Nebula Nine III

Written by niraD

"Hey, Judy, you okay?"

The voice seemed far away and distant.

"You okay, Judy?"

The gray bunny opened her eyes. She stared blankly at the vulpine face in front of her.

"Judy? Hey, Judy, can y' hear me?"

"Yeah, Nick, I'm okay. What happened?"

"Uh, you sure you're okay, Judy?"

She shook her head and looked up at the concerned fox again. "Gideon? Gideon Grey? When did you join Space Fleet?"

"Well, actually, I ain't rightly in Space Fleet. I'm what they call a civil, uh, contract something. Captain Bogo wanted me as his chef, an' so they hired me. But I ain't allowed to tell folks that I'm in Space Fleet. 'Cause I'm, ya' know, a chef, not an astronaut or nothin'."

"Wow. You're a chef? That's pretty cool, Gideon!"

"Uh, yeah, an' Judy, now that you ain't a goner, I gotta say, I'm real sorry for the way I behaved in my youth. I… I… I had a lot of self-doubt and it manifested itself in… in the form of unchecked rage and aggression. I was a major jerk."

"Hey, we were kids, and… and… Thank you, Gideon. I accept your apology. And I'm sorry for the way I treated you. But… what happened? How did I get here? The last I remembered, I was…"

"You was outside the ship, tryin' to get in I reckon. An' it looked like you was in trouble, so I opened the doors, except first I had to close the other doors… Y'all make this stuff pretty complicated, y'know? Anyhow, I got it all figured out, an' got you inside with this remote control thingy, an' closed the door. An' you looked lots better as soon as I got yer helmet off, an' after a bit you woke up, an' here we are."

"Thank you, Gideon. I think you saved my life."

"Aw... yer welcome, Judy."

She stood and walked slowly towards the cockpit. "So, let's go save some more lives," she said. "We need to rescue Nick, and anyone else who may have survived."

As the airlock door opened, Nick's voice rang out, "Permission to come aboard, Carrots?"

"Aw, shucks," came Gideon's response. "You don't need no permission. Welcome aboard the Nebula. We're, uh…"

The two foxes stared at each other. Then Gideon continued, "Did you just call her Carrots?"

From the cockpit, Judy shouted, "It's okay, Gid. It's just a nickname. You should hear what I call him."

Then she entered the cabin and continued, "Anyway, Nick, this is Gideon. Gideon grew up with Sharla and me back in Bunnyburrow, and now he's Captain Bogo's chef. Gideon, this is Nick. We went through the academy together, and now he's in Operations. And I'm in Security. And Nick, I could really use your help on sensors, to figure out where any other survivors are."

As Nick followed Judy into the cockpit, he said "Hey, Gideon, great to meet you, but right now, duty calls, so we'll have to catch up later, okay?"

The airlock door opened, revealing a canine with bright coppery red fur. Gideon greeted her cheerfully.

"Welcome aboard the Nebula. We, uh... I guess, uh... I'm Gideon. Judy an' Nick are in the cockpit over there."

"I'm Stephanie. Thanks for rescuing me. Do you know what happened?"

"Uh, no. Maybe Judy an' Nick do. Um, Stephanie, what are you?"

"I'm a medic. And a cadet, of course. How about you?"

"Um, no, uh... I'm a chef, Captain Bogo's chef. But I meant, what kinda mammal are you? You look like a fox, 'cept you ain't."

"Oh." Stephanie's smile faded. "I'm a jackal. The fur color is just dye."

"Oh. So, um, how come you wanna look like a fox?"

Nick called out from the cockpit entrance. "Welcome aboard, Stephanie. I spotted another survivor, so you two should grab a seat. And Gideon?"

"Yeah, Nick."

"You know how some mammals treat us foxes? Well, they treat jackals worse." He turned to Stephanie and said, "Am I right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. It's easier when mammals just assume I'm a vixen." Then she smiled. "Plus I like the color red."

Nick nodded. "Well, have a seat. And maybe see if you can find any medical supplies, in case the someone we rescue needs your services."

