Authors: Laura E. Collins
“I’m not sure, sometimes it looks like one, and other times it looks like two to three but I can’t get a lock on them.”
“Is it possible that Kaden could have more than one ship?” Vance inquired.
“We don’t know of any other allies or starships he commands,” Wesley answered. He thought for a moment and then continued, “but with Draves helping him, there’s no telling what they might try. I suppose it’s possible that Draves could have helped Kaden commandeer one of the ships from the space pirates.”
“They’ll be heavily armed if that’s the case
,” Andre interjected.
“What is the status on the ground defense?” Wesley asked Vance.
“The people are ready to relocate to the shelters as soon as the siren sounds. We have all of the ground cannons armed and ready to fire at them when they are close enough to be in range.” Vance answered.
“Good, I’d like to . . .” Wesley began.
Ash’s PCD began to beep loudly. He lifted it and looked up at Wesley. “They are coming!”
“Vance, sound the alarms, help get everyone to safety then take your position. We’re going to
the ships. We will do our best to protect everyone!” Wesley shouted as people started running to their posts.
Wesley, Justin
, and Rowan boarded the Andromeda. Andre, Ash, Mia, and Naomi ran to the waiting courier to take them to board the Principia, ready to assist in the fight. People ran in various directions shouting and screaming to be heard to each other over the deafening sirens. The scene on the ground looked chaotic, but the residents of Kyanos were used to this and followed procedures well. They were hopeful that this would be the last fight, now that their Asterions had two ships to fight with. Wesley took the Andromeda up, trying to get a lock on the signal. The Principia waited, hidden in its hangar, ready to seize an opportunity to attack from behind, as Kaden did not yet know about their second starship.
“We’ve got a lock, they’re coming in from the West!” Justin shouted to Wesley in the flight deck.
“I’m on it,” Wesley swiftly changed directions to meet Kaden head on.
“We are standing by
,” Andre communicated through the encoded transmissions from the Principia.
Wesley focused his mind on the fight and Kaden
, with only a few last thoughts about Ava, feeling happy that she was safe and sound, far from here. Suddenly the Draconis appeared in the distance in plain view. It swiftly changed directions, moving away from the Andromeda. “What’s he up to? He knows that we see them,” Wesley thought out loud. They continued to follow the Draconis, gaining on them. “Wait until I get closer to fire on them,” Wesley commanded to the others, waiting at their posts. The Draconis picked up speed and Wesley punched it. “It’s like he wants us to follow him. I don’t like this. . .” Wesley spoke over the transmission to Justin and Andre.
“There’s another transmission!” Justin shouted. “It’s behind us!”
Wesley swerved sharply to one side and nearly missed the assault on one side of the Andromeda. “There are two of them!”
Then, the Draconis flipped and charged them head on, the Andromeda caught between the two enemy ships. The Draconis fired on
them heavily and made several successful hits on the top of the ship, the shields deflecting most of the damage.
“We’re coming! You can’t fight them bo
th!” Andre announced. “Which ship is Kaden and Draves in?”
“I don’t know!” Wesley bellowed, above the noise from all of the weapons firing trying to stay focused, but it seemed as though the new starship mimicked his every move. Wesley flipped the Andromeda, trying to get behind the new enemy and it did the same, staying behind him, firing on him. “
I think Draves is in the second ship! Take him out Andre, Kaden is in the Draconis, they split up!” Wesley continued to attack the Draconis while trying to evade the second ship until Andre could get there. The Draconis suddenly disappeared, just as it had done in their last fight. “He’s using cloaking technology again! The signal is jammed!”
“Ti
me to try ours out!” Ash announced. “Wesley, drop out of the fight and let them chase you to us, we can surprise them just as well!”
“Affirmative.” Wesley pulled out of the fight and changed directions, heading directly for the Principia, with two ships, one invisible,
and one visible giving chase.
Wesley could not visibly see the Principia but he knew it was there. He ducked the Andromeda beneath its wake as the Principia fired mercilessly in the direction of on the oncoming ships.
∞
Ava woke up and made herself a small breakfast, took a shower, and went to the computer in the command center portion of the base. She looked out at the sunny desert through the monitor hoping to see any sign of the Andromeda. It had been several days since Wesley had brought her here for her safety, but with each passing day she became more anxious and restless. The desert appeared rather peaceful and serene. Ava decided that today would be a good day to go outside for some fresh air. She glanced at her PCD she routinely wore on her belt out of habit. It was only eight thirty in the morning. She had noticed that the winds seemed to kick up a lot of dust usually around noon time. Plenty of time to explore and be back here before that happens, she thought. Ava dressed in light gray cargo pants, black boots, and a three quarter length sleeved black shirt. She grabbed one of the small backpacks she found in the storage room and placed a small bottle of water inside, along with her hat and sunglasses. She saw there was a small flashlight in the bag and decided to leave it there. After applying her sunscreen she punched the code to open the massive doors to the base, which took several seconds for them to open completely. Once outside she repeated the process to close them.
The bright sun light almost blinded her as she was used to the darker light inside the base, but the sun felt so good, and warm on her. She inhaled the fresh warm breeze as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put her sunglasses on. She walked slowly observing her surroundings on the rock face of where the base was. There’s no possible way I could get lost, she thought, this looks like it goes on forever. She continued to walk for about a mile along the rock face, feeling good to get out and burn some energy. She recently sensed that the sum of what was left of Justin’s energy transferred to her through the blood transfusion was waning and that she would soon be back to her own normal self.
