CHAPTER 8

I could not escape the infernal beeping. It has that insidious tone that works itself through any blockage you would put in your ear. It’s like a scraping sound gift-wrapped as a pleasing tone but in reality, it’s like a rake that slowly but surely scrapes off any vestiges of sleep you would deign to have.

“Five more minutes, mom.” Is what I thought I said. If that is what actually came out of my mouth, I don’t know but I suspect not.

“You’ll be late for your meeting.”

“But I’m tired!” That whining quality harkens back to my childhood.

“Lateness is unbecoming of an employee. If I may note, Ms. Vasiliev is not very forgiving of tardy employees.” She really had to say that, didn’t she? I’ve yet to see Franny really angry and I’m not going to test that.

I forced myself to get up from bed. I check my chronometer and saw that mom woke me up 20 minutes earlier than normal. I didn’t really do anything strenuous yesterday other than that brief sprint to the fire room and the frantic gearing up we did. We mostly sat in so I don’t understand why I felt so tired.

When I felt that my feet were warm enough, I got out of bed and took a shower. I need the water to shock me awake. It didn’t take me long to get cleaned up and properly attired for a day of kitchen duty. After taking a quick look at the mirror, I was out my cabin, walking leisurely towards Franny’s office. Her office is actually is nearer the ‘clean’ galley which serves the officers and ship crew. It reminded me that she was on loan to our galley due to staffing shortages. She did say that we had some prospective employs that she would follow up soon. We don’t have a relief crew so we’re all working long hours. Third shift had been making a lot of noise about the quality of food they’re getting. Midrats is not exactly known for its great spread.

I took the auxiliary tube down rather than taking the central lift. The aux tube is an open personnel tube that has its own gravity field. It could be lowered or turned off to float or slowly descend a person towards the target deck. There are handholds at regular intervals that a person could grab onto to propel themselves faster or to arrest movement. It’s normally off limits during general quarters because you’ll never know if you’ll lose power. It’s a sorry way to go, ending as tomato sauce on the deck.

I reached Franny’s office and knocked on the door. I heard a disgustingly chipper ‘enter’ from the other side. The door unlocked and slid open to allow entrance. As I stepped inside, I made a quick look around the room. It was a utilitarian office. I could see some crates stacked at the back end of the room. From the stamp of it, I recognize it as sealed dry vegetables. The office is basically an extra storage room with a desk and a table computer. There were readers strewed around the desk and I could see some coffee stains marking the wooden furniture.

I anxiously glanced at my ArmCom to check the time because there were people there already. I was sure I wasn’t late but I was in my morning fugue so I might have misunderstood something.

“Good, you’re here. C’mon and meet the rest of the team. I’ve realized that for all the time you’ve been working the galley, you’ve yet to meet your spatula brothers.” Franny urged me with a wave to take the last open seat near the door. I could see both T and Musaka seated beside a tall, thin man with an incredible mustache. T gave me a two-finger salute and continued his discussion with the man. Musaka just nodded and listed as another short Asian girl bend his ear.

“Alright, everybody is here. Before anything else, you’ve noticed that we got a new guy. His name is Albert Mayon. He just joined our team during our last port of call. He’s helping us out in the dirty galley so I don’t want to hear any complaints from all of you about serving more people than your regular galley assignments.” Franny paused to give some people time to react but since none raised a concern, she went on.

“We’re going to serving a few Ceres officials later on today for lunch. Albert and I are going to be preparing a five-course meal for our distinguished guests so don’t bother me then.” An Inugorian with black and blue markings flicked her tail high in the air. Franny nodded to her.

“Why is the new employee the one helping you? Should not one of us be a more logical choice?” That was actually a good question if I didn’t know the current situation of the galley crews.

“He’s the only one among us that actually had experience serving non-shipboard food. We all are experienced ship cooks, don’t get me wrong, but none of us are used to serving fancy dishes. Albert here used to have an eatery down in Ceres before he joined us.” That got a people nodding. The person beside me turned to look at me.

“You have an eatery in Ceres and you’re here? Why, for god’s sakes!?” The incredulous man asked. He has that aristocratic look that reminds me of those nobles from the Sol system. His blonde hair was cut ear length and was meticulously combed.

“My eatery experienced some problems with its operations that cannot be addressed in the near future which necessitated me to look for other viable options to continue my practice.” I didn’t really want for everybody to know my circumstances of joining the Red Tiger.

