Cloverleaf Station: Chapter One, Part Two

 Notes: More Cloverleaf Station, woot! Let's have a rescue and some anger issues, shall we?

 Title: Cloverleaf Station: Chapter One, Part Two

 

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Chapter One, Part Two

 

Photo by: Luc Viatour / https://Lucnix.be

 

You have to keep calm.

You have to run.

Keep it together.

Fuck keeping it together, literally every second counts, RUN!

This was the conversation that had played out in Kieron’s head every time he got a rescue call for the past two years. The battle between urgency and clear-headedness, between personal safety and mission success, became more fraught every time he went through it.

For a while after things went so terribly wrong with Zakari, he’d trended hardcore toward flagrantly ignoring his personal safety for the sake of the rescue. After one of those escapades had ended with the woman he was rescuing dying anyway, and him having to spend a week in a Regen tank regrowing almost all of his skin, his distant supervisor had suggested that he was possibly not in the right frame of mind to be working on Cloverleaf Station.

“Especially after what happened to your friend…it might not be the right place for you at this time in your life. There are other stations between here and Delta Nine that you might do better at.”

Kieron knew he would probably go insane and do something very rash if he were transferred away. He couldn’t leave Cloverleaf Station, not until he accomplished what he had to. So he boxed up all his insecurities and desperation, settled into the persona of a professional, and stopped acting recklessly. He was personable to clients, he was amiable to travelers, he managed not to smother Dave for being the worst second ever. He was as normal as normal could be, when it was nothing but a façade over the crackling, memory-haunted hellscape of Kieron’s innermost thoughts.

It was only when he slept, and at times like this, that the cracks surged to the surface of his psyche. He couldn’t afford to fuck up, he couldn’t…but he couldn’t let the Masons die either.

He threw himself into the Do’s pilot seat and sealed the door. “Open Shuttle Bay Five.” He left his personal ship in the smallest, most private shuttle bay, the one that required the fewest resources to get in and out of.

“Copy that,” Dave said over the com. Kieron fired up his engines and waited for the shuttle doors to open.

And waited.

And waited.

“Dave…”

“Sorry! Sorry, just looking for the right button, hang on.”

“Triple circle in green on the righthand side of the center console. Don’t forget to input your ID number.”

“Right, got it, just…you’re still logged in.”

Kieron resisted the urge to grab something sharp and hold on until he bled. “Log. Me. Out.”

“That’s kind of your job, dude.”

You can’t kill him. Keep it together. “Right now my job is to help the Masons, so override my information with your hard code and get me out there.”

“Right, just…I don’t think I remember my hard code?”

“It’s. On the back. Of your ID card.” Short sentences. Just breathe. “Type it in. Now.”

“No need to get pissy, man.”

Knowing he’d regret his entire life if he said something right now, Kieron bit his lip hard enough to hurt while he waited for Dave to get his shit together. Almost an entire minute passed before Dave said, “Okay, Shuttle Bay Five opening in three…two…one…” The massively thick door rose ponderously, and Kieron fired his engines again as he made sure his personal computer was locked on to Mason Bay’s signal. He still had them.

He flew out into the black the second there was enough space for his ship to squeeze under the door, kicking the Do into a brisk pace even as he engaged the autopilot. It was programmed to keep him in the shadow, which gave him the time he needed to get into his suit. Greenies were the thickest, heaviest, clumsiest space suits in the entire Federation, but it was the best protection he could have against the radiation if he had no choice but to leave Big Momma’s shadow behind. He glanced at the timer as he attached the helmet. Six minutes until the Masons were toast.

“Uh, Kieron?”

Deep breath. He flicked on his external mic. “Yes?”

“The Masons are kind of freaking out over the com.”

“Did you tell them I’m on my way?”

“I sort of thought you’d do that.”

“When have I—” When have I had time to do that, you fucking piece of— “Please let them know that I’m on the way.”

“Maybe you could—”

“I’ll contact them directly in a moment, just…talk to them, Dave. They need reassurance right now.”

“I’m not so good at reassurance.”

