Journey Interrupted

The New Ulysses exploratory data probe drifted just outside the open cargo bay door, looking like a crinkled can, only it was the size of a small zip shuttle. Its sensor arrays, solar panels, camera and spectrometer platforms were crushed, folded in on themselves as if it had suffered a catastrophic impact. As deep as they were inside the core of the main asteroid belt, Captain Zaz Crowe had no doubt that it had lost its telemetry functions 15 years ago and run smack into one of the minor asteroids. Exactly as the NASA report postulated. As a result of being reported lost, with no investigation or recovery effort launched, it was fair game for private salvage. Zaz had wasted no time in processing his salvage claim on the derelict space probe.

New Ulysses had a gold film skirt worth 50,000 imperials alone, discounting the other precious metals and on-board systems. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” was a favorite motto of the Planet Janitor Corporation, and the cargo bays of the Shenandoah were brimming to near capacity with such discarded treasure from a 27-day sweep of the asteroid belt. The M-type nickel-iron asteroids weighing three tons and smaller, comprised much of the ship’s salvaged inventory, and would fetch a nice price on the open market, for both metallurgic and collector value.

Zaz adjusted the targeting laser and pointed it at one end of the probe, while his mechanical engineer, Galoot, targeted his beam to pinpoint the mid-section of the probe at the opposite end. They fired the grappling darts at the same time. The darts struck the craft on the laser points, embe dding deep into the metal structure. Zaz flipped a switch, activating the retrieval lines. The lines became taut, then the probe began a lazy drift into the cargo bay. Once the probe drifted to the center of the bay, Zaz spoke into his helmet mike.

“Sammy, close bay C-2 and pressurize the deck. Slow to dead still.”

“Aye, closing and pressurizing. Cutting engines. Nice snatch, Zaz. That’s about the last of it, right?”

Zaz knew that his navigator and co-pilot, Samantha King, was eager to get Earth-side, as well as the rest of his crew. He was amused by her massive shrub of red hair and way she labored to keep it in place, rather than cut it and simplify her hairstyle. “We’re all junked up, Sammy. You can prep for a bang jump home.”

“Music to my ears! I’ll start the jump pre-flight.”

Zaz snugged the probe up against the retrieval armatures, cranking the lines tight. It took 15 minutes for the deck to heat and pressurize, allowing both crew members to remove their pressure suits. Zaz stored the suits inside a deck trunk and wiped his face. When he looked at Galoot, the eight-foot tall 480-pound man grinned at him, conveying an expression of victory. And rightfully so; their recent junk harvest had gone exceedingly well, with no foul-ups, injuries or emergencies. Hell, they hadn’t even scratched the paint during any of the retrievals. Nothing but smooth moves.

Zaz and Galoot walked a circuit around the New Ulysses probe, noting the structural damage. Besides evidence of a collision, the probe was pockmarked with tiny micro meteor holes and contained a thick layer of what looked like basaltic asteroid dust. In spite of the damage, it was nice haul. Just one more piece of trash out of the space lanes, Zaz mused, and gave it an affectionate pat. Five years in the space reclamation business had really panned out, and the Planet Janitor Corporation was beginning to make great strides in financial gains and reputation. If he hadn’t inherited the business from his father, none of it would have been possible. At 39 years of age, Zaz was seriously considering an early retirement if things kept improving.

“Galoot, strap her down with the heavy carbon fiber lines, and meet me at the bridge.”

“I’ll get her cinched down good and tight, Cap’n.”

Zaz took the nearest foot tram to the elevator, feeling unusually upbeat and gratified. No incidents, sickness or ship-board malfunctions in just under a month’s salvage time. It was a damn miracle. Yet he had a haunting premonition that things had gone too well. 

When he arrived at A deck, he’d already formulated a celebratory party in his mind, complete with entertainers, music, six-course meals and enough champagne to drown his crew. He thought about handing out some bonuses once they had their inventory turned in. When he reached the bridge, he was surprised to see his petite botanist, Dendy Dollar, his demolition expert, Carl Stromboli, and Samantha standing in front of the nav console, facing his direction. They let loose with party poppers, showering the bridge deck with colorful streamers. They chorused a cheer and pumped their fists in the air. Dendy ran to him and embraced him in tight hug.

“Yeah, we’re going home,” said Zaz, grinning. “It hasn’t been a long haul, but it’s been a profitable one.” He looked at Samantha. “What was the weight on that last one?”

Samantha pulled her enormous froth of strawberry blond hair away from her face. “About two point seven metric tons. Nice size, even for one of the older probes.” She turned around and took a seat at the nav console, taking up where she’d left off with the pre-flight.

Carl frowned and set his jaw. “Yeah, but as usual I didn’t even get to light a match. You don’t know what’s it’s like when a doctor of pyrotechnics can’t blow something up. It’s the only way to relieve my emotional pressure valve.”

Carl Stromboli lived for detonations, impacts and explosions. As a child he used to light a lot of fires, causing his parent untold misery and apprehension. He’d always explained it away, not by confessing that he had a fatal case of pyromania, but that it was an early career move that he one day planned to implement and profit by.

 “You just set off a party popper,” said Samantha over her shoulder. “And that should be enough until we get home. Then you can stick a tube of C-6 up your butt and blow yourself to kingdom come.”

Carl sniffed. “Very funny Ms. Top Heavy. I’ve got a retort for that but it’s – ”

“Okay, that’s enough celebrating,” Zaz cut in. “I’m sure everybody’s got something to do. Carl, check on the cyro tubes and program the automechs for routine service and maintenance chores. I’ll have Galoot check the bang pod drives. Sammy crunches our numbers, and Dendy...” Zaz tried to disengage from his smallest crew member, but she had snug hold on him, her cheek buried in his chest. He had to admit that he could think of worse things than having a pretty botanist wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. He finally untangled himself and held her at arm’s length, gazing at her light brown eyes, heavy brows and thick bangs. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought she was flushed and gushing at him.

