Smuggler's Dilemma (25 page)

"Mr. Hoffen, surely you understand that's not my decision to make. This is a combat triage hospital. According to this chart, Tabitha will be honorably discharged with a Comet of Valorous Service. She's a hero and will receive the best medical care available on Mars."

I felt he was saying two things. "But you won't make her whole? I know it's possible, you can replace bones and regrow muscles."

"That is true, Mr. Hoffen, but that technology is well beyond what a government is able to pay for. The surgery you describe costs tens of millions of credits. Tabitha knew the risks when she signed up. We all know those risks, but
we
signed up anyway. I understand that you would like to be angry with me, but your anger is misplaced. It was pirates that hurt our young Tabitha."

Mom gently rested her hand on my arm. She could tell I was getting riled up. His simplistic argument made me want to scream. "Liam, he's doing his job looking after Tabby."

"When will she be conscious?" I asked.

"Let me be clear. There is no guarantee that she will regain consciousness. Her body must accept its new configuration. That said, she is strong, no doubt a fighter," he said flatly.

I wondered how many patients a person had to lose before they built up a wall like this guy had.

"Can I stay with her for a while?" I asked.

"Certainly. You can even talk to her. We've found that in some cases it's soothing to them. Although mostly, it's helpful for the visitors." He pulled a chair out from the wall. I decided I didn't like him.

"Mom, I need to stay for a while," I said.

"I understand. Stay as long as you need."

For the next few days I spent all of my waking moments next to Tabby's tank. It was oddly comforting to sit in the quiet room. A few sailors visited, stopping to look in on friends. There were twenty-four medical tanks in the room. When I wasn't talking to Tabby, telling her of Nick, Marny and my adventures, I was wondering about the background of the other sailors in the tanks. It was the highlight of my day when a tank would be lowered and a person would emerge. Sometimes they were almost a hundred percent recovered, although many were missing limbs.

On the fifth day, a Navy lieutenant showed up to tell me that I had to disembark; the
Hope
was setting sail for Mars. Tabby had crossed the threshold from grave to critical and Bentcourt - whom I had not become more fond of - felt that she would be upgraded to serious within the next few days. Small steps on a long journey.

I'd lost track of normal time and when I got back to the
Hotspur
it was 0200. I found it odd to see that the hold was once again full of crates and I wondered where the wing and engine had gone. That answer would have to wait until tomorrow.

I hadn't been showering regularly, and wasn't sure what the sleeping arrangements were, so I stripped and tossed my suit liner into the freshener and jumped into the main head on the berth deck. I risked the momentary nakedness, not wanting to wake whoever was in the captain's quarters.

The hot spray was luxurious and I felt like I was coming out of a long foggy sleep. Time on the hospital ship seemed to be nonexistent. Shifts would change, but nothing else. I'd been ignoring everything and everyone around me, completely wrapped up in my own thoughts. It was time to rejoin my crew. I shaved my scraggly beard and used a barber brush to cut my hair back to a manageable length.

Without the shower heating the room, it was chilly. I walked out of the head and to the end of the galley where the freshener sat. My suit liner lay neatly folded on top and my vac-suit was now in the machine. Since I hadn't been the one to load my vac-suit, I knew I'd been busted. With the unmistakable feeling of someone's eyes on me, I spun around to see who might be in the room with me.

"Cap, I have to say you put on a good show," Marny said, leaning back in a chair, with her feet on the mess table.

I grabbed my liner and scampered back to the head, trying to retrieve whatever dignity might be left for me. I re-emerged a few minutes later.

"What are you doing up?" I asked.

"Well, as head of security, I like to know who is coming and going on the ship at all hours. I'm glad to see you remember where your home is."

"They kicked me out. The
Hope
is headed for Mars," I said.

Nick walked out of the forward bunk room. As usual, when awakened in the night, his hair was mashed against one side of his head.

"Is she conscious?" Nick asked.

"No, she might wake up while they're en route, though. Did you know they're kicking her out of the Navy?"

"SOP," Marny said.

