by JK Stone
Jason exhaled in relief and he saw the tension in Jerren’s shoulders ease as well.
*****
Alise had been correct. Justin had remained unconscious for ten minutes before he opened his eyes. “What the hell happened?”
Jason let out a nervous sigh. “Apparently something or someone wanted you to bond with that ship. The disk flew to you and when you touched it, the bonding must have activated. Are you okay?”
Justin looked from Jerren to Jason and nodded. Jason helped his brother to his feet and consulted the display, and read,
TDS 3
Disk reconfigured. Apply to new host.
Bonding procedure failure, incorrect host data. Apply disk to proper host.
Bonding procedure failure, incorrect host data. Apply disk to proper host.
Bonding procedure failure, incorrect host data. Apply disk to proper host.
Bonding procedure successful.
Data link confirmed.
Commander input required.
Jason looked at Justin. “It says commander input required.”
Justin moved closer to the console, looked down at the display and asked, “What input?” A moment later the display changed to read,
Input received.
Command functions TDS 3 transferred.
Jason said to Justin, “It would appear you are the new commander of TDS 3.” Justin frowned and Jason saw he was none too happy about it. “Congratulations are in order I guess.” Jason went to his brother and gave him a firm hug. “You can handle this.”
Justin just grunted, “It would have been nice to be given a choice.”
At his words, the master control room rumbled, but just as fast as it started it ceased.
Jason sighed. “Spilled milk.”
Jerren said, “Lemons to lemonade.”
Justin nodded. “It is what it is, but I’m going to make mistakes, I just know it.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jason gestured for Justin to have a seat in front of the TDS 3 control panel. Justin sat down and the screen came to life showing,
TDS 3
Minimal access protocol, reengage full access (Yes) or (No).
Justin was about to select yes when Jason stopped him. “You might want to engage the safety protocols first,” He instructed.
Justin said, “I don’t see any safety…”
Justin shook his head and a second later the display read,
Safety protocol engaged.
Justin looked back to Jason and shrugged. “Do it or not?”
“It looks safe now. I just didn’t want you to get the same splitting headache I did when it opened the floodgates,” Jason replied.
Justin grunted, “Here goes nothing,” and selected (Yes) to re-engage the full access.
The safety protocol activated it and his eyes seemed to glaze over a moment, then they watched the display as the percentage rose and fell then rose again finally settling a few minutes later. The display changed to read,
Safety Protocol Engaged.
Auto data stream 14%.
Jason said, “Okay, you need to reset the power system and check life support. It was cold as shit when I was on the ship and there was no gravity.”
Justin asked, “When were you on the ship? You never told us that.”
“It must have slipped my mind. Anyway, once we power the ship up we can make sure it is safe to enter.”
Justin did as Jason instructed. The lighting in the room dimmed, then the display read,
TDS 3
Core is not responding, manual input required.
System restart on standby.
Justin asked, “What does that mean, Jason?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m not sure. It’s possible the ship doesn’t have enough power and is unable to respond to an engine restart request. What are the current air quality and temperature conditions on the ship?”
Justin looked down at the display and a few seconds later he said. “The system shows twenty-three percent oxygen and seventy-six percent nitrogen with a point ninety-three percent carbon dioxide and thirty degrees. But it looks as though the temperature has risen over two hundred degrees in the past three hours, why?”
Jason steeled himself for an argument. “I think we need to get on the ship to effect enough of a power boost to let the system restart. Do you agree Alise?” He added that last part, knowing Alise was listening in.
Alise broke her silence. “It makes sense, although it will still be dangerous. The air is close to Earth normal and the temperature change would indicate the ship is transitioning from the shadow on the back side of the moon to directly in view of the sun. Even with the ship’s advanced hull, the temperature will continue to increase until the engines have restarted and life support is reinstated.
“By my calculations, you will only have a sixty to seventy-minute window to initiate a restart before it will become too hot to remain onboard. The clothing and boots will afford you some protection but not much. You should have more than enough air to last that much time.”
Jason looked between his brothers. “You heard Alise. We’ll have to work fast.”
Jason looked over at Jerren. “I think Justin and I should go over to the ship first. Could you monitor our progress from the console here? If it shows enough power, make sure the restart sequence is engaged and inform us of any changes.”
Jerren nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get this done before it turns into an oven over there and cooks you two turkeys.”
Jason and Justin chuckled as they turned to face the wall.
Jason said, “Archway TDS 3.” He was about to step forward when the archway failed to appear. “That’s strange. It opened for me before,” He stated confusedly.
He thought about it a second, then gestured for Justin to try.
“Archway TDS 3.” The words barely left Justin’s mouth when the archway appeared. “It would appear only the commander is allowed to open the passage,” Justin said with a smirk.
With a shrug, Jason said, “It must have only let me open the archway the last time only because there was no commander in charge.”
Jason stepped through the archway and experienced the time dilation effect. Once he was inside the derelict ship, the feeling of weightlessness engulfed him. They both activated their gravity boots and Jason felt his feet get pulled to the floor.
