Space Rescue One (12 page)

      "B Lock is our next best option, Chief," Richard said.

      "B Lock? Are you sure?" asked Isaac.

      "Trust me. I've been on a lot of freighters, Chief."

      "Okay, I will, this time. B Lock, everyone."

***

Isaac put the sensor to the hull around B Lock. He held his breath as he watched the sensor readout. He only let it out when he saw that it was safe. "We're a go on B Lock. Standard entering order."

      Moments later, the airlock hatch opened with a green light over it. Chief Dickson and Technician Saber entered the airlock. The rest of the team stood by outside the airlock after passing inside two evacuation chambers to them. Seconds later, the green changed to red, then to double red, indicating that they were inside the burning ship. They waited for the lights to change once more. When the lights changed, two more technicians entered the airlock with two more evacuation chambers.

      Chief Dickson squinted through the swirling smoke, even though he still wore his suit and wasn't directly affected by it. He felt Richard patting him on the back. He turned in Richard's direction. That was when he saw the first body. Richard was already moving toward the victim.

      Chief Dickson followed Richard, pulling one evacuation chamber behind him. Beneath his feet, he could feel the vibrations of the ship tearing itself apart. Richard was already gently picking up the man and placing him inside the evacuation chamber for transfer to the
Space Rescue One.
Before Isaac could pass Richard to find another victim, Richard motioned for the Chief to take his chamber out and give him the empty one. Isaac wasn't sure just why he let Richard take his empty while he took hold of the filled evacuation chamber to return to the airlock where others could speedily transfer it to their ship.

      Isaac reached the airlock as Technicians Knight and Clarke stepped out of it. Quickly, he motioned for Clarke to take the full chamber back out to the other waiting team members. Just as smoothly, he took hold of Clarke's empty chamber to return to where Richard was last located. Technician Knight fell in behind the Chief.

      They met Richard halfway to where the Chief last saw him. Richard was pulling another full chamber behind him. Seeing them, he shoved the chamber in Knight's direction. Knight glanced at the Chief only to see the Chief nod for him to take it back to the airlock. Before Isaac turned back toward Richard, Richard was already taking another empty chamber forward. Chief Dickson hurried to catch up with him once more.

      Isaac stopped just behind Richard. Glancing over Richard's shoulder as he bent down to assist a victim, Isaac wanted to throw up when he saw the condition of another victim. Shakily, Isaac leaned on Richard's shoulder quite involuntarily.

      Richard turned his head inside his armored suit's helmet. He glanced at Chief Dickson's whitened features. Immediately, he understood. Perhaps the Chief would understand him more in the future. That is, if Richard decided to openly admit his private horror to anyone. He wondered if the Chief or some of the Technicians might leave the service after this mission. He knew of several former spacers who did just that after discovering how bad a fire was in an enclosed space with no escape. His prior team chief was one such spacer who left.

      Rather than use the radio, Richard touched his helmet to Isaac's so he wouldn't be overheard. "You need some air. This one's ready, Chief. Take him back for me."

      Isaac replied, "Yeah, uh, right. I'll take this victim back now."

      Richard moved to the other victim who drew the reaction from the Chief. He used his sensor to find a pulse. Amazingly, there was one. Using smooth, wellpracticed moves and exercising the utmost care, he gently picked up the victim to place into the evacuation chamber. He was glad he couldn't hear the groans and cries of the victim as he lifted. Nor could he hear the victim's last gasp.

      Technician Clarke moved up close with another chamber. He tried to pass Richard only to have a giant maul of a hand reach out to stop him. Richard pressed him toward the filled chamber, motioning for him to return with it.

      Clarke pressed his helmet to Richard. "The Chief said for me to replace you up front. You take him back."

      Richard protested, "No, I will not. You don't know what it's like here. I can take it."

      "Sorry, Richard, but you're going to have to take that one back yourself. I'm following my orders."

      Clarke shrugged off Richard's hand and moved toward the next hatch. Richard watched helplessly for a moment before something caught his attention. Something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong, but he couldn't place it for a moment. Then he remembered.

      Richard launched himself toward Clarke, knocking the man aside as a beam warped inward from another deck still burning out of control. Richard barely felt the beam hit him before he lost consciousness.

"How are you, Richard?" Chief Dickson asked.

      "I feel like someone kicked me with a rocket blast," Richard answered.

      "You were. You've got a couple of broken ribs. The doctors say that you're going to be laid up here for at least a month."

      "A month? I can't stay here for a month!" Richard exclaimed.

      "I don't mean you'll be in sick bay all that time. It's just that no one is going to let you pull a mission for that long."

      "Did we get to everyone?" Richard asked.

      Isaac answered, "We got to most of them. There were a few on the burning decks who we couldn't get to in time. You saved Clarke's life, you know. Clarke, the old man, and I want to put you in for a medal."

      Richard said flatly, "Keep it."

      Isaac said smoothly, "Now why doesn't that response of yours surprise me? Well, you're going to have to put up with it this time. The captain said that this type of thing is good for the service. It helps counteract the bad publicity we're getting for no reason. Whether you like it or not, you're going to accept the medal you're awarded, even if we have to get you drunk to accept it."

      "Yeah?" asked Richard.

      Isaac said firmly, "You heard me. Just get it into your thick head that you're going to help the service, whether you want the medal or not. That's an order from the captain."

      "You're making it hard for me not to. If I refuse, you'll drum me out. Checkmate, right?"

