7
John reached the camp site and was relieved to see a small fire at the entrance to a shelter.
Inside, Phoenix was resting on a makeshift nest of soft leaves and spare clothing, his eyes closed in slumber.
"Nix" he whispered as he fell to his knees and reached out to touch a hand.
Phoenix moaned softly and opened his eyes, "John?"
"Hey buddy" John whispered as he stroked his cheek, gaining a small smile.
"John" Phoenix repeated with a sigh of relief, reaching up to grasp the hand.
Toshiko had opened the box and was pulling out emergency supplies, handing a blanket to the young man called Nibs and he shook it open over Phoenix and gently tucked it around him.
"Nibs, where did Helli go?" Phoenix asked as he became more aware of his surroundings.
"She had to go pee" he replied, "She is over …."
The scream was not as unexpected as it should have been.
John was on his feet and running towards the commotion as Toshiko followed at his heels.
Whatever was happening, she was not a happy camper.
.
.
.
.
.
Bollo was sitting shocked as Jack explained what had happened and he looked over at his bots, "Dos is totally buggered for now, until I can fix his arm and Uno would do it if you explain it in detail as he is a bit thick, but I don't know if either one has the capacity for the work needed."
"It's the best I've got" Jack replied, "I need a bot. Either that or I do it myself."
"And I am sure that would go down well with the rest of the family" Bollo grinned. "Especially with all the EVA suits blown out the tear."
Jack looked Uno in the eye … he only had one, as he explained as carefully as possible, what he needed it to do and he wondered it was even still switched on as it sat slowly revolving one hand.
"It's how he processes" Bollo promised, "He is thinking."
"Gods" Jack moaned softly.
.
.
.
.
.
It was huge, full of teeth and those teeth were full of dying crew member.
Damn.
John fired at it, watching the fur fly as it yelped and dropped its meal, then letting out a strange cry.
"Captain Hart, why do I get the impression that was not a good sound?" Toshiko asked him as he checked the woman for any life signs.
"She's dead."
"Yes, but they are not" she started to back up, one hand grabbing his shoulder and pulling him to his feet.
He turned to look in the direction she was moving back from and saw glowing eyes as more creatures approached.
"Ah fuck, I thought it was a cry of defeat," he whined, "It ran away!"
"Apparently it was the dinner bell" Toshiko snapped as she stated to run, John slipping as he struggled to keep up and she grabbed his elbow to help steady him.
The foliage behind then cracked and swayed as they are pursued.
"Shit shit, shit" John panted with each footfall and he heard something, looking to the bot running beside him.
She was laughing.
.
.
.
.
The bot was moving slowly, its arms full of patch materials and they watched from the safety of the corridor as it approached the breach.
It dropped the patch materials and started to stretch the thick material over the hole, roughly the size of an old fashioned manhole.
Jack was transported back in his mind to those things, the noise as the SUV's tires ran them over in the street, the thrum of the metal moving.
He was brought back to reality as Leia cursed and leaned into the microphone, "No you numbskull, it has to cover it completely! Then you place the sealant!"
The bot was struggling against the suction pressure pulling at the patch to pop it into the outside of the hull, using both of its arms and then to Jack's amazement, its head.
Bollo snorted and then made a small noise as Bennu shuffled towards them, holding his belly as if it might fall to the floor is he didn't.
"Daddy, have you heard from Johnny?" he asked as he accepted the chair Bollo had pulled over to fuss.
"He's reached the site, next transmission in a few minutes baby" Jack assured him, "Every hour on the hour."
Bennu rubbed his unhappy baby and nodded, looking at the vid-screen as Leia roared down the microphone again.
"No! You idiot. It needs to cover that part with at least two inches either side, keep stretching it!"
Bennu grimaced as his child shifted.
He needed to hear John's voice.
Something was …off.
