Page 8 of Life-Debt

“Anyway, there will be compensation for your retrieval of ship, cargo, and crew. There has been an active search for the ship for several weeks now.”

Well, considering the value and expense of the cargo, I was unsurprised. “I am sorry I plundered crystals to bring the drives and systems back online.”

“That is no matter. The ship is also valuable, and you will be compensated for having done the repairs to make her functional again. Would you have an issue consulting with us regarding the drive core?”

“Brown shiftgem drives are better used for farm equipment. They provide too much thrust and general power for a ship of this size. I replaced the drive core with a tri-color shiftgem set, so given some time to properly tune and recalibrate the engine, it might be a viable permanent set. I’ll test the engine on the way to your world.” I thought about hiding the true nature of my engine, but I opted for honesty, especially as it would back my abilities to handle their freighter. “I have tri-colored shiftgems aboard my ship, and I have a very versatile system. I can access all shiftgem gates, even the higher-level ones most use black gems to traverse.” As I had a special set of blueprints just for my custom tri-color engine, I added that to the tally of things sent over to Klerano. “There. That setup is excellent for small sized freighters, too. Any mechanic worth their salt can convert the drive core to function all other systems as well.”

“Your cooperation is appreciated,” Klerano replied. “Pardon my ignorance, but it is my first time speaking to someone of your profession. Do you have a title of any sort?”

I shook my head. “Just call me Viva. When I left Andromeda, it was before they ranked the first generation of people born on the planet, so I’m registered as breeding stock verified as acceptable for generational ship programs.”

“That’s significant, Viva.”

“It’s considered the second lowest tier among the generational homo sapiens,” I informed him. “I don’t have authorization for serving as crew or anything like that on a generational ship.”

“It’s quite obvious you’re qualified. Your success rating for stasis revivals alone qualifies you. Your ability to restore a derelict ship to operational status also qualifies you. If you would like to undergo a proper evaluation upon arrival to Delta, I would be pleased to submit your application on your behalf and pay the fees.”

My eyes widened at the thought of having a full certification and evaluation. At last check, the cost had rivaled that of my entire ship, when new with no used parts.

I’d bought her used and had enjoyed the lengthy process of customizing her from nose to tail.

“That’s quite the expense, Klerano. I’ve looked into the general application fees for the full testing for generational projects.”

“You would get all relevant testing, including psionic aptitude, manipulation compatibility, DNA analysis, and general space aptitudes. It’s obvious you’re suited for space, as you’re venturing alone quite successfully. If your ship registration number on these documents you sent is correct, you have quite the history of solo space travel, including the successful apprehension of pirates and bounty hunters—some of which were out for unwed homo sapiens such as yourself. And at your age, you’re remarkably decorated.”

Ugh. Decorations. Every time I brought someone out of stasis, I got a new decoration. I got some form of decoration or another for every ship brought in and towed from the darkest reaches of space, preserving the open travel ways from dangerous debris. “That’s truly generous, Klerano. I don’t pay much mind to those decorations. I’ve never actually been to any of the facilities to receive them. I wouldn’t have anywhere to put them.”

He chuckled. “I will use our data link to show you your collection, then. It’s truly impressive. So, back to business. What do you need from us?”

“Very little,” I admitted, although one thing came to mind. “If you wanted to make sure space near the shiftgem gate is clear of pirates and other opportunists, that would make my job a great deal easier. With so many of this ship’s systems down, getting her through the gate will be challenging enough. I will have to enforce the ten day quarantine period for the survivor on board my ship, but to streamline matters for you, I will bring the purification system online and set her up for remote control, so she will be clean for boarding. I can’t do anything for the bodies, but they took care.”

“They left their bodies sealed in their suits. Your destination has a purification system, but your efforts would be appreciated to prevent any additional problems.”

“Yes, they are still in their suits, likely with shiftgem crystals installed to mitigate the pressure from decomposition. Their suits were in good condition and there is no evidence of leaking at this stage. I would put them in stasis, but this ship requires three crew to operate.”

“We can remotely enable the stasis chamber if you can bring it online. We have the staff on hand.”

I nodded. “Then I will do my part here, if you can handle remote control of the stasis chamber.” I’d heard of such systems, which made the deaths even more tragic.

Had the comm systems remained intact, then all but one member of the crew might have survived.

What a pity.

“I will begin the process of setting up the stasis chamber. The room will have a comm link by one of the consoles. It will be requesting a connection when you arrive. You can leave this communication channel open in case there is a problem with the other console.”

“Pandora, heel,” I ordered. “Expect five minutes. I will need to deactivate gravity to move the bodies between stasis sessions. Where would you like me to place them during transit?”

“The crew bunks have straps in case someone passes, and there should be body bags large enough to fit the suits. We use the suits for containment and the bags as secondary protection should the suit leak. The stasis system is capable of handling the suit without additional preparation.”

I nodded, and without another word, I headed off to handle the unpleasant work of securing the bodies for their long flight home for burial.

THREE

“I look forward to your arrival.”

I sent Pandora off to explore the ship and attempt to locate anything interesting while I turned off gravity and began the tedious work of putting the corpses into stasis. Without any worries of survivability, the process took less than ten minutes per corpse, and I took care not to get a glimpse at the remains.

I’d seen enough corpses in my lifetime without adding three more to the tally.