Spacer's Love

I want to set the record straight. I didn’t have a choice. Well, I mean, I did, but I chose for myself and not for them. Those poor retched souls on that ship were doomed. They knew it, I knew it. Hell, everyone knew it, except for my engineering chief. He said, and I quote, “We need to bring them with us. All we have to do is stay docked with their ship a few more minutes. They are crippled and bleeding atmosphere. They won’t make it if we don’t help them.”

“No! They sealed their fate when they fired on my ship.”

The crew stared at me grimacing. We’d been there before. They didn’t like my attitude; they called me Captain Doom. I was not a merciful person. They signed up to be my drudges. They signed a contract for life and a split of the take on all salvage operations. They didn’t have to like me, but they did have to obey me. I shoved dissenters out of the airlock and most of them had been with me long enough to have witnessed my brutality.

The trouble had started when we intercepted a distress call from the ship in question. They had a hull breach that was minimal and they could make port if they closed off all their empty spaces. They needed to know where the nearest space dock was because their navigation system was also malfunctioning.

I gave them directions and in return I asked them to kindly turn over their cargo. They declined and fired on my ship. I fired back, causing further damage. They might still make it to safety, but it was going to be really close. We docked, with the disabled ship, and offloaded their cargo and gave them just enough time to get there.

See, I do have a soft spot. Anyway, my crew knew they wouldn’t make it. A mutiny was on the rise and I relented and said that they could attach a line to the ship and we would haul them towards the nearest spaceport. They got busy and attached the line and I gave the command to move.

We were in sight of the port when I gave the next command to set them free. I laughed at the name on the hull, “Spacer’s Love.” Well they could just love their way on out to the port I said to the crew. Once they were free, I told the helmsman to get us out of there before someone spotted us. I wanted to get as far away from that ship as possible. I could not give the Spacer’s Love a chance to tell anyone who had stolen their cargo and disabled their ship, So, once we had cleared scanning distance and sight, I pushed a button on my console and the ship blew. The crew were none the wiser.

A year later, we were headed to the Vivian Asteroid Belt to look for salvageable debris and abandoned ships. My chief engineer, Thom, entered the bridge and walked up to my chair.

“What?” I said in exasperation. He never came to the bridge unless there was a problem.

“I just wanted to thank you for helping the Spacer’s Love last year. It was honorable of you ma’am to tow them to safety at your own risk of reprisal.”

Little did he know that they had been blown to bits after we were gone.

“Whatever.” I answered. He had been a thorn in my side since he signed on. Even after I had spaced the first person that had dared to question my authority. He just didn’t get that I was not one to be trifled with. He argued my decisions regularly, and if he wasn’t such a great engineer, I would have spaced him the first week he was onboard.

“Don’t you have engines to look after? Get back to your engine room.”

He saluted me and grinned leaving the bridge. The man was insufferable.

“Captain, there is a ship listing behind the large asteroid on the port side.” Said the helmsman, pointing at the view screen.

“Well! Don’t just sit there. Take us there.”

He gulped and replied, “Aye, aye, Captain. There is a considerable risk of hull damage from the asteroids surrounding the ship. I will do my best to maneuver around them.”

“Just do it and don’t wreck my ship.”

The other crewmen stared at the view screen as one by one we passed asteroids larger than our ship and grazed smaller ones. The constant sound of collisions grated on my nerves.

“Foster! I told you not to wreck my ship. What the hell are you doing?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me and stuttered something about trying harder.

I got out of my seat and grabbed him by the collar and threw him from the chair and took control. I parked next to the abandoned ship and engaged the docking clamps and looked to the crew.

“Don’t just stand there. Board the ship and bring back anything of value.”

I got out of the helmsman’s chair and told Foster to leave my sight. He flew from the bridge thankful that I had not put him in the airlock. Another crewman quickly took his place and sat down at the helm and proceeded to plot the route out of the field with the least amount of hits from the asteroids.

