It took a lot longer to take off a spacesuit in gravity than it did in zero-g, and almost every movement caused her pain.
“Okay, the men have to leave now.” The other woman said. “Is there anyone that can run the med-bot besides you?” She asked me.
“It runs itself, so I think that's a yes.” I said.
“Then activate it and get it here.” She said. “My friend needs medical attention.”
“I need to be near to absorb the Presence holding her ribs in place.” I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes.
“He's right.” The woman with broken ribs said and pulled her uniform top open, then lifted the edge of her undershirt to show them the slight indent around her rib cage, then rubbed it to show that she couldn't touch the skin.
“Where the hell did that come from?” The first man asked.
“Me.” I said, and they stared at me. “I don't want to remove it until the med-bot scans her at least.”
“Then hurry up and get it here so she can be treated.” The other woman said. I left and activated the med-bot and brought it over to the living room. The three men and the guard were gone, and only the woman with broken ribs and the other woman was there.
“That's a real med-bot!” She said. “I... I thought...”
“I know.” I said and told the med-bot what I had seen. I felt it try to scan her and then it beeped at me. “Sorry.” I said and absorbed the solid Presence. “Try again.”
The med-bot scanned her again and gave me two short beeps, which confirmed my diagnosis.
“Okay, you can go.” The second woman said. “We need to undress her and...”
“Yeah, yeah.” I said and walked towards the hallway. “I swear everyone thinks I'm a pervert because I can see through walls.” I said. “I'm the one that's supposed to be blind and yet it's all of you that are so short-sighted.”
They didn't say anything and I walked down the hallway to the spare room. I could hear people talking and the guard there nodded to me. She wasn't the one who flew the shuttle.
“It sounds like an argument.” I said.
“They are discussing how to proceed.”
“Ha.” I said and hit the button for the door chime. The talking stopped and the door opened.
“Yes, what... oh, it's you.” Ahaen said.
“I miss you, too.” I said and looked over her shoulder. “I hear you're discussing what to do next.”
“We are.” The first man that spoke said. “It's a private...”
“I decide what we do next. Not you. Not the delegates. Not anyone else.” I said and cut him off. “This is my ship. None of you have any right to tell me what to do with it.”
“Now listen here...” He started to say, and I covered his mouth with Presence and made it solid.
“I didn't tell you to speak.” I said. “I am going to assess the best course to take for myself. I am willing... slightly... to accept suggestions, and suggestions only. If any of you try to order me, you'll end up like him.” I said and pointed to the man trying to pull the Presence off of his face. “I'm going to the cockpit to discuss things with my business partners and I'll be back in a little while. I'll entertain your suggestions then.”
“You can't just...” Ahaen started to say, and I hit the button to close the door and it whooshed shut. I tried not to laugh as she cursed at me, then I absorbed the Presence I had used to cover the man's mouth.
“Do you always intentionally piss people off?” The guard asked.
“It makes them focus on something instead of panicking.” I said, to her surprise. “I really will be back in a little while. Try to keep them inside so they don't try to swarm the cockpit and demand that I take them somewhere.”
“No promises.” The guard said and smiled.
I nodded to her and walked all the way over to the cockpit. “Hey, guys.”
“That was some great work, Hunter.” Luxea said as she turned her chair around to face me. “You might want to think about becoming a professional rescue technician.”
“Yeah, no.” I said. “Have you met the survivors?”
Luxea chuckled. “Both Rhubin and I have been hiding in here.”
“We really have.” Rhubin said. “We do not want to get involved with politics. Military or otherwise.”
“I was thinking the same thing, so I came here to see what you two wanted to do.”
“Well, we're almost in high orbit.” Luxea said and motioned to the display behind her. “Rhubin said he's going to nudge the wreck a little more and try to get it to bounce off of the atmosphere.”
“Can you actually do that?” I asked.
