thing.” There was no trace of meanness in her voice, only good natured teasing.
Merrell clambered back down the ladder. Once at the bottom he motioned for Devon to
climb up.
“After you.”
Devon scurried up the ladder and through the hatch. He reached down, just as Jacinda
had and helped Merrell bring this case up as well. Merrell followed the case through the hatch.
Flim was right behind him. The four friends carried the cases to the front of the ship and set
them on their empty seats.
Jacinda paused. “Let me check on Mr. Jacobs before we go back down for more
supplies.”
She bent over Deke, who was still unconscious, and began to check him over.
“He doesn’t seem to be too badly injured, but I can’t be sure.” She shook him lightly one
last time. He moaned as his eyes fluttered open. All four friends let out a sigh of relief.
Deke gave them a weak smile. “I’m back now. How long was I out this time?”
Devon began to speak, but Jacinda spoke up before he could begin.
“You were out for about thirty minutes. We found the supplies in the cargo hold.”
Deke nodded, obviously pleased. “Good work. Are they easy to get to?”
“They are a little tough. We have to drag them over a pile of luggage, but other than that,
it is a snap. We even brought up two cases already.”
“Excellent work Jacinda.”
Flim groaned loudly. Jacinda looked sheepish for a moment.
“It wasn’t just me Mr. Jacobs. We all helped, especially Merrell. I guess I just took
charge.”
“You can say that again.” Flim laughed.
Jacinda blushed, suddenly aware that her earlier assertiveness may have been a little
overpowering for the others.
“I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Devon put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “It’s no big deal, Jacinda. We’ll let
you know when you officially get
bossy
.”
Everyone, including Jacinda, laughed at that.
“You have all done good work,” Deke added. “I need you to do something else for me.
You mentioned that there was a hole in the side of the ship. Is it big enough for you to go
through easily?”
They all nodded.
“Good, then I need the four of you to go and check out the ship from the outside. We
need to make sure that it is not in any more danger. Also, we need to see if we can access the
cockpit from the outside. The crew may be trapped in there and might need help. While you are
out there I also want you to check out the nearby area. Make sure you don’t go too far, but I’d
like to get a general lay of the land. You four are going to have to be my eyes and ears until I
feel up to going outside. Any questions?”
Flim raised his hand. “Deke, what about the wildlife? What if there are any of those
bowzers out there? They mentioned them in the briefing on our datapads.” Flim’s mention of
the bowzers made everyone think about the picture that had accompanied their description in the
briefing materials. Bowzers were big, four-legged predators covered in bristly black fur. They
looked very similar to Earth wolves, but were quite a bit bigger. They also had jaws more akin
to a crocodile than a wolf. All in all, they were about 250 pounds of pure mean.
“Very good, Flim. I’m glad you did your homework. However, the briefing also
mentioned that the bowzers are strictly nocturnal. As long as it is light outside, you should be
fine.”
The four friends nodded in relief.
“What I want you to do is see if there is any other damage to the ship. Also, check to see
if there is any high ground nearby. We might be able to set up the emergency transponder there.
While you are out there I want you all to stick together. Never be out of touch with your partner.
Make sure you all have your WristVids as well. We should have short-range communication
using those. Don’t wander too far from the ship, though. I want each of you to take a pack with
food and water, just in case.”
There was silence for a moment and then Devon stepped forward. “I think I speak for all
of us when I say that leaving the ship is a bit scary. I know the bowzers don’t come out during
the day, but it still makes me nervous.”
“I can understand that, Devon, but I need you to do this. I can’t explain it right now, but
this is really important. All I can do is to ask each of you to trust me.”
The four friends slowly nodded.
“Thank you, now please hurry. You have to get back before night fall. Remember the
bowzers.”
Chapter 10
Captain Leiber stood on the Bridge of the
Boadicea
and studied the report the watch
officer had just handed him. He shook his head in dismay. Rubbing his chin, he scanned all of
the available flight data received from the drop ship just before they lost contact. Everything had
been going as planned until the drop ship entered the ionosphere of the planet. The flight data
became erratic and then ended completely.
Something had caused the ionosphere to go haywire and the drop ship had been in the
unfortunate position of traveling through it just at the wrong moment. Despite their best efforts,
the crew of the
Boadicea
still could not get their sensors to penetrate the suddenly opaque
ionosphere. It was as if all of the electromagnetic interference in the atmosphere had suddenly
turned solid, cutting off all contact with anything inside.
The captain mentioned for Ensign Kepler. The fresh-faced young man practically leaped
to his feet and hurried over from his duty station.
"Mr. Kepler, have you found in any previous reports of an incident such as this in any of
our databases?"
Kepler shook his head. "No, sir. I have checked and cross-referenced all Space Safety
Board reports and have not found anything that resembles this atmospheric condition...Sir."
The final word was added with a little too much emphasis. Kepler frowned nervously as
soon as he realized his mistake. He wanted so much to make a good impression on his new
commander.
"Good, Mr. Kepler. Have you checked the science databases as well?"
"I have the computer running a high granularity search right now. An answer to the
search query should be available within thirty minutes."
