Chapter 3 – Salvage

Gena and Jack loaded up the power cells into the cargo hold of Shuttle 204. Lana grabbed four O2 masks for everyone while Captain Garcia opened the gun locker and holstered himself a pistol. Captain Garcia and Lana walked together to the shuttle. On the way, Captain Garcia had a minor coughing fit. He stopped to put his hand on the wall. Lana stopped and waited for him. This was all she needed to understand his motives. To him the abandoned ships were new lungs. The lungs he has been needing for a while. Lana did not pass judgement. After a minute, the captain stopped and wiped his mouth. "Sorry about that."

Before Lana could say anything, Jack and Gena came into the hallways. Gena said, "There you are captain, we loaded up all the spare power cells. There is enough in there to vaporize all of us if you shot them with that thing." Gena pointed to the pistol that the captain as holding.

Captain Garcia straighten himself up and looked at the pistol on his hand. Then he tossed the spare pistol to Gena. "I hate picking favorites. We only have three pistols in lock up. Only you, me, and Lt. Wright have one. From now on we work in pairs."

Jack raised his hand and said, "I don't want to speak for anyone, but Lana and I feel left out. Maybe when we get planet side, we can sharpen some sticks."

"Absolutely not. I image you could kill yourself with a sharpened stick." Captain Garcia climbed into the shuttle and said, "Lana isn't a SEU Aeronautics employee… and you are a pilot. You will be too busy flying to shoot yourself in the foot. Let's get going. If this is all for nothing, we need to make it fast." Lana, Jack, and Gena all piled into the shuttle.

Captain Garcia said, "I set the lock on the control panels so no one could steal the POLO. The password is L.A.N.A. just in case we forget her down on the surface. If we return to the ship without her, we will remember and go back to get her." Lana was not overly excited about this idea. The concept of being abandoned on an alien planet was beyond anything she had been afraid of before. This was a new phobia she didn't know that she had.

Once everyone was buckled in Jack started the engine and pulled the release lever for the airlock. Once all the lights were green Jack grabbed the controls. With a mechanical reverberation the shuttle was free from the POLO. Jack pointed the nose down and pushed the throttle to the max. Everyone was thrown back for a second. Within a few seconds, they were far enough away from the POLO the gravity generator had no effect on them. Captain Garcia said, "Myer, when I said let's make this fast, I was not talking about our deaths."

Lana could tell Jack had a massive grin across his face though. Within a few second, they were entering the planet's atmosphere. They were going so fast that the nose cone of the shuttle caught fire. Jack pulled the air brakes to slow down. Last thing they needed was a wrecked shuttle. As the shuttle entered the clouds every shook violently for a few seconds. Lana noticed that no one started to panic so she kept her calm too. Water droplets began forming on the windshield. As they traveled deeper in the unknown. The droplets quickly turned into streams of water. Jack was mindful of their altitude and soon leveled out the ship. The water droplets had turned into full blow rain. Jack said, "Well, they weren't lying. Look at all those trees." Lana attempted to see the planet surface, but the rain pounding on the windshield made it difficult.

Lana could see hills and trees for miles in all directions. Trees with a variety of colors from green to blue. It was like nothing she had ever seen before on Earth. The red dwarf sun created a halo effect on itself as it barely peeked through the clouds. On Earth you wouldn't dare stare into the sun, but here the sun was very dim. Like a full moon but bigger and a little brighter. For a brief moment Lana forgot about her crimpling fears and enjoyed the view of a new alien world. After a few minutes Lana said, "It's beautiful. How did all these trees get here?"

Captain Garcia cleared his throat and said, "One asteroid with a single seed in it can populate an entire planet like this. As long as the seed survives re-entry. They can live in space for thousands of years until it gets to its destination. All they need is a gravity, dirt, and water that isn't frozen."

Gena said, "Nature's machines. Creating breathable air for everyone."

Nature's machine? That is something a mechanic would say but Lana had questions. Lana held her tongue for now. She didn't want to ask questions like a tourist. Lana watched out the window and enjoyed the view. She suddenly remembered the oxygen mask that she was still holding in her hand. The burning desire to ask finally took over her. Lana glanced over at Gena and asked, "If this planet is covered with trees, then where is all the oxygen?"

