The dodecahedron could've passed for an exotic asteroid. Gravimetric phase shifters had no visible windows, doors, or propulsion mechanism. They'd been adrift for three days and what was left of the twelve-man crew worked to revive the ship.  

"We're bouncing around like a stray electron in the core of a star." 

The silver-skinned middle-aged humanoid had intense black eyes. Small blue and white striped insects crawled along the top of his bald head. He glared at a detailed 3-D hologram of the sector. Their helpless circular trajectory was accurately represented and tracked. 

The gas giant was beautiful from a distance with its immense spiral of rainbow-colored rings. Orbiting in a ship consumed by the churning river of stone and ice was another story. 

"More like riding the rim of an event horizon," responded the first man's twin.

The four #71EEB8 clones on the bridge were identical to a DNA level, all the exact age they were born to, wearing matching seafoam green flight suits, and jump boots. 

"The neutrino bears are multiplying," added the third twin. His words were not spoken but thought and understood by all on board. 

A sense of joy, relief, and hope was experienced unanimously. 

The next deck down was silent. Crew quarters and kitchen empty. Three bodies in the med-bay lay bagged, stacked, motionless. 

In the heart of the ship, a Hexagon Memorizer shimmered and glowed like a miniature version of the craft itself. Its quantum computing power guided the actions of both ship and crew. Insects crawled the conduits of the great open room that surrounded the Memorizer. Busy bees drifted between hives and hydroponics strategically placed in the five corners of the electric second level.

The lower deck was abuzz with more mammal-esque activity. While they were missing fundamental mammalian qualities like hair, females, and the ability to reproduce sexually, they made up for it with digitally enhanced neocortices that put their terrestrial genetic ancestors to shame. They moved in unison, rarely speaking, like limbs of a single superorganism. Their minds interlinked via neural transmitters kept a constant connection to each other and the central Memorizer. 

Three clones emerged from the plasma drive airlock. They stood momentarily as the antechamber hosed off their pressure suits, then they removed their helmets.

"The rupture is repaired," said the Scientist. 

The Engineer and the Grav-drive Operator still stridently working away looked up and smiled. 

"We'll be able to establish a pulse," suggested the Gravity Shifter. 

"Excellent. Navigation will pass telemetry," said the optimistic Engineer. 

The engine room sparkled with digital color as crystalline diamond controls flashed and pulsed. The destruction of two days earlier was no longer visible. They worked fast. 

The Scientist exited engineering with more of a statement than a question. 

"If I'm no longer needed, I'll return to the bridge."

His two assistants quickly stowed the environmental gear and followed the Scientist out of the room. Outsiders would refer to the assistants as Jacks or Jack-of-all-trades. An old term but accurate. Though there was no hierarchy in the anarchistic egalitarian society, the Jacks were truly the pride of the collective. Able to slide into any role, do any job, perform any task with precision and skill. They were dedicated, humble, egoless, and above all ruthlessly capable. Nothing was too complex, nothing too insignificant. They assembled a robotic laser cannon from spare parts with the same thoroughness they would replace batteries in a flashlight. 

All work was equally important. 

The three clones walked with purpose and speed to the aft tube and jumped up to the bridge, slowing at the last second using their grav-boots. 

"Captain, we're ready to break orbit." The Scientist and his men took their stations. 

The Captain wasn't actually the Captain; he was bagged in the med-lab after sacrificing himself to save the ship. The new Captain was a Jack who effortlessly changed roles from Surgeon. For #71EEB8s the Captain role was challenging as it required taking on personality traits foreign to the day to day life of a clone. They focused on interactions with outsiders and guiding the crew as a kind of upbeat coach. 

"Excellent. Navigation?" 

"Based on our current movement and the deflection angles off the next bodies we make contact with, we should be able to pulse off the third impact."

The Scientist added to Navigation's plan. "The third object is 85% ice and 15% nickel. Judging by its mass we will shatter 42% of the asteroid causing a twelve-degree variance in our trajectory." 

"We can still break orbit but we'll end up adrift again." Navigation looked concerned. "... the ring system will pull us back in; eighty-four hours after we reach our greatest escape distance." 

The rings were crowded with matter doing 42,000 km/hr resulting in endless collisions. 

"We'll risk it. Communication?"

"We should be able to send a distress single once free."

The Captain smirked. He'd been working on that particular expression, it conveyed so much with just a curl of the lip. However, it was hard to send via technological telepathy. 

His thoughts went to the Engineers. "Navigation has a marker, set the pulse to ricochet us off the third impact." 

"We are synced for a one-shot gravity glide. Controls to Helm." The Engineer felt even more optimistic.

The Captain leaned forward as he'd seen other species do. He wasn't sure why, as straight stoic posture obviously projected reliability and confidence. But he leaned forward anyway, crooking his elbow, hand grasping his right knee firmly, and raising his left arm into the air.

"Helm, it's all you." He lowered his arm and beamed with confidence. 

The Helmsman, who of course, looked and dressed exactly like the Captain, hovered his hands over the controls. The engine was offline and there was nothing for him to do until the moment they fired the gravity drive.

"Ready, sir." He enjoyed practicing the appearance of a command structure that other species tended to respect.

The inert ship tumbled slowly as it raced around the rings, completing a full orbit every ninety-three minutes. It collided with a stadium-sized asteroid, crumpled its outer crust, and drifted away in a new direction. Small chunks burst when they struck the outer hull. They careened into an enormous iceberg covered in a pink mossy bacteria, left a pentagon-shaped crater, and spun toward the awaited impact like a top. 

"At this rapid rotation, we're capturing phenomenal planetary data." Inside the ship, the Scientist and others felt no external movement. 

The core ship remained steady. All eyes focused on the projection of the outer environment. Though adrift they followed the predicted course perfectly. The huge third icy object had a silver sparkle to its interior. They swirled right into it.

The Captain grasped both knees in his most impressive lean in yet. 

"Now!" 

In the liquid plasma mote that separated shell from inner-ship, the neutrino bears went into motion. They were only noticeable on a microscopic level but their metabolism sent ripples through the core. Outside the ship came to life. It pulsed muted colors that rivaled the patterns of the rings. The clones' enhanced inner ears tingled with the sense of a slight change in gravity. 

A nickel-laden chunk of ice broke clear in half. The ship did a 180 in direction and Helm's fingers went into motion. Space ahead of the vessel shivered and a deep conical artificial gravity well appeared. The ship fell into it with a springing lunge. And so did four thousand metric tons of ring particles. 

The mass of the asteroid material surrounded the ship. Through their exterior viewer, they appeared buried alive. 

The Scientist conferred with his team. "We will break free of the debris." 

It was a long minute and a half until the gravity well collapsed. Helm's course change burned the engine out. Their sky burial began to break away and their position was well above the great ring field of the Garuda gas giant. 

"Communication?"

"Contact with deep space guild restored. Sending distress signal. Rescue vessel en route to our position. ETA 72 hours local time." 

The momentary phase shift punched a hole in the rings that no observation could explain as naturally occurring. The Captain's smirk was epic. The Scientist tried a smug one on himself. As for the Helmsman, he went for a no holds barred shit-eating grin. 

They would continue with the rest of their species on the quest for immortality.