by Caleb Selby
The nurse shook her head. “Not going to happen.”
Fedrin smiled, trying to soften the battle-ax. “I really need these out so I can return to duty. I would really appreciate it if you could help me.”
“The doctor said to leave the stabilizers there and there is where they are going to stay. Now if there is nothing else, I have other patients to attend to.”
Fedrin tried to remain calm, a task growing more difficult by the minute. “I know you are just doing your job but I need to get this stuff off me so I can get out of here and find my wife and see what is going on.”
The nurse walked over to Fedrin’s bed and glanced at several screens before stepping back. Her face was as stern as ever and Fedrin found himself wondering if she even knew how to smile. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake and see how he feels about taking you off of the stabilizers.”
“When will that be?”
She shrugged as if she didn’t care. “The doctor is a busy man,” was her answer and she turned to walk away.
Fedrin breathed in very deeply, doing his best to control his growing frustrations. “Ma’am,” he began, his voice sounding more authoritative. “I don’t need a doctor’s opinion of how I feel. What I need is for these tubes to get removed as quickly as possible. I am asking you, as a healthcare provider, to unhook me before I rip them out myself. I’m sure the busy doctor would much rather want you to remove these than me. Am I right?”
Without hesitating the nurse dove into a large pocket of her uniform and removed a large syringe. She held it up to the light and forcefully flicked the side of it several times.
“What is that?” demanded Fedrin.
She took a step nearer before replying. “A sedative.”
“I don’t need a sedative! I have duties to perform that don’t include sleeping!”
She didn’t answer and took a step closer, the syringe ready for administration. She was nearly at the bedside and Fedrin was debating his options when another nurse appeared in the doorway.
“Sylvi what are you doing?” she demanded.
“Mind your own business, Ashis!” Sylvi snapped.
Ashis stomped over and took the syringe forcibly from Sylvi’s hands. “You don’t sedate the Chief Admiral when he doesn’t want to be! What’s wrong with you?”
“Chief Admiral?” Sylvi stammered in disbelief as her cheeks flushed and she looked at the patient closely, realizing that under the scrapes and disheveled appearance that he was indeed Fedrin. She looked around in a daze. “But this is my room assignment.”
“No it’s not!” Ashis snapped as she stepped between her and the Admiral. “This is room twenty-three. You have room thirty-two. Now get out of here and go terrorize some other poor patient!”
Sylvi eased out of the room without another word offered in her defense, embarrassment nearly overwhelming her.
“I guess I owe you my thanks,” Fedrin said, relieved that he wasn’t forced to defend himself from the nurse.
Ashis rolled her eyes and immediately began to unhook Fedrin from the various machines. “Sylvi is just about the nastiest person I’ve ever known. I’ve said for years we could win the Krohn war by simply sending her to their home-world.”
Fedrin chuckled as he helped move a collection of tubes from off his legs.
“Now, you really should wait a little while before moving much,” Ashis cautioned. “Your body has been though a lot these past few days.”
“Past few days?” Fedrin exclaimed. “How long have I been out?”
She shrugged. “Almost three days.”
Fedrin shook his head and jumped out of bed only to be mortified at the revelation that all he had to protect himself from the cold world was a thin sheet that was open in the back.
“Where are my clothes?” he asked.
Ashis smiled, amused at the awkwardness. “They were sent to the laundry when you arrived, Sir. Should I order some to be sent down?”
Fedrin backed out of the room, holding down the flaps of his gown. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Thanks for everything,” he called back as he quickly walked out of the bay.
The barely-clad and barefoot Chief Admiral attracted quite a few stares as he walked briskly through the halls of the mighty battleship. He attracted even more gawkers when he finally bounded onto the bridge. “Where’s Etana?” he called out, as he made his way toward Kesler’s station.
“Right here, Admiral,” Etana’s voice sounded out from the Command chair.
Fedrin turned sharply to see his wife; her left arm snuggled neatly in a sling, sitting in his chair. A beaming smile was on her face but it was slowly replaced with a look of shock due to Fedrin’s clothing, or lack thereof.
