Several minutes passed in the large and now near destroyed dining hall of the Compass Rose during which no one said anything. The fact that they had all survived was enough. After several minutes, Jason spoke from his position on the floor.

“Rick, I don’t think there’re any more Reavers.”

“Seems not,” replied the big man.

“Jason,” said Sarah, who was now lying on the floor where Jason had set her down before collapsing himself.

“Yeah.”

“You’re hurting me. Could you get off.”

Jason pushed himself off of Sarah and tried to get to his feet. He had sprained his left ankle badly when he had fallen into the cabin to rescue the girl. Somehow, through shear adrenaline, he had managed to ignore the pain and carry her the short distance back. How they had both managed to climb out of the cabin, was still a bit of a fuzzy mystery. Now that his normal senses where returning, even standing on his own was challenging.

His weight off of her, Sarah rose to her feet. In the years since leaving Canton, this had not been the first time she had come close to being raped or otherwise physically assaulted. It tended to go with the territory of being a woman on her own in the shadier half of the ‘Verse. She knew from experience that now was not the time for her to indulge hysterics. Wiping her eyes, she then wrapped the remaining torn leg of her cargo pants around her waist like a skirt. Then, putting one arm around Jason’s waist, Sarah helped him over to one of the other couches that were set against the walls.

“So what now, Boss?” asked Rick.

“Now I’m the boss?” asked Jason, chuckling in mild surprise. Rick had never called him that before.

“Well, your plan kept us alive, figure that earns ya something.”

“We all kept us alive, Rick. I don’t think there’s a one among us that doesn’t owe their life to another. Reckon we best just call it even, stead of keeping score.”

“I best take a look at that ankle Jason. You walk on it too much like that and your likely to really muck yourself up,” said Linda. Then turning to her son, “Matthew, do you think you could look in the kitchen and laundry over there for some linens or something that we can use for bandanges. I think we’re all gonna need a few.”

“Umm, I guess.” Matt was not eager to venture into the nearby service area alone, being as it was a separate room.

“I’ll go with him,” offered Sarah, as she heaved herself out of the couch on which she had been sitting with Jason. Despite her ordeal, she was probably the least injured of the crew next to Matt. The worst she had suffered was the bite at her neck, and the Reaver that had given it had apparently been only trying to restrain her, not go for the kill. Sarah and Matt disappeared as Linda walked over to look at Jason’s leg.

Several moments later the two returned with a pile of white bed linens and two large first aide boxes. Sarah had wrapped a tablecloth around herself like an Indian sari, though she still wore Jason’s jacket over the top of it. Linda took the cloth, and after binding up Jason’s ankle, she began treating the other stab and bite wounds the crew had suffered.

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Patched up as best as Linda’s limited skills would allow, the small crew made their way back to their own ship, taking only a few minutes to collect the various firearms that had be dropped or lost during their battle and reload them. No one was ready to take for granted that the Reavers were no more.

They discovered that the Firefly had latched onto the Shire just above the kitchen area, and a large hole was now evident in the ceiling of the room, leading up into the cargo bay of the Reaver ship.

“Looks like I got some welding to do,” grumbled Rick.

“You best search it,” said Linda as they looked up at the hole.

Rick and Jason exchanged apprehensive glances as they contemplated what they were likely to find up in the Firefly. Finally Rick retrieved a small stepladder from a closet near the engine room. Pulling their weapons to the ready, the two men prepared to ascend into the unknown.

“I’ll come with you,” said Linda. “We will want to do it quickly. If that ship’s been running without core containment for any length of time, the radiation background will be dangerous to stay in.

“Sweetheart, if what’s up there is half of what I expect there is, I don’t think I’m gonna wanna hang around just for grins and giggles,” replied Rick, as he summoned his courage to begin making his way up the ladder.

“Don’t ever call me sweetheart,” said Linda as she began climbing as well.

What they found when they climbed out of the waste pit of the Firefly’s cargo hold was a grizzly scene. The place was filled with bodies and parts of bodies from the Reavers victims. Many where chained to the walls, others were simply left on the floor. Thankfully, none of them were alive. As they searched, they found most of the midbulk transport to be the same. Apparently all of the Reaver’s had been drawn to the fight, as there was not a single one to be found anywere; anywhere until they entered the cockpit, that is.

