The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link

by Hanks, Daniel

Sandra took her drink back and slugged it down. “Good.” She ran her hand across my face. “We’re going to be just fine, you and I.” She gave me a kiss. “See you tomorrow. Sleep well.” I watched her go. No one said a word until she was gone.

  It was quiet. We were in shock. Kathy waved over the server. “Whiskey, please.” She glanced at Jenny and me. “Three double shots. No ice.”

  After the server left, I said, “What the hell?”

  “Just friends,” Jenny said.

  “Drake,” Kathy said. She shook her head.

  “She’s just drunk. She’ll be fine in the morning.”

  “Maybe,” Kathy said, taking a sip of her whiskey once it arrived.

  Jenny giggled. “Wow, six months. Good luck.”

  “Jenny, Kathy, I have to go. Tomorrow will be a long day. I’ll need to be sharp.”

  Kathy stood and gave me a hug, then Jenny joined her. I could have stayed in their arms forever.

  As I walked to my dorm, I had to wonder if I was missing something about Sandra. Were we just friends, or was their more to our relationship? She kept doing things like tonight that would floor me and leave me wondering, then other times she acted as if she hated me? Go figure.

  As I went to bed, I thought I might not be able to sleep, but it felt as if I’d just gone to sleep when Margret woke me up. I’d dropped my stuff off on the Discovery the day before so after getting dressed, I went to get breakfast. The Discovery was to leave at midmorning, allowing us to land on the planet’s surface after dawn.

  Jack waited for me on the Discovery. “Just thought you might need this,” he said and handed me a small blaster. “In case you run in to any unfriendly natives. You’ll be fine, kid. I’ve worked with you. I know you’ll be just fine.” He looked nervous. “Oh, here.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a hammer. “If you carry one, machines take notice. Don’t go anywhere without a good hammer.” I looked it over. We both stood frozen, not knowing what to say.

  “Women hug at a moment like this,” Kathy said as she entered the room. Jack took a step back and mumbled something about work. He turned and walked away. “What? Is he mad? I was just joking.”

  “No, I don’t think he was mad. Jack’s a sensitive guy.”

  “He hides it well.”

  Sandra entered, and without even a nod, she took a seat in the front row. Jenny came in, in a rush, and threw herself into my arms, giving me a big kiss.

  “I’ll miss you. Be careful,” she said.

  Ron Siltstone entered, followed by his assistant, Nala. He went straight into the flight deck. No second-class ticket for him. Nala approached our group and informed us we’d be leaving soon. Kathy wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss to remember. Not to be out done, Jenny gave me another one and then the two women waved goodbye as they left the ship.

  I took a deep breath and walked over and sat next to Sandra. She gave me an appraising look, then took my hand. “Don’t worry. We’re going to be just fine.”

  “I know,” I said. She continued to hold my hand. Sandra is a strong girl, and it started to hurt.

  “Ron shouldn’t be here. He has no reason for coming with us. Be careful around him. He has connections. Stay sharp. Don’t make him your enemy,” Sandra said.

  She let out a small gasp when the Discovery rocked as it unhooked from the Armstrong. I looked at her. She bit her lip and her eyes were about to bug out. I squeezed her hand. She responded by crushing mine. She didn’t let up as we entered the planet’s atmosphere, not until everything settled and the ship quit rumbling did she loosen her grip.

  “See, not so bad was it?” she asked as she straightened in her seat.

  “No, and thanks for holding my hand. It helped.”

  She glanced at me, then lowered her eyes. “Sure, that’s what I’m here for, to keep you safe.” She rubbed my hand. “You’re nice. I’ve always liked you.” I looked at her, and she gave me a smile.

  “Margret, please show us the ship’s forward sensors.” The planet’s surface appeared on the front wall. It was green with shots of blue and white clouds. “Margret, what’s our altitude?” I asked.

  “Just passing eighty-five kilometers,” she said.

  “Ah, green. My favorite color,” Sandra said.

  “It looks like pictures of South America, the Congo,” I said.