The only lights in the room were being emitted from their suits; they glowed brightly enough to illuminate the entire room and Jason looked around in disgust. He hadn’t gotten a good look the last time he was aboard. The ship was a mess, and everywhere he looked he could see debris floating. Jason and Justin made their way through the debris toward the engine, which was a duplicate of the one on his ship. They cleared enough room in front of the engine, which was dead quiet and moved to within hands reach.
Jason said, “Well, let’s see what happens.”
Jason removed his gloves, tucked them into his waistband and began to focus on pushing as much energy as he could into the engine. He pushed as hard as he could and felt energy arcing to the ship’s engine but it wasn’t enough to jump-start it. He looked at Justin and said, “It may require both of us to provide enough energy.”
Justin nodded, removed his gloves as well and they both placed their hands on the engine, but still there was no sign of success.
Jason let out a sigh and a thought came to him. He grabbed his brother’s left hand with his right and placed his left hand on the engine. “Justin put your right hand on the engine and focus as hard as you can.” They did and this time it looked as if a few lights were about to flicker then they faded away.
Jason’s life monitor chirped and Jerren’s voice came over it slightly distorted. “Whatever you just did almost worked.”
Jason thought about it and figured he might be on to something. He activated his life monitor. “Okay, we’re going to try it again. Let us know if anything changes.”
Jaso
n said to Justin, “You know that feeling you get when you wave your hands really fast back and forth and you get that gravity feeling?” Justin nodded.
“The energy we need feels kind of like that. You need to tense up and push. I’ll do the same and with any luck, it’ll work this time. Are you ready?” Jason asked.
Justin nodded and they proceeded again. Jason focused hard and began pouring his energy into the engine. He began to feel the same fuzziness he’d felt during the attacks on his ship. He was being suppressed but he could still feel his surroundings. He could almost feel the engine take when a massive explosion rocked the ship and threw him like a rag doll.
Jason and Justin collided with the far wall, the fuzziness in his mind lifted and Jason saw the debris that had been floating unassumingly was now hurling in their direction. Jason dodged a piece and the ship stopped moving suddenly as if it had hit a barrier. Before he could yell for his brother to look out, a large chunk of the floating debris crashed into Justin’s head.
Time seemed to slow down as Jason made his way to Justin’s side. He moved the debris from his brother and surveyed the damage. It was not good. His head had taken most of the impact and he was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Jason could hear a faint gurgling in Justin’s throat and his eyes had a glazed look.
Jason cupped his hands around his brother’s head and focused on healing him, but he was drained from the attempt to restart the engine. It was all his fault. He must have done something wrong and caused the ship to explode, and now his brother was going to die. He tried again as hard as he could, and another blast rocked the ship. This time the blast coursed through him, and he reached out with his mind to see what was going on, and he felt them.
The Toralin’s were back again and in about the same numbers as he’d seen the last time. It was they who had caused this. Fury began to build deep within him. He found it hard to breathe, and his chest was constricting as he felt the remainder of the energy in his body pour out to create an energy shield around the ship. The Toralin ships were firing energy weapons at them, but as each blast hit the energy barrier, it dissipated. He looked down at his dying brother and he heard a familiar voice.
“Use them!” Inola said.
All of a sudden Jason knew what he needed to do. He stripped off his environmental shirt and leaned his bare back against the freezing wall, then let his energy shield down as he cupped his brother’s head in his hands and pushed. One blast after the other hit the ship, and he felt the energy seize his body as it course into his back and down through his arms into his brother’s convulsing body.
Jason could see the effects almost immediately. Justin’s skin was healing. A few blasts later, Justin opened his still-bloodied eyes and asked with a gurgle, “What happened?” and he coughed up a little blood.
Jason growled in irritation. “We’re under attack!” He barely got the words out before another volley of blasts hit the hull and coursed through both of their bodies.
This time they both heard Inola’s voice saying, “Use them!” if Justin’s shocked expression was any indication.
Somehow Jason knew exactly what he was meant to do. He stood and helped Justin to his feet. Trying not to stare at the deformity of his brother’s head, he said, “Justin, I need you to place one hand on the Engine.”
Justin did as he requested, and Jason did the same, “When I get to one, reach over and press your other hand to the wall.” Justin nodded and he counted it down, “Three…Two…One.”
With a shocking jolt, Jason felt the connection get established, and his body was seizing with the enormity of the power. The energy blasts hitting the hull, along with Justin’s and his energy, coursed directly into the engine. The lights lit up the room, then began to fade out. there was a pause in weapons fire, and he and Justin’s arms dropped breaking the connection.
Jason was despondent. He was thinking this had failed as well and they would have to retreat to the master control room, but Jerren’s distorted voice came out of his life monitor.
“Whatever you just did worked. The ship is powering up. It should be functional in a few minutes your time and fully restarted in an hour or two.”