“Slavers blew up his restaurant while trying to off the admiral. Our boy here killed one of augments trying to shove a blade through the old man. Our glorious leader offered him a job.” T explained like I was doing a bad job at it.

“Ah.” was my seatmate’s only response. I gave T a pointed look and he just grinned at me and shrugged. I supposed it was better to get that out of the way now rather than later. Franny cleared her throat to focus our attention back to her.

“Point is, he knows how to cook fancy. None of us do so we’re thin on choices, no offense.” She directed that last part to me. I took it in stride.

After my introduction, the group went on with the discussion of the next menu cycle, equipment status reports, stocks acquisition, and the like. It didn’t take too long. Most of the concerns other than the low manpower are the need for gas recharge for some of our cooking appliances and certain chemicals that we need to add flavor to the meals of the non-humans on the ship.

That is the biggest reason why multi-species ships are rare. Depending on the species you have on the ship, the smooth operating of a ship could run from difficult to almost impossible. Gravity, atmospheric requirements, diet, sleep cycles, racial necessities and a bevy of other things needed to be taken into account if you allow multiple species to work on a ship together. That’s why most ships that do practices the idea only take onboard species that could adjust to a common environmental situation. The Woglinde is friendliest to the humans since it’s a human ship but certain concessions were made. The gravity onboard was actually 1.1 earth normal and the oxygen content is slightly higher. Most humans don’t need acclimatization when first stepping on board while the other species would take a day or two to feel relatively comfortable.

What this means for the galley crew is that certain dietary requirements for the Inugorians and Barral needed specific equipment. The cooking of Barral meat requires specialized gasses that react to fire in a specific way which in turn gives the sauropod meat a certain taste. Depending on the gas you use, it would change the taste of the meat. The Inugorians has this ingenious cooking apparatus that looks like a hollow, heat-conductive, ceramic ball that they use to evenly cook certain fruits and vegetables evenly. Inugorian vegetables and fruits are both delicate and tough. It took me a couple of years before I felt confident to serve non-human species in my eatery. I could have saved a lot of money if I stuck with feeding humans but that would get me nowhere. Sure, I’ll always have customers but I would have never been competitive.

The meeting broke up after 20 minutes. It took another extra five as I made rounds to properly introduce myself to the other cooks. I can’t believe how narrow my thinking got. I knew there were other galleys located in the ship. Obviously, not one galley could feed the number of people in the ship at the same time yet somehow, I completely forgot about the fact. I made a promise to the other cooks to visit them at their workplaces if allowed.

The other cooks started leaving the room as they had their breakfast menu to work on and I was about to do the same when Franny waved me forward, pointing at the chair she dragged in front of her desk. I left the line and dropped myself on the seat. Franny took her chair and brought up the inventory screen on her table computer.

“So, what’s your plan for our distinguished guests? The admiral wants a good meal but doesn’t expect us to serve something out of Ballier’s Universal Food Guide. I’ve done my fair share of preparation but mostly as sous chef of our former head cook. I don’t have the proper training for it so you’re gonna have to help me here.” Though she was not showing it, her frustration was leaking through her voice. I could understand her predicament. The old head chef left the ship quite suddenly after he started voicing his displeasure about his pay. It was not difficult for him to send feelers out and was able to find some very attractive offers outside. He took the most experienced members of the galley crews and left Red Tiger employment. He did everything properly and didn’t cripple the staff so there was little the captain could do. He could not force the man to stay, nor the others that wanted to leave with him. It was both a blessing and a curse. T intimated to me one night during a drinking session at the Punch Drunk that the man was an asshole of the highest caliber. He drove everybody he works with insane. He had this Napoleonic complex that made him try to boss everybody around for the sheer purpose of exerting his dominance because he was short and ugly. His talent was undeniable, though. He works magic in the kitchen.

I put that out of my mind and concentrated on the inventory list. I could see that the ship’s food inventory reflects the worlds they have been to. I scrolled on the screen until I found the seafood section. I highlighted it and threw it on the small holo-projector on Franny’s desk. I highlighted the three different kinds of fish we had in stock.

“Right, I was thinking we should prepare fish as our main dish. I was hoping for some blue marlin but the grouper would do well. I was thinking of a simple, yet popular dish. We’ll clean the fish but other than that, we salt it a bit then put it on the steamer. We’ll serve it with some carrot salad. That’s mayonnaise with strands of carrots and garlic.”

“Okay, but why fish? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but is there a reason why you’re going for that?”

