“To the cells, my dear.”
“And they say romance is dead,” she smiled at him and then she hugged Starfire, “Goodbye, my dear. Take care.”
“You too, Benty. Got your stories straight?”
“Oh yes,” she said, stating her lines. “We walked in and were held up at gun point. I have no idea what happened after that.”
“Goodbye, Hal.” Tabbert held out his hand Terrellian style and Hal shook it. "I know you're technically the enemy, but if there's ever anything I can do for you, I can always be reached through Benty." He passed Hal a piece of paper, which he put into his shirt pocket. "That's her i.d." Hal looked towards Mrs Tabbert and she smiled and nodded. Hal held out his hand to a very nervous looking Captain Reddy and Starfire said,
“Don’t worry, Captain. Do exactly as Hal says and you’ll be fine. You’re about to see why Megan hates Hal so much. It’s professional jealousy, pure and simple.” She took a peek outside. Micah Jones was sitting on a high stool near the main gates with his Lyca, ready to play. The little earthquake had been localised to Commander Tabbert’s office and nobody else had felt anything. It was another reason why Tabbert trusted Hal and Starfire.
Toola and Meg walked over to stand behind Micah Jones and every single prisoner was seated on rough benches in the centre of the work site. Micah strummed the Lyca and began to play a haunting melody as a hush descended.
All the guards were posted around the edge of the compound or in the rifle towers. Most of the Marines knew what was coming and a forward thinking Tabbert had stationed one of them directly behind Megan.
“Ready?” asked Hal.
“Good luck,” the Tabberts waved from inside their cell and Captain Reddy ran a dry tongue around his lips. Micah Jones began to sing his next song and Hal caught Starfire’s eye, saw her nod and said, “Now!” into his comlink.
The ground began to shake as before and Hal opened the site hut door and ran out with Starfire. The shaking grew worse now and most of the prisoners stood up from their seats and looked around. They stayed pretty much in the centre of the compound as they had been told.
“Stop and put your hands in the air,” roared Captain Reddy at the top of his voice. Hal glanced back and shot the man while still running forward. Captain Reddy reared back and fell inside the hut, the side of his face and neck a mask of blood. Meg raised her gun to shoot Hal, but it was knocked from her hand by a clumsy Marine who barged into her, accidently on purpose. The seating and a good few prisoners were sucked into a large crater that formed in the centre of the compound and Hal and Starfire ran straight into the middle of it, seemingly by chance. Just about everyone fell over as the ground movement became more violent and the crater got much deeper. Dirt, chairs and men fell inside it and disappeared down a massive hole. Then, as quickly as it started, the ground stopped moving and silence descended.
Everyone could hear Commander Tabbert yelling for Captain Reddy. The chubby Captain let the Tabberts free, touched his face and showed them the blood all over his hand. Hal was right. It really did look much worse than it actually was.
“Look at this,” he said quietly. “He just nicked my earlobe, running full pelt the other way in the middle of an earth quake from a hundred yards.” Then his legs gave way and he fainted.
Erion and Raan hurried into the medical room and Raan gently turned the old man over and slid him off Delta Ten’s lap. There was no weight to him at all and Raan carried him to a hospital bed and laid him on it. Delta Ten moved Raan aside and peered at the body. He passed a mediheal over it and turned to them.
“The professor died from heart failure, probably brought on by stress. He was very old. I calculate at least one hundred and thirty eight.”
“He knew he was on his way out,” said Raan. “That’s why he wanted to find a husband for Adrianna.”
“Poor old Raan,” said Erion. “You find the perfect woman and she turns out to be a homicidal robot.” Delta Ten covered the professor’s body with a sheet.
“Technically, Adrianna was a hybrid. A human with enhanced physical and mental features.”
“See you’re back to normal, then,” began Raan. “How long before you can get us underway again?”
“I cannot say until I have examined the engines, Captain.”
“Can we get anywhere useful on one engine?” asked Erion.
“No, Major, and it would make my job more difficult to try,” answered Del.
