System: Nexel Prime

  Star: K-Type

  Location: Outer System

  Someone was shaking me. Blinking quickly in an effort to focus and wake up, I saw the person who had decided to wake me from my nap. The only lights were from the emergency panels. Crouching next to me was Queen. Around us, the room was destroyed. Debris strewn everywhere. The sight jogging my slow mind.

  “What happened?” I asked as she helped me to my feet. “Did we win?”

  She shook her head. “No, in fact, the fleet is running to the nearest rift point.”

  I stumbled a bit as I slowly started down the hall. Heading for the nearest medical bay. She stayed by my side, catching me when I was too slow to do so myself. “If we didn’t win, how are we not dead?”

  “Another fleet appeared and started to demolish the swarming ships.” She sounded worried.

  “What fleet?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “The ships that first attacked us.”

  Silence descended between us as I focused on navigating through the destroyed halls. The only sign that we were near the medical bay was the amount of hurt people heading in the same direction.

  “Is the ship even structurally sound enough to travel through a rift?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know but I doubt it. Multiple entire sections are without power and shielding while others are rubble. There is even a section of the central shaft that is just gone. The captain has anyone and everyone assisting with either repair or recovery. I was lucky enough to be assigned to check on that section.”

  Lucky my ass. Something said she had called in several favors. She didn’t like to use her families name, but when it came to those near her, she would do anything. “Thank you.” I said, “How is Courtney and Brian?”

  I heard the hitch in her voice as she managed to get out. “Brian is dead. He was on one of the decks that was completely wiped out. Courtney is currently missing.”

  My heart dropped. I knew that it was unlikely that either would have survived but I had hoped. It just wasn’t fair. You finally find that someone that fits you only to lose them right after. I didn’t register that I was crying until Queen pulled me against her. Her sobbing tears and mine soaking our shirts as our bodies shook.

  We stood like that for what felt like an eternity and moments. Finally separating when someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Which of you is injured?”

  She pointed at me before saying, “I am going to go back to searching for people. Come find me later.” With that, she turned and jogged down the hall. The sound of her sniffling following her as she left.

  The nurse held a scanner up and started to pass it down my body and across each limb. Without asking me any questions, she gestured me to move on as she spoke, “no broken bones or major injuries. Your fine.” Then she jogged to the next person.

  Confused about the lack of treatment and care, I started to walk in the direction she had motioned me. My AI took that moment to speak as it shared a new map with me. “You are assigned to add a temporary structural support to section five.” The route the map showed wove this way and that. At times it seemed to even backtrack as it moved around one obstruction or another.

  I pushed a hand against the wall to leverage myself straight. My balance still felt like it was off, but the nurse was probably right. Slowly, I sped up from a slow trotting walk, up to a half walk, half jog. People flowed past and around me. Some supported as they made their way to the medical station. Others jogging, sprinting or otherwise making their way to repair something.

  As I approached the section, I noticed the emergency door was lowered in place. There were only a few reasons to do such a thing. Either something was actively on fire, or there was no air on the other side. Given the lack of power to the lights around me, I doubted that there was any atmosphere. The emergency atmospheric shield having failed to keep the section pressurized.

  Walking back to the nearest active nanite station. The yellow and green glow emitted from it as it started to form the materials I would need. The printer stopped printing the first tool halfway. “Station out of material. Please move to the next station.” My AI said as the power to the station pulsed and went out.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Grumbling to myself, I moved down the hall and to an adjacent corridor. The printer there churned out item after item as I approached. Shoving the welder, nano-foam applicator, cutting torch and saw into the bag provided, I turned to walk back to way I came. Recalling the door, I turned back and yelled at my AI. “I need a suit please.”

  Instead of saying sorry like my old AI would have, a simple message popped up in my vision. ‘Suit requirement temporary. Would you like to accelerate changes to their conclusion? Doing so would negate the need.’

  “God no. Give me the suit.” I said, disgusted at the AI for trying to force me to accept the change. I had the ability to do my job without relying on it so why would I do such a thing. The only reason I had even accepted the offer earlier was the fact that the fleet was outnumbered and likely doomed.

  Grabbing the freshly printed puck, I slapped it above the center of my chest. Directly above my sternum. It disappeared as nano goop slithered out and around my body. The goop felt like cold water as it flowed to cover every part of my body. The section over my face turned transparent. Readings and information about the environment passed from the suit sensors to my AI.

