De Silva assembled a meeting to discuss the upcoming operations. The information he now possessed indicated that a retrieval would be achievable. Although he trusted his own knowledge and experience, he wanted to hear the thoughts of his leadership team.
The derelict looked to be a freighter. The small number of exhaust ports in its propulsion system proved that it didn’t have anywhere near the power of a warship or a rescue vessel like the Nineveh. Boarding the derelict ship presented dangers. But they had ample time to identify and address those. Additionally, although the ship was heavily damaged, they had boarded derelict ships in worse condition.
The other officers were gathered around the navigation plotter in the back section and spoke in hushed tones. Holly had already brought up imagery on the navigation plot and the team was gathered around watching, likely discussing approach options. Moussa and Stocky were standing with them. They held the senior most crew hand positions and would give an outside perspective.
“Captain,” Zhu said. They all looked up and greeted him.
“Carry on,” he said as he took a place next to them at the screen. It showed several different views of the alien craft – which looked somewhat like a prism. Broken stumps of trusses proved it once held external cargo pods along its long, flat sides. “I’ve been looking at it myself. How do you feel about it, ENG?”
“I’m optimistic,” he said, looking up with a smile. “It’s in one piece. That alone is a positive development.”
“Agreed. It’s looking like it is at least possible to retrieve the whole thing.” And since they knew its function they could be sure the risk from unknown weapons or defensive measures was low.
“How would we fasten it for tow?” Holly asked. “The whole ship is pockmarked, and some of those holes are pretty large.”
“Yeah,” Zhu conceded while pointing at a particularly scored section of the hull, “but if they make their ships like we do then that is just the whipple shield built exterior to the hull. It’s not structural and it doesn’t have to be intact. We’re going to have to tear some of that off to fasten to the pressure hull, anyways. It’s expendable material.”
“How much actual hull damage can we work with?” Patterson asked.
“A good bit,” Stocky said.
Moussa nodded. “We can’t know for certain if this is salvageable, Captain, but it’s worth a look.”
“Yes,” Zhu said, “we’ve got to board it. It’s the interior strength members that we must examine. Ribs. Spars. If those are intact, then we can tow.”
“That’s assuming they build their ships like we do,” Patterson said. “It doesn’t look like this one rotated. There are probably other differences.”
“We’d have to board to find out,” Zhu said with a wink. “Captain, we have to go.”
They were maybe too eager to survey it. Any operation involved risks and he wanted to draw out any that they were silently thinking about. “Any objections to bringing the Nineveh in so that we could undertake a boarding operation?” Nobody immediately spoke.
“I can get us close.” Holly said. “The debris is manageable. And there is only a low risk of micrometeoroids with our planned intercept.”
That second point was good to hear. She had already accounted for that risk.
“No objections from Sci-Med,” Patterson said. “It doesn’t seem to be emitting radionuclides and we can deal with any remaining biological or synthetic contaminants in the Isolab. I want Samoylova on the initial team we send over. She’s the only one with military training.”
Her assessment sounded good. He knew they had prepared to control any contaminants found. And the derelict, if it used fission power at all, appeared to have a core that was still intact. At the very least contained. He wanted to hear more about her intentions for Samoylova though. “Do you think they’re alive and might resist?”
“No,” she said. “They’re almost certainly dead or in cryo. Probably dead. But we don’t know anything about the aliens’ psychology. When they are faced with certain death they may tend to record last messages to loved ones. Or they may try to document their last moments alive. Or maybe they tend to rig boobytraps to protect their property after death. Also, there could be some robotic machinery still active – possibly defensive in nature. We must prepare for anything.”
True. It was a really good thing that it wasn’t a warship. They didn’t have to worry about setting off a nuke.
He looked at Holly and Zhu. They both nodded in approval and Zhu affirmed that it was a good idea. He was glad they felt that way. The leadership team needed to display both focus and caution to compel the crew to do the same. He focused on Holly. “What concerns do you have specifically for the crew EVA transit?”
“The difficulties are manageable,” Holly said. “The derelict is pulling a scattered debris field with it. Once we close in, our relative velocity will drop and our own whipple shield will absorb the impacts. The Nineveh will be fine, and I can bring it in close to the alien derelict. But there will still be some risk for the EVA team. TURING, do you concur?”
“I concur, NAV,” came the reply.
“We’ve dealt with those dangers before. We’ll use the Class A semi-rigid EVA suits. They can hold up to micrometeoroids. And they’ll absorb some of the force in something larger. But if we were to slow our approach to take another ten days, would the debris field clear up a good bit?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“It won’t make any difference. But I can play around with our course without burning through more than five percent of our fuel allowance. If we postponed the rendezvous by a couple months…”
“We can’t do that. I still want to get out of here before any Elios show themselves because that might bring greater risks.” The Elios would certainly contest the salvage operation.
“What’s the debris field composed of?” Zhu asked.
The NAV brought up a table on the touchscreen plot and pointed out several of the larger bodies. It’s mostly rock-ice fragments from the outer solar system and small chips from the derelict. But there are some larger objects which look like plates from their Whipple shield. They could have sharp edges.”
“We’ll use our best personnel for free EVAs. There is some risk that the guide tether could be damaged. Team members need to have the skill to get back on their own.” He looked at Stocky. “I really would like you to go, if you don’t have any objections.”
He didn’t like putting on that pressure. Stocky was still adjusting to life aboard the Nineveh. But his enhanced physical attributes were unique. If the operation did go unexpectedly bad, his ability to continue to function with injuries or to not be impaired by disorientation or emotional stress could save lives. Plus, he had more EVA time than most of the crew.
