The Resilient

Simon raised an eyebrow as Emma began to show signs of a smile forming on her lips as he was confused as to what he said to make her react this way this time when he was trying to be serious. She listened to him regardless but even so she would always take his father more seriously than him...though everyone took the infamous Commander Cartwright the Unkillable (or whatever nickname a subordinate came up with upon seeing the man in battle) more seriously than him. Simon sighed and shook his head. As long as she listened to him he couldn't complain. "Alright alright, though I don't know what's so wrong with ladders. Unless you found out about the crewman who was killed in the horrific ladder accident of 3519. I had just received my promotion to Lieutenant...and I, a lowly field medic, arrived to find carnage everywhere. It took weeks to clean it all. I spared you of the details to avoid scaring you off this entire deck."

He smirked as he brought the ladder over towards Emma, hoping some part of his tall tale would elicit some reaction from her. As the girl went up the ladder with no further improvisation on her part to retrieve his equipment he mulled over the expression he had seen on her face earlier while she had been speaking of resting. Their jobs were oftentimes stressful, as were most of the crew's, but being on call 24/7 could take its toll. Perhaps Emma needed something to brighten her day. Simon made a mental note to pick something up for her at their next stop.

Taking the container from Emma as she descended he opened it to check the integrity of the scanners and injectors inside. Satisfied that everything was up to spec he closed it. "Thanks for the assist, Em. I don't know if I could have ever braved that ladder like you did." Though to be fair, he had never been fond of heights...but at least even if Emma was not able to help the distance he needed to climb was completely negligible for him. "I suppose given your height, climbing ability had to have been an evolutionary trait." He teased, nudging Emma gently with the crate in his hands. Though the question did remain if she was really just that impatient to get to his box, if she was just trying to tease him by making him worry, ...or if she was secretly bad at ladders. Nah. She had to have been teasing. ...Or she was just that eager to get it done with and had not been willing to wait for a ladder. The more he thought about it the more it confused him. No matter how good he had gotten at predicting what she was feeling or what actions she might take, some of the things Emma did left him wondering.

 

Several hours passed in which Dania was able to successfully set a course for them and finish several trade documents, one of which had to do with their next location. She managed to secure a trade agreement with a traders station not too far from where they currently were. Thankfully the trade agreement had not been too harsh. It was place set up so anyone could set up a shop and trade and numerous people came and went. This particular group didn't seem to care about race, just if it would make them money or not. While they didn't have much to spare on the Resilient, they had become efficient at scavenging and always had something to trade at least.

Upon docking Dania took the lead, heading in first by herself to settle the final details of the agreement and to show good faith with her heading aboard alone at first. The discussions took a good hour before Dania returned to the ship to make an announcement. "Today we have started a new trade agreement with the trade station Galanor, as a sign of good faith and a solid agreement we will be stocking up with all supplies needed while here instead of our normal routine of visiting several to find the best price. Please feel free to head aboard and take a look at what they have, what you might need for your stations. Send me a list of what you need with prices so I can assign budget accordingly. Please have your lists sent to my personal computer by 15:00 and no later. I Admiral Carrillo thank you for your cooperation in this." The speakers throughout the Resilient rang with Dania's voice as she made the announcement. It ended with a small click and the ship fell silent before members started organizing themselves to head aboard.

Instead of heading back onto the Galanor herself, Dania found herself heading towards the infirmary. She had promised to return after running off so quickly the day before. After being slightly injured in the unintentional battle the day before, Dania only stuck around long enough to get a bandage put around her arm in order to stop the bleeding. With the attack the ship was in more chaos than normal and had to make a hasty retreat. Dania was the one that had to set things back on course and figure out their next plan of action. Not wanting to leave her people to travel aimlessly for long, Dania got to work on setting a general direction before turning her attention to the work that she had set aside before that and figuring out trade agreements for them. It hadn't been so urgent until the attack. Not only did they need somewhere to go that was away from the planet they had previously parked on, but the planet had been allied with two of their previous trade partners, who promptly informed them that there was no trade deals between them anymore. With all that going on, Dania had not had time to worry about the wound on her arm. Now with it started being sorted and having a safe location to park for the afternoon, she had to uphold what she said before and return for a proper examination.

The sound of knuckles against metal made more of a ringing sound than a solid knock, but she supposed it would still get Simon's attention. "Lieutenant Commander Cartwright, may I enter?" She asked from the door. While her rank gave her the right to show up anywhere unannounced, she still liked to be polite about it. She waited for permission to enter before she did so, taking it upon herself to remove the bandage that covered her wound before taking a seat. She wasn't fond of coming here, never really liked people taking care of her like this, but it was important to stay in good health, it was up to her to lead humanity into a new light and the fresh start they needed.​

 

Even before the time Dania had made their announcement Simon already had a list of supplies that were required for the infirmary. Replacement parts for a few of the more advanced equipment, common medication a few members of the crew were taking, additional scanners, and a few other things necessary for more personal developments that went on in a generational ship such as Resilient. The news of docking at a new station was exciting despite his worries that someone would come back with an injury or allergic reaction of some kind. At least there were people under him who could do that kind of menial work while he was away. Besides, he was looking forward to keeping Emma out of more trouble seeing as how a pilot would have no supplies to stock up on. So, Simon sent the list and his estimates of the costs to the Admiral.

