Daughters of Demeter

Things were relatively quiet for the first couple days after we left Ecclestone's World. At least for me and Rebecca. Jenny and Sarah spent all their time down in the workshop, focused on their sexbot project.

I didn't mind though, and it gave me a chance to get to know our captain better. We even spent time playing cards, which wasn't a euphemism for anything after all. Rebecca and I sat across from each other at the table in the mess and talked over a few games, or we spent time in the lounge talking over drinks.

I found out she grew up on an agricultural planet like me, her childhood wasn't actually all that different from mine. She left home younger than me, I waited till I was twenty before joining the Navy while she enlisted with the Marines as soon as she was eighteen.

We were on our third day of the trip when I reminded the others over breakfast that we still needed to scan Lebeau's cargo with Sarah's fancy scanner. They all agreed, and after we finished eating the four of us headed down to the lower deck. My girlfriend got her scanner from the workshop, and we got to work.

Rebecca and I moved the emitter and receiver back and forth over the first container while Sarah watched her monitor. When we were finished she processed the data while the two of us came to stand by her side to watch the screen.

"More random consumer goods," I commented. "Like the cargo we picked up at Fuminja Epsilon last time."

The boss looked thoughtful as she suggested, "It's probably destined for the general store on Regulon-4, after a layover at the research facility. The containers we delivered to Fuminja last time probably had similar contents, and we'll be picking those back up this trip for delivery at the mining colony. The research facility is probably only interested in whatever's in the hidden compartment."

Sarah scrolled the display down to check the false bottom. She frowned, "It's empty?"

We all stared at the screen, but sure enough there was nothing in the secret compartment at the bottom of the container.

After a few moments I suggested, "Maybe the shipment to Fuminja is just an excuse to get us there? Or a red herring, to throw people off track or something? We already know the shipment from there to the mining colony is smuggling some kind of drug."

"Maybe this is a dry run?" Sarah suggested. "Lebeau might be testing us somehow, sending us out on a fake delivery to see if we're still trustworthy after the run-in with the Kennington crew back in port?"

Rebecca frowned, then finally gestured "Let's scan the other container. Maybe we'll find some answers in there."

The rest of us agreed, and I got back into position with Rebecca. We repeated the scanning procedure on the second container while Sarah kept her eyes on the monitor.

Like before, as soon as we were done me and Rebecca were back at my girlfriend's side to see the results.

It took a few seconds to process the scans beore an image came up on Sarah's screen. She immediately frowned and pointed at something on the image, "That doesn't look right."

The object in question was a dense metallic cylinder, about a meter tall and half a meter in diameter. The high-rez scan revealed a lower-density non-metallic core inside a hardened outer shell. And at the top was some kind of electronics bundle.

Jenny asked nervously, "Is that a...?"

"It's a bomb," the captain stated as she moved to the container to open it up.

She broke the seals and swung open the lid, then pulled away some packages of clothes to reveal the device. At the top of the dull grey cylinder was a small electronic detonator, and the readout was counting down.

"Looks like the warhead off an anti-ship missile," she said in a worried tone. "The casing is a tough dense metal, around a high-explosive core. It's designed to splinter into a cloud of hardened fragments moving at hypervelocity."

I felt my stomach lurch as I stared at the numbers on the detonator. Eight minutes and twenty-two seconds. Twenty-one. Twenty.

Jenny asked, "Can you disarm it?"

Rebecca thought for a moment before she shook her head, "Too risky, not enough time. We'll have to dump it overboard, but we can't do that while we're in Jump-0."

Before any of us could respond she ordered, "Clear the hold. All three of you up to the main deck right now! Amanda and Jenny in the cockpit, Sarah engine room!"

I hesitated, "What about you? What are you going to -"

"Go!" the captain shouted. "I'll talk you through it on the intercom!"

Me and Sarah hurried to the ladderway while Jenny stayed put. The AI stated, "I can relay information while the others are getting into position. And I'm not going to be harmed by whatever happens here."

"Fine," Rebecca stated as she moved to the airlock controls.

I didn't hear whatever else she said as Sarah and I got up to the main deck. My girlfriend and I shared a quick hug and kiss, then she ran aft while I hurried forward.

As soon as I was in the cockpit Jenny's voice came over the intercom, "The captain says to strap in and cut gravity to ten percent. Drop us out of jump-zero, cut engines and swing the ship around so our momentum carries us backwards."

My hands were shaking as I hurried to follow the orders. Gravity was easy enough, but there was a procedure for dropping from jump-zero ahead of schedule. It felt like it took ages as I went through the sensors and navigation data to ensure we weren't going to hit anything or find ourselves too close to a planet or star or something.

