Seraph Medevac

The Seraph Medevac was born out of tragedy. In 2182, a decompression accident at a Ceres mining camp left eleven people in need of advanced trauma care that was three weeks away by freighter. Several did not survive the wait. Halcyon's board, led by CEO Ingrid Solberg, committed to building a dedicated rescue ship, and the Seraph flew for the first time on 19 January 2184.

The Seraph is 74 metres long and is flown by two pilots, with a total crew of nine including two trauma surgeons, three nurses and a flight paramedic. It carries twelve patients in a fully equipped ward with a surgical bay, radiation decontamination suite and cryogenic stabilisation pods. Up to 20 tonnes of medical supplies can be loaded for disaster response.

Speed is everything in emergency medicine, so the Seraph uses an antimatter-catalysed fusion microcapsule drive that pushes it to 780 km/s, second only to the Corvid and the Aurora Mk II among our crewed ships. Its range of 30 AU covers every settlement in the inner system and the Belt. It burns 3.2 tonnes of microcapsules per 100 AU, an expensive fuel, but the response times it buys are measured in lives.

The commissioning fee is 96 million credits, including the medical fit-out and certification for interplanetary hospital standards. Chief Safety Officer Grace Mwangi notes that this is less than a quarter of the price of an Atlas Heavy Freighter, putting a dedicated rescue capability within reach of mid-sized settlements and mining operators.

Seraphs are now stationed at Luna, Mars, the Olympus Ring, Ceres and L5 Lagrange Station, typically on standby with crews on four-hour alert. Beyond emergencies, they fly scheduled medical rounds to remote outposts, carry transplant organs and serve as floating clinics during large construction projects. For many settlers, the sight of a white Seraph on approach is the most reassuring thing in the sky.

Every Seraph also carries a telemedicine link that lets specialists at Shackleton Base or Kepler Yards guide procedures in real time, and Human Factors Engineer Isabel Navarro designed the ward so that a surgeon can operate safely even during a high-thrust burn of the rescue flight.