| Chapter 20 The next few days blurred by in a whirlwind of activity. Nick was busy from suns up to well past dark, everyday. He'd fallen into a routine of sorts. Getting up before the twin suns rose, and getting dressed. He loved to watch the suns rise. The sky was filled with every color imaginable. It was breath taking. He used that moment to think about the day, and about those he loved that were galaxies away. It was a time just for himself, and though he'd never been an early riser, he cherished that time of the day. Rowland would come get him not long after sun rise and they would work out. Nick was working on discovering his abilities, and Rowland had found someone with each to help him. He spent the majority of the morning learning to fine tune what he already knew. He was a fast learner, and soon wouldn't need to have these early morning lessons. But Nick enjoyed them. He was amazed at what had been hidden inside him all these years. He could do things he never thought possible. There was a whole other part of him that had been awakened, and he loved it. After his work out, he would clean up and meet his mother for brunch, then it was off with Ana to learn more about his world and its customs. They would either work in the enormous library, or they would take walks around the palace grounds. Nick looked forward to this time as well. He was quickly discovering that he felt more for Ana than just the friendship they showed to everyone else. And though he knew it was forbidden, he really didn't care. They'd never kissed, and barely held hands, but he cared for her so much, that it hurt sometimes. And he was sure she felt the same way. He could see it in her eyes when they talked, and in her smile. When afternoon came, he was with his father. Nick admired him so much, and held on to the hope that maybe he would get better. The king had good days, and bad, but he always had time for Nick. He told Nick about his life, the things he and his brother used to do when they were younger. Nick shared with him that he'd done some of the same things to his parents. The king told of Celeste in the olden days, of his father, and his father before him. Nick drank in every word, wanting to remember everything. He would spend as much time as possible with his father, waiting until he fell asleep before he would leave and join his mother with the day to day activities in the late afternoon. Then after supper, he would take some time for himself. Most of the time he took Thomas out for a ride. He wasn't a great rider, but Thomas seemed to know that and never gave him a problem. Then he would come back and sit with his father well into the night. Sometimes they would talk some more, but most of the time Nick just watched him sleep. Then he would return to his room and collapse into bed, having only a few hours rest before he started all over again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Brian!" Nick screamed in horror. He watched as Brian was pulled out of the docking bay into the vacuum of space. The airlock had failed, and everything that hadn't been bolted down, ended up being sucked out of the ship. He watched as Brian struggled, sheer terror in his eyes. Brian blinked a few times, then let the breath he was holding out, giving up the fight. "No! God, someone help him!" Nick screamed, "Please!" But it was to late, Brian was gone. Nick sat straight up in bed, screaming. He was drenched in sweat and he couldn't catch his breath. Rowland was the first one into his room, followed by several guards, and the queen. "Your highness, are you alright?" Rowland asked, searching the room for some intruder. Nick nodded, taking a shaky breath, "I-I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you." "What happened?" the queen asked, coming to sit beside him on the bed. "Really bad dream," Nick answered, as the guards were ordered out of the room by Rowland. LaDonna smoothed his damp hair off his forehead, "Son, are you sure it was dream, and not the future you were seeing?" He shook his head, "No, I'm not sure." Nick had discovered that one of his abilities was to see the past and the future. Most of the time they would come as visions, but his teacher had told him that they could come as dreams also. Nick got out of bed and walked out onto his balcony, looking up at the stars. He couldn't get Brian's face out of his head, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. His mother joined him, watching him with concern. "It was Brian," he began, still gazing at the night sky, "He couldn't breathe. He was ... sucked into space and he died." The queen wrapped her arm around him, holding him close, "Is this the first time you've had this dream?" Nick shook his head, "I've had it for the past few nights, but this one was so vivid. It felt like I was there. He looked right at me, like he was waiting for me to help him." "It's your call Nickolas. This could just be a dream, but what if it's not?" his mother said. Nick bit his lip, nodding. "Rowland, have our ship move closer to the Earth ship. Tell them to have the rescue teams on alert, and to monitor everything going on," Nick said. "But, if we move closer they will know we're there," Rowland said. Nick looked at him, "I don't care. Move the ship closer. As long as we don't do anything that can be perceived as a threat, they have no reason to attack us." "And if they do?" Rowland asked. Nick sighed, "Then we will have no choice but to defend ourselves." