Symbiotic ship

Aboard the SS Sin Eater: Green alert: Engineer team meeting.

“Sarah, are you awake?”

Sarah opened her eyes to see Dr. Emma standing over her. She sat up, and didn’t feel any pain. 

“Good, you remember where you are?”

“The med bay of the,” Sarah paused, thinking. “Sine Eater, right?” She stopped. “No, that’s not right, Sin Eater!” Emma nodded. “We just had an asteroid collision, I hit my head,” Sarah paused. “I think, someone brought me here?”

“You dragged yourself most of the way, Tyrone helped a bit.” Emma took what looked like a digital thermometer and pointed it at Sarah’s head. “You’re running a bit hot, but within normal range. Anything coming back?”

“Not a lot.” Sarah replied. “I know where I went to college, I know my job, but I don’t remember much else.”

“It’ll come. Memories tied to the procedural memory come back first, but even that takes a while. I think you’ve been conscious less than an hour since you thawed out. I’ve been up about three, and my head’s still foggy.” She picked up Sarah’s tablet and handed it to her. “There’s a meeting in the head engineer’s room, just follow your tablet.”

Sarah glanced at the device and started down the hall. She made it to the lift and pressed a button. Immediately the lift moved, and two decks down she got off. The hall had a series of rooms, each one labeled with a name. Sarah found one for her, but passed it for the room indicated on her tablet. The two layered door slid aside, with Tyrone and James already there, James standing behind his desk.

“Told you she’d make it.” Tyrone said. He smiled at Sarah. “She’s a chip off the old block.” Sarah gave him a look. “Um, father’s daughter?”

James glanced at his watch and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hit a button on his desk. “Attention engineers. I realize you must be busy, but the fact that the first two of my people to arrive at the meeting are the ones with head trauma is a bit disturbing.” He released the button and signed. “I can tell this is going to be a fun trip, I can just tell.”

Sarah turned to Tyrone. “You knew my father?” 

“I think so. I think most of my mind’s still frozen too. First time going under?” Sarah nodded. “You never get used to it.”

“Sorry we’re late, caught in a lift.” The speaker was a woman, about 160 cm, with short red hair and green eyes. She was thin, and wore the same form of cloth shirt and pants as Sarah, though she looked a bit roughed up. The two men behind her looked similar.

“Did you guys get in a fight?” Sarah asked innocently. The blond man blushed but no one said anything. James grunted.

“Janet, Edward, Andrew, nice of you to join us. Where’s Howard?” Silence. “I guess he’ll have to find out second hand. We have a problem.”

James pressed a button on his desk. An image of the SS sin eater appeared. It was a long ship, cylindrical but with a top and bottom that was flat. The front 300 meters was slightly thinner, while the nose was rounded. “The SS Sin Eater, 700 meters long, 300 meters wide, 200 meters tall.” He paused. “That doesn’t count the engines.” The engines were about 70 meters long, there were eight of them “Normally this kind of ship takes a decade, this was built,”

“Two years, right?” Sarah asked.

“A little over, but yes. Does anyone know why we left in such a hurry?” No one responded. “Fear. The climate was changing, political and physical. The government was cracking down on dissidents. Christians, Muslims, minorities, all sacrificed in the name of progress. Apparently they thought religion was holding them back.”