Oceanna Blue

But she still had time before it would be cool enough to eat. Bundling up her makeshift bed from the night before, Sam started to shift the broken furniture around. Piece by piece, she began to separate what she had to work with. Tabletops without legs, she moved into the hall and stacked them neatly. Like everything on the Yamato, it was made of composite materials that were far lighter and stronger than they would be if metal, wood or plastic. The legs of the tables she piled against the wall, knowing they would take up less space like that. She made sure to collect any paper towels and found one of the bins to collect any rubbish she found. Sam paused to eat, enjoying the simple flavours of an actual meal. As bland as it was, it was the best thing she'd tasted in days. Then she got back to work.

By the time she laid down to sleep, she had two-dozen tabletops, half that number in tabletops that were either broken or still had legs attached and another five tables that were still whole, for a total of thirty-five. The tables had eight legs each, due to the length. Any loose legs were stacked neatly against the wall where they wouldn't move. Then she had started sorting rubbish from the other random items and storing them in bins.

The following day, after eating the remainder of her meal from the day before, Sam started in the kitchen. It was far more time consuming trying to sort through all the debris. Most of the equipment that wasn't bolted down was broken. Other things she wasn't sure if she could use without finding a way to straighten it first. A stove on an angle would be dangerous to cook with. By the end of the second day, she had most of both rooms clear, if not entirely clean.

Waking up on the third day Sam's stomach growled uncomfortably. Sighing, she got up and made her way to the empty pot she'd scrubbed clean the day before. With a sigh, she grabbed the protein replacer. It was still mostly full, but she wasn't looking forward to it after the meal she'd had the day before. Sucking down the mostly tasteless mush, Sam dropped it back where it was. With a sigh, she made her way back to the citadel and noted the water level had retreated back to the door. With a grin, she made her way back to the top and looked down into the corridor. The water level didn't seem to have changed. That didn't mean the level hadn't changed at all.

Crawling into her suit once again, Sam just felt gross. She wouldn't be doing this at all, but she needed to check the progress. Heading back up into the corridor, Sam stepped into the water. Diving beneath, she rounded the corner and began to float back up. Realising as soon as she began her ascent she didn't have her diving belt, she tried to flip in the water to kick back down again. But as her body rotated and her legs went vertical, her leg suddenly accelerated as if the resistance from the water was removed.

"Yes!" She made a punching motion.

Letting herself float, it only took a moment for her to bob to the surface. Standing, she was able to walk out and into the corridor. The water level was only just higher on this side so she knew it probably wouldn't even be a day before it drained completely. Then she could shut off the air supply and work on long term survival. Heading up the hall, Sam kept the beam on wide, filling it right to the end. At the crossmember, she knew that there was the bathrooms and the door for medical, as well as her airlock at one end, and maintenance at the other. Nodding at her need to check how things were going, she moved towards medical. Passing the bathroom, that was a mess, but mostly dry other than the sodden towels laying about, she turned to the door labelled 'medical.'

With a soft touch, she hit the manual release. There was no hiss or spray of water, so she grabbed the door and pulled it open. Inside, the room was strangely tidy compared to most of the ship. Everything seemed to have been strapped down appropriately and the few tools that were out, had been magnetically attached to surfaces to prevent them shifting. Panning around the room Sam noted the dozens of empty beds. The attack happened so quickly there was no time to bring in any wounded. Walking down, Sam made note of the proper pillows and blankets still set on the beds. Their sheets tucked in hard enough that they were still made, even if the pillows had shifted beneath the covers. Walking the length of the room, she glanced down at the end and froze.

"No..." She choked.

Stepping quickly over, she grabbed them by the boot and turned them over. Through the faceplate she could see a lot of blood covering the face of an older man. His body was stiff and unyielding and Sam knew it was far too late. Disconnecting his comms unit, Sam connected it to her own. A few moments later she pulled up the physical data. It showed that a massive impact had thrown the man against one of the beds. His ribs were fractured so badly they penetrated internal organs. He had traces of painkillers and other stimulants in his blood that kept him going for a while. But he died of blood loss shortly after entering the exosphere. With a sigh, she checked his other information. He was the chief medical officer aboard the Yamato, Lieutenant Henry Burcher.