Gena didn't answer. At first, she shrugged and then she said, "Umm, there had to be a scientific reason for everything. Right?"

Jack turned the shuttle sharply to the left there was a small clearing up ahead. The rain lightened up a bit. Everyone on board could see the ships at the landing sight. One box shaped building surrounded by 6 smaller boxes and one little shuttle. Jack pressed a button to extract the landing gear and said, "Hold on to your butts."

Jack landed the shuttle near Paula's shuttle. With a loud clunk and small shake. They were on the ground. Captain Garcia was the first one out of his seat. He released his seatbelt and took one of the O2 masks. Without checking the mask, he threw it on and stepped into the airlock. The machine beeped as the two sets of doors opened and shut letting the captain outside. Jack turned off the shuttle and said, "Was my driving that bad?"

Gena laughed and replied, "No, he is just mad that he can't smoke down here."

Jack, Lana, and Gena put on their O2 masks and checked their tanks to make sure everything was working correctly. The masks were full face shielded covering everything from your forehead to under your chin. It even had blocks for your ears. Stopping any kind of contaminates from getting into your ears. Jack double checked to make sure Lana's gear was correct, then they all piled into the airlock. It was a tight fit. The airlock was only designed for two people at a time. All three of them fit but it was a little cramped. Jack was at the front he turned around to face Lana as the doors cycled. They were face to face, or at least mask to mask. Jack smiled and said, "Are you ready to get hot and wet?" Before Lana or Gena could answer the external door opened and a rush of hot air breached the room.

Jack turned around and stepped out in the rain. Lana followed right behind him. The rain felt like a lukewarm shower on her hands. It was actually kind of nice. The water soaked into her business suit and streaked down her O2 mask. Lana turned around several times to gather as much information as she could. This was her first time on another planet. She was experiencing a lot of firsts recently. The dirt was brown earthy color as expected. The grass was a pale green which was odd. Every once in a while, there was a thick dandy lion looking flower. The stems were at least two centimeters thick with yellowish green color to it. It didn't have a yellow flower on top like a normal dandy lion though. Instead, it had a large green bulb. Interesting.

The nearby trees had brown trunks like on Earth, but the leaves were a mixture of blue, teal, and green. All the plant life was so colorful and beautiful. The only ugly part was the tall desolate ships that towered over the area. Several of them were rusting and losing paint. That was expected from this wet climate.

The first problem was Lana's shoes. These high heels were not the best for soft grassy terrains. Luckily the heel was removable for just such a situation. Lana pulled the heels of both shoes to make a odd looking, yet more comfortable shoe. Gena smile and waited for her. After tossing the heels near the entrance of the shuttle, Lana and Gena joined the rest of the crew over by the back of Paula's shuttle. Everyone was gathered in a circle. Captain Garcia, Lt. Wright, Paula, Jack, Steve, Gena, and Lana. "Alright, Lieutenant, give us the situation."

Lt. Wright said, "We have 6 ships, 1 facility in the middle. We haven't explored everything because most of the ships are dead. Without power the doors can only be manually opened from the inside. So, we take our spare power cells and put one in each ship then we can be done with this in a few minutes."

Captain Garcia asked, "What about the facility?"

"It's not locked. We searched it, there is no food, no people, no bodies. It's completely deserted. Whoever lived here didn't stay very long and they didn't take anything with them when they left."

Captain Garcia nodded and said, "Good job, we will travel in twos. Everyone searches two ships. Then we will all meet at the building in the middle. Radio us if you see anything at all. Wright, you, and Steve are a team. Gena, you, and Jack are a team. Paula and Lana, you two are with me. Let's go."

Lana raised her hand and said, "I am sorry, but I didn't get a radio."

Lt. Wright shook his head while Steve and Paula laughed a little. Captain Garcia walked over to Lana and pushed the button on her mask then he said, "Speak!"

"Hello?" Lana voice was carried across the group. The radio was built into her mask. It made sense. You couldn't shout into handheld radios with the mask on. No one would be able to hear you. Lana felt kind of stupid for asking.

