| Chapter 16 Nick stirred, slowly opening his eyes. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the brightness, then looked around. He was still in the hospital room, but things looked different. There were more machines than he remembered, and he was hooked up to all of them. An IV was in each arm, and he could feel a mask of some sort over his nose and mouth. Then he realized that he wasn't itching anymore, he hurt. His arms and legs felt like heavy weights and it hurt to breathe. He tried taking a deep breath, but couldn't. His breathing was coming in short gasps, but the contraption on his face seemed to help. At least he thought it did. A nurse was monitoring the machines and happened to look over, seeing he was awake. That realization seemed to startle her, and she headed out of the room at a fast pace. Nick turned his head and saw Ana asleep in the chair next to the bed. She looked as tired as he felt. She was wearing a different jumpsuit and her hair was braided, with tiny ringlets framing her face. Nick stared at her for a moment, wondering why everything seemed so different. Hadn't he just gone to sleep a few hours ago? The chair was close enough to the bed that Nick could reach out and touch her hand, which he did. "Ana?" he said through the mask. It even hurt to talk. His throat felt dry, his voice cracking as if it hadn't been used in days. She didn't stir, so Nick squeezed her hand as best he could, "Ana?" She opened her eyes and looked up, a look of amazement on her face as she quickly stood, looking for the nurse. "She ... left," Nick managed. Ana looked back down at him, "How are you feeling?" "I hurt," he answered, "What .. happened?" Ana sat on the side of the bed, still holding his hand, "Your fever got really high, and the virus spread. You've been unconscious for several days now. We feared we would lose you for a time." Now Nick was immensely confused, "Days?" She nodded. "Where did it spread?" he asked. "To your lungs. That's why you're having trouble breathing normally," she told him. Nick stared at her for a moment, letting that information sink in. He'd been out for days? How long before they reached Celeste? He wasn't going to be ready in time. He felt a chill and moved his arm under the blanket, his eyes widening when he did. He moved his hand down his body, not feeling any clothes. When he got to his hips, there was nothing there either. He looked back up at Ana, "Where are my .. clothes?" he asked, somewhat embarrassed. She smiled slightly before she caught herself, "We removed them. You were sweating so much, it was easier to leave them off than to change them every hour." He stared at her, seeing her cheeks flush under his eyes. He looked away before he started to laugh. Somehow he got the feeling that she didn't mind that part of his illness. OK, back on track, Carter, he told himself, "How long before...?" "We have six days," she answered, before he even finished. He looked away, angry at himself for getting sick, "That's not long enough is it?" Ana shook her head, "No, but we will do our best with the time we have." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin looked over at the simulators from the transport he was working on. He could hear muffled yells coming from them. Bert glanced over too, "Who would've thought that little squirt would be a natural fly boy." Kevin laughed, "Yeah, he never ceases to amaze me." They went back to the engine they were overhauling. "So Bert, how long did you say you've been doing this?" Kevin asked. "Bout twenty years," the man answered, "Since we started inter planet travel." "Wow, I bet you've seen some interesting things," Kevin said. "I could write a book, if it was allowed," he laughed, "Maybe someday the government won't be so afraid of the public's reaction and let them in on our little secret." "Yeah, I think they need to before some planet tells them for us," Kevin agreed. Bert looked at him for a moment, "So what was your friend like?" Kevin looked at him confused. "The one we're going after, the Angel. What was he like?" Bert asked. "Nick is just ... Nick. There's no way to describe him. He's kind, soft hearted at times, goofy, annoying..." he laughed. "And you never knew?" the man asked. Kevin shook his head, "Never. I mean he always had these strange little quirks, but that was just Nick." Bert was quiet for a moment, "He sounded like a nice kid." "Why do you keep referring to him in past tense?" Kevin asked. Bert sighed, "I know he's your friend, and we're going after him and all, but do you really think he's still gonna be alive when we get there? Think about it. They have two weeks on us. That's a long time to do whatever they want to him. We could be making this trip for nothing." Kevin looked down at his hands. He hated to admit it, but that very thought had been plaguing him since they left. "He has to still be alive," he muttered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Brian you can't maneuver like that! This is a transport, not a fighter!" a very annoyed voice came through his helmet. Brian was on his third ship, learning to fly. The first two had been fighters, this was a twenty person transport. "Why not?" Brian asked, "If I can't maneuver like this, why is it letting me?" "You can maneuver like that if you want to make scrambled eggs out of your passengers," came the cocky piolet he'd flown against several days before. Brian sighed, "They have seat belts." Both voices in his helmet laughed. "OK, start the run again," Brian said, "And Andrew, try to keep the fighters off me this time." "Hey, the object is for you to learn to fly, I already know how," Andrew, the cocky piolet, snapped back. Brian laughed, "You coulda fooled me." "Alright you two, cut the chatter. Run is starting," the commander said. Suddenly Brian was sitting in space, in a convoy of transports. Several teams of fighters escorted them. They were heading to a large space station in the distance. Brian stayed in line, looking for the attack he knew was coming. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the ship appear. "Here we go," he said, still staying in the formation. The fighters went out to meet it, but as in the last four times, they didn't stop it. Brian broke formation and hit the power, ducking under the transport in front of him. He ran underneath them until they too began to take evasive action. Now he was on his own. Nothing to hide behind. Brian glanced down at his instruments. The thing was right behind him. He started to flip the ship, then remembered he had passengers. Unless he wanted twenty people kissing the ceiling, he couldn't do that. He thought frantically. He was already taking hits, and increased his shields as much as he could. He pushed the stick down, and forced the ship straight down, then pulled the stick up, just as his pursuer started to follow him. The ship flew past him, and Brian banked hard left, coming around behind it. All he had were small lasers as weapons, but he fired them anyway. He was close to the station, he just had to hold out a little while longer. The ship tried to use Brian's tactic on him, but Brian just leveled out and ran for the station. He felt a few more hits, and then his aft shields went out. "Oh just great," he muttered, knowing one more hit would finish his ship. Brian hit the right break at the same time pulling the stick all the way to the right. He did a complete 180, then threw all power to the front shields. He put the thing in reverse and went full speed backwards towards the docking bay, at the same time, firing with everything he had at the ship that was coming at him. Brian blinked at the white light that flowed over his windshield with each hit his ship took. He made it to the docking bay, slamming on the breaks just inside it, and carefully setting the ship down. His screen went dark, and Brian took a deep breath. He made it. The commander and his assistant glanced at one another in shock and amazement. In all their time instructing, no one had ever done what Brian just did. Sure his passengers would have been shaken up, but they had made it relatively unharmed. Even Andrew was in awe. "OK Brian, that's it for today," the commander said. Brian climbed out of the simulator, exhausted. Flying took a great toll on his body, but he loved it. The adrenaline left him with a high that no drug could copy. He smiled at Andrew as they walked across the bay to the control room. "Kid, you are a natural," Andrew said. Brian laughed, "I dunno bout that. Nick would be the natural. He kicked my butt at every game we played." Andrew shook his head, "If he's better than you, I hope to God we don't have to fly against him." The commander was motioning all the piolets to the control room. In curiosity, many of the mechanics went in as well. Including Kevin and Bert. Everyone wanted to see what their new �ace' had done today. Even Tamara and Tom were present. Without a word, the commander punched a few buttons and the run appeared on the screen at the head of the room. Brian's transport was highlighted in blue. It played out like a movie, the only thing missing was the pop corn. "Any comments on things you see wrong?" the commander asked. No one said anything. Brian raised his hand, "Um I think if Andrew had banked left instead of right, he could've ducked underneath the ship and knocked out its power source." The commander smiled, "That's exactly right." Andrew watched the run again, "Damn, you're right." "I want everyone to keep Brian's tactic in your minds. It's one that's never been done, but it could come in handy," the commander said, "You're dismissed." Several of the piolets went over to talk with Brian. Kevin watched his cousin, smiling. Brian actually looked happy. He hadn't seen that look on his face since Nick was taken. The piolets drifted away and Kevin walked over, "Good flying cuz." "Thanks Kev," Brian said, "You ready to eat? I'm starving." Kevin laughed, "Yeah, let me put my tools up, and I'll be right there." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat up in bed, trying to eat. He was still weak, but during the day had improved greatly. The doctor had taken him off most of the monitors, and he was down to just one IV. Ana had left to clean up and send a message to the queen. Nick felt a tinge of jealousy about that. Ana got to talk to her, but he didn't. He could understand why, he still didn't know how to address her, or how to act in her presence. But, she was still his mother, and he desperately wanted to meet her, talk to her. He leaned on the small table, taking another sip of his soup. It tasted wonderful, although it looked a little odd. He'd come to find out that most of their food looked odd, but the taste more than made up for it. He had been given a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants to put on earlier. He'd gotten up and put them on right there in front of the nurses and doctor, and Ana. He figured why not, since they'd all obviously seen him anyway. He couldn't help but notice the blush on Ana's cheeks when he'd turned back around. He had to force himself not to smile at her. The doctor came in to check on him, "You look much better, my Prince." Nick nodded, "I feel better." "You should be well enough to go back to your room tomorrow," the doctor said. Nick watched him check his IV and the monitors. "Doc, am I really the only one that looks like this?" he asked. The doctor stopped and looked at him, "Yes, your highness, you are." Nick looked down at his almost empty bowl, feeling awkward. He knew in his heart that it didn't matter what a person looked like, but what kind of person they were inside. But this race put so much importance on what was on the outside, he feared that he would never fit in. The doctor looked at him, wondering what was going through his head. "My Prince, being different isn't a bad thing," he said. Nick laughed, "It's not a good thing either. Haven't you just ever wanted to fit in? Just be normal?" The doctor thought for a moment, "I guess. I've never thought about it." "Well I have. All my life, all I ever wanted was just to fit in. And now, even with my own people, I still don't," Nick said. "But your people still love you, and still revere you," the doctor said. Nick sighed, looking at the man, "Sometimes that's not enough." Chapter 17 |