Jane
Jane knew something had gone seriously wrong. In a drop suit but still aboard the Stilleto, she had been slammed hard against one of the four walls before all the lights went out. She had waited for the order to drop that never came, and now she was wondering if the ship was damaged and DIW. Not waiting around to find out, she augmented her eyesight and turned on the suit lights.
“Comm all frequencies. Anybody out there?”
“This is Captain Firewater, Jane. The Stilleto is now resting in the hangar, severely damaged. Status?”
“Bruised but fine,” she said, relieved. “In my Maxon. Get us out of here. Priority one message for Council.”
“We’re already on our way. The hangar is severely damaged and we can’t get in to rescue and injured. We also have no contact with them. Evaluate and help as needed.”
“Understood.”
“What of Commander Keenan and the others?” Jane could hear concern on his voice, and it took her a second to control herself before replying.
“They didn’t make it, Sir. I’m the only one.”
She heard nothing for a few seconds, before he finally replied, “Angel, glad you made it back.”
The Maxon comp waited for the chatter to stop and then reported, “Jane, the hanger is depressurized. I’m picking up several life signs in the hanger, and more life signs inside the Stilleto. Several areas in WF287 are depressurized too. I would suggest you collect as many Emergency Light Pressure Suits as you can if you intend to help the crew.”
“Where is Dickens?”
“Last known location is Engineering. Comm puts him trying to get the cloak working before the Stilleto crashed into the hangar.”
Jane worked her way through the debris until she came to a closed airlock. Every major ship in the fleet had double doors with an internal space in between just large enough to fit one Maxon suit for events such as this. It was a lesson that had been quickly learned and universally adopted, and it prevented severe air loss when passing from a depressurized section to a pressurized one.
Working her way to Engineering, she found Dickens passed out with a nasty knock to the head. Quickly putting him in the Emergency Light Pressure Suit, which was surprisingly easy because of its bag-like one size fits all system, she hiked him over her shoulders and carried him through the hallway until she reached an exterior airlock. Cycling through, she carried Dickens outside to one of the WF287 emergency crew members that had made it through the debris and damage.
Looking around, she found Sallecker also removing injured crew members but doing it in the ELPS, something not recommended. They were made for emergency survivability, and their built in air supply would only last a few minutes. The tough but thin skin gave little protection against the heat or cold of space, and Jane could clearly see that the space cold hanger was having an effect on Sallecker. She went over just as he dropped to one knee, picked him up as he uselessly argued (the suit had an emergency beacon but no comm) and carried him over to a functioning WF287 airlock. She went in with him, cycled the air and before the green OK light displayed she opened her inner faceplate and yelled, “I’ll take care of them!”
Sallecker, who was just about to pass out from the lack of air in his suit, took a deep breath from the fresh airlock air and said, “Okay. I’ll be there in a sec.”
“If you come in without the proper rescue equipment, I’ll carry you back here myself!” She stared him in the eye to make sure he understood.
Sallecker, not used to having a subordinate speak to him like that smiled, too weak to put up a fight.