Katie's display showed a jumble of unrecognizable imagery as the sensor on Merrick’s wrist searched in vain for his face. “This is Katie Warren,” she said. “I work for Doc Stratford. Just wanted you to know I’m bringing down a couple of gurneys and some other equipment. We need to install—”
“Listen, missy,” Merrick broke in, “you can bring the stuff down anytime you like, but there are specimen enclosures where those gurneys go, and I can’t get to them right now.” Merrick smiled as the connector finally snapped in place. He moved on to the next.
“That’s okay,” Katie continued, ignoring his attitude. “I’ll need a little time to move the gear down there, anyway. So, where can I find you?”
“Just come on into the launch bay,” Merrick said, still distracted with the contacts. “Look for the landing craft on parking spot S-4.”
Having arrived at the equipment room, Katie broke off with Merrick and began to gather the gear. She secured a med display and an overhead panel atop the first gurney and added some supplies.
Twenty minutes later, she arrived at the landing craft. Not wishing to disturb the pilot, she lowered the gurney until it rested on the deck and returned to the med bay for the rest of the equipment.
Meanwhile, Merrick completed the matrix connections and moved on to the pilot’s console.
After returning with the second gurney and the remainder of the equipment, Katie left everything outside and entered the landing craft. Merrick was on his back under the pilot’s console, an open panel-cover hanging down on his chest and tools strewn around him. He had removed the pilot’s seat and retracted its pedestal to allow easy access to the panel.
“Merrick Borgan?” Katie asked.
“That’s right.”
“I’m Katie Warren. Everything is outside on the deck.”
Merrick had found things a little less obstinate under the pilot’s console and offered a more cordial response. “You have a very nice voice, Katie Warren. The com-link doesn’t do you justice.” He felt around on the floor, finding and rejecting one tool after another. “Do you see a tool that looks like a little glass claw?”
Katie picked up the tool and placed it in his open hand.
“Thanks, Katie Warren. I’ll take everything from here. You can return to your shop.”
Ignoring his suggestion, Katie moved between Merrick and the command seat and sat against the console. “I thought you might want some help.”
Merrick cleared his throat, obviously miffed at the suggestion. “Now what in heaven’s name would a med tech know about reconfiguring a landing craft?”
Katie patiently responded. “I’m a nurse, not a med tech, and if you’re not going to accept my help, won’t you at least shake my hand?”
Running short of patience, Merrick said, “Look, do you have any idea what kind of time pressure I’m under here or how important this mission is?”
“Yes, I do, but won’t you even shake my hand?” she persisted.
Now seriously annoyed, Merrick flipped up the panel, rolled over onto his knees, and rose to face Katie.
Mutual recognition was instantaneous. Katie drew a quick breath, stepped back, slipped on a tool, and lost her balance. With adrenalin-assisted speed, Merrick grabbed her arms and pulled her close against his body to keep them both from falling. She quickly steadied herself, and he helped her into the command seat.
Visibly shaken, Merrick turned and sat against the console, tilting his head back in exasperation.
“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.
He took a deep breath, softened his tone, and looked at Katie. “I am so sorry. I’ve been behaving like a complete blockhead. You didn’t deserve that. I hope you can forgive me.”
“But there’s nothing to forgive,” she said, recovering from the shock. “And thank you for catching me. That was nice.”
Merrick looked down smiling. “...It was nice for me, too.”
Katie began to blush and changed the subject. “Are you sure you don’t need any help with all this?”
Merrick ignored the question. “Katie...can I call you Katie?”
She nodded.
“I’m Merrick Borgan,” he said, extending his hand. “It is so nice to meet you.”
Katie smiled. “And you.” As their hands touched, a tingle ran up her spine.
“Katie, you need to tell me what just happened. Why did you react like that? It was as if you recognized me, or maybe someone had told you something bad about me.”
Katie struggled to maintain composure and hide her affections—not knowing if he shared her feelings. “No...no one said anything bad about you,” she said.
