but for now, all I cared about right now was metal.
“Bob, cue up the parts needed to repair Arby and direct me to a chassis that had the necessary materials. You can do that right?”
“Yes, select two of the defective RB units. That should provide the material processors with everything needed.”
Hauling the broken-down bots through the ship by hand was a pain. Each one weighed nearly two hundred pounds. I stripped off the space suit I’d taken but was once again drenched in sweat from the exertion and let me tell you, dust and sweat are a horrible mix.
From the cargo hold, I had to pull the bot through the hangar and into the material processor located on the other side. An automatic robotic arm picked it up once I set it down in the proper area and the material processor whirled to life. I found a hand cart and used it for the next one, saving my back and some time.
Half an hour later I was picking up the new parts for Arby. “Automation is amazing.”
I went to the maintenance room where Arby was waiting for parts and got to work. I wasn’t much of a mechanic, but I was good with my hands. Bob was finally proving his worth too. He guided me and I installed the parts.
Arby had only half a charge but I cut his charging cycle short. He powered on and looked around.
“Hey, Arby. How are you feeling buddy?”
“System scan shows full functionality, Captain Peligro.”
“Call me Ginny.”
The bot ignored my statement. “The log shows multiple systems that require repairs. Error. Parts unavailable.”
“Arby. Hey! Um, RB-17.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Your new nickname is Arby. Got it?”
“Acknowledged Captain. I will now answer to the name ‘Arby’.”
“Excellent, Arby. Now, head to the cargo hold and take the old broken-down bots and war droids to the material processor.”
“Affirmative.”
“Bob, once he does that, start printing out the parts we need to fix the engines so Arby can install them.” I yawned. I’d had a full day and was exhausted. I said as much, “I’m going to get some sleep, Bob. Can you supervise repairs?”
“Of course, Captain. Do you have any further questions before you rest?”
“No. Wait! Yeah, where are the Captain’s quarters?”
He told me and I headed there. The place was a mess. Unlike the rest of the ship, the RB units didn’t have access to the Captain’s quarters so it hadn’t gotten cleaned at all. Inches of dust coated everything.
“New plan. Once the engines are repaired, have Arby dust in here.” I sneezed. “I’ll sleep on the bridge.” The command chair was actually kind of comfortable. It sure beats the Breakers.
* * *
I woke blurry-eyed and stiff. My body ached and it took me a moment to recall I hadn’t in fact been hit by a truck. The knot in my neck caused a sharp ache to radiate down into my shoulder and the various scraps and bruises all wanted to be the life of the party.
I let out a moan. My mouth was dry as a bone. Like a really dead one that had been left in the desert for thirty-seven years. I yawned and wiped my eyes, the smoke had done a number on them after waking from stasis. So much had happened so fast. I stumbled off the bridge looking for water.
The kitchen, or galley as Bob referred to it, was one level down and I made it there without breaking my neck or stubbing all of my toes. I grabbed the cup I’d cleaned yesterday and chugged several glasses full.
“Talk to me Bob, how are we looking?”
“Engine repairs are ongoing,” Bob informed me. “Estimated time of completion, six hours.”
“Great. Is there some kind of infirmary? I feel awful.”
“The medical bay is adjacent to the cargo hold,” Bob said.
I let out a groan. “Great, more walking. Tell me there are pain meds there.”
“The ship's medical drugs have expired. However, there is a treatment pod loaded with a full suite of nanobots compatible with your nervous system.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“What now? Nanobots? What are those?”
“Nanobots are microscopic machines that mimic cells. They will respond to the impulses of your nervous system as it sends information to your brain, repairing damage, and enhancing your body as strain on your system is detected.”
“So they can heal me?”
“Certainly, but that is not all. As the nanobots learn and adapt to your system and activities, they will enhance your body making it run smoother and more efficiently.”
“Will they alter my brain?” I was not thrilled with the idea of having thousands or probably millions of tiny machines floating around in my body.
“The organic processor will remain unchanged unless you wish to undergo a full enhancement treatment which would reinforce your mind and all other parts of your body, from your organs to your skin to be more resilient and resistant to damage.”
“Sounds too good to be true,” I said. “What’s the catch?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“What’s the downside?” I asked, arriving in the medical bay.
“There is an 84% chance that your body will have an allergic reaction and leave you unconscious for up to three days.”
“Those are terrible odds!” I was horrified.
