“Don’t know yet, sir. The outer doors just finished closing. The transfer airlock will be repressed in two minutes.”
“Very well. Good work everyone.”
“Commander?” Ensign Yosef called. “Okay, this is really weird.”
“What is it?” Cameron asked tentatively. Their history of unexpected occurrences had been nearly non-stop since they had departed Earth a week ago.
“I’ve found the warship.”
“Great. Where is it?”
“It’s still on the far side of the gas giant.”
“What?”
“Yes, sir. It’s right where it would’ve been before we first detected it.” Kaylah’s eyes suddenly widened and her mouth hung open. “Oh my God, and there’s us.”
“What?” Cameron repeated more emphatically.
“Okay,” Kaylah exclaimed, “this is going to take some getting used to.” She turned to face Cameron. “We’re thirty-eight light minutes out from Haven, sir. We’re seeing what was, what happened thirty-eight minutes ago. I’m seeing us still sitting in the rings.”
“Whoa,” Mendez said aloud.
Cameron smiled. “You’re right. That is going to take some getting used to.”
— 10 -
As soon as the inner transfer airlock door rose far enough, crewmen carrying portable fire extinguishers, rescue gear, and medical bags came ducking under, pouring into the bay. Most headed straight for the harvester, knowing that it contained their landing party.
Tug’s fighter, having landed without significant damage, had already pulled to one side and shutdown its engines. By the time the would-be rescuers reached him, his canopy was already open and his helmet removed.
The harvester however, was in much worse shape. Having slammed into the deck and into the wall before sliding back into the open, the poor little ship was fairly mangled and would obviously never fly again.
As rescuers ran towards the harvester, the hatch cracked open slightly. Vladimir pushed from the inside, trying to get the stuck hatch open as acrid smoke from burning circuits within the ship came seeping out of the hatchway. The rescuers quickly climbed onto the battered harvester and began prying at the hatch from the outside, but to no avail. Within seconds, another rescuer brought up a heavily powered-cutting tool and quickly sliced through the hinges of the hatch, freeing it from the harvester.
With the hatch now removed, the remaining gray smoke poured out of the harvester. Vladimir quickly tossed Tug’s youngest out of the ship like a doll, into the arms of his fellow crewmen below who rushed her away from the smoldering wreckage. Deliza was next, followed by Jalea, Nathan, and Vladimir.
Hacking and coughing, Nathan immediately called to Cameron on his comm-set. “Cam! What’s our status?”
“We’re safe for now, Nathan. At least for a couple of hours. Is everyone all right?”
“Cuts and bruises mostly,” Nathan answered as he turned around to look back at the busted up harvester lying crippled on the deck. “And maybe a bit of smoke inhalation,” he added with a cough. “But otherwise we’re good. Thanks for waiting for us.”
“No problem, Captain. And welcome back.”
“Thanks. We’ll see you shortly.”
“Copy,” Cameron answered, before adding, “And tell Josh he’s got a date.”
Nathan smiled as he watched Josh and his co-pilot Loki slide down off the top of the harvester onto the deck. They had been forced to climb out through emergency escape hatches directly above their seats, since the twisted wreckage made it impossible for them to pass through into the back cabin from the cockpit. As they walked toward him, Josh, who until this moment had always been covered up by helmet and faceplate, removed his helmet revealing a mound of shaggy blonde hair atop a boyish face that looked to be maybe eighteen years old at best. He was small and wiry, and looked like he was wearing his older brother’s flight suit as he flashed a ragged smile and extended his hand to Nathan.
“I’ll tell him,” Nathan laughed as he clicked off his mic. “Nice flying, mister,” Nathan said, shaking Josh’s hand.
“Thank you, Captain,” Josh answered, eagerly soaking up the praise.
“You, my friend, can call me Nathan.”
“Josh,” he returned. “And this is my co-pilot, Loki.”
“Pleasure, sir,” the slightly older co-pilot greeted as he shook Nathan’s hand.
