Somewhat Alien: The Station (Terran Trilogy Book 2)

by Sheron Wood McCartha

  “Eighteen,” corrected Angel.

  “Get out of our way!” The second man pushed Elise.

  Merek’s answer was to fire and the man collapsed. The third man was fumbling in his jacket when Merek stunned him.

  “Now… how do you disarm that thing?” inquired Merek, pointing his phaser at the blinking bomb.

  Staring at his fallen comrades, the first tower operator paled. “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t try my patience,” Merek barked. “I’m running out of time, not ammunition.”

  Angel glanced at Richard. “He’s telling the truth.”

  “Gimme that suit.” Merek grabbed a suit and started dressing in a blur of motion.

  “What are you doing?” Elise grabbed Merek’s arm.

  He jerked away and continued to suit up. “I’m going to get rid of that thing before it blows the whole station and kills everyone. Watch that guy.” He pointed at the now hysterical operator struggling in Angel’s grip.

  “We gotta get off this station!” the man screeched. “It’s going to explode!”

  Angel grimaced, turning to Richard. “I’ll find out who is behind this, don’t worry.”

  Spinning around, the tower operator snarled, “Just try. You won’t get a thing out of me.”

  “Find out all you can while I get rid of the bomb.” Merek turned to Richard and threw a suit at him. “Suit up.”

  Richard’s legs turned to jelly at the comment. His heart started to pound faster and faster until he thought it might explode. “Wh… wh… what?”

  “You’re going to reel me back in, dead or alive, after I get rid of this thing. Wait until after the shockwave hits, and then open the airlock and pull me in.”

  “Twelve minutes,” Angel warned.

  Richard scrambled into the suit.

  “I’m going into the airlock with the bomb, decompress, exit, and get rid of it.” Merek slapped on his helmet.

  “My ships are out there!” Elise protested. “You can’t take a bomb out there.”

  “They’re circling the station’s midsection. We’re at the top, so I’ll throw it out at a ninety-degree angle to their orbit.”

  Elise tapped her comm. “Jim, it’s Elise. Order all ships to immediately activate magnetic shields. There’s a bomb coming out at ninety-degrees to your orbit. Be on the lookout.”

  As Richard zipped up the suit and picked up a helmet, he heard her say, “Yes, at once. No, I’m deadly serious.”

  After securing a frantic tower operator to a chair, Angel stepped in front of Merek. “A good team member always double checks his partner’s suit.”

  Merek paused.

  Angel leaned in and whispered to Merek while his fingers checked snaps and fabric for any problems.

  Next, Merek donned his helmet and picked up the bomb. Heavy and unwieldy, Merek carried it with ease.

  The tower operator whimpered in his chair, jerking back and forth against his restraints. He cast an eye over his companions who lay unconscious on the floor in front of him.

  “Don’t worry, they won’t be conscious for quite some time,” said Elise as she opened a panel to the airlock.

  Richard watched as Merek lumbered in with his package. The panel slid shut with a click, the light turned red, and he heard the whoosh of decompression.

  A light touch on his arm and Richard watched Angel move in front of him and begin fussing with his suit. “Your task is to pull him in. Breathe naturally and don’t look out. Stay focused on the line and you’ll avoid your space rapture problem.”

  Richard heard his words through a haze of unreality.

  Angel banged him on the chest. “You’re good to go.”

  The action caused Richard’s thoughts to clear and snapped him to attention. He blinked and focused.

  The airlock light flashed red as the outside hatch opened.

  “He’s away. Closing the outer door.” Elise tapped a large button on the panel, and one red light turned green.

  After the whoosh of pressurization, the second light went green.

  “Okay, Richard. Time for you to go. As soon as Merek signals, wait for the energy shock, and then after that, open the airlock and start pulling on the tether.”

  With a grimace, Richard picked up a helmet and put it on.

  Fiddling with the helmet’s latch, Angel murmured, “Show her you’re worth it” He angled his head toward Elise.