Unfortunately for Simon, when they docked(something he had only taken notice of when he was specifically told they had docked) he had still been busy rearranging stock for the new inventory to come in and as he did so he began to think of his last conversation with Emma. It was a shame that Emma did not believe his ladder story, with her placing it under the category of "unbelievable ghost story Simon made up"...though one detail he gave her did seem to cause her to stop. Before Simon could think more of it while getting ready to leave the infirmary there was a knock at the door. Then a voice. It belonged to the Admiral. "So she's finally coming in for that second checkup...alright. Better late than never." He handed the list to his assistant. "Tell Emma I'm sorry that I'll be late. I have something to tend to first." The man nodded and left the room as soon as it opened for the Admiral.

"Good to see you Admiral Carrillo. Have a seat." Simon motioned to one of the infirmary beds as he retrieved an anti-bacterial treatment for most common flesh wounds. A general way to keep infections from occurring. "I'm aware of your schedule but going about with an arm that had barely been patched up is...well do you know how many viruses and bacteria there are out there? A lot. Those aliens you were negotiating with? Who knows what kind of bugs they might have been carrying. Without proper inoculation you could have risked an infection despite my having kept your bleeding in check." Simon sighed aloud as he grabbed a medical scanner and began to probe. He rolled his eyes. "Hm." He scratched his chin and put the scanner down.

"Looks like we'll have to amputate. We're low on analgesics, aka painkillers, so you'll just have to bite down hard and soldier on through it." He gave Dania a painless injection of the anti-bacterial medication for her arm. "Well, that's what I might have said if I were a less competent doctor and if you had waited too long to return but this is why you should have let me finish treating you the first time around." Admiral or not, in one way Simon did outrank the rest of the crew. If Dania had been medically unfit for her duties he could relieve her of command until she was. Luckily, a minor injury on her arm did little to impair the woman's ability to lead. Simon took out another tool, a subdermal regenerator meant to stimulate the natural healing of torn flesh. It was only effective on smaller wounds as anything more serious required surgery but this would do for the time being. At least he had already done the majority of the work treating her on the first visit. "This will only take a few moments, hold still please. You might experience some discomfort and a slight burning sensation but it is normal."

 

The trade station was a large unit with many different halls and rooms with a variety of different stalls set up in each. Everywhere, however, seemed to loop back to one singular location. The location was a large room with a circular stage type area in the middle. It was empty for the time being, but aliens of all different types seemed to mill around it like they were expecting something to happen soon. There were no signs, nothing to indicate what everyone was waiting for, but those their seemed to already know what was coming.

Down on of the adjoining halls, a man who looked to be in his mid forties was dragged along by two tall reptilian like aliens. The aliens spoke among themselves on how much they might fetch for a one armed human, but they spoke in their own language instead of the common traders language. As the stage came into view the man started to tug against his restraints that bound his hand and his feet. "Slave! Stop! It is a futile attempt by a human to try and escape us." One snapped at him in the common tongue of the traders, the only one that he would be likely to understand. "What are you going to do? Kill me?" The man retorted in the same language. At this point it would almost be a blessing to die now instead of endure another sale. "You won't be so lucky." The alien retorted as he yanked the chains and whipped his tail around, causing the man to fall.

On his way down the man caught a sight that he never thought that he would see. Down the hall, in the direction that he had come from minutes earlier, humans stood, seeming to get ready to disperse. He had thought there was none of his kind left... or at least none free. He didn't actually know how the others that were captured off the ship he had once lived on fared. They had been captured and quickly all auctioned off to various people, only a few stayed together, but that was 21 years ago, it was possible that none were left, and he didn't hold onto hope that any survived.

 

"You sound like your father." Dania responded with an exasperated sigh as Simon started to lecture her about how long it took for her to come back for a check up. Yes she knew how many virus's were out there, and yes she knew how dangerous they could be. That was why she had gone to him the day before for a temporary patch instead of just bandaging her arm herself in her office. Like father, like son, she supposed. They both seemed a little too paranoid about her health. If she had thought it was serious then she would have done more earlier, but it wasn't, so she couldn't see the problem.

"While I appreciate the concern Lieutenant, what I do is not your call to make. I know you are competent, and if it was really that bad I am sure you wouldn't have let me leave yesterday. The fact of the matter is, it wasn't that bad in the end, and we needed some sort of direction. We couldn't vary well just sit idol in a sector where we had made a few enemies. The well being of my arm was no concern compared to the well being of this ship and the remainder of the human race." Dania tried to defend herself but didn't know if it mattered much.

