Chapter 17: Travel

Early next morning, I snuck out of bed. I did my usual routine and took a coffee with me to the lounge area. I wanted to spend time alone with Ship.

“Ship, I’ve missed our talks,” I said.

“Commander, news of your survival from the orbital station is most agreeable,” replied Ship.

“It is?” I asked.

“Confirmed. News of your death had a traumatic impact on morale. News of your survival had an equally intense impact,” replied Ship.

“I wish I could make it so that my death or my departure did not impact the others,” I said.

“Insufficient data,” said Ship. I guess he was saying he didn’t know either.

“Moving on to what we can do. You overheard our discussion about Saria’s role?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Please prepare a full set of equipment for her. She’ll need an away team uniform, one of those red shirt devices, and one of your new personal shields,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“She also brought her own weapon from Quard,” I added.

“The laser carbine? I scanned it when she arrived. I was about to take action, but the Commodore designated her as crew,” said Ship.

“Perhaps it’s time to build a firing range for us to practice with various weapons,” I said.

“I gathered sections of the hull from the orbital station. It has energy-absorbing abilities. I can line the firing range to protect the rest of this vessel,” said Ship.

“I like that idea. Please start building a firing range,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I thought about all the ideas I’d had while we were apart and sipped on my coffee.

“Commander, you are about to receive visitors,” said Ship.

“Thanks for the warning,” I replied. My quiet time was about to end.

Behind me, I heard the elevator doors opening. I refrained from turning to see who it was.

A moment later, Laine bounced into view, cheerful as ever. Saria followed her, minus the bounce.

“Good morning,” I said. I tried not to sound irritated at their arrival.

There was plenty of room, but Laine squeezed in beside me. Saria sat on my other side, but not so close.

“This is where he comes up with all his amazing inventions,” Laine said to Saria.

Saria looked over at Laine. She looked uncertain with how familiar Laine was in my presence.

“Lieutenant, we are usually casual, except in an emergency. I know that she means no disrespect. She understands when I tell her I need time alone,” I said.

“If we are casual, then please call me Saria, Sir,” she said.

I nodded.

“What amazing things did you do today?” asked Laine.

“I was discussing with Ship what we need for Saria today. Ship is preparing her equipment, and also building a firing range,” I replied.

“Wow!” said Laine. “You get a firing range.”

Saria smiled.

“It’s for everyone. We need to train with weapons, to become proficient. It may save our lives,” I said.

“Ship can reconfigure itself while travelling? I thought you’d need a shipyard for such things,” said Saria.

“Excuse me, Lieutenant. I can make modest changes without a shipyard and while in transit. I cannot make significant changes to the hull and major bulkheads without stopping,” replied Ship.

“Oh, thank you, Ship,” replied Saria.

“Ship is most advanced, with extensive fabrication abilities. It just takes a request or a suggestion, and Ship can build it for you,” I said.

“And Brian here comes up with ideas that Ship turns into awesome things,” said Laine.

I frowned at Laine. She just smiled and shrugged.

“What sort awesome things?” asked Saria.

“Ship, are Saria’s items ready?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Why don’t we find out,” I replied.

I escorted Laine and Saria to decontamination, where her gear was waiting for her.

“Laine, let’s all change into our away team uniforms. We can practice with Saria in the shuttle bay,” I said.

Laine smiled. Soon she was talking in Quard with Saria. We donned our away team uniforms.

I saw the new improved personal shield unit. They attached on the back.

Then we picked up the rest of our gear and entered the shuttle bay together.

“Ship, we’ll practice in here for a while. Please warn anyone not to come inside here until we’re finished,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ship, these new personal shields work like the last ones?” I asked.

“Confirmed, the difference is that they are more powerful,” replied Ship.

I nodded. Laine already had her stun gun ready. She shot me.

The shield popped into existence and reflected the blast. It bounced off me and off Laine and Saria until it dissipated.