“Illustratum started as a small seaside colony during its founding days. One of the first big operations they had was seeding the sea with terran fish. For the first twenty years, the colony ate mostly fish for their diet. Once the place developed enough, other wildlife was brought in and it allowed for a better variation for their tables. Now, fish is still a favorite staple of Ceresians. They don’t like it heavily seasoned so that’s why I proposed we just salt it lightly. Grouper has a very nice taste and its lean, white flesh is light on the stomach. They won’t have to worry about feeling drowsy during the meeting.” It was really helping that I know the culture of the guests. It ensures that I serve something that they would most probably approve of.

Franny nodded at my explanation and allowed me to continue.

“We could start with some creamy tomato soup for the appetizer. That’s easy and quick to make yet we could make it look fancy with proper plating. I’ll even drop a decorative leaf on it.

For our first meal, we could go with some steamed vegetables. Ceresians like beans so we could do that. We’ll make some butter and cheese sauce to go with it. We talked about the fish already for our main so we could take something from our Inugorian friends and prepare a Shalaka Rumi for our fourth plate. We have to ingredients for it and Musaka could taste for us later. I could get away preparing some Inugorian dishes because I have been practicing on some of their more human-friendly recopies. Shalaka Rumi was a regular entrée in my menu before. For dessert, how about a classic? Leche Flan. It’s simple and sweet. It’s also a great way to get the fishy aftertaste out of your mouth. What do you think?”

Franny cross checked the ingredients while listening to my explanation. She highlighted them on the holo vid and assembled them into meal groups. She nodded while working on that on the course of my proposal and now was seriously contemplating the dishes.

“Kind of a strong finish, isn’t it? Leche flan would completely wipe out anything left on their taste buds.”

“Yeah, and that’s a good thing. Fish breath ain’t exactly appealing.”

“How long would it take us to make these? Those flans are going to need some cooking time.”

“I’d say an hour for everything if we prepare it right. So, are we doing this or would you like me to change it?”

“No, this is good. Nothing too complicated but something fit for the admiral’s table. Let’s get busy with breakfast so we could slot some time for this. They’re not going to be here for a while.” I helped Franny stack the chairs then walked with her to our workstation. T and Musaka have already started. I grabbed an apron and got down to cooking.

A couple of hours later, Franny and I were working on the special lunch for our guests. We were lucky that all three officials are humans. It would have made our work considerably harder if we had to prepare cross-species food that is both palatable and interesting. The admiral’s steward, a Mr. O’Connell, was down in the galley with us. He’s an older gentleman with graying hair but it doesn’t show by how he carries himself. He stood straight and moved briskly. His clothes are immaculate, well pressed and lint-free. The man is a shining example of the modern day butler. What makes him endearing to me is that he wasn’t one of those stuck-up butlers that act that other than their master, everybody else is beyond their attention. He even has that posh, accent reminiscent of the old earth language, English. According to him, they still had to learn the language even if it was a dead one. It does make their pronunciation of standard more interesting.

The steward was checking on the menu and was there to confer with us about how the food is supposed to be served. He also gave us an idea of what was happening outside our world of food prep. Apparently, CPM and the local police of Illustratum are almost at their breaking point. There were just too many people and not enough officers to go around. With the space restriction in place, none of the off-worlders could leave until the current situation has been resolved. That has been more than a week of panicky, angry people that the government had to house, feed, and protect. No wonder they didn’t put me in protective custody. It just takes on spark to start a pandemonium. The Woglinde has been hired to work in conjunction with system patrol to suss out the overlord courier ship and another suspect transport that they believe to be hiding in-system. They also requested some manpower to secure some of the public places in Illustratum until support arrives from a nearby allied system. The Ceres Planetary Defense has been activated and is slowly spreading marines and other ground units all around the planet. The Woglinde currently has two companies of ground units. The ship was in Ceres for R&R and was not expecting to work a contract so there not much need to house people that would eat you out of your house. The ship generally gets a contract first then goes back to HQ to load on the needed personnel. They have a maintaining force aboard always but it is nowhere near for extensive ground operations. The admiral is meeting with them now to hammer out the details.

Franny and I were able to complete the menu set without too much trouble. The biggest issue we had was every appliance and cooking utensil we had were industrial in size. We had to look for smaller pans and pots from the stockroom. We gave the steward serving times so that when the set plate reaches the admiral’s table, it would be at its freshest. We placed the dessert on the serving tray and handed it to the steward. He immediately set off to serve the guests, tray in hand. I was bit confused as to why we had to cook the guest's meals in the dirty galley when the clean one was a hell lot nearer to the admiral's wardroom. I didn't say anything though since I didn't want to sound stupid.

