Hudson
"Boss!" The call was frantic and Luke could hear Roxie crying. He cursed as he got the ship to forty three thousand. "She's fucking bleeding a lot. We need to get her to a hospital!" She got shot, how the hell did she get shot? The words crashed into Luke's brain again and again.
"I want to go to Torin!" She was nearly sobbing and Luke cursed as he pulled up the comms. He sent out the call and then bolted out of the seat, moving to check on her.
She was nearly surrounded and the guys were moving quickly, gauze was pressed to her stomach that was turning bright red way too quickly. "I'm calling them but if we need to, you will be taken to a hospital." Whatever was needed to ensure she was okay, she needed to be okay first before anything else.
"I want to go home. I don't want to do this anymore!" She gasped it out and Luke nodded quickly, feeling frantic.
"I know." He did. He knew that deeply but her survival was paramount to everything else. She needed to survive. He didn't know how the fuck it happened, she had her shields, she had her fucking shields.
"What happened? How did this happen?" Luke gestured quickly, looking over the guys.
"She said the shields were fucking up on the roof. They must have dropped. We were covering her, I swear we were!" Jetski looked half panicked as he looked up at him and Luke cursed hard and heavy, his thoughts on the fact she mentioned that her shields were acting up before she went on stage.
"I should have switched with her." He snapped it out and started to pace. "I should have fucking switched with her." His shields had been fine. They held but she was bleeding out on the floor because hers fucked up at the worst possible time. He should have switched the minute hers were having problems.
"I don't wanna be here anymore!" Roxie croaked it out through her sobs before she gave a small, pained cry as Timmay pressed a new gauze to the other blood soaked ones.
"I know, Tanky girl. I know!" Timmay looked stressed and pale and Luke swallowed hard.
"What is going on?" The shout came from the view screens and Luke bolted back to it.
"Roxie's been hurt, it's bad. Is there anything we have on the ship that can help her?" He said it quickly, looking at the few Councillors on the screen. If anyone had anything to help slow her bleeding it would be them.
"What?" The question was repeated through them all and Luke slashed his hand through the air.
"I can't answer questions. Do we have anything on the ship that can help her? She's been shot and she's bleeding a lot." If they had anything, anything at all that could help, he wanted to know and he needed to know now.
"The stasis pod." Loril-ee, the little fairy, said it quickly, her hands moving rapidly across her screen. "It's been installed below her bed because having them is mandatory on every space faring ship we build, even the small personal. It's a small chamber but the medication inside will put her into a stasis, her heart rate and breathing rate will slow drastically. It's used for long flights or medical emergencies."
Luke glanced over his shoulder as the guys started shouting. "We might have to take her to a hospital-"
"No. You bring her to Torin." It came out of Mare-aidee surprisingly strong and clipped and more than a little agitated. Which was surprising because Luke had never heard her be anything but calm. "We have the medical facilities to ensure she is given the best possible treatment, I do not want her on that planet any longer, not while she is so vulnerable. We cannot trust the people of earth with her any longer."
"The stasis chamber will keep her alive until you reach us. Put her in there as soon as you possibly can." Loril snapped it out and Luke nodded.
"How do we access it?"
"There is a button panel underneath her mattress, it is hidden underneath a small access panel that pulls off. Pressing the green button will unlock the hermetic seal and you can then open it. Pressing the blue button once she is inside will reseal the chamber and pump the medication through the venting. She will be in stasis within a minute." Loril said it rapidly and Luke turned his head.
"Someone take the fucking mattress off her bed. Open the access panel underneath it and press the green button." He called it out and watched as Twigs scrambled for the door, it slid open and the mattress was nearly tossed out of the small space shortly after.
"Pressed it! What now?" At the call Luke quickly moved back.