“Then we might as well stay here,” she said. “What is our status with no engines?”
“We have power stored in the battery cells,” said Del. “The ship will function normally as long as we do not need shields or guns.”
“Let’s get started then,” Raan walked to the hatch with Delta Ten. “Could I ask a favour from you?”
“Of course, Captain.”
“Would you put Adrianna in a body bag and leave her in the medical centre with Professor Lear till we’re ready for ‘em? I figure a double burial in space.”
“That’s a nice thought, Raan,” put in Erion. “We’ll send them on their way together.”
“Poor old guy,” said Raan as they sat in the aircar on their way to the engine room. “All he wanted was his granddaughter to be happy.”
“Ah, the best laid schemes of mice and men,” sighed Erion, “they often go awry.”
“And leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy,” finished Del.
The aircar doors opened into the main engine room and Delta Ten walked to the console to scoop up Adrianna’s remains and place them into a black body bag. He carried her to one side and laid her down near to the wall. Death, whilst not a constant companion of Erion and Raan, was at least a distant cousin and, apart from noting it, they were not affected adversely. Erion was at the secondary computer console and started to run a diagnostic. Delta Ten joined them and watched the symbols and numbers flashing across the screen.
“It is more serious that I thought,” he said. Raan put out a hand to stop him from speaking further.
“None of the science mumbo jumbo, Del, he began. “Just tell us in little words what the problem is and how we put it right.”
“How small would you like the words to be, Captain?”
“In simple words that I can understand, please.”
“The engine is broken and I cannot fix it.”
“Right, that tells me exactly what I want to know,” Raan started to pace up and down, “now, can you elaborate on broken without the big words. Can we get to a friendly Port before we are discovered here?”
“No.”
“Elaborate, please,” said Erion with a sigh.
“I am trying to use little words, for the Captain,” Delta Ten pointed to the console. “Engine number one housing has overheated to the point of fracture. If we try to fire it up, the ion particles would probably leak. We can use engine number two but we will not be able to go to light. To reach a friendly Port would take us eight months at speed point six.”
“What’s the chance of you jury rigging engine number one so it won’t leak?” asked Raan.
“Thirty two percent only, Captain.”
“They’re good odds for us, Major,” grinned Raan.
“That is why I said it would make my job more difficult.” Delta Ten walked to the main console and waved his hands across the crystals at breath-taking speed. “I will require engine thrusters at my command, Major. All you need to do is steer, Captain. Please do not engage the engines as I may be inside the actual housing itself. My melted body could clog the delicate mechanism that combines the fuel.” Raan looked sideways at Delta Ten. He could never be really sure if the android was trying to be funny or not as his facial features never gave anything away.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Erion. “Maybe Raan could hand you spanners or something.”
“Thank you, no, Major. I prefer to work without external distractions.”
“Keep me informed, Del,” said Erion. “We’
ll be in the pilot section sending a distress call to Thirty Seven on a closed beam.”
Chapter 8
Commander Tabbert left Benty wrapping copious amounts of dressing around Captain Reddy’s head and ran into the compound. A large crater, maybe forty feet across and at least ten feet deep, sat in the middle of his building site. It was full of earth and bits of machinery stuck out of it, some almost completely buried. “Get some digging equipment here,” he shouted. “Sergeant, get in contact with Terrell high command. Tell them what happened. Corporal Gatt, make a list of the dead, wounded and missing. Commander Tabbert looked worried. The two Terrellians had assured him everyone would be safe, but it didn’t look like anything could survive that.
“Tab!” Bentina Tabbert yelled across the compound and waved him over, urgently. He looked up, angrily and glared at her. She knew better than to intervene at a time like this. He stopped himself. She did know better. He ran back to the front office.
“What is it, Benty? Kinda busy,” he said. She pointed to a computer screen on the desk. Hal, Starfire and Jon Carly waved to him.
“Damn it, I thought you were all dead,” he grinned. Starfire laughed and the screen zoomed out. All the prisoners were there. All of them were dirty, some had ripped clothes and a few had bumps and bruises, but they were all there.
