Nyx sees the Donati from the outside from up close and sees its been chewed up from the fight. The fore has the most damage, and much of the antennae are twisted or missing. She can even see part of the telescope’s dome is missing, and the shattered mirrors inside. There’s also a line from there, halfway down the ship, stopping just short of the mining laser blister. Many of the holes have drones around them, repairing the damage.

  She enters the cargo hold. It has taken no damage, so she sees its been repressurized, so she has to wait for it to cycle.

  Twoey is crouched over one man, and is peeling off his lightly armored space suit.

  Zone is digging through a med pack, “Where’s pain killer again?”

  Roxy is in a corner heaving, with a puddle of vomit on the floor in front of her.

  Nyx remembers being exactly like Roxy after finding Wrench that day, so she walks up to her, “Roxy. Be takin’ a break. I’m knowin’ what it’s bein’ like.”

  Roxy looks up, “I hate this! Why? Why?”

  Nyx rubs Roxy’s back, “I’m not knowin’ why. People are just bein’ shunk buckets. Tryin’ to be livin’.”

  Roxy hugs Nyx, “I… I can’t be the Vice Captain! I hate this! I just want to be like Cai! On a ship, away from everything! Can we just go?”

  Nyx hugs her back, “I was bein’ with the Sandel people before bein’ taken to you. There was this nice drawin’ girl that was drawin’ a picture with me ‘n Cai. I’m wantin’ to be savin’ her. Savin’ the others that were bein’ friendly.” She pauses, “I was helpin’ stealin’ from people for so long. I was bein’ scared I’d be starvin’ or bein’ put alone. I was always hatin’ myself. I was thinkin’ I was needin’ to be hurtin’ because I was leavin’ my friends to be dyin.”

  Roxy sits back and looks at Nyx, “How can you keep going?”

  Nyx shakes her head, “I almost wasn’t.” She scratches where the scar along her wrist through her suit, “My friend was keepin’ me goin’. And I’m bein’ scared of dyin’”

  “Me too. I’ve thought about just giving up. It’s so hard being trapped in a room for your whole life. Being studied.” Roxy shivers.

  Nyx growls, “I’m goin’ because I’m wantin’ to be stoppin’ the sparkin’ lab people. For killin’ my siblings. For doin’ all that dum testin’ to us.” She looks back to Roxy. “Now I’m thinkin’ maybe I have other things I’m wantin’ to be livin for. I’m wantin’ to see what I can be doin’ here. Bein’ friends with you and Twoey.” She blushes, “Cai…”

  Roxy lets out a little giggle, “Cai?” She pauses, “He’s been quiet.”

  Nyx realizes Roxy is right, “Yeah, he’s bein’ quiet.” She looks up. They have simulated gravity, so the Donati is moving again, but with the living areas depressurized, and this one pressurized, they can’t go through the Donati as there’s no airlock. At least not at the top of the ladder. “Cai, you bein’ alright?”

  Cai replies, “Oh, right. Yeah. I’m okay. Just busy.”

  Roxy narrows her eyes, “You’re not hurt?”

  A pause, “I’m okay.”

  Nyx growls, “You be tellin’ us the truth or we’re gonna be goin’ up there and makin’ you be tellin’ us!”

  A sigh, “Okay… I took some shrapnel when a round hit the console, but it’s not serious. My suit stopped most of it.”

  Roxy furrows her brows, “You don’t sound fine.”

  “Well, it does hurt, but I got it patched up.”

  “Then why are you so quiet?”

  “I’ve been trying to think how we can help. The Donati can’t land with its damage, and re-entry is dangerous with part of the nose cone gone and a few holes in the heat tiles. We’d survive, but it still doesn’t change that we can’t land.”

  The soldiers look up, and one stands, “Drop me off. I want to fight.” He hisses as he does. “I’m not injured that badly. I can go.”

  There’s a pause, “The enemy in power armor are still there. Twoey, you’re in charge of the guns again. We’ll see if we can hit them with the mining laser. I’m also having the fabricator make some armor-piercing rounds for your rifles, Lieutenant. That should help with the security drones.” A pause, “Right! The security drones got taken over. It’s how they captured the government buildings so fast.”

  The lieutenant nods, “Thanks, Captain.”

  Another man stands, “I’m going too. I can still fight.”

  The third, “I’m gonna have to sit this one out.”

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  Roxy turns pale when she looks at him.

  Twoey is currently applying disinfectant to a cut on his chest.

  Zone trots over to Nyx and Roxy and whispers, “The bleeding isn’t stopping. Some of the cuts are too big.”

  Twoey points to the med bag next to her without looking up, “Stitches?”

  Roxy’s face pales, “Oh… um… I c… ca… can do it!”

  She’s trembling, but she jogs over, and grabs a needle from the kit.

  Cai’s voice, “Nyx, can you help patch the holes in the living quarters. It’s going to get bumpy, and the cargo hold isn’t exactly meant for people to be in during re-entry.”

  Nyx closes her helmet, “Got it!”

  She heads back to the airlock.

  Twoey jogs over and hands her cutting torch back, “It helped!”

  “Thanks, Twoey.”

  Nyx gives Twoey a thumbs up, then enters the airlock, and closes the door.

  Once she’s cycled through, she opens the outer door, and looks out.

  To the rear, she sees the plumes of plasma shooting from the Donati’s four large engines. If she’s not careful, she’ll fall off and get toasted as the Donati passes her, “Cai, I’m bein ready. Can ya be turnin’ off the engines? I’m not wantin’ to be cookin’.”

  “Everyone, prepare for zero g.”

  Roxy’s voice, “I’m stitching a cut. Can you give me a minute to finish?”

