The docking clamps closed with a shudder. The ship settled into the new sensation of very light gravity. Unfortunately this wasn’t the ship Ray had been hoping to dock with, it looked like these people were going to be her responsibility for a while longer. They hadn’t been able to reach Flynn on the comm, so had put down on the Queen Maurice which was under gentle spin on Ray’s (well Flynn’s really) docking platform.

Ray verified that airlocks were communicating and both sides reporting good seals. She popped the hatch and moved in with the first batch of people. The air of the musty old ship hit them as they entered, it had a slight scent of rotting fruit that Ray had been unable to locate the source of. Still, it was a welcome relief from the overwhelming reek of too many scared humans stuffed into a small space. The scrubbers on her much smaller ship just weren’t designed to handle that kind of load.

Calling the thing a docking platform was also not correct anymore, it was more of a work-station. The ring of storage containers contained all the tools and assemblies necessary to perform just about any major stripping operation, and some minor repairs. Out of the two ships attached at opposite ends of the spinning platform, the Queen Marice was the only option. The other ship, the poor doomed freighter Fluburnian V’rash had been severely holed by some errant asteroids, sucking most of the crew out into space, where they probably still were. The hull was mostly scrap, after the still working systems were removed of course.

Ray pointed the people in the direction of the living quarters and hit the airlock’s intercom.

“Ok, start getting everyone moved over in groups, then secure the ship and cycle the atmosphere. Over.”

Dreagar responded from the other end. “Copy that Ray, you want us to shut the ship down when we’re all off?”

“Uh no, leave it in standby, we’ll probably be running shuttle duty here once we find Flynn. Speaking of which, I’m heading to the bridge to fire up the long range comm.”

“Copy that. we’ll come find you when we’re done.” Ray flipped off the intercom and began working her way through the narrow corridors.

FLynn had warmed to the stardock idea quite well once he realized he no longer had to boost entire hulls down to the surface. He just sold the still valuable metal at spacerate or cheaper and let the purchaser worry about getting it wherever it needed to go. That had left them free to do what they did best which was dice up the ships and pull the good parts. Most of the storage containers had already been allocated for what items they were going to hold, even if they were still mostly empty.

The low gravity meant that Ray could stay up here for weeks at a time, that is if Flynn had ever let her, he always had some odd job or random task for her to do down on the surface. Well that was all over now, nobody would be going down there anytime soon. Whatever the heck was happening.

The Queen Maurice had gone through a severe engine fire which had wiped out the entire engineering crew. The old saying really was true, there were a billion ways to die in space. The aft decks had been sealed, in fact nobody had reopened them since. Ray shuddered to think what she most likely would find in there when she got around to clearing it. The bodies should have been removed but that hatch was still tagged in the computer as unopened since the fire. No time to worry about that now. The once doomed ship was now home for these people, at least until they figured out something better.

She reached the bridge cabin which like most vessels this size had it’s own airlock. In case of emergency what better place for an escape pod than the entire bridge, it contained all the sensory equipment and everything important. It really was a good design element, Ray had to admit. This one was particularly nice as well, the previous captain had evidently had a relaxed view of things which was refreshing. That was possibly also why the thing had burned in the first place.

As she entered, the ship recognized her. “Welcome Grand Admiral Ray” it droned the pre-programmed title. Why not, she had thought at the time as she was reprogramming the ship’s personell profile, may as well give herself the highest rank she could.

“Computer, please activate all life support systems and begin monitoring the life forms now boarding.” She didn’t have to say please, but she always did anyway.

“Affirmative” came the computer voiced reply.

“I don’t have a precise count yet, but please log it when they have all boarded.”

“Affirmative”

“Once you have that number, please assess the resources at hand and calculate the best way to keep those people alive for as long as possible. Implement when ready and alert myself or crewmen Dreagar or Jimmy.”

“Affirmative, analyzing now.”

“Thank you. Now please pull up all long range comms.”

“Affirmative”

Several of the displays showed graphs of various waveforms.

“anyone there, over!” crackled across the ship’s speakers causing Ray to jump. The voice had been male but didn’t sound like Flynn.

“Computer, where did that transmission originate.”

“Impossible to calculate within a reasonable certainty.”

Some of these imperial models could be so snooty. “Best guess then, computer.”

“There is a 22 percent chance that the transmission came from the nearest orbital body.” The moon? That couldn’t be right, there couldn’t possibly be anyone left down there.

The comm crackled to life again. “Repeat, mayday, mayday, 6 individuals requesting immediate pickup! Won’t last much longer, is anyone there?”

Ray’s mind fumbled with the proper syntax to open a communication, so she instead ran to the comm station and hit the large emergency button that broadcast on all channels. “Copy, copy, this is Ray Starchild at orbital platform Flynn’s Flam. I hear you, where are you calling from?”

“Ray? Did you say Ray Starchild? As in Raybeam Starchild? Over.”

Ugh, there wasn’t time for this. “Yes, Raybeam Starchild, here. I repeat what is your location and status? Over.”

“Ray! Ray, it’s me Cosmo. Listen I’m on the surface with 5 other guys. We’re on the roof of the comm building in town, well what’s left of it.”

“Cosmo! Why in the worlds are you still down there? Didn’t you hear the warning sirens all last night?”

“Uh, let’s just say some of us were a bit incapacitated and no we didn’t, and uh, either someone slipped us all some serious hallucinogens or something crazy is happening down here.”

