Star Bound Liberty (Complete)

Chapter Eight

'Morning, Jim. You there?'

'Hiya, Lovely. What a sight for an old man's eyes. What can I do for this fine morning, lass?'

'Just wanted to pop in and say thanks for those lucky cards. I won two hands using the priest Shard last night.' His eyes rounded in humour. I leaned over the counter and popped another kiss on his cheek again.

'Thank you!' and I skipped away with a smirk and found a transfer tube nearby.

Since I was going up without freight I decided to take a ladder. I hadn't done much climbing since being onboard, and the climb proved a bit much for me, since I didn't have my rebreather on.

I was climbing past deck four, almost made it up to deck five, when I felt the ship tilt side ways and realised I was getting really dizzy. I quickly slipped an arm through a ladder rung and held the elbow with the other hand, making a loop around the ladder, and I almost got a leg through before everything went grey. I hung there for a moment, trying to get a leg up but missing the step. Breathe, I just needed to breathe.

I don't know how long I hung there before someone caught my foot and placed it on a rung. The other foot was placed and strong hands shifted me up the ladder, one rung at a time. I crawled out of that tiny little transfer tube and flopped onto my back, taking in large lungfuls of air. A face came into view and another who claimed he was a medic.

'Private, any reason why you're crawling about the ship without your rebreather?' That was Ortiz. I shook my head, then nodded, still gasping for much needed oxygen.

'MedBay. Rebreather.' That was all I managed to get out before I was scooped up and carried into a nearby lift and trundled back to Medbay and plonked on a medibed.

'Moss, I told you no exercise without your rebreather, and what do you go and do? Climb bloody four flights of ladder and get stuck in the tube, hyperventilating.' An oxygen tube was hooked over my ears and the prongs tucked under my nose.

'Sir.' I was still trying to catch my breath. 'I went. To get. The grav sled. From. Deck five.'

'That would explain why she was rescued in marine country, but not why she was without her rebreather.' Ortiz and the other marine who had helped me in the tube were standing next to Doc, both with their arms crossed across their chest, both with matching scowls on their faces.

'She and Ayms are still trying to figure out their transition. He's large enough now to supply her oxygen supplement, just not while she working out.'

'Already? How big is he now?'

'Big. Too big.' I pulled down the collar of my shirt and showed them Ayms on the back of my neck. The unnamed marine dropped his arms and stepped back. Yeah, I think I was going to have to get used to that reaction. Ortiz turned and stared at him and the guy stepped back into line, looking chastised.

'OK. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, Private Moss.' And he was off.

'You always making life interesting, aren't you Libby?'

'Yeah, yeah, I know.'

Next thing I know, Command Davis is striding into the medbay looking like he owns the place.

'Master Chief? What's this I hear about Private Moss endangering herself while on duty?'

I groaned, pulled my knees up and slumped down behind them, trying to hide from the big bad scary bossman.

'Good morning, Commander. Private Moss is, as you know, in a state of simbiot transition and with any new simbiot partnership, there are adjustments to be made. Libby is doing really well, she just failed to temper her extreme enthusiasm with her physiological changes.'