“Okay, Dendy” he said, “You check on the hydroponics lab and make sure everything’s battened down.” She had a green thumb, and by simply talking to plants, shrubs and flowers, she could entice them to thrive and blossom. Admittedly, Dendy put the “fun” factor into the Planet Janitor Corporation, blessing them with an insufferably sweet and positive disposition.

 “You bet, Zaz!” she said, and left the bridge with a child-like skip.

She was gushing at me.

Zaz took a seat next to Samantha at the nav console, looked at the central view monitor, where she had brought up the system’s array – hydrogen fuel, deck pressure and temperature, repulser coils, generator output and nuclear pod status. As far as he was concerned, if one data point was off in preparation for a bang pod jump, he’d insist on postponing the return flight until they performed a complete debug and fixed the culprit system. It was the reason he never held the optimism the others did when contemplating a return trip, or any trip. One minor system failure always seemed to create a domino effect, with several minor system failures snowballing into a major catastrophic event. It was always the little things that crept up to bite you in the ass when you least expected it.

Samantha brought up a bar graph showing the continuity in the repulser coils. “Full voltage there,” she murmured, then projected her volume. “Ya know, you’re going to jinx us if you keep staring at the monitor like that. Relax. You’re always looking for gremlins when there aren’t any. Everything is checking out.”

“Gremlins hide then jump out at you. I never really believed that old saying ‘the check’s in the mail.’ I’m never satisfied until the check’s in the bank. Besides, it’s the prerogative and duty of the captain to shoulder the worry. That’s why I have no fingernails.” He gave her a half-hearted laugh, but he was dead serious about his theories. I’m not a pessimist. I’m a realist. There’s a difference.

“Where do you want to pop in?” asked Samantha, her fingers hovering over a numeric keyboard.

“How about the front door. About 80,000 miles out, directly over Long Beach. That’ll let us cruise for a couple of hours, and give us time to get cleaned up and packed.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll give the Port Authority our registry and estimated arrival time.”

“Punch it in and hit send, sweetie.”

“Punched and sent. Ya know, I was thinking that...” Her words dropped off, replaced by a whoop-whoop siren. They both looked at the monitor, eyes fixed on the flashing yellow letters, PROXIMITY ALERT.    

Zaz flicked a toggle, cutting the siren off. Samantha changed the forward window to optical view, showing fore, aft and side camera views through hull-mounted gun scopes. She punched up the magnification on the monitor and read the right ascension and declination coordinates of the mystery object. She toggled the aft gun scope to come to bear on a pin-prick of light. She watched the spectrometer for 30 seconds and said, “It’s moving, whatever it is, and in our general direction.”

Zaz sat on the edge of his seat. “Perturbed asteroid? That would be a one in a billion shot!”

“Don’t know. The spectral intensity is increasing by fractions, and by timing it, I can get a rough velocity.”

Galoot came over intercom. “Heard a siren, chief. What’s up?”

A moment later, Dendy and Carl parroted the same concerns. Zaz explained that they had a bogey approaching. He expected them to make a breathless dash to the bridge. He couldn’t blame them. Having a proximity alert wasn’t exactly an earth-shattering event, since it had happened numerous times. But mostly in the shipping lanes. Astronomically speaking, they were on a dirt road in the core section of the main asteroid belt. The only things that moved in this sector of space were big rocks that had been knocked out of their orbital resonance.

Dividing her eyes between the spectrometer and the chronometer, Samantha danced her fingers over the panel calculator. “Got some rough estimates,” she said, nonplussed. “The speed is between 35,000 and 45,000 standard miles-per-hour. That’s within the speed parameters of a rogue body, but the spectra and density seem off. We know it’s within 10,000 miles of us because that’s our warning distance.”

The rest of the crew members filed hurriedly through the bridge hatch and took up standing positions behind the nav console. It was fortunate that the two Planet Janitor scientists were Earth-bound, or else they would have had a traffic jam on the bridge.

 Dendy gripped Zaz’s shoulder and said, “Any coronal discharge or tail?”

“It’s not a comet,” said Samantha, adjusting the magnification and camera focus. “If it stays on its present course, it’ll pass within 300 miles of us. Which is against safe traffic distance for deep space. Almost has to be a solid body or composite.” 

“Finally,” said Carl. “Looks like I get to blow something out of the system. Don’t look at me like that, Zaz. You know it’s our duty to stop runaways from entering major shipping lanes and station zones.” 

“We still don’t know what it is yet,” said Zaz. “So hold those thoughts.”

“We’ll know in about 12 to 15 minutes,” said Samantha. “It’s coming nearly head on.”

Zaz groaned, thinking about his revised version of Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it’s already happened. The worst scenario would be Carl’s guess that it was a rogue headed for the interior shipping lanes. That would require a trajectory plot to find anything in its path. Then they would have to intercept, analyze and formulate a plan for taking it out. The scenario would delay their jump home, considerably. Not to mention, they’d have to file a report with the International Security Agency, filling out forms and appearing at a hearing.

“Anything on its mass?” asked Zaz.

Samantha answered with a hesitant mumble. “Too small to be a planetesimal, and too large for a meteorite. Somewhere in between, like about starliner size. I’ll know more in a few minutes. I can tell it’s a shiny little jewel, whatever it is.”

Zaz shook his head. “Engage the engines and prepare for evasive maneuvers.” Standard operating procedure dictated keeping a safe distance between an unknown flyby and the ship. His next protocol was to order the crew to their accelerator couches, which he did a minute later. Samantha lit the port engines and took them out another 2,000 miles from the path of the approaching body.