      "That's one way of putting it. So, learn how to smile while you're laid up. I expect the ceremony will be held in about two weeks. That's how long the old man expects the recommendation to take in getting approved. After the ceremony is over, then you can grouse about it all you want and return to scowling instead of smiling. For now, your orders are to practice smiling. You can practice your smile on your teammates. They're waiting outside to see you."

      Richard sighed, "All right, you win. Send them in so I can get this over with. How soon do I get to move to my room from sick bay?"

      "The doctors want to keep you under observation for 48 hours. Then you can return to your lair and practice your smile when you're not being a beast."

***

"He sure knew his way around that freighter. Mighty competent for a technician," Knight said.

      "Well, I never said that Richard wasn't competent. I was only concerned about his drinking. However, it looks like he has that problem under control now. I haven't caught him drinking since I gave him that order," Dickson replied.

      "Still, he sure led us into the right places. Clarke said he even knew when that beam was going. Said he seemed to be looking at it before it went," Knight said.

      Laumer asked, "How'd Clarke know where Richard was looking? I thought Clarke was about to go through the next hatch."

      Dickson answered, "He was, but he glanced back to see if Richard was going to follow my orders or not."

      "Why was he concerned about that?" Laumer asked.

      "Because I told him to make sure that Richard followed those orders. I didn't want to expose Richard anymore than necessary to that grisly scene. I wasn't sure he could take it without going back to drinking heavy," Isaac replied.

      "Like you did last night?" asked Shelly.

      "Yeah, like I did. I still can't shake some of those faces from my mind. I can only imagine what Richard's going through with that to add to whatever was troubling him before," Isaac replied.

      "You really care about him, don't you?" Shelly asked.

      Isaac answered, "Yeah, I care about him. I care about the whole team. It's my job to care."

      "No, this is more than just your job that shows in your caring."

      "Maybe it is. Put it this way, I was asked to check on him when I took over as Team Chief. I thought I was supposed to get rid of him at first."

      "Who would want to get rid of him?" she asked.

      Isaac answered, "I don't think anyone really wants to get rid of him. I haven't had anything come back at me over the fact that I'm trying to rehabilitate him."

      "So, what did the doctors say about Richard?" Knight asked.

      "He's got a few broken ribs. They're holding him in observation for two days. Then he can return to his room to convalesce until he's fit for duty," Isaac answered.

      "Two days?" Shelly asked.

***

Shelly entered Richard's room, closed the door, and turned on the lights. She retrieved her lock picks from under the bed and sat down on the deck to work on the lock once more. Time and time again, she thought she'd almost had it open only to find that it was still locked. The hours passed as she kept at the task.

***

Shelly studied the unyielding lock. If it wasn't so old, she thought it might be worth breaking and replacing it with another just like it after having a locksmith re-key the new one to use the same key as the old one. However, there wasn't another lock like it on board the ship or the station. She similarly doubted that she could get it fixed and back on the chest in time so that he wouldn't miss it. As well, she hadn't been able to find a key that fit the lock. Most likely, Richard had the key with him. Gathering herself together, she put her tools away and left his room, frustrated and defeated.

***

"Good to see you back, Richard," Alex said as Richard entered the ready room.

      "Thanks again, man, for saving my hide back there," Clarke said.

      "You need anything, Richard?" asked Tim.

      "Just some quiet," Richard answered through a forced smile as the ship left the station for routine training.

***

"This is Captain Shortner. We're not returning just yet to the station. I'm ordering our course changed to investigate a strange craft that was spotted by Earth telemetry. Rescue Team One has first shot at investigating this craft. The UN registry doesn't list any ships matching the information we're pulling together from stations observing it. Chiefs to the briefing room. SRT Chiefs, bring your teams with you. That is all."

      "Okay, everyone to the briefing room. This could be it," Chief Dickson said.

      "What's it?" Shelly asked.

      "First contact with an alien species. That's the it everyone is talking about," Clarke said.

      "Is this going to be formal attire?" Shelly asked.

      Chief Dickson said, as the team members chuckled, "Richard, you're welcome to attend, but you're not going out. I'm sorry, but you're in no shape to go this time."

      "Says who?" Richard replied.

      Chief Dickson stared at Richard with an intensity meant to shut him down. It didn't work. As soon as the Chief realized it, he ordered, "Alex, have Richard's suits taken forward to the bridge."

***

"Okay, we're going to try this the way the book shows. No one knows if this will work, but it's all we have to go on other than our own instincts. I'm relying on you all to think before you act if this ship proves to be alien. For that reason, no guns will be taken with you. I don't want anyone from our side starting a shooting war. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but mankind's interests make all of us expendable in the cause of peace. Whoever might have reached this part of space from far off has to be technologically advanced. That means they're probably more advanced than we are. We still can't leave our own solar system. Chief Dickson, keep your radio open the whole time. We'll record what you say and observe. Hopefully, we won't have to analyze posthumously what you said," Captain Shortner said.

      "I hope not, too, sir," Isaac said.

      There was some muted laughter in the room.

      "Right. To go on, we'll approach cautiously without any sudden moves to as close as the alien ship will permit us. I want to get close enough for your team to cross over without taking more risks than necessary. I don't see Technician Saber here," Captain Shortner said.

      Isaac replied, "He's laid up on doctor's orders, sir. He's not going over with us."

      Shortner said, "I see. Well, this is a peaceful mission, so it can probably be done with one man less. Therefore, I'm not going to hand it over to Team Two. You still have the first try at making friends."

***

The intercom blared constantly with news from the bridge informing everyone on board as to what was happening.

      "Alien ship coming in sight."