I checked things, we were beginning to enter the upper atmosphere of the gas giant.

  I said over the PA in... to all the rooms now.

  “Now entering Atmosphere, Brace for real gravity and turbulence.” I said.

  Hwang looked around her room, while Doctor Smith in his own finally blinked himself awake.

  “What? Atmosphere? Why?” Hwang asked.

  “One of the things I meant to tell you before we got bogged down with the whole recap thing, We were running low on fuel and the queue to fill up is way too long, so we're scooping a gas giant for fuel. Didn't want to interrupt.” I said, as I noticed Megan was still holding Hwang, her crying momentarily interrupted by the surprise of the atmospheric entry.

  “Shit, do we need to do anything?” Hwang asked.

  “No... but I may need to concentrate so... don't expect me to respond right away.” I said.

  Despite the automated systems trying to fly us on the set path the winds buffeting us were throwing us off, and the auto-pilot was constantly over-correcting. I took direct control then, and killed much of the power to the drives, shifting the control surfaces as wide as I could, and angled us with the wind, letting it pull us like a sail, setting us in a gentle glide towards our objective corridor.

  I say gentle glide, we were still going nine hundred kilometers per hour, but compared to our orbital speeds we were taking a casual stroll.

  I read back what Hwang and the others were saying.

  Doctor Smith in the meantime was only just getting up from bed and beginning to get dressed.

  In the meantime, after talking with each other, Hwang had asked a question that I had missed during the whole 'sailing the ship into a gas giant' thing.

  “Captain Cofey... what happens to us now?” Said Hwang.

  “That was initially what I wanted to ask you all.” I said.

  “I thought you wanted to debrief us and get us all on the same page.” Megan said, her voice cracking but strong.

  “In order to ask you this.” I retorted.

  “Okay... then so... what happens?” Rekki-Ricky said, seeming a little annoyed with me.

  “That... is up to you.” I said. I was going to say more but we hit turbulence that caused everyone in the room to brace themselves, and forced me to yank us back into a path of calmer sky with a burst from the drives.

  “Apologies, surfing on the edge of a gas giant's storm cell his harder than it looks.” I said, exaggerating a bit. We were much further than the edge of that particular bit of nasty weather.

  Oh, joy. There was another. Right in our path. That the system hadn't warned me of because our original path before I took control would have kept us far from it. Glorious.

  Why did this gas giant have so many storms.

  A helpful tooltip popped up in the feed with information on this planet, apparently in response to my idle thought.

  'discovered by russian explorer Ivan Vladislov, planet named Shtorm.'

  I stared at this.

  I don't know what I was more disgusted by, the lack of imagination in the name, or the fact that it was so utterly descriptive of what I now faced.

  “What is happening Captain Kofey?” Doctor Smith said, as we hit another batch of turbulence.

  “Refueling the ship, in a gas giant, storm cells all around, Hwang has a meeting going on in her room, gotta focus!” I said tersely over his PA.

  I kept video and audio monitor up of Hwang's room, but I really couldn't focus overly much on the conversation going on in there, though I do know that a few minutes after Doctor Smith entered Carolina popped out of a heretofor unknown hatch in the ceiling. Where was she finding these things? I swear she was installing them herself.

  We hit a patch of calm air after what felt like hours, and I was able to coast in the air instead of actively fighting the storm, and in the brief calm I accelerated my reference frame and played back everything they had said.

  Megan was crying for awhile, with Hwang holding her and Rekki-Ricky looking VERY uncomfortable, before Doctor Smith entered.

  He blinked. “What happened?” Smith asked.

  Hwang answered softly. “She just found out her brother died.”

  “Oh... I'm so sorry.” Doctor Smith said. I could tell he practiced this, though under the practiced sad face, I could tell he did not really understand what was going on. And importantly, didn't seem to care.

  I don't think he really liked the other military people that much.

  “So what were all of you meeting about?” Doctor Smith asked warily.

  “About what we're going to do moving forward.” Rekki-Ricky answered.

  “What we're doing moving forward?” Doctor Smith asked bewildered.

  “We're going home right? Captain Cofey just needs to drop us on the nearest station and we can make our way back home.” Doctor Smith continued.

  “Think, Doctor. Vice president Ivanova ordered us to seize the ship and Captain Cofey, She's gone mad, you think if we show up after failing that, or worse, helping Cofey hold the ship that we'll get off scott free?” Hwang said.

  Doctor Smith blinked.

  “Sorry what?” He asked.

  I fast forwarded through the NEXT recap, getting everyone on the same page was such a chore, maybe I should start a journal or posting ship minutes or something. Get a bulletin board and keep a list of recent events on it so everyone can know the pertinent points, this was exhausting and I wasn't even participating this time through.

  After filling the doctor in on everything, including the Deacon's, which he was strangely attentive during, Carolina popped out of her hatch, startling everyone.