I finally decelerated to conventional drive, then cut the engines completely. We were still moving at a significant speed, and I was left staring at the controls trying to figure out how to swing the ship around without changing our trajectory.

After a few more seconds I finally asked, "Jenny? Tell Rebecca I don't know how to swing the bow around without changing course!"

The boss's voice came through the intercom a moment later, "Decouple the manoeuvring thrusters so you can activate them individually. Then just burn opposite ends, port-side bow and starboard stern, that'll spin the ship on its axis. Do an opposing burn to stop the spin."

A moment later she added, "Sarah override the limiter for a maximum reverse thrust. Amanda when I give the word, push the engines as hard as you can backwards."

I heard Sarah call back, "On it!"

Jenny sounded strangely calm as she added, "Sealing all bulkheads."

The two hatches behind me both slid shut and sealed, and I knew every other door on the ship would be just as secure.

"Got it!" I said as I finally decoupled the thrusters. I followed the boss's instructions and sure enough the stars spun around us as the ship turned on the spot, then I stopped our spin as soon as we were facing the other way around. "Ok we're in position boss!"

My girlfriend's voice came over the intercom, "We're ready for a hundred-precent reverse thrust."

The captain stated, "Jettisoning the warhead in five seconds. Amanda give it a second to clear then push the throttle full astern. We'll put as much distance as we can between us and the warhead as fast as we can."

"Got it," I stated.

One of the displays blinked a warning about the ramp, there was an alert from the engineering panel behind me, and a little shudder through the deck as something below depressurized. I didn't actually see the bomb but I knew it probably flew past below the cockpit.

A second later I rammed the throttle to full with the thrust set for reverse, and I felt myself straining against the straps.

Somewhere in the distance out the main windows there was a brief flash. It reminded me of fireflies out on the family farm at night, the way you'd see a flicker of light but when you looked it was already gone.

I'd barely had time to think about that when I was nearly startled out of my seat by a loud bang. My eyes locked on a large crack that had suddenly appeared in one of the windows on the starboard side, next to the captain's seat. It didn't look broken, but the crack was scary enough.

Things seemed quiet for about a single heartbeat, when the next shock came.

"Depressurization Alert!"

It was an automated mechanical voice, and I cursed "Where?! What compartment!"

"Main cargo hold," Jenny responded through the intercom. "The captain is injured and the hold is depressurizing."

I'd heard about a phenomenon where people in a crisis situation say time seems to slow down for them. They'd talk about having their thoughts suddenly clear of distractions and doubt, and they'd know exactly what to do. They'd describe how it wasn't till the crisis was over that the emotions and the shock would finally catch up to them.

That's not what it felt like to me.

I was almost hyperventilating as I stared at the controls and displays in front of me in confusion. Suddenly I didn't know what to do, I needed guidance or instruction. I couldn't remember which display would tell me how much air was left in the hold or how fast it was bleeding away into space. And with that crack in the window to my right I was very aware that at any moment the cockpit could decompress and I'd be gone.

As I kept looking around in desperation I found it harder and harder to see, until I finally realized my eyes were full of tears. I was crying in fear, panic, and frustration.

"Amanda!"

My girlfriend's voice cut through the emotions and I responded, "Sarah? Are you ok?"

She was talking through the intercom as she replied, "I'm fine, I'm going to pull Rebecca into the secondary hold then seal off the main hold. What's your status up there?"

My eyes flicked to the cracked window and I replied, "Ok so far. But there's a crack in the window, I think it got hit."

After a long pause Sarah stated, "Shut down the reverse thrust. Get us back on course, but keep us at conventional drive only. Then clear the cockpit. Get your medkit and wait for me in the engineering lower deck. Stay clear of both main and secondary holds, come down on the lift in engineering. Understood?"

My girlfriend's voice was calm and level but firm, which was exactly what I needed. She was acting like the mature career officer taking charge of the panicking noob.

"Yes ma'am," I responded as I blinked the tears from my eyes.

I cut the reverse thrust and swung the nose back around so we were pointing the same way we were moving, recoupled all the manoeuvring thrusters, then finally re-engaged our autopilot to keep us on course for the Fuminja Cluster. At conventional drive it'd take us a few lifetimes to get there, but that wasn't the point. It would keep us on a safe trajectory in open space.

The ship's gravity was still at ten percent so I was careful as I finally unbuckled from my seat. When I left the cockpit I went through the two hatches one at a time like a little airlock, then hurried aft down the main corridor.