“It could skip off or become a giant fireball of metal that'll impact the planet and probably kill millions of people.” Rhubin said. “Or we could just leave it and see if it'll stay in orbit or decay and hit the planet eventually.”
“Dammit.” I said and waved for Luxea to give up her seat. She stood up and I sat down and turned the chair back to face the console. I started typing and doing various commands to see how much force it would take to make the wreck bounce off into space. I then added in atmospheric pressure and a few other variables, and the computer spat out directions.
“What in the world are you doing?” Luxea asked.
“Seeing if out-gassing the wreck will work, instead of adding more dents to my ship.” I said and typed in a few more things, then let the computer work.
“Hey, I apologized.” Rhubin said.
“Hey, I didn't argue.” I said, and he nodded. “Okay, I think... yeah, there it is.” I said as a targeting icon appeared on the small navigation display. I moved the laser cannon icon over to match it, then sighed as I felt the Presence waver slightly. I let the flow of Presence guide me as I let the icon drift slightly to the right and pulled the trigger once.
“Hey, you missed!” Rhubin said as two large and highly energized laser bolts shot out from the ship.
The wreck wobbled slightly for some reason and the two icons matched as the bolts struck the right spot and blew out a huge hole in the stairwell. All of the trapped air on the level where the survivors had been, blew out of the hole and acted like a thruster. Rhubin and Luxea watched with raised eyebrows as the wreck veered off and turned from its current course to a new heading. The hole was slightly off-center from the mass, so it gave it just enough sideways motion to ease it out of our way.
“Should I follow it?” Rhubin asked.
“No, there's no point.” I said. “If anyone's watching, they'll see the wreck changing course and will know someone is out here.”
“We're going to be completely exposed in a minute.” Rhubin said.
“We were going to be when we headed for the planet anyway, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “We should give the station a slow fly-by and see if anyone's still there.” I said and stood up. “Luxea, want to start broadcasting the message the delegates wanted?”
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“What about... the enemy?” Luxea asked, slightly subdued.
“We can get to the planet before they can get to us, even if they are hiding in the debris field or are on the other side of the planet.” I said. “If they are already on the planet, it won't matter one way or the other, will it?”
Luxea took a breath and nodded as she sat down, then she started sending the message out to the station and to the planet. There was no response, either good or bad. Rhubin altered course and headed for the station, and still no one responded. I asked him to go as close to the station as he could, without endangering us, and it was just on the edge of my detection range. I couldn't see or feel anyone with Presence as we passed over the station again, and I shook my head.
“They could be trapped in compartments deep inside.” Luxea said.
“We can't take on anyone else right now, even if we did find someone.” I said, and her face showed sadness. “I was hoping we could drop off who we have and make room.”
“Do we try to land on the planet?” Rhubin asked and brought the ship around the station and essentially hid behind it.
“Without any communications?” I asked, then looked at Luxea. “There's no way to tell if they are even receiving the signal, is there?”
“Not if the receiver is off or damaged.” Luxea said. “Getting a signal would let the computers communicate with each other and we would know if they are just not responding. If it's damaged, they can't respond.”
I sighed. “All right, I better go and see what kind of suggestions our passengers have.”
“I hope they have like a secret code or something to add to the message to show we're not the enemy trying to fool them.” Rhubin said.
“You have a suspicious mind.” I said and pat his shoulder. “I like it.”
Rhubin's laughter followed me down the hallway and I went to the spare room.
“They're all waiting for you.” The guard said.
“I'll be right back.” I said and walked by her and went to the now deserted living room, then thanked the med-bot before I took it back to its storage cabinet and deactivated it. I went back to the spare room and nodded.
The guard hit the door chime, then the door button to open it. I didn't step into the room, because it was crowded at over double its capacity. The two couches were full and two of the bunks were folded down for the others to sit on. Having nine people in a room designed for four made the large room seem tiny.
“We have several suggestions for you.” Uzahne said as she stood up from the couch.