“No shat! That’s why we all left!” Ray said, furious. No doubt he had probably been too inebriated to hear anything at all.

“You gotta send someone for us, somebody does, please, we’re not gonna last much longer here.”

Ray couldn’t believe it, that idiot Cosmo, leave it to him to get stranded. Still she couldn’t just leave him, could she? She didn’t know, maybe she could.

“Cosmo, we just barely made it up here by the skin of our teeth. I don’t even know if the others made it or not. We saw them blasting off and they definitely should be in orbit by now but we haven’t been able to make contact.”

“Where are you at?”

“We’re at the orbital platform with about 60 people from the town.”

“How did you get there?”

“We took my ship.” Why had she said that?

“Ray! You have a ship? You have to come get us, please Ray after all we’ve been through together. You know I love you girl, you gotta come get me.”

“Cosmo, don’t, just don’t.”

“Ray, please, I’ll do anything you ask, I’ll pay you, we’ll pay you won’t we guys?”

What could a bunch of worthless gamblers and drug addicts possibly pay with. “What have you got?”

“Ray seriously? I don’t know, we don’t have anything here, but we’ll work it off we promise.”

“You promise? You promise? I know what your promises are worth Cosmo, null! How in the worlds could you get yourself stuck down there?”

“Ok, well don’t do it for me then, there’s 5 other guys here too and I only know a couple of them, one is a Maltavian. Do it for them. Here you talk to her.”

Damn that Cosmo, he always knew how to pull her strings. If there was any chance of saving them, she would have to go immediately. She listened to the two other voices as they promised things that they clearly didn’t possess. One very strange voice even muttered something about a life-pledge.

She ran though a mental inventory of her circumstances. She had her ship which now had two working atmospheric thrusters and only about a tenth of a tank of fuel. On the other hand, it was as light and nimble as it probably had ever been. That crazy lady who claimed to be her future self had also said something about the flying mountains not coming down for what was it, a few hours? If that was the case, then she had what, maybe an hour left? Call it 45 ninutes, just to be safe.

Finally Cosmo came back on. “Raybeam Starchild, I think we’re destined for each other, you can’t let me die here, please Ray!”

“Cosmo, say one more word and I’m leaving you there for sure.” She waited, listening to the silence, daring him to say something else.

“Ray, if you really can’t do it then I understand.”

“Stop, Cosmo.” She tried to interrupt but he didn’t even pause.

“Just promise me this one thing, when you find Quark and Solara, just make sure she’s safe ok? And tell her that I loved her.”

That jackarse. “You stay up on the roof of that thing, I’m not touching down, you guys better be ready and able to jump fast.” She did a few quick estimations. “I’ll be there in around twenty minutes, you be ready!”

“Yea, thank you Ray,”

She turned away ignoring the chatter. Jimmy and Dreagar were standing in the room behind her. Oh great, just what she needed.

“Ray, you can’t.” “It’d be suicide to go down there right now.” They said respectively.

She walked right between them without saying a word. Dreagar grabbed her arm forcefully. She stared him right in the eyes. “Don’t!” she warned. Dreagar released her.

“Ray, he’s not worth it, none of them are. You know why they didn’t hear anything. Not one of those guys are worth risking yourself for.”

“I know.” She said. “And that’s also why I have to go, ‘cause if I don’t nobody else will.” She turned and set off doubletime toward the docking area.

As she flew through the ship she noticed Dreagar trying to keep pace. At least she had lost Jimmy. She reached the airlock and hit the open button. Dreagar caught up to her as the door opened and she stood in the entryway.

“Ray, if you’re going to go then I’m going too!” She couldn’t let anyone else take this kind of risk, it was her ship and her life. She looked Dreagar in the eyes.

“All right, but grab that suit there.” She said pointing behind him. As soon as he turned she lifted the emergency override panel and hit the button. The door whooshed closed. She keyed for an emergency opening of both airlocks. She turned back in time to see Dreagar’s face peering though the small portal in the door. He was yelling but she couldn’t make out the words.

She smiled and gave him a quick wave as the doors opened and the sudden change in pressure sucked her into the transparent crawlway between the two ships. She took notice of the position of the orbital platform relative to the moon while letting the momentum carry her into the opposing airlock.

She recovered her balance and keyed it closed. She felt the pressure equalize with that of her ship. It’s position on the platform had just started rotating away from the planetoid. If she didn’t drop now, she’d have to wait another entire revolution which was minutes she didn’t have. As soon as she cleared the airlock she keyed the computer terminal for emergency release of the docking claws.

They let go with a “Fashoonk” and the ship began to drift in the direction of the spin away from the platform. On her way though the ship she stopped and grabbed her spacesuit, being very glad she had not thrown it out earlier. This was going to be a bumpy ride, she might need it. She had it on by the time she reached the cockpit and strapped herself into the pilots seat.

She powered up the ship and nosed it down toward the moon below. The strange storms in the expanding atmosphere roiled below her like a boiling stew. She brought the thrusters online and punched it. The slight dropping sensation turned to full panic nausea as the ship surged toward the surface. She swallowed her stomach back down and gripped the controls firmly. She silently said a prayer to the goddess of lost causes, a goddess that she did not believe in but felt she knew rather well all the same. Oh well, maybe it would bring her some luck. She was definitely going to need some of that.