Ringship Discretion (21 page)

Ben tapped on her helmet and said over the radio "Amelia.  It's OK. We are being towed into the hangar now and we'll get you and Attie all fixed up.  Good as new!"  Amelia stopped screaming, but the pain still lingered on her face.  Everyone gathered around her so that she could see them.  Amelia opened her eyes and through the tears she could see their faces.  She gave a faint smile and then her face returned to pain. Ben held her right hand tightly. "That's it kid. Give us a smile."  Then  they felt the jerk of the ship as it stopped moving.

Ben looked at Angela. "Go open the hatch. Careful. The outside is pressurized, so the door will swing open hard."  Angela nodded, got up and walked off.

As Angela opened the inner hatch, she began to hear the sounds of rushing air.  Air was making its way in through all the holes in the ship.  The first hatch opened easily.  She thought for a second and closed the inner door.  She set the lock for quick pressurization and once it reached full pressure, she opened the outer door.  There were two men and a woman standing in medical uniforms below and another two men pushed up a ramp.  As soon as the ramp contacted the base of the hatch, the medical staff ran up. They asked "You have wounded?"

Angela nodded. "Yes, but the inside is still a vacuum."  The EMT turned his head and cupped his ear.  She put her finger up, released her helmet and removed it. "Yes, but the inside is still a vacuum." Then she hit her suit radio. "Ben. Can you pressurize the ship?  The medical staff  is here."

Ben jumped up and ran to the cockpit. "Yes, doing it now."  After about 30 seconds he said. "OK, its equal to the outside now.  Come in!"

Angela opened the hatch and the med staff ran to Amelia.  Angela said "No. Go through that door. The gravely wounded man is in there." They looked at her and at the door, opened it and went through. Doc, covered in blood, looked up. "Thank god. He's been hit in the right leg.  It missed the main artery, but he has lost a lot of blood. I managed to stop most of the bleeding." The 3 EMTs pushed him and AJ out of the way and opened up their kits.  One injected a container of artificial blood and the other two went to work on his leg.  A minute later two grav stretchers arrived.  Both Amelia and the captain were taken off the ship.  As the medics left, Ben removed his helmet.  Sweat was dripping from his forehead. Angela came over to him and held his hand.

Helen ran to Doc and AJ.  They hugged and Doc fell into a chair, exhausted.  Helen released her helmet, removed it and let it drop to the floor and she sat beside him.  She leaned forward and began to cry.  Doc put his arm around her and she let her head fall back against him.

With the air now back, the ship smelled like burned electronics. 

Amelia watched the ceiling go by as they pushed her down corridors and into an emergency room.  They removed her helmet and began to cut off her suit.  She looked over to see Attie's suit being cut off him.  She tried to yell, but her voice barely whispered "Attie..."

They injected her and the world went dark. 

When she awoke, Ben and AJ were sitting next to her.  Ben stood up. "You're awake! How are you kid?!". 

She tried to focus on his face. "I feel a little drunk and ..Attie!!..What about Attie?! Is he..." Ben put his hand on her. "He's going to be fine! It was close there for a while, but he will be OK."

She reached up and grabbed his shoulder. "I want to see him!"

Ben was surprised at how much strength she had, and he almost fell on her.  He looked over at the doctor.  The doctor nodded.  Ben looked back at her. "OK. We can go see him."

She sat up and started to get out of bed.  Ben stopped her. "Whoa..take it easy and be careful.  There isn't much gravity on this moon.  How's your shoulder?"

Amelia felt her left shoulder. "A little sore, but I can move my arm."

Ben pointed to her shoulder. "You broke your collarbone and your arm you know, but they fixed them." Ben helped her put on some slippers and helped her to get up.  It was easy to support her in the low gravity. AJ came around the other side of Amelia and together they went down the hall to where the captain was.   When they opened the door, Helen and Doc looked up. Helen ran to Amelia. "Are you OK?! I'm so glad you are OK!." She motioned as though she was going to hug her, but stopped for fear of causing her pain.

Then Amelia heard her name being called.  It was Attie! She broke free from Ben and AJ and ran past Helen.  Attie's arms were coming up to meet her embrace as she slammed into him. She screamed in his ear ."Attie! Attie! You're OK.  I love you!" She squeezed him so hard that he whimpered. She withdrew a bit and kissed him.  "I will marry you! I don't want to ever lose you!" 

Attie released a small sound of laughter, with a hint of pain. "If all I had to do was get shot for you to marry me, I could have arranged it much earlier."  He smiled, said "I love you.", but his expression still showed the pain he was in.

Amelia looked down at his leg and back again.

Attie said "They had to put in some artificial muscles, but it will be fine. Actually, they said I will be a little stronger than before."

Amelia asked. "Is it hurting you? You look like you are still in pain."

Attie let out a small chuckle again. "No. The leg is fine.  It's whatever you guys did to me while dragging me all over that ship.  I feel like I don't have a single spot on my body that isn't bruised."

The whole crew gathered around his bed.  He looked at all of them. "It's so good to have all of you here. My family."

They all nodded and showed their love.  Then Attie asked "Whatever happened to that Lt?" Amelia looked at Ben, having the same question.

Ben said. "Well Captain, we would not have been able to make it out of there without her.  She's a tough fighter and helped save your unconscious ass more than once." Ben smiled. "She is here, but she went to see if she can find out any information on what is happening.  She will be back soon...I hope."

The captain cocked his head watching Ben's expressions. "You like her...don't you!?"

Ben, still smiling, looked at the ceiling. "Maybe."

And a voice said. "Maybe?!" Everyone looked up to see Angela standing at the door.

Ben's face starting turning a little red and Angela came up to him. "Hey. It's OK. Because 'maybe' I like you too." And she winked.

The captain smiled. "So, I heard you helped save my sorry ass. Thank you!"