Ava looked str
aight ahead of her as she strolled and was startled suddenly by a large, brightly colored winged insect that flew up in front of her from underneath a rock in the terrain. How beautiful, she thought. The insect flew about as if it were in a dance in front of her for a few moments before it headed off along the side of the rock face. She decided to follow it, as it didn’t appear to be in a hurry. She noticed that it flew into a separation into the rock face ahead. As she reached the opening she gazed inside. She could see the insect flying into another opening further down, although it was a little darker than where she was standing. She decided to go down and check it out. She found some rocks nearby and made a line pointing in the direction she would need to turn to get back to the base just in case she felt disoriented when she came out.
As she neared the opening she could smell a sweet fragrance, almost like one of Rowan’s flower gardens.
She remembered the flashlight in her backpack and pulled it out and continued on. The walls of the cave glittered with silvery bits of minerals, creating a shimmering effect. Ava thought it was breathtaking. Wesley had said there were no animals out here, there’s nothing to fear she thought. She walked for another hundred and fifty feet, looking for the insect she had followed, which she could no longer see. I’d better turn back and go back to the base she thought, going forward another few feet. Unexpectedly she tripped over a rock that her boot got caught on and crashed down with a loud grunt. Suddenly, there was the sound of innumerable insect wings flapping. She gasped as a large swarm of insects flew out of a nearby tunnel towards her and the entrance. She must have roused them with the noise of her fall. Ava stood up and started sprinting back towards the entrance, which was difficult to see over the thousands of insects flying around her. As she ran she felt the elevation of the ground dip and she realized too late she was falling into a deep crevice in the floor that she was careful to stay away from when coming in to the cave. She screamed as she crashed into the wall; falling down to the bottom of it, landing in a few feet of water.
Ava did not lose consciousness but
picked herself up and stood still for a few moments, leaning on the side of the crevice, breathing heavily, trying to get a mental grasp of her situation. Luckily she still had the flashlight in her grip. The right side of her forehead throbbed. She reached up and touched it, feeling a mild scrape with a little blood, but no big deal. Her right leg ached a little, but otherwise she was okay. She turned the flashlight back on and looked at her surroundings. She figured that she was about twenty feet down from the surface of the cave in a narrow crevice, about ten feet wide by fifteen feet long. There seemed to be about almost two feet of water in the bottom, which she was standing in. Ava noticed that there were many rock points sticking out here and there on the walls. She collected herself and set to work to climb out of her situation. The rock face was moist due to the humidity inside the cave and Ava did not have any climbing gear with her. She tried several times and kept slipping and sliding back to the bottom. After about an hour she gave up. I just need to rest for a few minutes, she thought; I can do this, I can climb out. She sat on a ledge close to the bottom of the crevice and pulled her feet up and out of the water, which seemed to be growing colder. She glanced at her PCD, eleven thirty in the morning, and drank a few sips of the water she had brought with her. Only about a half of a cup left, she thought sadly.
After a few more minutes
passed she began a more desperate attempt to climb out. Ten, twenty attempts went by. Ava sank down onto her ledge, feeling worried and exhausted. It was after six now, and she had no food with her. Her stomach growled with the pangs of hunger. This is all my fault, how could I have been so stupid, she thought. Wesley would be furious if he knew she had wandered so far away from the base and got into this situation. Now she was beginning to wonder herself whether or not she would be able to get out of this scrape alive. She had finished the last of her water hours ago and was already beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion and dehydration. On top of that, the cave had been slowly growing colder as the hot suns outside began to set. She turned off her flashlight to conserve the battery, as it also seemed to be waning. Ava pulled her PCD off of her belt and turned it on. Wesley had told her to use it only in an extreme emergency, and though she hated to admit it, she was in danger and she needed help. She began to call for aid, speaking in to the device, not knowing who might be able to hear.
Ava continued to call out on her PCD throughout the night but received no response. After the sun
s went down the temperature in the cave plummeted and she began to shiver, resting with her knees drawn up to her chest on the small ledge that she sat on. She had not been this cold since she lived on Earth. That seemed like a lifetime ago, she thought. Ava rested her head down on knees, regretting her foolishness at wanting to leave the base. She wondered if she would pay the price for it with her life. She kept the flashlight off, using it only if she thought she heard something, for the battery was almost drained. After a few false alarms, the battery finally gave out completely. The silence in the cave seemed deafening to her. There were times when she thought she heard something, but it ended up only being her imagination. Finally, the morning suns began to rise and shine a little light into the cave.
∞
“Why exactly are we combing the galaxy out in the middle of no-where?” Xavier asked of Bryant. “Surely Ava would be on one of the space stations.”
“She’s not on one of
the stations, I’m certain of it,” Bryant replied, with a subtle hint of irritation in his voice. “Before I left Robinson’s crew I overheard them planning on exploring this section of the galaxy, I believe they were looking for another sustainable planet.”
“And did they find one?”
“I’m not sure, I wasn’t with them. But if they did, there is a chance they could be laying low there.”
“Bryant, can you come up here?” Nicholas called out on the intercom. Both Xavier and Bryant immediately went up to the flight deck.
“Listen to this,” Nicholas said, raising the volume on the receiver. It sounded like small blips of a transmission with lots of static. Everyone listened intently at the noise. “chhhsshhhh . . . need help. . . . . chhshhhh . . . .fell . . .chhshhhh. . .”
“
That is definitely a transmission!” Bryant announced, excitement rising in his voice. “Can you get a lock on it?”
“I’ll try, it’s very wea
k. Do you think it’s originating out there on that small planet coming up on the trajectory? It took me a while to realize that it is a planet, it’s hidden so well by that large moon,” Nicholas said.