  Jogging back to the door, I pressed the button to open it. Nothing happened. My AI took that moment to state the obvious. “Door controls damaged. Manual operation required.”

  Looking down the hall, I realized no other door was closing nor was there any sort of field in place. Putting my bag down, I jogged down the hall to the next intersection. Finding the manual release for the emergency bulkhead. The door slammed shut with loud screeching and a bang. All the metal that had been in the way sheared through as the door sealed the section.

  Back at the other door, I located the manual release and pulled the handle down. Behind the handle was a simple button. Pushing hard against it, I felt and heard the gears latch into place. Releasing the handle, it stayed in place indicating that the button had worked.

  Lowering my center of mass and bracing against the wall, I pushed the handle up with all my strength. Slowly, ever so slowly, the handle moved. With each inch it moved, the door next to me opened a fraction. The suits environmental sensor relaying the sudden dropping pressure as the air rushed past me and through that crack as fast as it could.

  Nanites on the soles of my feet slid around as they dug into the ground. I just kept pushing the handle up until it was flush with the wall. Looking over, I saw that the door was open only enough to fit the flat of my hand through. Pulling the handle back out was effortless. Repeatedly, I moved the handle up and down until the door was open enough to allow my body to go through.

  Quickly, I moved to the now open door. Grabbing the bag from where the escaping air had tossed it. Stepping over the debris that had migrated to the door, I entered the sealed section. The suit projected enough light forward to allow me to see what was there.

  Multiple people were there. All of them unsuited and clearly dead. I had to force myself to move forward and not to look at each to see if I recognized any. My AI would catalogue each as I passed anyway. I could ask it later if I wanted to know.

  The only system that seemed to be working in the section was the computer connection. Even then it was likely on some sort of back up power. My AI kept feeding me directions as I navigated to the specified spot. Gaps in the walls, holes in the floor, over piles of twisted metal, I went through and around them all. All so I could get to a specific structural frame.

  Once I got within sight, I knew why it needed repairs. I approached the twisted and deformed beam. Sitting at the edge of the deck, it overlooked the void of space. Nothing between it and nothingness. Stars hung in the void, moving at such a slow pace that it was imperceptible. In fact, the only reason I knew we were moving at all was due to the planet visibly shrinking into the distance.

  Looking over the damage, I noticed that this was the only frame that had not been blown apart within a couple dozen meters in all directions. Two massive craters had just managed to hit this spot with their edge. The combined explosions had left only this one deformed structural support.

  There were no nano slots anywhere near us. Even if there were, they were not going to have the material to replace this whole beam. The best I could do was splint the damn thing and pray it held. My AI used the sensors in the suit to scan the area around us, highlighting different options and configurations for me. Of all the options, the best I could see had to do with tearing a nearby support structure apart.

  Using the lack of gravity and my suit’s ability to stick to any of the ship’s surfaces, I walked up a wall and onto the ceiling. Cutting deep into the rooms ceiling and to the structure beneath. Nano bots flowed along my suit as I cut. They pulled heat from the cutting tool and surface. Flowing to my back where a large radiator had formed.

  While I was in a rush, I took my time to measure and cut so as to not damage the ship more than I had to. Every cut I was taking would need to be explained later if an investigation was conducted on the repair. Not that I expected it to, but one could never be too safe.

  Shoving the panel I had cut free to the ground, I started on the large beam it exposed. Making sure to cut a longer piece then I needed. Hundreds of weld points, rivets, fasteners, and such had to be cut off the support in such a way that it freed the beam without destroying its ability to support a load.

  Finally, I heaved on the beam. Pulling it out of the ceiling and into the open room. Quickly I attached multiple support threads from my suit to the beam. There would be no point to all of this work if I just let the beam float off the ship and into space. Maneuvering it down and next to where I needed it, I was happy I had cut it long. One, or both, of the beams had bent outward from the force. After I cut it, I applied the nano goop to each end and slid it into place.

  The goop glittered from my light shining on its vibrating mass. Once it was in place, it stopped vibrating. Without prompting, the mass turned white. Lighting up the room and causing my visor to turn nearly pitch black. When the light faded and my visor returned to normal, the beam was welded in place. The only discoloration apparent was right where the two metals met the weld.