Merrick turned his head away with a puzzled expression and then looked back at Katie. “Doc Stratford spoke of two nurses on this crew. Are you one of them?”
Relieved by the change of subject, Katie rattled off the answer. “Yes, I’ll be assisting our senior nurse.”
“Then Katie, you should know that I’m not very demanding when it comes to the crew. We’re all professionals here. But two things I do value are honesty and trust.”
Katie, clearly not off the hook and now resigned to expose her ardent feelings for Merrick, softly said, “Me, too, and you can always count on that from me.” She braced herself for Merrick’s “Checkmate.”
Sensing her surrender and not wishing to cause her further embarrassment, Merrick reversed his approach. Smiling warmly, he said, “Katie, a little over three weeks ago I became a Christian...the best decision I’ve ever made.”
“How wonderful. I’m so happy to hear that,” Katie said, once again relieved.
“Well, if it weren’t for Doc Stratford, it may have never happened…. Anyway, the Doc invited me to a worship service a few days later. After the service, I saw a young woman talking with her friends.” He paused. “I don’t know, there was just something about her. She seemed so full of life, so radiant. I loved the way she expressed herself. I’m sure she hears it all the time, but I thought she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. She was wearing little white flowers in her hair.”
Katie was overwhelmed—unable to speak. Her heart was pounding—her face flushed. She marveled at his willingness to shoulder her burden and expose his own feelings first.
Merrick waited for her response…. Receiving none, he said, “Listen, if I have offended you in any way, please accept my apology. Obviously, I’m attracted to you. So if you don’t think you can work with me on this mission—”
Katie finally overcame her paralysis. Rising from the seat, she stepped forward and tenderly wrapped him in a full embrace.
Merrick’s arms closed around her. “What a miraculous day this is—so many surprises. And you, Katie Warren...you are the best of all.”
The embrace continued, neither one willing to let go. When Merrick’s eyes opened, his peripheral vision detected a figure standing at the back of the cabin.
Ari was leaning against the entryway, a small equipment bag in his hand. “So I see you two have met,” he kidded.
Katie's eyes popped open. She turned to face Ari, resting her head against Merrick’s chest.
“Don’t mind me,” Ari said. “I just need to drop this bag into the fridge, and I’ll be on my way.” He walked over to the refrigeration unit, deposited the bag, and headed for the exit. “Crew briefing at 1800,” he added, descending the ramp. “That’s Israeli time.”
Katie began to giggle.
“Was that professional or what?” Merrick bemoaned. “If I weren’t sure he arranged this, I’d be feeling pretty strange right now.” He offered Katie a seat and sat facing her. “I feel like things just got a little more complicated on a very complex day. Now, don’t get me wrong, all I want to do is sit here and talk with you. I want to know everything about you. But there’s a young lady down on the surface whose life depends on what we do over the next few hours. Doc Stratford...well, he’s my best friend. And that young lady...she’s the apple of his eye.”
�
��So we need to put this on hold for now,” Katie inserted.
“As best we can, yes,” Merrick said as he checked the time. “One thing’s for sure. On my own, I’m not going to get this bird ready in time. Even with your help, I have serious doubts as to whether we’ll make the six-hour deadline. So, I’ll tell you what...let me get you started with the med gear. Then I’ll go over and see if I can break one or two technicians loose from that big bird across the hangar. That should get the job done.”
“Great! What’s first?”
They set to work detaching the specimen enclosures and other unnecessary components and moved them to the launch bay storage facility. Upon return, they installed one of the gurneys, including its med display and overhead instrumentation. Merrick then left Katie to install the remainder of the med gear and went to seek help.
———————
He entered the large landing craft expecting a battle; however, unbeknownst to him, the information office had already laid the groundwork. The technicians had seen the latest installment of Ship’s News and were very much aware of Adie’s plight. Consequently, the maintenance supervisor willingly offered two of his best men, who accompanied Merrick back to the rescue craft. After being introduced to Katie, the men went straight to work.