“You won’t hear from us again,” said Hal. The screen zoomed back in.
“Thanks for trusting us,” said Starfire. “If you ever need help, contact Micah Jones. He’ll be able to reach us.”
“I don’t think he’ll ever trust me again,” grumbled Tabbert. “I had to lie to him to stop that bitch from turning you in.” Hal leaned forward.
“Just tell him I said hello to Jerrian,” he said. “He’ll know the message is from me.”
“Jerrian,” said Tabbert, writing it carefully on the back of his hand.
“Gotta go.” Hal shut off the link.
“That was amazing, wasn’t it?” gasped Benty. She finished bandaging Captain Reddy’s head and stood back to admire her work.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he agreed. “All the more amazing when you know that screen is faulty. It hasn’t worked for months. It’s not even plugged in.” They peered all around the screen. Captain Reddy was right; it wasn’t plugged in.
“Commander Tabbert!” Micah Jones burst into the office. “I saw Hal, Vin I mean. I saw Vin and Kitty running into that hole. You told me that they had gone to Terrell.” Tabbert looked down at the name scrawled on his hand.
“Mike, all I can tell you is that Hal and Starfire are safe.”
“You know who they are?” Megan Carter and Toola turned up, looking flushed as if they had been running to keep up.
“Yes,” said Tabbert, flatly. “Megan told us who they were and I had to arrest them, Mike. I didn’t have any choice.” Micah Jones whirled round and confronted her.
“You knew who they were and you told him?”
“I did it for you, Mike,” Meg turned pleading eyes toward him. “It was for the best. They messed everything up. The schedules were all put out.”
“Damn the schedules!” Micah Jones’ voice thundered across the compound. “I owe that man my life, Megan. My life and my family’s life. This was my way of thanking him and now he’s been arrested. You know what the Galactic Police will do to him, don’t you?” He was furious and Toola walked forward to hold his hand.
“I owe him my life, too Meg. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
“But he’s Terrellian!” she yelled. “They were fraggin’ Terries and you spoke to them like they were equals.” It went suddenly quiet and Toola gasped out loud.
“You’re fired, Megan,” Micah Jones bunched his fist and made a mental effort not to strike her. “Get out.” She stormed out of the office and Micah turned his attention Tabbert. “And you arrested them. You lied to me.”
“Mike, please listen,”
“Don’t ‘Mike’ me,” he shouted. “I am Mister Jones to you, Commander Tabbert.” Benty stepped forward and put herself between them.
“Now let’s all calm down. You are not in possession of all the facts.” Toola stepped in front of Micah.
“Let’s hear the man out, Mike.”
“All right, Toola, I’ll listen to what he has to say, then I’m going to punch him on the nose. He just got our friends killed.”
“They’re not dead, Mister Jones,” said Tabbert, quietly.
“I saw them get swallowed up in that great damn hole.”
“I spoke to Hal just now. He told me to tell you to say hello to Jerrian for him,” said Tabbert. All the anger oozed out of Micah Jones and he looked small and humble.
“Jerrian is our little boy,” explained Toola. “Hal not only saved our lives, but he got us across enemy lines on Valasia to get him to hospital.”
“Well, he’s alive and so is Starfire,” Benty took Toola’s hand. “Only those of us here know this. It will be our secret.”
“And most of the troop,” added Reddy.
“All right, Kirk, Those of us here and most of the troop know the prisoners are alive.”
“The prisoner’s too?” asked Toola, eyes watering with tears.
“Yes dear. All of them. And don’t ask me how they did it.”
“Well, that’s the distress call sent out,” Erion slid the co-pilot seat back on its rails and sighed, heavily. She looked down at her navigation controls. “We’re here,” she put up a star map on the heads up display and showed Raan. “Aristona is here,” she lit up another little star. “We dropped out of hyperspace about half way to it, here.”
“Where’s the Cantina?” asked Raan.