"Weren't you pretty badly injured? And didn't they fix you up?" I asked.

"Different scope of injuries and wrong country. I just had a messed up jaw, mostly. I hear you though, it's frakked up."

"What's been going on around here?"

"Mom's rental business got completely cleaned out," Nick said.

"That sucks," I said.

I heard the lift drop from the bridge deck.

"What? You're having a party without me?" Dad asked.

"Have you been out to your claim?" I asked, looking at him.

He sat at the mess table where Nick, Marny and I had been chatting. "It's not good, they pretty well wiped us out."

"Were you insured?" I asked. I knew the answer by the look on his face.

"Thirty percent. It's better than nothing. There's not much insurance available for miners, especially if you're not within a security perimeter."

"What will you do?"

"Silver and I wanted talk to you about booking passage back to Mars," he said.

That was Big Pete. Even with his own son he wouldn't presume to ask for a ride. It was somewhere between pride and idiocy.

"We've been running short-handed," I said. Nick gave me an almost imperceptible affirmative nod. "We'd love to have Mom join the watch rotation. That'd be more than enough to cover passage to Mars. Think she'd be in for that?"

"So you're going to finally let me sail this bird?" Mom approached the table and sat on Dad's lap.

"Don't you people ever sleep?" Ada was right behind Mom. She leaned over and gave me a hug as she passed by.

All we were missing was Jack. I hadn't intended on waking everyone. I'd just wanted to get cleaned up.

"So, I have a question. Where'd the engine go? I didn't see it in the hold." I said.

"A bunch of Navy engineers came by and re-attached it. It was their way of saying thank you for our help in the rescue," Marny said.

I raised both eyebrows questioningly. If they didn't attach it expertly, it might get ripped off during burn, possibly causing more damage.

Nick sensed my concern and preemptively answered my question. "It isn't pretty, but I scanned it and the AI is more than happy with the repairs. We'll have to do some cosmetics once we get back to Mars."

"So… I'm not sure how to say this, but thank you all for not pushing on me over the last several days," I said. "I know there's a lot going on and I haven't been any help."

"That's what family does," Marny said. She caught me off guard with her comment.

"You all really are my family. I don't know what I'd do without you," I said.

"What's next?" Big Pete asked. I suspect we'd crossed whatever threshold he set for sharing.

"I think we need to get to Mars," Nick said.

That was something I could do. "I'll work on the watch schedule right away."

Mom pinched some content and tossed it at me. A list showed up on my HUD and I opened it. She'd created a four, four, six rotation with her, Ada and myself. I was interested to see that she had given me the first shift. She knew me better than I'd expected. She'd also attached a navigation and burn schedule that would run us through Terrence. We were scheduled to sail at 0600, or in three hours.

"Hope you don't mind," she said, looking a little guilty.

"Looks good. Two questions; why Terrence and why the Class-D burn schedule?" She'd chosen a very conservative burn rate.

"Same answer for both. We're low on fuel," she said.

"None to buy here?" I asked.

"Some, but it's outrageously priced."

"Anyone see an issue with us getting underway for Terrence at 0600? And just as a reminder, please don't discuss our departure time or destination with anyone. We're sailing without our top turrets and I'm not all that crazy about trying a combat burn with the way that engine's sitting on there. If there are no objections, I'm going to get a few hours of sack time."

I hadn't spent much time in the aft bunkroom, but I found the bed to be quite welcoming. Ada joined me and took the top bunk. Filbert's second grav-box was installed within easy reach of her bunk. I suspected that Jack and Ada had worked something out between the two of them.

I woke to the smell of strong coffee and the noise of movement outside the bunk room. I quietly got out of bed and set the covers straight. A curious Filbert peered out at me from the bunk where Ada was sleeping soundly. His fur was starting to grow back and he was at least twice as big as when we'd first found him. I picked him up and held him against my chest. As quietly as I could, I exited the room.