Jason didn’t hesitate. He extended the energy from deep within him and surrounded the ship again. He closed his eyes. Now that he wasn’t in a blind panic over Justin’s condition, he could feel the ships. More than a hundred ships large and small surrounded them. He could feel the beings on them and the hatred directed toward him and his brother.
The Toralin’s were not going to give up and were willing to die in order to destroy another of these ships. Rage the likes of which he had never known possible began building within him, then a sense of calm washed over Jason as he felt his consciousness get pushed aside once again. The enormity of the rage he felt was overwhelming, and a moment later Jason was out cold.
Chapter Thirty
Jason awoke to an extremely aching body, splitting headache and a loud ringing in his ears. He could hear Alise attempting to get more details out of Justin, but Justin said that he didn’t know what was happening any more than she did. At that moment Jason was short on details himself and he wanted to know why he was in bed again with no recollection of getting there.
Jason opened his eyes slightly, and the bright lights surrounding him threatened to send him back to sweet oblivion. He grimaced in pain and with a gravelly voice said, “Reduce lighting seventy-five percent.”
Upon realizing Jason had awakened, Alise, Justin, and Jerren rushed to his side with a litany of questions.
Jason held his hand up to signal for silence and cautiously reopened his eyes to a less severe throbbing in his head. He croaked out, “O…ne…” He cleared his parched and burning throat then started again. “One second…what happened? I remember going on the other ship, the blast and Inola’s voice telling me to use them and then energy pulsing through me into your wounds. After that, her voice said to use them again and I knew it meant to power the ship up, but after Jerren said it worked, all I remember is waking up here.” Jason took in Justin’s appearance, and he was relieved to find that the damage Justin had sustained during the attack was able to be mended.
Justin nodded at him. “After Jerren informed us it had worked. You kind of went …apeshit.”
Jason didn’t quite know how to take that, and Justin must have seen his confusion because he continued.
“Well, it’s the best way to describe it. You began convulsing and breathing in short rapid breaths that turned into deep rapid breaths. With each one, you turned a deeper shade of red and you were beginning to pulsate with energy. I tried to get you to calm down.”
Justin paused a second then continued. “Then you kind of growled words out, you said, ‘I have had enough of this.’ Then you got a glazed look on your face. An energy wave passed through me and I could hear your voice, not a loud but with every fiber of my being as you bellowed, ‘YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WARNED AND YOUR LIVES ARE NOW FORFEIT!’
“I can honestly tell you those words in that voice scared the living hell out of me. It felt like a death sentence. About a minute later you raised your hands as if to catch something, closed your right hand into a fist, muttered something I couldn’t make out then flicked your left hand, and then you reached out as if you were hugging something then thrust your arms out, kind of like passing a basketball. After that you fell unconscious,” Justin said with a shrug, then he added, “I got you to the master control room and Jerren helped me get you through to your ship where you’ve been for almost three days just lying unresponsive.”
At that point, Alise said, “I performed a medical scan on you. Aside from a serious electrolyte imbalance and severe subconjunctival hemorrhaging, you were fine. Although your clothes were a mess again. Your shirt must have been vaporized because I could not find any trace of it.” Alise gave him a knowing look and a raised eyebrow.
Jason let out a chuckle that almost made him vomit. “Ah… that would be because I wasn�
�t wearing it. I removed it to get more skin contact with the ship when I healed Justin. The energy from the weapons passed through my back and into him through my hands,” he finished to her unamused gaze.
“Although I am happy that you saved your brother’s life, I think it was unwise to use yourself as a lightning rod of sorts. It could have killed you; it could have killed both of you,” she stated sounding exasperated.
Jason sighed and slowly made his way to his feet, fighting to stay conscious. He took her in his arms. “I know you’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but I am sorry I cause you to worry. I don’t do it out of recklessness or a disregard for your feelings, but because I love my brothers, and I’d do it again if it meant saving their lives.”
Jason took Alise’s cheeks in his hands and forced her to look into his eyes. “And I would do the same for you. You mean the world to me, as much as…no, more than them even.” Jason looked at his brothers. “I’m sorry but she’s everything to me. So, you should know what that means, given my love for both of you.”
Jerren and Justin nodded, then Justin patted him on the shoulder and said. “Well I hate to break up this lovefest, but I need to get back to my ship. The last commander was a hoarding slob and it’s taking forever to clean up all the crap. The entire second level is packed and I’m running out of room to put stuff.”
Alise and Jason laughed and Jason felt as if he would pass out.
“What? What are you not telling me?” Justin asked.
Jason regained himself and shook his head. “Just instruct the ship to move the offending items to void storage. The same way you call for the archway. It’s as easy as that. And if you have the required base materials and instructions, you can make any items or food you need.”
“Your A L I S E should have told you that,” Alise said.
Justin turned with a growl and marched to the lift, muttering something about smart-ass, uncaring, slave-driving AI’s.
Once Justin left and the floor closed behind him, Jerren and Alise burst into laughter, which prompted Jason to ask, “What’s so funny?”