13 December 2022
The dead are silent
Federation sector, Haldon system.
“The ship’s been hit, I repeat, our ship has been hit! We need immediate assistance,” — the air was filled with a cry for help. Andre squeezed his aching temples, turned on the microphone and contacted the sector patrol:
“This is dispatch. You overlooked someone. Respond to the SOS signal.”
After that, Andre tried to pour a glass of water, but realized that the bottle was empty. Andre swore, and waited impatiently for the end of the shift. Soon the patrol squad got in touch:
“It turned out to be a civilian ship, the engine was shot, there was an extensive fire inside. We’ll manage to get the passengers and crew out, but the cargo is doomed.”
Half an hour later
Patrolmen took the victims of the crash to the station. A Federation outpost based on the former imperial station did not assume the presence of additional civilians, therefore, there was no one to look for them. The station technician simply took them to the premises belonging to the former owners of the barracks and locked the passage to other compartments with an electronic key. Five unlucky refugees, who according to their story, were stuck for six months in a nearby warp storm, meekly accepted their fate and agreed to wait for the nearest large caravan, since they had few credits left.
The supply officer provided them with emergency rations abandoned by the Imperials in a hurry a century ago, at least a part of them that could not be sold to anyone.
“They could’ve at least given us something better,” — Cassandra said with a grunt, trying to gnaw the gray tasteless mass, — “Chalk would taste better.”
“Be grateful that they gave you at least something,” — Garen answered, staring at the ceiling — “It is better than dying in outer space.”
“Maybe tomorrow they will give us something decent at least? ” — Sophie asked, scraping with a spoon in vain attempts to soak the briquette in water, — “These rations are many years older than we are. Here’s the year of my grandmother's birth on the package!”
“Enough,” — Garen shouted at her and slammed his fist with a spoon on the table. She did an unexpected somersault, bounced off the table, so hard that she flew to the ceiling. There was a soft crackle of electricity, and the cutlery fell to the floor.
“I’m going to look for a shower around here,” — said Ornir, combing his beard with his hands, — “Maybe at least the water here will be good and I’ll be able to get rid of allergies.”
“How did you even manage to eat that rubbish?” — Thumper asked him, turning over a self-heating disposable plate with rations, — “Mashed potatoes do the trick, that’s the only way.”
Six hours later
Andre was angry at these refugees. They managed to smash all the imperial surveillance cameras in the premises where they were locked up. What’s more, the main computer center of the station began to act up often, and the backup communication stations did not respond in turn. Andre decided to manually check the operation of computer systems. Anyway, he will not be able to work if the computer goes down in flames. And so the dispatcher went up the stairs to the lower tier of the station to check the operation of internal communication nodes. When he was halfway there, the station flinched slightly and a siren screamed:
“Attention! Attention! Fire alarm. Critical damage of the energy shield. Put on personal protective equipment Immediately for temporary stay in an airless environment. Draining air out of damaged compartments begins in 10. 9. 8. 7...”
Andre quickly shut the spacesuit, from which he didn’t get out, and wondered if the refugees would guess to put on special oxygen masks. However, this is not his problem.
An hour and a half later
The life support system couldn’t turn on the air supply to a third of the compartments of the station. However, after a lot of torment, the technician managed to do it. Moreover, the outpost’s shield has burned down so much that it cannot be fixed without months of repairs.
“Two of my security guys died because of the cursed imperial fire extinguishing system. The poor people just suffocated,” — Andre thought. He went back up to the control room and noticed a strange thing: the door was open, although he thought he had closed it before checking the station.
“Did a spy get into the station?” — at that moment, the dispatcher's thoughts returned to the story of the refugees: “How can you know how long you've been in the warp? And how the hell did they break all the cameras?”
But it was too late: Andre had just stepped over the threshold when he heard a quiet ringing, similar to the sound of breaking glass or the activation of an imperial anti-personnel mine.