Everyone walked over to the second shuttle and took power cells out of the storage compartment. Lt. Wright and Steve walked toward the Maxwell ship. Gena and Jack walked toward the Venere Classic. Paula picked up the power cell then turned around and dropped it to the ground. She spoke to the captain as she said, "There is something weird about this planet Captain. My hands and feet feel tingly. I feel all fuzzy like I am getting a headache."

The captain walked over and looked at her face. She appeared to be normal. Then he said, "Some people are more susceptible than others. The gravitational pull on this planet is less than Earth. It can throw off your senses. You go wait at the shuttle. Sit down and get your bearings. Radio us if anything changes. Got it?"

Paula nodded and walked back to the shuttle. She entered the airlock. Lana asked, "Is she going to be, okay?"

Captain Garcia nodded and picked up the power cell. Then he said, "Lots of people struggle with gravity imbalance. You are lucky. You seem to have adapted nicely even with those terrible shoes."

Lana smiled. Maybe the captain wasn't the old sour man that she originally thought he was. They walked together over to the nearest unmanned ship. This one was not a model Lana was familiar with. She watched as the captain dropped the power cell and opened a side panel. Behind the panel was an external power cable. With a quick tug of the cable the captain connected it to the power cell. Then he said, "Let's see if that worked."

Lana and the captain walked over to the airlock doors. Lana took a mental image of the ship. The engines were a solid 5 meters off the ground. The ship itself was a towering 10 meters tall. It wasn't bigger than the POLO, but it was still very large. Lana pressed the button to activate the airlock. It did nothing for a second then the door roared to life. The captain stepped inside while Lana was right behind him. This airlock was much larger than the shuttle. You could easily fit 4 or 5 people in this one. The doors started to activate pressurizing the chamber. The captain pulled his pistol from the holster and checked the ammo. Then without looking at Lana, Captain Garcia said, "Don't take your mask off. We don't know what could be in here."

Lana suddenly realized they didn't know what was inside the ship. The fear of every science fiction movie she had ever seen flashed before her eyes. There could be aliens infesting human passengers. Deadly virus or any number of horrific creatures. The inner airlock door opened… but there was nothing. The ship was as quiet as a tomb. Captain Garcia had his pistol at the ready. He reached over to a control panel and activated the systems lights. He took a few more steps inside. Then he shouted, "Hello?" His voice bounced off the empty corridor. No one responded.

Lana's heartrate was elevated. Then she said, "I think this is the creepiest thing I have ever seen."

The captain pressed the button on the control panel and said, "Emergence operations. Open all interior doors." The panel lit up as each door began to open. One by one the doors opened flooding light into the hallways. When all the doors were open the captain replied, "You haven't seen much, I take it." They walked forward together. Lana stayed right behind the captain. They both searched each room expecting to see someone or something. They walked all the way to the bridge. Once again, no one was there. After clearing the last room, the captain holstered his weapon and said, "What motivates someone to abandon such a nice ship?"

Lana shrugged, "Maybe they were kidnapped? Taken hostage by the research station for human experiments."

"Davies, that sounds like something Myer would say. Still, you have an active imagination I will give you that much." Captain Garcia reached over and wiped a small layer of dust off of the controls. Then he said, "Not likely though. No one has set foot in this ship for at least 6 months to a year. Maybe longer. Lt. Wright said there was nothing in the research station." The captain turned and walked back toward the exit airlock then he said, "Let's just image we are researchers here doing some strange scientific stuff. Whatever you want to image, your choice. Suddenly, the oxygen generator breaks. You have limited time until everyone suffocates. Everyone leaves the research center and moves to another ship. Then that ship runs out of oxygen, then everyone moves to another ship. This repeats until all the oxygen is used up and then they fled the planet in the last ship. That is my logical solution."

Lana followed him and asked, "I guess that makes a little sense."

"Either that or there is one ship with a whole bunch of dead bodies in it. That would be a sight to see… and smell." The captain nodded and entered the airlock. Then he said, "See, finding an empty ship is the best-case scenario."

Lana was less comforted by these thoughts.

