Sanders finds the perfect landing spot on the asteroid to make the offload of equipment easier. They launch probes to mine sites three and four, while Endo works at site one and Carrera site two. Chakrum and Xiang get the files, then put tools in place to deconstruct the room. The scrap alone will bring more than their last three rocks. Chakrum looks forward to the prospect of decent food in the galley again. They’ve been surviving on protein powder and algae cakes far longer than she likes.

  Sanders and Ono collect the bodies and deliver them to the cargo hold for a proper sendoff. When you die evil, as they did, burial is even more important to give souls a chance at peace amongst the stars.

  Xiang shifts uncomfortably on her mech legs. Since she tweaked the hydraulics and harness, they aren’t as uncomfortable as they had been. She still hates using them, though. Her hands move over a set of controls on a large mining machine. “Cap, we good to start the scrap. I wanna get back and eye the info downloaded.”

  “Captain! Zero-three-eight and Maggie came to, erm, they’re in a state,” Reeves calls over the comms. Her words punch in and out of the heavy static.

  “Onna way.”

  Chakrum turns to Xiang but Xiang waves her away. “Go, am finish,” she says dismissively.

  When Chakrum gets to the ship, she doesn’t stop moving. Quickly pulling off her suit: helmet first, then gloves, main body, before kicking off the boots. Leaving a trail behind her as she rushes towards the medbay.

  Reeves is standing outside the door, hands up in a defensive posture. 038 woke while Reeves was running scans and attacked. There’s more to do, but it’s a relief to know 038 is alive.

  A wild, frantic screeching assaults Chakrum from inside the room.

  “Whatta fok’s at?” Chakrum asks, covering her ears.

  “Zero-three-eight,” Reeves responds, her soft voice raises over the noise coming from the medbay.

  Chakrum rounds the corner and puts her hands up as a tray flies towards her. “Am Chakrum, ya safe.”

  The paper gown hardly covers 038. Holding a plasma scalpel in one hand and a steel tray like a shield in the other. Maggie’s curled up in a ball, sobbing in the corner.

  Chakrum looks over at the tiny Terran. “Heya Maggie, ‘member me? Gotcha onna ship.”

  The horrific things done to her clouded her sleep. Maggie opens an eye and peers up at Chakrum. She nods and sits up, wrapping her arms around her knees. The giant space woman helped them.

  “Good.” Chakrum turns her attention from Maggie to 038. “Am Cap’n Chakrum Gravers, whata name? Maggie here...”

  038 isn’t shouting anymore. Instead, holding a defensive posture between Maggie and the door. “Zero-four-five... Zero-three-eight.” 038 forces out.

  Even with the trouble getting the words out Chakrum assumes 038 is Martian, as with Terran’s they have telltale vocal patterns and cadence even when their accents are different.

  Chakrum shakes her head. “Notta number, more an. ‘Cordin’ a file ya don’t exist.”

  038 sneers. “Z--,” zer voice catches and head ticks. “Zero-four-five. Zero-three-eight—?” zhe asks, gesturing around the medbay.

  Chakrum lowers her hands slowly. “Ya onna ship, safe, pulled ya outta fokkin’ hole. Wrap b’iness, getchya home. Maggie wanna go Terra. Where ya wanna go?”

  Error tsk tsk cha tsk Error. Zer head twitches again as zhe sinks against the table. “No, Zero-three-eight?”

  Chakrum shakes her head. “Not Zero-three-eight, gotta name. What's it?”

  038’s movement is labored as zhe walks back to Maggie and attentively stoops. “Hurt?”

  “Think she’s safe? Rescued us, we’re on a ship in space. Were on a rock in actual space.”

  Chakrum relaxes and risks glancing out at Reeves to nod quickly. Reeves cautiously moves back into the room. Chakrum takes a deep breath and pushes it out as she watches Maggie and 038 together.

  038 leans zer head on Maggie’s shoulder. “Real?”

  Maggie puts an arm around 038. “I don’t think it’s VR, haven’t seen the usual coding errors.”

  038 stands up, hoisting Maggie up with zer. Maggie stays where she is against the wall, but 038 walks towards Chakrum. “Captain?”

