Ryan watched as a scanner finished scanning Becky and retract into the wall behind the bed she lay on in med bay, “Scan is done.”

Becky sat up from the bed and looked at the hologram in front of Mayu, “So, Mayu. What do you think?”

Mayu looked at the hologram showing Becky’s scan, “Becky, I need more time to look.”

Becky sat up and swung her feet off the bed, “Looks normal to me.”

Ryan knew only basic anatomy, “Yep. Looks normal to me too.”

Mayu’s expression showed that something impressed her, “This is very good. This shows lots more details than normal.”

Ryan brought up a second hologram zoomed in on the brain, “Yeah, I can see each brain cell.”

Becky looked at her brain, “It feels so weird looking inside my head.”

Mayu swiped at the hologram and Ryan moved the focus where she wanted, “This body was made in only three weeks.”

Ryan noticed something as Mayu moved the focus around and stopped it on a blood vessel, “Hey, Mayu. What are those?”

Mayu noticed what Ryan had seen immediately, “I do not know, Mr. Ryan.”

Becky cocked her head to the side and studied it too, “Machines?”

Ryan thought the same thing, “Nanites? That’s what they call tiny machines, right?”

Becky nodded slowly, “I think so? We should get Anton and Chie in here.”

Mayu nodded, “Yes. Small machines, I think.”

Ryan focused on Anton and Chie in the mess hall.

Chie sat at a table with Anton and was studying a molecule of some sort.

Anton had her mostly finished drone schematic in front of her, but seemed more preoccupied with sampling stuff from the several cups on the table, “No… that’s bland too.”

Ryan opened a channel between the two groups of people and brought up Becky’s scan in the mess, “Anton, Chie, we finished Becky’s scan and found something you two might find interesting.”

Chie looked irritated at the interruption, but her expression changed as soon as she saw the nanites, “Interesting.”

Anton pulled her finger from a cup of goo and put it into her mouth as she turned to look, “mmf… meh… Wait, are those nanites?”

Ryan separated the nanites from the scan and gave them their own holograms at a much larger size, “That’s what we were thinking.”

Anton looked at her arms, “We have nanites!? Cool!”

Becky looked concerned, “What are they doing?”

Mayu shook her head, “I do not know.”

Ryan didn’t feel Becky’s apprehension, “They’re probably good. Why would the cylinders make your bodies, then fill them with machines that would kill you?”

Becky seemed to relax a little, “Yeah, you’re right.”

Chie tapped her chin, “Ryan, how far can you zoom in?”

Ryan zoomed in on a cell and it got to the point he didn’t know what he was looking at anymore.

Chie tapped her chin again, “Hmm, I can see the molecular structures, but not the atoms themselves.”

Mayu seemed fascinated by what she was seeing, “I do not think we have anything on Earth this good.”

Chie nodded, “I believe we have techniques that might be able to, but not without damaging living cells.”

Mayu nodded, “This machine can save so many people when we go back.”

Ryan didn’t understand what he was looking at, but he knew this machine would revolutionize healthcare, “I can see where every cell is. It could spot cancer or other stuff.”

Mayu nodded, but seemed distracted, “Mr. Ryan, can you un-zoom to see cells?”

Ryan zoomed out, “K.”

Mayu moved the image and stopped at the intestines, “Not good.”

Becky rubbed her stomach, “Oh… am I sick?”

Anton seemed interested for the first time, “It’s probably this slop recipe Ryan stole from his brain tube.”

Ryan remembered how lackluster everyone was when telling them about their single food option, “Well, if it’s good for my brain it’s probably good for you too.”

Anton stuck her finger in a cup that contained sugar and shrugged, “I still think you should check your database again.”

Chie sighed, “Once we finish cataloguing all the chemicals in the paste, we should have little trouble making more varieties of food by changing concentrations, so be patient.”

Anton licked the sugar off her finger, “Yeah. I know. At least we found sugar fast.”