Fedrin ignored her bashful look and ran to her, embracing her tightly.
“I was so worried about you,” he said as he stepped back and looked at her.
Etana smiled. “You’ve had us all a little worried the past couple days yourself. You apparently lost quite a bit of blood when the dome collapsed.”
“I didn’t even know I was bleeding,” Fedrin said. “I was more concerned about you.”
Etana nodded to her broken arm. “A little beat up I guess, but none the worse for wear.”
“That was a close call,” Fedrin said.
Etana stood from the command chair and motioned to it. “Admiral, please,” she said and turned and walked straightway to Kesler’s chair, which was noticeably vacant.
“Where’s Kesler?” Fedrin asked as he collapsed into his chair, feeling the coldness of the chair’s leather against his exposed backside.
“Commodore Kesler and his acting First Lieutenant Tarkin, have taken temporary command of the Idok,” Ensign Gallo answered.
“Is that so?” Fedrin asked looking at his wife.
Etana turned from Kesler’s station and offered a smile to Fedrin. “Commanders Kendrick and Searle both agreed with me that it made the most sense for the time being.”
Fedrin smiled. “And I take it Kesler is pleased to finally have his own ship?”
“You have no idea!” Jonas called down. “Neither he nor that Branci would shut up about it until they finally left. I couldn’t hear myself think!”
Fedrin nodded and then looked out the main observation window. “And exactly where are we?”
“Heading home,” Etana answered. “All of the commanders and I decided that was the best course of action.”
Fedrin nodded, content with the decision. “How is the colony coping after the attack?”
“Mega dome three was destroyed,” Gallo answered. “Dome number two sustained severe damage but when we left they had already reestablished the artificial atmosphere.”
“I suppose that’s good news considering what could have happened,” Fedrin said
“No doubt,” Etana said with a nod. “The Ilo could have easily destroyed all three domes. It was an act of providence that spared the other two.”
Fedrin nodded. “What exactly happened with Ilo?”
“Well...” Etana began.
“Kesler blew it up!” Jonas voiced up.
“Blew it up?” Fedrin exclaimed with a shocked expression.
Jonas shrugged. “It was crawling with lizards so we took it out. Made a fairly impressive explosion actually. Kind of fun.”
Fedrin shook his head.
“At least we beat them this round,” Etana added. “We’ve destroyed a Krohn Fleet, an Unmentionable warship, and liberated a colony from the clutches of a madman all in a matter of three days. I think we have a pretty good chance to beat them if we keep it up.”
“I’m thinking that beating them isn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park,” Jonas commented, leaning over his railing. “Do I have to remind you all that when the Admiral was rescued, he didn’t have the data device with him?”<
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The command crew stopped and looked at their leader.
Fedrin slowly nodded. “Governor Onkil took my data device from me and destroyed it right before Trab killed him.”
“So what do we do about Clear Skies?” Gallo asked. “Nothing?”
Etana shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that necessarily.”
“I sure would,” Jonas said. “The entire point of this little trip was to get that device. Now the Clear Skies system is fouled up permanently!”
“What of our upgrades?” Gallo asked. “All of our ships now are equipped with Sion technology. Weapons, shields, power generators, sensors...the works! That has to count for something.”
Jonas shrugged. “I reckon they’ll help slow our deaths once we meet up with the Unmentionable ships. That’s about it. Remember, the Sions couldn’t beat those devils with entire fleets of their ships. Our handful of hybrid ships won’t be able to do what their forces couldn’t.”
Gallo and a few other officers nodded in sobriety. Things indeed looked grim.
“We are receiving a transmission from First Lieutenant Tarkin of the Idok,” Etana voiced up.
Fedrin smiled. “First Lieutenant Tarkin,” he said with a shake of his head. “Put him on the main screen.”
The large screen in the front of the room lit up. “Admiral,” Tarkin said offering a nod into the transmitter. “We just heard that you were running though the halls practically naked a few minutes ago. That made all of us here pretty happy.”
