“I need the ship checked over and her integrity confirmed before we can rest. Get the crew split into groups of four and have them take a sector each. Our repair bots are over-taxed so we may need to fix some parts ourselves.”
Dylan strode off as soon as the Thorian nodded. For a few seconds Auraylia didn't know what to do with herself, but the Logistics Officer soon handed her another small handgun and took her along to check the hull breach nearby.
A barrier already formed over the opening and gave an orange sheen to the view outside. She gasped as she got her first glimpse of stars and planets. So much blackness lay between them that her eyes were overwhelmed. Trell's chuckle broke the enchantment and brought her back to the lower deck on the Sapphira.
“First sight of space?”
“Yes. On Lantock we never saw the stars or space because of the shield. It made everything dark blue at night.”
“And you never left the planet?”
Auraylia shook her head and gazed at the universe outside, taking a step closer so she could see more. A few seconds later the sound of scraping metal made her jump.
“Oh dear, the Myreen must have hurt one of our repair bots,” Trell said as she picked up the scurrying metal object responsible for the noise. It wriggled in her hands, making her giggle, until she found its control switch and turned it off.
Once the bot was deactivated and no longer trying to drag its broken leg behind it she placed it back on the floor. Auraylia watched the alien woman examine the breach and make notes on the pad she had. It was linked to the ship's database so the Captain would be able to see what they were finding from the bridge.
Before they could move on a crew member she didn't know very well came up behind them.
“Another one!” He picked up the repair bot and slung it into the box he had propped under one arm. “The Myreen knew where to do the damage. Half our repair bots are broken. It's going to take ages to get them all up and running again and there's too much work for them as it is.”
“How many breeches are there?” Trell asked.
“Five in total now, and the bots are only working on three of them. The shields keeping us alive are going to drain the solar cells real fast.”
“Can we make it to our destination in time?”
“Maybe, but we might need to seal off a part of the ship to buy us some more time. Beth is working on the details now.”
Trell nodded, finished her notes, and the three of them moved on to the next signs of damage. Trell and the guy talked non-stop, allowing Auraylia time to herself to think over the last twenty four hours. She'd not slept in all that time and had been on her feet and rushing around almost constantly. When she was doing more mundane tasks, like now, where she pointed out damage and did little else, she felt so sleepy she wasn't sure she could keep her eyes open, but the two aliens with her chattered on like this was normal. Even as a slave Auraylia had never been awake this long in one stretch.
Two hours later they met up with another squad of the crew travelling in their direction. They helped Auraylia and her companions finish up their sector, as it was the most damaged, and as soon as they were finished a ship-wide announcement from their Captain called the entire crew to the canteen.
She shuffled along behind the rest of the crew and officers and tucked herself into a corner of the already filling up room. From her vantage point, seated on the edge of a dining table, she could see many of the faces around them. Most of them were human but besides Trell with her fur and tail, the engineer who'd joined them with his almost human features, and the Thorian, there was also an array of small grey aliens that were new to her. She'd not seen them about the ship yet and was fascinated by their small wiry bodies and narrow tall heads. They spoke in a language she couldn't understand and a few of the crew nearby conversed with them in it as well. Before she could ask someone what it was and if she could learn it, the Captain and the Thorian came striding into the room.
“Thank you all for your hard work. I know many of you have been awake longer than you are used to. The threat from the Myreen is now over and we're not far from Federations space. As many of you are aware, our ship has undergone a large amount of damage and we're still a day out of port. I want all non-skeleton crew to get some rest and I am making that an order. Everyone else should focus on repairs and energy preservation.”
He waived his arms and ushered them all back out of the canteen and she found herself right next to him as they left.
“Auraylia, I hear you fought well earlier. Our Thorian says you were useful to have around in hand to hand combat.” He gave her a smile similar to the one he'd given her when she'd listed off her abilities in the market and she did her best to return the gesture, but had no idea what to say in response to praise, although it made her pulse race to hear it from him.
“Is there anything else I can do to help, Captain? There's a lot to do.”
“You look shattered. Get some sleep like everyone else.” He motioned for her to go through the doorway to their dormitories ahead of him and then he stood and waited as the crew moved into each of the separate rooms off that. Each dorm room had twelve beds, three on each wall and hers was in the middle of the three identical dorm rooms.
Her bunk was on the left, and much to her distress, Ben's was the one above and the Crime and Punishment overseer below. She glanced at the nameplate beside the bottom bed and committed Thomas to memory. Both of them were men she wanted to avoid, but with Dylan and the Thorian outside, ushering everyone in, she knew she wouldn't be able to hide from them this time.