  “Okay, Brayden is busy flying the ship so we don't all die, so I'm gonna ask what he was winding around to asking in his long-winded way. We can drop you all somewhere, and that's fine, you can do whatever you want, which seems to be the C.O.G. Way. BUT, and it's a big fat butt, your home planet has probably declared you dead or traitors, and making your way in this universe with no assets to speak of and no ship is tough even if you are part of a faction. Independent, best case scenario is you wind up pirates or slaves. So I convinced Brayden to make you an offer.” Carolina paused, shifting herself in the wall space so she was leaning on her folded arms for dramatic effect. I could tell she was offput by the fact that the direction of gravity kept changing as the ship turned and dove with the winds.

  Everyone waited a beat.

  “Whats the offer.” Megan finally broke the silence.

  “Stay on as crew.” Carolina said, her boisterous manner of speech softening with this.

  “I thought most of C.O.G. Doesn't HAVE crew?” Doctor Smith asked.

  “They don't, from what I've read and what Hook has told me the most that the majority of them have are close friends and family members that stay aboard their ships, but most of those eventually will wind up being C.O.G. Captains themselves so it's less crew and more an... apprenticeship setup? With us all being from wildly different backgrounds and none of us, I THINK, wanting to sign up to be cut apart and put back together to pilot a C.O.G. Ship I don't think that's really on the table. So my offer is this. Sign up to be crew on this ship, work with us together until the end of our journey, and then we'll get you all where you want to go, or into whatever position you want at journey's end.” Carolina said, rather eloquently, I noted.

  “What IS the end of your journey, by the way?” Megan asked.

  “Well... Hmmm... Brayden you back yet?” Carolina asked.

  I had just been checking all of the alerts that had been popping up, apparently we were go to begin harvesting hydrogen. I confirmed it and felt the ship thrum as a massive magnetic field formed in front of us. I could feel the ramscoops stuffing us full, packing in the hydrogen and pressurizing it in special bays.

  “I think so. We've just begun refueling.” I answered. I think I had taken a few seconds longer than would have been comfortable, but there's a lot to juggle here.

  “So?” Hwang asked.

  “Two of my friends, and the only people who know I am alive, were killed far away from here. If I don't get their stacks, their recorded memories and personalities, back to Prime before they are restored from backup, there will be no one will know who I am, I'll just be some asshole in a stolen C.O.G. Vessel, a pirate.” I said that last bit with venom.

  “I think you are being over-dramatic, I doubt everyone will instantly think of you as a pirate, but yeah, we are on a... rescue mission. To save his friends memories.” Carolina said.

  Hwang, Megan, and Rekki-Ricky blinked, but Doctor Smith nodded.

  “I see. That makes sense. I had heard of issues arising among C.O.G. Captains who were restored from backups getting the up to date records from their death, their... stacks?” Doctor Smith asked for confirmation.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “That is the term for the onboard backup I believe yes.” I said.

  “People who try to integrate that data after being brought back face an uphill battle. Sometimes it works, but there's no real connection, it's like learning something from a book. Sometimes it's worse, and the knowledge of a traumatic death can lead to psychosis and dissociation from reality.” Doctor Smith said.

  “Hence Why I am hurrying to get there before the earliest date they could be decanted.” I stated.

  “Shit... how long do we have left?” Hwang asked.

  I checked.

  “15 days, and four jumps left to C.O.G. Space.” I said.

  They relaxed.

  “That sounds like plenty of time!” Rekki-Ricky said.

  Megan shook her head.

  “It's actually pretty tight, but doable.” She said.

  “It would be, if we didn't keep running into problems. As it is we've lost a whole day here in system to refueling. And with the imperial vessels guarding that jump point we either need to fight through them or find another route.” I said grimly.

  And of course, right at that moment, a new problem reared it's head.

  My sensors screamed at me that we had incoming contacts. I would have normally just filed that away for later inspection, but somewhere between the... thermosphere and mesosphere? I think? We stopped picking up ships around the station.

  That meant whatever we were detecting was down here with us.

  “Sensor contacts, I have to deal with this, Carolina...” I was about to say stay safe, but she was part of my crew now...

  “Figure out what to do with them, keep them safe, that's an order.” I said.

  Carolina paused, then grinned and snapped off a salute to my camera. “On it, you go fight whatever you have to!”

  And with that I switched my awareness to outside the ship.

  ***********************************************************************************

  CAROLINA

  The first thing I did was get everyone up.

  “On your feet, we're probably about to get in a fight so we need to get you all in vacuum suits so your lungs don't turn inside out the first time we take a hit.” I said, trying to remember what the chief from back on my ship used to say to newbies and emulate her. Or maybe I should try to emulate the Baroness.

  “Do you really think it will come to that? Surely whatever this is could be resolved without violence?” Doctor Smith said, but I could tell he was just going through the motions, like he felt this was something he needed to say, but his eyes said he knew what was inevitably going to happen.

  “Okay, I'm gonna get you guys suited up. Hook? We got some suits for them?” I asked, ignoring the doctor.

  “Full voidsuit or emergency softskin?” Hook asked.

  “Aren't there any encounter suits like we used planetside?” I asked.

  “Yes, but all but the one you have require cortical plugs to use effectively. You may remember Captain Cofey spent some time modifying yours for use without, and we have not had a chance to make more.” Hook said.

