Downfall, Part 10
16 Jun 2017User4296
Unknown SystemSeptember 3302
It's drifted, the pilot thought, but this is the place.
Sure enough, the wreckage grew larger through the glass of the Asp's cockpit as the ship edged ever closer. Whatever had happened had been disastrous, and had essentially torn the ship apart from the inside. Large chunks of the ship's hull floated in the void, largely forgotten to time.
The Asp swooped in to slowly follow alongside the twisted hulk. Judging from the size and the shape of some of the pieces, the ship had probably been an Anaconda, except that the drive section - the rear quarter of the ship - was entirely missing, likely consumed in whatever explosion that did the ship in. A single spotlight sprung to life and traced a path along the side of the destroyed vessel.
The pilot looked down at the Asp's instrument panel. So far, the scanners were clear, which was both a good and bad thing: good in that there were no other ships in the area, but bad in that there were no escape pod readings. The nearby ice field didn't help matters much either, given that it seemed to be emitting interference.
Either someone's already salvaged the wreck, the pilot thought, ...or nobody survived.
The Asp banked sharply as it swung around to make a second pass of the far side of the wreckage, and the result was the same. Aside from the wreckage itself, the sensors were clear.
What the hell, the pilot thought, as the Asp slowly turned to make a pass of the outskirts of the nearby ice field. It can't hurt to... The hell?
As the Asp passed into the field, something appeared on the sensors, then disappeared a moment later. The pilot adjusted the Asp's course, and the blip appeared again, but more solid this time. The closer the she got to the blip, the longer it remained on sensors, until at last the Asp stood nose to nose with a large chunk of ice - about as large as the Asp was, the pilot reckoned.
However, the important thing about this chunk of ice was the object nestled into a small crater on the side facing the Asp - an escape pod. The scanners had trouble reading the occupant's condition, but if there was a chance...
It took nearly an hour for one of the Asp's beam lasers, on the lowest setting, to carve the pod free from the side of the asteroid. At first, the pilot wasn't entirely sure how the pod had survived the impact - hitting something that large and dense should have destroyed it. As the laser cut layers away from the chunk of ice, however, the pilot began to understand. The chunk was partially hollow, and the outer surface had served to slow the pod down as it smashed through into one of the spaces within.
One final burst from the laser smashed the pod free, and the Asp backed away slightly to reposition itself as the cargo hatch on the front of the ship swung open. A moment later, after the pod had cleared the asteroid, the ship inched forward and scooped it up.
The pilot stood, stretched, and left the cockpit, headed for the soon to be occupied cargo bay. When they arrived, the pod had been automatically stowed into one of the Asp's many cargo racks that lined the walls of the room. A few taps on a nearby panel caused a crane arm to reach out, grab the pod, and maneuver it into the middle of the room so the pilot could grab a portable scanner and go to work.
They're alive, the pilot saw a few moments later, having circled the pod once, the portable scanner having confirmed what the pod's on-board computer had showed. Well, as alive as one can be with stasis drugs flowing through their veins.
A soft whine from behind them caught their attention, and the pilot turned around – a border collie had wandered into the room, and now sat in front of the pod, staring at it attentively. The pilot looked from the dog to the pod, then shrugged, and punched a control pad on the side of it. Long moments passed as the door hissed open, carrying with it the familiar twinge of recycled oxygen.
The dog barked.
The pilot reached up and pulled off their helmet, shaking their head and allowing the red hair to fall and frame the feminine features of the woman's face. She looked down at the dog and patted him once on the head.
"I think we found him."
The dog barked again.
***
Siegel Station, Hoji System
Empire Space
6 hours later
Waking up from stasis is one of the strangest experiences one can have. People have sometimes compared it to waking up from a deep sleep, but I've always found this to be somewhat inaccurate, as most of your senses clock on at more or less the same time. With stasis, things come back piecemeal. In this case, when my eyes slowly drifted open, I was greeted with a bright blur of whiteness - and utter silence.
I blinked, and the blur slowly began to solidify into shapes - a large white octagon, surrounded by eight slightly smaller octagons, all set into the ceiling and separated by black bars. Along with the shapes came a face, an older white male, with greying curly hair surrounding the bald head on top. He seemed to be wearing a white jacket, and his mouth was moving.
I blinked a few times, and my hearing finally decided to kick back in.
"...re remember?" the old man asked.
I croaked.
The old man shook his head and spoke again. "Take it slow. The drugs we use for stasis can take a while to clear," he said. "You're safe. Your friend brought you in. Do you remember what happened?"
I cleared my throat, turned my head, and coughed. This seemed to reawaken my vocal chords. "No," I said weakly, looking back up. "Wh...'re you?"
"I'm a doctor. Doctor Janosek. Your friend said you had been attacked by pirates," the doctor said, reaching over to adjust something. "I have to ask, did they do something to you?" he asked.
"Torture," I groaned. "Don't... remember."
He nodded. "When she brought you in, you were in rough shape... but you'll be okay. Just relax... The drugs will wear off in a few moments," Janosek said, and his face disappeared from view. I groggily moved my head to one side to get a better look at the room, but the room seemingly spun away from me.
"Oh, shit," I murmured. "Gonna..."
I leaned over the side of the bed and puked - into a conveniently placed bucket on the floor. I coughed.
"That's normal," the doctor said from across the room.
I stared into the bucket for several long moments, as the movement of the room slowly stabilized. I coughed again, spat, and slowly sat up. "Where... where am I?"
"Siegel Station," the doctor said, moving to stand in front of me. "Hoji System. You've been here before?"
"I..." I began. The memories slowly flooded back. The trip to Tucker's apartment, Talia, dropping off Cassandra to her family –
Cassandra. Shit.
I screwed my eyes shut and held the bridge of my nose between my forefinger and thumb, then shook my head. "...I've been here once or twice. How long-"
"Three months, according to the pod’s computer."
"Shit," I breathed.
He made a few final notes into his tablet. "Well, I have no reason to keep you. Whenever you're ready, there's the door. Just take it slow." The doctor moved away.
"Thanks," I said, and shakily got to my feet. The first few steps over to the door were exciting, but I reached it and pushed it open. The lobby was small and mostly empty, save for one occupant - a redhead sat immersed in her PDA. The nurse at the counter looked over and nodded as I emerged from the examination room.
"Oop," I said, reaching out to grab the edge of the nearby counter as my legs fumbled. The redhead looked up.
"Welcome back!" Talia said, standing, and covered the distance between us with long strides. She nearly flung her arms about my neck, but stopped, cleared her throat, and struck out a hand, which I shook. "How do you feel?"
"Like hell," I replied.