“The likelihood of death is almost zero.”
“Almost? How much?” I demanded.
“Less than two percent.”
I actually considered it. Given my propensity for trouble, this might be a good idea. Two percent was impressively low. Right around the chance of getting into a vehicular collision.
“I’ll think about it. What is on the menu?”
“Food options are limited. Most of the consumables have long since degraded and are no longer suitable for consumption.”
“Okay. That makes sense. What’s left?”
“Emergency rations.”
I let out another groan. Whoever had stocked the ship didn’t have high standards for food. Their idea of emergency rations was a powder you mixed with your water. All the proteins your body needs and all the flavors your taste buds hate. Maybe these will be better. After sitting for God only knows how long, I wasn’t holding out hope. It would be too much of a miracle if they aged like wine.
“Okay, food first. I’m not getting shot full of nanites on an empty stomach.” Not that Emergency rations will fill me up, but they should give me energy.
The protein drink was just as bad as I feared. I chugged it and then washed out my mouth with some water.
“Please tell me we will have the engines functional soon,” I begged.
“ETA on full engine repairs is sixteen hours. Minimal capabilities will be restored in two hours.”
“I thought you said Arby would have them done in six hours, and that was last night!” I squawked.
“A closer examination revealed additional parts that had degraded. Repairing additional RB units may speed up the repairs.”
“Hey, that’s a good idea, Bob. Fix up two more RB units and have them focus on the engines.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” He sounded pleased. “Would you like to begin your nanobot treatment now?”
I let out a groan. Moving around had helped loosen up some of my muscles and the more minor aches and pains had faded, but the knot in my neck was still as hard as ever.
“Will it get rid of this knot in my neck?” I asked.
“As they adapt to your body, they will handle all aches and pains, cuts, punctures, diseases, bacterial or viral, chronic conditions, and more. So yes, simple neck pain will be easily remedied, Captain.”
“Well, if you’re sure, then I guess I’ll go ahead and do it. Let's just make this quick.”
“I take it you want the simple injection then, Captain?”
“Yeah. Whatever is fastest.”
“Emergency infusion is the fastest, but it will be a bit of a shock to your system.”
“Whatever, let's get this over with.”
I lay down in the treatment pod and it began. Several pokes later, a gentle female voice spoke.
“Emergency nanobot injection complete. Please remain still until you are cleared to return to your post.”
“I’m the Captain, so I’m cleared,” I said with a grin.
I swung my legs off the side and hopped to my feet. A wave of vertigo hit me and I dry heaved as I collapsed on the floor on my hands and knees.
“What the heck?” I demanded.
“Please remain still,” the female voice said.
“Captain, do as she says. The nanobots need time to adapt to your system.”
My fingers twitched and then every muscle in my body seemed to rebel at once. I collapsed to the floor in a heap, drooling like a baby. I really shouldn’t have been in such a hurry.
My nerves fired at random and the only saving grace was it didn’t feel like getting tased, even if the effect was similar. I finally regained control of my body.
“Blast it, Bob! What the heck was that?” I demanded.
This answer as usual was frustratingly vague. “The nanobots learning.”
I looked down at my soiled clothing. Why did I even wake up this morning? I’d have been better off staying in bed. Except, of course, I didn’t have a bed yet, or rather it was buried in dust.
I headed for the bathroom and put in an order for some clothing with Bob. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and tossed them into the shower stall. Until the material processor made me something else, they were all I had to wear. But for that, we’d need some synthetic material to convert into clothing. I stepped into the shower and washed away the dirt, grime, and sweat. I stayed under the water far longer than regulations called for, a fact Bob repeatedly reminded me of. The third time I told him to shut up, he finally left me alone.
After washing my clothing I dried off and rang the water out as best I could. I placed them in front of the heater to speed up the drying process and stared at myself in the mirror.
My strawberry red-blonde hair came down past my shoulders. I’d been graced with an hourglass figure and a winning smile. The black rings of deep fatigue around my blue eyes robbed me of any elegance my pale freckled face might have otherwise had. I stood at 5’6'' when I wasn’t slouching and had an agile build despite my wider hips and womanly assets. No, I wasn’t a runway model by any stretch of the imagination, but I had been mistaken for a harlot a time or two when sneaking through a seedy back alley after a heist.
