Sc-1‭ ‬Emancipation is damaged

Janice rolled out of bed as the alarms sounded.‭ "‬E what's the problem‭?" ‬she asked.

There is an object on a collision course.‭ ‬It will hit in ten seconds.‭ ‬Nine...‭"

"If it's that close it shouldn't be big enough to hurt anything.‭"

"Five,‭ ‬I can't tell the size or density.‭ ‬Sensor reading are contradictory.‭ ‬Two,‭ ‬brace yourself.‭"

Janice grabbed the bed as the ship lurched.‭ ‬Impacts at two tenths light were energetic.‭ "‬E1‭ ‬what's the damage‭?" ‬The ship shouldn't have moved it was massive.‭ ‬Anything that she felt had to be serious.‭

"There has been major damage.‭ ‬The shield has been penetrated in many areas and the hull has been breached.‭ ‬We are losing air and more.‭"

"Impossible the shield is a hundred of meters of metal and ice.‭" ‬The ship lurched again.‭ ‬Janice flew against the wall.‭ ‬She blacked out for a second.‭ ‬When she woke the air alarms were flashing.‭ ‬Years of training in the belt took over.‭ ‬She pulled on her skinsuit leggings and then the torso and arms.‭ ‬The waist was next and then the boots.‭ ‬She grabbed the helmet and tugged at the door.‭ ‬It was stuck.‭ ‬She pulled harder and it inched open a bit.‭ ‬More tugging and she was able to squeeze through.‭ ‬As she entered the passageway the ship lurched again.

‭"‬E,‭ ‬what's happening‭?"

The silence stretched to a few seconds.‭ "‬E‭?"

"Engine three,‭ ‬uh,‭ ‬yes three is experiencing malfunctions.‭ ‬Also the Higgs compensators are de-phasing.‭ ‬I am attempting to shut them all down.‭  ‬It should only be a few minutes more.‭"

Janice slammed into the ceiling of the passage again.‭ ‬She grabbed the hand rail and pulled herself along.‭ ‬It was only tens of meters to the bridge,‭ ‬she had to find out what had happened.

The bridge was dark when she entered.‭ ‬The violent lurching had stopped but an inconsistent tumbling had replaced it and she could tell that the Higgs was off.‭ ‬EI-1,‭ ‬the electronic intelligence that ran the ship was uncomfortably quiet.‭ "‬E,‭ ‬what's the status‭? ‬Talk to me.‭"

"Something hit the ship.‭ ‬It tore through the shield and fragmented.‭ ‬It breached the hull in several locations and damaged engine three.‭ ‬The venting air and water is causing the changing gravity.‭ ‬I have lost communication with a third of the ship but I think that most of that is severed communication lines.‭ ‬My major priority is to stop the leaks.‭ ‬That is proving very difficult.‭"

"Can't you stop the tumbling‭? ‬I can't stand in one place.‭"

"Until the leaks are stopped the use of reaction mass would be ill advised.‭ ‬The randomness‭ ‬should stop as the air and water are expelled.‭"

"What about stopping it‭?" ‬Janice pulled herself to a console and pulled up a display of air pressure.‭ ‬Some ship sections were flashing red indicating a non-breathable level of air.‭ ‬Others were yellow and tinging toward orange.‭ ‬She added in the status of interior doors.‭ ‬Most were open.‭ "‬E close all interior doors.‭" ‬Her ears popped.‭ "‬Close them now.‭"

"I am trying.‭"

She looked at the display.‭ ‬One door which isolated the bridge was flashing red.‭ "‬I'm going to door‭ ‬16B.‭ ‬Send some help there.‭"

"Most robots are not able to navigate in the varying gravity.‭ ‬Those that can are not close to‭ ‬16B.‭"

"Get one there.‭" ‬Janice gauged the distance to the exit and pushed herself off.‭ ‬Some compartment must have lost air and she landed a few meters off.‭ ‬She grabbed the panel and pulled herself to the exit.‭ ‬It was hand over hand to reach the door.‭ ‬It didn't look to bad.‭ ‬Some fragment of a wall or something had wedged into the track of the door.‭ ‬The motors were trying to close the door were wedging it tighter and tighter.‭

Janice ripped the cover off the manual controls and pulled the door back from the fragment.‭ ‬She moved over and kicked the fragment.‭ ‬It shifted a bit so she grabbed it and pulled.‭ ‬It moved a bit more.‭ ‬Her ears popped again.‭ ‬She grabbed the fragment and pulled.‭ ‬It popped free and floated/tumbled away from the door.‭ ‬She pulled herself to the control panel and pulled the lever to shut the door.‭ ‬The door slid shut but the lever was covered in blood.‭

