by Tom Johnson
"And forget this God nonsense!" Colonel Peterson said, "And that's an order. What Major Cooper told us earlier still holds true, we're on our own here, and each of us must do our part if we are going to survive.
"Now, let's get back to our stories," she continued. "I'm anxious to hear about Flash Gordon's background. How about it, Major, anything exciting in your past?"
Laughing, Adam Cooper said, "I never really thought of myself as Flash Gordon. Wasn't he that science fiction cowboy, or something? The hero of a comic book, or something, I believe. No, I always felt I was more like Doc Savage, the adventurous type.
"Doc Savage, who was that?" Doctor Terrill asked.
"He was a handsome, muscleman, wasn't he?" Sheri asked.
"Yeah, like me," the major laughed. "Actually, there were a couple of Doc Savage movies before the war, and I think, a long-running paperback series of his adventures, though I never read any of them."
"Maybe you should have," laughed the colonel, "just to see where you fall short!"
Grinning at the commander, he asked, "You've never seen me without a shirt, have you Evelyn?"
"No, thank goodness," she blushed slightly, "and I don't intend to."
"I'll have you know, I had the best physique in the academy. And I am very athletic. When I flex these muscles, women swoon," he smiled.
"Tell me more," Sheri giggled.
"I would rather see Manning without his shirt, Major," Colonel Peterson told him, "not a braggart like you!"
"Hell, I've got a better physique than any of you," growled Barbara.
Everyone cracked up laughing, including Captain Mercer. What had started out on a sad note, ended on a chorus of laughter from all of them.
"Well, I guess I did ask for that," Colonel Peterson smiled.
"You did, at that, Colonel," Major Cooper laughed. "Besides, there really isn't much to tell about my background. In college I studied paleontology just to have a major in something, although I really did have an interest in the subject. But my true love was flying. In the Air Force Academy, I decided I wanted to be a fighter pilot, and never looked back. I distinguished myself in the war, but so did hundreds of other pilots, including Colonel Peterson. When the war was over, I figured I had done just about all there was to do, until NASA came along. Space was the next opportunity for me, and the Mars mission was a way to ensure my name would go down in history books. I signed up, and here I am. I wonder if I'll be remembered in the history books now?"
"Along with the rest of us," Sheri said, "the lost crew of Mission One to Mars!""I'm afraid they may curse us, as well," Colonel Peterson said.
"My lands, Evelyn, what for?" Barbara asked.
Laughing, Major Cooper nodded, "The crew can easily be replaced," he said. "But the loss of the Galileo Two, the bio-dome, and all these rations will cost NASA a pretty penny!"
"Mission One will have to begin all over again," Colonel Peterson agreed. "And NASA may not have the money for a while. The delay will be a big setback."
"We will be cursed then," Captain Mercer agreed.
"That's not the way I intended to be remembered," Major Cooper smiled.
"Nor I," Evelyn shrugged.
"Well, y'all can cry all you want to," Sheri said. "But I intend to take advantage of the situation. This ecosystem on Pangaea is everything I could ever want in a laboratory. I can devote a lifetime to the study of plant and animal life I never dreamt of seeing first hand!"
"I guess it's better than being marooned on Mars, at that," Tony Mercer laughed.
Hearing Barbara Terrill groan, they all turned towards her. She was shaking her head as she said, "I never thought I'd live to say this, but I hope I never have to practice medicine again."
"What are you getting at, Barbara?" Sheri asked.
"On this violent planet," Doctor Terrill said, "there can only be more death and injuries. I'm the one who will have to treat all those injuries, and it's not something I look forward to!"
"It is not just the physical injuries that will need to be treated, Doctor," Colonel Peterson said. "I fear that all of us may need mental evaluations every now and then."
"Probably as soon as the MREs run out," Major Cooper grinned.
Sheri giggled when Barbara Terrill groaned, and Colonel Peterson blushed.
Standing up and stretching, Captain Mercer said, "Damn, I forgot to bring my shrink with me on this trip!"As he started walking away from the rest, Major Cooper called after him, "Where are you going, Tony?"
"Just to see a man about a horse," he laughed.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Major Cooper asked.
