Free My Other Car is a Spaceship by Mark Terence Chapman

second. At this distance, its shields were irrelevant. Even traveling at less than one percent of the speed of light, the kinetic energy imparted was more than enough to penetrate the ship’s hull and send a hypersonic shockwave through the length of the ship—with devastating effect.
    The vessel literally disintegrated.
    With virtually all of the slug’s energy projecting forward, most of the debris missed Adventurer —most, but not all. Dozens of chunks of metal arrowed backward to smash into Adventurer’s shields. Nine pieces—slowed by the shield—broke through and penetrated Adventurer’s hull. The combined concussion knocked crewmembers from their feet. One chunk blew a hole in the small-arms locker, sucking a Chan’Yi out through the breach to her death. A fist-sized engine component crushed the skull of a Foren. A human and a Sestran suffocated from a puncture to the forward magazine locker.
    Hal shouted, “Repair crews to decks two, five and nine!” He dispatched all functioning repairbots to work on the external hull while the crews worked from the inside.
    Adventurer was hurt, though not fatally so. She would survive to fight another day.
    That was more than the raider could say.
    Hal ’s lips lifted in a savage grin. Apparently that uranium enema didn’t agree with him.
     

     
    It took more than a week to complete the repairs on Adventurer . Five members of the crew had been killed in the battle, but it could have been so much worse. Had the pirates taken the ship, it was likely the entire crew would have been killed. Still, the funeral held for those lost in the battle was an emotional time for the survivors.
    Hal stood at attention , staring straight ahead as Kalen read off the names of the dead.
    “L or’Crouf’Mouk, Chan. Jenny Sumizu, Earth. Bjorn Nygren, Thetis. Pethsedar, Foren. SarMestil, Sestra. They gave their lives protecting the innocent.”
    With such a diverse crew possessing varied—or nonextent—spiritual beliefs, it was impossible to hold a religious ceremony that would be pleasing to all in attendance, So Kalen kept it simple. The purpose of the ceremony was as much to offer closure to those who remained as to honor the dead.
    “We commend their essence to the eternal night.”
    One by one, four missile casings containing the mortal remains of the casualties were fired through the port and starboard missile tubes on a trajectory that would intersect with Earth’s sun within hours. The remains of the fifth casualty, Pethsedar, were in deep freeze, in accordance with Foren custom, until such time as Adventurer returned to Foren space.
    Although Hal hadn’t known the victims long , they were members of his crew and deserving of his respect and honor.
    I suspect this won’t be the last one of these ceremonies I’ll have to attend.
     

     
    The remaining months of Adventurer’s tour of duty were uneventful. Once the immediate pirate threat was past, Nude convinced Hal to let the doctor repair his damaged hip.
    “You can do that?” Hal had asked, surprised at the idea.
    Nude smiled and swept an arm to take in the entirety of t he sick bay. “Look around you. Do you not think the level of Unity medicine is considerably in advance of Earth’s? Have you forgotten your implant?”
    Hal chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. How long will I be out of commission?”
    Nude frowned for a moment. “It is rather extensive surgery. I estimate you will be unconscious for almost an hour, and will need a day or so off your feet to recuperate. After that, your hip should be as good as new.”
    “Seriously? Damn. I wish I’d thought to ask about that ages ago. Let’s do it!”
    Later, he even returned home twice, to spend time with friends and concoct a story to explain his absence—something vague about hush-hush activities overseas. He didn’t mind if his friends thought he was a spy. It added some spice to their conjectures.
    Hal also had plenty of time to study,