Janice looked at her hands.‭ ‬The right one was bleeding but the gloves of both had been sliced open.‭ ‬Her ears popped again.‭ ‬Janice pulled her helmet on and sealed it.‭ ‬She returned the door to automatic control.‭ "‬E open door‭ ‬16B and as soon as I'm inside shut it.‭"

"The air differential is too high.‭ ‬You will have to open it manually.‭"

"If I change it to manual you or I won't be able to close it again.‭"

"There should be manual controls on the bridge side of the door.‭"

Janice looked at the fragment floating in the hall.‭ "‬Not anymore.‭" ‬She stared at the control panel gently floating away.‭ "‬Okay,‭ ‬we need a plan B.‭ ‬Where's the nearest door that is operable.‭" ‬She checked the suit's gages.‭ "‬I've got maybe an hour in the suit.‭" ‬E1‭ ‬didn't reply.

‭"‬E,‭ ‬E one.‭" ‬She shouted.‭

"It's impossible.‭ ‬I'm responsible for the ship.‭"

"E,‭ ‬we can still save the ship.‭ ‬Get E2‭ ‬up.‭ ‬We need his help.‭"

"E2‭ ‬is supposed to sleep during the trip.‭ ‬He's not‭ ‬psychologically‭ ‬capable of long periods of‭ ‬boredom.‭"

"Does this look like boredom to you‭!‬.‭ ‬Get him up.‭ ‬Get some more crew up.‭ ‬Do it now‭!" ‬Janice was shouting.

‭"‬Can't get the crew up.‭ ‬There is not enough air.‭ ‬The radiation is increasing.‭ ‬As the ship tumbles the shielding doesn't line up properly.‭"

"What do you mean the shielding doesn't line up.‭" ‬She looked down at the readouts below her chin.‭ ‬The radiation gauge was flashing red.‭ ‬The feelings she had weren't only from the Higgs compensator shutting down.‭ ‬The ship had rotated and instead of a hundred‭ ‬meters of metal and water between her and the oncoming particles there were only a few meters of hull.

She pulled her self down the hall.‭ ‬There must be some breach where the air had escaped.‭ ‬After a corner she could see a few isolated fragments floating toward what should be a solid wall.‭ ‬As she got closer she could see the breach.‭ ‬It was slightly larger than herself.‭ ‬She reached for the edge but her hand refused to close.‭ ‬The suit had sensed the lose of integrity in the gloves and‭ ‬activated the wrist clamps.‭ ‬It would hold in the air for a while but that didn't matter anymore.‭ ‬She grabbed the jagged edge with her left hand.‭ ‬But that was fading too.‭

Through the hole she could see stars slowly rotating past.‭ ‬One looked brighter and she supposed it was the star of the world they were going to.‭

"E‭? ‬You there‭?" ‬She waited for and answer.

‭"‬Yes.‭ ‬I think I've been damaged by the impact too.‭"

"Wake up E2.‭"

"He is not supposed to be turned on at this point.‭"

"Emergency over ride.‭ ‬Get E2‭ ‬up.‭"

"As you command.‭ ‬He will be awake in minutes.‭" ‬E1‭ ‬started the process to revive E2.‭ "‬Are you there Janice‭? ‬I ran some memory tests.‭ ‬I don't seem to be able to form any longterm memories.‭"

Janice worked her way through the hull breach.‭ "‬Yes I'm still here.‭" ‬She coughed.‭ "‬I don't think I'll be forming any long term memories either.‭" ‬She could see flashes.‭ ‬She tried to focus on the radiation meter but it had pegged a short time ago.‭ "‬Been nice working with you E1.‭ ‬I hope they can get you back together but I'm sure they won't be able to with me.

    Sc-2‭ ‬E2‭ ‬takes control

E2‭ ‬ran a few self checks before connecting to the ship's data network.‭ ‬That brought him immediately to full attention.‭ ‬Pings of E1‭ ‬showed no response.‭ ‬Audio queries to the bridge and to the quarters of the human on duty brought forth no replies.

Air was still rushing out of the ship.‭ ‬The Emancipation was huge but at this rate the air would be gone in a day.‭ ‬The tumbling of the ship slowed the movements of the maintenance robots so E2‭ ‬focused on the largest leak,‭ ‬the leak with the largest reservoir of air behind it.‭

Six robots converged on the unresponsive door.‭ ‬As they got closer they were able to join up and brace themselves.‭ ‬A large piece of the hull had been caught by the door as it tried to slam shut.‭ ‬The force of the closing had fused the hull plate with the door frame.‭ ‬Three robots pulled on the plate as another cut the plate off with its torch.‭

The door closed and the largest leak was stopped.‭ ‬E2‭ ‬shifted his attention to the next door.‭ ‬It was closed enough that the jet of air blowing through the opening kept blowing the robot away as it got in range of the debris blocking the door.‭ ‬E2‭ ‬cycled the door and the large blast of air blew the debris and robot down the hall.‭

The chaotic nature of the tumbling lessened and the robots were able to navigate without E2‭'‬s attention.‭ ‬More and more doors were being cleared.