Laughing, Captain Mercer said, "No thanks, I don't need anyone to hold my hand."
"Don't go far," Major Cooper warned.
Turning back to Colonel Peterson, Major Cooper asked, "Tell me, Evelyn, why are you going to need help in coping mentally?" he grinned.
"Oh, shut up!" she snapped.
Again, Sheri giggled.
Barbara Terrill groaned.
And Captain Mercer screamed!
And Roger Manning yelled, "Oh, hell!"
All of them jumped up and raced for the sound of a violent struggle between the navigator and something they couldn't see, Major Cooper and Colonel Peterson were pulling their pistols as they ran towards the violent sounds.
The scene that met their pounding hearts brought even more damns and hells from gritted teeth, as before them was a barbaric scene of terrible struggle. A savage monster, at least as large as a rhinoceros, held Tony Mercer in its crocodile-like mouth. Long tusks had penetrated his chest, and a short tail swished back and forth behind two squat back legs. It was one of the beasts they had seen in the swamps earlier in the day. It was the thing with saber-like teeth.
"Gorgon!" Sheri screamed.
The creature didn't appear to notice them, or find them a threat. It was only concerned with the victim in its teeth. Prowling the desert around the swamps, it had come upon the captain, and sensing food, it had attacked, silently and viciously, before Captain Mercer was aware that he wasn't alone. Snapping him up in its powerful jaws, the navigator was unable to escape. But he knew that death had finally found him, and he was just barely able to scream as the teeth sunk deep into his chest.
Colonel Peterson and Major Cooper both fired their pistols at the same time, sending several bullets into the head and chest of the ugly creature, until one must have found its savage heart, ending its violent thrashing. Not knowing fear or sensing danger, the monster thought only of eating its prey. Shaking the limp figure in its mouth, the monster was carrying its victim towards the surrounding darkness when its bulky legs finally gave out and it crashed to the ground several yards from the Galileo Two.
Running to the fallen creature, they pried the jaws open wide enough to pull the captain from its teeth. Doctor Terrill bent over the bloody body, and felt for a pulse, as Major Cooper tried to resuscitate him. They worked over him for several minutes, but there was no response.
"It is no use," Doctor Terrill finally said, "He's dead!"
"I'll bury him in the morning," Major Cooper said with a groan."We can't just leave him out here tonight!" Sheri cried. "More of those beasts will follow the scent and carry him off."
"We'll put him in the bio-dome for the night," Major Cooper said. "His body will be safe in there. Tomorrow, I'll carry him out in the desert and bury him."
"I'll be back in a minute," Roger Manning said, as he turned to leave.
"Where are you going, Manning?" Colonel Peterson asked.
"To get the ATV, Commander," he said. "I'll need to drag this creature far enough from the Galileo Two that it won't attract more scavengers tonight."
They waited for the engineer to return with the all terrain vehicle, and then they tied a chain from the ATV to the neck of the monster, and Roger Manning pulled it from the area as Major Cooper scooped the body of Captain Mercer into his arms and carried him back to the bio-dome.
That night, Major
Cooper felt a little odd sleeping near the corpse of his late friend and co- worker, but he knew it was better that the captain's body be placed with them than in Doctor Terrill’s hospital ward. He didn't want the girls spooked any worse than they already were. Looking over at Roger Manning's sleeping form, he didn't think the engineer was the least bit bothered by the body being so near. But for the major, it was almost a sleepless night.
He was happy when the sun climbed above the horizon and peaked into the glass sides of the bio-dome. As silently as possible, he dressed and carried the body of Captain Mercer and a shovel to a spot not far from the grave of Professor Plymouth, and dug a second deep hole. Dropping the body into the hole, he quickly covered it again with the dirt he had just removed.
As he turned to retrace his steps to the bio-dome, he stopped in sudden amazement when he saw Roger Manning kneeling some distance away, as if in prayer. At first, he felt a little anger towards the engineer at not helping him with the grave, then he smiled at the thought that Manning had probably been in prayer all the time he was digging the grave!
"Praying him out of Hell, or into Heaven, Roger?" he asked as he walked by the engineer.
