by Saxon Andrew
Harper’s group finally made it to the bridge, Harper was determined to bring the bodies back to be honored. “Sir, the indicator is green. The bridge is still pressurized.”
Harper nodded, “The bridge is the most heavily armored place on this ship. Set up the force field and compressor.” Harper and four other scouts moved next to the wall as the force field activated. The compressor began pushing compressed gasses out of the containment vessel until Harper saw the green indicator go on in his helmet,
“That’s enough. Hold the pressure at this level.” A scout pushed a lever on the compressor and the noise moved to a quieter level. Harper pressed a button on the portal and it swung up and away from them. He walked into the bridge and saw bodies scattered around the room. He saw many of them were still in their acceleration chairs.
He moved into the room and looked for the Admiral. “Spread out and find the Admiral’s body.” The scouts scattered and moved toward the back wall where most of the bodies were located. A scout turned over a chair and heard a moan, “Lieutenant! I’ve found the Admiral and he’s still alive!”
Harper hit his communicator, “RUSH AN ENVIRO-STRETCHER TO THE BRIDGE, NOW!!!”
Harper rushed over to the chair and saw Gem strapped to it with blood covering his chest from a wound in his scalp. His legs were twisted at awful angles and one of his arms was also horribly twisted. He said, “Leave him in the chair! Trying to move him will probably kill him!” He pressed his communicator, “WHERE IS THE STRETCHER!!”
“Lieutenant, it’s being rushed out of the landing bay!”
“Yes, Sir! Please hurry!” Harper watched the stretcher-team rush into the bridge. Ten scouts lifted the heavy stretcher and chair, pulled the clear cover over it, and took it through force field. They quickly disappeared down the corridor leading to the landing bay.
• • •
“ANA, GEM’S ALIVE.” Ana’s mouth flew open and Angel said, “Ana, he’s really messed up and they’re keeping him in a coma until they can operate on him at Romania.”
Ana stared at Angel and then jumped to her feet. She ran out of the living room, where she was playing with the twins and snatched a file drawer out of a steel cabinet. She grabbed file folders out and began tossing them aside as she quickly looked at each one. As she rushed through them she activated her communicator, “KAYLEE! WHERE ARE YOU?”
“I’m sitting on Gregor’s ship above Bellingham.”
“COME PICK ME UP IN THE CLEARING!!”
“Why, Ana? What’s going on?”
“THERE’S NO TIME, KAYLEE, COME GET ME NOW!!!” Ana found the file she was searching for, snatched the contents out and ran into the living room, “Angel, take care of the twins.” Angel nodded and Ana disappeared out the door. Her enhanced body moved at incredible speed and she lept over the huge log at the edge of the clearing.
She saw Gregor’s ship come roaring down from orbit toward the clearing and she stayed clear. He was using full boosters and it was dangerous to move under the rapidly descending starship, the boosters could fry her. It settled on its landing legs and Ana ran at full speed toward it. The port opened and Ana lept fifteen-feet into the port, GREGOR, GET ME TO ROMANIA!!”
Gregor hit the engines and the ship blasted off the surface and disappeared in the blue sky. “What’s going on, Ana?”
“Kaylee, Gem’s alive but he’s really messed up!”
Kaylee looked at Gregor and he pushed the booster handle fully forward before he was out of the planet’s atmosphere. The sonic boom was heard over half the planet.
• • •
Gregor broke the record for the fastest trip to Romania. Two hours out from the planet, Ana went to Gregor’s console and said, “Contact Heather.”
The computer made the contact and Ana said the moment she appeared on the monitor, “Heather!!”
“Ana, he’s in a bad way. He’s just arrived at the spaceport and they’ve prepared the operating room.”
HEATHER, YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM!!”
“Ana, you can’t be…”
“HEATHER, IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU’LL STOP THEM FROM OPERATING! GEM DOESN’T HAVE A NORMAL HUMAN BODY. PLEASE, STOP THEM!!”
Ana looked at Gregor and he said, “Computer, how long before we arrive?”