While waiting for my clothing to dry I grabbed the wrist computer and quantum communicator I’d taken from the dead and sliced through their systems to link the two. This gave my computer a quantum connection. I disabled the locater for the comm so the Triv wouldn’t be able to trace where the call was coming from and then wrote a software patch so I could connect the wrist computer to the ethernet using the comm’s quantum connection.
By the time I finished, my clothing was dry and the other RB unit’s parts were waiting for installation. I headed down to the maintenance bay to see if I could help speed things up.
* * *
It ended up taking just over twenty-four hours to complete the engine repairs. I spent most of that time sleeping or fixing RB units. I put seven more in operation during that time bringing my total to eleven. Arty was still my favorite though. My little buddy. And yeah, I was getting a little lonely.
More defective systems were found in testing and I diverted resources to get the other bots operational and to clean the Captain’s quarters so I could sleep and recycled some of the synthetic material in the other crew rooms to manufacture some decent clothing.
The material processor had a setting for synthetic fabrics or leather. When I saw the option for a sweet-looking skin-tight suit I had to try it. It had the look of leather but was the most comfortable thing I’d ever worn. It looked like a leather catsuit on the outside but with none of the chafing. Whoever built this ship had known luxury! Or at least the material processors programmers had. They deserved a metal.
There is no way I’d ever be able to justify buying something like this, but it was free, so why not, right? It wasn’t just a piece of clothing either. It regulated my body temperature and was designed perfectly to fit me. Not only did it look awesome, but it felt great too. It even doubled as a space suit in case the ship lost pressure for some reason. Its air supply was limited to just twenty minutes but a lot could happen in that amount of time.
The best part, aside from how comfortable and how badass it looked, was the protection it offered. The material looked like leather but it was actually much higher tech. It could handle a standard shot from a laser pistol at point-blank range with only minor burns.
The plasma blaster from the war machines, which I’d learned were called security bots, would still cut through it, but I’d never even heard of a weapon like that before our fateful encounter. The material acted like reactive armor, hardening on impact to protect from kinetic attacks or in my case, falling down steps. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, a hood would deploy from the collar and mold around the head, hair included.
Most skin-tight clothing I’d worn in the past rubbed or stuck but this did neither. I also didn’t sweat because the temperature was controlled and always perfect. If I exerted myself, it cooled me to maintain a perfect temperature.
I looked at myself in the mirror. “Blast! I look good!” Not going to be avoiding notice in this! I left the top section of the collar open. The material was stretchy but it still felt a tad restrictive. The dark circles around my eyes had faded and even the neck pain was starting to ease. The nanobots were not in fact a cure-all. That stubborn knot was still holding on for dear life. I had slept well in the Captain’s bed. My bed.
“I can’t believe I have a spaceship!” Yes, it’s in the sun. I did my best to ignore that little fact of terror-inducing truth. Any time I thought about it I had to find something to distract myself to avoid freaking out.
It still boggled my mind that I wasn’t burnt to a crisp already. You’d think with how heat transfer with conduction and radiation worked the ship would just get hotter and hotter until it melted, but no. The designers had an answer even for that. I understood exactly zero of what Bob had said about it, but it tied in somehow with the heat shielding and maybe something to do with the sun's relations to the hyperway. It was beyond me, but looking awesome wasn’t, and I was killing it!
“Captain, Arby has finished his assigned task. The engines are online. 85% operational.”
I took a deep breath and let it out. Finally.
“Excellent, Bob. Tell Arty to report to the bridge. It’s time to get out of here.”
“Do you have a destination in mind?” Bob asked.
“Um, right. That’s a good point.” I strode onto the bridge and took my seat. “Pull up your star map, Bob. Oh, Arby! Glad you could join us. Take a seat. You get to be my XO.”
“I thought I was your XO,” Bob said.
“Yeah, but you don’t have a body, so Arby is filling in,” I said, happy to finally be leaving the star behind. “Let’s get clear of the corona.”
The bridge controls were marked in a different language but intuition and a few questions for the AI cleared things up. I’d never owned a ship before but I’d spent a lot of time and money to get certified to fly one. One of my childhood dreams was owning a ship and leaving the slums of South Bends far behind. I’d gotten out of South Bends, but never reached my goal, until now.
I took control of the ship and moved it out of the star. It had been keeping station in the star for centuries. As we broke away from the sun, I felt as if I was breaking free from some invisible chains that held me too. The ship and I both were leaving something behind. We both had a new lease on life and a new purpose. We’d find out what that was together.