by Eden Ember
Chapter 10
GANDROX
When Allegra slipped back into sleep, I went back to the bridge. Watching her labored breathing and grimacing from pain took a toll on me. I paced the floor and begged the universe to give her a chance, I needed something to occupy my troubled mind. Elgan greeted me with a tentative nod. He knew better than to ask how she was doing, because if there were any changes, I would have told him.
“We’re still being pursued,” he said, finally.
I peered at the screen. A sickening feeling of deja vu crossed over me. At least Razko turned a corner and though weak and unable to rise and do his job, he recovered nicely, lying not too far from Allegra in the sick bay.
I tapped the sensor screen and glanced up at the star charts. “Try bursting here, maybe we’ll lose the grunts,” I said as I pointed to a wormhole a little off from our current course.
“All right. You realize this will add extra time before arrival at the Darniner Space Station,” Elgan said.
I slammed my hand down hard on the console. “Don’t you think I know that? I also realize if the Kwobus keeps on our trail so closely, it will be a bloodbath once we reach Darniner. I can’t risk Allegra’s life like that. Do as I have asked,” I commanded.
“Yes sir,” he said with a curt bow of his head and steered the ship while in hyper-speed toward the wormhole.
“I’m checking on Allegra,” I announced as I left the bridge. Too many things were out of my control and I didn’t like it.
“The same,” Zekker said as he met me by Allegra’s side.
I peered at her lifeless body, her chest barely rising and falling with each breath. “Are you sure that we’re doing everything we can for her? What if we don’t make it to Darniner? Could you do the surgery?” I stared at Trekker as he fidgeted.
“I can’t. I’m not trained as a surgeon like that,” he said.
“You can perform simple surgeries, I’ve seen you,” I replied.
“Yes, that’s true. On Aarans. Not on Terrans. The surgeons at Darniner are better equipped to handle emergency surgeries. If I were to try, I’d kill her, not knowing the full extent of her injuries. We’ve done the best for her with what we have,” Zekker said.
“Well, it’s not good enough,” I boomed. Another Aaran shrunk back from me. Zekker’s mouth closed as he stared at me, not knowing how to respond.
“Just make sure that she stays alive long enough to reach Darniner.” I marched out of the med bay as anger washed over me.
“I am doing my best,” Zekker said as the door swooshed shut.
I had to stop pouncing on my crew over my guilt. It was my fault Allegra’s life lay in the balance. We could have just as easily flown to Zeta and dropped off the Terrans. I had to show everyone that I’m the big barbarian boss here and refused to do it, even though I had a marked attraction to the beautiful and fragile human. Now I felt bound to save her life for more selfish reasons, reasons that I’ve not fully admitted even to myself.
Suddenly, the proximity alert sounded. Even at hyper-speed, something approached too dangerously close. I had a feeling as I strode quickly to the bridge, my fists flexing.
“A Kwobus ship approaching with scanners painting us,” Elgan advised.
We couldn’t outrun the ship, their thrusters kept them in line with us. With no choice, I turned to the controls. “Ready to turn and fire, take out their belly, aim for their turrets,” I said.
“Captain, it may be detrimental if we do this,” Elgan said.
I turned to him and beat my fist on the edge of the console. “What choice do we have? We can’t outrun them at this point. They want a fight, let’s give them a fight,” I said.
“Yes, Captain,” Elgan replied. He placed his fingers over the alarm to ready for combat.
“On my voice, fire at them,” I commanded.
“Yes, Captain,” came the voices from the battle stations.
The Torq Runner, intended for running weapons, needed a means of protection. One of the retrofits I insisted on having were the battle stations. It made little sense since we’re not a warship, but it made sense as far as defense goes. I smiled at my crew. “Glad we can test the weaponry now.”
The sharp turn of the ship startled the Kwobus, as they didn’t turn and follow straight away. It gave us enough opportunity to gain the advantage. We came up behind them and readied our weapons.
“Fire!” I shouted. The Torq shuddered as the blasts of devastating lasers hit the Kwobus from behind.
“Report?” I asked Xyru.
