After our destructive exit from Nuvora City, we returned to Salvation which had been patiently waiting for us in orbit around a nearby planet, conducting surveys of the system and research.

As we approached, it was brought to attention that there was a smaller ship alongside Salvation which later turned out to be the medical ship.

“There must be an issue on Salvation,” said Jeremy. “They wouldn’t undock from Salvation for no reason.”

From everything we had seen so far, I was still utterly impressed by the versatility of the Salvation — the ability for large sections to break off as their own standalone ships.

Jeremy was back in good health and spirits, though he was still a little rough with bruises and cuts on his face. We were sat on viewing platform near the bridge of Mortifera as we waited for word from Captain Lee aboard the Salvation.

We kept a cautious distance while we waited for docking approval, which was only given by Captain Lee. When it came to the transporter and anything to do with it directly, he had the highest authority, even superiority over SecMajor Henderson.

It was peaceful, quiet, and uneventful on the viewing platform. A nice change of pace for once.

“Does all of this bother you?” I asked.

Jeremy turned and gave me a smile, “does what bother me?”

“Just… everything,” I said raising my arms out to the universe.

“We’ve jumped through anomalies; discovered two planets, one of which is way futuristic; and, according to the General back on Nuvora, there’s supposedly eight linked systems that coincide with the eight transporters that left Earth.

“Not too mention, there’s a whole other race of psychotic humanoids that want to do exactly the same as us — dominate systems. Meanwhile there’s some shadow puppet masters that seemingly dictate where we can and can’t do!”

I took a massive breath after unloading my semi-manic train of thought. It was a lot and I felt like no one had really acknowledged it.

“You forgot about Fletcher having it out for you too,” joked Jeremy.

I shot him a defeated look, it was funny but I couldn’t crack. I needed someone to acknowledge now fucking crazy it all was.

“We were always going to have a hard time out here,” said Jeremy before he paused for a moment.

“I don’t think we were ever meant to make it off Earth. The odds were against us, but somehow we all worked together to do it.”

“Jeremy. Carter. Hop on a fighter and go over to the medical ship, still no word from Salvation,” interrupted Henderson.

“Yes ma’am,” we both responded before heading to the large bay on the bottom of Mortifera where the fighters were housed.

—

After a rather boring couple of hours we managed to rendezvous with the medical ships orbit and successfully dock. It was strange boarding medical as a standalone craft, usually you would just walk through one of the several entry points within salvation and you would be in the medical section. Most people probably didn’t even realise that it could seperate, and it wasn’t supposed to unless Salvation was in danger.

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“Major Lewis, Carter,” sighed Dr Sted, with a hint of relief as she met us on entry to the ship.

There was an awkward pause before Jeremy addressed the elephant in the ship.

“Why has medical separated from Salvation Doctor?”

She let out another sigh, but this time it was more concerned.

“Well. There’s trouble on Salvation and several decks have been locked down, maybe more since we’ve left. It wasn’t good and we’ve totally lost comm channels with Salvation too.”

It turned out that while we were gone word had gotten out about our visit to a civilised planet. It wasn’t good. It was purposely put under wraps, and Salvation placed in orbit around another planet in the system to prevent an all out mutiny against Captain Lee, the crew, and Miltech personnel. It seemed as though that didn’t pan out and Salvation was in the midst of a mutiny.

“Why didn’t you respond to us?” Asked Jeremy.

“Comms are completely dead. Nothing in, nothing out. We tried to radio the Mortifera once we noticed your arrival, but it was silent,” she said.

“They must be actively blocking comms, we’re gonna have to board,” said Jeremy.

—

Doctor Sted led us to Ro’s recovery room, where she was sitting watching a screen with no idea we were there. The doctor knocked on her door and announced she had visitors. For some reason my heart was pounding and I was shot with nerves.

.

“Thanks for leaving me behind you fuckers,” Said Ro as we entered her room.

I had no words or hope at a witty response like I had planned, all I could do was rush forward and give her a hug. She was alive and I was grateful. I could feel her body relax before she whispered her thanks into my ear.

“So you guys really screwed the pooch taking a vacay and not inviting everyone,” joked Ro.

“Don’t worry, you have me now to get it sorted,” she added.

“No absolutely not, she’s still recovering. What is it with you Miltech guys!” Said Doctor Sted.

“Make me doc,” said Ro defiantly with a smile.

Dr Sted raised her arms in frustration and let them slap by her sides in disbelief as she glanced at Jeremy to back her up.

“Sorry doctor, she’ll force her way back to the Mortifera one way or another so it may as well be with us,” said Jeremy.

Ro squealed in happiness. Yes squealed. It was a first for me to witness as well, and she was so eager to get out of there it took her all but a few minutes to have her bag packed and be ready to head back to the Mortifera.

After a reluctant and kind of forced release from Doctor sted’s medical care, we were back on the fighter and on our way back to the Mortifera to let Henderson know of the possible situation aboard Salvation.

After some trial and error with establishing a connection with Salvation, we were able to circumvent the comms block by using Miltech channels, we just had to wait for someone from Miltech aboard Salvation to scan channels and land on the same one.

They confirmed that several scattered decks were locked down, containing majority of the mutinous group however, included in that was the bridge, where a rogue group had taken control but was met with resistance by the Captain and bridge crew.

Their demands, in my opinion, were valid. They wanted to get off Salvation and start a new life on either of the hospitable planets that we had visited. Although reasonable, their course of action was risky, especially for the group that had taken the bridge.

Our priority was to board Salvation, retake the bridge and restore order ship-wide. This scenario was one of Miltechs main functions when it was established - to maintain the safety of transporters and its passengers.

Docking the Mortifera back to Salvation was too obvious and risky to the mission. We had to go in stealth and catch them by surprise. Most of the Miltech crew were stuck on the lower decks of Salvation and were completely blocked from using service-ways to bypass the locked down decks.

“So how are we going to get onto Salvation if we can’t dock to it,” I asked.

“We’re going to spacewalk it,” said Jeremy.

“Uh what now?”

Jeremy laughed while Ro’s face lit up like a kid at Christmas.

“We’ll use a recon craft to get us close to Salvation and then jump across and scale the hull to one of the many airlocks scattered across the exterior where we can force our way in.”

It was actually a great idea and made the most sense, but again, it was something I hadn’t done before so I hated it.

Henderson gave us the all clear and ordered two squads of four people to make breaches into Salvation. Our squad was lead while the other squads were primarily support and plan B if somehow we got annihilated.

We went to the bay deck of the Mortifera and suited up. The same suits that Ro and I wore back when we did recon on the Dominus, it had three layers to hide our body heat signatures while also giving us the warmth to not freeze to death. The joy of nervous butterflies, how I missed putting on a suit that I still had zero trust in.