Angela shrugged. "It was nothing really.  Although you are bit on the heavy side."

Everyone chuckled.

Ben looked at her. "So any information?"

Angela's face became serious. "It's not good. Apparently nine Earth ships warped into orbit above us. They were destroyed, but they took out most of our fleet, including the carrier. The admiral and Captain Morel were killed. It looks like I was one of the only ones to get off the ship, besides some fighter pilots. They also managed to cause severe damage to New Freedom City.  But that's not the bad news."

Ben asked. "It get's worse?"

Angela nodded. "There is a massive corporate fleet on the way.  They will be here in about three weeks. Many people are evacuating for the outer colonies. I believe the three plates you brought made it off the ship and to their respective destinations, but now it seems a little irrelevant."

The captain asked. "Irrelevant?"

Angela took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. Apparently the design specs of the plate and how to install them are now all over the Internet."

Attie looked at Amelia. Amelia's eyes opened wide, but she didn't say anything. Then Attie asked Angela. "Well, is there any good news?"

She said. "Well, we had many ships standing by to receive the plates as soon as we obtained them.  Theoretically, we should have 40 to 60 ships warp ready in a week, but that may not be enough.  They were telling me that there are over 200 ships on their way, including 3 carriers. I guess the only good thing is that some of them are spread out, so theoretically we could warp in and wipe out the stragglers a few at a time."

The captain sat up, concerned. "So we have to get out of here before they get here."

Angela nodded. "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea."

Amelia interjected. "Where are we going to go?  We have huge price on our heads.  We won't be safe anywhere now."

Angela looked at her and thought. "Well, you still have three warp plates on your ship and we could probably have the rest modified."

The captain looked at everyone individually. "You guys want to go somewhere new?"

They all looked at the captain waiting to hear what he had in mind.

He looked at Angela. "You are welcome to come too. If you will help us get the ship modified."

Amelia impatiently asked. "Where Attie? Where do you have in mind?"

He squeezed her hand.  "One of the habitable planets outside the solar system."

There was silence and everyone looked at each others reaction.  Amelia was the first to speak. "I would go anywhere with you."

Ben said "What the hell. There's no where else to go, and it might be fun."

Doc and Helen looked at each other while holding hands, looked back at the captain, and nodded.

Angela thought for a minute. "Well, there isn't anything left for me here now.  My crew are all dead and my condo will be surely destroyed when that fleet gets here.  Is there room for some of my stuff?"

Ben said "Sure. You can put it in my quarters."

Angela's eyebrows went up. "A little forward, aren't we!?"

Ben acted innocent. "I meant I can sleep in the engine room. You can have my quarters."

She smiled. "Uhuh..sure.."

The captain asked "AJ. What about you?  You are the only one of us who can actually go home."

AJ looked at everyone and then stared at his aunt and uncle. "I want to go. My parents are happy in their own world. I want to find a world where I am happy too."

The captain nodded. "Then it's settled. Let's get out of here and get the Discretion in shape."  He turned to get out of the bed and stopped. "Ouch."

Ben stepped forward and put his hand up. "Captain. You need to rest a bit.  We will work on it.  You can join us in a few days."

Helen said "Yeah. The ship is just outside, so we will cook you some real food and bring it to you."

The captain got back into bed. He demanded "Well, stop gawking and get to work then!" and gave  a half held back smile.

Ben said "Yes sir!...Come on you lot. Let's go."

Everyone filed out, except Amelia. She touched Attie's face with her right palm. "Room in this bed for two?"

Attie scooted over complaininggggg "ouch..ahhhh..oooo.." and Amelia got up into bed also complaining "ahhh..ooo...ouie."

Attie looked at her and asked. "So is this what its going to be like when we're old?".

She laughed and kissed him.  She pulled up for air, "Well, at least that part doesn't hurt." and began kissing him again.

He was kissing her back when someone said "Oh, sorry, I'll come back."

They both turned to look, faces still touching.  The nurse stood there, half embarrassed and half enjoying the scene.  She turned stiffly, while holding back a smile, and walked out.

Amelia asked "Was that your nurse?"

He replied. "Yeah, nurse Briana." He pretended to look out in the hallway. "She's actually kind of cute. Maybe I should...".  Amelia pushed him down by the chest and kissed him. He grunted and began to kiss back.

Three days later, the captain finally returned to the Discretion.  As he boarded her, he looked around at the damage. Seeing the bullet hole in the front window he asked "What the hell did you guys do to my ship?!" He looked at the floor and saw traces of blood. He looked up at Amelia. "Mine?". She nodded.

Ben walked in. "Hey Captain! You're back. It's good to see you up and about."

The captain replied. "Yeah, just feel a bit bruised, but good to go.  Trying to get used to my new  artificial muscles.  They want to make me walk in a circle, but its getting better.  How is the ship coming along?"

Angela walked in and smiled. "Good to see you Captain!"

Ben answered. "Well, Angela knew some people who can make the plates for us, but we had to pay a pretty penny to get it done.  Right now everyone is supposed to be making them for the war effort,  but we offered them enough so that we 'became' part of the war effort."

The captain asked. "Oh, really? How much did this war effort status cost us?"

Ben looked at Angela. "About a million."

The captain raised his eyebrows. "Damn, that's a rather high 'membership' fee.  But I guess where we are going, what good is the money anyway.  Just leave enough for supplies and getting everything we are going to need to live on a new world."

Ben nodded. "Yes, Captain. We have already arranged to have as much food as we can get delivered along with seeds, fish eggs, roots and other things we can grow if we need to.  We also paid an outfitter to get us set up for a "deep space" expedition.  We didn't tell him that we were leaving the solar system, though."

The captain sat down at one of the chairs in the galley. "Great. So, what about the ship?"