At first, they thought that the head in the pilots chair was just another corpse from the way that it did not move, but then as they came closer, it suddenly swung the chair around and lunged at the intruders with a growl. Jason and Rick jumped back in surprise as Linda brought her automatic rifle to bear, but then it became apparent that the Reaver could do them no harm. Its legs had been amputated, and its torso sewn to the seat in which it sat. The three people in the room looked at each other with varying degrees of disgust. Finally, Linda ended the nonverbal discussion by putting a single bullet in the creature that used to once be a man.

They found no other unexpected surprises as the checked the rest of the cabins and moved on to the back of the ship. They ducked into the engine room only briefly, as the radiation was the worst there. Then, satisfied that the ship was Reaver free, they returned to the Shire.

--------------------------------

Back in the common area of their own ship, the five crewmembers considered their options. Jason, Rick, Linda and Sarah sat around the table in discussion while Matt busied himself preparing a simple meal as best he could with the reduced power. “I estimate that we have about three days worth of air and heat running on the Shire’s battery backup,” declared Jason. “Maybe a week if we tap into the remaining reserves of the Compass Rose.”

“I don’t think we want to hang around that long, sir,” interjected Linda, as all eyes turned to her. “I don’t think that Firefly was what attached that freighter.” It was a thought that had been in the back of Jason’s mind as well and probably the others if they had bothered to consider simple numbers.

“There is no way that the five of us were able to defend against a force of Reavers capable of taking out a ship of over fifty people,” continued Linda. “We fought off what, about two dozen of them, and only then because we were prepared and the Reavers didn’t bother to use any kind of intelligent tactics. What ever force attacked the Compass Rose most likely numbered over a hundred Reavers. I think that Firefly just stumbled on us by luck, or maybe hoped to steal the catch from under the nose of something else.”

Jason heard Sarah suppress a barely audible squeak at the though of such a nightmarish force.

“I think we have to face the fact that there will be a much larger ship coming back at some point to check on their little trap. And if the air runs out in a week, we can expect them before then.”

“Boost the distress signal then,” suggested Sarah, “like I was trying before?”

“Maybe, but that could bring ‘em back even sooner,” relied Jason.

“What’s the traffic like between Londinium and Newhall, Jay?” asked Rick.

“What traffic,” asked Linda sardonically.

“That is a dilemma, now isn’t it,” said Jason. “Wait for a ship that’s not likely to come, or call for one and risk bringing down more Reavers. With options like that, only choice is to look to our own selves to get out of this one.”

“Thought you said the engine was shot though, not fixable,” asked Rick.

“And that it is, but not the one on that Firefly.”

In response to this comment, a number of people stated talking at once. It was difficult for Jason to make out any of them.

“Radiation is too high to,” from Linda.

“gorram freak-show in there, you saw,” Rick was saying.

“not going on a ship with bodies and,” protested Sarah.

“Allright! Quit!” demanded Jason. “Just hear me out. The engine mountings and power couplings are similar for the Firefly and Mosquito class transports. I think it might be possible to pull the power plant from the Firefly and mount it in the Shire.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at Jason.

“One problem Jay, one of those engines weighs near on two metric tons.”

“As I understand it, there is no weight if there is not gravity.”

“But…” Rick trailed off.

“The gravity generator has backups and it’s not normally defeated, even when a ship is powered down,” said Sarah.

“Can you defeat it?” Jason looked at her.

Sarah considered this. “I’ve not done very much work on ships, but yeah, I should be able to figure out how.”

“Good,” said Jason. “Now I want everyone to get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we got a pair of engines to swap.” “Food’s up,” said Matt, as he passed out bowls to everyone. “Nothing to fancy, just a simple stew. Best I could come up with using the emergency heat packs. Sorry.” As they spooned the warm soup into their mouths, it could have been the finest bisque from the Persephone ball for all they knew.

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The next day, they purged the atmosphere in the engine room of the Reaver Firefly just to get the radiation down to an acceptable level. Then, they set to work. It took Rick and Jason two hours to unbolt the engine from its housing. Then Sarah cut the gravity, and they maneuvered it precariously down into the other ship. Though weightless, the large engine still had mass, and with everyone injured to some degree, maneuvering it into its new mounting took the efforts of Jason, Rick and Linda combined. This accomplished; everyone was relieved to have gravity finally restored.

