They were both excited and afraid at the same time. Excited that their parents were out there, saving the planet. Afraid of what might happen.
She felt the same way, except far more afraid than anything else.
Two minutes after the time the governor had warned her about, the ground under them started to shake. Slowly at first, then harder and harder.
Reynold grabbed her arm.
“Cover your heads,” she shouted as dust filled the air around their flashlight beams.
Rocks fell, pounding into the ground as everything kept shaking and shaking.
A couple of the children screamed.
“Stay down!” she shouted. “Keep your heads covered.”
Pebbles and dust fell on them.
Then, slowly, just as it had started, the shaking stopped.
All the children were crying and coughing. Dust swirled around them, stopping all their flashlight beams within feet of the light, making the area between them glow in an eerie fashion.
“It’s all right!” she said, trying to calm them. “It’s all over.”
But she wasn’t sure of that herself. That seemed much worse than the governor had warned her about. Had the full explosion happened and they rode it through?
“Can we leave?” Diane asked between coughs and sobs. “I don’t like it in here anymore.”
“We have to wait a few minutes,” Lilian said. “Until some of this dust settles. Then we can go.”
She didn’t want to tell them she was worried that the shaking might just have trapped them in here if a rock or part of the roof had come down in the wrong spot. If that was the case, no one was going to find them. Ever.
She had the children gather around her in a tight circle, flashlights pointed inward. In a few minutes they were laughing about how silly they all looked in the dust. That was why she so loved children. They had the ability to move on and forget.
She didn’t. All she could think about was getting out of this cave and seeing if there was a world outside to go to.
And maybe someday giving Governor Pardonnet a piece of her mind for leaving her and the children like this.
At that moment the ground under them shook again.
The children screamed and the dust swirled even harder around them.
Countdown: 1 Hour
The bridge of the Enterprise was deathly silent as his crew watched the big screen. Kirk imagined that every inch of every colony ship was the same way as here. People gathered around images of a small moon moving closer and closer to a large one. What was about to happen would dictate the future for over sixty thousand people. For most of them, this would be the most important moment of their lives.
The two moons were a strange sight. The Quake Moon was the size of a large melon, while the Needle was the size of a marble rushing at the melon.
Kirk glanced around at his crew, then back at the screen. No one was talking.
Everyone just watched and waited.
In what seemed like slow motion, the tiny Needle touched and then plowed into the face of the larger Quake Moon.
Rock and dust blew outward into space like water moving away from a rock hitting the calm surface of a lake. Kirk knew that the smaller moon was hitting just off center on one of the old plugs that used to release the pressure from inside the Quake Moon. The hope was that the impact would vaporize part of the plug and jar the rest of it lose, without rupturing the entire moon.
The shape of the smaller moon seemed to hold for the longest time, a round bullet smashing into the rough skin of the Quake Moon. Kirk suddenly had a worry that the surface of the Quake Moon was so hard, it would simply vaporize the Needle without allowing it to do much damage. But Spock had checked all of that. He believed this had a good chance of working.
Then the smaller moon vanished completely in the explosion of rock and dust.
Kirk stared, fascinated. He’d seen a lot of things in his years in space, but nothing like this before. And never had he been responsible for crashing two moons.
“Did it work?” McCoy asked, turning away from the screen to glance at Spock.
Spock said nothing.
“You’ll know if it worked, Doctor,” Kirk said, not taking his gaze from the expanding cloud of rock and dust on that moon’s surface. “Trust me.”
At that moment the expanding explosion seemed to instantly change shape. Now the collision and explosion results were no longer in the slow motion of low gravity. A massive hunk of red-hot rock shot from the explosion site into space, directly out of the center of the cloud. For an instant it appeared as if the smaller moon had hit and then bounced.
But Kirk knew that wasn’t possible. This hunk of rock was trailing a long, intensely red plume of flame behind it. It was as if the moon had suddenly ignited an old-fashioned rocket from its side.
The massive hunk of rock that was streaking away from the moon was the remains of the plug. Just as they had hoped to do in the first attempt, this collision had pulled the plug.
It was the most beautiful sight Kirk had ever seen.
Blue and red and orange material shot from the hole in the surface of the Quake Moon, expanding and cooling almost instantly as it reached open space.
The wave of color seemed to spread from the Quake Moon, flickering through the rainbow and then vanishing to the blackness of rock and dust.
“The pressure has been released,” Spock said. “The Quake Moon itself seems to be maintaining its integrity.”
Kirk glanced back at McCoy and smiled. “It worked, Doctor.”
Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Scotty all joined the doctor in shouts of joy. Kirk just sat and watched as the Quake Moon fountain of color continued. He imagined those same shouts of joy were being repeated by over sixty thousand people at this very moment.
“You need to warn the colony ships to secure for impact,” Spock said. “Thirty seconds.”
Kirk nodded.
“Impact, what impact?” McCoy shouted, the smile gone from his face
“Uhura, open a channel to all ships,” Kirk said.