Sam froze. Opening his comms list, she saw his messages. There were so many. He was doing the same thing she was, messaging anyone who was scared. Anyone who was alone, or hurt and just wanted some comfort. And right there in his drafts was a message to her.

I'M HERE FOR YOU SAM. I'M SCARED TOO.

Sam gently tapped the send button, and broke into tears as her own comms chimed. Setting aside his comms unit, Sam started the process of pulling his body free.

Usually when sailors gave ocean burials, they left them to sink into the depths. But on this world, within the depths that was not quite possible. Hauling the lower door open, Sam looked out into the beauty of the ocean reef. But it's glowing colours held no colour to her. Turning around, she gripped Henry and gently brought him outside. Getting him out of his suit was difficult, but she took her time. Then, she collected several sheets from the beds in medical and made a makeshift funeral cowl. With the addition of some diving weights made from a length of cord and a table leg, she had brought her last friend outside. Opening her comms unit, Sam toggled the selector until she found what she was looking for. As the wailing call of a single horn filled the ocean, the creatures of the reef itself seemed to come to almost a stop.

As The Last Post filled the ocean void, Sam paid her final respects to a man she barely knew, and disconnected the weight. She gave him a gentle push to move clear of the Yamato's hull. And filled with gas from the early stages of decomposition, he began to slowly float away. Raising a hand in salute, she held form until the final note rang out. By then the ocean currents had taken Henry's corpse far from view.

"Godspeed," she whispered to herself.

Lowering her arm, she stepped back through the door, closing it behind her. A spot of twisted metal half hidden in shadow shifted and a large pair of eyes with purple irises blinked. Lowering its tentacles and giving away that it wasn't in fact some of the strange twisted material that fell from the sky, it swam to the door. Pressing it's tentacles against the smooth surface, it used the small suckers to feel every inch of the surface trying to work out how to open it, or if need be close it again. But when the door didn't budge, the being forced a small jet of water out, lifting away and looking around. The sounds that came from the awkward thing were magical and made the creature shiver in pleasure. It wanted to know more about them, but with the door closed, it decided to follow its other avenue of curiosity.

Surging through the water, it ducked around stalagmites and rocky outcrops to avoid being spotted by predators. Out here on the fringe there would be no help if something came up from the deep, so even a minor wound could attract them. Swimming quickly up to the lump the awkward thing had released, the creature gently prodded it with a tentacle. It was soft, but firm in the middle. Made of flesh and bone like some creatures were in the depths. But this was wrapped in something that only slightly protected it. As the creature examined what it was grasping it built up a muscle memory of the shape, before freezing. Releasing what it now knew was a body, the creature felt sad knowing an awkward thing had died. The other awkward thing must have been sad too, waiting all that time for the body to float away. But that wasn't for the best. Swimming down to the bottom, the creature collected some ceremonial reeds and fruit. Things to ward off the smaller predators that would make a mess. When the body was suitably dressed and beautiful, the creature lovingly took it around the middle and flashed the colours of mourning, to let the others of its kind know what had happened.

As it brought the body back to the village, others came to help, adding small flowers, fruits and more reeds. They all knew about the awkward thing that appeared occasionally. The first creature to make contact kept them all informed, despite their reluctance to see for themselves. But one and all understood death. As the first creature came to the centre of their home, it found the vortex that spiralled to the heavens. Situating the body of the awkward thing within the vortex, it, along with the others swam back to watch. They pulsed their mourning colours as they gifted the body back to the ocean. The awkward thing was swiftly carried to the surface, where the air currents would take it far away and return it to the ocean.

As the creatures paid their respects, the first wondered if the other awkward thing was all alone. That was a very large place to live all alone.

Chapter Five

Holding perfectly still in the water column, Sam waited. It had been a busy couple of weeks, but things were finally looking up. Life, while not luxury, was getting more comfortable by the day. There was just one issue. She was being watched. Sam didn't know quite for sure that she was being watched. Only that she had a feeling for the first few days, followed by other things. Today for example. After slipping out the top airlock she'd found a round yellow ball laying on the floor. When she'd scanned it, it was high in glucose, potassium and a few other minerals, confirming it was the fruit from one of the vines she'd seen. Clearly it was edible. There was just one small problem.

