What happened in the year 30-31 A.R. (After
Reestablishment) that threatened to shatter Garrett and Pon’s new marriage
before it even had a chance to flower? Can a child rescued from certain death
at the hands of the local Guardians on Goliath’s Third Moon be the catalyst to
save their marriage?
Meanwhile we are led to the rainy, dank planet of Walh.
The ruling family has found out disturbing information about Targus which will
send the M.T. team spiraling out of control.
It is only through Terrell's inherited ability to learn
languages and his persistence that Targus may escape his fate in a society that
is scarcely more than medieval in its technology. But, in order
for Terrell to save his captain he must resurrect and conquer the hidden demons
he has tried so hard to bury.
1,000 Words
Terrell
heard the ship's intercom come on. Targus and Coal once asked how he knew to
answer before either one of them spoke over the ship's communications system.
He said he could hear it sigh as it came on. He didn't need to wait to hear
their voices.
"Yes?"
he answered to the un-asking voice.
"Terrell
switch your monitor to standard. I want you to be in on this incoming
call." It was an order from Targus, not a request. The M.T. Captain had
been giving far more ‘orders’ than usual lately.
Terrell
switched over to the main incoming channel. A middle aged, alien man's face
appeared on the screen. He was obviously distraught.
"I
have our Medical Expert on now. Terrell, this is Captain Yakutis. His trade
vessel struck a small cruiser sitting too close to the exit of a window. The
cruiser was totally destroyed along with her crew. The Captain's wife and nine
year old son are onboard. The boy has been injured." Targus explained.
"Can
you give me his condition?" Terrell asked.
The
Captain aboard the trade vessel wiped his sweaty brow with one of his four
hands. "He's unconscious. Neither my wife nor I were with him at the time
of the accident, but it looks as though something hit him. He has a large lump
on the side of his head."
"Any
bleeding?"
"No."
"How
long has he been out?"
"About
thirty minutes. It took Galactic Headquarters awhile to track down the closest M.T.
Unit."
"How
soon can we be there, Cap?" Terrell asked.
"In
another thirty."
"Keep
him warm. Notify me if there is any change in his condition." Terrell
advised.
"Please
hurry," the Captain pleaded.
*****
"The
ship's hull was breached. It's losing integrity. It could explode
anytime," Targus said, as he gazed through narrowed eyes, straining to get
a glimpse of the vessel their instruments told them was directly ahead.
"Yakutis says the whole cargo shifted and is piled on the only pod they
have. There's no getting it out." Targus nudged the M.T. Unit into the top
range of its speed. "If we don't get there soon we'll lose all three of
them."
"There
she is Cap." Coal pointed to a small speck far off in the distance through
the front viewport.
"Get
your gear, Terrell. You and I will go aboard while Coal monitors the ship's
integrity from here."
*****
Terrell
eased the boy's head over to one side to have a better look at the egg sized
lump as the onboard computer of the ship announced for what seemed like the
hundredth time, ‘The integrity of the ship has been breached. All personnel
should evacuate immediately!’
"Yakutis
went back to the cargo bay to see if he could get the inside doors closed. He
thought it might help the ship last a little longer," the mother explained
to Targus. "I told him we should stay together, but he wouldn't listen.
The computer is locked into the evacuation mode. I haven't been able to
communicate with him since he left."
Targus
looked over Terrell's shoulder as he applied the cranial pads. "How's the
boy?"
"I'll
have him stabilized in a few minutes, Cap."
"Good.
Get them onboard. I'll go after Yakutis."
Coal's
voice came over the tiny listening devices inserted in Targus' and Terrell's
ears. "Cap she's breaking up fast. You two better put a move on."
"Right!"
Targus turned back to Terrell. "Get them in the pod and over to the
ship."
Terrell
came to his feet. "I'm not leaving you," he said assertively.
"That
was an order Doctor. Not a request." Targus fixed Terrell with a steely
gaze, then spun round on his heel and hurried down the corridor toward the
cargo bay.
*****
Yakutis
removed the last of the debris blocking the cargo bay doors. He didn't see the
leaking canister of highly volatile delthenium gas. He couldn't smell the
odorless, potentially explosive fumes. As he pulled the damaged doors shut,
with all the strength of his four arms, he created enough friction to ignite
the gas. He never knew what killed him.
*****
"What
was that?" Coal asked anxiously in Terrell's Ear. "I just read a big
explosion."
Terrell
clenched his teeth to activate the small disc mike implanted by his jaw just
below the ear.
"I
don't know, but it rocked the whole ship." Terrell handed the boy in to
his mother aboard the pod. "Cap? Are you all right?" There was no
response. "Cap?" Still nothing. "Coal do you still have a
reading on Cap?"
"Yes.
But I can't raise him either.”
Terrell
turned to the woman as she appeared at the door of the pod again with
apprehension written all over her face. "Can you fly a pod?"
"Yes,
but my husband..." she stammered.
"You
get you and your son to safety. I'll go get your husband and the Captain.
Sergeant Coal will come back for us." Without waiting for a reply Terrell
shut the pod door from the outside. "I'm sending the woman and child over,
Coal. I'm going to find Cap."
"I'll
be back over for you as soon as I can get them off the pod. Make it snappy,
Terrell. That explosion didn't help any. She's coming apart at the seams."
Coal inserted his 'Ear' and headed for the landing bay.
*****
Terrell
fought his way over the debris in the general direction he thought Targus went.
He could see that the corridor was blocked ahead. As he clambered over a large
piece of what looked like part of the ceiling, he heard a moan below the almost
deafening sound of the computer's automatic warning system and the general din
of the ship pulling itself apart. He started lifting rubble frantically in the
direction of the sound. He almost stepped on Yakutis' body. Targus was only a
few feet to his left, half buried under the remainder of the ceiling and part
of the adjoining wall.
"Cap?"
Terrell ran his scanner over Targus. He was so relieved to find him alive. His
leg was cut and he was unconscious, but no major injuries that he could detect
He must have been saved from the brunt of the explosion by the wall. Terrell
gave him an injection to bring him around.
"Cap?"
Terrell said in a tone of concern.
The
big Walhmite Captain's eyes fluttered open. "Terrell?"
"I'll
have you out in a minute." Terrell started to work on removing more of the
debris that had Targus pinned to the floor.
"Yakutis?"
Targus asked.
"He's
dead. Killed in the explosion."
Targus
grabbed Terrell's sleeve. "You've got to get out of here!"
"I
couldn't even if I wanted to. The pod is gone. Now let me go so I can get you
free.... Coal? I found Cap. We'll be at the second bay in five minutes."
"I'll
be there, but you better make it four. Fives about all I figure she's got
before she lets go and we all go with her."
"Right!"
Terrell cleared the last with Targus' help. He assisted the big man to his
feet.
"I'm
fine." Targus shrugged off the helping hand. "Let's get out of
here." He headed for the bay and the awaiting pod.
They
barely cleared the ship before it exploded.
*****
"You're
to follow orders Doctor or you'll be replaced!" Targus almost shouted as
he hobbled away from the pod toward his cabin.
"Oh
and by the way, thanks for saving my life." Terrell mumbled sarcastically
under his breath. He turned to Coal as the Sergeant disembarked from the pod
onto the M.T. bay. "What's got into Cap lately? I haven't been able to do
anything right in weeks. He's always finding something to yell at me
about."
Coal
just shrugged his shoulders as he made his way past Terrell to follow their
captain into the ship.