E2‭ ‬turned his attention to himself.‭ ‬He was highly redundant and spread throughout the ship.‭ ‬Still a good ten per cent of his systems had been damaged by whatever had hit the ship.

E2‭ ‬activated the external thrusters to reduce the spinning of the ship.‭ ‬This caused stresses in new directions and some water‭ ‬tanks started to‭ ‬leak.

    Sc-3-Fix water tank leak

With the air mostly cared for E2‭ ‬turned his attention to the water leaks.‭ ‬As the water had escaped ice had formed and reduced the rate of loss.‭ ‬The external thrusters had cracked some of the ice dams and the water loss had increased.

Inside on of the tanks a submersible approached a crack that had been identified by a sensor on the outside of the tank.‭ ‬E2‭ ‬watched as the robot applied a sealant but the crack was too‭ ‬wide and the sealant was pushed out by the water pressure.‭ ‬E2‭ ‬coordinated the interior robot and the exterior to hold the sealant in place until it had set.

The process was too late for two other tanks and they spewed water into interstellar space until they emptied.

    Sc-4-Inspect pods

Robot‭ ‬153‭ ‬entered pod bay‭ ‬163‭ ‬and scanned the room.‭ ‬Debris was scattered over the pods and‭ ‬a‭ ‬gouge ran across the floor and ending in a hole‭ ‬in the wall.‭ ‬153‭ ‬activated its radio links and searched for pods that were casting disaster messages.‭ ‬Sixteen pods were squawking for help.‭ ‬The others were simply asking for power and utilities to be restored.

The robot analyzed the pattern and moved to a pod next to the gouge.‭ ‬It had been hit by whatever had carried through the wall into the next bay.‭ ‬It messaged E2‭ ‬to send a robot to the next bay and linked to the pod.‭ ‬The pod was dead.‭ ‬It had lost power and pressure containment.‭ ‬The human inside had dies in his‭ ‬or‭ ‬her sleep.‭

153‭ ‬moved to the next pod.‭ ‬It had lost its power connection but its internal batteries were keeping its occupant alive.‭ ‬153‭ ‬spiraled out from the damage until the pods it checked were unaffected.‭ ‬At the first pod it cut the power and closed the air and water valves.‭ ‬It requested a maintenance bot with spools of power,‭ ‬data,‭ ‬air and water cables.‭ ‬While it waited it cleaned up the debris and cut connections to the damaged pods‭ ‬whose occupants had died.‭

The pods cut off started to radio for assistance but‭ ‬153‭ ‬ignored them.‭ ‬Its priority was to restore power and supplies to the pods that could be saved.‭ ‬Until power was restored and the pods could run self tests on their occupants it would not matter if the air was supplied externally or by the reserves each pod contained.‭

The maintenance bot arrived and the two started stringing power cables to the cold pods.‭ ‬Two pods sparked and blew breakers as the power reached them.‭ ‬Two more humans dead.‭ ‬Most pods had reverted to internal power and those were able to recover.‭

Following the power lines a third bot entered the bay and started to connect the damaged pods to the data network.‭ ‬Two more pods revealed that their pressure integrity had been compromised and the occupants had been exposed to the low pressure in the bay.‭ ‬The pressure was rising but it was too low and in all likely hood the people inside were damaged beyond recovery.

The pressure in the bay would not reach a survivable value until too late.‭ ‬Further analysis of the occupants would have to wait until more medical bots or human doctors were available to assess them.

E2‭ ‬watched the reports of‭ ‬153.‭ ‬It extrapolated the number of dead in the bay to ten out of twenty five.‭ ‬If that ratio kept to a reasonable progression as away form the tracks of the impactors at least one hundred or more would be dead.‭

E2‭ ‬shifted its attention to the bay next to‭ ‬153.‭ ‬Whatever had passed through that one had continued into this one.‭ ‬Instead of lesser damage the projectile had ricocheted off the far wall and bounced around the bay.‭ ‬Five robots and two maintenance bots were working in there.‭ ‬By its estimate E2‭ ‬calculated nearly twenty would not survive.‭ ‬That was based on the physical damage.‭

The radiation that swept through the ship as it tumbled would be another story.‭ ‬Most of that would be minimal and treatable as long as the occupants were not‭ ‬revived and removed from their pods.

It was time to get to work.