With the guest's meals done, we didn't wait for word on how it was received. We immediately dived into helping T and Musaka in serving lunch. The boys had to work overtime to feed the flight galley and they appreciated the fact that we didn't dally. It does seem like it was a bit much taking out two people who work in a team to feed a thousand ship crew members to feed three guests. Franny did change the menu set for lunch so it wouldn't swamp the two while we were addressing the guest menu.

The rest of the day proved to be routine. I was in the armory, working on my terrible accuracy later that evening when my ArmCom dinged. I finished my shooting practice first, with the master armorer giving me instruction, before I checked my messages. According to the steward, the guests liked the 5-course meal we prepared. Franny added her own input as she was the one who forwarded the message to me that the joint security agreement was hammered out and signed and people are already being deployed. I didn't notice since I was busy training for my certification test. Franny already signed off my welding skills with a reminder to clean up my straight welds but was satisfied that my skills were good enough for DC operations, albeit a bit messy.

I returned the pistol and ammo crate to the taciturn armorer and wiped off my sweat with a rag. I was feeling a deep-seated tiredness that doesn't seem to go away. We only have enough people in the galley for one shift so that means we had to work really long hours. Compounded with the need for me to get training in, I was getting to the point where a night's sleep doesn't seem enough.

I was contemplating asking for a day off while I made my way to Punch Drunk. I checked my employment contract and could see that I'm not eligible for a paid vacation day for the moment. I could ask for an unpaid one, though. It wasn't too much of a big deal for me if I didn't get paid off for an extra rest day if my request gets approved. It's not like there are a lot of things to spend on in the ship. Some people might be used to the long hours and hard work ship living entailed but I was still adjusting.

I entered the bar and could see that it was pretty deserted for the moment. A few mechanics were having a drink by the screens but other than that, I had some elbow space to spread on. Gar gave me a bottle of my favorite beer when I arrived at the bar. I always get the same thing so he didn't have to ask me. I took the time to savor the drink while I watched what was playing on the nearby screen. It was showing a nature documentary featuring an Inugorian trying to catch a slippery eel-like thing. The Inugorian was having difficulty catching the creature because it was secreting a goopy substance that acts likes a very effective lubricant. I didn't know why they don't just scoop it up with a bucket or something but just watched and enjoyed the show.

In the hour that I sat there, I worked myself through two bottles of beer and a small bowl of nuts. The bar was slowly filling up and decided that I had enough and will try to get some sleep. I didn't foresee a problem with that. It was waking up which is hard. I said my goodbyes to Gar and to those I know then made my way to my cabin. As usual, I made the mental note to improve my cabin but as always, I was asleep before I could think up of what will I do to liven up my place.

***

I thought I was dreaming about flying until I slammed on my cabin wall. It was a rude awakening and I was definitely feeling the impact. I bounced off my the bulkhead and dropped down on the deck, legs akimbo. I just lay there, trying to clear my head wondering what the hell happened, when the lights switched red and an alarm started blasting throughout my cabin.

"General quarters, general quarters. This is not a drill, general quarters."

I knew I heard the ship wide alarm but my body doesn't seem like it was registering it. I just continued to lay there on the deck while my thoughts started drifting.

"Albert. Albert! can you hear me?"

The person calling me sounded so far away. I might have been dreaming that and let my thoughts continue wandering.

"Albert! do not fall alseep. Focus on my voice."

My name was being called but again, I paid no heed to it. They could wake me up later if they really need me.

"Albert!"

This time, I was snapped out of my daze when a low-powered shock was delivered to my system. My muscles tensed and released after the one-second charge.

"Fuck!" My heart was beating fast as I remained on the deck but this time, completely lucid. I was panting real hard and wondered if I ran or something.

"Albert! Get up! I've opened your closet. Your pressure suit is fully charged and ready to be put on. Get up!" I untangled my legs and flipped myself on my belly. I pushed to right myself and it took more effort than I expected. I was panting heavily by the time I was vertical.

"Mom! what's happening?" I didn't see anybody so I assume it was Mother who was haranguing me to move.