  “Hard to see from this altitude,” Sandra said. “Drake, sometimes I get scared, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you down when the shit hits the fan. I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

  I smiled. “Sandra, I know that, and I’ve always liked you too. I‘m just worried. If I mess up, I could kill a lot of people or ruin the whole mission.” I looked at her. “I’m scarred spit-less that I’ll screw up.”

  “We’re in this together.” She patted my hand.

  Radar readings said the ground existed and that it might be solid. I climbed into the mulch and called the Discovery, they lowered me to the surface. The mulcher shifted, facing straight down. I started the blades. The big machine chewed up the trees on its way, righting itself. Driving it in circles, I cut a place for the Discovery to land. As I did so clouds of birds took flight in front of me, and I saw a flash of an animal running away. More than a few animals weren’t so lucky. A small horse-looking creature disappeared under the blades.

  It took an hour to clear enough area for the Discovery to land. I was relived to watch it settle safely onto the ground. I climbed out of the mulch and then met Sandra at the door.

  She gave me a hug and then kept an arm around me as we walked to the mulch. “Ron wants us to stay out of the way so they can film him taking the first steps on the planet.”

  Sandra and I watched from the top of the mulcher as Ron and Nala practiced and recorded the official landing on planet 9732. With Ron taking the first steps on it.

  Sandra gave me a kiss. “I want you to know I’m glad we’re here together.”

  After the show, Sandra pulled me into the Discovery’s lunch room. She made me sit and eat. As we left, she patted my bottom. “You’ll need to keep up your strength for this evening,” she said, shocking me speechless.

  Ron met us on the loading ramp. “Young man, come here. I’ve looked at the lay out and changed it. I want you to put the command building on top that hill first. I’ve sent the mulcher.”

  Sandra grabbed my hand before I could speak. “We’ll be happy to do that, sir. Right away,” she said. She pulled me away. “Drake, you’re a smart kid so act smart. Don’t ever argue with a guy like that. He’ll smash you.”

  “Okay, but it’s stupid. We’ll have to move our equipment to get to his house. We could set up ours first. Now we’ll have to move it twice, because he wants his little love shack with Nala.” I climbed into the loader. “You coming,” I called.

  She shook her head. “You go. I have work here.”

  I liked having her close. Well, I’d better get used to it. We both had work to do. The loader was a huge machine with grabs on the front. I’d practiced running one in the simulator. It was easy to use. After removing our equipment from the Discovery’s hold, I uncovered Ron’s house and then took the first module up the hill while Sandra set up the communications building.

  Ron and Nala waited at the top. Ron had a tablet in his hand and waved me to stop. He showed me it. “I want you to put that module right over there.”

  “Okay, but first I want to shove dirt around. You know it’s what I do.”

  “Put the module there. You don’t need to move dirt around.”

  “Well, you’re the boss.”

  I kept bringing up the modules, one after another. By the third it was obvious the land wasn’t level enough. No matter how much Ron adjusted the modules couldn’t be leveled. As I brought up the last module, a plan occurred to me.

  “Hey, Ron, they want you up at the Discovery. A problem. Something happened.”

  “Christ, get this fixed. Damn it, can’t anyone do their jobs?” He jumped into his buggy. “Nala
, come on.”

  After they left, I moved the modules and plowed the site flat. Once they returned, I had the sections connected and level. Ron walked around inspecting it.

  “Well,” he said, “you better go set up so the Discovery can leave.”

  “Set your shields. See you in the morning,” I said.

  As Ron walked away, I thought of Bob. How far could you go to make people be careful? It was a few clicks from Ron’s hill to the landing site. When I arrived it was getting dark. Sandra met me and handed me a blaster.

  “Keep this close and ready,” she said.

  I looked around at the trees. They were dark and ominous. “Sandra, climb in,” I said.

  As she climbed up, I told Margret to call Discovery and tell them to go. I felt better having Sandra next to me as I plowed the site for our building. Everything was eerie and surreal, and the trees had turned black. After placing the modules, I had to adjust them. She stood by my side the whole time with blaster ready.

  “Honey, if hell breaks loose, get your pretty little ass inside the loader,” she said.

