The Rusty Bolt dropped out of hyperspace half a million klicks from the Aegis Prime, as requested. She hailed the battleship and was soon connected to the flight commander.
„Aegis Prime, this is the Rusty Bolt, Captain Rodriguez speaking.“
„Rusty Bolt, this is the Aegis Prime. We’ve been expecting you, but not that soon. I was told you headed off to the edge of the Junkstorm.“
Red smiled and replied: „You know it’s not a sharp edge. It’s more like a fog. At some place you’re definitely not in it, at some place you definitely are, and all the area in-between is a gradual transition. We went to the edge of the ‚definitely inside‘ part. We knew they had a larger ship waiting somewhere beyond that and honestly I had no intention of meeting them.“
„Would have been interesting, though.“
„Maybe.“, Red admitted, „But with these Xylars that escorted us we had almost two days of building trust. Who knows how entirely different individuals would have responded?“
„True that. While we were chatting, I’ve plotted your approach course. Sending it over now. See you on board soon. Never thought I’d see the Aegis Prime being boarded by pirates.“
The Rusty Bolt maneuvered towards the battleship that easily dwarfed it. They had seen larger ships out there, flown by alien races. The freighter that had started all this was more than twice the size of the Aegis Prime, but still, as human ships went, this was an impressive one.
On the outside, it was a metal hull with weapons, sensors and docking ports protruding from it. They were positioned as needed, some weapon systems on long trusses for improved firing arcs. Space had no water or air resistance to consider, so a streamlined hull was a design choice and ships built for efficiency had other considerations applied to it. But even though, the Aegis Prime was visibly modern and slick, at least compared to the jumble of parts that was the Rusty Bolt.
They just barely fit into one of the two fighter bays of the Aegis Prime. There were four fighters in each of them, and space for shuttles to dock. The Rusty Bolt was larger than a typical shuttle, mostly owing to its hyperspace drive. It took up both shuttle spaces.
They were greeted by a lieutenant and escorted to the quarters near the trauma center that had been given to the evacuees from Binary Bloom and their families. The interior of the battleship was condenses and crowded, a military vessel that offered few luxuries besides those necessary for extended stays in space such a gym to maintain physical fitness. They passed it on their way. When they reached the evacuee quarters, things became even more crowded. With more than fourty additional people, the Aegis Prime was well over its capacity and the available space had to be shared. Luggage that did not fit into the rooms anymore was blocking parts of the hallway, and where they could see into the by themselves already tight quarters looked not better.
Stolen novel; please report.
„We will be moving people to more permanent destinations as soon as they are treated and ready for transport. The first shuttle we requested from Erulas should arrive tomorrow. Six wounded and six or seven family members will leave, that will improve things here already a lot.“, the lieutenant explained as he guided them through the chaotic space.
Then he stopped in front of a door, room D-09 according to the sign next to it. „This is where Miss Sarron should be, unless she’s out to eat or in rehab.“, he said and pressed the buzzer. After a short moment, the door opened. They saw Valarie sitting up on a bed, leaning against the wall. She had obviously opened the door by voice command.
„Valarie!“, Twitch exclaimed and rushed forward, pushing the lieutenant aside. She was dressed in a hospital gown and her leg was bandaged and in a cast.
„Twitch!“, she said, in the dozy way of people on medication. She looked at him and a bit of life returned into her posture. She embraced him. He did the same, but careful not to press too much.
„Uh“, Red said, „Twitch, take your time, see you in a few hours on the Rusty Bolt, ok? We might be staying a few days.“
She turned around and the lieutenant walked them further along. „If you don’t mind, of course.“, Red said to him, „We have quarters and supplies on our ship, we won’t be a problem.“
„I will have to check with the commander to make sure, but I believe that won’t be a problem.“
A bit further along and around a corner, they came to the actual hospital ward. After a quick exchange with a nurse, the lieutenant brought them to one of the rooms. Micah was on one of the three beds, different machines attached to him. His left arm was gone, and his legs were inside metal cylinders with various tubes of colored liquid connected.
It was Grubs’ turn. „Micah“, he said, looking at the broken body of his friend, „Man, what are you doing?“
The engineer slowly turned his head, it took him a few seconds to recognize his visitor. Then he answered with a weak voice: „Becoming more like you, man. They’re not sure about the legs, though. Said it’s fifty-fifty if I’ll ever walk again. At least with those.“
Micah went to his side, and a look and a nod between him and Red communicated about the same as she had said to Twitch.
„You’ll get there.“, he said to Micah, „You’re a tough one.“
„Sure hope so.“, Micah answered, speaking slowly, „But this is a military hospital. They patch you up, you know. As long as you can fight again, their job is done. And there’s plenty of jobs in a modern military where legs are optional.“
„Hey man, don’t talk like that!“
Red slowly left the room while the two men continued their exchange. She felt somewhat hollow, looking back. Two good people she had known were dead. Probably a few others - Bloom was still in chaos and probably would not know for some days who had paid the ultimate price for, well essentially for her greed.
A few weeks ago, she saw herself as a noble rogue. Someone who sure is doing technically illegal things, but they are helping her fellow people. Without stolen alien tech, where would humanity be? But now, realizing the harm it had caused among both humans and aliens, she was not so sure anymore.
They would stay for a few days if the Erulas guys let them. There was a lot of catching up and planning the future to do. And she owed those planetary governments a detailed report with everything she knew.
She slowly walked back towards her ship, the lieutenant accompanying her most of the way. There she was, not a beauty, but hers. The Rusty Bolt.