“The blasts tore through their underbelly. A point hit on their turrets, but several left wide open,” Xyru said.
“Ready for round two,” I said.
The Torq Runner shuddered again as the laser blasters powered. “Fire!” The blasters hit two more of their turrets, but their ship pivoted, following our maneuver. I smiled. They wouldn’t beat us, not today.
“Turn sharply, opposite direction.”
Too late, the Kwobus opened fire, their remaining turret blasting a space torpedo straight at us. We dashed madly in a wide arc to keep the blast from ripping through the middle of the ship. “No!” The Torq Runner stalled, slowing in mid-turn.
“Back up boosters, now!” I pushed down the lever, causing all power to head to the thrusters to finish the turn.
“Sir, the cargo bay and left hull took on damage,” Camxx said.
“The cabin’s breached?” I asked frantically. Thankfully, the med bay tucked in the very center acting as a buffered zone to take the least of any blast, Allegra, Razko, and Zekker should be fine.
“No, Captain. Air quality and pressure remains steady. But it grazed the engines slightly. We need repairs,” he said.
“Yes. We’ll do that once we take care of the Kwobus,” I said.
With the thrusters back at full speed, the ship turned, and we readied for retaliation by swooping up close behind the Kwobus. At least they couldn’t fire upon us from behind.
“Ready the full blasts again, this time after release, we’re arcing a sharp turn right, and head straight for the wormhole,” I said.
“Captain, with the damage, I’m not sure the ship will make it through the burst,” Camxx said.
“Zekker, status of Allegra?” I barked as I comm’d the med bay.
“Not good, she’s not long if we can’t get her help,” Zekker said solemnly.
My heart pounded hard. “We have to try,” I said to Camxx. If we don’t try, we will lose Allegra. If we try to and we all die, so be it. We had no choice, I would not allow her to die when we stood a slim chance of making it through the burst.
“Fire!” The blasts from the Torq Runner crashed into the Kwobus. A laser beam hit their engine hull, the dark matter fuel cells immediately exploding. I laughed. They used the radioactive fuel to help fly faster in reaching us. It served to their detriment as their fuel cells ignited. The grand ship shimmied as the flames shot forth from the side and belly before a brilliant explosion filled the sky.
“Pull back!” I shouted as debris rushed towards us.
The hull narrowly missed us, as it disbursed all around us. “They won’t be tailing us anymore,” I said.
“Ready to burst,” I comm’d.
“It’s too risky,” Camxx said.
“Zekker, status update on Allegra?” I asked. I didn’t wait for his reply as I quickly left the bridge to check on her myself. There was an insignificant planet outpost a day away if flying in simple hyper-speed. And the repairs could take days on a planet with no medical facility to help Allegra. Her condition would determine what we do.
Allegra struggled with breathing, her face paler than it was the last time I saw her three hours ago. One look at the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around her chest and shoulder told me all I needed to know.
“She’s grave, Captain,” Zekker said.
“Can you try to operate?” I asked.
Zekker shook his head. “I don’t know the Terran vasc
ular system. She’s losing blood faster than I can restore it. All her crew who can have given blood to help. She needs repairs outside of my expertise. I’m not a surgeon, I’m a medic. If she were Aaran I’d try, but if I open her, I’m not sure I can stop the bleeding. We don’t have the right meds here to do this,” he said.
“No choice then. We’re bursting,” I said as I left the med bay and strode to the bridge. “Ready for bursting. Camxx, do what we need to help us through this.”
The ship shuddered as we burst through the wormhole. Alarms sounded as I saw pieces of our hull floating from us, the hull breached near the cargo bay. “Seal the doors,” I said as we closed off that part from the remaining ship. It limply floated into space, not able to soar forth. The Torq Runner had no power to propel us to the Darniner Space Station.
“Darniner, this is the Torq Runner. We took on severe damage when we came through the wormhole 201-T70. Please send help. We have an injured Terran on board in desperate need of medical attention,” I said into the radio.
“Torq Runner, we have dispatched the Darniner Rescue Effort. We see you on screen. We’ll arrive within the hour with help.”
Relief flooded through me as I set the radio control on the stand. “I need to check on Allegra,” I said as I left the bridge.