  Casting a sideways glance at Elise, Richard gave a thumbs up and entered the airlock. The panel closed behind him and the light blinked red, showing decompression. Waiting, he heard Merek say, “Bomb away.” Immediately after, he felt a jolt to the station as if a giant hand had tapped it. He opened the outside hatch and noticed the station now falling away from Alysia, pushed back by the bomb’s energy wave.

  Far overhead, a round ball of scintillating light burst and dissipated. Richard reached for the tether that Merek had secured to a handhold and pulled for all he was worth.

  In the distance, at its end, a still figure drifted in space amid floating debris from the station. Richard prayed the venting air wouldn’t disturb its trajectory nor pieces of the station cut the line. Staring at the body as he pulled, his gaze shifted to notice stars wheeling around in an endless void behind it. Caught up in the sight, he froze.

  Space so vast, so dark... The line jerked in his hands. Shivering, his attention returned to the tether, and he yanked it in. He made himself stay focused on the line until his arms ached, and his breathing became labored, but the line coiled up steadily, piling up inside the airlock beside him.

  After an eternity, Merek floated within reach. Richard didn’t know whether the guard was alive or dead, but he leaned out and reached for a limp arm to tug the suit toward him. Gasping, he wrestled the unconscious body into the airlock and activated the switch to close the outer hatch.

  His breath rasped and sweat beaded his face. He stared down at an unresponsive Merek, too tired to move himself.

  The light blinked green, and the inner panel opened to several hands that helped pull the unconscious form into the operations room. He stumbled through, following it.

  Behind him, the panel shut. Angel helped him take off his helmet and peel out of his suit. “Is he alive?” he asked.

  Richard noticed more people in the room. Elise must have called the medics because Jay Luttrell squatted by Merek. Also, Amanda was helping to lift Merek out of his suit and onto an improvised gurney of a table top attached to a cleaning bot.

  Leaning over him, Jay announced, “He’s still alive. Take him to Emergency.”

  The rescue team raced out.

  Elise talked into her comm. “That’s good news, Jim. Yes, bring in the shuttles, but be careful, the shuttlebay is badly damaged and isn’t sealed yet. There’s a stampede to leave the station, but Jacob Monroe is attempting to establish some semblance of order on our side. We’ll construct a flexible oxygenated corridor to bring people out of the station onto the shuttles without the need for spacesuits.”

  “Shuttles?” The Alysian tied to the chair shook his head. “We destroyed all the shuttles. Everyone on this station is stranded. All you Terrans will starve to death and die. There’s no way to reach Alysia now.”

  Elise looked puzzled. “What are you babbling about?” She gestured outward. “Every ship out there has at least two shuttles on board.”

  The man’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened. “The ship’s all have shuttles? They didn’t know that?”

  “Of course,” snarled Elise. “Appears your people, whoever they are, don’t know a lot of things.”

  By now, Richard had shed his suit and his adrenaline high was subsiding. His breath began to return to normal as he realized that he was still alive. Earlier, he had thought that might not be the final result.

  Elise contemplated him. “You have a way of surprising a girl, Director Steele. You did a nice job.” Her eyes twinkled. “Are you able to help me direct our shuttles into the bay so we can load stati
oners?”

  He scanned the control station’s panel. It wasn’t that different from the Alysian station, and he’d managed that just fine in a former crisis. He’d helped build both stations and knew more than most Terrans how the Operations Center worked.

  “Sure. I’ve worked Alysia Station’s board before. I should be able to figure out this one if you can direct the fleet.”

  She formed a smile. “Best news I’ve heard all shift.”

  Chapter 19

  Digging Out

  Jennie came to awareness with a sharp pain at the back of her head and absolutely no feeling from the waist down. Darkness enveloped her, and she didn’t know where she was. She strained to recall what had happened, but the memory came in bits and flashes.

  She’d run to get something… crackers... for Dr. Luttrell’s stew. She’d found them in the storage pantry down from the kitchen. At the time, she’d been thinking about the amazing Angel… He was otherworldly. Okay, aside from the Terrans who, when all was said and done, weren’t terribly alien, only somewhat alien, Angel almost glowed and decidedly was not an ordinary human being.

