“We're hit! We're hit!”
“Returning fire. Calm down, it's just a single ship; we can take it.”
“Delanna, this is not a fighter; we need to get out of here. I'm calling for help.”
“We can do it, Zane. Just hold on!”
“This is CFS PFZX-1138 sending a general distress call to anyone receiving this message. We are under attack by pirates, and badly damaged. Assistance is requested. Does anyone read me?”
“We are not badly damaged!”
“We are taking damage, is that better?”
“I've got you now, feechead!”
“I repeat, we are under attack and requesting assistance.”
“Frass! Hold on!”
“Delanna!”
“No, he's open!”
“We're hit; engineering.”
“Got him!”
“Ankus, do you read me?”
“I told you I could do it!”
“Ankus, respond. Are you okay?”
“Main engines aren't responding.”
“That's because we've lost the starboard engine. That last shot was a direct hit to it. Ankus was down there.”
“Ankus, are you okay down there?”
“Yeah, Delanna! I had to evacuate; engineering is sealed. We've got a hull breach in there.”
“See, Zane, he's fine. Someone from the planet will get your distress call and send help. We just need to wait until then.”
“Delanna, sweetheart, please take a look at where we are.”
“We are in orbit around Bradbury, so?”
“We are in a degrading orbit around Bradbury.”
“Oh? Ah, we are in a quickly degrading orbit around Bradbury.”
“Yes, my love.”
“Father is not going to be pleased with us, is he?”
“No, my love.”
“Well, the maneuvering thrusters are still working; I can probably land us in one piece.”
“Ankus, strap in to something solid.”
“What's the prob, Zane? More pirates?”
“We're crashing.”
“We are landing, Ankus, not crashing. It just may be a little... bumpy.”
“I'll find somewhere away from the hull then. See you on the ground.”
“See, Ankus isn't worried.”
“Ankus is probably high on Reaper.”
“Zane Del Rathi!”
“Was that supposed to be a secret?”
“That's not a nice thing to say... even if it is true.”
“We are entering the atmosphere; hull temperature rising.”
“Adjusting angle. How's the temp now?”
“It's within range, but we're going to need some detail work done to the paint job when we're done.”
“If you want to criticize, then you can take the controls.”
“Oh no, you've been doing absolutely wizz so far. I think I see a clear place to land out there. About twenty klicks outside of the colony, clear, mostly flat land.”
“I see it, correcting course.”
“Delanna, what are you doing?”
“I've got it under control.”
“Adjust the angle!”
“I am, dear, just be quiet, and let me concentrate.”
“We're not level!”
“We will be. I've got this. Just give me a second.”
“Impact in ten!”
“Come on, you crap-bucket!”
“Five!
“Grrrrrrrr!”
“Impact in one sec-”
“....”
“Ow....”
“Zane? Zane, are you alright?”
“I'm going to have to get back to you on that.”
“I can't see anything.”
“Light's have gone.”
“Yes, thank you. Where are you?”
“I think I'm on the ceiling. Ace landing there!”
“You'd still be in your seat too if you'd worn your harness properly, and I'd like to see you do better.”
“I'd like to see you run away from a fight once in a while.”
“If you wanted a woman who runs away from a fight, you shouldn't have married me. I'm pretty sure you knew that about me before we were married.”
“Yes, dear.”
“Stop rolling your eyes at me.”
“What?”
“I can tell.”
“So do you want some help down from there? We have a bit of hike back to civilization.”
“I can do it myself.”
“Okay, I'm going to try and find the emergency kit.”
“Use your datapod as a torch”
“Yeah, good idea.”
“Grrr... stupid harness....”
“There we go, I found the light sticks. Why are you still up there?”
“I thought letting all of the blood flow into my head for a bit longer would be good for my hair.”
“So you're stuck.”
“This is why I love you, Zane, you are so intuitive.”
“You always get mean when I'm right about things.”
“Which is why I'm so nice the vast majority of the time.”
“Ha-ha! Here, I think the problem is that all your weight is on the latch. Let me hold you up a little.... There, try now.”
“Okay, let me- Oof!”
“You okay?”
“I thought you were going to catch me.”
“So did I.”
“You're lucky I love you, you know that, right?”
“Always.... hey, I'm getting a comm from Ankus.”
“Hey Zane, You guys okay?”
“We're fine here; how about you?”
“Well, I'm outside the ship, and aside from being the wrong way up, she looks pretty good; I mean, the engine is a smoking crater, but otherwise what I can see looks okay; nothing appears to be on fire anyway. If we can get her back on her feet, she should be reparable unless the damage to top is too bad. I couldn't get any systems reports. It'll probably be faster to transfer the cargo to another ship anyway.”
“Did you happen to see the cargo hold on your way out?”
“As much as my stick would light up, yeah. There may be some structural damage in there; some of the cargo coffins broke free and hit the ceiling pretty hard. I didn't go in to see if the extent of it in case any more the restraints let go.”
“Okay, where are you? We'll try and make out way to you.”
“I climbed out the aft airlock on deck one. Bring your winter gear and your solarspecs, because it's cold and sunny out here. I had to put on an envirosuit to keep from freezing.”
“Got it, Ankus. We'll meet you there as soon as we can, and then we can head to the colony base for help.”
“I'll be waiting for you. Ankus out.”
“So you're going to mock me forever for this aren't you, Zane?”
“Yes dear. I may not be the best pilot ever, but at least I generally manage to land the right way up.”
“Hey, any landing you can walk away from, right?
“Yes, my love; lets get walking.”
The End