One of the doctors suggested more and updated equipment. Alex handled the request well, but Jackson threw him a hard ball by simply exclaiming a challenge, “Do not land the ship!”
Alex had apparently not received my note and replied, “We are landing to give you all a chance.”
Jackson replied, “I have seen more patients since you’ve arrived than I did in my entirety on this ship. People are getting hurt and killed trying to make this ship land ready. You are giving them a choice between slavery and certain death. The rest of earth is never going to let a ship land again, and even if you did manage to land it, there is nothing for them to go back to. You’d be sending them to die. If you really want to make things better, don’t land the ship!”
One of Alex’s men went to counter, but Alex said, “I apologize. My advisors were not forthcoming about the events of the abduction or about recent increases in injuries. That is why I am here speaking with you in person. Thank you for your honesty. I will go and cancel the landing immediately. Again, I am truly sorry. Do any of you have any other suggestions?... Actually, I will come back once I give the new orders.”
Alex headed to his office and we finished our lunches. There was no slowdown in injuries for the second half of the day. The white suits were very busy. Right at the end of the day, the assembly alarm went off. We all went together to the assembly area.
Chapter 23
My Fellow Space Travelers
The mood of this assembly was much lighter. People whispered among themselves and weren’t petrified into standing still. There weren’t any drones circling. The royal court members were all on the balcony below the royal family. Ella was present with Luke and the baby, but the twins were not.
Prince Alexander took the microphone and said, “Hello fellow space travelers, before we begin, I owe all of you a huge apology. I was so focused on making things right, that I got a bit ahead of myself and actually made things much worse. I gave all of you false hope that you could just get back to earth and you could go back to your lives as if this never happened. In truth, I was very embarrassed that this could happen, and I wanted to make it disappear, but it did happen. My family failed you. I am not giving up on one day peacefully returning to earth, but now that I have all the facts, an earth landing will not be possible for quite some time. It is my ultimate goal to get you all to your home, but for now, we need to work together and treat this ship as home.
“I understand you are disappointed in me, but I will keep working to improve life here. I have had the pleasure of meeting with some of the ship’s departments, I have received some awesome suggestions, and I will continue touring to ensure that I visit and meet everyone that is on this ship. I am creating five new royal court positions and as such, you can use your hot water chips to enter a raffle to win a spot. Hot water on the ship is now free. I am also working on creating work shifts and getting rid of the curfews. I look forward to continued cooperation with all of you. Oh, one more announcement. We have a new royal aboard the ship. I would like to introduce you all to Prince Peter Adam, son of Princess Ella and her fiancé Luke. Enjoy your evenings.”
Chapter 24
Making Things Right
The royals left the balcony and we all headed back to our departments. Jackson looked like he was in shock. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, “He actually listened… I actually made a difference. I saved lives.”
“Yes, you did. You should enter your chips to become a royal.”
“No, the people need me. You should enter.”
“I don’t have any chips. You lose them when you are a troublemaker and then your bed and then your job. The prince gave me one for saving his life. I entered it, but honestly I hope I don’t win.”
“I don’t know. I think you’d be good at it.”
“Maybe, but I guess we’ll never know.”
“You’ve got a one in… a lot chance.”
I just laughed. We were going back to our bunks, but he said, “I’ll enter one of my chips if you tell me what really happened with the royals.”
I laughed and said, “We’ve been through this. I was too distracted by them and too personal. I saved Prince Alexander and Prince Peter. That’s all.”
“Oh… you were distracted by them and their Prince Charming looks. I get it now.”
I was blushing by this point, but he kept his end of the deal. We went up to Alex’s office and he put one chip in. Alex saw us and invited us in to speak to him. “I would just like to thank you for your input this afternoon and see if you have any other suggestions.”
“I know there are clinics, but is there an actual hospital on the ship?”
“I will have to look into that.”
Jackson said, “Sir, thank you for actually listening to me. There is a royal hospital within the royal quadrant, but otherwise it’s just clinics.”
I said, “I think it would greatly help if there was a central hospital.”
A security officer came in and said, “Sir, I knew this would happen. We need to move your raffle box. I apologize for them.”
Alex said, “I have an open-door policy now. They are not bothering me. Please leave us so we can have our discussion.” After the security officer left, Alex continued, “I agree. I will work on transporting the royal hospital supplies over. There was a new corporate center built that will work perfectly. We can repurpose the old security drones into patient transport. I know you are Rose, but what is your name?”
“It’s Jackson sir. Um… there’s one more thing…”
Our supervisor walked in and said, “Your highness, I heard you were meeting with two of my employees. I just wanted to make sure they were correctly representing us. May I take their place?”
Alex said, “That won’t be necessary, but you are welcome to join us.” The man sat down next to me and Alex asked Jackson to continue.
“I was just going to ask if the new hospital would have a trauma center.”
“Of course, it will, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”
Jackson was going to ask about the white coats, but the supervisor scared him. I was in Alex’s office and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to me. I said, “Sir, as you know, I am new to the department and while they do an amazing job at training new people, there is one thing I really don’t understand. When a patient is critical, they are released and taken by people in white suits. Since there is no hospital, I guess I am just curious where they are being taken.”