Then Merrick excused himself to pick up the armored suits from the central cyclic. While there, he sent a detailed description to Ari. On his way back, he signed out a flash capsule launch pod, but for safety reasons, left it in the maintenance center until he and the others had finished with the landing craft.
———————
“My word, I’m impressed,” Merrick told Katie as he entered the cabin. “You have skills.” She had completed her work much faster than anticipated. He stowed the armored suits under the starboard gurney and moved forward to assist the technicians. Meanwhile, Katie ran preliminary tests on the med gear.
———————
Ari was reviewing a diagram of the armored helmet when Jack’s call came in. He checked his wrist display and noted Jack’s furrowed brow. “What is it, Jack?”
“Things are evolving down on the surface and not in a good way. Syria’s moved zero hour up six hours; that’s roughly 2200, local. Looks like the mission’s taken on a tactical aspect…. What are your intentions?”
For the second time in one day, Ari felt adrenaline enter his veins. He rose from his desk. “My intentions are unchanged,” he said with confidence. “Are you still with me on this?”
“Absolutely, I’m with you!”
“Then let me contact the others, and I’ll get back with you.”
Ari received an overwhelming thumbs-up from his senior nurse. Walt was pained that he even asked, and as for Merrick and Katie, well they weren’t backing out. So Ari informed Jack and remained on duty for the next few hours. He then returned to his quarters to collect a few things and prepare for the crew briefing. Just as he was leaving for the launch bay, he hit a snag and put a call through to ops.
Jack was monitoring conversations between Syrian field commanders when Ari’s call came in. “Yes, Doc, how’s Merrick doing?”
“I think we’re in good shape,” Ari said, anxious for a solution to his problem. “Say, I need to get a few flash capsules from my cyclic, but it says I need a clearance code.”
“That’s right, Doc. They’re a controlled item. How many do you need and which cyclic?”
“Five should do. I’m in my quarters.”
Jack activated the protocol. “Okay, I just sent the code. You should be good to go. By the way, I’m heading down for the crew brief. See you there.”
Ari retrieved the capsules from the cyclic, placed them in a compact vertical hip pouch, and departed, stopping at his parents’ quarters before heading to the launch bay.
Mrs. Stratford and Ari’s sisters met him at the door.
“Ari!” cried Jennie as Claire moved forward and hung onto his leg.
“How are things going, honey?” his mom asked.
Jennie interrupted. “Take me for a ride on your shoulders,” she insisted.
“No!” Claire complained. “Me first!”
Ari hunkered down and grabbed the girls’ hands. “I’m sorry, my dears, but I can only stay a moment. We’ll do that when I get back, I promise.” He patted them on the back and stood to answer his mom, but was distracted by Mr. Stratford who had just come out of the kitchen.
“Hey, Dad, I just stopped by to let you know we’ll be leaving in a little over an hour.”
“Well, Son, we’ve never been more proud of you,” his father said, eyes watering. “We’re praying for all of you—Adie, too. However things go, whatever decisions you make, you have our blessing and complete support.”
Ari responded with an embrace. “Thanks, Dad. That means a lot.” He reached for his mom. “I love you guys.”
Claire stretched up and tugged on his hand. He dropped to one knee and drew his little sisters close, pressing their faces against his. “You, too, little ones, I’ll see you soon.”
———————
Details of the mission consumed him as he exited the lift and made his way across the deck toward the first of three small landing craft on the port side of the launch bay. The crew stood outside, waiting for Merrick and the technicians to complete their work.
Ari approached, extended a greeting, and walked up the ramp.
“We’re good to go,” Merrick said. “They’re just putting on the finishing touches; maybe five minutes.”
“Excellent,” Ari said, preoccupied. “Listen, can you step outside for a moment? We need to talk about the armor.”