 “Dead still,” said Zaz.

“Aye, dead still,” Samantha responded, and then readjusted the magnification and focus. “Well no wonder she didn’t look right.”  

Zaz didn’t have to guess what Samantha meant. He could pick up the slightest detail of the nearing object. It had an elongated profile, and it left a barely perceptible contrail in its wake – almost a thread. He wondered what a ship was doing this far out in the main belt under standard propulsion. Unless it was a survey vessel?

Samantha looked over her shoulder, pegging her eyes on Zaz, who sat in the command chair. “It’s a craft all right, moving at flank speed. No course deviations. She’s emitting some type of ejecta.”

Zaz gave her a pert nod. “Hail her on the emergency frequency and tell her she’s approaching traffic.” 

Samantha donned her headset and dialed in the frequency. “Unknown vessel, this is the ore freighter Shenandoah. You are in violation of deep space traffic separation. Alter your course and reduce your speed.”

Zaz patched into the communication channel from his chair console. “Unknown vessel, this is Captain Crowe of the ore freighter Shenandoah, state your name, registration and flight plan.”

No response. 

Samantha tried several more hails, and set the Shenandoah’s cameras for automatic tracking of the ship. A photo record would be needed in an inquiry. The ship was plainly in violation on two counts: failure to respond and disregard of proper traffic separation.

Zaz watched a large conical craft take form, bullet-shaped at both ends.  What he found amazing was the appearance of port and starboard airfoils, which extended out from the fuselage like delta wings. Either she was a very old craft, or something very new and experimental. It couldn’t be alien; there were only two known extraterrestrial species capable of interstellar travel, and this sector of space was off limits to both. The hull looked smooth and brightly copper-colored, containing no weapons platforms or antenna array.

Zaz glanced at his engineer. “Galoot, have you seen anything like this in the shipyards?”

Samantha cut in quickly. “She’s coming up abreast of us now. I’m pulling in visuals on some hull markings.” 

Zaz studied the screen. The image danced a bit, but he could make out INTREPID HWD 553P. The bar scale on the bottom of the screen indicated a length of 1,450 feet and about 400,000 metric tons. The aft end of the ship trailed a fine wispy mist of some unknown gas or liquid. The ship continued at flank speed, headed for the inner planets.

“I’ll check the ship registration archives against that ID number,” Samantha offered. “The ‘P’ denotes a private vessel, probably a contractor. That’s all I know so far.”

Galoot cleared his throat. “She’s a triple-hull transport freighter, for sure, boss. Those wings are fail-safe structures for atmosphere insertion. I think she’s Chinese. I’ve seen one before that came into the yard for an engine retrofit. The HWD stands for Hazardous Waste Disposal.” Galoot knew his ships. He’d worked at most of the major West Coast shipyards for the past two decades. He’d once jumped-started an ion generator with a paperclip, to restart a satellite. 

Samantha looked up from her console. “Galoot’s got it right. United States registry, but it was imported from China 15 years ago.” Samantha looked at a small window on the main monitor. “The Intrepid, current captain, Alexandria Remy. Her ship-board systems are fully automated, and she has a crew complement of four. That’s a pittance for running that behemoth.”

“Bring up a still shot of the hull. I didn’t see a company name, only a small logo.”

Samantha brought the ship’s side profile into view. Zaz could see a small space-suited figure wielding an overloaded wheelbarrow, superimposed over a radioactive pinwheel. It appeared almost cartoonish in rendering. He told Samantha to look it up under company trademarks. She came back a minute later with the identification.

“Anderson and Wiley Transport, out of Philadelphia. Their motto is ‘Don’t bawl – We’ll Haul.”

Dendy perked up. “They’re in kind of the same business we’re in. How come we haven’t heard of them?”

Zaz took that one. “They’re licensed for Hazardous Waste Transport. That isn’t exactly something you want to broadcast about a company. Just a tad off-putting.”

“Yeah, but we’ve done it,” said Carl. “And everybody knows who we are.”

Zaz rolled his eyes. “We’ve never been ashamed of it. Some businesses don’t like to announce the fact. Sammy, I’ll take the helm from here. I going to come up behind her, and I want you to analyze that venting gas. Give me a chemical breakdown. In the meantime, send a message to Anderson and Wiley and tell them what we’ve found.

“I’m on it.” 

The captain lit the aft main hydrogen engines and advanced the throttle. The speed of the Intrepid clocked out at 37,500 miles-per-hour. That gave Zaz a margin to catch her, and even overtake her, if need be. Gut instinct was no way to run a ship, but something bothered him about the Intrepid’s hell-bent speed – no response to hails – no course deviation – a systems leak. The ship obviously had a nuclear bang drive, but it hadn’t been activated. If the crew needed to reach home port or make it to the Vegan atmosphere to dump their load, they were doing so in the slowest mode possible.

As the Shenandoah approached the aft slipstream of the Intrepid, Samantha tabulated the chemical makeup of the ejecta. As the ship’s sensors sucked up the minute particles, information appeared on the main view monitor in the form of graphs and numerical data points. Zaz waited eagerly for Samantha’s analysis.

“Okay,” said Samantha. “Chemical composition is a diluted form of H2SO4, non-flammable, with a molar mass of 98.079. It looks like – ”

“That’s sulfuric acid,” said Dendy. “Even I know that. They’re venting acid, and that’s a very unusual substance for any component on a ship.”

“Unless it’s cargo,” said Zaz. “Let’s give her the once over.” Zaz increased his ship’s velocity, crossing over to the starboard side of the Intrepid. He studied the hull lines and asked the others to report anything that looked unusual, especially evidence of explosive decompression. Passing over the bow, he could see nothing unusual until he looked at the physical view-screens and ports, which appeared discolored.