“No change, Captain,” Zekker said.
Razko sat up from his bed and gazed at her. “I’ve been sending her some of my good healing,” he said as he smiled.
“Raz, good to see you up,” I replied.
I glanced at Allegra and it pained me deeply to see her struggling. She hadn’t gained consciousness again since she last shut her eyes.
“Captain, were you able to save all?” Razko asked.
“Yes, the others are fine. Allegra took the brunt of the shot from the grunts. We decimated them and their retaliation ship before bursting. They damaged our ship. I suspect we’ll be at Darniner for a while,” I said as I quickly gazed at the fragile Terran who fought for her life.
Chapter 11
ALLEGRA
I floated on a cloud. Did I die? The pain that plagued me numbed, and surely, I died. Still in a struggle, I willed my eyelids to open just a crease. Bright light shone down, too bright for me. Heaven? I smiled, groaning and wanting desperately to gain consciousness. The smell of sterile antiseptic reached my nose, heavy footsteps came towards me. The bright light dimmed, and I opened my eyes, peering up into a curious face. Long white whiskers grew in tuffs. Enormous round crystal blue eyes peered at me, his bushy brow lifting as he gazed over me. A gigantic hand came up and touched my shoulder, checking for something. Bindings? How could I be in Heaven and in bindings? I moaned softly as my eyes closed again. Too tired, too sleepy, I couldn’t quite make myself open my eyes wide enough. He said something, but it drowned out from the hissing in my ears. Nope, I didn’t care what he said. I just wanted to sleep.
Waking up on my good side, my bandaged shoulder resting on a pillow, I couldn’t command my eyes to open. Awareness around me filtered into my mind. Again, the antiseptic smell, the bright lights, only not pointing at my eyes this time. Someone gently patted my hand, the hand of my bad shoulder. I barely felt it. I struggled to remember why I was so incapacitated. What put me here? All this space traveling, my brain was gobbledy-goop. My crew, where were they? Did they make it? Did I die? I kept asking myself questions I couldn’t answer. I had no answers.
“Allegra, dear one,” a voice came. Deep, gravelly, reassuring. Whose voice was it? “Please, open your eyes.”
Slowly the memories filtered through my foggy mind. Expecting to see Gandrox, I opened my eyes and saw the same face I saw earlier, the white-haired being with large blue eyes. He smiled.
“That’s better. Do you know your name?” he asked.
My brow furrowed. “Allegra,” I mumbled and cleared my throat.
“Very good. I am Dr. Econspox, head surgeon of the Darniner Medical Facility. You are on the Darniner Space Station, where we rescued the Torq Runner four days ago,” he informed me.
“Four? Four days?” I tried to sit up but my body felt as if I had a lead weight on it.
“Now, dear, you must rest,” he said.
“Rest? Seems that I’ve been sleeping for four days,” I said and laughed weakly.
“Gandrox brought you here barely alive. You had surgery to repair the damage the laser blaster did to you. Another hour or so and you would have died. Captain Gandrox hasn’t left this facility since.”
I smiled. Gandrox. “Where is he now?”
“When you stirred I had to come check on you first. He’s outside waiting, as are your Terran friends,” he said.
“My crew. Are they all right?”
“Oh yes, yes. Not a scratch, none for the worse, as you say. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to work on you. My first Terran. I had the privilege to learn fifty different species of beings and Terran was one, though we only have a sample of one.” Dr. Econspox peered into my eyes with a penlight. It amazed me to see the medical establishment this far from the Terran System having such similar implements.
“How did you come about having a sample of a human being?” I asked.
“Oh that, that. Yes, poor soul had been captured by the ruthless Soarathol and well, my, how do you say it, college, university, purchased it for research. We don’t make a practice of that, but we’re open to receiving those less fortunate,” he replied.
“If your school paid for it, then it seems to present an opportunity to earn money. I bet they killed the human just to sell him,” I said.