“Right up there,” she lit up another star.
“We’re closer to Manta from here," pointed out Raan. "Maybe we should head there."
"At least we know it’s friendly,” said Erion. "Head for Manta."
“Yes, Major,” said Raan. “Lock in Manta Six will you.” He was in command in the pilot section and Erion complied.
“Entered and locked, Captain.”
“Right,” Raan waved his hands over Starfire’s console and the prow of the big ship swung round slowly onto a new heading, towards Manta Six, just over five months away. “What now, Major? Shall we start on a quilt?”
“Don’t be such a drama queen, Captain. You know the most we should have to wait is a day. Six hours for Thirty Seven to receive the message and another six hours for someone to get here.”
“Did you include the list of spares for Del?”
“Yes, just in case whoever turns up is too small to tow us.”
“I can’t leave the pilot section,” began Raan. “We’re so slow we’re virtually on manual. Could you get us a coffee?” Erion took a little longer and returned with two coffees and two salad rolls. They sat, ate the rolls, drank the coffee and watched the stars go by.
“I wonder how Hal and Starfire are getting on,” she mused.
“The only way we’ll find out is to hope they’ve done something gigantic and tune into Galaxy News,” grumbled Raan. “They sure weren’t going to tell us anything.”
“Would you guys go with these people,” Starfire aimed Jon Carly towards several smartly dressed Terrellians, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They wore appropriately sympathetic expressions and were carrying blankets.
“We’ll speak later, Jon Carly,” assured Starfire as he looked back at her. “They’re good people. You can trust them.” She turned to Hal. “Well we’re here now. Let’s find Kaura.”
“I will take you to the talking chamber,” A small, dumpy Terrellian woman who they had met before, led them out of the cavern and along a white corridor.
“Now are you going to tell me how you arranged those quakes?” murmured Hal as they walked along.
“Yeah, well I knew Grennig wouldn’t be able to resist trying out his comlink,” she replied. “When we got taken to Tab’s office, I just switched it on. He must have been listening and ran straight to Da
ddy. Then my link starts to buzz like crazy. It took me a while to figure out it was Morse code. It was in with that information we gave them. It just kept saying quake over and over. I put two and two together, made a guess and it paid off.”
“You ain’t as stupid as you look,” he said softly.
“Thanks Hal,” she said, “I think.” She looked up at him, “What did Commander Tabbert mean about gunfighter’s hands? How could he tell?” Hal turned his right hand palm up and held it out to her. His fingers were calloused, as was a small piece of skin where his thumb met his palm.
“That’s from handling a gun,” he explained.
“We are here.” The woman stood aside to let them walk through a sliding door. It shut behind them and a tunnel opened up and led down to the chamber.
Kaura, Grennig and the Council were waiting for them in the large, circular room and someone had thoughtfully placed two loungers on a tall plinth. They climbed the steps and sat down three feet from the floor.
“It looks like the Galactic Police are replacing the Marines,” said Hal. “We’ll need move up our schedule.”
“We analysed the information you gave us Hal, and we have come to the conclusion that we must, at the very least, re-locate the Terrellians that we have saved.” Kaura didn’t actually speak. His rich tones seemed to arrive in their brains as if they had heard them through their ears. “We have watched the original Terrellians, the people you call Natives, beginning to communicate with Aurian Marines stationed here. They have started to trade and they are learning the value of their services. They no longer work just to survive and we are finding that, since they started to work at the compound, they are visiting the shrines less and less. In short, Hal, they are growing and evolving. We feel that it is now detrimental to take people from the tribes.”
“What do you want from us then?” asked Starfire.
“I am Vorgan,” said one of the other dragons, bowing her head. “We wish you to find them somewhere to live. We have educated these Terrellians and they are well balanced and content. They have their own homes, families, hobbies, libraries and they are interested in the arts and the sciences. We can, if a suitable home is found for them, habilitate them into a set society with localised education, in our learning laboratory.”
Starfire and the Space Dragons: A Grennig Crew Adenture Page 9