“Open,” Uhura said.
“Our little stunt seems to have worked,” Kirk said to all the captains. “Secure for impact from the quantum shock wave in twenty seconds. Kirk out.”
“Turn us directly at the Quake Moon, Mr. Sulu,” Kirk ordered.
“Turned, sir,” Sulu responded in a moment.
On the screen the moon was still spewing colors into space, but not as fast or as strong. The pressure inside that moon was clearly almost gone. Now, after they rode out the quantum shock wave caused by the olivium release, they could return to Belle Terre and see what they now faced.
“Impact in three seconds,” Spock said. “Two. One. Quantum wave passing now!”
The Enterprise rattled for a moment, then went silent again.
“Was that it?” McCoy asked, prying his fingers from what looked to be a death grip on the railing.
Kirk laughed. “That was it. Not much, compared to what we’ve been through, was it?”
“I can’t take much more of this,” McCoy said. “I’m just too old.”
“A few ships are reporting minor damage, Captain,” Uhura said. “Nothing serious.”
“Good,” Kirk said, staring at the now small fountain of color still pouring from the hole they had created in the side of the Quake Moon. “Take us back to Belle Terre, Mr. Sulu. Let’s see what we have left to work with.”
“At least there’s a planet still there,” McCoy said.
“That’s a start,” Kirk said.
Chapter Twenty-four
Countdown: Terminated
GOVERNOR PARDONNET slumped in a chair behind Captain Chalker on the bridge of Mable Stevens and just stared at the screen. The quantum shock wave had knocked them around a little, but not seriously. And the Mable Stevens’s engines had been repaired. On the screen, the last sputtering of matter shot from the hole they had punched in the Quake Moon.
And beyond t
hat, Belle Terre still existed.
It was a beautiful sight. The best he’d seen since they had first arrived here weeks ago.
His mind couldn’t completely accept the fact that they had won this battle. He had worked so hard to get used to the idea of taking this colony back to Federation space that he couldn’t even think what needed to be done next. He knew there had to be thousands of things that needed immediate attention, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what one of them was.
He just kept staring at the beautiful sight of their planet, whole and floating there in space.
“The Enterprise is heading back to Belle Terre,” Chalker said, glancing back at Pardonnet. “What would you like to do?”
“I suppose follow it,” Pardonnet said.
Chalker laughed. “Thought you might say that.”
Pardonnet forced himself to stand and take a long, deep breath. He had to get focused. The problems were far from over. From what he remembered about this success, it came with a price. Belle Terre was going to be affected with extreme weather for at least the next few years. And the large continent had been bombarded with bad radiation and might not even be habitable at all.
He was this colony’s leader. It was going to be up to him to face these problems with his people, and solve them. But compared with the problems of trying to go back to the Federation, these were going to be a pleasure to face.
On the screen the image of Belle Terre grew slowly larger as the ship sped toward it. At least there was still a planet to have problems on. He and every colonist owed Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew a gigantic thank-you. Without them this colony would never have gotten here, and now been allowed to stay. They owed Kirk everything at the moment, and Pardonnet wasn’t going to forget that.
“Eight minutes until orbit,” Chalker said.
Pardonnet stared at the image of Belle Terre, letting the feelings of success fill him completely. From this distance it didn’t look changed much. But he knew it was going to be. At this moment it just didn’t matter. It was still there.
Then he remembered the children and a wave of sadness covered the joy. He couldn’t imagine how Lilian Coates and the children could have survived being on the planet’s surface during such an event. But he vowed search parties would look again as soon as possible. And someday the answer to what happened to them would be known.
But first he had a colony to rebuild and sixty-two thousand people to get into homes again, on their new planet. And then there were the problems caused by now being the richest colony ever because of the olivium. He thought he’d been busy the last three weeks since they arrived. The next few were going to be even worse.
And he was going to love every minute of it.
Countdown: Terminated
Kirk stared at the still-beautiful images of Belle Terre. The planet looked, at least from orbit, basically the same. Earthlike and serene. But he could see even from this distance some differences. The main continent was covered at the moment in clouds that looked dark, almost black. And the color of the oceans seemed to have changed from a gentle light turquoise to a dark, angry blue.
“Spock, what’s happening down there?”
“The change in the location of the Quake Moon is causing numerous earthquakes of varied intensity. The atmospheric disturbances are violent in many areas, with winds over one hundred miles per hour.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” McCoy said.
“Understatement there, Doctor,” Kirk said.
Spock went on with his report. “There are many fires spread over vast portions of the main continent, choking the atmosphere with smoke. A dozen volcanoes have suddenly become active. Much of the animal life and vegetation on the main continent has been destroyed by the radiation burst from the explosion. The island chains on the protected side of the planet are still intact, but experiencing small earthquakes and violent weather.”
“Radiation?” Kirk asked. “How bad is it now?”
“Acceptable levels,” Spock said.
“How long are these weather conditions going to last?” McCoy asked.
