The stars' cold light washed over the debris field as Jame
cautiously moved forward in her heavy environmental suit. Her armored
gauntlets closed delicately around the large chunk of water ice,
carefully moving it towards the container waiting patiently for it. If
she shattered it, it would become useless to her, the fragments
quickly spreading out into the debris that surrounded her.
"Easy, easy," Jame murmured to herself, absentmindedly blowing
a strand of green hair up out of her eyes. With a soft thump the ice
floated into the transport, and she sealed the container with a sigh
of relief. If it broke in there, it just meant the reclamation teams
saved a step.
With a weary sigh Jame grabbed onto a handhold on the hull and
called up the list of priority items for salvage onto her helmet visor
again, then she blinked in confusion. It looked like the list had
changed since the last time she accessed it! With a bit of surprise
she read, "Reactor components? Fuel rods? Any additional food and
medical supplies?"
Jame felt a sudden moment of vertigo, and was glad that she
was holding onto the hull at the time. Clumsily she tapped at a
control on her suit's armor sleeve and swore softly. According to the
readout she was well past the time she should have returned to the
ship, and her exposure to the radiation out here was getting into the
danger zone.
Swinging her feet down Jame magnetized herself to the ship's
hull, cautiously moving to the airlock. She cycled the outer port,
climbed in, then sealed the outside, waiting there impatiently for the
chamber to pressurize and the OK signal to be given. She climbed back
into the ship and sighed to herself happily, leaning up against the
wall.
"Where is my replacement?" Jame muttered to herself softly,
popping her suit's clear faceplate up and taking a deep breath of the
ship's air.
"I'm so sorry," the little redhead skidded around the corner
and nearly slid right into a wall, clearly out of breath from running.
"Katrine," Jame was about to scold her, when the younger woman
quivered her lower lip. With a sigh she asked instead, "Could you help
me get this off, please?"
"Right," Katrine bounded forward. Working together they got
the heavy protective suit off of her, storing it away in it's
compartment by the airlock.
Normally, they'd be wearing the standard lightweight
extra-vehicular action suits, simple easy to move in protective
garments. But the fierce battle had polluted the entire solar system
with a wave of excess radiation and pieces of debris. The radiation
levels out there would kill an unprotected Solonoid in less than an
hour, while all the small pieces of rubble could punch right through a
standard suit. So out of necessity they had broken out the heavier
suits, and even wearing them there was only so long that they could
work out there.
Katrine got a look at Jame's gauntlet readings and paled
slightly. "Your rad levels," she blurted worriedly. "You should go
check in with medical," she looked up at Jame.
Jame made a face, "You know she's going to bug me about
reproduction again." Seeing Katrine's honestly worried look she
conceded with a sigh, "All right, I'll make sure to go get the
anti-radiation treatment."
"Good," Katrine beamed
Jame paused, adjusting her wrinkled uniform, "The recovery
list was changed while I was out there. Do you know anything about
it?"
Katrine paused in stepping into her own suit and answered,
"Well, I've heard the Cap'n called a staff meeting, so..."
"So we'll find out about it soon enough," Jame nodded. Captain
Gail did her best to keep her crew informed, something they
appreciated greatly. She looked over at Katrine, "Do you know who's
supposed to be replacing you?"
Katrine made a face, "With how thin we're all spread..."
Jame nodded to herself thoughtfully. "Then I'll swing by and
check on you before I go off shift," she offered softly.
"You don't need to do that," Katrine said casually.
"I don't need to," Jame agreed firmly, "but I want to." She
took off at a jog, adding over her shoulder, "I'll see you then."
'She's so cute,' Jame thought, reaching a motorized walkway
and settling down to ride it to the medical bays, 'and so completely
clueless.' She smiled a bit sadly, 'One of these days I have to tell
her about how I feel about her.'
The ship was oddly quiet as she traveled, the massive ship
almost empty of it's full crew. Normally there would be the murmur of
conversation, friends greeting each other, officers moving to their
duty stations and going off shift. But with their losses the halls
were left silent, only a skeleton crew left to run the cruiser Lady
Grace.
Jame felt a moment of dread as she reached the medical bays.
The regulations required a check up if you exceeded your radiation
exposure levels, but normally she'd just skip it. Still, that moment
of vertigo had been frightening, so...
The door chimed softly, and a woman's voice called out,
"Enter."
The tall blonde turned, her face lighting up in a sudden smile
as Jame entered. 'Oh hell,' Jame thought to herself dismally, 'Meris
is still on duty.'
"Why, hello Jame," Meris smiled at her happily, "what brings
you down here to light up my lonely medical bay?"
Jame had to fight back a sigh. Since transferring aboard Meris
had made her attraction to Jame clear, but that kind of aggressiveness
was a definite turn off for her. Yes, the blonde was attractive, with
her blue eyes, generous figure, and sunny smile, but that personality!
Realizing that Meris had asked her a question Jame flushed,
"Sorry, what?"
"You've been overworking again," the nurse scolded her gently.
"I was asking if there was something wrong, or if you merely came in
for my company," Meris said with a smile.
'Keep it professional,' Jame reminded herself. "High rad
exposure," Jame explained quietly, "I got a bit of vertigo while I was
outside."
"I was almost hoping that you would say the later," Meris
pushed Jame to a seat on one of the examination beds while she filled
up a injector with medication before pressing it to Jame's arm. "This
should deal with any radiation exposure effects," she said crisply,
"but if you feel any other symptoms, please let me know."
"Right," Jame hopped to her feet with a feeling of relief.
Jame almost made it out the door before Meris spoke up softly,
"Have you thought about what we discussed before?"
"No, I haven't," Jame answered resentfully.
"If you don't intend to produce progeny," Meris said to her
softly, "you should at least consider putting some of your eggs into
storage."
"Not interested," Jame crisply answered as she stepped out
into the hall, letting the door slide shut behind her.
"You owe it to the Solenoid gene-pool..." Meris' voice started
to say before being cut off by the closing door.
Jame made a face as she stepped onto the walkway. She hadn't
told Katrine, but Meris had all but volunteered to have her ovum
joined with Jame's to produce a child. But Jame had demurred,
explaining her belief that a child should be raised by a committed
couple. Of course, Meris had instantly volunteered to become part of a
committed couple with Jame...
"Why do these things happen to me?" Jame said with a sigh.
There was a soft chime, one that rang up the hallway. Jame
recognized the sound of a ship-wide announcement, and stepped off the
walkway to listen.
"This is the Captain speaking," Captain Gail's warm voice
washed over her, "the Lady Grace will be moving out in two days. We
have determined..."
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