How I Got Here: "Salvaged"
18 Jul 2022Columbuss
Commander Justin Estok. Stardate 18-JUL-3308.*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
Have you ever rubbed your eyes so hard that your vision goes black? You press down on your eye lids with your fingers until you can feel your eyeballs pushing into the back of your head and when you let go, your vision stays black for just a couple of seconds until slowly, from the center of your vision, your sight starts to come back. It starts as a fuzzy, out of focus, little ball that starts growing and growing while gradually becoming more and more clear in the center until you can finally see again. If you know this feeling, then you know how I felt when I realized I wasn't dead.
I've never been dead and don't know what being dead feels like, but I imagine what I felt between what happened in the cockpit and now couldn't have been far off. Much like where I'd spent the past few years, everything was just black. Much like it was before I was born or ever existed. One minute I was in the cockpit of a Krait MkII combat ship and the next minute was just... nothing. Just an endless sea of quiet, peaceful, blissful... nothing. And then suddenly, it wasn't. Consciousness was slowly starting to fill me back up. To be honest, It was shocking to be regaining consciousness at all. When I'd reestablished some semblance of comprehension I looked around and didn't recognize where I was. I couldn't move my arms or legs and all I could hear was a low hum overlayed by a dim, yet sharp, beeping sound which seemed to repeat every second.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
"He's awake! Ardie! He's awake" a voice called out as I heard the suction cup sounds of mag-boots gripping the bulkhead get closer and closer.
"Relax young man," a second, older voice said to me. "Relax. You're alright."
"Where am I?" I managed to mutter. "Am I dead?"
The old voice laughed. "Nooo," he said. "You're very much alive. Well, I don't know about VERY alive, but alive just the same. You're in the med-bay aboard my ship, The Kadmos. We were beginning to take bets on whether or not you'd wake up."
The old voice identified himself as Ardento. The younger voice, he told me, was his first mate, Calli. As he unstrapped my limbs from the medical table I realized I was in zero G and had to grab back on so as to not float away.
"Calli, get his boots. They're by the vac suits." As Calli's mag-boots suctioned their way into the adjoining room, Ardento filled me in on the last few days. Apparently my two would be rescuers were on a salvage mission. They detected the wake fields left from many ships jumping into hyperspace at once and decided to investigate.
For salvager's, battles are as good as gold. Most will keep their sensors pointed to area's with high traffic, like a local system's Nav Beacon or resource extraction sites. The best ones watch the news. The best ones keep transmission interceptors to listen for a fight. Like the hyenas of Earth, the best ones follow the lions.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"A border system. Acamar. It's in independent space. I know a doctor there who can help you. You're malnourished and your blood oxygen levels are low from breathing on life support for so long. You're lucky we found you when we did. We're not. Finding you blows our salvage but, you're very lucky."
"I need to get off this ship" I said.
"And you will," said Ardento. "When we get home. You need to see a doctor."
"You don't understand! You helping me puts both of your lives at risk."
"We're salvagers aboard a rickety old boat in The Black my friend," said Ardento, injecting another stim into my arm.
"Our lives are always at risk."