“So that’s it then,” said Rick. “You just hook it up and away we go.”

“Not quite,” said Jason. “Now comes the task of getting it configured and coupled into the ships power systems. Looks like I might even have to customize some of the manifolds. Could take me two days on the outside, maybe one if Sarah helps with the electronics and controls. Meanwhile, I’ll need you to weld up that hole in the dining room, and cut that Firefly loose.”

“Won’t take more than a couple hours,” replied Rick. “So then what, the rest of us just sit pretty and hope that more Reavers don’t show up, or is there anything else we can do?”

“Been thinking on that. Yesterday, when we first found the ‘Rose, the two of you weren’t so eager to leave her behind. I’ve been thinking there was some logic in what both of you had to say. I want the two of you to do what you can to take care of the bodies. I had Sarah reduce the temperature over there as well as the gravity. Should make the task easier. If we have time, maybe we can say a few words before we space them. And if while you’re at it, you come across anything of value, well, no sense in leaving it to the black. We’ll split it the usual way.”

Rick and Linda looked at each other.

“Mind you,” added Jason. “I ain’t going back on my decision yesterday. Had I to do it over again, I’d still do the same, just preferably without the blowing up the engine part. Now it seems to me we’ve all got work to do.”

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Of the sixty-seven people that had been on the Compass Rose according to the ship’s crew and passenger manifest, the bodies of only twelve were found. Four were the bridge crew, who had stayed at their stations till the end. The other eight consisted of six crewmembers and two passengers that had tried to put up a fight. It was a sobering thought to consider that they were the lucky ones, thought Jason, as he looked down into the pit at the twelve bodies, each wrapped in a linen sheet. He shivered slightly, not sure if it was from the thought, or from the cold air, as the interior of the Compass Rose was now well below freezing so as to prevent decay. Jason then realized that everyone was looking to him. He was not quite sure as to what constituted a good eulogy, and had not had much time to think on it either.

“We are gathered here today. To commit to the black the remains of these good people, who meet their end far sooner than as should have been,” Said Jason, pausing a moment as he tried to think of something that didn’t sound too cliche. “As I can’s say as I know their personal beliefs, I shall not presume to read from any book of specific faith. But as they leave this world, I ask of whatever God or Gods that there may be, to give them a better turn in the next.”

Pulling a paper from his inside coat pocket, Jason then read off the names, not of the twelve people before him, but of all sixty seven people who had been on the Compass Rose. Then looking to Linda, he watched as she pressed a button on the wall. The inner hatch of the pit closed, and the bodies were committed to space, setting them on a slow path that would eventually bring them, along with their ship to their final rest in the central star.

This task competed; there was a moment of silence. Not one that was planned, or that anyone had suggested, just a long minute where the five living people present had nothing to say for whatever reasons known only by each to themselves.

“That’s it then,” said Rick.

“Pretty much,” replied Jason. “Best take care of the rest.”

They then turned to another, larger garbage pit in the center of the cargo freighter, where the bodies of the Reavers had been piled, somewhat less ceremoniously. “May God have mercy on your souls,” said Jason. Linda pressed another button, and they were likewise released to the black.

“All right people, lets get a move on, we don’t have time to dally. Everyone back to the Shire.”

“And Rick, why is there a golf cart in my cargo bay?”

“I’m sick ‘a carrying stuff around when we’re dirt side.”

“I want that golf cart off of my ship. It takes up a quarter of the gorram cargo bay.”

“Aw, come on Jay. Hell, at least we can sell it at our next stop. You said to grab anything of value.”

“Fine, lets just go.”

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Two hours after the Shire disengaged from the Compass Rose and went its way. A Trans-U loomed out of the darkness. A hunter returning to check its traps.

TO BE CONTINUED

Authors Notes: This one’s a little dull, as all it does is close up the Ghost Ship story so that I can get back to the main plot. I had wanted to do Ghost Ship with only two parts, but it just didn’t work out that way. All together this sub story took about a week to write. In retrospect, I could have just waited and posted it all as one, which may have been better. As readers do you prefer short frequent bites, or to wait a while for longer chunks of story? I can’t guarantee to change my style, but input will always be considered.