It was INSIDE the confines of the ship.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sam watched the water column. With the draining of the ship and the additional space, improvements had been made. With the tabletops as construction materials, Sam had built herself several rooms. One of which was a workshop where she kept various tools. One of which, a belt grinder, had made quick work of the metal shiv she found. With a sharpened edge and some thick leaves from one of the prior mentioned vines, sam had a knife on her belt. The next step, was what she currently held in her hands. An aluminium rod, with a second shiv, cut into slivers with the plasma welder made a handy spear.

After spending some time exploring just outside the Yamato, Sam had spotted a section of hull open on one side, with a current that ran over it. Every now and then...

"Ha!" Sam stabbed forward.

The fish trying to escape the current darted straight into the section she was now waiting inside. And as the fish darted in, Sam was waiting with the multi-pronged spear. Lashing out, she felt her augmented muscles slam forward in the blink of an eye. The fish was dead, even before it registered her presence. Bringing it closer, Sam pulled it off the points and looked it over. The original scans had indicated that this ocean world mimicked earth's own rather well. So the fish wasn't a surprise. But such a normal looking fish was almost baffling. Here, on an alien planet, lightyears from Sol, was something that looked like a cross between a bream and a potato cod with bioluminescent fins. Scanning it, she got similar results as well. It was perfectly edible.

With a grin, Sam used her knife to poke a hole through its gills, before using a length of thin rope made from the vines to tie it in place. With the fish secured at her hip, Sam poked the spear out the hole, before poking her head out. Looking around, she could see the coast was clear. Not that she expected any different, but as this was an ocean, she'd spotted the occasional predator. Not that they seemed remotely interested in her. Slipping out of the hole Sam pushed herself in the very current that pushed the fish. The rising water helped her slip free and she quickly rose over the Yamato.

Kicking her legs, she swam off to one side and headed in the direction of the upper airlock. Approaching home, Sam looked over the work she had done. It hadn't been easy, but by reverse engineering some electric motors, Sam had built generators. By welding extensions to the cooling fans, she had made herself a set of hydro-electric generators. It had then been a little sloppy, but by mounting them at the top, they had access to the most current that ran over the ship. It was also why Sam used the upper airlock more often than the lower. As she swam closer, she gently brushed the spinning blades, knocking free a few strands of plant matter that had gotten caught. Satisfied, she ducked into the hallway and pulled open the first door.

Swimming into the confined space, Sam activated the headlamp. There was enough light outside that unless she was going something specific, she didn't need it just to move around. Pulling the door closed, she activated the lock, before turning back to the inner door. There were two taps. The lower, she turned first, opening a valve that was attached to a hose that ran straight to the lower entry. The top, just opened to the other side with a heavy duty ball valve and let in air. Pulling the lever, it immediately started glugging as gravity drained the water from the small space.

Barely a minute later, Sam was standing in knee deep water and a few seconds after that, Sam used a small squeegee to push the remainder of the water into the pipe. While she was sure the metal wouldn't rust, it would smell after a while. After closing both taps, Sam opened the door and stepped into the main section of the yamato. Reaching for the wall for the switch, the hallway lit up as the overhead lights activated. Immediately to the right was a frame she'd set up to hold her suit. Removing her new weight belt, the fish and putting aside her spear, Sam stripped off the suit. Underneath, she didn't bother wearing anything. It no longer mattered. Giving the suit a quick sniff for cleanliness, she hung it up, before grabbing her fish and the yellow fruit before moving deeper into the ship.