“You don't need to stand.” I said and waved for her to sit, and I looked at the woman with a large med-pack wrapped around her chest. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel great and it really hurts to breathe!” The woman exclaimed, then she giggled.
“She really should be laying down.” I said.
“Where?” One of the men asked. “If we put one of the top bunks down, we can't all sit down.”
“Then sit on the floor or stand.” I said and stopped myself from calling him an idiot. Almost. “Are you that dense that you'll let her stay in constant pain because you want a more comfortable place to sit?”
The man couldn't respond to that without sounding self-entitled, so he stayed quiet. He didn't move to give her somewhere to lay down, either.
“Okay, what are the suggestions?” I asked.
“We should go to the station and see what rescue operations are being done.” Uzahne said.
“We're currently floating behind the station and there's nothing going on. No communications, no shuttle or ships moving, and no rescue operations that we can see.” I said. “Next.”
“Hey, you can't just dismiss the idea.” The man that had talked first on the wreck said.
“Are you a commander or something?” I asked.
“Lieutenant Commander He-”
“I don't need to know your name.” I cut him off. “Unlike the wreck you were on, the station is enormous in comparison. I could spend all day looking for people and not find anyone.”
“Or you could find hundreds of them.” He countered.
“Yeah, and then what?” I asked. “Do I try to squeeze them all on here five at a time, since that's all the spare spacesuits I have? Assuming you'd give them up, I mean.” I looked at him and saw him clench his fist. “Then what? Ferry them a dozen at a time to the planet surface?”
“What about the planet?” Uzahne asked. “Did you try to contact them?”
“We've been sending your message to the station and the planet for about ten minutes now and there's no response.” I said, saw her unhappy face, and turned to the lieutenant commander. “My pilot had an inspiring idea, though.”
“Oh, this should be good.” The lieutenant commander said.
“He told me to ask you about a special signal or code word to add to the delegate's message so that your people won't think we're the enemy trying to fool them.” I said and saw his face lose some of its color.
“By the Goddess.” Uzahne said as she saw the lieutenant commander's reaction. “Is it true? You have a secret code to allow communications?”
“It's on a need to know basis.” The lieutenant commander said.
“Hunter needs to know it, you idiot!” Uzahne said hotly, and he winced. “We could have been docked to the station or on the planet's surface already if you had given it to him right away!”
“I only just came aboard and there's still no proof that he's not a collaborator.” The lieutenant commander said to try and defend himself.
“He would have left you to die if he was a collaborator!” Uzahne said. “Give it to him. Now.” She ordered. “This ship could be seen as an enemy at any moment and we could all die because of your unnecessary secrecy!”
“How do I know this isn't all some ploy to trick us into revealing our remaining forces?” The lieutenant commander asked. “I've seen some elaborate setups and this luxury ship that's supposed to be a fast courier is too good to be true!”
“It sure is.” I said. “I had a really easy time saving you from that wreck, didn't I?” I said sarcastically and then smiled when I saw him frown. “Uzahne is right. If I wanted you dead, as you seem to be implying, I could have just kept my mouth shut and not told anyone that you were on it.”
“But you didn't!” The woman with broken ribs said and laughed. “Ow! Ha ha ha!”
“Take it easy, Melanie.”
“He risked his life and saved us, then flew me away from death like a bird!” Melanie said and put her arms out to the sides and hit two people on the head with her hands. “Whoosh!”
“Okay, calm down.” The woman said.
“He's my hero!” Melanie exclaimed. “He's a hero to all of us.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then sighed. “We need that signal code, lieutenant commander.”
“I need to be there to enter it.” The lieutenant commander said. I motioned to the hallway, and he walked over to me.
“Don't try anything funny. You'll be putting everyone's lives in danger, not just your own.” I warned him, and the lieutenant commander scowled at me. “Uzahne, if we're doing this live and not using your recorded message, you should be there, too.”
“Agreed.” Uzahne said and walked over to us.
