Alpha Rising (4 page)

Not knowing if her smile showed or not,
Faith blinked a couple of times then softly said, “Sorry, still a
bit out of it.” While G.R. monitored her heart and lungs, checked
her eyes and ears, and looked in her mouth, she came around slowly.
“You were a great teacher,” she said. “Lots of fun.” She paused for
a moment. “And I am extremely glad that Bach and I found you all
alive and well. I’d hate to have to practice the procedures you
taught me.”

G.R. patted her shoulder and smiled. “I’m
confident that my star pupil would have given us the best of care.”
He moved on to check Bach’s vital signs and when he finished,
announced, “In my opinion, the two of you are in excellent
condition.”

Kaz yelled from her workstation, “G.R. I
told you to stop saying, ‘In my opinion.’ It’s driving me
crazy.”

G.R. seemed to not hear.

Faith smiled and walked to where Kaz was
working. “Kaz, I’m Faith Christopher. I’ve heard a lot of great
things about you from Bach on our way here.”

“
Thanks. Nice to meet you,”
Kaz replied.

Kaz offered no further conversation, so
Faith headed toward the cockpit. “I’ll need to familiarize myself
with the AstroLab before our return flight to Earth,” she said, as
she stepped to Lynch’s side. It was plain to see the stress on his
aging face and the determination in his beady blue eyes.
“Commander, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” When he didn’t reply, she
let out a little huff. “What are my responsibilities?”

“
Work with G.R. to get the
ship ready for takeoff. The forcefield’s thrust caused interior
disruption. Secure the ship.”

Faith nodded, then tried being cordial
again. “Commanding this first-generation spacecraft is quite an
accomplishment. How long were you in the space program before you
reached the rank of commander?”

He stiffened. “Haven’t been an astronaut
very long, have you?”

“
Well, I’ve—”

“
Only a rookie wouldn’t
know who I am.”

“
I’m not a rookie.
I—”

Lynch talked over her, repeating his
credentials robotically. “This is my eleventh space mission in
twenty years at NASA. Before that, I trained Air Force stealth
pilots and spent my entire life ’n’ military career workin’ toward
one goal—become an astronaut and explore interstellar space. Never
took time for marriage ’n’ family. Attained Senior Commander status
in the space program last year at age forty-eight.”

Faith forced a smile. “Congratulations, you
deserve it.” She turned to Deni. “How about you, Deni?”

“
I’d rather not talk about
myself.”

Uncomfortable with Deni’s curt response,
Faith headed to the galley to help G.R. She pressed close to his
side and whispered from behind her hand, “Deni’s so tall and very
beautiful, but is she always so grumpy?”

He led her aft where they could speak
freely. “Deni’s driven and focused and comes across that way, but
she’s a great lady. Gets her height from roots in Africa’s Watusi
tribe. She’s an amazing pilot. Outflew all the guys in simulation
exercises, so NASA awarded her the enviable position of piloting
the AstroLab at age thirty-nine,” he hesitated, “but it’s not so
enviable right now.”

“
Yeah.”

G.R. looked through the cabin. “Let’s do our
safety check. You take one side and I’ll take the other.”

“
Hey,” Faith yelled to the
others, “Anyone want a drink before we get everything tied
down?”

“
Anything but water,” Deni
said. “I need a shot of energy.”

“
Protein shake? We brought
packets from the Wizard.”

“
Perfect,
thanks.”

When Faith served drinks to the crew, Deni
became more cordial. “Thanks, Faith. Sorry I was a bit short,” she
said. “We’re all under a lot of stress and I’m anxious to fly this
ship home.”

“
You’ll do it,” Faith
replied with a smile.

Deni smiled back.

#

NASA’s troubleshooting communiqué came
through, and Bach went to work on the powerplant. Within twenty
minutes he announced, “Gettin’ a positive response here. If
everything resets, we might be ready to go in two hours.” To ease
the stress, he joked and made up a song about eluding aliens, to
the amusement of some.

G.R. yelled toward Lynch, “Hey, I hate to
put a ding in the positive energy, but even with the food they
brought from the Wizard, we won’t have enough to get us home. And
that’s if nothing else goes wrong.”

