(… continuing)

On the video feed, a body could be seen shooting out of one of the aft upper thrusters. The body was limp.
“Unlikely,” Dukk replied to Luna’s concerns. “The bounce would have killed him. I just made it unlikely that the resuscitation equipment will be of any use.”
“Oh,” she replied. “What if there are more?”
“You’d better hold on to something this time,” Dukk said.
“Brace,” he said once more into the broadcast channel before firing the main thrusters.
The rig shot forward. Dukk stumbled back into the seat at the console. Luna had gripped a handle on the side of Dukk’s seat. She went vertical.
There were no new alarms, but the radar showed more noise in the wake.
“What’s that?” Luna asked as she straightened up. The rear video was showing an object disappearing behind them.
“Hopefully the last we’ll see of the raiders,” Dukk answered. “How are you by the way?”
“I’ve had better days, but I’ll be fine.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Dukk said as he smiled up at her.

“I want everyone in g-suits as soon as possible. We aren’t out of the woods yet,” Dukk said into the crew comms.
Bazzer came into the crew mess. “Anything yet?” he said.
“Definitely had some visitors. The thruster bursts got in the way of their plans. Hopefully they have backed off.”
Dukk pointed at the video feed. It showed some body size objects slipping from view.
“Time for a closer look?” Bazzer asked.
“Yep, let’s get out there and make sure the grapples and filters are removed. We’ll need two experienced walkers just in case we didn’t shake off all of them.”
“I’m definitely in,” Bazzer said. “I want to see that they didn’t do any damage to this old bird.”
“I’ll go too,” came a voice from the door. It was Mentor. “The passengers are all recovering well. The suddenness of it all caught me totally off guard. I thought I was better than that. If there are any still hanging on, I want to be there. I have some steam to work off!”
“We aren’t savages, Mentor,” Dukk said instinctively. “If there is an inch of life, we bring them on board, secure them and let the authorities handle it when we are back in port.”
“An inch gives me plenty of scope.”
Dukk sat back in his chair. He was unsure of what had just transpired. He looked over at Bazzer. Bazzer shrugged his shoulders.
“Fine,” Dukk said after a short pause. He looked around. The rest of the crew were now there too.
“Marr, I want you in the cockpit. Keep an eye on the scanners. Alert us if anything new shows up. Also, send a broadcast. We’d better let others know that this system isn’t safe right now.”
“Will do,” Marr answered as she headed for the door.
“Luna, engine room, keep us running hot and sweet for now.”
“On it,” Luna replied.
“Ann, well, I’m going to help out with the airlock and EVA, so that leaves everything else in your hands.”
Annee smiled.

Sixty minutes later, Bazzer and Mentor were back at the port door with a body in tow.
Dukk pressurised the airlock before joining Bazzer and Mentor and the body.
“No sign of life when I got to him”, Mentor said as he removed his helmet. “He was in our wake, attached to a tether grappled to the starboard hold door.”
Dukk bent over the body.
“Rigid,” Dukk said. “No chance.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Mentor agreed. “His colleagues weren’t able to get to him in time, as nor us.”
Dukk sighed. “It isn’t right, but better him them us. Any damage to the door or hull?”
“Not at first glance,” Bazzer answered. “I’ll go back now and have a more detailed look. We should also fly the drones to make sure there isn’t any other damage.”
“Good plan,” Dukk replied.
“What about this?” Mentor asked pointing at the body.
“We will handle it now,” Dukk said. “No point in carrying dead weight. Let’s get Kimince in here to scan his details. The observer can handle the paperwork. Then, Bazzer, take him back out with you. Point him at the planet. Give him a proper haulier burial, even though it is unlikely that he deserves it.”

Two days later and the crazy events in MJ3 were well behind them. The rig had been brought back to full working order. They had made up for lost time and there had been no further drama.

“You ready?” Dukk said looking over at his co-pilot.
“Absolutely,” Marr answered. “What an adventure it has been. It feels like a life time since I first looked at this view of Earth. Not eighteen days.”
Dukk smiled as he opened the crew comms. “Team, we are committed. How are we looking?”
“Reactors running hot, solar panels stowed and heat shields are locked in to place. We are on our way up to you,” Luna announced.
“Passengers are settled. Doing final lockdown checks. Two minutes,” Annee replied.
“Excellent stuff,” Dukk replied. “We’ll be in the pub in no time.”

(to be continued...in the next chapter)

[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 22 - Waves (Passage 5 of 5)]

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