Front Sections.

Thief left her two companions sitting outside the airlock and followed Mary’s directions to the forward hospital. She returned half an hour later with an electric wheelchair, bottles of water, and snacks that looked a lot more appetising than their nutro packs. They put Thomas in the chair first and Emily sat on his lap. Thief walked beside them.

“I’ll need one of you to put Thomas on an IV drip.” Mary told them, “It’s straightforward. Afterwards, I’ll show you how to bandage Emily’s ankle. You should all take some broad-spectrum antibiotics. The vaccine doses will be ready soon too.”

Emily gazed around in wonder at the hospital ward. Pristine beds lined the walls, each surrounded with diagnostic equipment.

“This has been here the whole time?”

“Yes, of course. I’ve updated and reconfigured it several times, but this was always the ship’s main medical facility.

“There must be fifty beds in here.”

“Sixty. All automated and equipped with the expected array of patient monitoring instruments. Through that door you’ll find a more intensive diagnostic suite, with an MRI.”

“Imagine what Mamma and Doctor Warren will say when they see this!”

“They’ll be pissed.” Thief said. “Our people could have been treated here. Maybe less would have died.”

“Thief, to speed things up, I’ll show you where to go and what to collect by flashing indicator lights, please just follow the lights to collect what we need.”

“Sure, boss.”

“Actually,” Mary replied, “you’re the boss.”

She provided directions to locate and assemble an IV drip, stand, and bag of plasma. Then instructed Thief how to adjust the flow rate. Thomas, still rather dopey, offered up an arm for her to slide the needle into.

“Another hidden talent?” Emily asked Thief.

“I’ve seen Mamma do it heaps of times.”

With Thomas comfortable, it was Emily’s turn. Her foot soon sported a tight elastic bandage and even a special boot to reduce pressure on the ankle. She could now walk unassisted.

They self-administered their antibiotics next and enjoyed a drink of clean, clear water.

“I’ve been speaking with Johan,” said Mary, “he is equipping some smaller children with earpieces and rad counters. I will guide the first of them through to you once they’re ready.”

“So we don’t have to go back?”

“Not right now, no. Also, it will be difficult for the adults to travel either the route you used, or Bianca’s, because of the tight spaces. Now that Johan has reconnected me to the rearward systems, we’re working on opening some key bulkhead doors, to enable easier passage. We should have everyone moved here within a week. In the meantime, the smaller ones can take the vaccine doses back.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Okay, great. Wow, everything is happening so fast.”

“Indeed. And now your Mother would like to speak with you.”

When her mother came on the line, Thief couldn’t help crying.

“Mamma!”

“Sarah, are you okay? I didn’t trust the computer to tell me.”

“Yes, Mamma, I’m fine. We’ve been, um… quite busy.”

“Thank goodness, yes, it sounds like it. Here’s Emily’s folks for her. Thomas’ Mamma too…”

After the reunions on the radio, everyone agreed the three of them should rest. The girls helped Thomas onto a bed, careful not to pull his drip out, and took the two beds on either side. Sleep did not come easily after all the excitement, but it came eventually.

***

The next day Thief, Emily, and Thomas waited under an open ventilation duct with excitement.

“I just can’t believe you guys crawled for hours in something that small.” Thomas said, “It’s amazing.”

“Yeah, well, we are pretty amazing, aren’t we?” Emily laughed. “We’re also small enough. Your fat ass wouldn’t fit in there.”

“It might.” Thief joked “With all that blood drained out of it.”

Thomas winced. “Please, don’t remind me.”

The first little bald head to appear belonged to a friend, Hamish. He had been given the honour of leading the group through. The adults thought it would help take his mind off his loss. And they were right. His face beamed at the trio below.

“Made it!” He shouted.

There followed a procession of more kids. All sweaty and grimy but smiling and chatting.

The chatter didn’t stop as they walked through the front section, leaving dirty footprints on the floor. Mary had a cleaning droid following them, doing its best to mop up.

After a meal, a rest, and injections, the younger children kept Mary’s cleaning droids very busy, rushing about their newfound paradise. A dozen of the fittest kids slung backpacks full of vaccine doses over their shoulders and ventured back into the pipework. They refused to wait until the next day, keen to return to their families with the much-needed vaccine.

“May as well let them, before the adrenaline wears off.” said Emily.

“Can I suggest,” said Mary, ” that you two have a shower. And then I’ll provide some instructions on ship systems, including the bridge.”

“You mean, like a proper shower, with running water, not water in sponges?” asked Thief.

“Yes, a proper shower. There are private ones in Bianca’s and Sebastian’s suites, and communal ones in the dormitory section. Which would you like directions to?”

“The dormitory ones!” Emily answered for them “No way we want to hang out in the vampire’s old rooms!”

The warm water and soap felt luxurious. Thief decided she would have suffered the last few days for the reward of a shower alone. Mary showed them where to find clean jumpsuits. They chose blue ones for the Science crew, given Thief’s new title of Chief Science Officer.

“I’m pretty sure Johan should be the CSO, as Mary calls it.” Thief said, wriggling into her new clothes.

“Well, you can be CAS, “Emily replied “Chief Ass Kicker. It’s much more appropriate.”

“Yeah, that’s me!”

They picked Thomas up from the dormitory he’d chosen and made their way to the bridge elevator, still marvelling at the conveniences along the way. When the doors swished open, the three of them saw space for the first time in their lives.

“I’ve set the viewscreen to a live view.” Mary confirmed. “You may be interested to know that Proxima Centauri is the brightest feature in view, there to the left of centre.”

Thief walked forward, taking in the massive, curved screen that occupied the facing wall. The star seemed so big, its strong white light outshining everything else around it.

“It seems so close.” She whispered.

“Yes.” Said Mary. “It’s less than two light years away now.”

“Too far away to reach in our lifetimes though.”

“Yes, of course. But your descendants will reach it.”

“Thanks to you.” Emily whispered, putting her arm around her friend.

“Thanks to all of us.” said Thief.

THE END