When the comment of discomfort came up, Dania just sort of rolled her eyes. The slight burning was nothing compared to getting shot all together. While her hit was a graze on the arm, it still hurt at the time, a lot more than this hurt. She simply sat still keeping her mouth shut, not wanting to start another lecture. She didn't like getting after people for ranks and respect around the ranks. Discipline was important to survive, but she didn't think herself any higher than anyone else. That being said she didn't want to be lectured on her choices. She was the Admiral after all, her word should respected.​

 

The man behind the booth looked at Kathi with annoyed eyes. He rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath before starting to speak in the common trade tongue. "Shut up and move out of the way girl. If you don't know what this is, you obviously aren't here for it, but I personally like to watch the slaves being dragged up, so if you don't mind buying what you need and scramming it starts in a few minutes." He told her, clearly annoyed at the human girl attempting to talk to him

 

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Having just finished the training session with the Resilient's security team they had returned to the armory to store their weapon when the communication came in from Ensign Rierson. The words "slave trader" and "human" caught his attention immediately. After having been so long without contact from others of their species bringing this human onto their ship took priority. With so few of them left it had to. He left his rifle in the armory but took a standard pistol along as it was far easier to conceal. The last thing they needed was to alert the station to any kind of "rescue mission" by bringing an armed security team in all at once.

"At your posts, all of you." He ordered the security. If things went south everyone needed to be ready for a conflict. As Garrett began to head towards the dock to exit the ship he gave an order to the ship's other pilot, a young ensign with considerably less experience than Emma, to take his seat at the helm to prepare the ship for her when she returned to her station. He also told the ensign to scan for vessels still expending large amounts of power. If there were slavers around it was reasonable to assume they still had "cargo" aboard their ship they needed to keep fresh for potential buyers by having more power than any normal ship diverted to life support systems. It was just a preemptive measure in case Dania chose to order a rescue mission on the other slaves as well. When that was settled he finally spoke up on the open channel.

"Admiral Carrillo, I am leaving the ship. The fewer of us there are on that station the fewer the lives there are at stake." Commander Cartwright had left the ship by the time he had finished his sentence and wasted no time giving orders to Emma. "Give me your location, Lieutenant Commander White. Let's let this play out and take back the human from whoever is the highest bidder when the opportunity to strike arises. It will be near impossible for us to stage a rescue during the auction without causing a firefight. All non-combat trained personnel will continue on their business, get supplies, and return to Resilient immediately."

 

He sounded like his father? Simon did his best to hide a smirk that was beginning to form on his face at the comparison as there were worse people to be compared to. "Well in any case, please try not to make it a habit. The last thing I need is for everyone to follow your example thinking they can walk out as soon as the bleeding stops." Simon sighed as he finished with the treatment and put the tool away. "There. All done. That wasn't so bad-" Kathi's voice came over the comm system and though her explanation was brief he could imagine what the situation was about to turn to in any second.

Like clockwork his father immediately responded after Emma and Allec, leaving Simon out of the picture. Of course, there was no point in dragged down the ship's medical officer but even if his place was there in the infirmary he still wanted to get his eyes on the situation. "I'll be on standby for casualties then." Simon spoke grimly hoping that his services would only be required to look after the former slave once he...or she was on their ship. Looking back at the admiral he stepped out of her way and motioned towards the infirmary's doors knowing she would want to be on the bridge or wherever she felt she needed to be. "I'll be here, Admiral." Worrying. As always.

Though he knew Emma took her job seriously, she did have a past of being reckless and it only added to his worries. At the very least he could find comfort in the fact that his father was going to be down there as well and if anything went wrong Simon was a damn good doctor. So far from what he could hear over the comm was that Emma had not rushed in blindly so that set him at ease if only by a bit. The last thing he wanted to do was perform a major surgery on another loved one again. "Just one thing to keep in mind." Simon finally spoke on the comm. "If this works bring our guest to the infirmary. The last thing we need is to find out too late that this human has a tracking device embedded in their body."

 

With the wound healing Dania started to relax a little... That was until she got a concerning transmission from one of the crew aboard the trade station. Slave trade was something she was aware of and planned to keep out of. It was not their business and they could not afford to be picky about things. That being said trading of another human, Dania wasn't willing to stand for that. Thankfully Simon had finished dealing with her arms so she could deal with the bigger situation. Considering that there was people on the trade ship and she wasn't Dania was not going to waste time making them wait for her.

"Commander Cartwright, I will leave this situation in your hands. I will be seeing what we can do for the situation, what resources we have to spare. Remember, though, first and foremost the safety of our crew comes first. I will be in contact from the ship. Keep me updated." Dania commanded then switched off her frequency. "Lieutenant Commander Cartwright. I trust that you will be ready for any possible outcome of this. Thank you for your good work. I will be in my office if you need anything." Dania tried to be at least somewhat supportive of her crew. She could see almost the disappointment of having to stay there, but it was an important place for him to be.​