“Oh no. It wasn’t like that. He had been captured, and they killed him. We learned of it and they were about to leave him tied to a stake on the rock planet where he’d be nothing but bones in a matter of days in that arid environment. The school asked for it, but they don’t make a practice of purchasing dead bodies. It presented an opportunity to learn how the Terran worked. Lucky for you, that man saved your life,” Dr. Econspox said.
“Gandrox, get him for me, please.” I said, my parched mouth barely able to speak.
Dr. Econspox thrust a bottle to my lips and poured in cool water, which I eagerly drank. He smiled as he set it on the tray beside my bed. “Will do,” he said and disappeared out the door.
Not two seconds later, he returned. “I’m sorry, dear one, Gandrox left. Your Terran friends are resting in another room nearby. Would you like me to rouse them?” he asked.
“What? Gandrox left? You said he hasn’t left this place for four days,” I said.
“I guess he, I don’t know. Something else came up. He knew you were stirring.” Dr. Econspox shrugged. “When your Terran friends awaken, I’ll send them straight here.”
What if Gandrox only stayed long enough for me to wake up and then once he knew I’d make it, he left? What if he left the space station already? He seemed awfully eager to get away from us in the beginning, anyway.
It felt like hours passed with no one coming in here to check on me. Not even my crew came in and I found that so odd. Maybe it was night, and this planet didn’t celebrate a time of sleep. The room held no windows to the outside. Then I realized. Dr. Econspox called this place Darniner Space Station. On space stations it became very difficult to distinguish between day and night due to the lack of a sun or the rotation of a planet. People or beings normally just slept when the urge hit, not always keeping certain circadian rhythms. It must be primarily a human thing. On the Narada we kept the hours tightly to Earth schedule, because that’s what worked best for us. This must be a sleep time for my crew.
Where was Gandrox? Didn’t I recall him begging me to hang on? He seemed so concerned for me. I was not sure how long I’ve been down, as most of my memories were foggy. I sat up; the room swayed dizzily as I waited for it to pass. Weak and even a little hungry, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The bar that held an IV drip to me stuck into a casing at the top of my bed. I slowly stood and grabbed the bar, as it lifted easily from the hole. I needed
to keep the IV bag above me. It looked similar to what Earth hospitals used, only it had a circular shape, like a hot water bottle. The alien characters written on the bag made no sense, but I’m sure it contained medicine that I needed so I kept it going.
I stumbled to the door which opened for me when I approached. Where was everyone? Nobody walked along the corridor, except for me. Eerily quiet, the only sound came from the padding of my bare feet on the slick cool tiles. I shivered but moved on anyway, determined to find someone. Dr. Econspox didn’t seem too concerned that Gandrox had left his vigil by my side, and that worried me. What if Gandrox left? The question kept racing through my head. I wasn’t even sure where Darniner Space Station was, let alone what star system it sat within. These were details that I needed to know.
I paused at a junction, the slick tiles beneath my feet turned to a crude, rough texture of the stones. The junction had glass above, the inky sky peeking through with great sparkles of starlight. No sun shone, no nearby planets. I’ve heard of space stations that floated in the space between star systems. This place could be such a station. The long hallway led to nothing except for a doorway at the end. Finally, I reached a cross hallway and turned, because it took me further toward the interior of the place, perhaps where others stayed. Anyone. My hand reached up and felt the implant firmly in place. I’m sure Dr. Econspox wasn’t an Aaran, yet I understood him perfectly. I’m not sure what he was, other than a gnome-looking creature who referred to himself as a doctor.
“Please? Is anyone there?” I called out.
No answer came. I could hear gurgles and vibrations coming from somewhere. My vision blurred as I tried to make out shapes ahead. Nothing seemed right. “Please help.”
The lumps ahead moved away, I was alone once again. Tears blurred my eyes. Where was my crew? Where was Gandrox? Where was Dr. Econspox? Anyone with any familiarity would be a welcome sight for me. My throat ached, I swallowed air because I couldn’t seem to make enough saliva. I needed water. My belly rolled. Hunger? The urge to vomit crossed over me as I slumped down the wall, holding on to what little consciousness I could muster. The IV bar stayed above my head as I hugged it to me. Whatever the liquid in the bag, it had to provide me with some sort of hydration. I needed it desperately.