She had just read the bulletin right before getting off duty. Even as tragedy struck the ship, policies were put in place and things changed. On her next duty shift she'd have to wear a full black vacsuit with a silver skull and Triton printed underneath it on the left side of her chest just below the collarbone. Five silver wings would mark her as Master of the Helm, a rank she had only heard of in a holographic feature movie about a war in the Core Worlds. She had no idea the system was keeping a score card for her, but when she got her rank it gave her pages of statistics. Apparently the only person who had out flown her in the few simulations she had taken part in was Alice, she had even beaten the Captain by a very narrow margin.
Alice had been given the rank of First Officer and was placed on the first night watch Bridge Commander. That's probably why I got Master of the Helm. Don't really care though, as long as I get to fly. This ship might be the heaviest thing I've ever seen, but it feels like I'm drifting through an ocean when I fly her. It makes the Samson seem like flying a twitchy sand bug.
The lift stopped and she got off. The medical center was busy, most of the beds were full and several emergency beds had been pulled out, making the normally spacious and airy infirmary seem cramped and noisy.
“Um, hi, is there anything I can do here?” She asked a fellow wearing a dark blue vacsuit with a red cross on the back.
He stopped and looked her up and down. “Do you have any advanced medical training?”
“No, I just thought if you needed an extra pair of hands.”
“We're all right now. Mostly everyone's in recovery or here for observation.”
“You're sure?”
The nurse smiled and nodded. “Thank you for offering, you're the first.”
Ashley shrugged. “I'm here to see a friend anyway.”
“Who?”
“Finn.”
His smile faded, she could tell he was bracing himself to deliver some bad news. “He's been in stasis since the initial boarding. Did anyone tell you about his condition?” He asked in a whisper, gently putting a hand on her arm.
She faked a little smile to reassure him. “I know, I was with the Samson. I just stop in to say hi when I can.”
“Oh, okay. I can show you there.”
“I know the way. You have more important things to do,” she walked around him and continued on to the rear of the medical section. A couple of the staff smiled or nodded at her as she went by. It wasn't her first visit, she had managed to see him once a day since they started trying to settle on the Triton.
Ashley opened the door to the long term stasis center. There were three rows of stasis pods slotted into the rectangular room, enough space for the entire original crew of the Samson and much more. The number of people inserted in tubes had more than doubled since she had last visited.
They were like circular doors, and she knew well enough not to pull on the one Finn was in. It was hard to hear, but Grace had finally told her that what was inside looked nothing like the man she'd known. Resisting the temptation to pull the tube out of its socket and look on what had become of him was hard, but if he couldn't be saved she wanted to remember him as the wide eyed engineer she had met and begun to adore on the Samson.
She stopped at his tube and looked at the readout. One of the nurses had shown her how to check it and to her relief his brain functions were still as strong as ever. He was in deep stasis, and they said he wouldn't experience anything. As long as his brain was alive and didn't suffer any more damage there was a chance, if slim, of revival.
Ashley put her slender hand on the bottom of his white stasis tube and smiled. “I made it back again. The Triton seems to be calming down finally. For the first time I'm glad you weren't around though. Your little organizer AI might have gotten you. We almost lost Larry, my new navigator. Don't worry, he's not into women. You won't have any competition when they fix you up.
Things are changing so fast though. Captain and his Chiefs are sorting us into real ranks now, they made me lead pilot. If I didn't want to be here so badly I would've been scared off before now.
Change isn't just hitting the Triton, either. Alice's ship started transmitting some kind of virus and I think it drove all the AI's crazy. I had to go pick up Stephanie, Frost and Alice. There was smoke coming from everywhere in Pathia. I think the virus might have hit the whole planet. If we were on the Samson we might have been in real trouble. You picked a good time to take a long nap Finn, I hope we get things settled by the time they take care of you.
I think you'll like it here and if they forget to assign quarters for you there's plenty of room with me. You should see my new digs. I don't know what I'll do with all the space and I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. The bed's too big, and it's so quiet. Remember that last night in the racks? You just let me crawl in and held me all night. You didn't try anything even though I sort of wished you would,” she chuckled and sniffed. This was about the time she usually left, when talking to him turned into really remembering the little time they had spent together after Silver left. “We'll pick up where we left off. Fred always told me I should find a nice boy,” she nodded to herself sadly. “I finally found one and it's a one way relationship,” she laughed ruefully.
Just as she was wiping her tears away the door opened.
“Ashley?” Alice asked, crossing the room.
“I'm okay, just visiting Finn,” she sniffed.
Alice stood awkwardly in front of Ashley, looking concerned. “Jake sent me to check in on you,” she said, tentatively putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder.
“Thank you. I'm fine though, just a lot going on and a few missing friends,” she kissed her own hand then pressed it against Finn's tube. “I'll see you soon.” Ashley told Finn quietly.
The pair left the room and left the infirmary.
Only a few decks away was the highest point of the Botanical Gallery. Alice had seen it on the ship blueprints, that perfect spot to watch people from. This time she would share it with someone else the Captain considered as close as family. The pair leaned against the railing three levels above the large spoiled garden below. They were both in clothing they considered casual, civilian. Ashley in her new vacsuit, and Alice in one of her usual blue suits with her black flight jacket over top. Compared to the clothing the actual civilians wore; dresses, long shirts, slacks of woven and knitted materials, Alice and Ashley looked like they were still in uniform.
New Civilian crew members were working in the garden, planting seeds found in one of the Triton's long term storage holds. Several crewmembers were down there with them, including Larry Nevil, who looked up and waved at the pair standing high above before getting back to work laying seeds.
“Thank you so much for saving him,” Ashley said to Alice quietly.
“He's a friend of yours?”
“Well, he's friendly, I like him. I think we've known each other for a grand total of sixteen hours,” Ashley laughed. “But still.”
“You're welcome. Besides, Jacob did the heavy lifting.”
“You know I've seen him do the doctor thing before. Did he go to med school?” Ashley asked.
“No, the people who made him included some kind of medical, astronomy and engineering database in his memories. I guess he recalls them just like I do. When you need the knowledge it's just there.” Alice replied with a shrug.
“Not much different from anyone else.”