Fedrin raised an eyebrow.
“Not the naked part,” Tarkin clarified. “We are happy that you are feeling better, not that you were naked.”
Fedrin shook his head. “I take it your mission was successful, Lieutenant?”
Tarkin nodded. “I downloaded the data device into the Iovara mainframe and made several external copies as you ordered.”
“Thank you,” Fedrin said. “You’ve done great work. That promotion suits you just fine.”
“Just doing my part,” Tarkin answered with a smile.
Fedrin nodded. “We’ll see you later. Oh, and tell that Commodore of yours good work for me, will you?”
“Right, Sir,” Tarkin said, waving goodbye with several pairs of hands.
Gallo looked at Fedrin perplexed. “So wait. Did we or didn’t we get the device?”
Fedrin smiled. “Oh, we got it.”
“So you got it and gave it to Tarkin before he took off?” Etana asked herself, more than bewildered.
Fedrin nodded. “It was all part of the plan. We made the switch right after I found the device in the Governor’s shuttle. Tarkin met me out on the landing pads between the ships and handed me my lydeg, which I had intentionally left on the shuttle. When he handed me the gun, I slipped him the device. It was a risk either way, but we figured he’d have a better chance of leaving the colony unchallenged than I would.”
“But what did the Unmentionable destroy then?” Jonas asked. “Commander Etana said he destroyed the device.”
“He crushed a decoy I had brought with me,” Fedrin answered.
“And you couldn’t tell us of this little diversion tactic because...?” Etana asked.
“Too many chances for Unmentionables uncovering my plan,” Fedrin answered. “This was a need to know operation that included Trab, Tarkin and myself.”
Jonas shook his head. “Well, thanks for having us all going there. I haven’t been able to eat the past two days.”
“Which has probably been a good thing for your ever expanding waistline!” Gallo called up.
“I don’t remember asking your input,” Jonas retorted.
“Well you got it anyhow!” Gallo shouted back.
“Grow up!” Etana exclaimed.
“Thank you,” Fedrin said, smiling at his wife. “Its about time we had a mother up here to handle all these children.”
“Hey!” Jonas called down.
Etana shook her head.
“So anyone care to fill me in on our status?” Fedrin asked. “Seems that I’ve missed quite a bit.”
Etana nodded and turned back to her station. “Right before you came up, we picked up the two shuttles that you left at the Second Fleet wreckage.”
“Anything turn up?” Fedrin asked.
Etana shook her head. “No more survivors I’m afraid.”
Fedrin nodded sadly. He hadn’t expected them to find anything but he had been hoping his gut feeling was wrong. “Anything else?” he said opening up his own data screens. “Anything about the Defiant?” he asked, suddenly remembering how the the destroyer had broken off with the fleet moments before the battle with the Krohns.
“Well,” Etana said as she pressed several buttons and then looked intently at a monitor. “We caught an EM wave that has an eighty-six percent correlation to the Defiant about four hours ago.”
Gallo nodded. “Actually almost five hours ago at this point, Commander.”
“But we haven’t seen anything since,” Etana quickly added.
“Did you try to contact her?” Fedrin asked.
Gallo nodded. “We sent out over a dozen hails but all of them have bounced back.”
“What is going on Drezden?” Fedrin said to himself, wondering what was happening to his close friend and former mentor.
“Everything else has been uneventful,” Etana said, regaining Fedrin’s attention.
Fedrin nodded as he stood to his feet, holding the flaps of his robe closed. “Then if you will all excuse me, I will take advantage of this opportunity to get dressed. Commander Etana, you have the bridge.”
“Aye, Sir,” Etana said with a smile.
Fedrin looked at Etana and smiled back.
“Oh please,” Jonas exclaimed in disgust. “You two better knock this stuff off right now...with all due respect, Admiral and Commander.”
Etana chuckled.
“Good luck keeping him in-line,” Fedrin said to Etana, motioning to his ever-sarcastic tactical officer. “Don’t let him give you too hard a time.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Admiral!” Jonas called down. “Now, if I may say so sir, I think some pants would make a lovely addition to your wardrobe selection for today.”
