Fractured Heart

Katarina awoke with a start.

Her blurry vison was filled with yellow flashing lights, and a rhythmic alarm was interspersed with a male voice saying, “core meltdown imminent.”

She leaned forward quickly, and in several swift movements, flipped a series of switches, while also frustratingly, pushing loose strands of hair behind her ear.

The alarm went silent.

“Computer!” Katarina called out.

“Yes commander" a smooth, masculine voice replied.

“What happened?”

“Commander, the ship sustained damage during a rushed FTE.”

Katarina grimaced.

“warning" the computer continued “pressure hull has been compromised; oxygen levels critical. Please enact repairs before continuing operation.”

She swore under her breath, then reaching behind her seat, she felt for the light blue duffle bag, with “emergency kit" labeled in yellow, with red lettering.

She felt for the handles and pulled gently, the bag came over and she placed it on her lap. Quickly, she opened and retrieved a small plastic tube labeled “sealant.”

Within a few minutes she had sealed the pressure hull and the amber lights faded to white.

“Pressure levels nominal" the computer quipped “system reboot requested."

Katarina began the reboot sequence and waited while the computers faded to black.

A few heartbeats later, the screens flickered back to life, and the low hum of electrical processes confirmed no damage to essential systems.

“hello Katarina" the computer said, as though nothing had happened, “how are you doing today."

“not great mac" she replied reaching back into the bag, to retrieve a small black book “run a full system diagnostic please?”

“Sure thing!”

She could hear the quiet clicks and whirs of the computer as it began scanning the ship for problems. She opened the book, but no text was visible. Shaking her head, she closed it with a sigh, and placed it gently back into the bag.

Oh dear!” the computer chimed “it appears that our last FTE-"

“I know" she interrupted, “your backup system already filled me in, how’s the rest of the ship?” she said waving a hand around the cockpit.

“The Thundrex has sustained impact damage across approximately 25 percent of the outer hull. Would you like a list of damaged or inoperable systems?”

“no, I’ll find out as needed" she sighed “did we at least get through before the shut down?”

“affirmative, however we have drifted several hundred kilometers from our plotted arrival point.”

“that’s fine, is there enough power to run the main engines?”

“Negative"

She frowned “what about thrusters?”

“Yes commander! Although they will only achieve 75 percent of their maximum output”

“I can make that work" she said as she grabbed the controls. “give me a waypoint on the heads-up display please?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, the heads-up display emitter is inoperable.”

She swore again, and punched several buttons on the navigation computer, and a compass rose appeared on the tiny screen “ok, give me directional bearings and range.”

The computer clicked and whirred in thought, “turn to bearing 151, elevation 24, range 346 kilometers, and increasing.”

She deftly rotated and turned the ship to align with the stated coordinates. She slowly pushed forward on the thrusters.

“what’s the range now?” she asked after a few moments.

“340 kilometers and closing."

She relaxed and pressed several buttons on the communications terminal. “Archie station, this is thundrex, requesting permission to approach?”

Static filled the cockpit.

“I’m sorry Katarina" the computer trilled “the broadcast antenna is not operable.”

She sighed heavily “Can you tell if the antenna is damaged or is it the amplifier?”

“Unknown" the computer responded thoughtfully “although it is possible that a cable terminal simply shook loose. “

“I’ll take a look,” she said as she released the catch on her safety harness “which panel is it?”

“compartment theta 4.”

“got it" she said grabbing a multi tool out of the bag, “starboard side?”

“Correct commander, the terminal end you are looking for will be 12 centimeters past the strut just behind the bulkhead.”

She grabbed a flashlight and put it in her mouth, “okay" then made her way to a panel to the right of the pilots’ seat.

After removing several screws she pulled the panel open, and set it aside, the bulkhead was about a meter away, she leaned in and squeezed her shoulders through the gap and reached for the access hole in the bulkhead. She could barely see the cable she needed to check, so she closed her eyes and felt for the wires. She ran her hand up and down the bundle until she felt the connection terminal and discovered that it indeed had come loose.

“I got it!” she declared around a mouth full of flashlight. She twisted her hand and pushed the end home.

“antenna connection, reestablished!” the computer expressed joyfully “attempting to contact Archie station."

Katarina sighed with relief and slowly wriggled her way out of the hatch.

Almost freed, her sleeve caught, and tore a jagged piece of metal free and precious air was quickly sucked out the now open hole to space.