No fucking kidding. “Do your best.” Mason checked and rechecked all of his seams and seals, then settled back into the pilot’s seat. Five minutes. “Mason’s Bay, this is Daring Do, over. Mason’s Bay, do you copy?” Nothing. He repeated the transmission two more times, and got no reply. “Dave, they’re not coming through, what’s happening out there?”

“Um, I think maybe something is wrong with their communication array?”

No shit. “Have you had any success getting through to them?”

“Nope. I stopped being able to hear them a minute ago.” He paused, then added, “It’s kind of nicer that way, they were starting to cry.”

“Mm.” Kieron settled into his rage like shrugging on his favorite shirt. It was amazing how angry you could be while still functioning like a normal person. “Keep trying to reach them. Tell them I’m coming.” They were getting close to visual range. He flicked his cameras on and magnified the view. Only a few hundred kilometers now…soon they would be—

“Oh, shit.” They’d clearly been in some sort of collision—with a minor asteroid or fracture from Big Momma, he didn’t know, but there was a cloud of silver particles surrounding the Bay, and it was spinning uncontrollably. The internal gyroscope was gone, then. “I’m going to have to lasso them.”

“You can’t. They’re too close to the line.”

“I have to.”

“Dude, seriously, the way they’re spinning, there’s no chance of making a lasso work. You won’t be able to hook it securely enough.”

“I will the way I’m using it.” Their cargo bay was already perforated and blowing its contents into space. He had his own mining explosives on board the Do; if he attached them to the lasso cable and shot it at just the right angle, he might be able to blast a hook through the backend of the Bay. Full power to the engines, and…

No time for second guessing. Just do it.

If you fail, at least you won’t have made things any worse.

Kieron ran as fast as he could to his own cargo bay, assembling his makeshift harpoon as quickly as he could. His cable seemed so delicate, given the task that was ahead of it. Was there any real way this could work?

It had to work. He used the smallest amount of explosive he had, just enough to make the ship’s hull fuse around the cable instead of breaking further apart, and set the launcher. He raced back to the pilot’s seat just as his countdown got into the single digits.

Nine…Eight…

Kieron didn’t stop to think, just fired the cable. It jetted toward the Bay, moving fast.

Five…four…

It impacted the rear hull, right above the cargo bay. The explosion was minor, no sudden bursts into the black to indicate depressurization.

One…Zero…Minus One…Minus Two…

They were out of the shadow now, and that meant they were being exposed to massive amounts of radiation. Kieron retracted the cable, tugging at first carefully, then more firmly once he was sure the lock was good.

Minus Six…Minus Seven…

More than a minute would mean heavy Regen treatments that Kieron didn’t have access to on Cloverleaf Station. More than two minutes would mean death, unavoidable. He pulled, and the ship slowly stopped spinning and began to reverse its course.

Minus Eleven…Minus Twelve…

Five breathless seconds later, the Mason’s Bay was back in the shadow of Big Momma. Kieron focused on getting back to the station, not letting himself think about the state the Masons were in right now, about whether they were conscious, how badly they were burning. He couldn’t do anything about the rest of it until he had them on Cloverleaf again. “Dave, we’re incoming. Open Shuttle Bay Three, I’m going to need the maneuvering space to get their ship settled without crashing into anyone else.”

“Aw, hey, you did it? Nice!”

“Haven’t you been watching?” Kieron demanded, feeling his tenuous control slip a bit. “That’s your job right now, Dave, to watch everything and back me up.”

“Right, yeah, but you totally had this. And what could I have done if you hadn’t, man?” There was a chewing sound over the com.

He was eating his goddamn lunch.

“What indeed.” Kieron shut off the audio and focused on getting the right angle on the shuttle bay. He needed to figure out how to drift-park the Bay behind him once they were inside without doing more damage to it. He needed to remote-activate the clinic, because fuck asking Dave to do that. He needed to prepare to handle two radioactive people with only the supplies he had on hand.

He could do it.

Because Dave might be useless, but Kieron was never going to be caught unprepared again.