“Cabin windows are opaque,” said Samantha. “Either moisture or gas. It doesn’t look good, Zaz.” She tried to raise the ship again, repeatedly hailing. She shook her head. “Nothing. Not a peep, and we can’t see any signs of bridge activity through that haze.”

Zaz looked at Galoot. “Would a universal entry key work on their hatches?”

“No reason not to. It’s standard regulation, especially for non-military craft. You thinking about boarding her, boss?”

Zaz had knots in his gut, and it was from what he was seeing. It was more than suspicious. Something was dreadfully wrong aboard the Intrepid. The crew’s lives were at stake, or God forbid, past that point. The ship was a runaway, plain and simple – a threat to navigation and possibly carrying a very dangerous cargo. “Galoot, gather up three mini-sleds, three Hazmat pressure suits and a hatch key. I’ll meet you at the starboard B deck airlock.”

“On my way.”

Carl released the air bladder on his couch and made a move to get up. “Finally some action!”

“You’re not going,” said Zaz. “You’ll stay here and assist Samantha. I’ll need a response from Anderson and Wiley. Sammy, I want the Shenandoah within kissing distance of that ship.”

“You heard him, Carl,” said Samantha, and slapped a seat next to her. “Plant your greasy butt next to me and get ready to work for a living.”

“I always get the short end,” cursed Carl, and stumbled to the forward nav station.

Zaz released his seat bladder and curled his finger at Dendy. “You’re going with. Any objections?”

Dendy pushed up out of her couch. “Not a one, Cap’n. I need some fresh vacuum anyway.”

Zaz and Dendy left the bridge. Besides running the hydroponics lab, Dendy Dollar had served time on the Blue Peace marine vessel as a science intern. A fish-kissing, tree-hugging environmentalist, Dendy had her own strict rules about the preservation and sanctity of life. Fiercely independent and smart as paint, she could also hold her own as a medical technician, having served as a nurse when she was eighteen. Zaz had a feeling she had more than a scrap of hero worship for him, but he couldn’t deny that the pert brunette at half his age, held a bit more of his interest than just vocational attributes. She had a curious bond of attraction over him, but those feelings were turning into something more serious and intimate which, lately, confounded him.

When they reached the B-deck airlock, Zaz opened up a cabinet and pulled out an emergency kit. He hoped he wouldn’t need to use it, but he was about to enter the unknown and felt that being prepared would save himself a flight back to the ship. Galoot joined them a moment later, carrying a mountain of gear. They donned their Hazmat suits, helping each other close the seals and adjust the fittings. Zaz strapped the emergency kit to his waist. They stepped inside the airlock, shutting the hatch. Zaz punched the wall panel for de-pressurization, then watched the wall panel and his wrist display. He spoke into his helmet mike. “Com check.” Galoot and Dendy answered back, crisp and clear. Samantha piped in a few seconds later. “Have a clean read on you. Be careful.”

Once the airlock panel read green, Galoot opened the hull hatch and held his mini-sled out in front of him. When he activated the small propulsion engine, the sled pulled him out into space. He angled the double-handled sled frame to pull him down toward the Intrepid. Dendy followed next, flying out a good distance from the hull. Zaz took up the rear, but turned to close the exterior hatch. The three were now adrift.

“Galoot, take us to a hatch nearest the bridge.”

Galoot flew off, his giant bulk propelled gracefully through the vacuum of space. He allowed Dendy to follow next, spotting her from behind. She had a bit of trouble maneuvering the sled, and performed a clumsy zigzag drift. She got the hang of it in a minute, and straightened her course. Galoot reached a rectangular hatch, marked with yellow stripes. He worked the universal entrance key into a slot and turned it, cracking the seal. He flipped the hatch open and waved his arm as an invite. Zaz drifted within a few feet of the hatch opening. The interior of the airlock chamber atmosphere looked clear, a good precursor sign.

One by one they pulled themselves inside the airlock chamber. Zaz fastened the hatch behind them, using the interior locking lever. He next checked the chamber data panel, finding it lit and showing real time temperature and pressure of the ship’s interior. The temperature read 74 degrees Fahrenheit, with 20 percent oxygen. The ship’s artificial gravity on the other side of the hatch was intact. What he did not like, as he looked through the thick glass hatch portal, was evidence of a pale, yellowish mist in the ready room beyond. The hatch door on the other side of the ready room was cracked open.

Zaz thumbed a panel button and watched the readout. The airlock began to pressurize, returning weight to their bodies. They dropped their mini-sleds to the floor.

“Open her up, Galoot,” said Zaz, and stood back while the big man threw a lever and pulled the door open. Zaz took the lead, walking slowly through the ready room, glancing at cabinets on both bulkhead walls. Nothing seemed out of place or disturbed. He pulled the ready room hatch open and stepped out into a pristine white corridor that lead off in right and left directions. He knew he needed to go left toward the bridge, and at least down a few levels. The right corridor lead to the ship’s interior and aft section.

“My suit sensor detects high outside air acidity,” said Dendy. “It’s a good thing we’re wearing Hazmats. The substance is corrosive on seals, valves and joints.”

Zaz looked at his sensor array on his wrist computer. The concentration was lethal, able to cause respiratory failure in just minutes. He had two major concerns: the lives of the Intrepid’s crew and the source of the acid leak.

“Galoot, I need you to go aft and see if you can narrow down the source of the acid. It might be engine related – some type of propellant, or associated with the cargo. Watch your wrist gauge. If the acid concentration gets any worse, alert me and beat it back here.”

“I can find my way around this bucket. I’ll come back chop-chop if things look bad.”

