The human's small ship carried several havenworlder families as they were heading on the normal space station to home-world run. However, an unseen micrometeorite managed to hit a vulnerable spot and the ship went down hard on one of the moons that orbited their system's only gas giant. The moon itself had a breathable atmosphere, with a minimal filter, and was not unknown to the havenworlders whose people had been starting to mine it, but that facility was all but on the other side of this rock from where they were.
Unfortunately the human, who was alive, but only semi-conscious, badly injured, and almost completely unable to move, would be of little help. In fact, they would have to be the ones to save their human friend, and get themselves, and their human, to safety. -- Anon Guest
Human Kip could not feel a thing. This could be either very good or very bad. "...'s my brain in a jar or something?" This was something of a common joke among Humans who had lost sensation in most of their body.
"Your body is intact," said Companion Zarg. "Technically." Zarg appeared to just hear what ze said and corrected hirself. "You are very injured, but it is not immediately life-threatening. We have temporarily made you incapable of movement or feeling pain below the neck."
Human Kip absorbed this with fortitude. It wasn't, after all, as if they could do anything about it. "Okay. Good news, bad news, time. Good news, I'm alive. Bad news is, for how long?"
"That's where it gets complicated," sighed Companion Zarg. "We have stabilised you, but it will not last longer than two standard days..."
"Any further good news?"
"We are close enough to our mining colony to literally drag you there, within the time window. Well. Close to within the time window."
"Plus or minus however many minutes?"
"If we push ourselves to extremis, we can get you there within five minutes."
"Got a noisemaker?" Human Kip could already guess that all their comms were malfunctioning. If they had comms, they would be using them. "'Cause if I can make a repetitive loud, unusual noise, I can let your friends in the mine know we're here."
"It is likely that they noted the crash, but they may have also reasoned that we could not have survived."
"No good deed," sighed Human Kip. They had sustained all their injuries trying to soften their emergency landing. "What's the terrain like?"
"Uneven, but we have a plotted path that can take us over the least of the troubles. Techie Parsh has already made an all-terrain sled-cart for you. There are no useable motors."
"Okay... get the box from under my bunk and look for the baggie that says 'prank shit'. In there's a green horn lookin' thing. I promise it won't make a bad noise, just a weird one that carries."
Human Kip was correct, of course. It was one of those Whacky Whistles that make a wheezy, ascending note. This one happened to be supersized. As soon as they were within hearing range, or perhaps a little outside of it, either they or Human Kip were to use it.
This was an all-or-nothing deal. The cart had been over-engineered so that the crew could take the movement of it in shifts. Teams of four pushed and pulled it steadily towards their goal while Human Kip lay in what medical care they could provide in transit.
It was not the first time someone's life was saved by a novelty instrument, and it would not be the last. It was, however, the most interesting. If that, only because all of them were on the verge of desperately needing medical attention.
Even Medik Del, who had been spending most of her time keeping the rest of them going for the duration.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / igter]
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