The Road to Damascus

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The Road to Damascus Page 6

by Richard D. Ramsey


  The room was quiet at my outburst and all eyes were on me.

  “There were no prostitutes on Mo’ak just like there were no churches! You had to make a crisis that you could solve in order to move in and take money from that planet just like you do all over the galaxy!”

  The Bishop rose to his feet. “Mozel, I don’t know where you’re getting these hair brained stories, but I suggest you stop right now.” His hands were shaking. If I needed confirmation that I was right, that was it.

  “You created this mess and now these good people are going to prison so you can exploit a helpless planet! You need to stop right now!”

  I looked down at Captain Stark; sweat was beading up on his forehead. He began to rise but was interrupted by General Sanders. “Sit down, Captain!”

  Captain Stark didn’t listen. I didn’t think he would. Everything that happened next seemed to go in slow motion, although it was faster than anyone could imagine.

  General Sanders leaned forward in his chair and put his right hand down onto his hip. The motion was suspicious, but the sound he made was unmistakable. He and the rest of the Transit Authority stood up into a crouched position, their side arms drawn and in the ready position.

  Captain Stark looked at the Bishop. “I thought you said no guns!”

  The Bishop’s face was stern.

  “I said sit down, Captain!”

  Knowing that the situation was not going to end well, Jenna was the next of our crew on her feet. David and I were standing up when James, the hulk of a man he was, placed both hands under our side of the long mahogany table. With a growl that could only come from a bear or James Jessup, he began to push the heavy wood up and away from us. The last we saw of General Sanders was him and his men stumbling backwards as the heavy wood was leveraged against them.

  Shots rang through the room as the Transit Authority officers discharged their pistols and bullets penetrated the high ceiling in the meeting room. Without thinking, I pushed on the table, too. I didn’t know if my old body would even make a difference, but I had to do something. Looking to the side, I could see that the rest of the crew was following our lead and pushing the big heavy table back. Together, we pinned the officers against the far wall.

  From the side of the table that was now up in the air, all we could see was one hand with a pistol in it, flailing blindly. It discharged once, twice and then a third time. Captain Stark yelled as he went for the gun and wrestled it away from the hidden person. “Run! Run! Get to the ship!” The Palace Guards were already pointing their rifles at us and taking aim. We didn’t have to be told twice.

  Jenna was the first one out the door with me following. James was behind us, but I didn’t see him as much as I heard him. “Don’t look back, just go!”

  We ran down the alley towards the hangar where our own sanctuary was waiting for us. Three Temple Guards emerged from around a corner and placed their hands on their holsters at the sight of us. They didn’t have time to draw.

  With reflexes I’d never seen before, Jenna slapped the first one and followed through bringing her long arm down and behind the man’s knee. She pulled up and he fell back, cracking his head on the hard floor. He was still alive, but he would have a terrible headache when he woke up. In a haze of arms, legs and bright red fur, she dispatched the other two before they could fire a shot.

  I looked back to see James standing behind me, holding onto his brother, David, who was leaning over and clutching at his heart. Rivulets of blood were pouring out from around his fingers as he was trying desperately to hold his life in. More than a few bullets had caught him square in the chest. He slumped down out his brother’s grasp. “I can’t run anymore, get out of here!”

  James was crying, mouth wide open making a sound I hope I never have to hear again. “No! I’m taking you with me!”

  The only thing louder than the crying was a fresh round of gunshots as Captain Stark came running around the corner. He stopped to fire two more rounds down the hallway and ran in our direction once again. “We have to go now!”

  That was enough for James, with tears in his eyes; he stumbled away from David and quickly paced up to a run.

  We were almost to the hangar. I heard more shots and bullets ricocheted all around our heads. Flashes of sparks danced all around us. I raised my arms high in a defensive posture. I didn’t think it would protect me from the bullets, but it somehow made me feel more secure.

  The hatch to the Damascus was still open. I thanked God that we had a captain with good foresight. We shuffled in and I turned just in time to see Stark with his back to the wall outside of the corridor. He turned, fired two shots down the hallway and threw the gun down. He was out of ammo.

  Jenna was in the driver’s seat powering up the engines before the Captain was even in and closing the hatch. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” He pushed past me and climbed the stairs to the upper level as I paused to catch my breath. My chest weighed a ton and the air seemed so thick I could barely breathe.

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  The familiar sound of gunfire on metal filled my ears and it was enough to motivate me up the stairs and into the cockpit. I lost my balance and fell over as the ship rose into the air and banked towards the exit. The Mo’ak girls were still in the galley. I could hear them crying. I yelled out as I found my seat and buckled down. “Girls! Find something to grab onto!”

  The Damascus roared into life as Jenna punched the engines. The old ship started towards the hangar doors just as they began to close. The familiar sound of lead on steel still echoed from the rear hatch.

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  We were getting closer as the ship sped up, but the large bay doors were closing fast.

  “We’re not gonna make it! We’re not gonna make it!” James yelled out in an uncharacteristic bout of panic.

  “We’re not going to make it!” Jenna screeched at the top of her cat lungs.

  Stark, sitting in the captain’s seat at her side. looked over at her and calmly said “I told you I would always take care of you. Today is no exception. Now, you’re going to make it.”

  Still picking up speed, the nose of the ship peeked out into space with the doors still closing. All we could see on the front view now was black and stars. I thought we were home free. I thought wrong.

  We were all jarred forward as the massive doors clamped shut on the ship.

  Captain Stark was horrified. “Give it more! Give it more!”

  Jenna’s coat had turned back to a pale white. “I’ve got the throttle all the way!”

  The ship’s one remaining engine roared as they tried to push the Damascus free of its trap.

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  A deafening screech filled the cabin. It was steel tearing steel. If we got out of the mess we were in, I wondered if the ship would even be space worthy.

  There are times when all that we do is not enough. I didn’t know if we were right or we were wrong, but I knew that we had been lied to and that we had been manipulated and then we had been threatened with our lives. It was time for me to stop being afraid and place our safety in the hands of God.

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  The girls were screaming and the crew was yelling. Bullets continued to assault the ship from all sides now and the terrible metal on metal sound cried out again.

  I cleared all of them from my mind, unbuckled my belt and got down on my knees. “Lord, I worship you and I praise you. If it is your will that I meet you today, I will rejoice in your decision. I will not question your actions. I feel you sent me to this ship for a reason. If I still have a duty to perform, please pull back those gates and release the ship.”

  There was a hand on my shoulder. It was one of the Mo’ak girls. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears. “Can I pray to your god, too?”

  “Yes.”

  The bullets were still flying all around us and Stark was yelling at Jenna to push the engines harder. Th
e little girl stared at me. “I don’t know how.”

  chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk

  I took her hand. “All you have to do is kneel down and ask God to be your lord and savior.”

  “But, I’ve done very bad things.”

  “That’s okay. You will be washed in the blood of the lamb and born again and all of your sins will be wiped away.”

  She knelt down and began to pray. One by one, the other girls, who had been watching dropped to their knees and began to pray.

  A ripping sound louder than any we had heard before filled the cockpit and we all fell backwards as the Damascus leaped out into open space.

  The rear view screen was up and I could see Sanctuary getting smaller and smaller behind us. The landing bay doors were ripped and torn like paper.

  We were silent for a long time. It might have been days, it seemed like it. Just sitting there taking in all that had just happened to us.

  Jenna adjusted some dials and looked over at Captain Stark. “Where do we go now?”

  He placed a hand on her far temple, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “We go to Inillia. It would seem that we’re smugglers again.”

 

 

 


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