Chie shrugged, “It was simple if you know what to look for.” She turned back to Becky’s scan, “Now, Mayu. I believe you were about to say something?”

Mayu looked impatient, “Thank you, Ms. Chie.” She pointed, “Becky has something she needs missing.”

Becky shook her head, “Looks normal to me.”

Mayu pointed to the intestine, “I do not see bacteria.”

Chie seemed to understand immediately, “Yes. Now that you mention it.”

Becky thought for a moment, “Oh… oh… I think I understand now. Don’t our gut bacteria help us digest food?”

Mayu nodded, “Yes. We eat difficult food without them, we will have trouble. Maybe diarrhea.”

Anton looked at her assortment of cups, “So I’m gonna get the runs later?”

Mayu shook her head, “I think this food makes no trouble. Easy to digest.”

Chie looked at the cups, “So, even if we can make other food, it might make us sick?”

Mayu shrugged, “I think meat, plants, and fats are hardest.”

Chie looked over the cups, “I think that will not be an issue.”

Anton rested her head on the table and pushed a cup away from her, “Eh… I’d risk getting the runs if it meant eatin’ something good.”

Becky gave a reluctant nod, “Maybe every once in a while.”

Mayu moved the focus of the hologram to the skin, “No bacteria here.”

It didn’t surprise Ryan, “Well, this ship’s been sitting out here who knows how long.”

Becky looked around, “So, the ship is sterile?”

Chie watched Anton suck more sugar off her finger and her expression changed like she’d thought of something.

 Mayu shrugged, “It looks so.”

Chie stood up, “Anton and I better get back to work. Thank you for the update.”

Becky slipped off the bed, “We’ll let you know if we learn anything else!”

Ryan stopped relaying between the two groups and focused back on med bay, “Okay, what next?”

Mayu turned from the scan briefly, “I will look at this more.”

Becky glanced at the scan and shook her head, “I’ll let you get to that Mayu. I’d only get in the way. Ryan, can you bring up what you have for outside the ship. I still might figure out some things even if it’s blurry.”

Ryan brought up a hologram showing a panoramic view of outside the ship, “Have at it.”

Becky’s lip curled when she looked at the image, “I forgot how bad it was.”

Chie called from the mess, “Ryan, could you make a sugar water solution, twenty percent water? I have an idea.”

Ryan gave the food dispenser a command, “Okay.”

Anton sat up, “You figured out something?”

Chie nodded, “Yes. When I observed you eating the sugar, I realized we could use it as a temporary seal for valves and such.”

Anton thought for a moment, “How?”

Ryan wasn’t sure either.

Chie picked up the cup of sugar water and headed for the exit, “We’re going to caramelize it!”

Anton hit her fist in her hand in understanding, “Oh! I get it. It’ll be sticky, but it’ll work. Probably.”

Ryan imagined some caramel slathered on valves, “Won’t it stick the parts together?”

Chie nodded, “Yes, that is an issue, but as I said, it’s only a temporary solution.”

The two entered the fabrication room.

Chie set the cup on a shelf, “Now, Ryan. Can you make an electric stove?”

Ryan felt he knew how to make one, and brought up a hologram showing his design, “It’s a coiled iron bar and just needs electricity?”

Chie smiled and nodded, “Very good, Ryan, though I think I can help improve it.”

Anton looked around, “I’m gonna finish my drone.”

The next day.

Anton ran into the med bay, an object in her arms, and looked around, “It’s done!”

Becky slept on the same bed she’d scanned in.

Med bay had three beds attached to the far wall, of which Becky slept in the middle. Each of the beds had a cabinet and counter with drawers next to it and slots on the wall just above the head of the bed where the scanning machines retracted when not in use. 

An island dominated the center of the room. Various shelves, drawers, and cabinets lined the three walls not next to the beds. Mayu and Becky had already cleaned and organized everything, so it was currently the cleanest room on the ship.

Mayu currently sat at the island and was still studying Becky’s scan. She hadn’t slept at all and looked it.