The supervisor was obviously uncomfortable and said, “They are just taken to a more experienced doctor.”
“Jackson has been in the department since it started, and we rotate clinics every day.”
Jackson said, “Rose, just let it be. Thank you for your confidence, but I am in no way the most experienced doctor on this ship.”
Alex said, “I would like to see the facility and meet the doctors.”
The supervisor said “It’s closed for the night. We will go first thing tomorrow.”
“Critical patients need care around the clock. We will go now, and you can get the doctors to meet us there.”
“Sir, she’s the first female we’ve had. She’s obviously just gushing over him and doesn’t want to admit there are people he can’t save. We will go tomorrow. This isn’t an urgent matter.”
“It’s urgent to me. Take me now and you will not be punished for whatever you are covering up. If you make me wait and continue to lie to me, you will be imprisoned with the former king.”
“I will take you to the facility, but I have never been inside. I do not wish to.”
The man led the three of us to the facility. He didn’t have the clearance for the door and even Alex’s master key did not work. Jackson kicked the door down and lead us in. The smell was unbearable, and I couldn’t see very far in the dim lighting, but I could tell there were hundreds of hospital beds and this strange pumping sound.
Jackson found his friend from yesterday.
His leg’s circulation had been cut off, but he was alive. “Tuck, we are going to get you out of this. Just hold on man.”
A security officer approached us gun drawn and ordered us to our knees. Alex said, “Sir, I am the king! Stand down!”
The man took his identification card and shoved him face first into the ground. Alex said, “You will regret this! Stand down now!”
“No one knows we exist. I take orders from one man and you are not that man. I will regret nothing.” He shot him in the chest and Alex went limp. The man ordered me and Jackson to our feet.
Jackson made some army move and before I knew it, he had the gun. We moved Alex to an empty bed nearby and Jackson put on the guy’s white suit. He knocked him out and hid him. He was worried more white suits would come now that a gun had been fired. I tended to Alex. I flipped his watch and he was grey with heavy body armor. The bullet was imbedded in his chest. I went to pull it out, but Jackson stopped me. He tore his shirt off and put it over the bullet. He said, “He’ll lose less blood this way. I don’t know how to help him. I know nothing about his biology. Just keep pressure here. Our ship cannot lose this man!”
The supervisor came running in and saw Jackson with the gun. He said, “I knew this was a trap. Security is on its way. You will die a slow, painful, death.”
Security arrived and Jackson put down the gun. The officers took aim at him, but Alex intervened, “Stop. I command you to stop.” I had flipped his watch back to human after the supervisor came in. He continued, “He was not the shooter, you need to clear this place and let them help me.”
The men did as he said, and Jackson came over to help him. He said, “Okay, your highness. She turned your watch off and you went all alien. As freaked out as I am, I’m going to do my best to save your life. I need to know two things: Where is your heart? And where are your lungs?” Alex said “My lungs are under each of the chest pads and my heart is safely behind them. I think it pierced my left lung. The metal itself is toxic to me. They’ve been planning this specifically for me or a man of my kind.”
Jackson wasted no time and pulled the bullet out and then stuck his finger in the hole. He ordered me to find a tube while he worked on figuring out how badly Alex was injured. He made me flip the watch again before I left. I found a tube on what looked like a dialysis machine. There were blood stains on it, but it was the best I could find. Jackson took the tube, cut it and said “Sir, this is going to hurt!” He stuck the tube into the bullet wound and packed strips of his shirt around it like gauze. Jackson said, “This will allow air to go out and also keep your lungs from filling with blood. Is there something to counteract the toxin or is it only toxic while it’s in you?”
“I should be fine. Thank you. Can you get us out of here?”
“It would be my pleasure. Rose jump on the bed with him.”
Alex switched his watch back to human and Jackson pushed us out the door to a location where a security drone bus could reach us. Alex called for a bus once we reached the location and it picked us up seconds later. It took us to the royal hospital. Alex seemed more worried about me than himself. It may have been his way of distracting himself. He lost consciousness just as we reached the royal hospital. He was rushed into surgery. We were left in the receiving dock area. Jackson said, “You stay with him. I am going back. I can’t leave Tucker.”
“Promise me you will be careful and come back.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and said, “I promise. I am trained for this exact type of thing. I will be fine and so will Prince Alexander.”
He hugged me and then he pulled the bullet from Alex out of his pocket went to hand it to me, but after looking at it ran towards the surgery floor. He was promptly arrested. I picked the bullet up off of the floor and noticed a metallic liquid leaking from the top where the tip should have been. I ran to Charlie’s room.
I didn’t know exactly where I was, but once I got out of the hospital, I ran to the office and housing building. The guards at the door stopped me, but Malerie was walking into the building. I ran over and she said, “Don’t think we are going to be friends just because you can talk to me now.”
“Your highness, it is a matter of great importance that I get into that building. It’s Alex. Please. I will never speak to you again. You never have to see me again.”
“Is that a bullet?”