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andrew walked into the docking bay to the hoots and hollers of everyone. He hung his head, making a bee line for the control room. The commander saw him coming and turned to Brian, "I think this little vendetta you two have should stop." Brian nodded, "It has, that was the last of it." The commander laughed, patting Brian on the shoulder, "Very creative though." Brian grinned as Andrew came into the room, "Hey there, what's new?" Andrew glared at him, "Don't play innocent with me, you know what's new." Brian laughed, "If it's any consolation, it'll wash out in about two weeks." Andrews eyes widened, "Two weeks!" "Hey it could've been permanent ya know?" Brian laughed. Andrew laughed and shook his head, "Please say it's over. I'm really sorry Brian, I was an idiot." Brian sighed, acting like he was thinking it over. Andrew waited for him to answer. The last week had been hell for him. He was constantly wondering what would happen next. First all his clothes went missing. It wouldn't had been that bad, except he was in the showers when they disappeared. He had to walk all the way to the command center, dripping wet, and covering his manhood with his hands. Then came the morning the anti-gravity in his room mysteriously went out. He woke up with his nose on the ceiling. And just as he was trying to push himself off the ceiling, the thing came back on and he plummeted to the floor. Not to mention that his food suddenly became very spicy. He'd taken to smelling of his food before he tasted it, but that didn't even help. And this morning he got out of the shower to realize that his shampoo had been replaced with dye, purple dye. He was now sporting one interesting head of hair. "Please Brian, I've learned my lesson," he pleaded. Brian laughed, "Alright, I'll stop." "Thank you!" Andrew said, grabbing Brian and hugging him. "Dude! Get off me!" Brian laughed, "Everyone is looking!" Andrew glanced out the windows to see the entire bay staring back at him. He quickly let Brian go, and stepped back, clearing his throat, "Um, sorry." Brian rolled his eyes, stepping out of the control room with Andrew. They were chatting about the upcoming run when Brian noticed something�a breeze. He stopped talking and looked around, wondering where it was coming from. "Bri, what are you looking for?" Andrew asked. "You feel that?" Brian asked. Andrew stood still, then his eyes widened, "Oh shit!" They both saw it at the same time. The airlock was failing. They could see tendrils of electricity running through it. The breeze was getting stronger and they knew it wouldn't hold much longer. "Get everyone in the ships!" Brian screamed, turning and running back to the command room. Andrew started screaming at everyone to get into the ships they had docked in the bay. Several of the piolets started the life support systems on them. They waited for everyone to get aboard, then closed the hatches. Kevin looked around nervously. Then he realized he didn't see Brian. "Andrew, where's Bri?" he asked. Andrew suddenly realized he didn't know. He looked out the windows, "Oh God." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian ran into the command room and over to the control panel. He hit the switch to close the bay doors, but nothing happened. He hit it again, realizing the remote must be shorted out. He hit the alarm on his way out of the control room. Suddenly the entire ship was filled with the sirens, and several automatic doors banged shut, including the doors leading into the docking bay. Brian ran across the bay, fighting the debris that was being sucked out into space. The airlock was on the verge of going, and he knew if he didn't get the doors shut he'd be a goner. He made it to the control panel on the far wall and opened it up. He was having to hang on to it as he pressed several buttons. He hit the last one, just as a large storage box hit him in the side. He lost his grip on the control panel and fell to the floor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tamara and Tom were in the command center. The captain had called them up as soon as the Celestian ship came up on their radar. "What do you think?" the captain asked. "They've made no attempt to contact us?" Tamara asked. "No, they're just trailing us," he answered. "When was their last sweep?" Tom asked. "They're scanning us every