Becky jolted up from where she’d fallen asleep on a bed, a blanket sliding off her to the floor, “What!? I’m up!”

Mayu looked at Becky and smiled, “Good morning, Becky.”

Becky rubbed her eyes, “Mayu? You’re still awake?”

Mayu stifled a yawn, “I wanted to study.”

Ryan had gotten Mayu to bed at one point, “I tried to get her to sleep, but I think too much is on her mind and she couldn’t fall asleep so she came back.”

Becky yawned and rubbed her eyes then slipped off the bed, “Come on, let’s get you in bed.”

Anton cleared her throat, “Um… I got something cool here…”

Becky noticed Anton for the first time, “Oh! Sorry, Anton.” She looked at the object Anton held, “Is that…”

Anton lifted the object up, “My drone! Just finished figuring out how to drive it. The camera is wireless too, so that was super lucky! Prolly save us a half hour since we didn’t have to attach a wire.”

The drone was a short half cylinder cut lengthwise, with the flat part being the bottom. A single welding tool stuck from the front. One of Ryan’s cameras was just above the tool and placed in such a way to use the camera’s wide field of vision most effectively. The bottom had four wheels. There were also several holes on each side.

Ryan hadn’t expected the camera to work, but somehow he could use it to control the different parts of the drone after some experimentation.

Becky smiled, “Nice! When are we gonna use it?”

Anton waved them outside, “Now.”

Becky grinned and turned to Mayu, “Let’s go!”

Mayu nodded, now looking more awake, “Yes, I hope it is successful.”

The three left the med bay.

Chie crouched next to an open panel on the floor at the halfway point of the hallway and stood up when he saw the three coming, “Good morning, ladies.”

Becky stopped next to the hole, “This is where we’re putting the drone?”

Chie nodded, “Yes. This place is a maintenance hatch to the ventilation system. It is also the way to the deck below us, if we open the other door.” She pointed up, “And that is to the deck above.”

Becky looked up, “How do you get up and down? I don’t see a ladder?”

Anton stepped next to the hole and jumped and slightly forward, “Like this!” The moment she went over the hole, her upward momentum stopped slowing and she only stopped when she reached the hatch on the ceiling, “See, no gravity!”

Becky’s eyes went wide, “Move over, Anton, I want to try it too!”

Ryan could turn off gravity anywhere whenever he wanted, “Oh yeah, I can turn the gravity off anywhere if you ever want.”

Becky cocked an eyebrow, “You’re finally telling us?”

Ryan thought back, “Um… I thought I mentioned it when we were planning the repairs near the bedrooms.”

Becky thought for a moment, then smacked herself in the forehead, “Oh yeah… I remember you saying you could lower gravity. Guess, so much is going on, I forgot.”

Anton pushed against the ceiling and floated to the hole in the floor, “Ryan, can ya open the hatch? I wanna get this baby workin’!”

Ryan opened the hatch, “Here’s to hoping it’s nothing bad.”

Chie nodded, “Yes, the capabilities of this drone are rather poor.”

Anton chewed on her lip, “Yeah… At least we’ll be able to see what’s going on.”

Becky patted Anton on the shoulder, “Hey, I think this is pretty impressive for half a day’s work.”

Anton looked up at Becky, “Yeah. It is, thanks.”

Anton put the drone in the ventilation shaft, which put the drone under the wall to the fabrication room.

If Ryan had a heart, he’d imagine this was when it would start beating fast in excitement, “Okay, turning it on!”

All at once a blue light turned on at the back of the drone, a flashlight lit up on the front, and Ryan brought up a hologram showing what the drone could see.

So far there wasn’t anything of importance visible, so Ryan moved the drone forward.

Chie turned to the hologram, “Everything looks fine.”

Anton turned to look too, “Yeah, pretty clean. Kinda disappointed.”

Becky groaned and shook her head, “You’d rather have it broken and barely working?”