"Pull the chamber open." He shouted it at Twigs and looked at Timmay as he pressed down on the growing pile bloody bandages on her stomach. "Get her off the floor and into that chamber. As soon as she's in it, close it up and press the blue button." Roxie was starting to look pale, she still had her eyes open and was still crying but that meant she wasn't crashing and he would take it, as small of a win as it was. This was a mess, a giant fucking mess and he needed to ensure she was safe.
Timmay shook his head, "I need vitals I can't just-"
"Do it!" Luke shouted it, he didn't have the patience to argue, not when she was bleeding that much.
"It's open!" Twigs shouted it out and Timmay froze before cursing and backing off. Jetski quickly moved and scooped her up. Roxie gave a cut off cry of pain as he did so and Luke could have sworn he could hear her grinding her teeth together. Blood dripped to the floor as Jetski moved her the eight steps to the bedroom. Luke followed quickly and the cool blue glow of the chamber was almost eerie as Jetski lowered her into it. The minute his arms were clear, Twigs closed the chamber with a soft thwumph.
"Blue button!" Luke barked it out and Twigs pressed it quickly and with a faint hiss, there was nothing but silence before the wall lit up slightly. It was confusing as Luke looked at it but Timmay pushed past him, nearly shoving Jetski out of the way.
"Vitals! It monitors her vitals. Thank fucking god." He nearly slumped with relief as he made his way to the bed, staring at the strange display on the wall intently.
Luke nodded, still feeling overly panicky about the situation, "Good." He moved back to the pilot's chair.
"Vitals will show up on the wall of the bedroom. It will also give a quick scan to determine her injuries. The report will be uploaded to us on Torin so we can know what she needs for when you return." Loril said it evenly and she was the only one left on the screen. "We have created a preset in the GPS system. Follow it. It will bring you to us." Loril sounded so calm that it made him feel a touch better and he nodded, touching the display. He thanked God that Roxie had been giving him lessons on how to fly the ship. He was able to bring up the display rather quickly. "If you pinch the showing planet twice and swipe it to the right, it will auto set your destination to us." He followed the directions and his view screen suddenly had a line in it. "Follow the line on your view screen. It will bring you straight to us." He nodded and Loril fluttered her wings as if determinedly.
"Follow the same plan, give the box to Bee-anka. She will understand what to do with it. From there, bring our Roks-ei home." She gave a sharp nod, her antenna swaying and Luke nodded in return.
"Yes, ma'am." The call ended and he swallowed hard. "We move up the plan. We take the second chance box to Bianca Hathaway and we go to Torin." He turned as he said it and there were nods and Konnie was picking up the bloody gauze that had fallen to the floor and looking like he was trying to clean up. "It's become clear that there's no place that's currently safe for Roxie on earth and it's our mission to keep her safe. As a result, she goes to Torin and we keep her there. Bianca Hathaway will be acting as intermediary from here on out. So I need some men, at least two, willing to stay to rendezvous with Sarge and Iris and protect that box and Bianca Hathaway with their lives. Any volunteers?"
TruckNuts and Pinky lifted their hands. "I apparently get motion sickness, I can't fly there, not on this ship." Pinky said it and Luke nodded.
TruckNuts shifted on his feet, "Someone's gotta do it and the idea of going to another planet weirds me out a bit right now, so I'll stay."
At the explanation Luke pressed his hands to his hips and exhaled slowly. "If anyone else would prefer to stay on earth, let me know." He wasn't going to force his team to go with them, Bianca would need to be protected and if they wanted to stay, he would accept that.
"I'm all good." Jetski relaxed against the wall. Twigs nodded his agreement as well.
"You can try to drag me out of this room kicking and screaming but I will shoot you." Timmay shouted it out from the bedroom.
"I'm sick and fucking tired of the cold." Konnie wiped his nose with his sleeve as he looked at Luke.
"Me too." Fist reached a fist down and Konnie fist bumped him.
"I ain't leaving. Doubt Ham is either." Aragorn said it and Ham nodded his agreement.
