Chapter 31 Good night.

Andrew was stunned once again.

-Can you do that?

He asked, not believing what he just heard.

-Yes, but I need the tools and the materials.

Aelita confirmed with a smile.

-It was supposed to be my examination project so I learned everything about the capsule.

She added proudly.

-That's great, but it will have to wait, the priority right now is to get the regeneration tank and start my treatment.

Andrew said with a bit of sadness in his voice.

-Have you checked the ship?

She asked.

-If I remember correctly there were regeneration tanks on board every ship in the game, so there might be one in that ship as well.

She explained.

-You are right, but right now all we have are standard space suits and this ship was shot full of holes by my cannons so there should be a lot of debris inside.

I don't want to risk puncturing the suit over something that might or might not be there.

Hearing what he said, she had to admit that it made sense.

-Then why don't you send a drone, or even better pilot one inside?

She came up with a solution after a moment of thought.

The scout drones are the smallest you have and they should be able to go through the ship corridors.

That way you can see if the tank is there and if it's in one piece.

-It could work, At worst I will just lose a drone.

Andrew said with a bit of enthusiasm in his voice.

But inside he wanted to kick himself for not thinking about this earlier.

Not wanting to recal one of the drones he decided to create one instead.

It saved them a lot of time and didn't cost them that much resources, and even if this was just a waste of time, an additional drone, could always be useful.

Within a few minutes, Andrew was piloting the drone to enter the ship.

The best way to enter right now was the hole left by an explosion on its stern side.

Just as he predicted, there was a lot of debris and metal pieces around that could easily puncture a space suit, but a drone had no problem entering the vessel.

Once inside he saw the real extent of the damage hics cannons had caused.

There were holes and explosion signs everywhere.

Once the ship lost its shields, the hull was not able to protect the crew as every armor piercing round managed to penetrate a few bulkheads, in some cases going through the whole ship and exiting on the other side.

It took a while for them to find the medbay, but on their way they discovered a few crates in the cargo hold and some additional items that could be avluble all over the ship.

-Why did you keep this ship?

Aelita asked, after looking at all the damage done to it.

-I was planing to repair and use it, once I had the required modules and drones, but looking at it now, it's not worth it.

Andrew admitted.

The whole ship was juist a big pile of scrap and even if it was repaired, its usefulness was very limited at best.

Originally, he planed to use it as a cargo ship or a defence vessel, but seeing that its hull was paper thin and its only defence from incoming fire was the shield, not to mention that its storage capacity was very small, he had changed his mind.

-I will turn it into resources after taking everything that could be useful or has any value.

He said.

-I think that's a good choice, I see no use for this ship, other than maybe a target practice and if we get the needed modules, I'm sure that I will be able to design something much better.

She said confidently.

-That shouldn't be to hard, considering that even I can design something more useful and much more robust.

He agreed.

-Lets focus on the main reason we are doing this.

He added as they got a little side tracked.

He moved the drone slowly, not wanting to damage the tank if it was in one piece, but the moment he saw the footage from inside the medbay, his hopes vanished.

The medbay was totally wrecked, all the equipment and even the first aid kit on the wall were shredded to bits by his cannons.

-There goes that idea.

He commented, seeing the destruction.

-It was worth a shot, if it worked, you might have had the tank for free and much sooner than waiting for the research.

Aelita said, her voice a bit sad.

-But on the bright side, we now know that there is still some undamaged cargo on board and maybe we will be able to find something usefull inside.

Andrew said, trying to comfort her a little as she was disappointed that her idea didn't work.

Unfortunately, his words brought her little comfort as she wanted to help and instead just wasted their time as it was very unlikely that there was anything useful in the cargo crates that were still intact or suffered only minor damage.

Since there was nothing to do for the new scout drone right now, Andrew added it to the search for the item boxes.

It was already a few days and the drones were now scouting quite far away from the station, but he knew that it was dependant on luck and if he hoped to find anything he had to be patient.

Once that was done, he looked at the time, and it was quite late already.

-Let's go get some rest.

He said as the day was full of excitement.

-As you wish.

Aelita agreed, still a bit down, but happy to get some rest as she was also tired.

Before they left, Andrew made sure thet the drones had enough targets and the rest of the systems were working properly.

After that they both left to get some food a shower and some sleep.

A while later when Andrew was already lying in his bed, he heard the door open and saw Aelita coming in.

-What's the matter?

He asked, not knowing why she came just now.

-I came to sleep with you.

She answered, leaving him speechless once again.

Before he could even find something to say in protest, she was already getting into the bed.

-Hold on a moment.

He finally managed to speak with a panicked voice.

-What's wrong?

She asked, not understanding his reaction.

Andrew's mind was racing a million thoughts a second.

-Why would you want to sleep in the same bed with me?

He asked the first question that came to his mind.

-Since you are my protector, then you have to protect me in my sleep, and the best way to do that is for us to sleep together.

She said, like it was the most natural thing to do.

Thinking about it for a moment, he decided not to argue as it made no sense, she would most likely not yield and also he had no reason refuse sharing his bed with a beauty who would be way out of his league back on Earth.

-Ok, get in, he said.

She got into the bed and to Andrew's total surprise she used his chest as a pillow, while puting his hand around her.

The bed was a bit cramped for the two of them but sleeping like that they would have enough room.

-Good night. She said before kissing him on the cheek and closing her eyes.

She was already sleeping before he could figure out what just happened.

Seeing her like that, he kissed her forehead.

-Good night.

He said and hugged her, before closing his eyes and drifting to the dream land.