Pearl of the Stars

The systems on board the Pearl detected massive amounts of radiation emanating from what remained of the military installation. A small section of the orbital station was intact, and appeared to have been sealed off from the rest.

“No one can have survived that.” Grace was talking to herself, albeit out loud. She watched the screen in front of her as it showed the view from Major Hynes’ helmet via an interior camera. Hynes was currently making his way slowly towards the sealed section, taking great care not to tear his suit on any of the many jagged edges, the result of the sustained nuclear bombardment at the hands of the ruthless enemy fleet.

Grace tried not to think about the hundred or so desecrated corpses, once Council personnel, that now drifted slowly around her beloved ship.

“Proceeding to open sealed section.” Hynes’ voice came over the com. “I hope to fick anyone inside had the good sense to put a fickling suit on.”

Grace hit the button on her console that would enable her to reply directly to the Major. “As do I,” she said. “Else what we are about to do constitutes murder of our own people.”

“Don’t fancy that on my conscience Ma’am.” Hynes chuckled lightly as he took a cutting tool from his utility belt. Grace watched as he guided the tool to the titanium door, a slow process in zero-gravity. Although she knew what he was doing she could see no evidence of it until oxygen began to seep through the hole the tool was creating and the tip of the tool glowed a dim red.

“Careful Hynes,” she said over the com. “Watch out for the back draft.” Her warning was too late though, and she watched in horrified slow motion as the camera showed the pressure on the other side of the door caused it to blow its hinges. As it did so it caught Major Hynes off balance and hit him, sending him barrelling backwards, tumbling over and over.

“Lieutenant!” Grace yelled, although the volume was not absolutely necessary as the Lieutenant in question was stood beside her. “Give me Major Hynes’ projected course this second!”

“Aye Ma’am,” the Lieutenant replied as he quickly busied himself at a separate console. “He’s going to pass us by.”

“Fick! Get me the deck chief.” The connection was made within seconds, and Captain Grace Ifhans spoke quickly. “Chief, Hynes experienced back draft on the derelict. He’s going to miss us by what looks to be inches. I need a transport out there to pick him up.” Whilst there was no immediate danger for Hynes, should the gravity of the moon around which the derelict station orbited pick him up, then there would likely be another crater upon its surface.

“Right away Ma’am,” the Chief replied.

It took longer than Grace would have liked for a transport to be rallied, but eventually the vessel left the deck and followed Hynes’ course.

“He is gaining momentum Ma’am.” That could mean only one thing, and as Captain Grace Ifhans turned to address the Lieutenant, she saw that he too had realised it. Without saying a word Grace patched herself through to the transport and spoke as clearly and calmly as she could.

“This is Captain Grace Ifhans, to whom am I speaking?”

“Kollier Ma’am.”

“I need you to listen extremely carefully to me Kollier.” She paused to take a breath. “Major Hynes is fast approaching the gravitational pull of that moon. You need to up the pace, do you understand?”

“Aye Ma’am, received and understood.”

The radar showed that Kollier had taken Grace’s message on board, as the transport very nearly doubled its pace. Hynes was most definitely dropping to the surface, there was no doubt about it.

Grace watched with baited breath as Kollier slowed slightly to match the pace of Hynes’ descent. Soon the two blips on the radar merged, and the single red blip began to pull away from the moon, the Pearl of the Stars its destination.

“I have Hynes Ma’am.” Kollier’s message received raucous applause from those present on the bridge, all except Captain Grace Ifhans who simply let loose the breath she had been holding as a smile spread across her face. “He’s unconscious, but I have him.”

“A job well done Kollier,” Grace replied. “Bring the Major home.”