Anger flashed in the captains eyes for a moment. "Mr. Kepler I need those results
sooner. Those children may not be able to afford thirty minutes."
"Aye, Aye, Captain. I'll see if I can adjust the parameters of the search. It would help if I
could task more of the computer core to the search."
The captain nodded. "I'll send orders to Chief Baker to retask the core." He keyed his
WristVid. The sharp face of Chief Baker appeared.
"Aye, Cap, what'cha need?"
The captain would not have tolerated such familiarity from any other crew member, but
the Chief's years of service to the commercial fleet had earned him leeway.
"I need you to retask as much of the computer core for Ensign Kepler as you can."
"Aye, I can do that. I'll just..." The captain politely interrupted Chief Baker.
"I don't need the details. Just take care of it."
"Aye Cap." Chief Baker's face disappeared from the captain's WristVid.
Ensign Kepler activated the new bandwidth with a few keystrokes. After only a moment
he nodded.
"Captain, using the new core resources the estimated completion time for the search is six
minutes."
"Very good, Ensign."
Even this delay concerned the captain. Every minute that passed could mean danger for
the children aboard the drop ship. Until the crew could figure out what had happened to the
atmosphere, their hands were tied. The drop ship had been equipped with plenty of supplies, so
if they landed normally than they would be fine until this could all be sorted out. On the other
hand, if the change in the ionosphere had damaged the drop ship, any rescue ship would probably
be damaged as well. The key was figuring out what had caused this and how to fix it.
The captain said a silent prayer that the children would be safe until his crew could
discover the answer. He had never been good at waiting, so he decided to do what he could until
they could send a rescue party.
“Commander Saberhagen!” The captain bellowed for his second in command. A
whippet thin man wearing an earnest expression hurried forward.
“Yes, sir”
“Mr. Saberhagen, I want you to personally oversee the preparation of a rescue mission for
the missing drop ship. I would suggest you use the time until we know more to prepare a ship
for any eventuality.”
Saberhagen executed a crisp salute. “Aye, aye, Captain. Right away.” Without another
word he turned on his heels and walked briskly out of the room.
The captain trusted his second in command with the task. He knew that Commander
Saberhagen had four children of his own, and knew that right now he was imagining how he
would feel if it were his children in danger.
He wished he trusted the crew of the drop ship as much. As a part of the commercial
fleet, the Boadicea was under command of the merchant arm of the Galactic Navy. This
included the command crew and all of the key engineering and security positions on the ship.
The rest of the crew was not part of the navy. The drop ship was not part of the commercial
fleet, but the rescue ship would be. Often a delicate balance had to be maintained between the
naval and civilian parts of the crew. However, in emergency situations, naval authority was
unquestioned.
The captain had no children of his own, but he often saw his passengers as his children,
for as long as they were on his ship. The thought of losing 35 of his
children
chilled him to the
bone. It was not going to happen on his watch, if he had anything to say about it.
Chapter 11
The sun shown brightly, a burning jewel set in the blue silk of the midday sky. No clouds
obscured the unbroken blue. The deep green of the surrounding forest was a great contrast to the
vivid blue set above it.
Devon and Flim scrambled up the hill followed closely by Jacinda and Merrell. From
this vantage point they could see the whole drop ship.
“Look at that,” Devon said as he gawked at the sight before him. All four friends stared
in amazement at the ship. It had plowed a furrow through the forest for as far as they could see.
The drop ship had come to rest against the side of a tall hill. They could not even see the front
end of the ship. It was either deeply buried in the hill or completely gone. Either way, it did not
look promising for the crew who had been there during the crash.
Devon pressed the talk button on his WristVid. “Mr. Jacobs, we made it outside okay.
We climbed up a hill next to the ship.”
Deke’s familiar voice came from the speaker. “How does the ship look from out there?”
There was concern in Deke’s voice.
“It looks like the entire cockpit is a wreck. The front of the ship is stuck in a hill and I
can’t even tell if the cockpit is still there.”
There was silence for a moment. “Bad news. The transponder was up there. Now I want
you to circle the ship. Make sure that everything else looks okay. Call me back as soon as you
are done, or in fifteen minutes. Whichever comes first. We have to stay in contact.”
Devon clicked off his WristVid. “You heard him. Let’s circle the ship and check it out
from all sides.”
Merrell and Jacinda responded with nods while Flim rolled his eyes and huffed. “First
we crash, and now we have to walk…this wasn’t in the brochure.”
Jacinda wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. All of them were
sweating quite a bit in the heat of the morning.
From this vantage point it was obvious that the ship had settled into a basin-shaped dell
surrounded on three sides by a high hill. From here they got a much better look at the ship.
They followed the ridge of the hill around to the front of the ship. Jacinda and Devon
shared a knowing look when they saw the crumpled mess that had been the cockpit.
Suddenly, Devon began to feel a strange vibration through his feet. The ground beneath
him seemed to be shaking, making him feel unsteady. He looked over to the others to see if they
felt it too. They all exchanged quizzical looks, wondering what could be causing the shaking.
Bits of dirt and rock began to tumble down the hillside as the shaking increased.
Devon began to worry as larger pieces of the hillside began to slide down toward the