"Okay." Luke nodded. "The box is in the back storage unit. I'll be heading to the base for drop off. It will be on you to make a plan for your next course of action." There was an affirmative from them and Luke made his way back to the pilot's set, settling in and getting the ship moving back to base.
As much as he told himself they had time, all he could think about was Roxie laying in that chamber bleeding out. He hadn't expected it to go that wrong. Her fucking shields failed. He couldn't grasp it. They failed. He should have switched them out but he hadn't expected that. He really hadn't.
The trip to the base didn't take long and soon TruckNuts and Pinky were let off with the box.
"Hey, Tank's got a text." It was from Jetski and Luke held his hand up and the phone was put into it. The screen didn't have a lock and when he pulled up the notifs it was a message from the scientist, Armaan. Luke frowned slightly as he read it.
Ready when you are.
Luke had to think back on what Roxie had been saying about Armaan and his ship building, how they wanted to bug out if things turned bad. He stared at it for a few moments before he typed in a message he believed Roxie would make and hit send.
With that done, Luke started the trip and he pushed the ship as hard as he could as they flew through space, the stars nothing but lines of light in the view screen.
He had to get Roxie to help.
....
In a small ship flying from a planet that potentially teetered on the brink of war, a cell phone was tucked into a small cubby in the dash, the screen open to a message chain, the last response being delivered and then read. Those of humanity who were ready to greet those who lived out in the distant stars let out a sigh of relief.
'Go' the message said. 'Go'
And so they did.
....
Two special forces soldiers stood looking at the sky where a ship had flown off, both of them hoping, praying, that the woman on it would be okay and would reach safety. They waited for only a brief moment before they picked up the box that served as humanity's second chance and they carried it to the base.
The halls were almost eerily silent as they carried their cargo through those halls until they reached their destination. A taller woman, silver threaded through her hair was watching a tv, biting her thumbnail as sirens sounded and police lights flashed, world leaders being escorted to safety from the Ottawa convention center. Panic was clear in all the faces on the screen, trauma as well.
She turned to look and then did a double take. Her wide-eyed stare asked everything she seemed to not be able to.
"The asset... she's down." The words scrapped the one soldier's throat raw as they came out and both of them could feel the wave of disbelief that seemed to emanate from the woman.
"What?" It came out quiet, small, coated in disbelief. She stared with eyes that showed too much white, looking panicky and scared as they filled with tears.
"She was hit when we were extracted from the convention center. She's on her way to Torin now." The words were hard to speak because both soldiers felt like they had failed the one person they had been tasked with protecting. The very first night they were on the mission, she was hurt. They felt that guilt deep down in their bones.
"We were told to bring this to you." The soldier's eyes fell back to the box. There was lettering, engraved and then painted on the top.
For when humanity is ready to try again
He looked at the message, and then looked at the woman he was now tasked with protecting. The other one was on a small ship, sailing across the void to reach others who could perhaps save the life of someone who wasn't like them but who they loved regardless.
"We have our orders. We keep it and you safe." The other soldier bowed his head at her and the woman's expression shifted from fear and sorrow to something closer to rage and anger.
"So be it. Get me and the team the fuck out of this place." It was an order filled with agitation and anger but they nodded at it regardless. They had their orders. Keep her and the box safe.
And so in that base, hidden deep in the northern Ontario wilderness, the woman made a decision that would change the course of humanity as a whole.
They said nothing as they gathered her team, said nothing as they commandeered a military truck, and took off. She and the box and her team were taken to some place safe, some place they could wait for the time when they knew humanity was ready. They were joined by two other soldiers, and they all waited, wanting to know what happened and how but unwilling to risk their current mission as the woman made phone call after phone call, her rage and anger making itself known, showing just why she had the reputation she had gained over the years.
And the box sat in front of them as a solemn reminder of the ship that sailed the void with vulnerable cargo aboard that needed help only those in the stars could provide.