I walked off the bridge and headed to the docking port. I donned my EVA suit and entered the other ship. It was not damaged as far as I could tell. I scanned for life signs and found none. The people who had manned this ship were long gone. Thom called me and said that he had found the engine room and that it was intact and he thought that he could get the ship up and running. I beamed to myself. We would be able to salvage the entire ship.

A figure flew across the opening ahead of me. I ran to catch up. Dead end on both sides. That wasn’t possible. I know I saw something dart across the opening. But it was just a storage closet on both sides. Not a corridor. I continued on my path to the next opening and was met with another dead end alcove. Continuing down the corridor, I came to another corridor. I turned right and headed in the same direction as the figure had been traveling. I saw nothing to indicate any life on board and my scanner was still telling me that there were no other signs of life other than the five crewmen that were exploring the ship.

Something hit me from behind. I turned as I went down. The figure was shadowy and faintly transparent. It disappeared and I blacked out.

Voices coming from all directions woke me. I looked up and saw my crew standing over me. They were discussing what to do with my body. I sat up and they jumped back. Thom reached down and held his hand out to me.

“You gave us quite a scare Captain. Are you alright?” He said concern in his voice.

I slapped his hand away and got up on my own.

“Who did this? Which one of you hit me? Was it you?” I said jabbing at the crewman standing to my left.

He blanched and said, “No captain. We heard you yell and came looking for you. We found you like this. There isn’t anyone else on board.”

I pushed through them and made my way back to my ship. They followed behind me.

“Thom, get that ship up and running. Take that useless helmsman, Foster, with you. I claim salvage on that ship.”

“Aye, Aye ma’am.” He yelled back as he grabbed the helmsman and ran back to the abandoned ship.

I ordered the newly appointed helmsman, Franks, to take us back to normal space and to keep an eye on the other ship.

The other ship was moving slowly in our wake and I called to Thom.

“Thom, tell Foster to take the ship in front of us. We will follow you out of the asteroid belt.”

The ship gained speed and passed my ship and pulled in front of us, then slowed and stopped.

Thom called out, “There seems to be something wrong with the engines. They are losing power. Life support is faulty. Alarms are going off all over the ship. We need to shut down until I figure this out.”

Groaning, I told my helmsman to dock with the ship again. I got out of my seat and pointed at a couple of others to follow me as I left the bridge. We arrived at the docking port as Thom was entering. He cycled the airlock and opened the door.

“Captain, something isn’t right with that ship. It doesn’t want to leave. I can’t explain it. Everything is in working order. But every time we accelerate, she starts to lose power.”

“You idiot. The ship is not alive. It can’t think. I’ll fix it myself.” I pushed him aside and entered the ship. I found my way to the engine room.

“Helmsman Foster, set a course out of here. Franks unlock the docking clamps now. Follow us out of this asteroid field.”

I watched the monitors on the engine. They read normal. I felt the ship lurch and we started moving. I found a view screen and opened it to view my ship. It was in front of us and slowly moving to the side of us then disappeared from the screen as we passed by. I adjusted the screen to the aft view and there was my ship maintaining a course behind and slightly to the port side of this ship.

I felt movement behind me. I turned around and thought I saw someone disappear down the corridor to my right. I followed the corridor and came to a door I hadn’t noticed before. I opened the door and went in. The name on the wall inside the room brought back memories of the previous year, “Spacer’s Love. No way. I blew them up. This ship was intact with no damage.” My mind trying to sort out what I was seeing. Thom came over the intercom. “Captain, I just wanted you to know, my parents were on the Spacer’s Love when you blew it up. You will not be returning to your ship. I was friends with the investigator that examined what was left of their ship. She told me what you did. You didn’t have to blow it up.”

The door closed behind me and I ran to it pounding on it. It was locked. I heard someone behind me. Turning slowly, I recognized the face of the Captain that I had blown up the year before. I screamed a silent scream, knowing my life, as I knew it, had ceased.

“Helmsman Foster, you may return to our ship when you are ready. The captain will not be joining us.” Thom said as he smiled to the other crewmen surrounding him. He sat down in the captain’s chair and told Franks to resume a course for home as soon as Foster was aboard.

“Aye, Aye, Captain Thom.”