They exited the craft and walked out beyond earshot of the others.
“Something happen?” Merrick asked, puzzled by Ari’s frown.
“I’m just a little concerned about the suits and all that technology. What happens if one of us doesn’t make it out? If that stuff falls into the wrong hands, we could easily alter the balance of power down there, even change the course of history. Tell me there’s some kind of built-in safeguard.”
“Absolutely—the suit has biosensors. If one of us is ‘KIA,’ the sensors will detect it, activate a protocol, and disintegrate the suit and us with it. In the event of capture, the protocol can also be triggered manually, either by a sequence of button presses on the wrist module or from a console in the landing craft.”
“Like Jack’s console?”
With Merrick’s nod, Ari signaled Jack to join them.
“You guys look awfully grim,” Jack said, approaching.
Ari acknowledged Jack’s comment and quickly brought him up to speed. “Now, Merrick and I will be responsible for each other. However, if somehow both of us are captured and unable to act, you must destroy the suits. If the situation is hopeless, do not hesitate.”
Jack stared at the deck briefly and looked up. “I serve at your pleasure,” he said with uncharacteristic emotion.
Ari gave a nod. “Then should the occasion arise, you need to try as hard as you can to look at things from our perspective; see this as the humanitarian act it is. You’re not only protecting us from torture and exploitation, you’re protecting Earth from the misuse of advanced technology. Now, it is possible that your mind won’t allow you to view it that way, and your genetic aversion to violence may take over. If that happens, the psychosomatic result will be immediate, pronounced, and long-lived. You will become violently ill—sick to your stomach. Every time you think of the event, maybe for years, you’ll suffer. I pray this won’t be the case, but I thought you should know.” Ari paused and added, “If it’s any consolation, all three of us are under the same cloud.”
Jack appeared somewhat confused. “Say, Doc, these feelings for Adie...are they deeper than you’re letting on?”
Ari’s expression was solemn. “Jack, she has become my life. I feel more closely tied to her than to any member of my family. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“Then G
od bless you, my friend...and God bless us all,” Jack said, reflecting. “You know, I have the distinct impression that this mission, successful or not, will define our lives.”
“Maybe so...,” Ari murmured, “maybe so.”
The two technicians, tool bags in hand, departed the craft and headed for the lift. Ari stepped forward to intercept them. “Gentlemen, thank you for your hard work. I can’t tell you how much it means to this crew and to me personally. Quite possibly, what you have done here today has saved a life. God bless you.”
As the men went their way, Ari motioned the crew aboard for a tour of the cabin.
———————
Though engineers had envisioned several configurations for the Sparrow-class interior, crews rarely used the vessel for rescue, much less a tactical rescue. The craft was compact. Including the pilot/command console, the cabin measured twenty-four feet long and fifteen feet wide, with a ten-foot ceiling. Crew access was through a centered rear entrance. Workstations and equipment lined the interior walls, leaving the central area open for seating and crew movement. The two gurneys and their associated components were on opposite walls near the rear of the cabin. Forward of the port side gurney was a waist-high storage cabinet. Atop the cabinet were three cube-shaped appliances: the cyclic, the disintegration chamber, and the medical refrigeration unit. Forward of the cabinet and just short of the cockpit was the ops console with its large multi-image display. On the opposite side of the cabin and mounted to the wall ahead of the starboard side gurney were the lavatory fixtures, followed by the medical console. Finally, the recessed area at the front of the cabin housed the pilot/command console. Flight dynamics was monitored via a heads-up display superimposed on the windscreen.
———————
Merrick pointed out the many telescoping pedestals used to support seating, overhead panels—even the gurneys. He also acquainted the crew with the privacy barriers, one surrounding the lavatory and one around each of the gurneys, very similar to those used at entryways throughout the ship. For aesthetic purposes, a silver “cosmetic” barrier tightly enclosed the lavatory fixtures when not in use.
To Earth and Back Page 19
