'Golden Opportunity' - by Larissa Thompson

Lost in the depths of the Sanctum, Admiral Redfield's flotilla encounters a derelict Merician Freighter.

Check out this Patron-Exclusive Anthology short, written by Larissa Thomson and performed by Jimmy Lockett and Matt Surges.

Thank you all for your continuing support.

Fair winds!

Full transcript:

HARPER:

Admiral, we've found the manifest for

the Merician freighter, the... Golden Opportunity.

It seems like she was hauling surplus supplies for the fleet. Food, air, fuel. Scans indicate that most of her bays are still intact, though there's no pressure throughout the main decks.

REDFIELD:

It would seem we're faced with an interesting choice, Commander Harper.

HARPER:

Yes, sir.

REDFIELD:

Are there more supplies on the vessel than we would expend in collecting them?

HARPER:

I have to admit, sir, her name is rather appropriate.

According to the manifest she's carrying two point five tons of water, five thousand liters of air, and seven and a half tons of food. It appears her engine is still in good condition.

We may be able to salvage some parts to make repairs to our ships in the future.

REDFIELD:

Between the Shabayev, Bracewell, Republic and the Gatehauler, that should afford us... an additional week and a half of transit time.

We'd probably require three days to complete the salvage operations, including the velocity change necessary to resume course to the original gate transit coordinates.

Yes, I think it's worth proceeding.

Mister Harper, please begin organizing salvage teams from all ships.

I want four 8 hour shifts for all teams.

HARPER:

Yes, sir.

Also, I'm sorry to report that several members of the recon party were caught looting.

I'll pass their names to the boatswain for defaulters.

REDFIELD:

Belay that.

The people on that ship will have no need of their belongings, and if we are indeed trapped out here, anything we leave behind could be irreplaceable.

Besides, disciplinary action would damage morale, which we can ill afford right now.

HARPER:

Yes, sir.

Now, there is the issue of the bodies, sir.

REDFIELD:

What about them?

HARPER:

Well, the Golden Opportunity had a crew of 120.

I suspect a significant number of them are still on board.

With your permission, I'll assemble a team to retrieve them and perform Merician funeral rites.

REDFIELD:

Son, do you know how much water, air and food we use every hour?

HARPER:

Well, uh--

REDFIELD:

Every hour our ships are at rest shortens the distance we can cover before our finite resources are exhausted.

If that happens before we find the Avalon or the rest of the fleet, our fate will be much the same as these Mericians.

And I assure you, Mister Harper, that no one will give last rites over corpses.