Chapter 6

"How is he?"

"He's not doing well at all. His vitals are still dropping. At this rate he'll be dead within two days."

"Is there anything we can do?" Christine was frantic. Her captains body had been literally crushed by the force of the jump.

"Negative, the forces exerted on him within this jump are to much for his body to withstand. Our Med bay took a direct hit and without a stasis table he has no chance to survive," Chris replied softly. Unable to believe the situation they were in.

"How are you Chris? How long before repairs are done to the table?"

"I am fine Christine, thank you for asking. Repairs will be complete in just over four days. Without the spider bots we would have been destroyed by now."

"What can we do? There has to be something, what can we do?"

"I don't know Christine, his body just isn't tough enough to handle a jump of this magnitude."

"Chris, that's it! You have access to the nano's inside his body."

"Of course I do. His grandfather downloaded all the access codes before we left."

"Activate them now. They can heal him from the inside."

"I don't see how that will help. The ongoing stress would only cause his condition to degrade again."

"Is there anyway to improve his body?"

"Theoretically it can be done. If the nanos increased the density of the of muscle strands in his body and added trace amounts of Zantheroxin, which is the base element in your android skin, to the rest of his cells. It would allow for his body to withstand the rigors of this jump easily. But I'm not sure if it should be done. Is it something that he would want done? I have no details in my memory if the process can be reversed. But all the data is suggestive that it can be done."

"Do you think he'd rather die? What would become of us if he did die?"

"I ... see. It shall be done."

"Uhh ... what the heck happened?"

"Sir, you've been unconscious for several days. We've taken damage in several key systems, one of which was medical. Repairs are 92% complete and we will be able to pull from jump space after they are complete," came the report from Chrisine over the coms. Chris was now helping me to a sitting position and I have to say I let her do most of the work. My brain felt very sluggish and my body felt extremely heavy. It was several moments before Chris' words sunk in.

"We're still inside the jump field!?"

"Yes sir," replied Christine. "The engines and the hull took major damage during the battle. The engines have been repaired but the hull is still undergoing repairs. Once that is complete we can initiate the steps necessary to exit jump space."

Shit I couldn't believe we were still in jump. I've never heard of one lasting more than a few minutes and that covered half of our known galaxy. How much distance could we cover with a jump time of days? Even I wasn't smart enough to figure that one out. "Chris, I'm feeling pretty weak. Help me to the bridge.

"Negative Sir there is no need. You need to stay in your bed. I can give you any information you need and the display in here is just as good as any on the bridge."

"I'm fine Christine, really. I need to be on the bridge."

"Why sir? You have no crew to encourage and everything you need to do can be done from this room. You made sure of that remember? Just use the display as a view screen and issue commands verbally to me. Chris will get anything you need. Your first order of business should be to rest. Repairs will be complete tomorrow and we'll be able to stop. You'll be better by then and able to command from your chair."

I hated to admit it but she was right. I still felt sluggish and my body seemed to not want to do what I wanted it to do.

"How bad was I hurt?" came the question that'd been bugging me since I woke?

"Most of your muscles experienced damage of varying degrees, and your internal organs also suffered from the stresses of this massive jump The bones in your left arm and leg were crushed when a panel fell from the ceiling. You also received plasma burns to over half of your body."

"Shit, all that happened? How the hell did you heal me? Didn't you say the med bay was destroyed?"

"Yes sir, it was. Chris was able to retrieve some minor medical equipment from storage. We were able to heal your skin and start the reconstruction of your skeletal system."

"What about the internal organs? If I've only been out for a few days my bones shouldn't even be healed."

"Sir, I am sorry but Christine had me activate your nano's. It was the only thing to do that would offer any chance of saving your life." Chris looked very sorry for doing so without my permission. The way she wrung her hands in front of her was almost comic.

"She is correct sir. Had they not been activated you would surely be dead by now. There were also some minor changes that had to be done to help you cope with the pressures of the jump."

Uh oh, I thought heres the proverbial punch line. "Changes? Changes like what?" I was nervous now. I understood that they were worried and just wanted to save my life. Hell, I wasn't even mad. I was already kicking myself for not activating the nano's when leaving grandfathers but I was in such a hurry it completely skipped my mind.

"Well sir, the density of the muscle fibers in your body was increased by a factor of 8. Also the element Zantheroxin was introduced into your cellular structure."

"And what does that mean to me Chris? What affect will that play on my life?"

"Well sir you should be stronger due to the muscle enhancements and physically tougher due to the Zantheroxin. That's why your body is reacting the way it is. You've been sedated while these repairs had been carried out, but the dose is being reduced gradually so you can take control of your body slowly which will give your mind time to cope and adjust to the changes that have occurred."

"Are these changes reversible? Will I be stuck like this forever?"

"Oh no sir. I estimate they can be reversed at any time. It would take approximately 5 to 7 days for the changes to then be complete. I would like to suggest that if that is your wish to wait until after we leave jump space."

"I understand Chris and thank you both for taking care of me. I'd like to lie down and rest if you don't mind. Wake me if anything important happens."

"Status report?"

"Sir we are all systems go. Diagnostics have been run twice per your orders and we are fully functional." Chris was at navigation. She wasn't really flying of course but it was the main station and everything from sensors to weapons could be ran from it.

"Alright then, we've been in jump space long enough. Drop us out, activate stealth unit one and get us behind the nearest gravity well. Activate long range scanners and find out where we are."

I waited patiently as the ship dropped out of jump and I could see through the view screen that we immediately changed course and headed for the nearest planet. It was very dull with multiple rings around its axis. As the ship came to rest in an orbit around the planet information started to appear on the main view screen. The display said the planet was made primarily of hydrogen with a smaller percentage of helium. It currently had wind speeds of 1500km/h. If someone or something could survive on a planet like this intermittently surrounded by rings of ice and rock debris I'd be really surprised.

"Captain, I'm reading 11 planets of various sizes throughout the solar system. Four are terrestrial in nature and may or may not be able to support life. Four more are Gas giants and most likely couldn't contain anything we could find useful. The last three are dwarfs."

"There are two asteroid belts; one located between the fourth and fifth planets rotations. The other on the outskirts of the system. The inner belt is probably the best source we'll need to build a new jump engine."

"First things first, we may save a lot of time if we can find a civilization. Maybe they'll be able to help." I know I was reaching but there is always hope. "Head in system, set a route toward this systems star that will take us by as many planets along the way; scan for life signs or any other signs of civilization."

Several hours past before my hopes suddenly rocketed toward the stars.

"Captain, there seems to be signs of life located on the third planet from this systems sun. An accurate count cannot be obtained until we are closer. What are your orders sir?"

"Head toward that planet at best possible speed. Continue long range scans and collate all data in it's own file. We may have found yet another species and we must approach with caution. Continue running in stealth and all scans directed toward the planet should be passive only."