“I… please…”
She walked me in, and I ran as fast as I could to Charlie. I took the elevator because it just happened to be there when I needed it. I got to Charlie’s door and he didn’t answer right away. I kept knocking and he was very surprised to see me. I had apparently woken him up. I was crying and trying to tell him what happened. He grabbed me and said, “Rose I cannot understand a word you are saying. Is that a bullet?”
“Alex was shot, and this metal is toxic to him. I think this was a reservoir and it’s in his blood stream. He’s in surgery for the bullet wound.”
“Who shot him?”
“I don’t know who or what he was. There’s a secret facility downstairs. The security staff is securing it now, or at least trying to. I was the one who made him go there. Call his father. We need one of their doctors.”
Charlie called Alex’s father and said, “Sir, Prince Alexander has been shot by someone on our ship who has been planning his assassination. It was a metal that’s toxic and in his blood stream. Our doctors are doing their best, but we could use your help.”
Alex’s father said, “We will board your ship within the hour. Lockdown protocol is in effect. Charles, where is Theodore?”
“I will take him with me to the hospital. I will protect him.”
Charlie sent me back to the royal hospital to wait for Alex while he went to get Theo and put the ship on lockdown. I couldn’t actually get into the hospital, even with medical staff credentials. I was arrested, but the ship went on lockdown, so I was taken to the hospital security room. The security officer found the bullet in my pocket and asked me what I was doing. I said, “I am the Prince’s advisor and I am holding the bullet until I can give it to his father. I was there when the prince was shot.”
“Lady, I have no idea what you are talking about. The prince was not shot, and you are definitely not an advisor. You are coming with me.”
I was locked in the security room and Jackson was in there too. The officer set the bullet on the table and said, “Good luck being an advisor to the prince from in here. You will be charged for impersonating royal personnel, even if you weren’t so good at it.” Jackson was handcuffed to a chair behind me. He broke the chair and got loose. He broke me free too and we went to the waiting area. We still had handcuffs on, but we just walked like we belonged there. Jackson didn’t say anything. We got to the waiting area at the same time as Charlie, Theo, and Sky.
We all sat down together. The security guard who had captured us came running in and ordered us to the ground. He made Charlie and the others move away while he called for back-up. Charlie said, “Sir, stand down. This is the prince’s royal advisor to the people. She’s with me.” He went to detain Jackson, but Charlie said, “He’s with me too. Unhandcuff them.”
The man did as asked, and we sat back down. The surgeon came out during the scuffle and once we were all sitting calmly, he told Charlie that the bullet wound was closed, but that Alex’s body systems were failing, and he was in critical condition. I was shaking, but Jackson grabbed my hand. Alex’s parents and home ship doctor came running in a few minutes later. Their security couldn’t even keep up with them. Charlie directed them to Alex’s room. They either forgot Theo or left him on purpose, but Sky was holding his hand almost as tightly as Jackson was holding mine. Charlie turned to me and asked what happened. Jackson let go of my hand and I told Charlie about how the white suits were taking people. I told him I convinced Alex to go fix it, but a man down there shot him.
Jackson said, “Rose, I’m going to save Tucker, hopefully. Stay strong. You’re with good people here.”
Jackson sat back down and after a few minutes looked at me and said, “Royal advisor to the people… is that real?”
“I was going to tell you. I just… I was still deciding where I could make the most difference and then Alex actually listened to us and then this happened.”
“Did he listen to me because of you?”
“No, he’s just that type of leader.”
“The good kind. I will be loyal to him for as long as I live.”
“Me too. I… I just hope he pulls through this.”
Alex’s parents came down the hall to sit with Theo. I could see it on his mom’s face. I knew the look of someone losing their loved ones. I grabbed Jackson’s hand. His mom said, “Theo, I’m so sorry. The doctors don’t think Alex is going to make it. He is too sick to move back to our ship, but your father wants us safe, so we are going to leave. I wanted to give you this chance to say goodbye to your brother.”
He didn’t speak for a minute and then said, “Can Skyler come with us? She is not safe here and she’s my best friend.” His mom agreed.
Skyler grabbed Charlie’s hand and didn’t want to leave him. He hugged her and said, “Hey, it’s only temporary. This ship’s going to be very chaotic in the coming days. I want you to be safe and Theo needs you right now, like you needed me when we lost mom. I will tell Ella to send you pictures of the baby every day. You’ll be back soon. I promise.”
She hugged him and then hugged Theo before saying, “Go to your brother. He will like to hear from you even if he doesn’t respond. He’s hearing you. Then, me and you will go with your mom.”
Theo was normally very tough, but there was a river running down his face. His mom led him to his brother’s room. Skyler called Ella and told her she was going. Jackson was even crying at this point. Theo came back ten minutes later and the three of them left. I found it very odd that Alex’s doctor left with them. He had just given up. Alex’s dad took Charlie to the royal office to secure the ship. Alex was fighting for his life all alone. I got up and went to his room. They had his human appearance turned on and he was hooked to so many machines. I took his watch off and held his hand. He was so cold, but I didn’t know if that was normal for his species or if it was the injuries.
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