Coming to his feet, Roger Manning smiled, "God appreciates prayer, Major," he said. "I was just letting Him know that Mercer's soul was on the way to Him."
"Uh huh," Major Cooper grinned. "If there is a God, Roger, I would suspect He already knows!"
"I do believe you're right, Major," the engineer smiled.
Chapter Nine
Pack Mentality
The girls didn't ask any questions when they found Roger Manning and Major Cooper eating a breakfast of MREs later that morning in the spaceship.
Sheri grinned when she caught the major's eyes. "You still eating that stuff, Major?"
"I don't seem to have any choice in the matter, fella," he grinned.
"It's all for the best, Major," Colonel Peterson broke in.
"From you, Madam, I would expect nothing less," he grinned. "But one of these days, and soon, I'm going to have a steak an inch thick and big around as ... well, never mind. It'll be big, you can count on it, and I don't care if it's from a lizard or one of those Gorgons!"
"And just what do you plan to use to catch that steak with, Major?" Colonel Peterson asked.
Slapping his sidearm, the major started, "Why, with this ..." Then he stopped, and nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean, Evelyn. I don't guess I was thinking clearly."
"We'll need our remaining bullets for defense," Colonel Peterson said. "As it is, we don't have many rounds left for our pistols."
"What'll we do when we run out?" Sheri asked.
"Flash will have to come up with one of those ray guns from the comic books," Colonel Peterson told her.
Laughing, Major Cooper said, "Maybe with a little ingenuity we might be able to come up with something resembling a ray gun. That will be Roger's assignment, though," he slapped the engineer on the back as he said it. "I'm more the Neanderthal type, as Evelyn should recognize, and a spear is more my style."
"All this time, I thought you were Flash Gordon," Colonel Peterson groaned, "and now I find out you're really Alley Oop!"
"Well, I was thinking more in the line of Tarzan," he laughed. "I don't think I ever heard of Alley Oop."
"Oh, I'm surprised you don't, Major," she told him. "You happen to be a perfect match for the caveman!"
"Alley Oop carried a club, I think," Roger Manning said. "Not a spear."
"Oh, like Hercules," Major Cooper grinned. "Maybe you're right, Evelyn, this Alley Oop may be a perfect match after all. I could pass for Hercules, you know!"
"Good grief, what an ago!" Colonel Peterson groaned.
Sheri giggled some more, while Barbara Terrill just shook her head in dismay.
Later that day, when Doctor Terrill and Sheri were alone, the younger girl said, "I think they really like each other."
"Who?" Doctor Terrill asked.
"Evelyn and Major Cooper," Sheri said. "In fact, I think they like each other a lot," Sheri grinned. "They just won't admit it. And Colonel Peterson is actually fighting it. But they're falling in love, I can sense it!"
"Little Miss Matchmaker!" Barbara scowled. "As if we didn't have enough problems right now, you want to add to our misfortunes by throwing love into the evaluation."
Shaking her head sadly, Sheri just said, "Barbara, where is your sense for romance? Surely, you haven't forgotten what it was like to be in love?"
"That's enough of this foolishness," Doctor Terrill snapped. "I don't have time for your nonsense right now!"
"That hard heart of yours is going to be the death of you, Barbara," Sheri said. "You need to lighten up a little. Live, instead of acting like a dead fish all the time!"
Leaving Doctor Terrill in her laboratory, Sheri found Colonel Peterson in the Galileo Two's control room, looking out through the view screen, watching Roger Manning and Major Cooper cleaning up around the grounds. The blond haired second in command had his shirt off and his sweaty muscular body glistened in the sunlight.
"He is quite a hunk, isn't he, Evelyn?" she asked the colonel from behind.
Jumping, as if she'd been caught smoking behind the barn when she was a youngster, the colonel switched off the screen quickly.
"Oh, Sheri," she said, "I didn't hear you come up. I was just checking the grounds for security while the boys worked in the open."
"Uh huh," Sheri grinned. "I don't blame you, Evelyn, you never know what you're gonna see out there!"
"I wasn't looking at anything ..."
"Or anyone," Sheri grinned.