The airlock door opened, revealing a black ewe. Gideon announced, "Welcome aboard the Nebula. Judy an' Nick are... uh... Sharla?"

The two mammals stared at each other. Stephanie asked, "Do you two know each other?"

"We grew up in the same town," Sharla said. "Wow. Lots of foxes in Space Fleet."

"Actually, I'm a jackal, not a fox," Stephanie said.

Gideon gulped. "Well, an' I ain't rightly in Space Fleet. An', well, I wasn't expectin'... But, um, like I told Judy, um... I gotta say... Um, Sharla, I'm real sorry for the way I behaved in my youth. I had a lot of self-doubt and it… an' it manifested itself in the form of unchecked rage and aggression. I was a real jerk. To you, an' to Judy, an' to lots of others. An' I'm sorry. Real sorry."

"Wow," the ewe said, her eyes wide. "I did not see that coming."

No one spoke for several seconds, then Judy chimed in from the cockpit entrance. "I hate to interrupt, but Sharla, you're a pilot, right?"

"Um, yeah, I'm a pilot."

"Great!" Judy smiled. "I really need you to fly this shuttle."

"Yacht," Sharla said.

A puzzled look appeared on Judy's face. "Um, what?"

"Sorry, I just meant, this isn't a shuttle. This is the captain's yacht."

"Got it," Judy said. "Nick said something about that, too."

"And yes, I'll fly it. Let's go." Sharla paused a moment before following Judy into the cockpit. "Gideon? Thank you. I appreciate what you said. I really do. And Gideon? I'm... I'm sorry for the things I did to you back then. Anyway, gotta go..."

"Hey, Carrots," Nick called, without looking up from the sensor panel, "I found more survivors. Ready to go?"

"Hey, Slick. You remember Sharla?"

"The black ewe from your hometown?"

"Yep," Judy said. "We just rescued her, and she's taking over flying this thing."

"Great. Um..."

Just then, Sharla entered the cockpit. Judy said, "And Sharla, you remember Nick?"

The black ewe waved. "Hi, Nick. Um..." Then she saluted and said, "I mean Lieutenant... um... Wilde?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Wilde," he said. "But please, just call me Nick. And have a seat. I found more survivors, but they're on the far side of the debris field. Here is the bearing."

"Thanks." Sharla cocked her head sideways. "Judy, is there a reason the impulse drive is offline?"

Judy's nose twitched. "What do you mean, offline?"

"I mean, it's off. It isn't running. It's offline. It looks like you've been using just thrusters, and they're pretty depleted without the impulse drive keeping them charged."

"Oops." Judy smiled awkwardly.

"So," Nick said, grinning, "Are all bunnies bad pilots, or just you?"

Judy scowled at him. "Har, har. I never said I was a pilot."

"No, it's not a big deal," Sharla said. "I've got the impulse drive online, and we're on our way."

"Perfect," Nick said. "Meanwhile, I'll run another scan of the debris field."

A few minutes later, Sharla announced, "We're here. Where are they?"

"Already?" Nick asked. He flipped a few switches, and then pointed. "That piece right there. They should be behind the airlock in the middle."

"Acknowledged. Initiating docking sequence." As Sharla maneuvered the ship, Nick closed his eyes and lowered his muzzle.

Judy stood beside him and whispered, "It's not your fault."

"No, I'm pretty sure you're the one who was flying around without the impulse drive." He retorted.

"That's not what I meant. Nick, how many times did you scan the debris field?"

"I don't know."

"Nick, how many times? How many times did you scan the debris field for survivors?"

"Judy, I honestly don't know. I... I lost count. I can't find any more signs of life. These are the last survivors."

"Nick, we did everything we could."

"Judy, there were more than a hundred mammals on board the Wilbur. We didn't even save a dozen."

"We rescued all the survivors. We did everything we could. Don't beat yourself up."

Sharla chimed in. "I hate to interrupt, but we're docked, and we technically haven't rescued these last survivors yet. C'mon. Let's go welcome them to the Nebula."