Devon Blake and the Starship Crash

by Douglas Warren

  Burgess nodded a smile. “Aye, Cappy.” He punched the release button on his console.

  The console squawked rudely, and the door did not open. He pressed the button again and got

  the same response.

  “Can you hurry it up?” Cappy asked.

  “Uh, Cappy, it’s not working. It acts like I am locked out.”

  “Whatever it is, fix it…this stuff is starting to dry and I’m getting crackly.”

  Burgess had to stifle a laugh. “Aye…Cappy.”

  He flipped switches, turned knobs and tried to access any of the other controls, but the

  console seemed frozen. That could only mean one thing.

  “Cappy, I got really bad news.” Burgess said. “Someone else has taken over the

  controls. That means that they are inside somewhere.”

  What?” Cappy said. “Good thing I got this.” He smiled a shark’s smile and drew a

  chunky pistol from his jumpsuit.

  Burgess pales. He might be a bad man, but he had never been a violent one. The thought

  of fighting intruders made him go pale. Cappy walked over and grabbed the front of Burgess’

  jumpsuit. “Don’t get soft now, Burgess. We have to finish this, and I can’t get out of here unless

  you can get one of these hatches open.” Cappy snarled. The smell, the gun and Cappy’s snarl

  conspired to break him out of his shock.

  “Sure boss, but I don’t think I can get one of the hatches open…” Burgess said, but was

  interrupted by Cappy, who waved the gun in his direction. “But I was gonna say that the hatches

  ain’t the only way out of here.” Cappy grinned evilly.

  Chapter 25

  Devon and Merrell stood behind Jacinda as she feverishly tapped out commands on her

  datapad.

  “Okay, everyone is locked in wherever they are. That should give us some time.”

  Jacinda said, in between keystrokes.

  “Any chance they can get out and stop us?” Devon asked.

  “Nope, not unless they know some way to override that I don’t know about.” Jacinda

  answered. “Give me a minute. I need some time to concentrate. I think I figured out a way to

  shut this whole operation down.”

  Devon and Merrell nodded silently. She worked away, mumbling and sighing several

  times.

  “I think I have it.” Jacinda broke the silence and smiled.

  “So, what are you going to do?’ Devon asked.

  “Well, I found out that these bandit miners injected lots of smart probes into a couple of

  volcanoes. The probes were supposed to give off signals that would make the volcanoes even

  more active. Well, the plan seems to have worked a bit too well, or maybe they just used too many probes. Not only did the volcanoes erupt, new ones popped up. That stirred up the really

  heavy metals and that is what they have been mining.”

  “You said you figured out how to stop it.” Devon said, seeming impatient.

  “I’m getting to that.” Jacinda rolled her eyes. “I found the control sub-routines for the

  probes. I can control them now. I could just turn them off, but I have a better idea.” Jacinda

  smiled, mischief in her eyes.

  “What are you up to, Jacinda?” Devon asked.

  “Well, according to their records, the miners have a dozen more of these mining modules,

  all of them unmanned. I reprogrammed the probes to return to the closest unmanned module and

  wait for another signal. In an hour they will all be in place. Once they are we can tell them to

  self destruct and they will blow up, along with the unmanned modules.”

  Merrell smiled. “Wow, Jacinda, you have a mean streak. I like it.”

  All three laughed and sat back to wait the hour until it was time to activate the probes’ self-destruct protocol.

  Chapter 26

  Deke lifted the heavy case up through the hatch into the passenger compartment of the

  shuttle. The children craned their necks from the seats, hoping to catch a glimpse of Deke’s

  burden. After Deke had gone down into the cargo compartment, word had spread about the goal

  of his trip. Most of the children had never seen a laser rifle, except for on vids or in plasbooks.

  Hushed speculation abounded about the reason Deke needed the rifle.

  Deke followed the case through the hatch. With quick, deft movements he snatched it up

  and strode toward the front of the ship. All heads turned to watch him as he passed, as if he was

  a magnet and the children’s eyes were iron. He reached the front and lay the case down across several seats. He placed his thumb on

  the biometric lock and it clicked open. Deke opened the case, revealing the disassembled laser

  rifle. The sight if it brought forth gasps from the children who had turned in their seats and were

  peering over them. Deke gave them a hard look and they sat back down in their seats.

  He retrieved the focus module from the case and laid it on an empty seat. The emitter

  module was the key piece required to maximize the power of the laser. The more tightly focused

  the laser, the more power it had. Deke opened his tool kit and began the task of adjusting the

  focus module so that is did not work as well as it could. He finished the adjustment he began

  attaching the other parts of the laser.

  Deke carefully finished assembling the rifle, rechecking each piece to make sure it was

  connected properly. Once complete, he inserted the power cell and peered through the scope to

  check the power level. Fully charged.

  The children had regained their courage and were once again peering over the backs of

  their seats watching Deke. He flipped a switch, powering up the laser rifle. The children’s eyes

  widened at the humming sound that came from the fierce looking weapon.