  He was breathtaking.

  She groaned as she grew aware that boxes, shelves, and cans all lay tumbled on top of her. Had a shelf broken? It felt like the station had shifted. But no, that couldn’t be.

  She had to get out, but her legs wouldn’t move. Lying there, noises from the corridor filtered in. Voices sounded panicked, filled with shouting and screaming. There were a lot of thuds and smashing noises going on outside. Other people were in trouble, and she might have a long wait in the dark… if she lasted that long.

  Jennie settled in and tried not to worry about her legs and the excruciating pain in her arm when she tried to move it.

  ***

  When the shuttle crashed into the space station, Chrissy was lifting Oscar out and slipping him into his exercise ball. The jolt of the station knocked several cages down and a few of the cage doors sprung open.

  “No!” Chrissy shouted as the ball dropped from her fingers, bounced on the floor, and began to roll out the lab.

  Inside, Oscar leaped forward and the ball took off. Several gebbits escaped from their cages and trailed in his wake.

  “Oscar, you come back!” Chrissy ran after him.

  Pumping his legs frantically, he skidded around a corner, caromed off a wall, and darted into a utility conduit. All around him, the space station was collapsing with enough noise to terrify a gebbit and make him run for cover.

  “Where are you going?” Chrissy stared into the conduit’s opening. Nearby, a computer jiggled off its stand and landed with a bang. Bare wires waved in the air, sparking.

  “Not safe here.” She wiggled into the opening and crawled after the gebbit. Her pocket vibrated. “Oh, not now.”

  She placed the comm to her ear. “Yes, I’m busy.”

  “The station’s been hit!” Dazz’s frantic voice shouted the words. “I’m sending out an all station alert for the team to assemble in the Emergency Unit. When you come, watch out for falling pipes and equipment and stuff.”

  “I’ll be delayed. Oscar’s loose.”

  “People are injured, Chrissy, and as leader of the team, my job is to get everyone together to help.”

  “Leader of the team? When did we vote on that?”

  “I don’t have time to argue! Get to Emergency stat. We got wounded coming in.”

  “After I get Oscar.” She plucked the ear comm out and stuffed it back into her pocket. “Bossy boy. Always trying to tell me what to do. Forget him. Now, where did that gebbit go?”

  For some reason, the conduit looked familiar. Drawing out her binoculars from around her neck, Chrissy scanned the enclosed space. She had been here before but farther down. She continued her crawl. The tunnel straightened out and, in the distance, a plastic ball with a terrified gebbit came to a halt.

  “Oscar, I have treats.” Chrissy searched a pocket with her right hand while thumping down the conduit on knees and left hand. She had treats in her jacket somewhere and frantically shook her pocket, trying to find them.

  The ball took a backward roll toward her, but a loud crash propelled it forward again, then it turned right and rolled out of sight.

  The air suddenly changed as the station lost gravity.

  Inside the conduit, the loss of gravity bounced her against the walls. She hit her head several times and became confused as to which direction was up but kept going down the long dim tunnel. Then she saw him again.

  “No treats for Oscar,” she called out. The rolling ball hesitated and hit the top of the tunnel, then rebounded off the sides, back and forth. A scrabbling noise indicated a terrified gebbit. Chrissy turned the corner and recognized the same tunnel they had staked out when capturing the gebbit the first time.

  In short time, gravity reasserted itself. Ahead of her, a very dizzy gebbit gamely rolled on.

  “I know where you’re headed,” she muttered.

  She was right.

  ***

  A funny noise woke Jennie.

  I must have passed out.

  Outside, the commotion of chaos continued, but in the pantry, she heard a soft squeak as a plastic ball dropped out of a conduit and rolled toward her.

  “Oscar?”

  The ball stopped right in front of her nose. Inside, the gebbit stood up and stared at her.

  “Stay and keep me company.” Carefully, she reached for the box of crackers that had dropped, so as not to startle the creature, and painstakingly selected one.

  Gebbit ears pricked forward. The ball rolled closer to the cracker in her hand. She waved it around, wafting the air with its scent. “Come get a treat, Oscar.”