Fedrin rolled his eyes and left the bridge, holding the folds of his hospital gown closed as he walked.
CHAPTER 6
Trash Pod Trip
Darion grumbled under his breath as he plunged the broom turned shovel, back into the think gelatinous waste.
“One more ought to do it,” he said to himself as he gathered the scoop of dark slime from within the trash pod and plopped it atop the small, yet ever growing pile beside him.
He had spent as long as he dared cleaning out the pod and now it was time to go. He wiped away droplets of perspiration from his forehead with the back of his sleeve and then examined the tiny space he had carved out for himself. After the quick inspection, he carefully wrapped his weapons in some rags and tossed them and his pack into the slime of the pod before lowering himself in and flipping a switch for an automatic jettison countdown. The smell and texture of the goop didn’t phase him anymore as he crawled in, curled himself into a ball, and lowered his head just past the pod’s access port. He and his equipment barely fit but he didn’t have time to make more room.
He was just lowering the hatch of the pod when he heard the elevator doors open and an entire squadron of Krohns barge into the room. He could hear the rapid tongue clicks and hisses through the pod’s shell. He breathed a sigh of relief when the pod fired the main thruster, propelling him out of the building and toward the transportation station.
The First Federation Bank of Larep was so close to the main transportation station that before Darion knew it, the pod began slowing down, and not soon enough for Darion. The pod was not designed for living passengers and was thus poorly vent
ilated forcing Darion to gasp for nearly every breath he took. In addition, he had no space to stretch even his tiniest muscle; and the stinking goop that oozed into his every crevice was just a bonus.
As the pod slowed, Darion tried to push open on the hatch but found, much to his horror, that it wouldn’t budge! He tried several more times but could make no progress. It must have latched closed from the outside and no matter how hard he pushed, it didn’t move. He tried not to panic as he began racing for a solution to his latest dilemma. He had to think of anything when suddenly the pod jolted violently.
“Not cool,” he said aloud as he realized his pod had reached the core of the station where a large, metal arm with huge clamps had picked up his pod and was bringing it to another transport tube, repositioning it to go to the Larep recycling center, nearly ninety miles outside the city limits.
Darion knew that if he stayed with the trash pod he would likely suffocate to death or at best, be so far away from his intended destination that he would never arrive. Not knowing what else to do, he reached through the slime until his hand reached his lydeg assault rifle. He had just enough room to remove the rags around the trigger-guard and squeeze his finger into it. The barrel was pointed at the front of the pod with several feet of the thick gelatin trash between the muzzle and the inner shell. He didn’t have the room to pick up the weapon or aim so where it was already pointed would have to do.
He gave the trigger a gentle squeeze, hoping that no Krohns were patrolling the area, but not caring all that much at the moment. The blast ripped through the slime as if it were air and cleanly pierced the pod’s nose. Again and again he fired the weapon, poking dozens of crisp holes near the first. A jolt of the pod caused Darion to lose control of the rifle, allowing it to sink deeper into the slime.
“That’ll have to do,” he said as he struggled to turn around in the pod so that he lay on his back. He then raised one foot and with all his might kicked out the weakened pod’s nose. It popped off with surprising ease, crashing to the ground between the tube’s tracks and the pod’s runners, sending up a barrage of sparks and shards of metal below.
Darion pushed himself forward until his feet rested atop a ledge on the outside of the pod. He then peeked out and realized that his pod was only moments away from igniting its thrusters to head to the Larep dump. He turned back to the pod and reached for his pack; it was too far away. He abandoned the pack and grabbed his pistol, which was nearer. He then carefully navigated his way out of the pod’s perforated nose and lowered himself out, being careful not to get caught between the pod and the tracks. When he was near the very bottom, he jumped forward and tumbled down the tube, barely ahead of the oncoming pod. He managed to get to his feet and run down the track, trying to put as much space between him and the pod as possible, stopping just short of the exit point of the station where the thrusters would ignite.