Zaz felt the knot in his gut cinch tighter, watching Galoot lumber down the corridor and disappear around an intersection. He pressed on, with Dendy at his side. He noticed a wet film on the walkway, believing it to be acid residue. He came upon a bulkhead placard that showed a schematic of the deck levels, and the precise spot where he stood in relation to the bridge. He followed the corridor and came to a spiral down-ramp, equipped with double handrails. He descended the steep ramp and arrived at a landing, which denoted one level down, then continued on to the next landing. Three hatchways came into view at the bottom of the ramp, but the one marked FLIGHT OPERATIONS, grabbed his attention. He opened the hatch and stepped through. He found himself in a combination galley and dining area, surprisingly immaculate and free of clutter.

Dendy brushed up against his shoulder, obviously preoccupied with the sights. “This ship looks brand new,” she said, with a nervous waver in her voice. “I mean, the upkeep is incredible. Not what you’d expect with a used freighter. But I’m worried about – ”

“I know what you’re worried about and so am I. I’m wondering if they had enough warning to outfit themselves. I think the scrubbers failed and this gas went through the ship’s recirculating vents.” He wiped a film of what looked like sweat on the outside of his face shield. The acid was already starting to eat away at the protective glass, which he hadn’t counted on. But that didn’t make sense. Glass was impervious to acid. He hailed Galoot for a report.

“Just entering the main cargo deck now,” came the response. “It’s pretty thick in here, almost wet. Looks bad, boss. My visor shield is fogging up.”

“Don’t stay too long. We might have to bug out fast.”

“Copy that.”

The bridge was not cordoned off from the galley-dining area. Zaz could see straight through to the V-shaped bridge console, and a wedge shaped arrangement of accelerator couches. He saw a slumped figure, out-fitted in some type of protective suit, leaning over from a command chair, head resting on the console. He assumed this was the captain. Ten feet to the right and further back lay the prone figure of a woman, on her back and hands drawn up to her throat. They hurried to the prone woman first. Unable to read the woman’s pulse through the suit gloves, Dendy rested a hand on the woman’s ribcage and looked for movement. Zaz knew there would be no respiration – the woman had swollen, burned lips, milky white eyes and smears of blood on her nostrils and chin.

“Oh, God, Zaz. She’s gone!” cried Dendy. “Massive hemorrhaging of the airways.”

Zaz read a breast patch on the woman’s company suit aloud, committing it to memory. “Darlene Bentwater, Flight Engineer.”

They moved quickly to the command chair occupant. Dendy gently pulled the head upright and gazed into the helmet visor. The back of the suit collar contained stenciled letters: ALEXANDRIA REMY – FC.

“I’ve got muscular response!” said Dendy. “Her suit controls are active, showing a pulse and respiration, but it’s weak. Her oxygen supply is critical.”

“Galoot, I need you up at the bridge,” said Zaz urgently. “We have a survivor!”

“On my way... I’m finished up here anyway.”

Zaz pulled an extension tube from his oxygen valve and connected it to the captain’s oxygen inlet. He turned a dial and filled the depleted oxygen canister, giving it a full charge. Within a minute, the captain’s eye’s fluttered and she took a gasping breath. 

Carrying a lifeless body through ship’s corridors in a Hazmat suit was next to impossible. Zaz needed some kind of a cart or gurney, and having no idea of the ship’s layout, he was at a loss for knowing where to start his search, unless.... The galley.

Zaz fast-walked to the galley and began pulling open cupboards and lockers, looking for a fold-out transportation device. He pulled one thin hatch door open, marked LABORATORY, looked inside and saw a body. The woman had sat down with her back against the bulkhead, drawing her knees up into her chin. Her head lolled to the side, eyes closed. A spray of blood freckled her face and chest. Patches of hair lay on the deck, like small puddles of mud. She had her legs half in, half out of a pressure suit. He closed the door quickly and continued looking. He found a small storage room filled with foodstuffs and water containers. A stack of boxes sat atop a four-wheeled, double-tray serving cart. He brushed the boxes off the cart and pulled it through the storage area and out into the galley. When he wheeled it to the bridge, Dendy already had the flight captain sitting upright. 

“Samantha for Zaz. I’ve been listening in. You have one responsive and one decedent. Is that correct?”

“One responsive and two down,” Zaz corrected. “I found another dead in the galley bathroom. Sammy, we’re going to try and get the survivor out as fast as we can. If we can manage it, we’ll transport the two bodies. Any callback from Anderson and Wiley?”

“No callback yet. Jesus, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.” Samantha sounded hopelessly defeated.

“I need you to keep it together right now, Ms King. Keep Shenandoah on course and keep your ears open for that callback.”

“We’ve got three no-lifers,” said Galoot, cutting in. “I’ve brought a gal up from the cargo bay. I just set her down next to the airlock. I just couldn’t leave her behind. Looks like she was checking out the damage when she was overcome.”

“You did the right thing,” said Zaz. “What’s your status?”

“Just a little tuckered. I can’t see too good through this helmet – got to wipe the damn thing every ten steps.”

“Slow your pace, then,” said Zaz, and gave him directions to the bridge. “Zaz to Carl. Get suited up and prepare to assist Galoot at our ship’s airlock. We need the survivor and deceased taken on board ASAP. Bring a few extra helmets to the Shenandoah’s airlock.”

“I’ll be there.”

The Planet Janitor crew had faced tight spots before, witnessed death, saved lives and come out of it with their sanity intact. This was somehow different – more severe. His crew needed to cap all their emotions and follow protocol to the letter, or more corpses would be added to the inventory. He especially worried about Dendy breaking down on him. He told her to disengage the autopilot while he recovered the body from the bathroom. He set the body on the top shelf of the serving cart. He placed the second body on the bottom shelf of the cart. It was a macabre scene, and he had to use some medical tape to strap the bodies to the frames, keeping the appendages from hanging out.