She ignored the medical bay as she approached. It would still have it's uses, but for now, she had closed it up and forgotten about it. The bathroom on the other hand, was now a storage room. Inside she kept any of the supplies she needed, but didn't need on hand. Towels, toiletries, cutlery, basic pre-packaged medical supplies. Medical may have medi-gel and wound sealant. But in the field, even underwater, a simple bandage was far more useful and these packs carried little else. Passing by, Sam didn't even bother checking maintenance. It was, and always would be, a storage room for tools and materials she did not need on a regular basis. Heading down the now well lit corridor, Sam went through the S-bend that saved her life by trapping in air and stepped into the mess hall. The power generator sat by, disconnected from everything. The air canisters were set beside it. Sam checked the comms unit at her wrist and confirmed that once again, the O2 levels inside the Yamato were decreasing very slowly.

From what she could discover, the carbon was being absorbed by the seawater at the citadel, helping to keep it all fresh. Carrying her fish through the mess, Sam paused to check the charge level on the batteries she'd set up and grinned, seeing that the automatic shut-off had activated. The turbines outside worked perfectly for her day to day use. Now the generator was only necessary if she was doing serious welding work. With a grin, Sam moved into the kitchen.

An hour later, Sam sat herself comfortably on a chair in the kitchen and ate her meal. It was a simple meal of boiled and mashed root vegetables. There were plenty of them still in storage and Sam was confident if she ate more fish and local flora, they would last long enough to plant them. Which she hoped to start soon, as the oxygen wouldn't last forever. There were still several canisters, but they were better off for emergencies. Wiping the last of the mash off her plate with a finger, Sam sighed, realising it wasn't something she'd have ever done in the past.

Pushing aside her plate, Sam grabbed the yellow fruit and pulled it close. Picking up the knife she carried, Sam pressed into the top and started sawing. The flesh peeled easily and let out a small squirt of juice that got on her hand. Without thinking, she raised her hand to her lips and licked it.

"Oh wow," Sam gasped.

It was sweet and vibrant, like pineapple mixed with banana. Pushing the knife through the rest of the fruit, Sam saw the inside was white and speckled like a dragonfruit. Pressing her finger into it, the flesh was extremely soft, almost like firm custard. Putting down the fruit, Sam darted into the kitchen and grabbed a spoon. Each bite of it was delicious and Sam moaned with pleasure. It was one thing going from the survival packs, to real meat and vegetables. But having something sweet and delicious was a real treat. Which slammed her to a halt. It had been left in the hallway, where the fruit wouldn't have been able to get to alone. And tasting this good meant it was probably valuable to whoever left it... Who, or more likely what, left her a gift by the front door?

Ultimately, other than the few fish type creatures and a few crustaceans, nothing else sprung to mind. So unless the squid monster wanted to be friends, she wasn't sure what had left it. With a sigh, Sam stood and took the peel and her dishes with her. The trip down to the citadel took no time at all and Sam spent a few minutes scrubbing all the dishes with a bucket of sand she had collected. The course material made quick work of the grime and she quickly carried them back into the kitchen. Stacking everything to dry, Sam moved onto her next project. She had a section in the mess she used as her workshop. Simple hand tools were stacked neatly everywhere. On the bench was her latest project. It was an electric motor, mounted to a base. It spun a swingarm that had been cut from a piece of hull. That swingarm was attached to a second, that was mounted within a sleeve. As the motor ran, the rotation of the first swingarm caused the second to piston back and forth. This had all come about, after discovering a plant filled with a substance, that when exposed to air, dried into a firm, silicone like substance. This substance was what she made the squeegee out of, before realising it would have multiple uses.

According to the scans, it was inert, impervious and non-toxic. Beside the motor, was a tube with a metal pipe sticking out the top. Sam gave it a wiggle and smiled, feeling it firmly stuck in place. The pipe had been cut in two, before being placed in a clamp, so Sam simply released it, before peeling apart both sides.

"It's not a man, but it'll do the job," Sam grinned to herself.

Clipping the makeshift dildo to the end of the piston and screwing it into place, Sam picked up the machine and carried it across the hall into her bedroom. It was much the same as it was before, just mounted properly on a makeshift bed frame. Setting the machine at the end, Sam picked up the power cord and connected it to the rest of the system. Turning on her comms device, Sam activated the machine and watched the dildo slowly thrust back and forth about five inches. It was adjustable and by changing the settings she could make it speed up and slow down as she needed.