  Chakrum nods. “Am cap’n a minin’ vessel, Whiskey Rivers.”

  038 sticks the scalpel in the pocket of zer paper gown. “Lieutenant.”

  “Aye on, Lieutenant. Reeves finish? Gotta tick,” Chakrum says.

  The Lieutenant looks from Maggie to Chakrum. “Hurt, bad.”

  “Fixed you both the best I could. Don’t have the same equipment a colony or station lab does. But I did my best,” Reeves responds quietly from behind Chakrum. Her stomach still churns from the horrific things she’s seen on her scanner.

  “Good doc?” the Lieutenant asks.

  Reeves smiles reassuringly. “Maggie told us about the doctor. I took an oath, won’t hurt anyone.”

  “Glitch, tech,” the Lieutenant forces out. Error eeee-oooo-eeee.

  “Yes, I saw the chips and implants during my scans. I’m a doctor, not a tech, but our engineer can look.”

  “Engineer good?” the Lieutenant asks.

  Chakrum nods. “Ever all’s, ya safe.”

  “Bad, look. Bad find. Hurt.” Zer head twitches and tongue tuts.

  “Am member innapen’ent minin’corp. Ain’t Feds’n’thority, can’asylum.” Chakrum taps her comms link. “Xiang, needa fix medbay.”

  “The captain’s translator algorithms are underdeveloped. Did you understand that?” Reeves asks when she notices the blank faces.

  Maggie shrugs, fidgeting.

  “We’re members of the Independent colonies and mining corps. Neither Feds nor Authority have any jurisdiction out here. We’ll offer asylum.”

  Chakrum taps her comms link again. “Eh oh, Xiang. Guest tech glitchin, needa help.”

  A few seconds of static play before the hiss clicks. “Site’s settled, headin’ that way. Need a minute, I wanna switch ah chair.”

  Chakrum turns her attention from the comm to Reeves. “Well nuf walk a galley?”

  Reeves nods. “Wanna make sure ever all heal proper.” Reeves looks at the Lieutenant and Maggie. “I’m going to do one last check. You both had significant internal and external damage.”

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  The Lieutenant sits down next to Maggie on the table and takes her hand, squeezing gently.

  Reeves grabs a healer. The metallic gray wand reminds her of the security batons they had in the prisons. She can’t allow herself to fall into memories of what was, the pain always overwhelms her.

  The healer works with the nanobiotics Reeves injected into each patient. It beeps as it glides over badly damaged spots on both.

  Chakrum bites her tongue and turns away. The abuse suffered by these women is unforgivable and churns the rubble that still sits in her gut.

  Xiang rolls into the med lab and looks up at Chakrum. “Which one’s chipped?”

  The Lieutenant shifts focus from Xiang to Chakrum. “Safe?”

  The constant repeat can’t annoy Chakrum, both women suffered. Instead, she just nods.

  “Chair? No heal?”

  “Don’t need healed,” Xiang responds flatly. She hates when ables say shit like that. There’s nothing wrong with her. With a deep breath, she shoves the frustration down. The Martian with glitching tech came out of that hellhole and was near death. May not be an intentional prick. Xiang raises her wrist and presses a button on her cuff to open the holographic scanner to see what she has to do.

  Xiang studies the diagnostics and data that comes from the scanner. She’d heard rumors of Martian soldiers retrofitted with tech that interfaces with their weapons and war machines to make them better, faster, and stronger. It’s her first time encountering one, though. Her gaze floats up to the Lieutenant’s blue-green eyes and the way they almost glow against bruised amber skin. Jiāodiǎn, Xiang scolds herself. She doesn’t have time for the newcomer to distract her.

  “Your file’s corrupted, someone tripped a failsafe to scramble you. Should be an easy fix, standby.” Xiang rolls around the table and pulls herself up next to the Martian. She takes the scanner off of her wrist and lays it over the Lieutenant’s head. Xiang presses a few buttons, curses under her breath, and pushes a few more.

  Reeves closes her scanner and sets down the healer. “I’ve done everything I can without a full station grade medbay. Some scar tissue and minor injuries are still healing but I undid most damage,” she mutters. She’ll need a drink and a good cry later. Right now, she compartmentalizes and gives her patients a warm smile.

