by Maia Starr
“Take off that belt around your waist. Let me see the wound; let me help,” she said, unbuckling her belt and standing up.
“No! Whatever you do, do not take this belt off. I have a major wound. I was impaled from the back all the way through the front by a pipe. The belt is keeping pressure on it. Do not take it off,” I said to her. Her eyes grew wide.
“Oh my God, Zoq. that is a very serious injury. What can I do? Quick, come lie down on the bench,” she said.
“Yes, I will in just a few seconds. Heather, you must listen to me and listen to me closely. The ship is now in your hands. I can feel myself growing weaker. I don't know how much longer I will be able to stay conscious.”
“What? No. You are going to be fine. We are going to get through this together,” she said frantically.
“Listen to me. The ship is on autopilot and will get you to Kelon. But we need to contact them. I need to tell them what has happened and that you are in control. They will be able to guide you with what to do. This way you don't have to do it alone. We are in range to receive transmissions from them. I am setting it up now,” I said as I pushed on the communication panel.
“Me? But what if we are attacked again? Please don't pass out. Come lie down and let me put more pressure on that wound. What kind of medications are on this ship?” she asked.
“Heather, see to the ship first and to me second. I will not have you stranded in space because of me. Do not worry too much about what is going to happen to me. The only thing that matters is that you arrived on the planet safely.”
“No, that is not all that matters. It matters that you live. That is the only thing that matters to me,” she said.
The communication screen popped up in projection form. It was in the process of trying to make contact. I could feel my body growing heavy. I needed to get to the bench to lay down. Sitting upright in the seat would not be a good way to pass out with this type of injury.
“It is connecting. I need to get to the bench,” I said, unbuckling the belt and standing up slowly.
“Let me help you,” Heather said as she came to my side. She helped me walk to the bench in the midsection of the transport. She was crying. I could tell that she was really scared. I did not want to tell her that the possibility of me surviving a wound like this was very low. I wished I had been in Dragon form, because the hard scales would have prevented this pipe from going through me. But there was no reason to be in Dragon form in the engine room, nor was there space for it. Now I had to deal with this, and there would not be a lot of time. I laid down, and Heather ran to the counter and grabbed two large pieces of cloth. She set one underneath my back right on the wound as I laid on top of it. It was good pressure. Then she set another on top of the wound by my hip. Then she placed a heavy bag on it. My eyes were closing. I could barely keep them open. I was drifting off. I was passing out.
“No, wake up, Zoq. Please. Please stay with me. What else can I do? Tell me where the medication is! Please don’t leave me alone,” she cried as she held pressure on the bag on top of me.
“I am right here, Heather. I am not leaving you. I need you to listen to the Draqua I have contacted. They will get us to Kelon safely, and fast. Do you understand?” I whispered in my weakened state.
“Yes, I understand,” she said.
“Come in. Identify yourself,” I heard a Draqua voice say from the communication panel.
“Go, Heather. Identify yourself using my name. Tell them what has happened. They will help you,” I said, trying to encourage her to leave my side.
“Okay, okay,” she said as she ran to the front of the ship. I could hear her talking as I began to drift off.
“We need help! We have an emergency situation. Commander Zoq Kane is on this transport and has been injured. My name is Heather Maven, from Earth. I don't know what to do. The commander called you. Please help us. Please help me. I don't know what to do,” she said over and over.
I could hear the pain in her voice. I wanted to gather all of my strength to help her. I did not want to leave her helpless on a strange ship in space with the opposition hunting us. But as much as I struggled to gather my strength, it did not work. Then I lost consciousness.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HEATHER MAVEN
I was in such a panic. Not because I was suddenly in charge of getting us back to the Draqua planet of Kelon, but because it was possible that I was now about to lose Commander Zoq Kane, forever. It was the worst feeling when I saw how wounded he was. But then when he told me that he had been impaled, my heart fell to my stomach. I knew how serious an injury like that was. I did not know if the alien Draquas were physically stronger and could handle such a wound, but by the look of him, he did not seem to be in good condition.
I was a mess. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. I had not had the chance to tell him that I was pregnant. There was so much that I wanted to experience and do with him. I loved him. I knew that I loved him greatly. Seeing him in such pain was horrifying. It was too much to deal with. I did not want to be alone on his planet raising our child. Nothing made me sadder than to think that could be a reality. So I had to do something. I applied more pressure on his wounds, but Zoq was of no help in helping me to help him. He was focused on the ship and getting the ship back to Kelon. I, on the other hand, wanted to know what was on the ship that could help him. Did they have medications to stop the bleeding or a dose of antibiotics to stop infection from the pipe? There were so many questions that I wanted to ask, but Zoq just wanted me to contact his home and get the ship there. Then he passed out. I panicked as his eyes closed. But I could hear the communication line open. Communication was my specialty, and Zoq urged me to go talk to the contact. I moved over to the screen.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said over and over.
