The first thing I remember after the crash was coming round in the suspended animation booth. The total system shutdown had triggered the re-animation sequence. I groggily stepped out of the booth to find a wrecked spaceship interior with drifts of snow starting to build up against the walls. I had been one of the five crew members in stasis when we had crashed. A quick glance was all I needed to tell me that the other four, the alternate flight crew of three and the second derelict recovery specialist (my current role in the crew too), were not going to be waking up; all their booths were broken in some way. I made my way carefully to the remains of the flight deck and found two more bodies; the pilot and the flight engineer. Of the last member of the team, Emalotte the navigator, there was no sign. I looked around the rest of the ship and found that the access hatch was open with snow blowing in.
Peering outside I saw vestiges of a trail leading away from the wreckage. It seemed that Emmy had decided to leave the wreck and try to find... what? I didn't know, Emalotte and I hadn't interacted much. I considered my choices: I could bury the rest of the crew, or I could go after Em. The decision wasn't difficult: the bodies, although they were my friends, weren't going anywhere. Emmy was a resourceful girl but totally unprepared for surviving in this harsh environment. I quickly threw on a warm coat, picked up some hard rations in a backpack and was about to plunge after Emalotte when I had another thought. I went to the gun locker and took out a pistol and the assault rifle with the night sight; both old friends from my military days in the Space Legion. The pistol I stuck in my pocket and the rifle I slung across my back. I pulled up the hood of the coat and set off down the just discernable trail left by my missing crewmate.
We had been on a deep space mission to clear a derelict cargo hauler that was drifting towards a major space lane. The long haul out meant that we were double-crewed, swapping active crewmembers every couple of weeks or so. The last time I had been on duty we had been more or less on schedule to rendezvous with the derelict in about two months. What had happened since was a complete and utter mystery to me. Obviously something had gone awry, but I wouldn't know what until I caught up with Emalotte. I pushed on through the snowy wastes as quickly as I could, occasionally checking ahead with the night scope for any sign of my errant crewmate. I could tell I was gaining on her as the tracks were becoming better defined. After three hours I saw something worrying: Another set of footprints running parallel to Emmy's. Someone else was following her! It was possible they were looking to help, but for some reason I didn't think so. That thought was reinforced when the second set of tracks veered off and began to follow the available cover in a way with which I was all too familiar.
As dusk became evening I came to the top of a rise and could see a small fire burning in the lee of some trees on the other side of this new valley. In this flickering light I also spotted two shadowy figures creeping closer to the campfire and my associate. Emalotte hadn't seen them and in my heart I knew they meant her harm so I began to run. I quickly realised I'd never get there in time as the two figures now struck. I stopped and unslung the rifle, turned on the night sight and knelt in a firing position. I peered through the scope and saw that Emmy was struggling with the two assailants. I knew that I couldn't attempt to shoot these two bushwhackers because of the risk of hitting Emmy, but maybe I could get close enough to scare them off. I put my eye to the scope again and located the grappling trio. I had been right all along; Samaritans aren't that rough. I squeezed the trigger and fired two shots over the heads of the melee. At the same time I called out loudly.
"Leave the girl alone!"
As they all looked towards the sound of my voice Emmy got a kick in on one of her attackers. The recipient let her go and crouched in pain, turning away from her. I fired twice more, hitting him with both shots, head and heart. The other one tried to use Emalotte as a shield but that just got her in closer to him. She stamped down hard on his foot and then used her elbow to his gut. He lost his grip on her and she began to run towards where she thought I was.
"Emmy, get down!" I shouted as she was masking my shot. She responded by diving into the snow and gave me a clear field of fire. I pulled the trigger once more. Two more shots. Two more hits. No more bad guys.
I walked toward where Emalotte was carefully getting to her feet. It took me a good five minutes as she made no move in my direction until presumably I was close enough for her to see the identity of her saviour. A big smile lit up her face when she recognised me and she ran to me, throwing her arms around me like I was a long lost brother.
"Dave! It is you. I thought you were all dead." She gabbled excitedly.
"I'm afraid the others are; their pods broke open in the crash. What happened with that anyway?" I said calmly, hoping she'd do the same.
"Well, we came across this uncharted planetoid. The skipper decided we'd make a few orbits to enable me to map it a little. Then, I don't know, some sort of missile strike on us I think, and we were going down. The skipper made me strap myself in while he and Scottie tried to control our descent. They nearly managed it, but it cost them their lives. I might have been able to help if they'd let me." Her eyes began to tear up as she told me what had occurred.
"If they thought you could have helped they would have asked." I said comfortingly. "It was a missile attack then? That makes me think I'd like a closer look at your two friends." My mind was racing. "Coming?"
"I'm not sure I want to see them again." Emmy was dubious.
"I won't make you, but two pairs of eyes are better than one."
Emalotte paused to think for a moment.
"All right, I'll come with you. As long as it isn't too icky."
I held out my hand and she took it and followed me back towards the now dying campfire. Her two attackers lay either side of the dwindling light source. I knelt beside the first one, twitching open his coat. What I saw made me hmmm.
"What is it?" Emmy asked from a couple of feet behind me.
"Come and tell me what you see." I replied.
" A dead man." She said after coming and looking over my shoulder.
"Accurate, but not what I meant. What is he wearing?"
"Some sort of military uniform isn't it?"
"And that implies he's military or ex-military maybe?"
"I wouldn't know Dave."
I sighed, wondering if she really didn't see the point I was trying to make, or if she was being obtuse on purpose. I moved to the second body and again opened his overcoat.
"That one's got a different uniform on." Emmy said, now trying to be helpful.
"Yes, he does." I said thoughtfully. It seemed to confirm my thinking. "What do you think that means?" I asked.
"Honestly Dave, I don't have a clue about what you're getting at." She said sorrowfully.
"At least you're honest." I smiled. "What I'm thinking is that these two are either deserters or pirates or both. The ship must have passed over their secret hideaway or something."
"So they shot us down and then came to finish us off?"
"That's my guess."
"But that's horrible."
"They're not nice people Emmy." I patted her on the shoulder.
"So what are we going to do now?" She asked.
"I reckon we go back to the ship and initiate the distress beacon."
"Won't they hear it too?"
"They probably will, but I never said we were going to stay there. It's possible they'll abandon the base if they think it's been compromised, but they probably won't yet. So we are going to find it and cause them some problems."
"Just the two of us?" Emalotte was incredulous.
"Don't you want payback?"
"Yes, but I'd like to be alive to enjoy it."
"Then I'll see what I can do." I grinned.
"What was it you did in the military anyway?" Emmy asked.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." I smirked.
Emmy grinned back. Just knowing that she wasn't alone in a situation she wasn't prepared for seemed to be cheering her up.
"Are we going straight back? They might have found the crash by now."
"They might." I conceded. "But let's stick to the plan for now. The sooner we get back, the sooner we'll know."
"Makes sense I suppose. Okay then, I'm ready, lets go."