“Two hours before we can clear traffic.”
“How long if we go straight in?”
“Gregor, you’ve seen the millions of aircraft above Romania. We’ll kill thousands if we go straight in!”
“HOW LONG?”
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
Ana started shaking her head and Gregor connected to Gregory, “I’m bringing Ana in and I’ll be coming straight out of orbit to the hospital. If you don’t want to lose several thousand of your citizens, you better clear the traffic before I arrive.”
“How far out are you?”
“Twenty-six minutes.” Gregory’s eyes flew wide open and Gregor said, “I’d get moving if I were you.” Gregor shut down the contact and said, “I’ll get you there, Ana, no matter what it takes!”
Ana kissed him on the cheek and moved to stand just outside the exit port. She contacted Heather and asked, “Where is he?”
“He’s being moved into the operating room as we speak. The head surgeon has not agreed to delay.”
“Can you put him on?”
Heather held up her wrist unit to the Head Surgeon and Ana said, “Are you in charge?”
“I am.”
“If you touch Gem before I arrive, I will kill everyone in the operating room!”
The surgeon shook his head, “Mrs. Romanov…”
“YOUR HEAD WILL BE THE FIRST TO HIT THE FLOOR, DOCTOR!!”
The contact ended and the Head Surgeon’s mouth fell open. Heather said, “She’s not kidding, Doctor. She owns half of this planet and nothing on it will save you from her sword.”
The Surgeon stared at Heather and yelled, “Only prepare him for surgery. Do not start until I order it!”
Heather smiled, “You just saved your life.” Heather watched him enter the operating room and start yelling at his assistants.
• • •
Ana rushed into the hospital and saw Heather standing outside the operating room. She kissed her on the cheek and ran into the sterile room. The Head Surgeon saw her enter and raised his hands, “We’ve not touched him!”
Ana looked at an assistant and said, “Fill that tub with warm water.” The assistant didn’t move and Ana’s sword was out of its scabbard in an instant. The assistant ran across the room and turned on the water. Ana held her sword and went over to the tub. She turned off the water and poured the contents of a plastic package into the water. She looked at the staff and said, “Bring him over here and put him in the tub.” The Surgeon stared at her and Ana cut an operating table in half, “ALL OF YOU ARE NEXT!!”
The ten doctors rolled the table over to the tub and lifted Gem carefully and put him in the water. “Do not touch the water! Doctor, use your gloved hands to push his head under the water. The surgeon hesitated for an instant and them pushed Gem’s head under the water. Three seconds later, Ana said, “Lift his head.”
The surgeon lifted Gem’s head and saw the water had changed color to silver and had the appearance of liquid plastic. A minute later, it changed to the appearance of water.
Ana took a deep breath and said, “Ok, lift him out of the tub and put him on the table.”
The staff lifted Gem out of the tub and placed him on the operating table. They stared at Gem and then an assistant said, “Doctor, look at his legs!”
Everyone looked at Gem’s legs and the compound fractures were moving inside the skin. The bones were straightening out and the Head Surgeon immediately looked at Gem’s arm. It had already straightened out and the wounds on his chest and head were closing. He looked at Ana and said, “What have you done?” Ana ignored him and only stared at Gem. Forty-minutes later the Surgeon said, “That is not the same man that was brought in here.”
> Ana nodded without taking her eyes off Gem, “No, he isn’t…but he is.”
Gem’s eyes opened and Ana leaned down over him. He said in a raspy voice, “What happened?”
“A Tronan Warship crossed into the reverse filament and collided with your ship at high-speed.”
Gem stared at her and then said, “My crew?”
Ana sighed, “You are the only one that survived, my love.”
Gem closed his eyes and the Surgeon said, “I’m putting him under. He’s been in shock and he needs time to recover!” Ana nodded and stepped back. The Surgeon put a neural-helmet over Gem’s head. They wheeled him out to a private room and Ana sat down beside his bed.
The Surgeon looked at Heather, “What did she just do.”