Back outside Lana and the Captain disconnected the power cell and carried it over to the next ship. This ship was red without any rust on it at all. Lana recognized this ship as a Noorgeck Lander. A relatively new ship as far as she knew. While they were hooking it up to the external power cable Gena and Jack walked by. Jack shouted, "Hey guys, see anything?"

Lana shook her head, then remembered the radio in her mask. She pressed the button and said, "No signs of life so far."

Over the radio, Steve responded, "Good, keep it that way. We can't claim salvage rights if we find anyone."

Lana thought that sounded almost sinister. Lana glanced at the captain and said, "Steve seems highly motivated to claim these ships."

The captain connected the cable to the power cell and stood up flexing his back. Then he said, "Newman is motivated to take the ships, yes. This is his dream after all. He has been saving up for a long time. For as long as I have known him, he has wanted his own ship and crew. He is happy running things from the engineering side, but he always wanted a ship of his own. This is he great change right here."

Captain Garcia opened the airlock and stepped inside. Lana joined him. The captain pressed the button to activate the airlock and pulled brought his pistol to the ready. The doors cycled and within second they were inside. Once again, the captain reached over to a control panel and activated the systems lights. He flipped all the switches turning on the hallway lights. Lana took the first few steps and shouted, "Hello? Anyone here? We are friendly, we brought food and engineers that can help fix your ship."

No one responded. They both stood there in the silence for a few seconds until the captain put on hand on Lana's shoulder and said, "Nice try." The captain walked from door to door pressing the open button. Once he was done clearing the room, he said, "This one is in low power mode. You have to open the doors manually." He pressed another button and opened a door. The next room was also empty.

Lana opened a door. No one inside. The captain opened the next door. Once again, no one. Lana stated, "With every door I see Steve's dream coming true."

Captain Garcia agreed, "I always hoped I would sell the POLO to Steve on day."

"Now you can." Lana said as she opened a door looking inside to see if anyone was there. Then she continued, "You will have the credits you need. You can go back to Earth and get your lungs replaced. You can sell the POLO to Steve and Gena. Paula can retire back on Earth with her boyfriend Kevin."

The captain nodded. He opened the door to the bridge. It was empty. He walked over to the control panel and touched it with his free hand. Then he said, "In a short period of time you have learned a lot about us. What will you do with a few million credits from this salvage job?" The captain turned around to head back the to the entrance.

Lana walked along the side of him and thought about it. "I don't know. I will stop working for Gi6 Mining that's for sure."

"You don't like your job?"

"NO! of course not. I used to work for a company called PreGate Industries. They were just as bad. I quit and started working for another company." Lana went on and on about the different companies she worked for. She listed at least three more before she talked about Gi6 Mining again. The captain listened to it all without a hint of judgement. Finally, they got back to the airlock and stepped inside. The captain pressed the transfer button causing loud gusting sound of air entering and exiting the airlock. Lana finally stopped talking. She looked up at the captain. He was watching her, waiting for more. Lana did not share anymore about her past jobs. She had probably said too much. The captain probably thought she was weird now.

Then the exterior airlock door opened, and they both stepped outside. The rain had lightened up, but she could still feel it misting. Lana felt bad as she said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to unload on you like that."

The captain unconnected the power cell and left it on the grass. Then he said, "Not at all. I appreciate your true feelings. I understand you completely now."

"How so?"

The captain started walking toward the research station. Then he said, "You have been changing jobs a lot in the past few years. You switch jobs like we switch jobs. You don't leave Earth like we do… But you are a wanderer."

"Not really… I have goals. Life goals."

"Everyone has life goals. As you travel the world you go from job to job looking for the next paycheck. That is the very definition of wandering. An aimless traveler. Even if you get a 50 million credits today, you will quit your current job and still be a wanderer. Headed off to your next destination. Just like us. Just like you. Just like me."

As planned the crew all met up in research center. The main entrance was up a small flight of stairs. Of course, the main entrance was unlocked. Lt. Wright and Steve had come through here earlier and opened the inner and exterior air lock doors. So, there was no effort in just walking in. Lana was just happy to be out of the rain.

