Star Guardian 2
Chapter 18: Away Mission

Copyright© 2019 by Duncan7

Laine and I rushed back to the warehouse, looking for Koluna.

“Koluna, we are in the warehouse. Where are you?” I asked into my communicator.

“I’m at the back of the warehouse. I’ll meet you there,” replied Koluna. We quickly moved past stacks of crates and worked our way to the back. Koluna was standing near a large container. I was relieved to see she was unharmed.

“Koluna, what have you found?” I asked.

“Have a look at this,” she replied.

“We all looked at the container. It was long horizontally and there were some lights on one side, which meant it had power. Laine moved to a panel on the end and pushed a button.

“This is a cryogenic storage container. They were once used on the old deep space missions. The crew would be put to sleep and frozen for the long journeys, possibly years,” said Laine. Koluna and I looked at the display over her shoulder. This was not something I was familiar with.

“Are you suggesting there is a being frozen in there?” I asked.

“Yes. It is occupied. And if I read this display correctly they have little time remaining. The power cell on the unit is decaying. I’d say this has been here for a while,” replied Laine. I wiped my hand on the top, and it came away dusty.

“You’re right. What do you recommend?”

“Can we take it up to Ship? We could plug it in to more power or even revive the occupant,” said Koluna.

“I’ll check with Jem.” I said. I tapped my communicator, “Captain, we have found a being inside a cryogenic storage container. The power cell on the container is running out. Koluna suggests we bring it aboard. We could supply additional power or even revive the being inside.”

“Understood. Make sure you bring it through decontamination. Do not attempt to revive the occupant,” said Jem.

“Acknowledged. Out.”

“This thing is too heavy to move, we need something to get it in the shuttle,” I said.

“I saw a grav sled near the entrance. I will go fetch it,” said Koluna. She left without waiting for an answer.

“Laine, while we get this to the shuttle, please search around for anything important,” I said. I had a feeling we were missing something.

“Yes Brian,” replied Laine. She turned and moved off.

Laine arrived with the grav sled. It took both of us to slide it onto the sled and navigate the container to the front of the warehouse. We then took some time to find out how to open the large door. By the time we had the container secured in the shuttle, Laine had returned.


We took off in our shuttle and ascended into orbit. Soon we were entering the shuttle bay and the outer door was closed and pressurized. We opened the shuttle airlock and Koluna went to get a grav sled to move the container.

Once we got the container on the grav sled, we all visited decontamination. I gave the container a hosing down.

“Ship, can you scan the cryogenic device. Laine says the power is running low,” I said.

“Confirmed. Best to keep it in decontamination for now. I will send in a maintenance bot to assemble a suitable power coupling,” replied Ship.

Jem arrived. “So this is your find? Was there anything else down there?”

“Just a warehouse full of stolen cargo. Koluna may have more information on the cargo,” I said.

“Ship, can you identify the system of origin for this cryogenic device?” asked Jem.

“Negative. It is a basic design, and it could be made by numerous space-faring races,” replied Ship.

“And there is no other identifying information?” said Jem.

“None,” replied Ship.

“Please supply power to the device as planned, but do not revive the occupant until we discuss it,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. By now a maintenance bot was hooking up a cable to the device.

“Let’s all go up to the main bridge and have a meeting,” said Jem. We followed her into the elevator.


We all got up to the main bridge and took a seat.

“Ship, have you stabilized the power to the cryogenic device?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Well, there is no sense of urgency at least. Ship, can you scan the occupant and tell us anything? What species, or gender are they? Are they injured? Do they breathe the same air?” asked Jem.

“Occupant is humanoid, species unknown, gender female, no signs of injuries, age young adult. Their lungs appear to be compatible with our atmosphere,” replied Ship.

“Thank you Ship. So the question is, what do we do now?” said Jem. I held back. This was Koluna’s find, so I turned and looked to her.

“What are the choices?” asked Koluna.

“Keep her frozen, revive her,” suggested Laine.

“Repair the power cell and return her in the cryogenic device to the planet,” I offered. She could be a pirate for all we know.

Koluna frowned at me.

“If we revive her, we are responsible for her. We don’t know what such a responsibility will lead to. It could take us away from our mission,” I said.

“Brian is right. It could create work if we revive her. It seems suspicious that she was left there. Did the pirates consider her valuable or a liability?” said Jem.

“Well, we could take her to a friendly system, still frozen and let them deal with her,” I said, trying to soften my argument.

Koluna looked at me. “Bri-an, when you found me on the Opolu Naa before it was destroyed, you took my hand and did not let go. At that point, you were responsible for my life. You did not let go and I am alive today because of it. I believe we are past the point where we are responsible for this being.”

Laine nodded. We had rescued her from the Trading Post the same way. I could tell she was in agreement with Koluna.

“All right, we are already responsible for this being. Does being responsible mean we should revive her?” I asked. Koluna and Laine both looked at me like I was stupid.

“I can see you have made your mind up already,” said Jem as she looked at Koluna and Laine. “Ship, please provide a risk assessment for reviving the occupant.”

“Confirmed. Estimated risk of complications from the revival process at twelve percent,” replied Ship.

“And the risk assessment of the danger to the crew?” I asked.

“Risk unknown,” replied Ship. I thought as much.

“Ship, move whatever medical equipment you need to revive her into the decontamination area. Seal it off from the rest of the vessel until we know she is safe. Be sure to scan for viral and parasitic threats,” said Jem.

“Confirmed. Preparing for revival,” replied Ship.


Ship took its time to load everything it needed for the revival process. I liked how thorough Ship was. We remained in the main bridge, away from any danger.

I felt that the decision had already been made by Koluna and Laine. My answers did not match their expectations. I was not in tune with their thinking. I was worrying about issues we had not yet encountered.

Jem appeared cautious too. We had a window on the tactical display with a live feed to the decontamination area.

“Attention. Ready to begin the revival process,” announced Ship.

“Please go ahead Ship,” replied Jem. We had now stepped over the line.

 
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