  I bit back a curse.

  “Softsuits it is. No armor but if the hull is breached you just need to pull the helmet on. Where can we find them?”

  “Two softsuits have been provided with every room in the dispenser.” A hissing sound issued from the wall where a hatch popped open, and inside where two small discs that I recognized as the storage container for said softsuits.

  “Alright, everyone to your rooms, grab both, one to wear, one to put on when the first one tears cause they are practically made of tissue paper, Everyone meet back outside the bridge, go!” I said, trying to be commanding.

  It worked, everyone ran off, and so did I, because I had already sucked vacuum once and was not eager to repeat it. Thankfully in my room was my encounter suit from the surface, still partially dismantled where I had started to tinker. I slipped it on, noting that the modifications I had made to let my new refurbished digital fusion lance to stick up and out of the suit seemed to work. Only question was whether or not it was airtight... that had not been high on my list of things to work on.

  I took one of the emergency suits and slipped it on over top of the encounter suit, though slipped was a misnomer, and a bit of cable around my arm to use to cinch it shut in case the exposed area around my finger was, in fact, not airtight.

  Despite what I said it wasn't exactly made of tissue paper, it was stretchy enough that it wouldn't tear, if it did it wouldn't be able to hold up to vacuum suction. But anything at all sharp would puncture it easily.

  I jumped back out of the room and was halfway down the corridor when Hwang emerged from her room, emergency suit on and helmet partway deployed. It looked like she'd accidentally engaged it then tried to manually stop it from deploying with her hands, and it had jammed.

  I stopped on my heel and ran back.

  “Shit... hold on...” I looked at the little bubble shield that the collar of the emergency suit had started to deploy.

  Yep, it was fucked. These things were literally paper thin, and even C.O.G. Design could only do so much to make something that thin durable.

  “Take it off, this suit is borked, if the helmet on the next one deploys again let it.” I said. I am sure there may have been a way to make it work, but I didn't know it off hand and best to get her in a suit that WOULD work.

  “That's all it took to break it?” Hwang asked.

  “They are disposable emergency suits, so yeah. Strip it and put the other one on.” I said.

  Hang hurriedly tugged at the collar and pulled the suit down. It didn't shrink down to it's original size or anything, just kindof flopped to the ground like a shed skin.

  Right at that moment, as Hwang was pulling out the second emergency suit, the whole ship lurched to the side, and a deafening sound filled the corridors.

  “What the fuck was that?” Hwang asked.

  I had braced myself as soon as I felt the first shake transmitted through the deckplates.

  “That would be weapons fire.” I said, trying to sound calm and disinterested, like I had faced this kind of thing a hundred times.

  “Sounds like... railgun fire impacting the hull. That scream was the hull distorting to catch the slug like a net. Heard it enough.” I said, as I held the emergency suit open to help Hwang get in. Focusing on getting Hwang in her suit was helping me keep from thinking about what would happen if the hull failed to catch the spikes.

  I wasn't lying, I had heard it enough, when my old ship and the rest of the squadron had fought pirates they almost always used railguns, cheapest guns available. Preventing penetration and damage to internals had been a huge issue before someone had designed hulls that would literally deform to catch them. Squished outer compartments good, but hey, better squished then holed.

  “I wonder if that's why most cargo areas are near the skin of ships.” I wondered aloud.

  “What?” Hwang asked, as she finished settling the collar of the suit around her neck.

  Which then immediately deployed into a helmet over her head. This time she didn't try to catch it.

  I saw the issue ,the way she had grabbed the collar was pressing right on the activation point, so as soon as it was in place it was deploying.

  “Here.” I said, and quickly undeployed her helmet using the collar, then I grabbed her hand and showed her by feel.

  “This deploys” I said, pushing her finger to the deploy button.

  “And undeploy.” I continued, pushing it to the other button on the collar.

  “Don't you mean stow?” Hwang asked.

  I grimaced at her. The language fast learning I had been sleep taught had NOT given me a broad grasp on the languages I knew, just a functional one.

  I pushed back from her, to see Rekki-Ricky, Doctor Smith, and Megan emerge from their rooms.

  “Alright, let's go!”

  I said as I took off down the corridor.

  Which, of course, was the moment Brayden decided to pull some very hard G's and plaster us against the wall.

  “What is going on?” Megan called from behind me as I got to my feet.

  “We're in a fight! To the Bridge!” I called out.

  I didn't bother to look behind me as I rushed around the corner and made my way to the bridge, at least we didn't go vertical this time and force me to walk along the walls.

  As soon as I reached the bridge entrance it irised open, and Brayden's voice came over the comms.

  “Get in the bridge and strap into a seat, I'm keeping her as level as I can but I need three degrees of freedom to keep dodging these assholes!” Brayden sounded... strained.

  “Everyone inside, find a console and strap yourselves down!” I shouted as I dived in.

  I looked around for something that looked like It might be an engineering console, then gave up and just got in the nearest seat and strapped myself in.

  The others followed, and aside from Doctor Smith tripping and falling flat on his face, everyone made it to a seat relatively quickly.

  “Okay Brayden, what next?” I asked.