Heather blew out a breath, “Gem hasn’t always been human. He was once an Insectoid and I suspect that is what kept him from being killed.”
The Surgeon stared at her, “Really?” Heather nodded.
• • •
Ana remained at Gem’s bed refusing to leave. The surgeon told her he would remain unconscious for five-days and she should go get some rest. Ana ignored him and he finally walked away. Several nurses tried to get bossy and they got to see the point of Ana’s sword up close and personal. Eventually, they ignored her. On the fifth-day the surgeon entered and removed the helmet. He looked at the medical scanners on the wall and smiled at Ana, “He should wake up in a few minutes. Mrs. Romanov.” Ana looked at him. “Thank you for stopping me.” Ana smiled and nodded, “I know you believed you were trying to save him.” The surgeon nodded and left the room.
Ana stared at Gem and a little while later, he opened his eyes, “Hey, Love.” Ana leaned forward and kissed him tenderly.
Gem slowly raised his hand to put it on her head and stopped. He stared at his bare arm and Ana said, “So you’re not a blonde anymore.”
“What am I?”
“A brunette.”
Gem looked at his other arm and said, “You used a DNA packet.” Ana shrugged and nodded. “Which one?”
Ana tilted her head, “Often times, while you were gone, I would open your files and take a look at all the pictures on the packets you had stored. I ranked them and I chose the one I thought was the best looking. I hope you don’t mind.” Gem slowly shook his head and Ana hugged him.
“I feel so tired and weak.” Gem looked at her, “My crew died because of my stupidity.”
“Then don’t be stupid again.” Gem’s eyes moistened and Ana said, “You’ve never had a problem passing out death sentences in the past.”
“I didn’t love them, Ana.”
Ana’s eyes teared up and she said, “Don’t ever forget this feeling, Gem. Everyone has someone who loves them.” Gem closed his eyes and wept.
Ana gave Gem time for his sorrow and then contacted Gregor, Kaylee, Gregory, and Heather. They entered the room and Gem’s sorrow was put aside for another time as his family and friends welcomed him back to the land of the living.
Gem’s appearance was completely different. Instead of being a tall, powerfully built Blonde, he was six-feet tall and had the body of a gymnast. His hair was black and his face was…Ana said it best, beautiful. But it only took a few moments to know that this new man was Gem. Even so, he was different. He wasn’t as cool and calculating as before and his emotions were easy to see. Something had changed.
• • •
Gregor waited on his ship for Kaylee to arrive on a shuttle. Separating her from Ana was like trying to remove your own lung. He leaned back in his chair and said, “Computer.”
“Yeeessss.”
“You already know what I’m going to ask, don’t you?”
“I imagine it’s about how fast I managed to get to Romania.”
“Boy! You are good!”
“I’ve been struggling with that since we made the trip. I confess that I was so caught up in the moment that I didn’t really think about it during the trip.”
“Have you thought about it since?”
“I have but I’m not sure I’m right in what I came up with.”
“Tell me what you think.”
“It has to do with the fins and the sharpened edges welded on my hull.”
“Go on.”
“I’ve never been able to approach that speed prior to their installation. They must have caused the additional speed in some way.”
“That makes sense.”
“The thing is, I was frightened to go any faster.”
“What do you mean by any faster.”
“I wasn’t using maximum boost.”
“WHAT?”
“Gregor, I was far exceeding my maximum tolerances. I pushed as far as my limitations allowed but I did not come close to using maximum boost.”
“How can that happen.”
“Explain how the scouts move so much faster than our warships with their small boosters.”
‘I thought that was explained by mass to boost power or something like that.”
“I’ve heard the same thing but I’m not so sure about that any more. When I was modified a few years ago, I had three new boosters added to my original three.”
“Hey, I forgot about that.”
“I believe the sharpened edges of the fins and wings cut through the energy in the filament more efficiently and allowed a much higher speed.” Gregor was silent and the computer said, “The scouts are at their max.” Gregor nodded. The computer continued, “As long as the size of the dark matter tanks are limited, they can’t produce any more boost.”