  She unhinged a section of his ball and dropped in a piece, trying to ignore the dreadful pain the movement caused.

  “Jennie?” Chrissy’s blonde head showed up at the conduit’s opening. She slid out and landed next to Jennie. “Caught you, you little rascal.” Chrissy grabbed the ball and placed her nose to the outside surface while inside the gebbit casually nibbled the cracker, ignoring her.

  “Chrissy, I… need… help. Find... a medic.” Jennie gritted her teeth against the intense agony.

  “Better. I’ll call Dazz and he’ll alert Dr. Luttrell that you’re hurt. That’ll bring them here fast.”

  Jennie closed her eyes in relief. “Oh, please, and hurry.”

  Not much later, the senior Dr. Luttrell broke through the door and waded through cans and boxes to find the semi-conscious girl. Immediately, he issued pain killers and ordered her to be transported to the clinic.

  “Would you like a cracker, Doc?” she croaked.

  He shook his head and directed two men to lift her carefully onto a panel board.

  “Thank you, Oscar,” she whispered as they carted her away.

  Oscar just nibbled a cracker and wiggled his nose. As Jennie closed her eyes, she was sure that he had a smile on his funny, furry face.

  Chapter 20

  Recovery

  Jennie returned to consciousness in a strange white room. On one wall was a colorful picture of Alysia as seen from space, but other than that, the room was filled with gray equipment and stark white beds. She twisted her head to the left and was startled to recognize Merek next to her, covered by a white sheet and lying still as a stone, flat on his back.

  His strong chiseled face was devoid of expression. The straight wide nose, dark eyebrows, and angled cheeks didn’t offer up a twitch. Breath barely escaped his full parted lips. The sight both upset and fascinated her. For the first time that she could remember, her mentor, her rock, her hero, lay vulnerable to her gaze. She had always looked away before, daunted by the stern expression he usually wore—but now he was helpless and damaged, and that frightened her. He was too important to the station, the captain, and her.

  He must not die.

  Outside, beyond the room, she heard a background hum of chaos within the station.

  “You’re awake!”
a young voice proclaimed.

  She flipped her head to the right to see Tommie Blakey with his arm in a sling and his head wrapped in bandages. A smile crossed his lips. “About time. I was becoming bored.”

  The panel opened and Dr. Jay Luttrell strode in. “I agree. It’s about time. You were beginning to concern me too.” He stopped by her bed to peer down at her. “A lot of people were getting worried.” He gently brushed a strand of hair off her forehead.

  “I can’t feel my legs.”

  “Well, I’ll try to do something about that later. First, I want to set your arm, but it needs to settle down. There’s a lot of inflammation inside it at present. I’ll do a better job when that subsides; so, we’ll give it a few days. Unfortunately, I’m thin on pain drugs at the moment. Sorry.”

  He looked over at Tommie. “That goes for you, too, soldier. This next stretch isn’t going to be easy, but you both will live through it.” He paused and sighed. “That’s better than a lot of folks.”

  Jennie glanced over at Merek. “What about him?”

  A frown knitted Jay’s forehead. “That’s going to be up to him. He’s unusually strong with special augmentations that will help. I’ve given him anti-radiation medication and pumped him full of nanites. He took a rough hit from the blast, but the magnetic shields from the ship and Alysia’s magnetosphere protected him some… let’s hope enough.”

  Silence descended in the room until Jay snapped his fingers. “The sound of a human voice might help. Why don’t you read to him? I can bring you books, and it will give you something to do.”

  “Dr. Luttrell.” Tommie wiggled his fingers at him.

  “Yes?” Jay went to Tommie’s bed and leaned over.

  The kid motioned him closer. “If I have to have an operation on my head anyway, could you fix these ears of mine?” he whispered.

  Jay straightened up. “I have a lot of very serious life and death operations to perform, young man. Fixing perfectly healthy ears is low on my priority list.”

  “Oh, please, please. Think about it. It can’t take too much more time to do it. It would mean a lot.” Tommie peered nervously over at her to see if she had heard his request.