The facility itself was about the size of a four-person household. There was a common area that was attached to all the other room. It had There was a small kitchen area, crew quarters, equipment room, and bathroom. Everyone searched all the rooms for signs of life but there was nothing but empty food containers littering the floor. Just like all the ships, this place was empty too. Captain Garcia shouted through his mask and said, "Let's hear it. What did everyone find?"

Lt. Wright replied, "Nothing. Every ship is complete empty. There are no signs of forced entry. No damage from a gun fight. No blood stains. No dead bodies. None of the ships that Steve and I checked were even locked."

Captain Garcia thought for a second. Then he said, "Okay, I can see we are at a loss right now. So, brainstorming session. I want ideas. Where are the people? Where did they go? And most importantly why." The captain pointed to Jack and said, "You are first. Go."

Jack said the first thing that came to mind, "Clearly someone found a planet that no one knew about. They landed to stake their claim here and BOOM. Space pirates. They found the facility and took everyone hostage. Now they are gone."

Captain Garcia shook his head and said, "No, the pirate would have taken things. Supplies, food, the extra ships. Why would they take the people and nothing else?" Captain Garcia pointed to Gena and said, "Your turn."

Gena scratched her head and said, "How about a virus or a parasite? Something unknown that infected and killed everyone?"

Lt. Wright replied before the captain could. He said, "There would be bodies. Gravestones. Even a pile of bones. There would be something left. People don't just disappear."

Captain Garcia surveyed the area out the window in the direction of the shuttles. The red dwarf sun was beginning to set. The captain pressed the radio button and said, "Johnson, is everything alright at the shuttle?"

There was a long pause. Everyone started to panic for a second. Then Paula replied, "Shuttle to captain. Everything is good here. All good, captain."

Steve finally added his two cents. He said, "I know what happened! The doctor that worked here lost his marbles and killed everyone. Then he ran into the forest naming all the trees. Just before he ran out of air, he started his new society of sticks called… who the fuck cares?! We are done here. Let's take what we can and go."

The captain turned to his crew. Lana noted the sour look on his face. Everyone had questions and no answers. The captain certainly wasn't ready to call this off. He eyed everyone in the room said, "I know some of you are ready to reach into this cash cow and take your share, but I am still unconvinced. As one more step we are going to check the logs on this research station."

Gena pointed to the lights and said, "How? There is no power. Am I losing it? How did we receive a distress signal from a place without power?" Everyone looked around the room and realized something that they had all missed that. No power. No distress signals.

The captain was equally confused. The gave his orders, "Lt. Wright, I want you to go to shuttle 202 and get the signal scanner out of the control panel. We will find the source of the distress signal and turn it off before it causes anymore problems. Gena you can go with him just in case he needs some mechanical help."

Lt. Wright shook his head and replied, "I know what I am doing. There is no need to get maintenance crew involved in this."

Captain Garcia pointed to Jack and said, "Myer, I want you to get shuttle 204 and bring it as close to the research station as possible. On the back side where the control panels are. We are going to plug the ship directly into the relays and generate some power. Then we can look over the logs."

Jack and Lt. Wright walked out of the research facility while Steve asked, "What do you want us to do? Light a fire? Sing some songs?"

The captain replied, "You can wait for Myer to get the shuttle in position and help him hook the shuttle up to the research station. Then we can get to the bottom of this so you can get your precious credits. You don't need to give me attitude in front of the rest of the crew." The captain and Steve started to have a full-blown argument right there in front of Lana. She backed away slowly towards the door. Before she made it to the door Captain Garcia turned to her and said, "Where do you think you are going?"

Lana grabbed the frame of the airlock and replied, "I am going to go check on Paula. I am sure she is getting bored all by herself. Bye." The captain did not argue with her. He seemed to have his hands full with Steve and his attitude. With that, Lana left the research station.

Lana stepped back out into the rain. Lana paused briefly to look at the red dwarf sun setting on the horizon. The sunset it created was breathtaking. The deepest reds and oranges you could possibly imagine. Even with the new plant life and amazing sunset, Lana still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of this planet. As she walked down the stairs and into graveyard of ships, she realized why. Why would so many people leave here without their ships? Without the ships this planet would be charming destination for any nature lover.

