Dreadnought

Adrift

Chapter 15

Anvil was taking a low altitude approach but still attracted attention. The shuttle's weapons took care of any pests. The small aircraft simply vaporized when hit. The taller trees, however, caused the shuttle to pitch and yaw violently. Anvil worked hard to keep the shuttle airborne. When they crested the last hill, Mary gasped at the sight of the burning vehicles. Anvil counted at least 6. Mary pointed out the apple trees and they landed next to one.

Anvil was already in his armored suit and rushed out of the airlock as he put his helmet on. Mary had his pistols and he carried a compact rifle. There were dead Eodym scattered around but no sign of Bubba or the clones. Anvil used his helmet sensors but still found no trace of them. He looked at Mary. She shrugged. Anvil turned and went back into the shuttle. Not bothering to remove his helmet, Anvil rushed to use shuttle's sensors. Mary caught up to him in the cockpit.

"They've got to be here. The scanners should pick them up, even if..."

"Don't. Don't say it."

Anvil looked at her then back at the displays. "I've got something. A group of humans about a mile away."

Mary breathed a sigh of relief.

"Only six though, and some are not moving."

Mary nearly vomited as her legs turned to water. By the time she sat down, Anvil had the shuttle airborne and headed to their location.

"We've got company. Lots of it. Ground and air."

The shuttle bounced to a stop as Mary bolted out the airlock. "Lisa! Olga!! Gwen!! Alyxia!! Rose!! Irena!! Tappy!! Hellen!!" Mary yelled out. She almost called Sarah but caught herself.

"What about me?" A bloodstained Bubba called out. He had a significant limp.

"Where? Where are the others?" Mary asked, fearing the worst.

Bubba pointed to where the others were. Mary rushed over and grabbed the nearest clone, picking her up in a fireman's carry. Anvil followed suit and helped another into the shuttle before the automated weapons started firing. The incoming fire peppered the shuttle but the reactive armor brushed it off. The surrounding bushes, however, burst into flame. Mary and Anvil each helped another clone inside before Anvil had to start shooting. Bubba was already firing from the back at a different group. Anvil took several hits but his armor protected him.

"Bubba!" Anvil shouted as Mary brought the last clone inside. He kept up the rapid-fire until Bubba made it inside. Turning quickly he ran inside, punching the door close as he went by. He nearly jumped into the pilot's seat and activated the thrusters. The shuttle lurched forward and collided with a personnel carrier, damaging the nose of the shuttle and rolling the vehicle. As soon as the ion engines were safe to engage, Anvil put them at full power. He heard stuff rattle as the gravity system struggled to compensate. He easily outran the ground-based craft but knew the battlecruisers would be waiting for him. Banking hard just after entering the ozone layer, Anvil avoided the first barrage. Another evasive move and the ship jumped to BLS (Beyond Light Speed). The shuttle continued to shake violently and Anvil soon had to drop to ion engines.

Anvil checked the damage readout. Without major repairs, this ship would soon be reduced to thrusters only. He set course for the asteroid field. They could make it that far.

Mary had turned the mess into a triage and was busy treating all the wounds. She was totally focused on her work. Not just because of the urgent needs of those around her, but also to avoid thinking about the other three. The shuttle's emergency systems kept the most serious alive and guided Mary on what to do next. She had no prior training, but the verbal instructions and the holographic hands showed her how. All she had to do was keep her motions the same as the ghostly hands, which at the moment were treating Lisa, the only one with any internal injuries.

Trying not to think about performing surgery on someone she cared deeply about, Mary pretended it was a game. The more her movements matched the guide hands, the higher her "score." Before she started, she told herself "I'll cry later. I don't have time right now." A few more stitches and the surgery was complete. Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath before moving once more to the sink/sterilizer. Holding her hands out, she watched as the evidence of performing surgery left her hands. She cycled the unit and a fresh sterile coating formed on her hands.

Mary saw Anvil rush by just before the lights failed. A few seconds of total darkness passed before the deep red glow of the emergency lights provided just enough light to move. Mary took a step, only to realize gravity was barely working. Not used to space flight, Mary found it difficult to move around. To her relief, Bubba was able to move around, the low gravity taking the strain off his broken ankle. Between the two of them, they were able to stabilize the situation.

Anvil suited up and entered the airlock. He had piled most of his tools and two extra air packs inside. Hoping there was enough power to pump down the atmosphere, Anvil began the decompression sequence, waiting until he could barely breathe before putting his helmet on. Using the manual crank, Anvil slowly opened the outer door. Wisps of gas escaped and formed a frozen mist. Anvil anchored to the hull and made his way aft. The once shiny nacelle was badly damaged with over a foot missing from the end. Anvil surveyed the damage, not sure it could be repaired in space. Putting away his despair, Anvil began to cut away the damage. It took time to get to the actual engine, which had a hole ripped in it. Again he cut away the damage.

By the time Anvil had made his crude repairs, he was more than halfway through his last air pack. He pushed what he could into the airlock and cranked it closed. The air pumps failed to work and Anvil had to resort to hand cranking the inner door. Air hissed in violently through the crack as the door slowly opened. Temporarily blinded by a fog, Anvil waited until the hissing stopped before finishing. He kept the suit on and made his way to the cockpit. He had to step over several clones laying in the corridor. He brought up a display and silenced several alarms. He reset the primary power and mentally crossing his fingers, hit the activate button.

The normal gentle hum was replaced by an erratic gurgling sound, but the available power went from 1% to 69%. Anvil restarted life support and the main lights. He kept everything else off. Seeing that the power was steady, Anvil went to check on the others. One by one they started to stir. Finally, he found Bubba.

"I wish to complain to the concierge. The hospitality on this vessel is sorely lacking." Bubba's voice was weak and raspy. Anvil helped him sit up. "How bad?"

"We're alive."

"For how long?"

"If my repairs hold, if the engines don't blow up, if the hull damage isn't too much, then maybe we can reach our new home."

"Good news then. We have a chance."