“Wow!” said Saria.

“These should protect you from Lagaid energy based weapons and more. We’re using stun guns, because we don’t want to damage the vessel,” I said.

“You can see the power level on the display on your wrist here,” said Laine.

We both checked our displays. The stun blast did nothing.

“The shield is autonomous. It activates when it detects weapons fire,” I said.

Saria shot me. Once again, it rebounded back and forth between our shields. In less than a second, it dissipated.

“This shield technology is impressive,” said Saria. “What’s next?”

“Always wear your away team uniform when you leave this vessel. Laine, would you like to show how the collar and cuffs work?” I asked.

Laine smiled. She unrolled the collar and pulled on the hood. She unrolled the cuffs and put on the gloves.

“Saria, please copy Laine,” I said. “The display on your wrist will confirm when you get it right.”

I helped Saria with the hood, but she figured out the cuffs.

“It shows green on my display,” said Saria. I heard it through the built in suit communications.

“Acknowledged. You figured out the suit has a communicator too,” I said.

“I’m green also,” said Laine.

“Ship, gradually depressurize the shuttle bay,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship via my communicator.

“Saria, this suit can protect you if there’s a decompression, if you get the hood and the gloves on,” I said.

“Amazing. How long is the air supply?” she asked.

“About fifteen minutes. I wore this the first time I met Laine. We were on a space station that got decompressed,” I replied.

“He saved my life,” added Laine enthusiastically.

“Ship, please restore the pressure to the shuttle bay,” I ordered.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship via my communicator.

We waited until the pressure was normal, then removed our hoods and gloves.

“This suit is impressive,” said Saria.

“It’s part of our philosophy, we need everyone back safe. You can’t go outside, since it doesn’t protect you from the cold of space. It gives you time to get to an airlock,” I said.

“Understood,” replied Saria.

“Next, I’ll get Laine to show off the cloaking feature,” I said.

Laine touched the display on her left wrist. As soon as she did, she vanished.

“Wow!” said Saria.

A moment later, Laine reappeared.

“This feature uses the same power source as the personal shield. The old one lasted a few minutes. I don’t know how long this lasts,” I said.

“And you can’t have the shield while you’re cloaked,” added Laine.

“I bet this has saved you often,” said Saria.

“It has. We made the away team uniform standard for all away missions,” I said.

“Understood, Sir,” she replied.

“We are available to help you practice whatever you come up with,” I said.

Laine said something to her in Quard and she nodded. I need to learn Quard.

“I’ve got one more item to show you today. We call this a redshirt device,” I said.

Laine grinned. I activated a device I had strapped on my wrist. Another crew member appeared near me, wearing a similar uniform, except it was red. He pointed a weapon at her.

“Where did he come from?” asked Saria.

She drew her stun gun and fired at the intruder. He dodged her first shot, but she got him with a second short. He dramatically fell over dead.

Before she could close on him, he disappeared.

“What was that?” she asked.

I showed her the device on my wrist.

“It projects an image of a crew member, as a distraction. You can use it to escape or gain an advantage on an enemy,” I said.

“He wears red to draw attention,” added Laine.

“I like it!” said Saria.

“Once again, find creative ways to use it. You shouldn’t try to use it more than once on the same enemy,” I said.

“No, that wouldn’t work, unless they are dumb,” she replied.

“That’s all I have to show you. You’ll notice my focus is on not getting injured or killed. As peacekeepers, we aren’t there to fight battles,” I said.

Laine nudged Saria. “I told you it was awesome,” she said.

“You didn’t lie,” replied Saria.

“Ship, we’re done here,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

We left the shuttle bay and returned to decontamination, where we changed back into regular jumpsuits.

There was an extra cubby with Saria’s name on it, where she could store her gear.

“What’s next?” asked Laine.

We’d returned to the lounge area after our session in the shuttle bay.

“Do you have your device with you?” I asked.

Laine held it up for me to see.