Lynch strode to the food storage area,
acting as if he’d somehow find a hidden stash of supplies. G.R.
knew he hadn’t missed anything, but looked on in silence while
Lynch nosed around the cabinets and drawers. The commander soon
agreed they were short of food for six people and walked to mid
ship to watch Bach’s final systems check. “When you came through
the space station’s flight deck area, what did you see? A
disaster?”

“
No, it’s immaculate,” Bach
replied. “I got a good look. The labs are secured, and I’d bet
there’s still oxygen and space food aboard.”

“
That’s what I’m thinking,”
Lynch said. “Even though NASA said to stay out, after hearing your
observations, I don’t see a problem.”

G.R. said, “I’ll volunteer to get it.”

“
Better check with Ground
Control first,” Bach said.

During the time delay, the crewmates waited
restlessly for NASA’s approval to search the space station for
supplies. Lynch, Deni, and Faith had all been on the station in the
past, and as soon as the go-ahead came through, Faith handed G.R. a
diagram. “The ship is like a wheel with two intersecting spokes
inside. They’re passageways.” She pointed to the diagram. “After
you enter from the airlock, go left to the first passageway and
take it all the way to the other side. Food storage and the galley
are right there.”

G.R. grabbed a nylon tote and a duffel bag
and headed to the airlock wearing a portable breathing device.

Kaz hollered, “See if you can find the
ship’s log, too.”

“
You want food or reading
material?” he retorted from behind the airpack mask.

“
It’ll be a historical
legacy.”

Faith’s words followed at his back. “The
logbook’s in the cockpit to the right.”

Bach sat beside Kaz at the electronics area
and monitored system reset data. In a lighthearted moment, he
leaned over and nuzzled his fiancée’s neck. Neither had made a
sound when Lynch yelled from the flight deck, “Get organized for
departure. Breaking free of the forcefield will be a critical move.
Stop wasting time.”

Kaz glared at the back of Lynch’s head, then
turned back to her updates.

Waiting for his download to finish, Bach
leaned back, stretched, and sang, “AstroLab sittin’ in the big ol’
sky, someone help this broken craft to fly.” He noticed Kaz
grumbling. “What’s wrong?”

She pointed to her computer screen. “This
can’t be right.”

Within seconds, both were troubleshooting
electronic conflicts.

G.R. bounded in from the airlock. “Good
news. I found oxygen and dehydrated food. And I got a bonus of
freeze-dried ice cream, fudge ripple. I will serve it up shortly.
Mmmm.” He left the supplies in the galley, stepped behind Kaz, and
passed the space station’s logbook over her shoulder. “How much
time do we have?”

“
Don’t bug me,” she
replied. “I’m in the middle of something.”

G.R. rolled his eyes and asked Bach, “What’s
going on?”

“
We’re busy right now.
Trying to correct a minor problem.”

Deni whipped her head around, leveled her
gaze, and raised her eyebrows. “What kind of minor problem? We’re
almost ready to go.”

“
Fuel’s not registering,”
Bach said.

Lynch’s close-set blue eyes narrowed to
slits as he looked back through the cabin. “Not registering? We
have one full unit!”

“
It’s like everything
drained down a big hole.”

“
Well, figure it out,”
Lynch snapped. “AstroLab’s electronics started working when we got
here, Wizard’s stopped, and now this. It’s a glitch. Clear it
up!”

For the next hour Bach and Kaz pored over
the problem without a word, and tension didn’t ease even when G.R.
served the foil packets of freeze-dried, fudge ripple ice
cream.

Lynch soon tired of the wait and went to
Bach’s workstation to check the current download. After eyeing the
data, he sighed hard. “We couldn’t have lost all our fuel; that
holding tank has no damage.” He returned to the cockpit and sat
down with a thud.

Bach yelled after him, “Maybe something out
here in deep space caused it to dry up.”

Another sigh from Lynch. He turned to his
left. “Deni, get with NASA to check that possibility.”

“
My opinion?” G.R. hollered
out with a laugh-snort. “Aliens!”

Faith fingered her necklace, sliding the
cross back and forth on the chain. “G.R., that’s not funny.” Her
voice lowered, “Glad I brought my Bible.”

NASA processed Deni’s information and
radioed back. The fuel was onboard, but not registering. Deni
yelled to Bach, “It’s caused by an electromagnetic pulse disrupting
the sensors. We should be able to override that.”

