“Frost here.”
“Where the hell is Burke?”
“He's not comin' sir. Nothin' I've said will convince him to go down there. He knows we're not bringin' this ship back to Regent Galactic. Doesn't expect to get paid.”
“Okay, I'll take care of Burke. As far as everyone else is concerned, you'll be paid just as if we pulled down fifteen mil for this job, I'll pay everyone a share out of my own accounts. That is, unless they're not doing their job or helping back here. Those people get nothing but a swift toss down the gangway at the next port. Pass the word.”
“Will do sir.”
“Valance to Ashley.”
“Ashley here, what can I do for you sir?”
“How far are we from Thadd?”
“With the acceleration we're pulling and the straight line we're on, a little over four hours.”
“Are you sure you're still operating within safety limits?”
“Would I disobey orders with precious cargo in tow? We've been headed that way for almost six hours now and are just starting to decelerate.”
“Six hours.” Captain Valance repeated quietly. It felt like two.
“How has the ride been back there by the way?”
“Steady, not much rattle. Listen, take it easy. The hull back here isn't consistently dense and there are no emergency bulkheads or life craft.”
There was silence for a minute. He was putting his command unit back on while the issyrian he had assisted thanked him. “The drugs I gave you will help your immune system fight the infection and there's a decongestant that will help you breathe clearer for the next few days. You have to tell the medic that you've been treated when he sees you.”
“Thank you Doctor, I haven't been able to breathe or sleep properly in days.”
“You're welcome, I'm not a Doctor, I'm the Captain.”
“Well thank you Captain-”
“-Valance.” Jake finished shaking the man's hand and started looking for someone else in distress as he turned his attention back to Ashley. “Ash, are you still there?”
“Yes sir, I was listening. What are you doing? I mean, if you don't mind me asking.”
“Diagnosing and treating people down here with my command unit,” he replied as he knelt down beside an issyrian and a nafalli. One was above the other in a rickety double bunk. He shook his head and moved on after confirming they had both died long before he arrived. He started to realize how tired he was as he sighed. For each one that was in line for food or couldn't get there on their own and needed treatment, there were five dead.
“It's bad down there.” Ashley said in his ear. It wasn't a question, it was a realization.
“Yes, it is Ash.”
“Are you okay?” Ashley asked in a whisper.
It was a surprising question, no one had asked him in years. He looked around for a moment before answering. “I could be worse. Just make sure we get there in one piece, I trust you.”
“Thank you sir, I will.”
Cynthia broke into communications just then. “Captain, we have a response from Thadd Search and Rescue; They stand ready and will accept our refugees.”
A wave of relief washed over Jake, the like of which he had never felt before. “Make sure everyone involved in helping back here is informed that we'll have more help in less than five hours and they pass that information on to whoever they come in contact with.”
“Yes sir.”
“Don't offer an accurate time frame, add an hour just in case we get held up.”
Jake tried to find his way back to Loori and Oomal without any success at first. He had to walk through the maze of makeshift cloth walls and rickety bunks for several minutes just to get his bearings. Then he set out again down what looked like more of a main hallway and caught sight of Ramirez who was still standing near them with a pair of light cylinders at his feet.
He walked over and was embraced by Loori. “He's so much better now, see?” She said, walking him right over to her husband's side.
He was still laying down, and really didn't look much better to Jake, but the racial barrier was pretty high. His medical knowledge told him a slightly different story on a quick second inspection. Oomal's nose had stopped discharging bloody pus, his eyes were clear and he was able to sit up a bit and look around.
Someone had brought them water from the Samson's ship stores in a large jug and some clean blankets. Just as he was wondering what Ramirez was still doing there, he realized that he had two small preserve crates behind him and he was handing out bananas, oranges and pears out to anyone who approached him. To his right was several jugs of water and a tall pile of blankets that was shrinking quickly. The frenzied fight for food was over since lines had formed and people were passing it out.
“Thank you Captain Valent,” Oomal said, extending a long arm.
Captain Valance took the bony hand and shook it gently, he was still weak. “Is that the name you knew me by before?”
“It is, my mate tells me you cannot remember your life. You do look different.”
“My husband, who should be resting not talking, is right. You look different, but not so much your mate would not know you,” Loori said, sitting down beside her husband and putting one arm across his chest.
“Who was she?”
“Her name is Ayan. She was a pretty woman, about this high” Loori held her hand at her mid chest level. “With red hair and blue eyes. We met you in a restaurant called Marconi's on Zingara station. They had very good-” she looked to her husband for a moment, searching for the word.
“I am resting,” he said, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.
She pulled on a little tuft of his fur and he looked back up. “You mean to say spaghetti.”
“Yes, spaghetti. You were the Captain of the First Light, she was the Engineer.”
Jake thought for a moment. “Do you know anything about my daughter?”
Oomal and Loori looked at each other then back to Jake. “I did not know about your daughter.”
“We did not meet her,” Oomal confirmed.
“Thank you, I hope I can find out more after we get to the Thadd system, but for now I need to ask you a few things about how you ended up here.”
“You do not know?” Loori asked, cocking her head.
“We were hired to retrieve a stolen cargo train with criminals and colonists aboard.”
“This is not that train. We were trading on Sangesh and were attacked on our way back to the ship. Oomal was stunned and I was able to fight them long enough for our children to flee. I still don't know if they made it, I have not been able to find them here.”
“You didn't break any laws? Didn't have a bounty on your head?”
She shook her head, showing no sign that she took offence to the question.
“What happened next?”
“They took us to a labour camp somewhere in the Toxteth system where we-” She looked to Oomal again and he shrugged. “I am sorry, we have been speaking our own language for a long time, it's hard to remember object words in yours.”
“Were you mining? Underground?” Ramirez asked before the Captain could activate his translator.
“Yes! We were mining in a big open hole. Many died, it was very dangerous. For more than a year.”
“Almost two years,” Added Oomal, nodding.
“Yes. Then some humans in black armour came and bought all the slaves who were not human. They put us in large shuttles and put us to sleep with gas. When we awoke we were in this place, for more than thirty days.”
“Did you find out who purchased you? Were there any markings anywhere?”
“It was Regent.”
“Regent Galactic?” I asked.
“Yes, they were the ones. They put us in here, left food, water, but after a while the food started running out and the hoarding started. Oomal got sick.”
“Do you know how to contact your children?”
“Yes!” Loori exclaimed happily.
“Okay, we'll be getting to the Thadd system in about four hours. Take this, my comm number as well as the ship's are programmed in. When we arrive just call the bridge and they can patch you through so you can contact your children. Just don't tell anyone else. We don't have the resources or a complex enough communications system aboard to host thousands of transmissions,” Jake told them as he handed them a small transmitter.