“Where’d you guys learn to fly like that?” Nathan asked.
Josh smiled. “VR games. Where else?”
Nathan laughed. “Where else, indeed.” Nathan turned to look toward Tug’s ship, as Josh and Loki headed into the hangar bay. Tug was already down on the deck, hugging his girls, with Jalea standing nearby. Vladimir was catching Jessica as she slid down off the fighter, giving her his customary bear-hug of a greeting. Nathan headed over to them. “You saved our ass,” Nathan told her as he neared.
“Hell, Tug did all the work, I was just along for the ride.”
Nathan wrapped his arms around her, feeling more affection for her at that moment than he expected. “We thought we’d lost you,” he whispered as he hugged her.
“I’m kind of hard to kill,” she bragged.
“Yeah, I’m starting to realize that,” Nathan agreed as he pulled away. “Come on, let’s go see how much Cam has banged up the ship while we were gone.”
“Oh Bozhe,” Vladimir declared, realizing he probably had a host of new problems to repair after the pounding the ship had just taken. “Please, do not say this.”
Nathan stepped over to Tug, who still had his arms around his daughters. “Thanks, Tug. You saved our butts.”
“Respectfully, Captain,” Tug began as he shook Nathan’s hand. “It was not you I was trying to save,” he added, his gaze returning to his girls.
“Jalea,” Nathan called as they headed toward the hangar bay. “Will you escort Tug and his family to medical?”As soon as the inner transfer airlock door rose far enough, crewmen carrying portable fire extinguishers, rescue gear, and medical bags came ducking under, pouring into the bay. Most headed straight for the harvester, knowing that it contained their landing party.
Tug’s fighter, having landed without significant damage, had already pulled to one side and shutdown its engines. By the time the would-be rescuers reached him, his canopy was already open and his helmet removed.
The harvester, however, was in much worse shape. Having slammed into the deck and into the wall before sliding back into the open, the poor little ship was fairly mangled and would obviously never fly again.
As rescuers ran towards the harvester, the hatch cracked open slightly. Vladimir pushed from the inside, trying to get the stuck hatch open as acrid smoke from burning circuits within the ship came seeping out of the hatchway. The rescuers quickly climbed onto the battered harvester and began prying at the hatch from the outside, to no avail. Within seconds, another rescuer brought up a heavy powered-cutting tool and quickly sliced through the hinges of the hatch, freeing it from the harvester.
With the hatch now removed, the remaining gray smoke poured out of the harvester. Vladimir quickly tossed Tug’s youngest out of the ship like a doll, into the arms of his fellow crewmen below who rushed her away from the smoldering wreckage. Deliza was next, followed by Jalea, Nathan, and Vladimir.
Hacking and coughing, Nathan immediately called to Cameron on his comm-set. “Cam! What’s our status?”
“We’re safe for now, Nathan. At least for a couple of hours. Is everyone all right?”
“Cuts and bruises mostly,” Nathan answered as he turned around to look back at the busted up harvester lying crippled on the deck. “And maybe a bit of smoke inhalation,” he added with a cough. “But otherwise we’re good. Thanks for waiting for us.”
“No problem, Captain. And welcome back.”
“Thanks. We’ll see you shortly.”
“Copy,” Cameron answered, before adding, “And tell Josh he’s got a date.”
Nathan smiled as he watched Josh and his co-pilot Loki slide down off the top of the harvester onto the deck. They had been forced to climb out through emergency escape hatches directly above their seats, since the twisted wreckage made it impossible for them to pass through into the back cabin from the cockpit. As they walked toward him, Josh, who until this moment had always been covered up by helmet and faceplate, removed his helmet revealing a mound of shaggy blond hair atop a boyish face that looked to be maybe eighteen years old at best. He was small and wiry, and looked like he was wearing his older brother’s flight suit as he flashed a ragged smile and extended his hand to Nathan.