  Deke rose from his seat, hefting the laser rifle on his shoulder. The children gasped in

  wonderment. To them he looked like some hero out of the vids. He cocked his eyebrow and

  smiled. “Time to send a message,” Deke said.

  Chapter 27

  Kepler sat at his console wearing a sad expression.

  “Any news, Ensign Kepler?” Captain Leiber asked.

  Kepler sighed. “No, sir. The program has not found the right modulation yet.” “How much longer?” The captain asked with a look of concern on his face.

  “That is hard to say, sir. My original estimate should have been correct. I am sure that it

  could be any minute now.”

  “Ensign Kepler, I understand that estimates can be wrong, but that does not help us

  rescue those stranded children. I need results.”

  “Sir…” Kepler started to respond but was interrupted by a sharp chirp from his console.

  He checked it quickly, looking down in surprise.

  “Any news now, Ensign?” The captain asked.

  “Uh, not exactly, sir. But it looks like somebody down there is trying to talk to us.”

  “How so?”

  “Someone down there is using some sort of laser signal to illuminate a cloudbank. They

  are using what the computers say is an old, Terran code.”

  “What are they saying, Ensign?”

  “I’ll punch up the feed on your console, sir.”

  Kepler flicked a few keys and a read-out appeared on the screen in front of the captain.

  -Ship down

  -No known casualties

  -Four children out of contact

  -Search for datapad locations if able

  -ID 211-4211-7176786

  -ID 211-6580-0192874

  -ID 211-6421-9751357

  -ID 700-0000-0000018

  -Situati
on here not emergency

  -Missing children priority

  Captain Leiber frowned as he read the data.

  “Four children missing, what the devil is Jacobs doing down there? Ensign Kepler, find

  out who those datapads belong to.”

  Kepler hit a few more keys and the readout changed.

  -ID 211-4211-7176786 – Blake, Devon

  -ID 211-6580-0192874 – Vasquez, Jacinda

  -ID 211-6421-9751357 – Gustav, Merrell

  -ID 700-0000-0000018 - Sa’Atar, Flimitpoytrotilmas

  The captain scanned the names and let out a groan. Everyone on the bridge of the

  Boadicea turned to look at the captain. To most it was the first time they had ever heard their

  commander show any emotion other than irritation.

  The captain rubbed his eyes for a moment and let out sigh. He knew that Devon Blake

  being one of the missing children complicated matters. Blake’s family had great influence and if

  anything were to happen to him, there could be terrible consequences for the crew as well as the

  UCF.

  “Anything else, Ensign?” The captain asked.

  “No, sir. That is all there is, but I guess it is something. At least we know that the ship

  made it down okay.” Kepler answered. “Thank goodness for small favors.” The captain replied.

  Chapter 28

  Cappy leaned close to the grate covering the ventilation port. He could hear voices, but

  they sounded funny. He thought it must be a trick of the sound traveling through the air vent.

  The voices almost sounded like they belonged to children, but he knew that could not be right.

  He crawled closer to the grate, starting to get a view of the room on the other side

  through the fine, metal mesh covering the vent opening. He could see motion, but could not

  make out any details. The voices, however, were clearer. They definitely sounded like they

  belonged to kids.

  “What do you see, Cappy?” Burgess’ voice echoed in the vent.

  Burgess grunted as Cappy responded with a kick at Burgess’ face.

  “Sorry, Cappy, won’t happen again.” Burgess said, this time in a whisper.

  “Keep your trap shut for a minute, you simp.” Cappy snarled. “Whoever is messing with

  our place is right outside the vent. Trouble is, they are right there. I can’t get in there without

  them seeing me.”

  Cappy was silent for a few moments and then kicked out at Burgess again.

  “What? I didn’t say anything.” Burgess protested.

  “I know, I wanted a suggestion. Is there any other way in there?” Cappy hissed.

  “I can only think of one, and it won’t be comfortable.”

  “Fine, I can do uncomfortable. Let’s get out of this vent and you can show me the other

  way.”

  Cappy began backing out of the ventilation tube the way they had come. Burgess had to

  scramble to keep Cappy’s boots out of his face. Burgess tumbled out of the vent back in the control room. He splashed in the standing

  wastewater on him rump, splattering even more of the foul liquid on the walls. Cappy followed,

  more carefully. He jumped down, trying to land on one of the chairs to stay out of the waste

  water. The chair tipped over under Cappy’s weight, sending him face first into the gunk.

  Burgess had to fight hard to stifle a laugh.

  “By thunder, I’ll kill them kids!” Cappy bellowed as he picked himself up out of the

  gunk, dripping with filth. “I don’t care who they are, they’ll pay for this.” He turned toward

  Burgess with murder in his eyes.

  Burgess’ blood turned to ice water. He had seen Cappy mad before. In fact, it was

  Cappy’s normal mood, but he had never seen this kind of rage.

  Cappy fixed Burgess with a steely glare. “You better find a way into that room, or I’ll

  use your head for a battering ram. You got that straight?” Cappy growled, his voice strangled

  with anger.

  “You betcha, Cappy. I got an idea, but like I said, it ain’t comfortable.”

