Pixie Hazard by Archibald Bradford (top young adult novels .txt) 📕

her newest patient it means we blew up a goddamn Junker frigate for no good reason!”

“Roger that.” The blonde chirped before disappearing through the hatch leading to the bridge and the infirmary.

After Maria had made her exit Donnie turned to Eva.

“How about you Hooker, you need any hand-holding? Or to be fitted for a straightjacket while I’m ordering hers?”

The redhead sniffed and shrugged.

“Whatever, I gutted one shitbird and fragged three more in the engine room. Wasn’t that exciting. Just want to get paid already.”

Appreciating the other marine’s frank reply, Donnie winced and scratched at the dermpatch covering her injury.

“I guess the real trick will be convincing Eniella to clean your armour for you.”

Now Eva’s look soured.

“Yeah that’s gunna suck. Dried blood is a bitch. I’ll get some chow and see about cleaning it off before we hit up Kentis again.”

“Probably a good idea, red isn’t your colour.”

“What’s with you and colour today?” The fiery-haired woman muttered as she went into the galley.

Though Eva could be temperamental at times she was one of the most effective marines Donnie had ever commanded, never shirking her duties to the mission or to her crew.

Privately the skipper felt she just needed to get laid.

Not long after that they learned that Billy’s patient was stable and alert, though still in rough shape, so it was time to get back to work.

They made a quick trip down to Kentis to retrieve the uncovered transport, the crew more than running on empty by the time they launched the two vessels back into space.

They all knew that they couldn’t afford to take a real break until they were safely out of the lawless sector, which meant a slipspace jump.

Donnie was working on her umpteenth cup of coffee as she walked towards the front of the ship, pausing to check the infirmary to see how well their guest was recovering from his ordeal in vacuum.

Her tired brain ground to a halt though when she saw the young man sobbing inside, Billy had one arm around his shoulders as she comforted him.

Without even looking the veteran medic stuck her free arm out and sharply gestured for her captain to leave immediately.

Smart enough to know that ‘Doctor Wu’ would do anything to protect her patient’s physical and psychological wellbeing, including kicking the crap out of ‘Captain Nelson’, Donnie discretely slid the door closed and turned away to instead climb the slanted ladder to the cockpit with one hand, the other gripping her coffee mug low to her thigh.

While climbing the ladder she felt a deep pinch in her hip from where the laser had burned through her suit, but she ignored it. The dermpatch was holding and Billy’s injection of nanites would finish mending the bone within a handful of hours, any discomfort she felt until then was simply par for the course.

The medical-grade nanites were one of the most expensive items onboard the ship, as such Billy tended to save them for damaged organs, tendons and bones, rather than mere soft tissue injuries.

Besides, what good is a battlefield injury if you can’t show off the scar later?

Once in the cockpit Donnie rounded the seat block to meet her pilot’s frown.

“How we looking?”

“Was about to call you. Not terrible, but not great.” Davie brought up an image of the underside of the ship and pointed to where a thin stream of gas was spitting out into space; “Whatever I sat on dirtside must have been something pokey. The inner hull is still intact but it nicked an oxygen line.”

“Damn. How are the levels?”

The redhead stifled a yawn as she rubbed at her tired eyes, her fingers pulling down and away from her freckled nose when she was finished.

“It’s a slow leak but they are definitely dropping, recycler can’t keep up with it. We don’t get that patched up in the next sixteen hours we’ll be in trouble. Kyle and Eniella are already suited up. Just need you to make the call.”

The captain pursed her lips.

“Why didn’t you fix it while we were dirtside?”

“Didn’t catch it, I have been up for thirty something hours.”

“Boo-hoo, so has everyone else. What’s the hold-up? You didn’t need to wait for my permission to get this done.”

Davie shook her head.

“If we get jumped with them out there-”

“Fine, fine.” Donnie grumbled as her tired mind realized the legitimate concern; “Can we do the repairs later, make slipspace as is?”

The pilot winced.

“We’re lucky we made the second drop onto Kentis. Slipspace conversion is basically a continuous explosion going off all around us. Throw in a venting O-2 line...”

“Right, boom goes the Pixie.” Donnie leaned in and flicked a switch above Davie’s head to activate the ship’s intercom; “Kyle, do you need Eniella for this patch job? If we’re going to be sitting ducks I’d rather my FCO was in the cockpit with her head on a swivel.”

She kept her finger in place as she waited for the mechanic’s response. It was a second or so before his voice came back.

“I’ll need another pair of hands out there Captain. I suppose it doesn’t need to be Eniella though.”

She waited for him to finish before nodding to herself and clicking the switch again.

“Great. Eva, get your peevish ass to the airlock, double-time. You’re a mechanic now.”

“Oh that’ll be a fun conversation.” Davie chuckled.

“Don’t I know it, but with Billy tied up playing doctor and Bunny nursing a headache I don’t have a lot of options. Any other issues?”

The pilot shrugged.

“Cargo-hold is a disaster, one of the straps came loose during the second drop, but that’s hardly pressing. One of the starboard thrusters is underperforming: twelve percent from nominal. Kyle thinks one of the junctions got knocked loose again, also hardly pressing.”

Donnie nodded.