Broken Boundaries

03 - Pod Sweet Home

Alain whistled long at the luxurious interior of the captain's emergency pod and the size of a large living room a few day later. He had decided to take a look in case there was something useful in there when he was near the pod bays, and even though the pod was the same model, it wasn't made to hold several people inside like the regular crew pods. Even the officers had to share one pod between three of them. This one was made to serve at most two persons but the facilities were a lot better than what he had in his own pod. 'Damned class difference.' he muttered.

He stood at the centre of the pod and pondered whether or not he should. 'Fuck, just do it.' he said and activated the pod's controls at the pilot's seat next to the entrance hatch. The pod wasn't piloted like a regular ship or shuttle but it featured small thrusters to manoeuvre it and the seat would look out directly at any target for docking.

The controls displayed a ready status and Alain buckled up, shut the warship's bay hatch and the pod's hatch, and released the clamps. a quick burst from the thrusters pushed him away from the bay.

He kept the bursts short as he steered the pod from close to the rear of the warship to his crew pod because he didn't have much experience flying and took things slow in case he made a mistake.

On his way along a safe distance from the side of the Walkurea, soft static sounded from his communicator. 'Is you in pod?' Asitha asked.

'Yes, it's me.' Alain said and hoped she understood him well enough without the help of a language device. 'Visit me later, I'll show you.'

'We come later.' Asitha said and Alain felt some excitement to have them come by again to see what he did with it.

When he was close to his crew pod he took a few deep breaths to prepare for the most difficult part. In the most delicate way he could muster, he aimed the emergency pod's entrance towards the docking hatch of his crew pod and moved it closer slowly. He held his breath when both docking rings were just a hand's breadth apart and hoped the moorings could withstand the shock.

The clunk at contact resonated through the pod with the minor shock at stopping. The hammer sounds from the clamps engaging followed and Alain dared to exhale. The controls were green and he stepped out of the pilot's seat, equalised the two pod's atmospheres, and opened the hatches of both pods.

The environmental controls of the crew pod were still green and he went out the airlock to check on the pod's anchors.

His relief was complete when they were fine and he went underneath the emergency pod, extended the struts with the manual controls towards the Walkurea's hull, and bolted the feet to the hull with brackets and a nail gun powerful enough to penetrated the steel plating.

He stepped back after he was done to admire the new extension to his home. 'Home, sweeter home.' he said, wondering if an extension larger than the original could still be called an extension.

Back inside and out of his suit, he looked over the emergency equipment and supplies and left them as they were because they weren't in the way, and they were necessary in an emergency in any case. The kitchen corner was fully functional and when he pulled down the wall bed he laid down on his back with his arms spread to enjoy the large size and the glee at no longer sleeping in a cramped space from that moment on.

Asitha's voice sounded from his communicator and he stood up quickly to answer her. 'I'm here.' he said.

'We can come?'

'Yes. I'll be waiting.' he said and looked around for anything embarrassing they might see, even though he told himself this wasn't like his small apartment back home and he'd already acted like a fool in front of them during their first visit.