  “There ya go. How’s that?” Xiang asks.

  Aro rolls zer muscular shoulders and cracks zer neck. Zer mind isn’t swimming in a dense fog anymore. “Fuzz in my ears and head’s gone. Was like someone stuck me in radio static.” Zhe gently knocks Xiang on the shoulder. “Thanks for the fix, Wheels. Can I call you that? Buddy back on base is okay with it.”

  Xiang laughs and shakes herself. With a joke like that, she can assume the Martian isn’t a dick. She maneuvers back down into her chair. “Maybe. What’s the name?”

  “Lieutenant Aro Snow, Regimen Command Mars Colony. Where are we? I could hear what you were saying, but it was like talking through water. It’s much clearer now.”

  Chakrum smiles. “Minin’ skip Whiskey Rivers.”

  Aro nods. That means Spacers, they’re good folk. “Ah, am a Zhe/Zer, they/them okay too. Mags here a she/her.” Aro turns to the Terran zhe’s spent so much time with. “Mags you okay?” Aro asks.

  The concern paints a swath of kindness over zer hardened face. Xiang has to shake off another wave of warm fuzzy’s flipping through her stomach and chest.

  Maggie nods and hugs Aro as tight as she can. “I’m glad you’re alive, too. We’re the only ones that made it. We were in our suits, guess that’s why.”

  Aro whistles and shakes zer head. “I’ll be damned. Fucking rape wraps saved us?”

  “Uh what?” Chakrum asks, wanting to make sure she heard what she thinks she did.

  Aro shrugs and rolls zer shoulders. Zhe doesn’t want to stop moving now zhe can again with ease. “I don’t know what they’re called. Seen them on slaver ships and in illegal brothels. Enviro suits with pieces that go into, you know, uh, holes, or over parts. Move through a train of folks without washing after each. Real topline ones are thin enough it’s like the suit ain’t there. Fuck if I ever thought I’d end up in one. Said I was a spy. Motherfuckers. Did you find ‘em dead? Gods, I hope you did.”

  Chakrum shrugs and shakes her head. “Dunno ya speak. Just gonna finish a op, turn tail. No want ‘em find us scrap a torture rock.”

  Damn spacers are impossible to interpret. Aro has never met one as hard to understand as Chakrum. Zhe looks at the engineer and doctor in hopes one will help zer out.

  “We’ll finish our mining operation and leave as quick as we can. We don’t want anyone to catch us scraping their torture rock,” Reeves offers.

  Aro nods, an arm still wrapped around Maggie. “A couple of skin jobs ran the whole thing, think they were at least. Imagine folks wouldn’t send anyone out here. Talked about a new shipment, after it came, everything shut down.”

  Reeves quietly translates to Chakrum as Aro speaks.

  Chakrum’s grateful for Reeves. Martians are harder to understand than Terrans. “Why don’t we getchya a galley?” Chakrum asks.

  Aro jumps off the table, understanding the word galley. Zhe glances over at Maggie and sees confusion etched across her haggard face, too. “Understand galley, could use something I can sink my teeth into.”

  Chakrum wishes she had real grub to offer. It’s a luxury they’ll be able to afford after finding this rock. She slows her speech and enunciates in a pattern more familiar to colonists. “Haven’t a credit real. Gotta finest protein powders, MREs this side a belt.”

  Aro laughs. “We passed the belt, real? Did drills on Titan, but I’ve spent most my career on Mars. Did a stint on Balkan and Luna.”

  “Am Balkan. Ain’t even in the solar system no more. With FTL maxed, we’re about a Terran day out from Luna,” Xiang says, fiddling with a console.

  Aro whistles again. “No wonder Command never found us, always wondered with all the surveillance tech how...” zhe lets the words fall off.

  “Yeah, you was on a rock floatin’ in far space. Wouldn’t’ve found you if our knucklehead pilot didn’t fuck controls up and slow out of FTL early,” Xiang explains.

  “When we get somewhere with a bar, I owe you a large one,” Aro says with a wink.