She swore loudly and pulled away from the open hatch. Quickly, she grabbed the cover plate and pressed it into place. The escaping air slowed to a hiss, and she took up the sealant tube, generously applying a coat around the seam of the panel. Once the hissing stopped, she reinstalled the screws and backed away. “air pressure status?”

“holding steady, small leak detected, scrubbers are working at 115 percent to compensate for loss. Warning, at current rate, oxygen supply will deplete in 27 hours.”

She pulled herself back onto the pilot seat and strapped back in.

“Archie station has acknowledged our request and has granted us permission to dock at landing pad 4.”

“Thank you” she breathed out, “how long till we reach our original arrival point?”

“45 seconds,”

“Ok, from there, give me the bearing for the next FTE, and get us as close to Archie as you can.”

Yes ma'am, will we be attempting a rushed jump this time?”

Katarina rolled her eyes and said, “no, this time we won’t have anyone trying to kill us."

“About that commander, we have received a hail from our pursuers, would you like to respond?”

She loudly swore this time, grasping the controls, “how long until they are close enough to shoot at us?”

“2 minutes ma'am”

“And how long till we can FTE?”

“Safely?”

“Yes safely!” She shouted.

“5 minutes 24 seconds”

“Send Archie a mayday, we’ll need a rescue when we exit.”

“Done Katarina.” The computer said, “shall I prep for a rushed jump?

Katarina shook her head “what other choice do we have?”

“None" the computer stated, “preparing systems for emergency FTE.

Katarina braced for the inevitable nausea that came with folding space. After many FTE's she still had not gotten used to the feeling.

Folding the envelope in 3. The computer chirped.

Her view of the vest emptiness of space warped in front of her and her stomach inverted in on itself.

She may have screamed.

She did black out again.

She opened her eyes to a bright white light shining through the cockpit window, and someone’s voice through the speakers.

“Katarina! Are you there? Can you hear me?”

She raised her hand and pressed the communications button, “I’m here Dimitri, I just passed out. How long have I been here?

“About 5 minutes, why?”

“There might be some pirates chasing me, are you loaded for combat?”

“Of course,” you could hear the smile through the radio, “I’m always ready for a fight!”

The lights turned away, and she looked out just in time to see 3 folds open and release the pirate’s ships.

Before anything could be done, Dimitri opened fire on the first ship creating a field of rapidly expanding shrapnel.

The other two ships turned immediately, no match for the heavy fighter.

“Yeah! Go back home you cowards!” He yelled over the radio, while peppering the rear of the third ship with high caliber railgun rounds.

Within seconds both fleeing ships Had been destroyed.

“Yeehaw!” Dimitri shouted.

“Yeehaw?”

“I saw it in a thing last night.” Dimitri said, waving it off.

“Ok” she replied shaking her head, “Hey the thundrex is pretty beat up,” she said, “mind if I join you, and we tow him back in?”

“Heck yeah! I’ll get the drones on it, give me a sec to get docked.”

Moments later she was in his arms, passionately kissing him before he could say anything.

Pulling away, she said, “I missed you!”

“I didn’t go anywhere!” he said almost whining.

“I know, but you weren’t with me!” she stared up at him with pouting brown eyes.

“I offered to come with! It’s not my fault- “

A loud beeping interrupted him, “I’m sorry dark lord" a deep voice coming from the computer terminal said.

Katrina raised an eyebrow and mouthed “dark lord?”

Dimitri sighed and nodded slowly, “Yeah, what is it, and I told you not to call me that when Kat was here!”

“Again, I’m sorry sir, but you have received a transmission.”

“What?” Dimitri asked puzzled.

“perhaps you’ve gone deaf, I said-"

“I know what you said!” Dimitri interrupted quickly, “why did we receive one? No one uses transmissions anymore.”

“It appears that the transmission transferred twenty thousand dollars into your account before deleting itself"

“That’s barely enough for dinner anymore" Katarina said bemused.

“Was there anything else in the transmission?”

“No sir, it simply added the funds and left. I could attempt to trace its origin if you would like?”

“Yeah! Let me know if you find anything, for now, Katarina and I have some… important things to discuss, it might take us a few hours to get to you?” he said winking at Katarina.

“Hours?” She replied playfully, “I’m sure we will be back in a few minutes.”

Dimitri looked hurt and whispered, “you know what I mean!”

The corner of her mouth curved upwards in a smile “whatever you say dear."