The Defiant

The eight of us gathered in the med bay. Three and Five were both in bed. Five was still out, but Three was sitting up and appeared alert, if a little woozy.

“Okay. We’re in pretty bad shape,” Four began. “The sub-light engines are both intact, but one of the D17 engines is fried. I cobbled together some wiring, but it’s flimsy and will probably burn out in three-quarters of an hour or so. We’ll need to stop at the base for repairs.

“As you can tell from the lights, or lack thereof, our primary power cell was blown. We’ll have to buy a replacement at the base. There are some other minor repairs we need to effect, but we avoided the worst of the damage, mainly through the heroics of One, Eight, and myself,” she finished proudly.

“Don’t forget me!” Two piped in from the end of Three’s bed.

“Oh yes, thank you for sacrificing your safety for the strenuous task of pushing a button.” Four’s voice dripped sarcasm.

“Sure, but I pushed the button at exactly the right time.”

“We’re off topic. Seven, med bay report?” I asked.

“Three has a concussion and a pretty nasty bump on her head. Six has some minor electrical burns. Five hit the wall pretty hard. He’s just sleeping now, but he’ll be in some pretty severe pain when he wakes up. As far as I can tell, he has a few broken ribs, and probably a concussion, too.”

“So he’ll be all right?”

“I think so. Head injuries are tricky.”

“Speaking of, what happened to you?” I asked, gesturing to a bandage on her forehead.

“I tripped on my own feet and reopened the cut I got from…” She glanced at Eight.

“From when I threw you into a wall?” Eight said cuttingly, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, that.”

“Hey, Eight, I didn’t know you could pilot,” Two cut in.

“I didn’t either. I guess it makes sense that they would have given two of us training, in case something happened to Four.”

“So, Four, how close do you think we can get to the base before the D17s give out?” Three asked politely. I squinted at her. So much of what she said was caustic, sarcastic, rude, or all three, that I had begun to think that was the only way she knew how to behave.

“We’ll be about three hours away from it at sub-light speeds. Of course, with D17, that journey would take about ten seconds,” she said regretfully.

“And there’s no way to extend the life of the D17?” I asked.

“No. The resistor is totally shot. The engines can’t handle the current coursing through them. We’ll have to replace practically the whole engine when we get to the base.”

“How long will repairs take?”

“Three days, maybe? If we can find quality supplies. There’re plenty of tools in the engine room. I’m pretty sure I know how to repair the D17s, and the power problem is easy to fix. All we have to do is install a new battery. That’s our first priority. The more time the computer goes without power, the more likely it is to lose data, kind of like the human brain when deprived of oxygen.”

“What even are the D17s?” Seven asked.

“Defiants, like all nebula-class ships, come equipped with four standard engines; two sublight and two D17s. The sublights are centuries old technology; before we broke the light barrier. Their maximum speed is above that of sound, but slower than light. The D17s are faster than light. They operate by bending the space the ship needs to travel through so we can get to our destination faster. If we flew only by sublight engines, it would take us years and years to get between systems, because they can only handle a fraction of the speed the D17s can,” Four explained.

“So if you can’t fix the D17s, we won’t make it to Cebos in time for the mission?” Seven said.

“Not even close.”

“Fantastic.”

“If we get fuel at this base, will we still have to stop at the other planet on the way to Cebos?” Three translated for Six.

“Technically, I think we could probably get to Cebos if we fuel up all the way here, but I think we should stop at Byth anyway, just in case we encounter a delay that drains our fuel, which, knowing our luck, is bound to happen.”

“And we’ll still get to Cebos in time for the ball?” This from Seven.

“If all goes according to plan.”

“I think you guys are overlooking an important detail,” Three said. “How are we supposed to pay for supplies and fuel?”

I hadn’t even thought about that. I looked to Four in horror, only to realize that she was smiling.

“I forgot to tell you guys. One of the encrypted files was the passwords to an account with more money than we could ever need. We can pay for repairs, fuel, and have enough to buy a few nice meals and some entertainment items for the trip.”

“Really? How much money’s in the account?” asked Seven.

“Over three million UCUs.”

Two choked. “We’re rich!”

I laughed as Two jumped up from the bed and cavorted around the med bay, doing some odd sort of dance.

“Calm down. We still have to get out of Kryllian space, and we need to reach the base. Then you can celebrate.”

“You’re making it sound horrible,” Two complained.

“No, she’s right. We shouldn’t get our hopes up. A lot could still go wrong,” I interjected.

It turns out, I was wrong. For our first and only lucky break of the trip, we were granted safe passage through the remainder of Kryllian space.

“Docking into the base!” Four called.

And not a moment too soon. The emergency power had cut off a few minutes ago, and it was getting awfully cold. I could see my breath in the light coming off the computer console, because of course the overhead lights had gone where the heat had.

“Okay. You guys all have the password to the account, right?” We all nodded in confirmation. “Good. I’m going to find another power cell and install it, so we can all stay on the ship tonight. Once that’s done, I’ll get some supplies and start making repairs to the engines and other systems. We should be out of here in about seventy hours.”

“Do you need any help with shopping or repairs?” Two asked. Four glared at him and he quailed. “Not that you need help! I just—”

Five interrupted, having woken up several minutes ago with a minor concussion and bandaged ribs. “You may not need help with the engines, but you’re not going onto that station alone.”

“And why’s that?”

“You’re a kid.”

“As opposed to your venerable age of what? Seventeen?”

“Five’s right. None of us should go alone. Everyone needs to grab a buddy and stay with them,” I said. Four turned her stink eye on me, but I held out.

“Fine. Five can come with me if he doesn’t get in my way.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said, a wry smile twisting his lips.

Four crossed her arms over her chest and bored lasers into him with her eyes until he held up his hands in surrender.

The rest of us paired up. Three and Six, Two and Eight, and Seven and I.

“Okay, let’s try not to call any attention to ourselves. And we should meet back here in—How long will it take you to replace the power cell?” I asked Four.

“Not more than three hours.”

“So let’s meet back on the ship at 2300 hours. And use your comms to keep in touch.”

The rest headed off into the lift, but Three grabbed my shoulder before I could follow.

“What?” I asked, rubbing my hands together to keep warm.

“Can we talk?” she said sharply.

I motioned for Seven to go on, and the lift doors closed, leaving Three and I alone in bridge.

“What’s up?” I asked Three, who had removed her hand from my shoulder and was now crossing her arms.

“Did you tell Two to ask me out?”

“Oh, uh—”

“Because if you did, you just made me sit through the most uncomfortable conversation of my life.”

“I didn’t tell him to ask you out in so many words, per se,” I said lamely, avoiding Three’s hard glare, “but don’t you think it’s better now that you know how he feels?”

“How stupid do you think I am? The kid has not stopped staring at me since I stepped out of that pod. I knew he had a crush on me, but it was better before you made him tell me. I had to turn him down, and now it’s just awkward.”

“Well, sorry. I just thought it would be better to have everything out in the air.”

“Then here’s a valuable lesson, Captain,” Three said, stepping closer to me, glaring coldly. “Some things are better left unsaid.”

She scoffed at me and stalked off to the lift.