  “My kids, if they lied, if they’re still alive, will they be old now?” Maggie asks.

  Reeves shakes her head, smiling. "Time dilation doesn't bother much. You’ve aged less but they won’t be old, unless either of you were on ice.”

  “Nah, neither of us are ice lollies,” Aro responds.

  Chakrum tunes out the conversation Reeves, Xiang, Maggie, and Aro are having and hits her comms. “Heya, how’s it?”

  The comm cracks and hisses. “Got machines up, wait ‘em do a t’ing. Rigs set t’ box ever all up’n’rover’ll load exto pod ‘fore gotta pop inna bay,” Endo responds.

  He spent his life on the same ship, just like Chakrum had, aside from a few stints on ice. It’s always easiest talking with him. He has the same problems with the translator she does from underdeveloped algorithms.

  “We’ll grab grub our guests. Sanders, am like t’ offer sumt’in’ more a hooch ya make inna hold.”

  Sanders’ voice shakes with laughter when he hits the comm. “I’ll eye if I have any left. Endo, what’s a fella name? One broke it off, and ya went through a year’s whiskey supply in a day.”

  “Shut it, dick, tore a heart. Love a life!” Endo responds gruffly.

  Sanders is laughing harder over the comms. “Yeah, eh oh. Gettin’ autopilot set.”

  Chakrum loves the way her crew gets on, she has to suppress her own laughter when she clicks in, “Best up, gotta guest.”

  Chakrum turns to Maggie and Aro. She takes a deep breath before talking. “We rustle a bunk while wait ‘em get here.”

  “I can cook, I’m a good... was, when, well before... It’s like I’ve been in that box for a lifetime, but I could try,” Maggie whispers, still clutching Aro’s hand.

  Chakrum smiles, she doesn’t want either of their guests to push too hard. After how much damage Reeves undid, she knows rest is important for them over the next week. “Enjoy not bein’ inna shithole. A haul that’ll change livin’ onna real.”

  “I say we fix this baby up and move further, get to what lies beyond,” Xiang mumbles.

  Aro taps Xiang. “I’m with our favorite engineer here! Maybe land on Titan, a spell? I loved that place, didn’t love the recycled air though, smelled like a stable.”

  Chakrum leans into Reeves as she quietly translates what’s being said. With this many colonists on board, she may have to talk to Xiang about modifying her translator.

  “Want to forget this happened. Go home to Harold and the kids. Being a PTO mom, bake sales...” Maggie whispers, trailing off.

  “I dunno what PTO is, but how’s a Terran ma end up here?” Xiang asks.

  “Thought I was Tamira Zorav, showed me a picture of... Well, I’m not, nor would I do those things,” Maggie responds softly.

  Reeves remembers that name. “We were in jail together on Earth before they iced me. There’s no way you could be mistaken for her, chicken. Assuming they didn’t ice her, she’d be in her eighties by now.”

  “Wait, really? You knew her?”

  Unsure how to answer, she chews her lip. Sometimes the floodgates open and she can’t stop thinking of just how much she’s lost. “We were both nonviolent offenders and became fast friends in jail. She gave up nonviolence and changed tactics. I’m not sure what happened to her.”

  “Wait, how long were—” Aro stops when zhe sees panicked sadness dancing through the doctor's expressive eyes. Instead, zhe gives Maggie a gentle, one-armed hug. “Mags and I became fast friends on the tables. Could tell she wouldn’t survive. We’d chat to keep her mind off the torture. Sometimes talked in our cells when they didn’t dampen the sound.”

  “When I get to a good enough lab, I’ll reroute your neuropathways and go around the less pleasant memories, avoid any PTSD or traumatic injury,” Reeves offers.

  “Helps heaps. Been through it before,” Aro states.

  Reeves nods and turns to Chakrum, chewing on her lip, trying to figure out the right way to present her idea on living quarters. “Erm, Captain, a room to mine’s empty? Cramped but fit ‘em, bunk.”

  Chakrum nods. It’ll be smart to keep Maggie and Aro together, and if they’re next to Reeves, she can help with potential complications. “Aye on. Show ‘em for getta galley.”