Anton rolled her eyes, “No…”

The drone sat in a long section of duct, but the gate to the deck below was already below it, so Ryan wouldn’t need to drive it on this deck.

Anton pointed to the path leading down, “Going down?”

Chie nodded, “Yes. That would seem the best place to look, considering everything is working on this level.”

Ryan closed the maintenance hatch, “Gonna have to lose some air, but not much.”

Ryan commanded the life support to close all the gates he could in this section of duct. Next, he turned off the gravity and opened the gate under the drone. The air left in the duct pulled the drone down with it as it rushed into the duct below.

Once the drone passed through the gate, Ryan closed it and reopened the ones he’d closed. Finally, he turned the gravity back on.

The drone fell the opposite way he’d expected and landed on the top. It then rolled to the side and flipped over.

Anton grinned, “Nice! It flipped itself over.”

Chie pointed to the image which showed the drone barely had any room in front or behind to turn, “Yes, but it’s stuck.”

It looked like this duct was perpendicular to the one above and the drone had gotten stuck because of it.

Becky turned to Anton and Chie, “What now?.”

Ryan turned the gravity off again and used the gas thrusters Anton installed to spin the drone until he got it facing the right way. He’d barely had enough room to do it even without gravity, but he did it.

Becky looked impressed, “You put thrusters on the drone?”

Anton beamed with pride, “Yup! Thought we might send my baby into space, too, so I put ‘em on. Didn’t think we’d need ‘em yet.”

Chie put her hand on Anton’s shoulder, “Despite Anton’s personality, she did an excellent job.”

Anton patted Chie’s hand, “Yep! Despite my…” She turned her head to look at Chie and pretended to pout, “Despite my personality, huh?”

Chie took her hand off Anton’s shoulder and turned back to the hologram, “Good work reorienting the drone, Ryan.”

Ryan had had some issue over-correcting, but turning the gravity back on stopped that, “Yeah, despite my lack of experience, I think I did a good job.”

Anton laughed, “Nice one, Ryan!”

Chie shook her head and sighed, “Now I remember why I stopped doing banter.”

Becky laughed, “It’s all in good fun, Chie.”

Anton nodded enthusiastically, “Yup! No need to be a stick in the mud!”

Mayu seemed confused at the exchange, “Stick in the mud?”

Chie looked at Mayu, “Someone that does not participate in foolish pursuits.”

Mayu nodded slowly, “Am I a ‘stick in the mud?’”

Becky shook her head, “Mayu, you’re fine.”

Anton’s head bobbed slightly from side to side as she thought, “No? But I’d love to hear you talk more.”

Mayu nodded, “I will try, but it is sometimes difficult to understand your conversations.”

Chie rubbed her chin, “Yes, I suppose the subjects we discuss would be difficult for someone not fluent in English.”

Mayu nodded.

Becky looked slightly embarrassed, “I’m sorry, Mayu. Next time, please let us know.”

Mayu shook her head, “It is fine, Becky. I can’t help even if I understand.”

Becky didn’t seem satisfied but nodded, “Okay.”

Ryan started moving the drone, “Guys, I’m gonna start looking now.”

Everyone turned to the hologram.

The drone faced the direction to the fore of the ship and Ryan noticed something that way, “I see some debris.”

Everyone gave their agreement.

Ryan began moving through the debris, “Guess this is a good place to start.”

The debris looked like it consisted entirely of metal shrapnel, which only got more abundant and larger the further along the drone went.

Ryan stopped the drone at a partition, “I think I found the problem.”

Chie smiled, “Yes, I concur.”

Anton grinned, “This should be an easy fix!”

Becky looked somewhat disappointed, “Can we just ram it?”

Ryan checked where the drone was and found he was at a partition that separated the less damaged part of the ship from the large breach at the front.  

This partition appeared jammed open by a chunk of metal less than half the size of the drone.

Ryan ordered the partition all the way open. The metal chunk stayed where it was, but there wasn’t anything holding it in place anymore.

