A meter wide section of the wall behind her became transparent and revealed four flimsy looking white vacsuits and a hatch leading into a tiny escape shuttle. “Does anyone know how to fly that?” Grace asked.
“I flunked my leisure pilot's test four times, but I could.” Fiona said with a shrug.
“I've got my certification for mid and small sized interplanetary craft. Don't like those vacsuits though, they look more like a bunch of bags glued together.”
“Well, hurry up and get in one,” Grace whispered harshly. “We're going for a very short ride.” She opened the hatch and passed him a vacsuit. “Captain,” she addressed through her communicator. “We have a problem but I've found a solution. We're going to take an emergency shuttle to go around the guards between us and the bridge. How is Stephanie doing?”
“Not so well, she might have another hour,” The Captain replied quietly. She could tell he was trying to keep his response from the rest of the crew.
“We'll try to be there quickly. There might be something in the emergency shuttle we can use to stabilize her. Put her in a deeper state of stasis. I can't see us getting her back to medical unless we use brute force.”
“Understood. Hurry but be careful.”
“Aye sir.” Grace followed Gary and Fiona into the escape shuttle and closed the small hatch behind her. The little ship was made for four, and was hidden behind two thick layers of hull plating.
Gary took a moment to look at the controls and the series of manual buttons and switches. Everything was fairly well labelled, but Grace knew she was probably the worst pilot out of all three of them, so she let him get his bearings and concentrated on keeping a watch on the hatch behind them instead of trying to assist, making sure the guards didn't hear something and decide to investigate.
“Everything okay?” Fiona asked.
“I'm fine,” Gary replied hastily. “I just don't think there's a way to get this thing going without making a lot of noise.”
“I don't think we're worried about that.”
“What about fighters? If there are any out there they can just pick us off.”
“I don't think we're worried about that either,” Fiona said, shaking her head impatiently.
“Did the Captain say if there were fighters or anything out there?” Gary asked Grace.
“He would have told us.”
“Ask him anyway? Just to be sure?”
Grace sighed; “Sure, just get us ready. Captain, are there any fighters or hostiles out there?”
“No, nothing offensive on tactical.”
“Thank you sir.” Grace cut the channel and nodded at Gary. “Okay, let's get this thing going.”
“He's sure? It didn't sound like he took time to check.”
Grace smacked him in the back of the head with a flick of her wrist. “Get us flying or I'll give it a try!”
Gary turned to the controls and pressed the launch initiation button. “It's going to be loud.”
The first section of armoured hull in front of the shuttle split in the middle and drew to the side while the outer layer flipped outward, opening and clanging against the outer hull above it. The four meter thick hardened metal plate's impact made the whole section of the ship vibrate. After three seconds the rear shuttle thrusters fired and they were shot out of its storage compartment. The power came on as Gary started decelerating.
The sound of the forward thrusters firing was deafening as Gary struggled to slow the ship down so they could turn around and head to the command section of the Triton.
Fiona looked to Grace, grinning from ear to ear. “We'll have to do this some time when it isn't an emergency!”
Grace didn't agree, the slow rotation of the shuttle was making everything outside spin and she could feel the last emergency ration she ate threaten to make a reappearance. “You know, after being out in space for a while you'd think you wouldn't want to sick up so often.”
Fiona's grin lessened a little. “I didn't realize how small this shuttle was until just now.”
“Don't throw up back there, it'll get everywhere in zero gravity.” Gary said over his shoulder. A moment later he flipped the shuttle end over end to face the Triton.
The stars, the wreckage around them and the distant planet moved past the window with blurring speed. To her relief, Grace caught sight of a sick bag just in time and snatched it from the dispenser. Well, she hoped it was a sick bag. Fiona cringed at the sight and sound of her throwing up.
Grace finished before long and dug into her side pocket for a mini injector. She pressed it to her neck and sighed. “Okay, no more of that now. I should have medicated before getting into the shuttle.”
Fiona handed her a napkin. “You've planned everything else and come up with more solutions than I can track today. I think we can overlook this little screw up.”
“Only if you seal that sick bag properly,” Gary muttered over his shoulder.
“Don't worry, it's sealed and in the bin. Good thing I didn't close my vacsuit yet.”
“Doesn't it have waste management built in?”
“It does, but its cleaning systems really only keep your eyes, nose and mouth clear. Regent Galactic didn't exactly splurge on us.”
“You work for Regent Galactic?” Gary asked.
“I did until Captain Valance took over and hired us on with him. I'm a regular rebel now.”
“Good to have you with us. I worked for them for a year, worst year of my life.”
“What did you do?” Asked Fiona. The Triton was looming larger in the front window.
“Sanitation and recycling systems on a deep space mining station. There were only sixty-one people aboard, but man could they make a mess.”
“You were a janitor?”
“I was a janitor in command of a dozen cleaning bots. The only janitor, actually.”
“Wow, that sounds important,” Fiona replied, rolling her eyes.
“No insulting the pilot during docking operations,” Gary grumbled as he rotated the shuttle and turned it around so it faced an airlock just to the right of the bridge. “Did you guys see the boarders climbing along the hull? You might want to let the Captain know about that.” He said as he lined the shuttle up so he could back in.
“I didn't see it.”
“There were a dozen of them, looked armed.”
“Good eye.” Grace said as she opened a channel to the bridge. “Captain, we have a dozen or so boarders space walking towards the bridge. They're headed to an emergency airlock right below our mooring point.”
“They're ours. They're waiting until you dock then they'll be joining us on the bridge.” Cynthia replied.
“Good to know,” Grace said as she sealed the head piece to her vacsuit, tucking her shoulder length black hair into it.
Fiona followed suit. “Looks like we weren't the first to have this idea.”
“What worries me is the fact that they were armed, what could be in their way that they couldn't fight through?” Gary said as the shuttle made contact with the ship and bounced away gently. “Crap. One more try and I'll get it.”
“Do you want me to try?” Fiona asked.
“Shhh. Sane people are driving.”
“Hey! I'm uncoordinated, not crazy.”
“Anyone who takes the test and fails four times has got to be a little loopy.” Gary said as he lined the shuttle up carefully.
“Okay, we have to get focused on what we're here to do. The First Officer needs to be put in stasis of some kind or we have to use nanotechnology to get her stabilized. I don't see any stasis systems in here.” Grace said, looking around the small shuttle.
“You're right. Extended life support and a sustenance materializer, but that's about it.”
“Take the emergency medical kit under your seat. Every little bit helps.”
The shuttle made contact again. This time there were a satisfying series of clicks as it sealed perfectly with the station. Its rear door popped open and they stepped out onto the flight command deck. Grace rushed up the ramp to the main bridge and knelt down beside Stephanie. “You didn't move her?”
“Not a millimetre,” Answered Jake.
“Good, there's a lot of damage.”