  “Oh! Got it.”

  Nyx looks through the airlock’s porthole and sees Roxy stitching the man’s stomach, her face now no longer looking queasy.

  A minute later, she ties the stitch and cuts the string, “Done!”

  The Donati’s engines quiet, and everyone is soon floating.

  Nyx moves out the airlock and begins her work.

  Each individual hole is no larger than her fist, so they’re too big for her tiny can of sealing foam.

  Cai’s voice interrupts her thoughts, “Special delivery!”

  She feels a tap on her leg, and there’s a small drone holding a sheet of metal.

  “Mya?” She grabs the hole and pulls herself closer to it, “Thanks.”

  She uses a marker to cut out a hole the size and shape of the sheet of metal, then welds it into place after cutting a hole out using the outline.

  She’s not the only thing out here doing repairs, and she sees more of these small drones bringing supplies to other drones as they do their work. Most of them she can see are working on the heat shield, with others are dismantling the shredded nose cone and damaged sensors and the telescope.

  Nyx loses track of time, but fixing each hole only takes a few minutes each, and soon she’s done with the hydroponics deck, “Cai, I’m bein’ done.”

  “Got it, Nyx. I think we can try pressurizing the deck. Stand by.”

  Nyx waits.

  “Alright… it seems we got all the holes. Good job.”

  Nyx can’t help but smile, “Mya! I was fixin’ ‘em all the time on the Gaper. Easy as the cap’n’s wife!”

  Cai chuckles, “I didn’t need to know that. And you should head back to the airlock so we can start helping the colony.”

  Nyx turns to look at the chewed-up nose cone. Cai has been up there by himself for too long. And she hasn’t been able to have any alone time with him in a while.

  So she moves ‘up’ and finds the drone hatch nearest to the sensor room, “Cai, be openin’ the drone hatch by the sensor room.”

  There’s a pause, “Nyx. Fine. You’ll probably bust the hatch open if I don’t.”

  The hatch lifts open, and she climbs in.

  It’s still in a vacuum in this part of the Donati, so she doesn’t have to cycle the airlock here.

  She then crawls into the drone tunnels and is soon out and into the sensor room.

  Cai sits there in his chair as he searches for… something. She’s not sure what he’s looking for, but she sees hundreds of objects highlighted in a hologram of the solar system.

  She looks back to Cai and sees that holes and dents pepper his suit. Most of the scratches and dents are on the visor and suit’s breastplate, but she sees some on the soft parts. The holes are all sealed.

  Next to him, she sees a fist-sized hole going through the desk in front of him and many.

  Nyx stops next to him, “Why don’t you go be gettin’ looked at?”

  Cai shakes his head, “I don’t have time.”

  Nyx pokes one of the sealed holes by his shoulder, “Goddum it, Cai! You can be doin’ it while we’re lookin’ at you.”

  “Ow! I literally can’t. I can’t fit through the drone tunnels like you can, and there are two more decks between here and the hydroponics deck and no airlocks.”

  Nyx realizes he’s right, “Okay, but I’m gonna be stayin’ here with you, ya sparkin’ idiot.” She blushes, “And if we’re gettin’ through this… I… I’m we’re goin’ on that date!”

  She lets out a groan and covers her visor with her hands as she realizes what she said. She’d brought it up earlier, but it didn’t make it easier for her to say to him.

  Cai looks stunned, and touches the place where the diamonds of his wife and daughter should be, “I… Listen. I like you too, Nyx, and I remember how we talked about this earlier. But I’m not sure I can return your feelings. I’m not sure I want to be in a relationship.”

  Nyx growls, “You sparkin’ coward! How long are ya gonna be out here runnin’? I’m likin’ ya, and so does Roxy! Maybe Twoey too!”

  Cai shakes his head, “Listen. I can’t return your feelings. At least not now. For one, I’m worried if you just like me because I saved you. What happens when you get over it after things settle down?”

  “Then you be goin’ after Roxy or Twoey! But I’m likin’ ya right now. I’m likin’ who you are! Now be findin’ what you were lookin’ for, so I can be showin’ ya how much I’m likin’ ya!”

  Nyx screams internally as she’s saying all of this. She knows he’s right. That she might just like him because he saved her from the Az Gaper. But it’s more than that. He’s been far kinder to her and others than he’s needed to be. She wanted… No. She needed someone like him in her life.

  Cai laughs, “Okay. I’ll think about it. We save the colony, then go on one date. Just the two of us. And Twoey doesn’t like me that way. She’s the type that likes to get reactions out of people.”

  “Roxy is likin' ya. And she’s bein' your type.”

  Cai blushes at that, “She is pretty, and a nice girl. But I think she has past trauma with men. She shakes every time one comes near her. Probably puts Zone in dresses because it helps with that?”

  “Yeah, I’m thinkin’ that too. But she’s stoppin’ with you.”

  “She’s just gotten used to me.”

  “She’s havin’ her face turnin’ as red as a overheatin’ power relay when she’s lookin’ at you.”

  Cai shrugs, “Listen. I barely know her. She’s a sweet girl, but I promised you first, too. So yeah. I’ll go on a date with you.”

  Nyx feels her heart racing. They should be talking about saving the colony, but she’d spent more than enough time thinking about what she’s wanted and now that it was coming out, she wanted to finish, “You end up lyin’ to me, and be huntin’ ya down and spacin’ ya.”

  “Sure. Have fun hunting an exploration class ship with no ship of your own.”

  She ignores the comment, “Be hurryin’ and findin’... whatever.”

  He turns back to the console and highlights and magnifies a marked object, “I’m looking for a small asteroid. I’m going to fling it into the captured command center on Sandel Colony.”