I stopped at the storage compartment to grab my medkit before heading into engineering. My heart was racing again as I took the lift down to the lower deck, then I moved to the hatch and waited there for Sarah.

About ninety seconds passed, then the hatch started opening on its own.

At the same time Jenny's voice came through the intercom, "They're in the secondary hold Amanda. It's fully pressurized now."

I hurried forward, down the short corridor past the workshop and the reclamation and laundry compartment. Finally I went through the next hatch into the secondary hold. Rebecca was laying on the deck, while Sarah sat on the deck with her back slumped against the closed cargo doors. And I could tell at a glance both of them were suffering from hypoxia.

Thankfully both of them were breathing, my girlfriend was taking deep fast gulps of air while the captain's breath looked weak and shallow. Just as serious was the blood I could see staining the boss's shorts and t-shirt around her midriff.

I dashed to Rebecca's side and opened my medkit while I asked, "Sarah! Are you ok?"

"Yeah," my girlfriend panted. "Just short of breath."

There was no trace of the panic I'd felt earlier, I was focused on my job. This was the kind of crisis I was trained for, and I handled it to the best of my abilities. Moving quickly and smoothly I operated my portable scanner with my left hand while I administered a trauma shot with my right. The shot helped stabilize Rebecca's vitals, while the scanner told me exactly how badly she was hurt.

The wound was similar to what I'd seen from HVP ammunition. There was a hole straight through her abdomen, the tissue surrounding the wound channel was pulverized resulting in serious internal damage.

I carefully lifted up the captain's shirt to reveal the irregular-shaped hole in her belly, a half dozen centimetres to the right of her navel. The hole was about two centimetres tall by one and a half wide, and blood was seeping from it and running down her side. Even more blood was flowing from an exit wound in her lower back.

The internal bleeding was just as serious, so I grabbed another tool from my medkit. I carefully guided the long probe into the wound channel then activated it when I got to the bottom. As I slowly withdrew the device it cauterized any ruptured veins and blood vessels.

Finally I pulled out a can of wound sealant and covered the entry wound with a layer of the spray. Then I gently rolled Rebecca to the left and applied another layer of the sealant to the exit wound. Once that was done I gently lowered her back to the deck and checked her vitals again.

"How is she?" Sarah asked. She was already sounding better, which was a relief.

I let out long sigh then responded "She's stable for now. There's serious internal damage but I've stopped the bleeding. She's going to need more medical help than I can give her here. I don't have the tools to patch up the internal damage, but if we can get back to Ecclestone's World I'm sure there's medical facilities that can help her."

My girlfriend shook her head, "We're not landing anywhere with an atmosphere just yet. The ramp and main airlock are both damaged, it's going to take an EVA or two before we can even attempt an atmospheric entry."

After a moment she gestured to the big black cylinder in the corner, "Why not stick her in Jenny's Re/Gen capsule? She'll be good as new in half a day."

I hesitated, "Jenny? Are you still with us?"

"I'm here Amanda," the AI's voice came through the intercom. "One of my HPDs is trapped in the main hold, which has fully depressurized. The other one is recharging, but I'm still here."

"I'm sure you've been listening in then," I stated. "What do you think? Rebecca's going to need serious medical attention either way, but she's stable for the moment."

Just as I finished talking there was a little shudder through the deck, and Sarah sat up straight as she asked "What was that?!"

Jenny replied, "The cockpit just suffered explosive decompression. One of the windows failed."

My heart was racing again and I could feel that panic starting to return.

"Can you tell how bad it is?" Sarah asked as she pulled herself to her feet. "And has anything else been damaged? Is anything else depressurized or losing pressure?"

There was a pause which I took to mean Jenny was checking the damage, then she finally responded "As near as I can tell the damage has been limited to the pilot's side of the cockpit. Several of the controls have shorted out and been disabled. The copilot and engineering stations seem to be intact. No other compartments have lost or are losing pressure. The cockpit hatches are both holding their seal and the antechamber has pressure. The ship's damage control system indicates minor damage in a number of subsystems, but nothing critical."

After a pause the AI added, "Through my connection to the ship's computer I am able to take control and fly the ship, though I have no experience doing so. Our current trajectory appears to be safe, sensors are clear. Finally, while I am able to attend to Captain Piper's injuries I should remind you that if I do that I will have to disconnect from the rest of the ship."

I took a deep breath as I tried to keep my emotions from running away again. I looked up at the ceiling where the intercom speakers were and asked, "So you can either monitor sensors and fly the ship, or you can help Rebecca. But you can't do both."

"That's correct Amanda," Jenny stated. "If you want me to process Rebecca, I'll be effectively off-line until I've finished working with her."