“Commander Zoq Kane is injured on your ship?” the Draqua said. I looked at him.
“Yes, please advise me of medical techniques. On Earth, we call it a first aid kit. Is there medical stuff on this ship? He has been impaled by a pipe from his back through to the front, just over his left hip. There is a band of cloth tied around it, and I have applied pressure. But what else can I do? Please help me. He cannot die,” I begged.
“Yes, there are medical supplies,” he said. Then he turned to his side and spoke to someone beside him. “Inform the King that Commander Zoq Kane is on a transport back to Kelon and is gravely injured. The transport is close.” Then, his attention was turned back to me.
“Listen to me, and I will tell you exactly what to do. Go to the food area of the ship. There should be a large cabinet underneath the water resources. Underneath, you will find a box.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t go away please,” I said as I ran to the area where the water was kept. I opened a cabinet and found the box. There were all kinds of stuff inside of it, all labeled in the Draqua language. I could not read it. I picked up the box and carried it to the front of the ship and placed it on the seat in front of the communication panel.
“I have the box. What am I looking for?” I asked.
“The first thing you want to do is stop the bleeding. We have a blood clotting serum. Find a vial that has this writing on it,” he said as he typed something in. Then it appeared on my screen. I was thankful for the quick-thinking and intelligent Draqua that I was speaking to. I matched the writing on the screen to a small vial of serum that was a bright blue. I held it up to this screen as close as I could.
“Is this it?”
“Yes, now there is a device in there. It looks like this,” he said as he held up a tool that looked like a massive white marker to me. I easily picked it out of the box and held it up to him.
“Yes, now watch me. I will show you how to load the serum into the device,” he said as he held up a vial and the device and demonstrated. I watched closely. Then I copied his movements.
“Good, it is loaded. Now you will inject the serum like this,” he said as he showed me which part of
the device to hold against Zoq and which button to push. I watched and then I was ready.
“I got it. Where do I inject it into him?” I asked him.
“As close to the wound as you can,” he said.
“On both sides? The front and the back of his body? the wound goes all the way through,” I was trying to be efficient. I could not screw this up.
“No, just on the front side wound. One time, that is all that is needed,” he said.
“I’m going now! Don’t go away!” I said as I quickly ran over to Zoq. He was still unconscious. I pulled the bag over that I had on top of his wound and moved the cloth. I pressed the device near the wound without taking off the belt of cloth he had tied around him. Then I was done. I ran back to the communication panel.
“It is done. What else? Will it be infected?” I asked.
“No, no need to worry of that. We are dragons. We are used to being clawed by dragons and scraped and scratched. Our bodies naturally fight off infection,” he said.
“He is unconscious. Is there something to wake him?” I asked.
“No, it is best that he sleeps. We heal when we sleep. If he wakes on his own, which he should, it will only be for a short while. His body will shut down again, and all energy will go to healing,” he said.
“Okay, okay, so what do I do now?” I asked.
“How is the ship? Is it damaged? Are you in motion?” he asked.
“The commander set it on autopilot. He said he put in the coordinates for the village on Kelon,” I said.
“Good. That is good. As long as You do not encounter any major obstacles, it should find its way here on its own. But as soon as you are in range of our planet, we can connect. We can take over the flight of the ship and make sure it safely makes its way here. “
“Great. When will that be?” I asked.
“You will need to tell me. I will show you how. You are going to read your coordinates to me,” he said. Then he instructed me on where to get the coordinates from the console. I read them out loud to him. I also read some tracking information from the transport to him. It was all the information he needed in order to take control of flying the ship once we were in range. I was very grateful for it. This way I could see to Zoq.
“That is all the information that I need. But I will need to disconnect this communication call for 1 hour. We will establish communication in an hour's time, and by that time you will be in range for us to take control of the ship,” he said.
“I understand.”
“You did a good job, human female Heather Maven,” he said. Then, the communication ended. I suddenly felt very alone. But I was grateful for the medical information. I hoped that the serum to stop the bleeding was not too late. I quickly ran over to Zoq and knelt down beside him. I burst into tears. I could not hold it back anymore. I had been very strong this entire time, but now my crying was bordering hysterical. I grabbed his hand and held it in mind. I wanted him to be awake. I wanted him talking to me so that at least I knew that he was still with me. So I began to talk to him in hopes that he would hear me.