Dendy soothed the survivor as best she could, incapable of administering any meaningful treatment until they transferred the patient to the Shenandoah. “Auto pilot is non-responsive, Zaz. Something wrong with the controls.” She pulled the captain to her feet, then assisted her in walking toward the exit.   

Galoot entered the bridge with awkward steps, his hands held out before him, seemingly feeling his way along. His helmet faceplate appeared fogged over and wet. Dendy used some gauze to clean most of the heavy film away. Without being told, Galoot took the cart in a firm grip and wheeled it across the bridge and into the galley. Dendy held on to the waist of the captain and, together, they hobbled behind Galoot. Zaz knew the transfer would be difficult without him, but right now he had to wrestle the ship into submission. He had a feeling that the flight captain, the only one who had managed to get fully suited up, had been attempting to gain control of the craft before she passed out.

He took a seat at the command station and stared at the control panel, familiarizing himself with the switches, levers and input keys. The autopilot was easily discernible. He disengaged it, but it remained active. He pressed the main engine cutoff switch. It had no effect. He next tried the directional dial, turning it slowly clockwise to alter the ship’s course. Non-responsive. He’d never seen anything like it before – all systems were hot and operational, yet there was no way to cut their circuits. Then he had a hunch and spoke into this helmet mike.

“Galoot, I can’t shut anything down. The whole control panel is non-op. Could the acid have seeped into the circuitry and burned something out? Is that possible?”

“Yeah, it’s likely. The stuff is pretty corrosive and could eat through any metallic connections. Look for an emergency main cut-off.”

“This panel if full of Chinese symbols and characters.”

“Look for a ship’s profile that has a lightning bolt-shaped X through it.”

“Found it. It’s under a glass bubble.”

“Break it and trip the switch.”

Zaz brought the heel of his gloved hand down on the small dome and shattered the glass. He flipped a heavy toggle switch. The cabin lights dimmed momentarily, then flared to full intensity again.

“I already know it didn’t work,” said Galoot. “Look for a kick panel at your feet. Open it up and start pulling the large plastic-handled relays. If that doesn’t work, it means the secondary wiring is fused somewhere between the bridge and the engine-generator area. It would take days to find it, if that’s where the problems is. I’ll be there directly when we off-load.”

“That’s affirmative.” Zaz saw three pull-out kick panels. He removed all three and looked for Galoot’s description of the relays. He found them, and started yanking them out. When he was finished, the only thing he’d managed to do was cut the bridge illumination, sending it into emergency backup. He felt hopelessly lost in knowing how to cut the ship’s power. As Galoot guessed, some major juncture had failed in another part of the ship. He dialed up his suit cooler, having broken out in a nervous sweat.

“Samantha to Zaz – Anderson and Wiley reached. They confirmed no communication with the Intrepid for 20 hours. They just filed a “Lost Contact” report with the International Space Administration. I told them we were performing an emergency assist operation. They were surprised and saddened by the causalities, but wished us God’s speed in the recovery effort.

“Tell them I can’t stop this ship. I need a solution. And, Galoot, grab an oxygen charge on your way back.”

“I’m on it,” said Samantha.

“Copy that,” said Galoot.  

Zaz looked at the panel again. Several system gauges and lighting displays were out, some flickering. The artificial gravity still functioned, likewise for the air recirculation and temperature. Although he hadn’t seen it before, he now noticed a warning display indicating that a nuclear bang pod was armed. He had no idea if the bang pod drive had been activated by the captain in preparation for a jump, or if it had shorted out and armed itself. The disarm switch did not function when he toggled it. With the multiple system shorts, the nuclear propulsion pod could detonate inside the ship, instead of outside of it like it was designed to do. 

“Samantha for Zaz. I’ve got a track plotted for the Intrepid. She’ll pass by the Exon hydrogen re-fueling station if she remains on present course, give or take in about six hours, and she’ll flyby about 700 miles within it’s outer safety marker. So I’ve sent an alert to the station, just in case you can’t arrest her flight or alter course. Anderson and Wiley have no engineer at hand to answer your questions.”

“Acknowledged. Typical.” Zaz had nothing else to say that had a good news ring to it. In fact, things had taken a turn for the worse. They used to call them “hang-fires” or “pellets stuck in the tube.” If a nuclear bang pod detonated inside the ship, it could propagate a chain reaction and ignite two dozen or more pods in the track drive, resulting in a three or four-hundred megaton explosion.

Galoot showed up fifteen minutes after Zaz had tried his last disconnect procedure. Galoot had changed out helmets and brought an oxygen charge canister, which he promptly fitted to Zaz’s suit, charging his system to full capacity. Zaz let him look at the console and try his hand at shutting off the main engines. Failing at the panel, Galoot ducked inside the kick panels and began gutting the interior wires and circuits. After five minutes, Galoot gave up and turned toward his captain.

“All switching power is dead from this station. And I couldn’t tell you where the next main harness fits into the secondary power supply. But it sure has one, because this ship is now on main battery backup. If I had a manual and a week of reading time, I could find the problem. And I hate to tell ya, but you’ve got a hot one in the tube.”

“I know that. What are our options?’

“This ship is carrying a couple hundred tons of old style backup batteries. That was their cargo pickup. From what I could see in the cargo bay, a couple of those batteries exploded, probably from a static discharge or something. The acid got sucked up into the vents and sent it all over the ship, including the nuclear containment area. We’re taking about o-rings, seals, valves, wiring and gaskets gettin’ eaten up, disintegrating and then causing other failures. We’re looking at a – ”

“Thermonuclear explosion,” Zaz said. “Can we nudge her off course or plant a charge and blow the engines?”