Big Pete and Marny were in the galley with Nick and Jack seated at the mess table. I handed Filbert to Jack, whose eyes lit up. Dad was serving scrambled eggs, so I sat down. A few minutes later he wordlessly handed me a cup of coffee and a plate of food.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" I asked. We'd never had fresh food on the claim, so it was surprising to see him getting after it.

"Something you learn in the service; an army travels on its stomach. Eat up, you have ten minutes before your watch."

I didn't need to be prompted further. I hadn't been doing a good job of eating regularly and it smelled delicious.

"I'm going to do a quick exterior inspection and then we'll get underway if everyone's settled." I said after finishing my eggs.

"Aye. I'll come with you," Marny said.

I nodded and stood up, heading toward the cargo hold.

"Cap. You'll be putting on your armored suit, I assume," she said.

I looked back, saw my dad's raised eyebrows and knew I had no chance of winning this conversation.

"Right, my mistake." What a captain puts up with to stay in his crew's good graces.

I found my armored suit in our makeshift armory. Marny stood by and watched approvingly as I holstered my flechette. It seemed like a waste of time, what with the Navy still hanging around, but I knew what she would say - expect the worst.

I was particularly interested in the repairs to the wing and engine. From my perspective, it looked like crap, although I trusted Nick's assessment. The engineers had strapped the wing on and welded the frak out of it. Fortunately, aerodynamics weren't important for this trip.

Back in the ship, I settled into the pilot's chair.
All sections report
, I requested, pulling up my checklist. Several systems were no longer in the green. One of the laterals in the septic system had failed and was seeping. I'd need to get to it after my shift. I knew better than to think I could successfully delegate that job.

"We're secure and all passengers accounted for," Marny responded.

"All systems are operational. We're low on O2 crystals, but our algae system is okay," Nick said across the comm. "The collision knocked it about, but we'll make it to Mars."

"Roger that."

All ship announcement
. "Welcome aboard, everyone. We're pushing off now. Prepare for hard burn in twenty minutes. Jack, you might consider coming up to the cockpit. It's quite a view."

I lifted the ship off the floor of the docking bay and slowly sailed forward. Jack came up between the two chairs and looked out the window with a big grin on his face.

"Sit in the chair. You might as well be comfortable," I said.

Nimbly, Jack swung into the chair. I'd forgotten how elegant his movements were. Filbert poked his head out of the crook of his arm and stretched his claws lazily onto Jack's chest. For a kid whose life was just turned upside down, Jack seemed surprisingly content.

"Is Tabby going to live?" Jack's question caught me completely off guard. Jack and Tabby had a special relationship. If you wanted to mess with Jack, you got Tabby - and no one in their right mind wanted a piece of Tabby. Their relationship had begun when we'd formed a team to play pod-ball together. Perhaps the most shocking part of Jack's question was that he had spoken. It happened so rarely that the very act was significant.

"Sure is, buddy. She's headed to Mars right now and we're going there to meet her. I'll make sure you get to see her, okay?"

Jack just smiled back at me and nodded his head. For whatever reason, speech was difficult for him. A lot of people thought he was simple, but it wasn't specifically that. He just didn't seem to prioritize things the same way everyone else did.

I sailed around the station once. I figured several people on the ship would appreciate a last look at Colony 40 before we left it behind, probably for good. Twenty minutes later we were burning hard for Terrence.

"Ever thought about boxing?" I asked Jack.

He looked at me like I'd grown a third eye.

"It's a type of fighting, but we use it for training. Marny's pretty good. She'll train you, if you want. I box with her all the time," I said.

His horrified look was comical. He and I were about the same height and build and I knew from experience that Marny out massed me by a whole lot.

"How about you watch me, then decide if you want to try it?" I said, which restored his affable smile.

By the time we reached Terrence, Jack had become relentless in the ring. I wasn't surprised that he was almost immediately better than me. He'd never be a great boxer, but that was more about the fact that Jack wasn't particularly aggressive. His punches quite often landed, but they lacked any real sting. Hitting him, however, was next to impossible. He would drive opponents crazy by avoiding every punch, scoring tons of points and smiling the whole time.