  Cappy nodded, still angry, but seeming satisfied with his answer. Relief flooded into

  Burgess.

  With a quick nod Burgess went back to his workstation and picked up his toolkit. He

  fished out an autospanner and walked toward a pile of crates stacked in the corner of the room.

  With a sigh he slipped the autospanner into his belt and began to drag crates away from the wall.

  He finally succeeded in clearing all of the crates away, revealing a removable panel. He sighed,

  shaking his head. Cappy would not like this idea, but it was the only way Burgess could think of

  to get into the other chamber. Burgess removed the panel using the autospanner. As the panel came off, he was hit by a

  wave of heat. Burgess knocked the autospanner against a large pipe inside the panel, making it

  resound with a hollow ring. The sound caught Cappy’s attention.

  His eyes grew wide when he finally understood Burgess’ plan.

  “No way, Burgess. I’m not crawling through the slag pipe. It’ll burn me alive.”

  Cappy shook his head. “Nope, not right now. Those kids turned it off and the automatic

  system emptied it out so the slag wouldn’t cool inside the tube.”

  “But it is still hotter than blazes in there.” Cappy said.

  “Sure it’s hot, but if you put on one of our toaster suits you’ll be fine.” Burgess

  responded.

  “When you said uncomfortable I didn’t know you meant this.” Cappy said as he shook

  his head.

  “Well, I think it is your only choice.” Burgess said as he opened one of the nearby cases

  and retrieved a jumpsuit made of silver, quilted material. He held out the toaster suit to Cappy,

  who took it reluctantly. He reached into the case again, retrieving a matching set of gloves and

  boots. He held them out as Cappy struggled into the jumpsuit, the presslock fastenings barely

  able to close over his large belly.

  With a look of irritation Cappy took the rest, pulling on the books and then stuffing his

  chubby hands into the gloves. Burgess had to stifle a laugh. Cappy looked like on overstuffed

  silver teddy bear in the quilted suit. With an oddly appropriate growl, Cappy pulled on the hood

  attached to the back of the suit and sealed it tightly. The suit plumped even more as the built in

  circulation system began pumping cool air through the suit to keep Cappy safe inside the still hot

  slag tube. Cappy shoved Burgess out of the way and unsealed the access hatch on the side of the

  slag tube. Burgess involuntarily stepped back up several feet as a new, more intense wave of

  heat hit him. Cappy clumsily got to his knees and crawled through the hatch.

  The hatch automatically closed behind Cappy, leaving Burgess alone in the control

  center. He thanked goodness that the heat was gone, but something was still bothering him. He

  could not quite decide what it was. He was not hungry, or uncomfortable, or sleepy or even

  bored. Slowly he began to listen to that little voice in his head. It screamed at him that what

  Cappy was going to do was wrong. Burgess argued with the voice, telling it that there was

  nothing he could do. With great effort Burgess battered drowned out the little voice, pushing it out of his mind.

  Chapter 29

  Devon and the others crowded around Jacinda’s datapad watching the progress of their

  plan on the tiny screen. It showed a schematic of the liquid core of the planet dotted with bright

  pin-pricks of light showing where the miners’ p
robes were located. Most were near the surface

  hovering in the molten rock, right below the unmanned mining modules. A few were still

  inching their across the map toward their destination.

  “They look nearly there,” Devon said.

  “Yup,” Jacinda agreed. “It should be less than fifteen more minutes and then we can

  activate them. That will put a stop to the mining.”

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Merrell asked.

  “It’s the best one I could think of,” Jacinda said.

  “But what if the miners catch us after we blow up their mining thingies?” Merrell asked,

  concern in his voice. Jacinda shrugged. “I don’t think it will be a problem. Once we activate the probes we

  can slip out of here and go back up the cliff. DeepRoot and ClearSky will protect us.”

  “Anyway, by the time the miners get back on their feet I’m sure that we will have been

  rescued.” Devon said. He wore a look of cool confidence. “The Boadicea has one of the best

  crews in the fleet. I bet they have already picked up Deke and the others.”

  “I sure hope so,” Merrell said. He seemed to be satisfied with her assurances.

  They waited in silence for a few more minutes, fidgeting as they all stared at the screen.

  ***

  The heat surrounded Cappy like a physical force. It pushed at him constantly as he

  inched his way through the tube toward the next room where the kids were. Sweat poured down

  his face behind the mask, making the fabric damp and uncomfortable on his cheeks. He thought

  to himself for a moment that he knew how a baked potato must feel right before it was finished

  cooking. He also knew he had better find the exit hatch before he was ready for butter and sour

  cream. Finally he found the latch to the exit hatch. It was big so that even someone in a toaster

  suit could turn it easily in the thick gloves of the suit.

  The hatch fell open and Cappy could feel the rush of cooler air even through the thick

  suit. He stepped through the hatch into the room. The red glow from the hot tube cast a harsh

  red light into the room giving it an ominous feeling.

  Cappy scanned the room, intent on finding the kids and ending their little game. The

  visor on the suit limited his vision but it took him only moments to spy the kids sitting together