Out of bounds

[Sombs]

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Day 2 - Location unknown

The remaining crew was gathered on bridge. A weird view, Ezrael thought. There were only so many left. Dr. Adrianna Carr, Core Engineer Jennifer Hauser, Botanist Tasha Wright, Technician Jeff Powell, Defense Officer Lorena Hawkins, Damage Control Engineer Brian Tate, Maintenance Engineer Annie Reese, Commander Sherry Aguilar, Diagnostic Engineer Asato Toru, Chief Engineer Leon Isley - and the Captain himself. This was all they had. All they had to work with. Eleven people. Eleven?

The door to the bridge opened and Sombra entered the big room in a hurry, joining the group at Leon's side. While she was technically not part of the crew, she was now trapped with them here at the black hole. Thus Ezrael provided her one of the Apahanta suits, and because she had no other clothes with her. Ezrael nodded at her in a welcoming way before he began to talk.

"Good morning, people. Some of you probably know it already, but here is the general situation.

We are, according to the sensors, in the spatial void between Sirius and another sector, very likely between two galaxies. We can see no other stars because there are none. There is nothing but this black hole. This means we are on our own. We are unable to jump back to Sirius because we don't have any jump drive batteries left. This means, as long as we can't come up with a clever plan, we will be stuck here." He looked over to Sherry, who just nodded.

"Good news is that we are currently not endangered by the black hole. We are at the very outer area of gravitational affection, meaning it will only slowly pull us towards it. The repair of our engines will be enough to free us and allow us to keep a steady distance to it. It is unlikely we will meet anyone else here, since the chances of something jumping to this exact location are astronomically tiny. This both means there is nothing to fear for us, but also means we can't call for help. That being said, we are not connected to the neural net anyway, as we are too far away. A distress call would probably not reach Sirius in a very long time. A very, very, very long time."

"Luckily we have a good amount of food rations, synth paste and gel, water and other goods on the ship. If we limit the energy consumption of the ship we can buy us time, months, and if we come up with some clever modifications, maybe years, if necessary. Of course, the highest priority is to find a way to get us back to Sirius. If there are any ideas, at any time, just speak up. In the meantime, we all need to be as efficient as possible while trying to reduce any unnecessary activity. We need to be resourceful, as best as possible, as long as possible.

This is not the end, people. We will not die out here. Not like this. We have lost enough good people. I will not allow any further losses. We will return home!"

"Orders are the same as before. Engineers will focus on the engines first, then on the repairs of the most important subsystems. We have only so many spare parts available, so no unnecessary alterations or optical repairs. Functionality over aesthetics. Anyone else, help where you can, clean up the ship's corridors and rooms, make yourself useful if possible. I will create plans for modifications to our life support systems. One of our first changes will be the extension of the hydroponics to plant potatoes and other valuable plants."

"You have your orders, people. Let's get to work!"

---

While Ezrael's motivational speeches usually had a good impact on the crew, this time the morale did not change that much. Half of the crew was dead, their lifeless bodies frozen in medbay until the Captain would decide about a funeral. The crew was from all over Sirius. From all kinds of social groups. Few of them were able to handle the losses, others were barely able to concentrate. Two of the former were in the engine room, sitting on the floor, cross-legged with mobile consoles on their laps. Leon and Annie. They were controlling the Handsome Rover remotely, patching up the engine tubes at the rear of the ship this way.

"That girl," Annie started, breaking a longer lasting silence. Her eyes remained glued to the monitor. Leon raised an eyebrow in surprise, only for a short moment looking over at her before focusing on the work again. "Sombra. Do you know her?"

"Yes, very well even. Why do you ask?" Leon returned quietly, glad this was not about Nancy.

"Well, she never introduced herself to us. Who is she? I only know she is the logistical transport captain, and that she seems to be a friend of the Captain." The emphasis on friend was implying much.

Leon took a deep breath. "Sombra and I were classmates and grew up together. She once was obese until she met Ezrael who was our biology and physical education teacher back then. He managed to fund her a surgery and then took care of her since her parents never did, so she became more sovereign, learned to eat healthy, stopped cutting herself and all that. The three of us spent more and more time after school together, there was the surfing class and later we did more adult things, Sombra fell in love with Ezrael which is a thing until today and basically does anything he wants, like a fanatic. And so she started to do transport jobs for Ez, either bringing stuff to the Apahanta or doing other jobs to help Ez financing the Apahanta's maintenance. How she manages that is something she never talks about, though," the blonde explained while controlling the drone. It was currently patching up a hole in one of the engine cylinders.

"So she is one of his side bitches?" Annie asked, giving Leon a lopsided glance. "And his girlfriend just takes it that way?"

"Yes, and yes. Ez and Maren were often in a hassle about that topic, but in the end she had to accept him that way for a number of reasons." He sighed. "To be honest, it's an annoying topic, so let's focus on the work."

"It's a topic you had with Nancy as well, right?" she asked him, staring at her monitor.

After a short silence, he replied simply. "Yes."

"She is sleeping with other men?" Leon remained quiet. It was answer enough. "And now you're stuck here. And you'll probably never see her again."

Leon turned his head towards her, frowning at her. "You're not helpful!"

"I'm so-"

"I'm trying to come up with ideas how we can return home, because of all people who are still alive, I am the one who has the knowledge. I think about how we can create enough energy to feed the jump drive, either by recharging the batteries or by overcharging the power core or even using the black hole's radiation, and meanwhile I patch up the ship's engines. It will not be Ezrael who brings us home but me. I will do that. And for that I need to focus on my work, Annie, and not think about Nancy fucking other men or Ezrael or some Forlorn idiot. I do not want to think about how she will literally forget me because of her memory damage. I do not want to think about her right now, do you understand? Neither about her nor about Ez or Sombs. There is work to do. Focus on it and we'll be back home in a few days!"

It was obvious he was angry, and probably right about everything he said. Annie turned her face away from him, not having expected him to get mad at her. With a pouty face, she glued her eyes to the monitor. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Leon tried to focus on the job, but the fear was real. Nancy would simply forget about him.

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Uncharted System Stories: 18 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 38 | 85

Templates: Character | Transmissions

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