“No objections, Captain,” Stocky said. “I’ll be happy to support the team.”
He immediately felt guilty for asking. He asked to give Stocky a choice. But, by asking, he had left Stocky with no choice. Twisted, replicant conditioning. He hoped Patterson could fix some of the psychological damage that had been inflicted upon him. Stocky going on the team was the best thing for the ship, but it felt wrong.
They were all silent for a moment while they waited for him to say something else. He noticed this fact. They may also have disliked effectively ordering Stocky. He couldn’t blame them if they did feel a little bit of disgust. But the conversation needed to move on. “How’s the crew? Are any of them losing their minds about finding aliens?”
“The crew’s fine,” Moussa said. “Honestly, they’re getting better and better with it. I think they were more concerned with all the uncertainty earlier on. Now that they know what we’re out to do, they’re feeling good about it.”
“Okay, let me know if that changes. We still have almost four weeks before rendezvous and then a long outbound journey.”
“I’ll keep you appraised, Captain,” Moussa said, “but I think we’ll be good.”
He still had one big issue on his mind. It was one of the reasons they were out here in Delta Hydri. He had hoped that this venture would amount to more than just a large payday. He wanted it to benefit the quality of life for certain members of the crew.
“How is Qureshi? Is she optimistic about the new plan for doing business going forward?”
“I think she wants to give it a try,” Moussa said.
“She’s fearful,” Holly said. “I’ve been talking with her about things. She’s afraid that she might have waited too late to start a family. She’s trying to be hopeful though. And she is appreciative.”
“We’re doing all we can for her,” Zhu said.
“Probably, but I wish we had earlier.”
“We’ll have to grade how much improvement this brings,” Patterson said. “We might have to make further adjustments to keep personnel.”
“What’s driving your concern?” Zhu asked.
“Of the men aboard,” Patterson said, “four out of nine are in a permanent relationship. I’m including Garvey because I think he’s going to marry Erica. For us women, it is zero out of five. Qureshi is the oldest. These anxieties will very likely pop up again in a few years.”
“Will our new business strategy alleviate that?”
“Partly. But this is a hard career and lifestyle for a woman. Biology works against us. Moussa and you can start a family and raise kids and – I’m not suggesting that appreciable sacrifices aren’t involved – but you can join the crew and carry your normal workshare while your wives handle the task of gestation. We can’t. We have to be on light duty for part of the time when we’re making babies.
There are feelings of guilt because of that, and there are also greater dangers. There is the challenge of keeping them healthy and safe after birth. We barely got cryosleep to work for healthy adults. It’s not safe for those who are pregnant…or for infants.
Additionally, men who want kids are going to recognize the difficulty that she will face juggling between working as a hauler crew hand and being a mother – and avoid her. She’s distancing herself from the population that she’s hoping to attract.
I don’t think Qureshi had all this in mind. She’s made choices that she now regrets. And there is nothing we can do about the past. I’m talking with Samoylova and Nieves about this. I hope it helps.”
“Is there any way that we can actually prevent this from happening again?”
“No, we can only lessen the hardship. Nature never intended men and women to be equal. It’s not sexism to say that…even though many try to pass it off as that. It’s a universal rule that whenever you have two populations, and one is allowed to take a path the other can’t, you never get equal outcomes. And only women bear the gestation path. We must assist her because she’s our sister. But she may have waited too long.”
He turned to Zhu. “What are your thoughts about family formation on the ship?”
Zhu slunk uneasily. “That creates problems,” he said. “There’s the chance for feelings of favoritism…”
“It could also solve problems.” He waited to let that sink in. “I’ll look the other way. I’ll give crewmen a chance to figure out a routine. I think if we all stay focused on what’s really important with our family that we can find a way that’s fair and respectful to everyone.”
Zhu glanced at Stocky and De Silva gave him a stern gaze. We won’t treat him any different. Even if it helps to do it.
“Give me a while to think about it,” Zhu said.
“Just think about it. Let’s all think about it. We have time. We can’t help Qureshi with this until we make it back to Zeta Reticuli.”
Zhu nodded and then he turned back to Patterson. “Is there anything you can do to make things easier for Qureshi?”
“I’ve already started stem cell farming,” she said. “Growing the population of her most vibrant stem cells, together with proper rest, diet, and exercise – promoting autophagy – can turn the physiological clock back a few years. And it will slow age-related degeneration. I can’t give her time to wait though.”
“I appreciate it. I understand.”
“Stocky!” Patterson said.
“Ma’am,” he replied.
“Don’t speak about this outside of here,” she ordered.
He nodded in agreement.
He saw that the team was getting ready to leave. “One last thing,” he said. He got eye contact with them again and then continued. “Stocky, you and Patterson randomly select one or two others from the crew and run a repel boarders drill.”
Patterson looked at him weird. So did most of the others. He knew why, the usual routine was to split the crew evenly. This time he wanted to make a point by giving them something unexpected.
“Aye sir,” Stocky said.
“You’re not actually thinking that we’re strolling into a skirmish?” Holly asked.
“Nope. All indications point to us being the only ones here. We should be able to take our prize and slip out before anyone notices us. That’s still the plan. And if there are any robot sentries on the derelict then our robot scouts should detect them on the first sweep. I just want the crew to be ready for anything. So, we’re going to train for it.”
“Yes, sir,” Zhu said. “We understand.”
He looked at Stocky. “Play to win.”
Stocky nodded affirmatively.
“Dismissed.” He had given Stocky and Patterson a difficult task, but they would find a way to achieve what he wanted.