  “Not without you.”

  “Damn right. I’ll be right on your heels.”

  The forest came alive as the sun went down, casting shadows about. Weird sounds, not familiar, came from the dark, reminding us we weren’t at home. We were on another world.

  I finished connecting the modules as a strange growling and roar erupted from the trees. “Ah, Sandra, let’s go inside and turn on the force field.”

  “Good Idea.” She took my arm and marched me into the building.

  I hit the force field controls and relaxed when the indicators went green. “Margret, connect with the building security system. Wake me if it goes into alarm or trouble. Full volume, okay?”

  “Yes. I’m connected and will notify you of any faults and alarms.”

  Sandra let out a sigh. “Are you sure that force field is up?”

  I pulled out Margret and checked. “Yeah, it’s up.”

  “Let’s walk around.”

  Sandra took my hand. She towed me along through the building. One side opened to a large garage big enough to hold the mulcher. Next to it was a shop. We were ready for anything. The other end contained a medical section with two exam rooms and an auto doc, capable of performing the most advanced surgery.

  “Our goal is to keep you from ending up here as a patient,” she said, pulling me with her.

  She continued into the living quarters, which had a kitchen, dining room on one side, a small living room, bathroom and bedroom.

  Sandra looked at the beds and smiled. “The beds can be connected for special friends.”

  My heart leapt to my throat. I just didn’t know how I felt, and her constant joking made me crazy. I didn’t have a chance with a woman as pretty as her. Better to be friends. I shrugged and turned away, trying to hide my shaking hands.

  I wandered into the kitchen. “You hungry?” I called.

  “No, thanks. I’m going to take a cold shower and go to bed,” Sandra said.

  A cold shower sounded like a good idea to me as well.

  Chapter 8: Kidnapped

  With Sandra so close, I wondered if I could go to sleep, but I must have. Margret chimed. Sandra jumped up with a blaster in her hand so fast I never saw her reach for it. I grabbed Margret off the stand.

  “Emergency message from Nala,” she said.

  “Connect.”

  “Help us! Please hurry! Please!” She crumpled to the floor in sobs.

  Sandra grabbed Margret. “Get dressed. Hurry,” she said. “Nala, what happened?” Nala continued to sob. “Nala! What happened?” Sandra repeated.

  “They took him. The animals came. They grabbed him, stabbed him and pulled him away. I couldn’t stop them.” She started crying hard then. Nothing Sandra did could get a response from her.

  “Give me Margret. Get dressed,” I said. “Margret, play back the last ten minutes of video from the command center. Put it on the screen.”

  The wall of the living room showed the front of the command center. Sandra came in to watch as she got dressed. God, she’s beautiful, I thought. Something moved at the edge of the trees and several tall men, no, animal things, came slowly forward. One made a motion, and they sprinted toward the door, crashing into it. The force field was off and the door sprung open.

  “Margret, is there a video camera inside the hallway? Bring it up. Start at the time when the creatures hit the door.”

  The door burst open, and the creatures entered, sniffing and moving cautiously. Ron came roaring into the hall, waving a blaster. One of the creatures made a quick movement, and a dart slammed into Ron’s side. It had a rope attached, and the creature pulled Ron toward it. Ron dropped his weapon and grabbed the rope with both hands. It looked as if he was screaming. The creatures grabbed him by the arms and pulled him off his feet as they ran out the door.

  “Margret, run it back slow. Show me the dart in flight,” Sandra said. She walked up to the display and circled the dart, then took her fingers and moved them apart. The picture enlarged. The head of the dart was covered with barbs. “God, that must have hurt,” she said softly. “Margret, show him as he throws the dart.” His arm was a blurr. An underhand throw, but fast and hard. “Show it again. The creature must have had the dart in his hand.” His hand went back and then forward, and the dart flew fast and true.

  “Margret, show the outside camera as they leave,” I said. The creatures pulled Ron across the clearing and into the trees. “Mark that spot.”

  “You aren’t going,” Sandra said.

  “Why?”

  “It’s too dangerous for you.”