For the first time since they landed the rain had stopped completely. Was this the planet's way of telling her the storm was over? Good times were ahead? Maybe. It was getting dark much faster than it does on Earth. Around the Maxwell SC24 Lana saw shuttle 204. The lights were on. Just as she got to the airlock Lt. Wright was on his way out. Lana walked over and waited for him to exit the airlock. When he did, she noticed he had the signal scanner in his hand. He stepped outside and held it up in the air. He shot her a narrow-eyed look and said, "The distress signal is not coming from the research station. Come with me, we will get to the bottom of this."

"Oh no, captain told me to check on Paula."

Lt. Wright replied, "She is not in this one. She is in the other shuttle."

"What? Are you sure?"

Lt. Wright pointed at the airlock and said, "I was just in there. She isn't here. Check the other shuttle." With that he walked away.

Lana was confused. She walked around to the front of the shuttle and jumped up to see in the windshield. It was too high up. From this angle she was 90% sure Paula was not inside.

With a bit of confusion, Lana walked over to the other shuttle. This was shuttle 202, the one she had ridden down to the surface. As Lana approached it just as Jack fired up the engines. Lana ran over to the airlock and pressed the button to open the exterior door. She peered through the little window on the airlock door to see Jack in the pilot seat. No one else was inside. Just as quickly as the engine had started, Jack lifted the shuttle into the air. Lana backed away as a powerful burst almost knocked Lana over. The shuttle stopped about 10 meters up and rotated toward the research station. Then in another quick motion it darted forward toward the station.

Lana turned around desperately searching the area. It was really dark now. The sunset was almost completely gone. Lana suddenly remembered the radios. She pressed the button on her mask to activate the radio and shouted, "Captain! Paula isn't in the shuttle. Repeat, Paula IS NOT in the shuttle."

Paula's voice came over the radio, "No kidding. Paula is right in front of you."

Lana turned around to see Paula leaning against the hull of a nearby ship no more than 20 meters away. She waved and smiled at Lana. The moment of panic was gone. Lana pressed the radio button and said, "Never mind captain. Sorry. I found her." Lana took a deep breath and walked over to Paula and said, "I was You scared the life right out of me. I thought you had disappeared."

Paula seemed unusually calm. She said, "You were worried about me? Don't do that, Baby. I have everything under control. Everything is good."

"Baby?" Lana replied with a snicker. "When did we upgraded to pet names?"

Paula laughed and slid down to the ground. She sat down leaning against the ship. Then she pointed toward the forest and said, "Sorry, I was just talking with Kevin. Him and I always call each other baby. He is my everything, you know. Lana, do you have someone special at home? Like back on Earth?"

Lana sat down next to her, "You were talking to Kevin? While you were in the shuttle you used the transmitter to call him? How is that possible? Kevin is back on Earth." Lana was extremely confused. Any transmission sent from here would take days to reach Earth. Having a conversation would be impossible.

Paula started to tear up. She was happy. Happy enough to bring herself to tears. Then she said, "I don't need a transmitter to talk to him. He can hear me anywhere." Paula stuck her finger under her mask to wipe a tear out of her eye.

Lana could hear the air escaping from the side of Paula's mask. As quickly as she could, Lana grabbed her arm and pulled Paula's finger out of the mask. Then she shouted, "What are you doing?! Paula, you broke the seal of your mask! You can't breathe Carbon Dioxide."

Paula laughed and copied her, "You can't breathe Carbon Dioxide!" Paula adjusted her mask and said, "Relax, baby. It's just CO2. We breathe it in by accident all the time. You need to learn to chill out sometimes."

Lana did not chill out. She stood up and grabbed Paula by the hand. Then she said, "Paula, you're acting a little funny. I think you should get back in the shuttle. How about you show me how to do a full body scan? I am really interested in that. Can you show me?"

