(… continuing)

A new set of alarms sounded.
“Status!” Dukk said firmly into the comms.
“Passenger seating area has lost pressure,” Bazzer replied, “No other drops. It looks like the breach is contained.”
“Trence’s vitals are peaking. Blood pressure. Looks like the observer got hit,” Annee added.
“Ann, I’ll take back external comms, scanners and med control,” Dukk commanded. “You focus on giving assistance. I am depressurising the cockpit so you can pass in to the passenger area directly.”
“Ok,” Annee replied as she unbelted. “Mentor, you are up. Get into the stairwell. We’ll use it as a temporary airlock to access the passengers.”
“On my way,” Mentor answered.

“Marr, do another projection of the scatter pattern,” Dukk said firmly as he looked over at his co-pilot. “We are nearly out but we don’t want any more surprises.”
She nodded back at him.
Dukk continued, “Bazzer, the moment we are through this debris, you get a pack on and get out and inspect the outer hull. I’ll help with the passengers and do the internal assessment.”
“Sound,” Bazzer replied.
“Looks like we are through,” Marr announced on the crew comms.
The view before them was clear again. The planet raced below them.
“Thank goodness,” Dukk replied. “Marr you take over the conn. You need to reset the auto-pilot and also work the airlocks.”
“On it,” Marr replied.
“Bazzer, get outside. Luna, you are on systems monitoring. Leave the DMD off and let’s continue to run hot for now.”
“Will do, Captain”, Luna replied instantly.
“I am in the stairwell,” Mentor added.
“Dukk, will you depressurise the stairwell and open the doors,” Annee said.
“On it,” Dukk replied.

Dukk interacted with the controls to give Mentor access to the passenger area. He then activated his air pack. His g-suit inflated slightly. He felt the slightly sour taste of the temporary air supply. It was working. He disconnected himself from the med line. As he unbelted, he tuned his comms into the purser channel that connected Annee directly to the passengers.
“As we practiced,” Annee could be heard saying. “Attach the air pack to the front of your suit and press the green button. Your suit will inflate slightly and you will taste the sour air of the emergency supply. Trence you stay put for now. On my signal, press the disengage button on your seat and then make your way to the door at the back.”
Dukk passed through the cockpit door to the passenger area. Annee was standing in the middle of the space, checking that the passengers correctly enabled their air supply before detaching from the med lines.
The orange pressure warning lights were flashing in the forward section. It was darker in the back. The lights were out. A metre long tear could be seen in the ceiling. A steal beam was floating just above the space between the two seats in the forth row. These seats were occupied by Kimince and Trence. Their expressions illustrated the horror they had just witnessed. It looked like the beam had crashed through the ceiling, and come to a stop at the bulkhead behind the last row.
From Dukk’s vantage point it wasn’t clear what injury Trence had sustained. However, it was clear it could have been a lot worse.
Mentor emerged from the stairwell door. He was carrying a med kit and a stretcher. He stepped out of the way as the other passengers passed into the stairwell.
Dukk followed them towards the door.
“Dukk, will you help Mentor whilst I get everyone else to the accommodation level?” Annee asked in the comms link.
“Will do,” Dukk replied as he closed the door behind Annee and the other passengers.
“Pressurising the stairwell,” came Marr’s voice into the crew comms.
Dukk smiled. She was on the ball.

Dukk returned his attention to helping Mentor.
“What have we got?” Dukk said.
“Looks like the beam hit Trence’s arm as it came through,” Mentor answered. “The impact caused some bleeding. The lower arm might be broken. Thankfully the suit didn’t get ruptured.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Let’s use the stretcher. Trence is in shock and it will be easier using the stretcher. I’ll just pin the arm for now.”

It didn’t take long for Dukk and Mentor to help Trence out of the seat and get strapped to the stretcher.
Between them they used the stretcher to float Trence over to the stairwell door. Annee was there when they got there. She helped get Trence and the stretcher through the door and into the stair well.
“Are you two good from here? I want to inspect the damage,” Dukk asked from the doorway.
“Yep, we’ve got it,” Annee replied.

With the stairwell door closed again, Dukk returned to look at the hole in the ceiling.
“Looks like we were lucky,” came a voice on the crew comms. It was Bazzer. He came into view on the other side of the hole.
“So, it doesn’t look that bad from out there,” Dukk stated.
“Nope. Looks pretty straightforward. We’ll print what needs replacing, cut the damage out and then fix it. Several hours work, but doable. Quicker with a little help.”
“Yep, hint taken. You take the measurements, then get back inside so we can temporarily bring the DMD back online. I’ll organise a posse and we’ll get it done. Now, I’m going to check in with the others.”
“Excellent. Before you go, push that beam back up through the hole. It will be easier to move now than when the DMD is back on. I’ll push it towards the planet. Better to have it burn up than up here with us.”
“Superstition? It is just a chunk of metal.”
“That chunk of metal is now tainted with bad luck. The sooner it is away from here the better.”
“Fine. Whatever, Bazzer,” Dukk laughed.

Dukk enabled the broadcast on his comms, as he made his way back to the cockpit.
“Good evening again. Thank you for your cooperation during this emergency. Thankfully, we’ve come through it relatively unscathed. We will bring the near zero-g back online in a moment or two, so that you can get settled for the evening. It will go off periodically over the next several hours, as we do the repairs. So, as always, please take care when moving about when we are in zero-g. Recovery and repairs will hopefully be completed by this time tomorrow and we’ll resume our progress. We’ll make up the lost time along the way. Clearly, the passenger seating area will be out of use for now. We’ll let you know when you can use it again. Once more, thank you for your cooperation. Good evening.”

(to be continued...)

[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 21 - Turbulence (Passage 4 of 5)]

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2022 BJ Allen