“It is me; it is Heather. I am right here with you. I am right here beside you I am not going anywhere. I have given you a serum that stopped the bleeding. You are going to be all right. You are going to be healed; you are healing right now,” I said as I looked at his face. I brushed his long black hair away from his eyes. I could see a faint twitch of his eyelid, which encouraged me. Even with his eyes closed, he was still somewhat conscious.
“If you can hear me, Zoq, I want you to know that I love you. I have fallen in love with you. I do not want to live without you. I love you so much. I don't know when it happened, but I know that I love you and I cannot be without you. But I have something else that I must tell you. I have kept something from you since the moment that you grabbed me from my apartment. I think I am pregnant. I think I am carrying your child. I was going to tell you earlier, but then everything happened. I love you, and I want us to have this child together. Do not leave me. I need you. We need you, your child and I. Come back to me. We are going to have a family,” I said to him.
I sat there next to him telling him all the things that I had wanted to say but did not get a chance to say. I poured my heart out to him even though he was not awake. I had to get it out of my system. I did not know how long I was sitting next to him. Time seemed to go by very slowly. Every minute was excruciating. I simply wanted to get him home and to the Draqua that could heal him. Then suddenly there was a loud beeping sound. I jumped up to my feet. Was this another siren? Did this mean that there were ships on the radar? It did not have the same siren sound as the radar did before, but I did not know what sorts of alerts that Zoq had set up. I moved to the console. There was a blinking light on the console, and I recognized it as the communication panel light. It must be the Draqua; they did say they were going to call back when we were in range. An hour must have passed, and I did not realize it. I pressed on the blinking light. The communication panel came up, and it was a video call, just as I expected. But it was not the helpful Draqua that I had spoken to earlier.
“There you are, human female. You have eluded me, but I have found you now,” Captain Blace sneered at me from the other side of the communication.
I narrowed my eyes at him, “Captain Blace. What do you want?”
“I want the commander. I want him dead. I have found out that you two evaded the squad that I sent for you when passing Tiok. That is very impressive. I underestimated the commander, but I won't do it again. This time I will send a squadron of 20 ships if I need to.”
“Leave us alone! We are nothing to you!” I shouted at him in anger.
He laughed a loud, menacing laugh. I could see the room behind him, and I recognized it as the communications room of the mothership. I had spent a lot of time on that ship, especially in communications. I wondered if he was still on Earth.
“Wrong! You are nothing to me, human, but the commander is. He has too much information, and he does not need to give that to the Draqua on Kelon. I will take him down,” he said.
“That is going to be very hard all the way from Earth,” I said, trying to get him to admit his location to me. It worked.
“I am not on Earth any longer. I am coming for you,” he said.
His words sent a chill down my spine. We would not last if he was hunting us personally. But he could not have left Earth so quickly after us. So I knew he must be very far from us. I hoped that the Draqua on Kelon would be able to get to us before him.
“Shut it off!” Zoq’s voice echoed in my ear. I turned to him. He was awake. I was so happy that for a second I forgot about Captain Blace.
“It is a tracking call! Shut it off!” he shouted at me. It took me a second to process what he was saying. Then I understood. The captain had me on the line this entire time because he was using the communication line to track the ship. I quickly pushed the button that I had pushed to answer the call. The screen disappeared. I sighed in relief. Then I turned and ran to Zoq.
“You are awake!” I shouted as I knelt down beside him. “I thought I lost you.”
But there was no time for sentiment for him. He was all business. “What did he say? What did he want, other than to track us?” He said.
“He just wanted to threaten us. Don't worry about it. Only think about healing,” I said.
“Heather,” he said as he got a very serious look on his face. “Don't try to hide it from me. I need to know. I am still commander of this ship, and I cannot make good decisions if I do not know everything,” he said.
I sighed, “He said that he was coming for us. He said he is no longer on Earth. He wants you dead. He said that he will send 20 ships after us this time,” I said to him.
He was quiet for a while. I could tell that he was thinking. Then he said, “There is no way that he has caught up with us on the mothership. Even if he left Earth 24 hours after us, it would not be enough time. But he does have communication with an op
position based on Tiok. They can get to us pretty fast.”
“What did the Draqua say when I contacted them, after I blacked out?” he asked.
“He said they would call back in an hour and that we would be in range for him to take over the controls of the ship and take us safely to Kelon. that was why I answered the call. I thought it was him,” I said.
“Good, that is the best course of action. They should be calling soon then. Let us hope it is before the opposition squad leaves from Tiok.”
“I am so sorry that I answered the call from the captain. I did not know that he could track us through a message line. I should know that. I am a communication specialist,” I said to him.
“You are a communication specialist on Earth, not of our alien technology. You could not have known.”