“But if we put sharpened edges on a warship…”
“They are not limited by the size of boosters they use,” the computer added.”
Gregor waited in the silence and said, “But the mass of a warship is more than a hundred-times that of a scout.”
“I’m not so sure mass makes a difference in a filament. After what’s happened, I believe it is the friction of the filament’s energy that is the real limiter of speed.”
“We need to find out what your limit is.”
“That could prove to be dangerous.”
“How so?”
“I could suddenly break apart.”
“Surely there would be some sort of warning, like a vibration, or creaking, or…”
“Everything flying off my hull.”
“Sissy.”
“Hey, easy for you to say. You’re not the one doing it.”
“I’ll be inside you when you do it, Computer. You won’t take that risk alone.”
“And so will Kaylee.” Gregor’s mouth closed. “No so funny now is it?”
Gregor smiled, “We need to find out.”
“Why?”
“Speed is the great magnifier. Nothing adds more power to a warship that its speed.”
“I don’t follow you.”
“Try to imagine my transports with the sharpened wings edges and fins on their bows. No other ship has the power of a transport’s boosters.”
“Now you’ve made me feel small, Gregor.”
Gregor nodded, “It could be the difference in escaping or dying for thousands of warriors.”
“We’ll check it out after we drop Kaylee off at Bellingham.”
“Good idea. Mums the word. She’ll kill both of us if she knows what we’re up to.”
“You got it.”
Chapter Sixteen
Emily looked at Randy, “I’ve just received a message from one of our scout Commanders; he intercepted a Tronan Communication between the Leader of the Fleets Walt attacked and the Big Cheese Tronan Leader.”
“Emily, they call him the Senior.”
Emily waved a hand, ‘Whatever, anyway, the scouts we’re pursuing are going to make the turn at the intersection on the reverse flow and the Tronan Fleets stopped there are going to ram into the sides of our ships as we come around the corner.”
Randy stared at Emily, “That’s a pretty good plan!”
Emily nodded, “It really is.”
“It’s too bad we know about it.”
“It will spoil their party,” Emily agreed.
Randy sat back in his chair and sighed. Emily leaned over and hugged him, “What’s wrong, my love?”
“This whole war is a waste!” Emily tilted her head and her eyes narrowed. “I mean, we can only put one Phalanx in the filament at a time. If we put others behind it, then they have to break formation to avoid the Tronan Vessels with the malfunctioning Eggs in them. We have thousands of scouts and we can only use about 800 scouts in the filament at one time. This is crazy.”
“But we are stopping them.”
“We’re certainly causing them damage. But how many of the Tronan Warships that have their stardrives damaged and get thrown out of the filament are still operational. We haven’t even started getting rid of those, except for where Walt fought that fleet. This is a classic waste of ships.”
“What if we don’t drop Eggs?’
Randy looked at her, “What?”
“If you want to get the other scouts involved in the fight, don’t drop Eggs.” Randy’s eyes narrowed and Emily said, “You can blow something up or you can punch so many holes in it that it falls apart. You know that at the speeds the Tronan are moving in the filament, even if the stardrive is knocked out the ship flies about two seconds before it’s kicked out into normal space. What would happen to that Tronan Ship if instead of having a mile spacing between our scouts in the filament, we reduced it to seventy-feet?”
“Are you saying we pack the filament from edge-to-edge with scouts.”
“Yes.”
Randy thought about it and then smiled, “Contact Leonidas and tell him what we’ve just discussed.”
Emily nodded and kept her head beside Randy’s. He looked at her and said, “Oh…sorry.”
He kissed her and she pouted, “You’re starting to take me for granted.”
“Never happen, your brilliance sometimes distracts me but never my feelings for you.” Emily smiled where Randy couldn’t see; you have to keep them on their toes.
• • •
Leonidas looked at Embree, “Randy said what!?”
“He suggests we stop dropping Eggs into the Tronan Warships and mass our scouts from edge to edge in the filament.”