  “The only place safe is next to you. You said that yourself. I have to stay within arm’s length of you.”

  “He’s probably dead, but we have to go check. That’s the right thing to do,” she said, shaking her head. She stuck a finger into my chest. “Okay, but you do exactly as I say when I say.”

  “Okay. So the rules are I stay within arm’s length of you and do exactly what you say.”

  She smiled, then handed me a blaster. “Remember how to use this?” I nodded “Good, you’ll be using it. Let’s go.” She said handing me a day pack.

  “Sandra, should we call the captain and let her know what we’re doing.”

  Sandra smiled. “The captain will never approve of us going after Ron. It’s your call. Do we ask the captain to forgive us later or leave Ron?”

  “What the hell can the captain do? Bust me to apprentice?”

  I’m left handed, so I walked on her left and stayed close. I had Margret set my eye to night mode. It was weird at first. I walked backward to watch our rear, then turned around and checked front and both sides. We walked straight down the center of the clearing. Sandra wore night goggles, but they weren’t as good as a fake eye.

  “Don’t see anything. Just a pretty girl,” I said.

  “I can hardly see enough to walk. Maybe we should wait for tomorrow.”

  “He’ll be dead by then. Let’s just take a look with my eye. I can see as if its midday.”

  Sandra sighed. “Stupid kid, but I guess we should at least try.”

  We arrived at the command center. Margret confirmed that the force field was set. Sandra called Nala and told her to stay put.

  “Okay. Are you going to look for Ron?” Nala asked with a hint of panic in her voice.

  “Yes, as much as we dare. I have a responsibility to protect Drake, and he comes first, but we’ll go see what we can do,” Sandra said.

  “I understand. You must protect Drake. Maybe you shouldn’t even go.”

  We entered the forest at the same spot that we’d seen the creatures take Ron. They’d left an easy trail to follow. One would have to be blind to miss it. I stopped Sandra, and whispered into her ear, “These creatures hunt. They know how to cover their trail. I think they’ll set an ambush using Ron as bait.” We continued following, but very carefully.

 
We heard him crying. At first, I thought it was an animal. We followed the sound. Sandra turned to the side, and we circled it. I saw him before she did, sitting next to a tree under a fern. I took her hand and pointed her at him. After a few moments, she nodded. I looked around carefully, picking out three other creatures. I pointed them out. She shook her head and pulled me close.

  “No good. We have to go. Sorry,” she whispered. She gave my ear a light kiss and then turned. A spear sank deep into her thigh. I shot the creature who’d thrown it, then the two others.

  “Run, Drake,” she yelled.

  I grabbed her and lifted her onto my shoulder. Damn, she’s heavy, I thought. Turning, I shot two other creatures and then ran.

  “Margret, give me directions to medical. Hang in there, sugar.”

  “Shit, I hate being called that,” Sandra said, shooting at a group of creatures that followed.

  I broke into a small clearing. In the middle between two posts Ron was stretched out naked with several darts sticking out at different angles. Sandra swore as I set her down with her back to one of the posts. With shaky hands, I tore her pant leg open searching my day pack I found a medical kit and bandaged her leg.

  She grabbed my arm. “Drake, you said you’d do as I say. Leave me and Ron. Run. You can make it. Leave us.” She let me go.

  I smiled. “I love you, Sandra.” I reached down and gave her a kiss.

  She laughed. “You what? Did you say you love me?”

  “Yes, I love you, and I won’t leave you.”

  “Stupid kid. When I’m well, I’ll beat your stupid ass.” I shot a creature across the clearing. “Nice shot, but I’m still going to beat you good.”

  “Margret, can you bring the rescue vehicle to us?” I said.

  After a pause, she said “Yes, on its way.”

  “Great. What’s the ETA?”

  “Three minutes.”

  “Good, Margret.” I shot another creature.

  I turned and shot the ropes holding Ron up. He fell in a heap, letting out a scream. After thrashing around, he went silent. I reached for some pain pills, but Sandra stayed my hand.

  “We could end up like him. Keep the painkillers for yourself. Keep them close. Take them if we get overrun. That’s a better way to die.”