Melting Down

Tess awoke to find herself staring at a bright ceiling light, which was a surprise because she hadn't expected to wake up at all. Her ship had exploded. The engineer had said quantum about 3 times while the reactor was melting down, and then everything went to hell. She thought that was the end, but here she was. Alive. Well, at least she was pretty sure she was alive.

"You're awake." said a rough voice.

Tess looked around to see a person standing in the doorway to the small room, holding a cup of coffee. They took a sip and continued, "I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

"I was certain I wasn't." said Tess.

The other person chuckled and said, "Well, you did. Welcome aboard The Graveyard Shift, I'm Ash."

"Tess." said Tess.

"Well, nice to make your acquaintance Tess." replied Ash.

"Did anyone else on my ship make it?" asked Tess.

"Nope. Just you."

"How the hell did I survive?"

"Whatever compartment you were in managed to stay intact." said Ash, "I was pretty close, so I got there just as you were running out of O2. Another 5 minutes and I think I'd have been looting a body."

"You looted our ship!?" screamed Tess.

"No hun, I looted a debris field." said Ash, matter of factly.

"That's still illegal! That's property of my employer!" said Tess, still incandescent.

"Look, you're in border space, what did you expect?" said Ash, "You're lucky it was me who found you. If it was someone else they'd have just popped the compartment and left you to float."

Tess sat in silence not knowing what to say. She knew border space was near enough lawless, but she found it hard to believe someone would just leave her for dead. Eventually she mustered a simple, "Thanks I guess..."

"Don't mention it." said Ash, taking another sip of coffee before continuing, "Make yourself at home."

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Tess, not quite sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"I'm going to drop you off at the next port I stop at." replied Ash, "If you want taken in cent space then you're going to need to pay me a pretty penny."

"How much?" asked Tess.

"10k."

"10k?!"

"Yep. That's what your ship's codes would fetch me, and I'll need them to dock at a cent port." said Ash.

Tess looked at them in confusion.

"Look, doll." said Ash, sipping their coffee, "This ship isn't registered, and I ain't got papers for it." said Ash.

Tess sighed and said to herself, "I'm on a stolen ship, in border space, with a looter. Just my luck."

"Yes, hun, just your luck. I'm willing to give you a bed, food, and a free ride to a port." said Ash, "Most of the folks I know would have left you for dead or stripped you for parts, cause those are some fancy looking augs you've got."

Tess was startled by that last remark, and it must have shown, because Ash said, "You might want to keep a low profile in port. There's some unsavoury characters in these parts."

"Thanks for the advice..." said Tess, "You mind if I make a call? I just want to let the company know what happened."

"Go for it. You'll be bounced a couple times so there'll be a bit of a delay." said Ash, walking out the door.

Tess connected to the ship's network and made a call to HQ. After a few rings an agent answered with, "You're through to the Interstellar Research Corporation head office, how may I help you?"

"Employee number 839-173-855, reporting a total ship loss." said Tess.

"One moment please." said the agent. After a few second the agent said, "Your final signal was received, we have already written off the ship and crew."

"Oh, okay, then- Wait what?" said Tess, alarmed at the last statement.

"In the event of a reactor meltdown, standard procedure is to write off both ship and crew, as total crew death is reported in 99.9% of cases." said the agent, in a flat and calm tone.

"Okay, but I'm not dead." said Tess.

"Understood, but standard protocol has already been enacted."

"Did you tell my parents I'm dead?!"

"Your next of kin have been notified and your life insurance policy has been paid out." said the agent.

"Well I better call them then." said Tess.

"Please refrain from doing so. Your death has already been reported to the authorities. In the event you are found to be alive, the company would be required to pay out additional compensation and fines." said the agent.

"Well what am I supposed to do then?" asked Tess.

"Protocol dictates that you must return the nearest company office for termination."

"Okay, great- Wait, termination?"

"Yes."

"I'm being fired?!"

"After termination you will technically no longer be employed." said the agent, voice still flat and level.

Tess hung up the call and screamed, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Ash reappeared in the doorway, "Everything okay there, champ?"

"I'm dead!" screamed Tess.

Ash chuckled and said, "Welcome to the club."

"No, you don't understand, they've already reported me as dead."

"As I said. Welcome to the club."

"And they're going to kill me!"

"Yep." said Ash, taking another sip of coffee.

"What the hell am I going to do now!" shouted Tess.

"Dunno, sounds like a you problem though." said Ash, turning around to leave.

"Wait!" shouted Tess, sounding more desperate than she intended.

Ash turned back around to look at her.

"You said welcome to the club, right? You're legally dead as well, right?" asked Tess.

"Yep."

"And you didn't sound surprised that they were going to kill me."

Without so much as blinking, Ash said, "There's still technically a hit out on me."

"So what did you do?" asked Tess.

"Stole a company ship and disappeared into border space." said Ash.

Tess stared at them for a few seconds in disbelief. Her mind was reeling, she just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep right now.

"Look, I'm still happy to drop you at a port." said Ash.

"You've got to help me." said Tess, desperation creeping back into her voice.

"I already am."

"Please." said Tess, trying to do puppy dog eyes.

"Look. I don't take on crew, it's easier that way, and having you linger around without working ain't doing me any favours." said Ash.

Tess scoured her mind for anything she could leverage in this situation. Her face lit up as she said, "I know company secrets! I know where some of our- their scrapyards are!"

Ash seemed to actually consider this for a moment, "Ain't they guarded?"

"Not on site. You'd have about 5 minutes to jump in, collect, then jump out." said Tess.

"And you know this how?"

"I was on guard duty for 3 years." said Tess, "Most mind numbing job I've ever had. Honestly, it'd be 5 minutes if they've got a newbie, probably 10 if they've been there a couple of months."

Ash stared at her for a moment then said, "Alright. You tell me where they are and help me salvage. Then you can stay aboard til you sort something out."

"Thank you." said Tess, "I really-". Ding. Ash pulled up and read the message she'd just received.

[Please report your coordinates so we may dispatch employee termination agents to your location. We thank you for your cooperation.]

"They sending a hit squad after ya?" asked Ash.

Tess just returned a look of disbelief.

Ash chuckled to themself as they walked out the room.