forty-nine seconds, " someone said. "Why would they ....?" Tamara started to say when the sirens filled the air. "Sir, the air lock in bay two is failing," a tech said. "Did they do this?" Tom asked. "No they couldn't have," the captain replied, moving over to a screen. He could see the bay. "Pan around, where is everyone?" he said. The tech panned the camera around. "There, in the ships," Tamara pointed out. "What are they looking at?" the tech asked. "Pan the camera in that direction," the captain instructed. "Sir, the Celestian ship has launched a class four transport," another tech announced. "Oh my God!" Tamara said, seeing what everyone was looking at, "Stop the doors!" "We can't," the captain said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several of the piolets and mechanics were holding Kevin down. He was crying, trying to leave the ship to help his cousin. The airlock had completely failed, and the air from the bay was being sucked out into space, along with everything that wasn't clamped down. Kevin watched in horror as Brian struggled to hang on to the bay doors. He'd been swept out when the lock failed, but managed to grab one of the doors. Now he was desperately trying to pull himself back in as the doors slowly closed. "Hurry Brian," Andrew said under his breath. The doors were almost closed and he still hadn't gotten in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian glanced to his side, seeing the other massive door coming at him. He was out of air. He took one last look at Kevin, then let go, just as the doors closed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Re-pressurize the bay, quickly," the captain ordered. Tamara was in shock. They'd just lost Brian. They couldn't mount a rescue team quick enough. He was already gone. "I don't believe this!" a tech said, "They're picking him up." Tamara pulled herself together and went over to the tech. The Celestian transport had managed to grab Brian just as he cleared the ship. They now had him inside and were on their way back to their own ship. "See if you can open a line of communication with them," she ordered, looking at Tom, "It's like they knew that was going to happen." He nodded. "They won't answer," the tech said. "Keep trying," she ordered. "I'll go get his friends," Tom said, quickly leaving the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick ran into the vast control room. Every ship was monitored from right here in the palace. They'd sent someone to get him, quickly telling him that his worst nightmare had happened. "Do they have him? Is he alright?" Nick asked, frightened. "We have him your highness. He's being taken to medical, but it doesn't look good," a tech said. Nick bit his lip, waiting for another report. By now the queen and Ana had come in. The queen saw how upset and concerned her son was and took action. "Pull med up on the screen," she ordered. Nick glanced at her, then watched as the screen came to life. He watched in horror as the doctor and nurses worked on Brian. First to get him breathing again, then they transferred him to some kind of chamber. Brian looked like he'd been beaten. Bruises were forming all over his body. "What's happening to him?" Nick asked, almost in tears. "When you're exposed to the vacuum of space without a protective suit, your body tries to equalize the pressure. The oxygen in your body escapes through your cells," Rowland explained. Nick winced at the thought. "I want an update, now," the queen demanded. Nick watched as one of the doctors put on a headset, "We have him in the oxygen chamber, but we aren't adequately supplied to handle his injuries. We must return home if we are to save him." Nick looked at one of the techs, "How long will it take them to get here?" "They can be here by tomorrow afternoon if they push it," the man answered. Nick nodded, "Do it. Send a message to the Earth ship letting them know what's going on, and get him here." "Yes, your highness," the man said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J., Howie and Kevin sat in the control room in tears. Tom had explained to them what had happened, and they listened as one of the techs tried over and over again to hail the other ship. "Why won't they answer?" A.J. fumed. Kevin was so stricken with worry that he could barely sit up. Howie did his best to consol him, but was consumed with worry himself. First Nick, now Brian. How many of his friends were these Angels going to take from him? Just then they heard a voice come over the intercom, "Earth ship, this is Havendale 1. Your man is alive, but seriously injured. We are transporting him back to Celeste for medical treatment." And with that the communication was cut. Everyone in the control room watched as the massive ship came around them, then went to maximum speed. In a moment they were gone. Kevin, A.J. and Howie exchanged tearful glances, praying they made it in time. Chapter 21 |