“Cap’n, I wouldn’t sneeze on this ship for fear of it going off with a mini-nova. You could blow her drive but she’d still have inertial velocity and keep right on going. Besides, its got so many shorts it could blow any minute. We need to pull out now.”

“Samantha, here. Zaz, you’ve done everything humanly possible. The risk goes off the charts the longer we stay with it. You have to let this thing go – whatever happens is inevitable.”

“Planet Janitor can’t stomach failure,” Carl broke in. “We all know that. Look, you can’t stop the thing or push it – it’s not fixable. You can’t off-load its bang pods. All you’ve got left is a doctor of pyrotechnics who knows how to set a charge in the tract drive and blow that sucker to slag. You take it out before it takes you or anybody else out. Premeditated.”

“We haven’t got the time,” said Zaz. “We’re on our way out.”

“By the time you get out of there, I could be in the stern section and have the charge set. The Intrepid’s captain was able to tell me where to set the charges”

“You’re not even ready,” said Zaz.

“Still got my suit on, and I took the liberty of packaging a C-6 charge and remote detonator. Got it right with me. Now, you want to turn tail and run or are you serious about punchin’ this thing out?”

Zaz looked at Galoot and hunched his shoulders, a useless gesture in the suit. “Okay, Carl. The ball’s in your court. Get over here.”

“I’m already inside your airlock. I’m heading for the stern now. When I tell you, arm all the bang pods and beat it to the airlock. I’ll be bringing up the rear.”

“Sorry, Zaz,” said Samantha. “I had no idea what he was up to.”

Neither did Zaz, but right now Carl’s reckless courage was the only solution they had on their menu. Carl Stromboli lived for concussions, P-waves and destruction on a mass scale. He’d often used the analogy that the universe began with a bang and that he was a living testament, in his own morbid pursuit, to that reverence of creation. He firmly believed that the goal of great construction came about only by perfect destruction. Carl would now have to rise up and meet that challenge – to destroy in order to save and preserve.

Dendy’s voice, shaky and high-pitched, came through Zaz’s headset. “Zachary, I swear, if you don’t get back here I’m going to suit back up and come after you!”

“I hear you. I’m coming back – count on it. Right now, you have a patient to take care of. That’s my order and your assignment.”

Zaz hated to sound terse, but there was no other way to deal with their present situation. “Carl, status report!” Now he was feeling the stress.

“Moving as fast as I can. Just found the access to the engine bay.”

There wasn’t anything to do to rush things. The wait was agonizing. Zaz considered sending Galoot back to the Shenandoah, but he knew from past experience an argument would follow and Galoot would stay to the bitter end. Zaz knelt down to pick up a small log book from the deck. It was a hard-copy written account of the captain’s last notes. The words occupied less than a paragraph, and they were scrawled by a frantic hand. Some of the words that stuck out were Leak, Ventilation and Chaos. He couldn’t read much of anything else, but realized after a moment that his foggy helmet glass was to blame. All I need is to go blind right now. Galoot helped by wiping the helmet face with some gauze.

“I’m a big dolt,” said Galoot. “I didn’t realize these new Hazmat helmets came with clear shipping plastic. That’s the stuff that’s melting.”

“We were pressed for time. You couldn’t get everything right.”

“Carl to Zaz – light ‘em up!”

Zaz flipped a bank of toggle switches on the panel and turned on his heel. Galoot was already 10 steps ahead of him on his way out of the bridge. The suit would only allow a trot, anything faster caused a misstep. They passed through the galley, entered the corridor and found the ramp. Zaz pulled himself up the ramp, using the handrails. The overhead lights flickered twice then blacked out. They snapped on their helmet lamps, but the small beams barely cut through the acid mist.

“Major system breakdown,” said Galoot. “Let’s hope the airlock still works.”

“You’re reading my mind.” Zaz planted a foot to push off near the top of the ramp and suddenly became airborne, drifting up toward the ceiling. He saw Galoot float upward, performing an awkward frog kick.

“There’s goes the artificial grav,” said Zaz. “Carl, what’s your status? We just lost ship’s gravity.”

“I’m swimming, headed for the upper bulkhead. I’ll kick off the cross members.”

Which meant that he was still in the engine or cargo bay, with very high bulkhead ceilings. “We won’t leave without you,” said Zaz, trying to reassure him. Meanwhile, he had his own problems, grabbing for seams in the corridor paneling, trying to propel himself along. Galoot shoved himself hard along the walls to thrust himself forward, but his feet lost traction on the deck. The maneuver threw him into a clumsy somersault. They finally adopted a system by shoving off the ceiling and deck in a series of controlled crashes. When they reached the airlock, Zaz checked the panel and found it operative. The mini-sleds hovered a few feet off the deck. He swung himself inside, Galoot following. They left the hatch door open, then swapped turns wiping each other’s helmets.

“Where’s Carl?” asked Samantha. “Is he with you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” said Carl, with a huff. “I’m breaking the breaststroke record. Be there in a second. I can only see out of the corner of my helmet. Thanks, Galoot. If we ever get out of this, we’re going to have words.”

Before Zaz could say anything, Carl appeared at the hatch entrance, fumbling and reaching out. Zaz grabbed one of Carl’s hands and pulled him in. Galoot yanked the hatch closed and stabbed the panel buttons. The panel lights appeared as a smear through Zaz’s helmet visor, but he could make out the color change from red to yellow to green, showing de-pressurization. He heard Galoot’s grunts, evidence that he was working the outer hatch lever. The next seconds brought a slight buffeting against his suit. Open hatch. 

Zaz wiped his sleeve cuff over his helmet face but only managed to smear it further. “Gentlemen, I’m blind,” he said. “I can’t even find a mini-sled.”

