“That’s all I wanted, Trent,” the Doctor said with a nod that closed the matter.
XXV
The Surveyor was as good as Guilders’ word, and appeared about half an hour later. A stretcher was brought for me, and as I was lifted carefully onto it, I remembered Elasson’s cap. I had set it on the seat beside me before I had to help with the generator.
I tried to turn my head, but stopped with a groan. Before I could ask about it, however, August was at my side, holding it out to me.
I smiled gratefully at him. “Take it to my quarters, please,” was all I had time to say before I was carried off the shuttle and back aboard my home—the Surveyor.
“Do we get leave after all that, Captain?” asked Crash with a grin as I was carried out.
“Precisely two hours, Mr. Crash. That should give you time to shower and shave, then I’ll expect you to report to me.”
He was exaggerating, I hoped. A gentle, delicate hand touched my arm, and I looked up to see Olive, the pretty new nurse smiling down at me. I smiled back.
“Ready to get those arms back in shape?” she asked.
“Yes,” I whispered. She slipped around behind me and began pushing carefully, and I closed my eyes. I wondered whether Elasson had gone back to his home, and what he was doing now.
The stretcher stopped, and I opened my eyes in surprise. We couldn’t have reached sickbay yet. No, we were still in the airlock. Guilders stood there, and the sight of his face made me feel at home once again.
“I’m sorry to hear about your injuries,” he said to me.
“I’ll be okay.” I smiled warmly at him.
The Captain didn’t look all that captain-like in his sandy, wrinkled clothes, dirty face and uncombed hair. He reached out to shake with his helmsman. “Mr. Guilders, thank you for running things up here for me.”
“You’re welcome, Captain. When do we leave orbit?”
I watched the Captain turn to look out the window behind us, wishing I could look too, for one last glance of the desert planet.
“We leave orbit in two hours, Mr. Guilders. Make preparations.”
“Aye, sir.”
Then Olive began wheeling me down the hall again, and I closed my eyes.
It was an unusual feeling to be lying on a bed in sickbay, the patient instead of the medic. I was glad that the Doctor chose to attend to me himself and postpone his rest. He could have let Olive attend to me; my injuries were not that severe. But he knew that I would want him near.
He treated my arms and gave me some acetaminophen to minimize the headaches caused by my concussion and the pain from the sprains. Then he dimmed the lights so I could rest and went to shower and change.
I lay there in the dark, unable to sleep. I couldn’t take my mind off Elasson and Basilius and Nama and the planet below us. While I was so glad to be back, and already feeling very rested, my heart was sorrowful.
I heard someone approaching, and, with some pain, turned my head to see August walking in. He smiled and sat beside me. He didn’t say anything for a moment; but then handed me Elasson’s cap. I took it, and felt that small pain in my heart again.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked at last.
“A little. How are you? I heard you got hurt when—you first tried to run the generator.”
“Oh, that. No, I was just knocked out for a while. I’m alright now.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I should have a look at your head.”
“My head’s fine. In fact it’s a lot better than it was a few days ago.”
“In what way?”
I hardly needed to ask, because the calmer, more understanding look in his eyes told me. “Let’s just say that, even though I wasn’t with you, I think I learned about the same things you did. I feel the same way your dad does now.”
“Does your Christianity have anything to do with your anti-alien views?” I asked with a grin.
He laughed. “Yes, it does.”
The light went on in sickbay, and I looked to see Crash standing in the doorway. I saw with a twinge of sorrow that he was dressed in his old red suit and leather jacket rather than a uniform. His week was up, and he would probably leave the next day at the latest. “Come on, And. We’re leaving orbit, and I know you’ll want to see.”
“But I can’t—”
“No, but I can.” He walked over and scooped me up. “Don’t worry, I asked Uncle about it.”
As he carried me through the passages and up the elevator, it felt almost as though I’d never left. It felt as if everything that had happened down there had been some sort of strange dream. If it hadn’t been for the dull pain in both immobilized shoulders, I might have thought that it had been a dream.
“Crash on the bridge, sir,” Crash announced as the bridge doors opened. I thought I heard a tinge of respect in his voice that hadn’t been there a couple days before.
“Yes, put her down in the visitor’s chair,” the Captain ordered, without turning around.
Crash obeyed, and August, who had followed us up, sat beside me in the other empty chair. Out of the starboard window, the planet we’d spent the past few days on was clearly visible.
I heard the door open, and in moments the Doctor stood beside me, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder. Tilting my head up slightly, I saw that he had combed his hair and shaved—as had the Captain, Crash, and Whales—and was back in his uniform, looking just as he had before the whole thing started.
“How did you like your vacation?” he asked with a wry smile.
For a moment I didn’t understand him, and then I chuckled as I remembered our conversation of a week ago. “Fine, sir. But I still say the best kind of vacation is to be home again.”
He squeezed my shoulder ever so gently, and I relaxed in the chair. He was right—this was where I belonged. I couldn’t imagine anything different. And with this thought, I began to understand Elasson’s position. Maybe someday he would want to leave, to be free, and make his own way. But not now. His place now was in his world, and mine was here on the Surveyor.
“Propulsion to ten, Mr. Guilders,” the Captain ordered, settling his clean cap on his head and leaning back in his chair.
“Yes sir.”
Guilders moved a few controls, and the planet slowly moved away below us. Once again a tear trailed down my cheek, but I didn’t feel quite as sad. We’d be back someday. The Captain had promised.
“Goodbye, Kainus Ge,” I whispered. The Doctor bent down.
“What did you say?”
“Kainus Ge,” I said aloud. “That’s the planet’s name. I was just saying goodbye.”
He stroked my hair a couple of times, and we watched the planet fade away into the vastness of space.
“He’ll be okay,” the Doctor assured me, though neither of us had mentioned Elasson. “He’s a smart boy.”
I nodded. “I know.”
We all kept our eyes on the blackness where the planet had been; as if by straining our eyes we could catch one last glimpse of the hot, dry world we’d left behind.
“Where are we headed next, Captain?” I asked, as the stars slowly moved by.
His smile was one I’d seen a hundred times. “Where probability leads.”
The Doctor shook his head, but said nothing.
I still held the cap in my hands, and I rubbed it between my fingers. I wouldn’t forget Elasson, and his kindness to a few odd strangers. And someday I would see him again. Someday I would come back.
“Take the navigator’s chair, Lieutenant,” the Captain ordered August. “Plot course to the Epsilon system.”
“Aye sir.”
The Doctor settled himself in the chair next to me and squeezed my hand with a smile. We both turned towards the window, to watch the Creator’s handiwork.
Did you read the prologue online before reading this book?
Now it’s time to continue Harry’s story.
To read the epilogue, go to:
http://www.firmamen
tseries.com/in-his-image/epilogue/
and type in this code:
NAPOLEON
About the Author
J. Grace Pennington has been telling stories since she could talk, and writing them down since age five. Now she lives in the Texas Hill Country with her parents, her eight younger siblings, and her horse, Pioneer. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading good books, playing movie soundtracks on the piano, and looking up at the stars.
You can find out more about her writing at www.jgracepennington.com.
Firmament: In His Image Page 18