“Unable to ascertain that information without more study,” Spock said. “But intermittently for at least the next few years. It is possible that many of the conditions will not return to a milder state for centuries.”
Kirk nodded. “Well, at least there’s still a planet here.”
“And it is habitable,” Spock said.
“By whose standards?” McCoy asked. “Earthquakes, dead continents, volcanoes, and extreme weather don’t sound habitable to me.”
“Better than limping back to Federation space on crowded, damaged ships,” Kirk said, staring at the planet on the screen. “At least here they can still build the colony they hoped for. It’s going to be a little harder.”
“How about the main colony area?” McCoy asked. “Did the buildings remain standing?”
Spock studied his board for a moment, then said, “Some did, some did not. Difficult to ascertain from this distance.”
Kirk turned to Sulu. “Start a scanning search pattern for any sign of those children and Lilian Coates around that main colony area. Include below-surface areas in case they took cover somewhere. Mr. Spock, you help him.”
He hadn’t liked the fact that they had not been able to find any signs of the children before the moon collision. He wanted to know what had happened to them and he wasn’t going to let this drop until he did.
“The nature of the minerals in the rock formations around the main colony blocks normal scanning procedures,” Spock said.
“Then adjust the sensors,” Kirk said. “Those children and Lilian Coates have to be down there somewhere. Or at least their bodies do. I want them found.”
“Understood,” Spock said. “But it will take some time to adjust the sensors to scan through those rock formations. At least an hour.”
“Just do it,” Kirk said. “Get Scotty to help you.”
“Captain,” Uhura said, “Governor Pardonnet’s ship is entering orbit. He would like to talk to you.”
“Put him on,” Kirk said.
McCoy stepped down and stood beside Kirk’s chair so he too could be in the conversation.
“Captain Kirk,” Governor Pardonnet said the moment his face came on the screen. “I would like to thank you and your crew on behalf of all the colonists.”
Kirk nodded his head slightly. “Governor, we accept your thanks, but we only helped. All the ships were important to the success. And every colonist risked their lives to get it done. I think the thanks go to all of them, also.”
Pardonnet laughed, the light coming back into his eyes. “I agree, Captain. But thank you anyway.”
“You are more than welcome,” Kirk said, also laughing.
Then Pardonnet’s face grew serious. “Captain Chalker tells me you are already running a search for the lost children?”
“We are,” Kirk said. “We’ll let you know if we find anything at all.”
“Good,” Pardonnet said. “When do you estimate we can return to the surface?”
“We don’t know the answer to that just yet,” Kirk said. “We’re going to first need complete weather studies and ground conditions. Then you and your people should have enough information to make a good decision as to how to proceed. And where to start your colony over.”
“Good thinking, Captain,” Pardonnet said. “I’ll get my people working on getting ready, and studying the weather. There’s a lot to do, isn’t there?”
“That there is, Governor,” Kirk said. “But at least there’s still a planet to do it on.”
Kirk cut the connection.
“These people are in for a hard fight,” McCoy said.
“That they are,” Kirk said. “And with all the olivium in that moon, we’re going to be right here with them for a while. I have a hunch they’re going to need us.”
“Captain!” Sulu shouted. “A human form just appeared on the ground above the colo
ny.”
“What?” Kirk asked, glancing up at Spock who confirmed what Sulu said with a nod.
“Why would anyone beam down into that mess right now?” McCoy asked. “That storm must have winds of over eighty miles per hour.”
“Maybe one of the children’s parents wanting to get back to the search,” Kirk said. Anything was possible, especially when it came to desperate parents.
“I don’t think so, Captain,” Spock said. “Another form has just appeared. They seem to be children. Possibly crawling out of some sort of cave that was blocking our sensors.”
“McCoy, you’re with me,” Kirk said as he jumped and headed for the lift door at full speed. “Spock, get those sensors calibrated for seeing through that rock. And then get the transporter ready for beaming through. Make it fast!”
Countdown: Terminated
Lilian Coates had managed, through a series of small earthquakes, to get the kids back through the cave and near the entrance. The dust wasn’t settling much, and they all kept stumbling over rocks and banging shins. She had also banged her head on a low rock so hard she thought she was going to pass out. She had managed to go on, but right now she had a headache that wouldn’t stop.
At the cave opening the wind from outside was swirling the dust in the front area like a mixing bowl, choking them, and causing a high-pitched whining sound.
She knelt down at the opening and could tell at a glance, even with the wind and dust blasting at her face, that she wasn’t getting out anytime soon. Part of the entrance had collapsed, leaving a small opening.
“I can get through that, Mom,” Reynold said, squatting down beside her.
“So can I,” Danny said. “You want us to go out and take a look?”
That was exactly what she wanted them to do, but she wasn’t sure if she should let them. She could tell that a hard wind was blowing out there. And it seemed to be raining. But staying in here wasn’t going to get them rescued. Someone had to go out there and she couldn’t, so it had to be the children.
She moved back from the opening. “Reynold, you have that rope I asked you to bring?”
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