“I’d help you if I could find you,” said Carl.

“Wish I could follow y’all’s voices,” said Galoot. “But I’m no better off. I think I got a sled handle, though. You’re gonna have to grab onto me.”

Three blind mice, thought Zaz, ruefully.

“Stop kicking and swinging your arms,” said Dendy, loud and clear. “We’ve got you.”

Zaz couldn’t believe his ears. “Where are you, Dendy? And who is we?”

“Captain Alexandria Remy, at your service,” said a raspy voice. “It’s my ship. It’s the least I could do.”

“We’re about three feet from you,” said Dendy. “I warned you I’d come after you. Hold still and extend an arm!”

Ordinarily he would have cursed her out for disobeying his direct order. Under the circumstance, he decided to obey her direct order. He felt something wrap around the wrist portion of his suit, followed by a firm jerk. Within a minute he felt the sensation of being towed. His shoulder struck something hard, then he had the feeling of entering a vast open space. He realized immediately that he was on the end of a lifeline and that Dendy and Alexandria Remy had tied the three of them together and pulled them out of the hatch in tugboat fashion.

“That’s it girls,” said Samantha. “Nice and easy. They’re stringing along just fine.”

Zaz could do nothing but remain limp and hope that Dendy’s aim was precise enough to get them to the Shenandoah’s airlock. But then he knew how determined and skillful she was at handling emergencies. She’d had her moments of mental and emotional excesses, but when the situation became truly dangerous, she got good and motivated. Currently, he could think of nothing but praise for her quick-thinking and courageous behavior. The feeling was mutual for the Intrepid captain, who moments ago had been on the brink of death.

Once Dendy and the captain had herded them inside their ship’s airlock, they pulled them together in a solid knot, so they could hold on to each other. Zaz felt the welcome return of his body weight, and removed his helmet. He took several deep breaths and unsnapped the seams and joints on his suit. With his helmet off, he helped Dendy and the captain out of their gear.  Free of their suits, Zaz led the dash to the bridge, sweating and puffing all the way. He found Samantha on her feet, waiting for them. She let out a breathy sigh when they entered.

“All accounted for,” said Samantha. “Get to your couches – we’re outta here!”

Dendy helped the intrepid captain into a couch, activating her seat bladder. Within 15 seconds, the crew were secured and braced under Zaz’s watchful eyes.

Zaz slipped into the command chair.  He took the helm controls, fired the starboard retro and pulled the Shenandoah around 180 degrees. He advanced the throttle to flank speed. “Sammy, I hope you plotted the Intrepid’s course and found nothing up ahead.”

“Nothing but deep space, Zaz. I sent an emergency broadcast with the coordinates. I vectored all ships out of the area.”

The Exxon refueling station would be too far downrange to be effected by the blast. The zone was absent of traffic. Now if only Carl’s charge did what it was supposed to do.

Zaz figured that thirty minutes would give them roughly 38,000 miles distance from the blast, with the combined opposite speed of each ship. Carl had the remote detonator in his hand, ready and willing. Samantha trained the aft gun scope on the ship, readjusting the focus as it retreated in the distance.

“I don’t think you’ll have time to outrun it,” said Captain Remy, her eyes pink and watery, hair askew. “I know my ship – she’s going to blow, and you can’t take that chance.”

Zaz frowned. “What do you suggest?”

“Find the biggest asteroid on the field and duck for cover. It’s faster and safer.”

Zaz blinked. “Sammy, anything close that can hide us?”

Samantha split the view monitor into port and starboard visuals, adjusting the gun scopes. “We’ve got one that size about 20 degrees off our port bow. ETA about four minutes.”

Zaz could see it on the monitor. He swung the ship in it’s direction, throttles still pegged. It was the longest four minutes of his life. He cut the engines and reversed thrust, dangerously close to a potato-shaped asteroid that dwarfed the Shenandoah. He crabbed the ship toward it, firing his retros to bring the hull up against the rogue object. The ship clunked with a shudder, then held steady with a creaking sound.   

 There’s no such thing as the check’s in the mail. Only when it’s in the bank.  “Any time, Carl,” said Zaz.

Carl sucked in a deep breath. “Bye bye, you unholy piece of crap.” Carl never had the chance to push the button on his remote. The monitor screen lit up with a blinding light. Samantha switched to an infrared filter. The exploding image on the monitor blossomed outward like a chrysanthemum, eventually filling the entire screen. The filtered colors dazzled the eyes, changing from white to yellow to orange, finally resolving into chartreuse. A moment later, a tremor rattled the Shenandoah. A piercing, static hiss filled the intercom speakers. Three heavy jolts followed that vibrated the bulkheads. An explosive electromagnetic wave sent the ship’s monitor and panel into electronic seizures. The white burning light subsided, leaving a misty aspen glow.   

Carl stared at his lap and rubbed his forehead. Dendy closed her eyes. Samantha slumped in her chair, her face filled with anguish. Galoot shook his head sadly.   

Zaz had no words of solace. What could he say to soften the blow of what they’d just experienced? If he had found the Intrepid earlier he might have saved the other crew members. If the cargo hadn’t exploded, three of them would be alive right now. If they hadn’t taken on such a dangerous cargo they would have made it home safe and sound. If...if...if. Zaz felt as though he’d done so little, after doing so much. As for the performance of his crew, if it were in his power and station, he’d pin a medal on every one of them for services rendered above and beyond the call of duty. In that measure, they had surpassed victory.

Zaz looked at the Intrepid’s captain, knowing that she had saved their lives. He gave her a thumbs up and a nod.

Captain Remy returned the gaze with listless eyes, and gave him a weak salute.

“Sammy, set a course for that refueling station. Just take the long way around.”

“Aye.”