who showed up. Some had access to long-duration O2 supplies, but even most of them pulled out. No one knew if there would be any resupply, or what the damage was.
I got a tx from Lee that said he was riding down insystem to a habitat around Dagda for now. I wished him luck back.
My phone told me we were queued for a jump and our number was three divs down. That was going to be well into third shift, and I’d have to stay up to coddle the stationers.
What would I do with the girl?
I expected I’d have a bunkmate, but I didn’t. It might mean I’d get one after we shuffled other refugees around. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to offer if it wasn’t necessary, and I’d wait for the crew to make the call. I didn’t want to ask the crew to do anything they didn’t have to. With this kind of crowd, they were going to be holding things together by hand until we docked.
“Juletta,” I said, as I sat her on the bunk. “I have to go help people some more. Can you stay here?”
The expression on her face said I couldn’t. She looked like a puppy about to be abandoned.
“Okay, you come with me,” I said quickly. “But you have to be quiet, and wait patiently. No fussing, okay?”
“No playing with kids?”
“Not now. Maybe later.”
“Hungry,” she said.
“Yeah, let’s find the galley.”
How much food was aboard? This was going to be a four to five day trip at least, if we could transfer direct to Shetland Station. I figured that wouldn’t be likely.
Galley was forward, inboard and down one gangtube, which wasn’t easy. I finally had her sit on my shoulders and hold my head. She managed to pull hair and cover my eyes, but we got down.
One of the regular crew was in the galley. It was small. I mean, the right size for this crew, not enough for the passenger load.
“Hey, who are you?” he asked. He looked ready to order me back wherever I came from.
“Kaneshiro, Distressed Spacer. The captain put me in charge of the inboard refugees.”
He nodded and asked, “What do you need?”
“Food for the girl, then for me if you can. Can we do anything for the others?”
“Food isn’t a problem for a few days. We stock in bulk,” he said. He looked at Juletta. “Would you like a peanut butter wrap, honey?”
“Yes!” she said, very seriously. “Thank you.”
He slapped one together, rolled it up and handed it over. She grabbed it, started munching on it, and smeared some on my right leg.
“Whatever’s handy,” I said. There was no time to be picky. “I just need protein.”
He passed me a package of tuna. I ripped the top and started munching it straight.
“Thanks. Can I get a spare for later?”
“Sure.” He tossed one and a pack of Cheesy Cracks at me. He then said, “Food worries me less than recycling capacity. We’re rated for fifty inboard. We have probably double that. The towed pods are rated for a hundred. They’re probably at double that . So we’re going to have a lot of water, some solids, and exceed filter capacity.”
“Right,” I said. They’d hate to dump water or solids. Those were sellable commodities in space. If they had to, though, they would. But once the filters were exceeded, they’d have to dump, then pump all the waste into the primary tanks, which meant cleaning the entire recycler, and limiting fresh water.
We wouldn’t run out of drinking water, or shouldn’t, if they managed it well. But we would probably stink.
“I won’t tell them yet,” I said. “But I will if we get to that. I see we’re on sked for jump. I’ll go instruct them.”
“Roger. I’ll report that for you. Kaneshiro?”
“Angie,” I said.
“Travis. Second Officer and Second Engineer.”
“Pleased to meet you. Juletta, we’re going back up. Are you ready?”
“Okay,” she said, and clung to my hair.
“Ouch! Careful,” I said.
“Not yours?” Travis guessed.
“Refugee,” I explained. “I don’t know where her parents are. I’m hoping they make
I got a tx from Lee that said he was riding down insystem to a habitat around Dagda for now. I wished him luck back.
My phone told me we were queued for a jump and our number was three divs down. That was going to be well into third shift, and I’d have to stay up to coddle the stationers.
What would I do with the girl?
I expected I’d have a bunkmate, but I didn’t. It might mean I’d get one after we shuffled other refugees around. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to offer if it wasn’t necessary, and I’d wait for the crew to make the call. I didn’t want to ask the crew to do anything they didn’t have to. With this kind of crowd, they were going to be holding things together by hand until we docked.
“Juletta,” I said, as I sat her on the bunk. “I have to go help people some more. Can you stay here?”
The expression on her face said I couldn’t. She looked like a puppy about to be abandoned.
“Okay, you come with me,” I said quickly. “But you have to be quiet, and wait patiently. No fussing, okay?”
“No playing with kids?”
“Not now. Maybe later.”
“Hungry,” she said.
“Yeah, let’s find the galley.”
How much food was aboard? This was going to be a four to five day trip at least, if we could transfer direct to Shetland Station. I figured that wouldn’t be likely.
Galley was forward, inboard and down one gangtube, which wasn’t easy. I finally had her sit on my shoulders and hold my head. She managed to pull hair and cover my eyes, but we got down.
One of the regular crew was in the galley. It was small. I mean, the right size for this crew, not enough for the passenger load.
“Hey, who are you?” he asked. He looked ready to order me back wherever I came from.
“Kaneshiro, Distressed Spacer. The captain put me in charge of the inboard refugees.”
He nodded and asked, “What do you need?”
“Food for the girl, then for me if you can. Can we do anything for the others?”
“Food isn’t a problem for a few days. We stock in bulk,” he said. He looked at Juletta. “Would you like a peanut butter wrap, honey?”
“Yes!” she said, very seriously. “Thank you.”
He slapped one together, rolled it up and handed it over. She grabbed it, started munching on it, and smeared some on my right leg.
“Whatever’s handy,” I said. There was no time to be picky. “I just need protein.”
He passed me a package of tuna. I ripped the top and started munching it straight.
“Thanks. Can I get a spare for later?”
“Sure.” He tossed one and a pack of Cheesy Cracks at me. He then said, “Food worries me less than recycling capacity. We’re rated for fifty inboard. We have probably double that. The towed pods are rated for a hundred. They’re probably at double that . So we’re going to have a lot of water, some solids, and exceed filter capacity.”
“Right,” I said. They’d hate to dump water or solids. Those were sellable commodities in space. If they had to, though, they would. But once the filters were exceeded, they’d have to dump, then pump all the waste into the primary tanks, which meant cleaning the entire recycler, and limiting fresh water.
We wouldn’t run out of drinking water, or shouldn’t, if they managed it well. But we would probably stink.
“I won’t tell them yet,” I said. “But I will if we get to that. I see we’re on sked for jump. I’ll go instruct them.”
“Roger. I’ll report that for you. Kaneshiro?”
“Angie,” I said.
“Travis. Second Officer and Second Engineer.”
“Pleased to meet you. Juletta, we’re going back up. Are you ready?”
“Okay,” she said, and clung to my hair.
“Ouch! Careful,” I said.
“Not yours?” Travis guessed.
“Refugee,” I explained. “I don’t know where her parents are. I’m hoping they make
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