I turned to the man that wouldn't move earlier and pointed to the two empty seats. “Get over there and let Melanie lay down, you insensitive bastard.”
The man stood up to yell at me, so I covered his mouth with Presence and made it solid. He mumbled at me and touched his mouth, then tried to yell anyway.
“Breathe through your nose, stupid.” I said and stepped back from the doorway to let the lieutenant commander and Uzahne out of the room, then motioned for them to walk ahead of me.
“You shouldn't do that to people.” Uzahne said as we went to the cockpit. “Do you realize how scary it is to be gagged and unable to talk?”
“Of course I do.” I said, and she glanced back at me briefly. “It's quite effective to get people's attention and it makes them pay attention while they listen to you.”
“It also makes them hate you.” The lieutenant commander said.
“Actually, it's just dislike and not hate. Not yet, anyway.” I responded, and he glanced back at me briefly, too. “Some people hate being told to shut up, though. Why not physically shut them up instead and bypass the verbal assault?”
The lieutenant commander didn't have a response for that, then we arrived at the cockpit.
“Hey, Rhubin. You were right.” I said. “Secret code.”
“Ha.” Rhubin said. “It'll be nice to have a safe place to go and not get shot at.”
Luxea stopped the other message being sent on the communication array and motioned to the computer.
“Can you look away or something?” The lieutenant commander asked.
“Do you want me to cover my ears so I don't hear the keys you hit, too?” Luxea asked with a laugh. “Look at the main display.”
The lieutenant commander looked at the screen and he could see the number of ships the computer had counted was up to over four hundred, with fifty partial matches, and there was no movement on any of them.
“It's analyzed the drift pattern, by the way. The debris field is so big that it's actually caught in the star's gravity and it's in orbit.” Luxea said. “Oh, except for your wreck.” She said and typed a command, then the display showed the piece of ship the survivors had been on just barely skipped off of the planet's atmosphere and was headed out to space. “It's going to miss the other two planets by a slim margin, have its course altered just enough to loop around the star, then come back this way in a few months.”
“A... few months.” The lieutenant commander whispered.
“You need to enter that code.” Uzahne said. “We need to try and get rescue operations going as soon as possible.”
The lieutenant commander nodded and quickly typed in a long series of numbers and symbols, then pushed enter. Nothing happened for a moment, then the main display changed.
“This is a secured channel! How did you... Lieutenant Commander Anson!” The woman exclaimed. “How did... where...”
“I'm on a fast courier ship in orbit behind the station.” The lieutenant commander said. “What's the situation?”
“We've been gutted.” The woman said, sadly. “Most of the station is out of commission and those people that could have retreated to the secured sections deep into the interior.”
“What about rescue operations?” The lieutenant commander asked.
“I've been in contact with the main base on the planet. They don't want to endanger any more lives without some kind of warship to keep watch.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.” The woman said. “I've got a dozen rescue craft and crews for them just raring to get out there, and we're under orders to not do anything until there's someone to watch our backs.”
“I suppose you need to check the rest of the station first.” The lieutenant commander said.
“We can have it done in an hour, since we still have everything going right now. Power, environmental, medical, maintenance. It's all green.”
“But... the station looks dead.” The lieutenant commander said.
“We're playing dead, sir.” The woman said and smiled. “Once the first missiles got through our defenses, we sealed off and vented all of the outer compartments and cut the power.”
“Ha ha! Nice one!” Rhubin exclaimed.
“Who was that?” The woman on the display asked.
“Just the pilot.” The lieutenant commander said. “What does the government say?”
The woman's face went from normal to very sad. “There... is no government.”
“Wh-WHAT?” The lieutenant commander yelled.
“The planetary defenses weren't meant to take a full fleet's missile strike.” The woman said sadly. “We took out as many as we could, and we even sacrificed...” She stopped talking and wiped at a tear. “It didn't matter. The capital city of Seafaris is gone and so is everyone that lived there.”