Paula complied. She stood up and walked with Lana back to the shuttle. Paula walked almost like she was drunk. Lana kept a close eye on her. They entered the airlock of shuttle 204 together. Then Paula pointed at the control panel. She said, "You press the red one. Normally it would say scan, but this shuttle is so old the letters have worn off." Lana touched the red scan button, and a blue light flooded the airlock. Within a few seconds it was done. The display on the control panel said, zero viruses and parasites found. Paula pushed the button to open the inner airlock door. "See, nothing to worry about." Paula took off her mask and sat down at the pilot's chair.

Lana was still unconvinced. She walked over to Paula and said, "Just wait here. I will go talk to the captain. I will be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Lana. Lana. La-na." Paula said her name three times. Then she said, "I like your name. When Kevin and I have kids, would you be upset if I named the first girl Lana?"

Lana was taken aback by that comment, then she replied, "I would be honored, really." Lana looked at the door. She needed to go. She turned back to Paula and said, "Wait here for me. I will be right back, okay?" With that, Lana returned to the airlock and cycled herself back outside.

Lana didn't waste any time. She ran back to the research station. The lights were on now. There were flood lights on all sides if the building. Lana tried to go in the main entrance, but now that the power was back on the airlock system wouldn't open. She knocked on the window to get someone's attention. Jack was standing nearby and heard the knocking. He walked over and cycled the airlock manually. Lana entered the building as Jack stopped her and said, "Don't take your mask off yet. There isn't enough air in the room for you to breathe yet."

Lana surveyed the room for the captain. Then she said, "We have a bigger problem. Where is the captain?" Lana did not wait for an answer she ran into the next room and found the captain sitting at a computer looking at the station logs. She shouted, "Captain! We have a problem. Paula is acting strange. She broke the seal on her mask. She said she had a conversation with her boyfriend on Earth. She is talking crazy."

Captain Garcia rolled his eyes and stood up. "Oh shit. She said she didn't feel very well." He turned toward Lana and put his hand on his mask. Then he said, "She must have a faulty mask. If there is a leak, she could have CO2 poisoning. If she is breathing too much CO2, then she could be in trouble. Where is she now?"

Lana said, "She is inside the shuttle. Shuttle 204. I did a full body scan on her. She is okay."

Captain Garcia nodded then turned to Jack and said, "Myer, our better pilot is out of commission. I need you to take her and Ms. Davies up to the POLO until the job is done. Think you can pull that off?"

Jack was confused, "I don't really like the way you say Better Pilot. It feels like you are saying there is a better pilot than me?"

"This is not the time for jokes, Myer." Captain Garcia returned to the computer and continued, "Get up there and get back as soon as possible. Hopefully, we will have this research station up and running by the time you do. We can get some answers from whoever owned this place. So, make it snappy." With the problem solved, Captain Garcia returned to watching the logs on the terminal. Lana thought maybe he wasn't taking this treat seriously. Then again, he probably has seen this situation before.

Jack and Lana left the room and returned to common room. They stepped inside the airlock and cycled themselves back outside. Once back out in the rain, Lana asked, "So what do you think?"

Jack made a strange smirk at her and said, "Without two functioning pilots we will have a hard time getting all these ships off the ground. Steve is going to be pissed. Honestly, the longer we are on this planet the more uneasy I feel."

"You and me both." Lana said as they walked toward the shuttle. It was pitch black out now. The clouds reflected a bit of sunlight, but not enough to see anything more than the silhouettes of the empty ships. Lana looked at Jack again and asked, "Can we get some flashlights or something?"

"Yeah, of course. I don't think anyone was expected to be here through the night. When we get back to the POLO, we will grab some flashlights from the equipment room." Jack said as they reached the Maxwell ship. Lana smiled at him. It was nice to see that, Jack was still reasonable. While Steve was obsessed with scoring some easy credits and the captain was worried about finding the people that owned these ships, Jack was still himself.

They walked together around the Maxwell SC24. Lana saw the happy to see the shuttle was still there and running. They both climbed into the airlock and pressed the button to cycle the doors. Once the inner doors opened, Lana's heart sunk. The pilot seat was empty. Paula was gone. The shuttle was completely abandoned. Jack did a double take to Lana expecting her to have an explanation. Lana said nothing. Jack turned back to the empty pilot seat and reached up to his mask. He pressed the radio button and said, "Captain, she's gone."