"I will explain later. Please put your suit on." If Mother didn't want to explain then might as well follow instructions. I moved to the closet and unhooked the secured pressure suit. It was a simple affair. Just a sealed pressure suit with enough air for an hour. I moved as fast as I can, squirming myself in the light green suit. I was getting light-headed by the time I pressed the control stud on the neck of the suit. The suit pressurized and the retractable helmet snapped closed. A slight breeze blew on my face and my head started to clear. I took deep breaths and felt myself getting stronger. I stood there a moment until I felt my lungs loose the strain.

"What the hell happened!?" I asked nobody in particular. Mother took it upon herself to answer.

"We were hit by stealth mines. Your cabin door has been damaged. Your section of the deck has been sealed. Yours is the only cabin that was not sealed and was slowly depressurizing and emptying of oxygen."

I looked at my door and found jagged tears on it. The top half was almost sheared off, bits of it hanging down. I quickly approached my door and it didn't open. I tried pressing on the 'open' key on the door controls screen but it didn't do anything. I ran a system's check and saw that it was unpowered. I opened the manual door control cover and pulled on the lever. It didn't want to budge so I threw my weight on it. I placed my right foot on the bulkhead and strained with all my might, pulling on the lever with both hands, shouting obscenities at it.

The door slowly started opening, grinding and tearing noise marking the protest of the machinery. The door opened halfway before it got stuck. I couldn't move it anymore no matter how much I pull on the lever. I let go and held myself up on the bulkhead, sucking in air from the exertion.

"Albert, do you read me? I'm getting reports that your section has been hit. Are you getting this?"

Franny's voice was crackling out of the suit's helmet speakers. I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself and answered.

"I'm okay, Franny. My door's messed up and is not opening completely but I think I could squeeze through. I'll be at my station as fast as I can."

"Belay that. You're the closest to the hull breach in your section of the ship. Get to the nearest repair locker and seal that breach. The team that is responsible for the section is working on another hole. Get it patched as soon as possible then make your way to our section. We're responding to a fire call so don't wait for us so get suited ASAP. Clear?" Franny's heavy breathing indicated that she was running.

"Clear. Moving!" I closed the connection then took a good look at the door opening. It was going to be a tight squeeze. I worked myself sideways and tried to keep from tearing my suit. Unlike my duty suit, this one is not armored. It could take some punishment but why take the chance. I popped out of the other side a moment later and saw the damage. The deck above me has a long tear on it. Pipes and wires were hanging off the large hole and I could see a small fire starting.

"Mom, where's the nearest repair locker?"

"Routing."

A map overlay appeared on my helmet with a dot marking the locker. It was on the same deck and pretty near. I jogged towards it and as I passed the other cabins, a thought struck.

"Mom, how about the other people sleeping? Do we need medical assistance here?"

"A few reported minor injuries but none are life threatening. All the cabins have been sealed and have enough air for six hours. They also have access to communications. Yours was the only one that suffered damage. SOP is they remain in their cabins until the environmentals in the deck has been stabilized."

"Great." Just my luck that I was the one who was going to die from suffocation. It didn't take me long until I reached the locker. It was a small one just beside the sealing hatch. I opened it up and found a couple of good-sized patches, cutting and welding tools and a retardant grenade. There was no rig in sight so I had to use the bag inside the locker. I stuffed everything inside the bag and slung it on. Mom didn't need to be prompted and another designation was marked on my opaque map currently showing in my helmet. I didn't run to conserve my strength but I didn't take my time too. The bag was heavy so I jogged. I was really missing the equipment rig. The sling bag was bulky and unbalancing me.

The damaged hull was a deck up. I took the ladder going up. I had to dodge to the side before I could start myself up as a person slid down the ladder. A shield was erected around the opening to allow personnel access. The guy took off running as soon as he cleared it. I quickly climbed up, before the strain of the bag makes it difficult, then orient myself. I could see people running to and fro as they do their own thing. There was more damage in this deck but I could see that most of the damage seems superficial. There were no bodies on the floor too, thank goodness. That was one of the things I was dreading during my lectures with Franny. We went through the different ways to secure and carry an unconscious person or an injured one. I could see one guy holding an obviously broken arm but a suited Inugorian was already addressing the injury. I stopped looking around and hurried towards the breech. I turned on my team channel and listened as they conversed. From what I gather, a fire started on Deck-U3. It was taking time because they were also evacuating folks that were unconscious due to the smoke. A couple of other teams were on the way to support them. A few were also on their way to me but I couldn't wait for them.