Ryan pushed the metal out of the way, “I’m glad this was easy.”

Chie nodded, “Indeed.”

Anton seemed conflicted, “Yeah, but I wanted to test the drone more.”

Becky gave Anton a pat on the back, “This ship’s full of holes, you’ll get your chance!”

A faint smile appeared on Anton’s face, “Yeah.”

Ryan noticed the metal debris didn’t stop moving after the drone stopped, “Looks like the gravity is out on the other side of the partition.”

Anton brightened up again, “Ryan! Hurry up and pressurize the deck!”

Ryan moved the drone back the way it had come and closed the partition, “Good, it closed. Pressurizing…” Ryan got a warning from the life support system, “Crap, we don’t have enough air,” he closed the blast door to the bedroom area and started venting it to the deck below, “but I’m moving the air from the bedroom area.”

Chie turned to where the blast door closed, “That was some rather quick thinking, Ryan.”

Anton stomped on the hatch to the lower deck with her feet, “Woohoo!”

Becky moved closer to the hatch, “I’m not sure standing on the hatch is a good idea.”

Ryan turned off the gravity again and began moving the drone back to the hatch, “It’s fine, just remember the gravity is reversed on the other side.”

Anton floated off the lower hatch, “I need to do zero g more. This is so cool.”

Mayu brushed past Becky, “Excuse me.”

Becky moved to the side and watched Mayu test to see where the artificial gravity stopped.

Mayu jumped forward gently and floated above Anton

She started grinning, “This is so interesting!”

Becky laughed, “You go, Mayu!”

Chie smiled and watched Mayu.

The pressure on the lower deck got to a safe level, “Ready?”

Anton flipped over so her head faced the lower hatch, “Ready!”

Becky knelt next to the hatch, “Me too!”

Mayu bounced off the ceiling and started flailing around, “I think I’m having trouble!”

Becky looked up, “Can you push off the ceiling?”

Ryan opened the lower hatch.

Anton pulled herself down and floated to the lower deck, “You’ll be fine, Mayu!”

Mayu floated into an area with gravity and fell.

Chie reached her arms out and caught her, “Are you okay, Mayu?”

Mayu smiled and nodded, “Thank you, Ms. Chie.”

Becky looked relieved Mayu was fine, “Good catch, Chie!”

Chie nodded and put Mayu down, “Mayu is not heavy, so it wasn’t difficult.”

Becky nodded and looked down the hatch, “See you on the other side!” 

Becky went through.

Chie turned to Mayu and gestured to the hatch, “After you.”

Mayu nodded, “Thank you.”

Mayu went through, followed closely by Chie.

Ryan watched Anton arrive at the airlock, “I got here first!”

Anton laughed, “You don’t count!” She then looked around and went straight to the lockers to her right and opened one, “Space suits!”

Becky entered just as Anton opened the locker with the space suit and went next to a locker on the opposite side of the room.

She glanced inside the locker Anton opened, “Awesome! Just what we wanted!” She opened a locker and her excitement turned to confusion, “Uh… this isn’t a space suit…”

Becky pulled out something that resembled a gun.

Anton turned around and put on the helmet she’d pulled out, “Is that… Is that… a gun!?”

Becky’s eyes opened in shock and she hurriedly put the object back into the locker, “Nope! Not messing with it.”

Mayu and Chie walked into the airlock.

Mayu stopped and looked at the gun with interest, then started walking over.

Chie glanced at the gun before walking to the lockers with the space suits, “I’ll let the youth play with the guns.”

Becky jogged over to join Chie, “You can look at that, Anton, I’d rather try one of these on.”

Ryan watched his four crew open the lockers and inspect their contents. He thought the guns looked cool, but it was the space suits that excited him the most. With these, the others wouldn’t have trouble repairing the ship and they could finally see what was in those mystery areas. 

They could finally get the ship working and find a way back home.

Probably not a surprise to anyone, but with Christmas and New Years around the corner it might be a while until I finish the next chapter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one!