"Or anyone in particular. I was just observing the grounds!" Colonel Peterson growled.
"Why, of course, Evelyn," Sheri laughed. "I didn't say anything about Major Cooper."
"Major—" Colonel Peterson snapped. "Who said anything about Major Cooper?"
"Why, no one," Sheri laughed. "But he is a hunk, ain't he?"
"Oh, go away," argued the colonel. "I need to watch the area for safety purposes."
"Okay," Sheri grinned. "I'm sure I can find better company outside. "Oh, look how the sun glistens on his muscles!"
"Out!" yelled the colonel, throwing a computer CD at the biologist.
Ducking as the CD flew over her head, Sheri raced out the door of the control room, laughing, and then down the outside ladder, escaping before the colonel could get better aim with a heavier object. Finding Major Cooper and Roger Manning out in the yard, she greeted them with, "Hi, guys, mind if I join you?"
"Hi, Sheri," both men said in unison.
"What are you doing out here in the heat?" Major Cooper asked the girl.
"Doctor Terrill and Colonel Peterson aren't the best company today," she told them, waving towards the Galileo Two suddenly.Both men turned, expecting to see someone behind them. Seeing no one, the major asked,
"Who were you waving at just now?"
"Oh, no one in particular," she laughed at her own joke.
"Say, Major, you do have pretty big biceps, do you mind flexing them for me?" she asked. "No, turn this way a little first," she stopped him as he started to flex his biceps.
"What in the world has gotten into you, Sheri?" Roger Manning asked.
"I just want to make sure someone can see this from the Galileo Two," she giggled.
"Ah ha," Major Cooper laughed, "I think I'm beginning to see the light. Let me give her a good show!"Sticking out his chest and flexing his biceps, Major Cooper poised like a body builder in front of an audience, then slowly turned, making the muscles in his back jump around like live things beneath his skin.
"Think that'll be enough?" he grinned.
"More than enough," Sheri laughed. "In fact, she'll probably kill me before bedtime. I may have to sleep with you guys tonight!"
"Okay," laughed Major Cooper.
"No way!" yelped Roger Manning.
Laughing at Manning's embarrassment, Major Cooper said, "Well, it's getting a little too hot to wor
k outside right now, so we might as well go in and face the music—if someone hasn't locked us out, that is!"
"I'll go in behind you guys," Sheri said. "I've got an idea Evelyn may want to shoot me with one of those ray guns she was talking about!"
"Yeah, what about that ray gun idea, Roger, any possibility of making something like that?" Major Cooper asked.
"We were doing a lot of work on rays and lasers at NASA," Manning said. "As you know, the military had a large field gun, but it had to be enormous to be effective. The small versions we were working on were not nearly as powerful as the big guns, but we had some pretty good results in the lab.
"Tremendous heat was generated in small amounts, as well as temporary stunning of the muscles and movement. We won't be able to kill anything with the equipment I can build on the ship, but we might be able to make things uncomfortable for the predators that attack us."
"That'll help," Major Cooper said. "I want you to start work on several of the guns immediately. In the meantime, I intend to make a few metal spears from support poles on the ship. Once we use up all the bullets, these pistols aren't going to be worth the metal they're made from."
Entering the control room, they found Colonel Peterson sitting at one of the computers, pretending to read something on the monitor.
"Why, Evelyn," Major Cooper grinned, "reading one of the Classics, I hope?"
"Just learning about our prehistory," she said. "I wanted to find out something about your ancestors, the Neanderthals!"
"They were a great bunch of fellas, I assure you," he laughed.
"Did they ever learn to wear clothes, like shirts?" she asked.
"It was hot outside, Evelyn," he laughed, "I'll put my shirt on just as soon as I cool down."
"Been watching anything interesting lately, Evelyn?" Sheri asked from behind Roger Manning.
"Duck, Roger!" Major Cooper yelled, just as the colonel let fly another object towards Sheri. "You're awfully touchy today, Evelyn," Major Cooper laughed.
"I'll get over it," Colonel Peterson said, "just as soon as I hang somebody!"
"See Major, you've got to let me sleep with you guys tonight!" Sheri said. "My life isn't safe on the ship right now!"