I arrived at the hole and could see that it was a big one. It was about two meters across, bits and pieces hanging off. I checked the environmental readings and could see that there was no air and pressure. The ship was able to keep the grav field working but that's it. I dropped the bag on the ground and opened it. I took out two patches and removed the plastic covers on the sticky side. I placed them on opposite sides of the hole, half of the patch on the bulkhead with the rest covering the hole. The thick patches looked out of place on the bulkhead but that was how it was supposed to be. I then grabbed the spreader and cranked up the energy output. The nozzle of the thin, flexible hose grew bright green as a small static plasma fire flickered on. Using the guide controller on the main unit of the spreader, I waved the nozzle on top of the patch on the left side of the damaged hull. The patch slowly started spreading out as the chemicals on the patches reacted to the fire. I worked the patch until it covered half of the hole evenly then moved on to the second one. I waved the spreader until the whole was completely covered with the two patches overlapping one another. It took me a couple of minutes to get the patches installed and by the time I was almost done, another damage control team stopped by. The leader asked if I needed any help and told him I was okay. He gave me the thumbs up and rushed to another location that needed his team's attention. The hole I was covering is significant but not strictly essential to the operations of the ship. The damaged deck is used as a training facility for the numerous personnel working on it. The hole was actually in front of a room used as a lecture hall. I've never been here for any business other than to familiarize myself of the ship's layout during my first few days on the Woglinde.

I finished the patch job with little difficulty. I glanced on the chronometer I had on the corner of my vision and found that it took me almost five minutes to do a simple patch job. I was a little disappointed at myself because I know I did better than that during time trials during training. I'm now learning that training doesn't exactly mirror real life.

I packed up my patching equipment then snagged the analyzer hanging off the side pocket of the bag. I pointed at the patch job and ran the scan. It took just a few moments before a beep indicated that the scan was finished. I checked the screen and it reported a complete seal. I finished off the job by emptying a can of liner on it. The chemical is based on polyurethane that is commonly used for a variety of purposes but mostly as bedliner for grav trucks. The liner I was using has been tweaked a bit to function not only as a seal, but also as a high-impact, kinetic absorption material to help augment the thin patches. It's no armor and a hit from any ship-based weaponry will penetrate the patch but it would prevent smaller impacts such as rocks and space debris from destroying the quick repair.

I packed everything up and slung on the bag. I ran towards the nearest ladder and started moving towards my duty section. I opened a channel to Franny.

"Franny, I'm done here. I'm moving towards our fire room. I'll get geared up and catch up to you guys." I could hear her coordinating the operation to suppress the fire that started in a storage room and she grunted a quick okay. I made a short detour to return the equipment I borrowed and continued on my way. I had to be light on my feet as people were rushing all over the place. I was expecting to see people panicking and somehow forgot that these were not helpless civilians. What looked like panic was actually well-organized chaos. Most of the people running around are either damage response teams or internal security forces escorting medics. There were specific protocols in place during emergencies and these are trained people.

I rushed in our fire room and started disrobing. The emergency suit I had on will be insufficient for the tasks ahead. I slot it on a charging dock once I got it off and removed my armored suit off its rack. I put it on, beating my personal best and was strapping on my oversized equipment pack when I called Franny.

"Franny, I'm suited up and coming your way." I reported as the last of the magnetic clamps secured the pack on my back. I wiggled a bit just to make sure nothing will fall off then exited the room, running towards my teammates.

"Good, move fast. We need your help here. Wait, Musaka, are those oxygen tanks?" Franny had me on the team channel and suddenly shifted to Musaka.

"Yes, according to inventory list there were oxygen tanks stored here as reserve." Musaka's calm voice replied.

"Shit! Out of the room, now! Move, move, move!"

I heard T started to say something when a loud bang followed by a whooshing sound almost deafened me. I got really concerned.

"Franny? what's happening? Is everything okay over there? Franny?" There was no answer, just static could be heard on the channel. I was really nervous now and started running as fast as I could. I was almost there. I was about to signal for help to their location when Franny started talking.

"We're okay, I think. The plastic valves on the tanks melted and let off a lot of oxygen. That was a backdraft you heard. Some of our equipment got slagged but we're fine. Our suits did the job but the room is now an inferno. Move your ass Albert." Came Franny's worried voice. I could see on the map that their locators were marking them just outside the burning room. I kept pounding deck while I listened as Franny called some back-up. The blaze was eating away at the storage room and help was needed. They were barely keeping it from spreading out. I was sliding down a ladder when another ship wide announcement came through all channels.

"All hands, we are under attack. Prepare for combat maneuvers."

...shit.