“
I’ll try to demagnetize,
then do a pre-ignition warm-up and see what happens,” he replied.
“If it works, we’ll be ready to go in a few minutes, so finish what
you’re doing and buckle down.”

A sudden shudder rocked the ship.

Kaz yelled, “My screen went blank!”

Bach grumbled, “Damn! Power storage units
are discharging.”

Deni added, “Lost radio contact!”

A warning buzzer split the air. Lights on
the cockpit console and overhead emergency systems flashed like a
Vegas payoff. The big space station lurched, then rocketed forward
with the two smaller ships under its wings. Shouts and screams
filled the cabin.

Deni sounded like she’d sucked helium,
“Gravity’s blown!”

The sudden acceleration jerked Faith and
G.R. from their feet in the galley and propelled them toward the
rear bulkhead. Like weightless beanbags bouncing off everything in
their paths, their flailing arms grasped wildly for anything within
reach.

At the same time, Bach’s and Kaz’s chairs
ripped from the floor panels and slammed against the bunks with the
two still strapped in.

Deep space flashed past the portholes in a
meteoric blur as a violent, unrelenting force mercilessly hurled
the three-piece spacecraft across the galaxy.

Lynch tried to reach an oxygen mask, but
grinding pressure fused him to his seat. His eyes receded into
their sockets and the wrinkles on his face stretched elastically
over his ears. “Eight g’s,” he grunted in the chaos.

Books, food packets, air tubes, space gear,
and electronic equipment slashed through the cabin like cruel
weapons as ten-plus torturous g’s knuckled into helpless life,
compressing bodies and minds as the craft ripped through a vast
expanse of space, then funneled through a vortex of absolute
blackness.

A final cry went unheard. “Oh, God!”

*****

CHAPTER SEVEN

The earthships crashed in deep white sand on
a rocky, crater-pocked terrain somewhere in deep space where
silence seemed deafening and darkness was absolute. The pitch black
atmosphere concealed a peculiar lake thirty yards away.

Inside the AstroLab, blackness hid what
looked like the aftermath of a bomb blast where familiar things had
taken on outlandish shapes, and dangling debris swayed in the
airflow.

Minutes later, a reverberation rocked the
huge, three-piece space station forward. The structure groaned like
a sick baritone as it sank deeper into its sandy grave. In eerie
harmony, a human moan arose from the rubble in the tomblike cabin.
Whispers and rustling sounds filtered through the darkness.

Bach opened his eyes but couldn’t see.

A disoriented female called out from the
cockpit. “Account yourselves.”

An unrecognizable voice spoke, “Lynch. Both
arms broken.”

From aft ship, G.R. groaned. “G.R. here. Can
hardly move. My back!”

Strapped in his uprooted seat in the rubble,
Bach called out, “I’m okay, but buried in junk.”

In her chair at his side, Kaz cried, “Oh,
God, I can’t see. I’m blind!”

Bach comforted her, “Calm down, honey, it’s
total blackness. I can’t see either.”

“
I was knocked cold,” she
said in a panic.

Struggling to breathe, G.R. said, “It’s from
G-LOC. Gravity induced loss of consciousness. We blacked out from
acceleration forces after losing onboard gravity.”

Deni’s query filtered through the disarray.
“Faith?”

No response.

She tried again. “Faith? Are you okay?”

Kaz yelled, “Faith? Where are you?”

Deni’s voice grew forceful, “Bach, try to
find a light.”

“
What about you, Deni? You
okay?” he asked.

“
Left ankle’s
broken.”

G.R. called out, “Faith!” then mumbled, “In
my opinion she can’t be out this long from G-LOC.” He rambled in
the darkness as if reading a medical manual. “When pressure
increases beyond human endurance it can create a centrifuge that
shuts down the metabolic oxygen reserve and impairs cardiovascular
response. But the unconscious state lasts no more than twenty-four
seconds.” He coughed a couple of times. “I think we went the full
twenty-four.” Another cough. “Awakening’s a slow
recovery—disoriented, anxious, fearful, memory loss. Sometimes a
give-up reaction, but it’ll pass. Still, she can’t be out this
long.” After a pause, he yelled again, “Faith, please say
something.”