Chapter 14-mud in the eye
Maureen looked at the boats Sebunan and others had fashioned, they were the type that easily fell apart . They had no time to fashion ones up to the challenge of navigating the tidal pool, then the open sea. This plan just seemed like a way to kill people off in a kinder fashion. Her hopes were not on the craft, instead resting in the hands of Don West.
"We have to get ready to move out of here", Sebunan told them. The air above them was eerily quiet now. When she looked over at the city, it looked deserted. She could feel herself trembling as she went towards Section 2's buildings , they would burn easily as they were old. She gathered long sticks from around the base of the building ,these would make great supports for those who found it difficult to move.
As she hurried towards section 2, she noticed a group of aliens were in front of the building blocking the entrance. She felt fear rise up as she came up alongside them, they looked like a mob of beings who had a sinister purpose. Why else would they not be fleeing. She should run and get John, but realised that would take up valuable time. So she approached them, back straight and eyes boring into their own. Maureen then demanded in a steady voice, "what do you want". They looked at each other, then shoved a tall 4 armed alien forward. He made it clear what their intentions were. "we do not have enough room on the boats, so we have to leave behind some of those in section two". We are here to make the selection".
Maureen felt boiling anger rise up then, how dare they do this, "thats not right", she yelled. "Step aside and let me try and help people".
The beings did not move. Instead the large alien man just stared her down, waiting for her to back off. Maureen did not, now she was beyond angry and her words came out in a fiery passion, 'now you are exactly like those in charge, beings with no honour ,who just think about themselves. '
She eyeballed each one of them slowly until they turned away. The alien in the lead was hanging his head as shame hit him hard . "You are wasting valuable time being bullies", Maureen told them pointedly. "Stop, doing that and start helping , now".Her voice cracked like a whip .
Maureen could feel the fear deep within herself as she looked at this mob. They held their eyes on the alien in front of her, obviously delegating responsibility to him. That told her that she had won, they may be a mob, but they were not brave enough to stand against the truth of her words. The tall alien man bowed at her, "you speak wisely", he said softly. "We will all help".He stepped out of the door way and let Maureen lead the rest of them inside. Maureen blew out a sigh of relief and rushed in to offer aid. She knew though that this might not be the last time she had to deal with a group of people who were now turning on each other. Fear for your own life did that.
"Come on Doctor Fine, hurry up and find out why Don is not infected", she shouted loudly.
As she entered the building she saw a sea of hopeful eyes turn her way, "everyone, get out of these buildings, help those who cannot walk themselves", she yelled at them. Everyone hurried to comply.
The exodus had begun but would it be enough.
xxxxxxx
"Alright I am coming out", Don told Penny, Will and Doctor Smith. He could not carry out anything effectively from inside the cargo hold, so had to make this move. Even though he knew he'd been cured , he still felt nervous about being around the children. There was a chance their theories were wrong. "Maybe it is best if you all keep your distance until be obtain the mud", he told them.
As he got to the flight deck, he noted Smith scooted to the far side of the ship. The man did not even acknowledge him, as if afraid that even talking would bring the ailment down upon him. Penny and Will beamed, genuine smiles that made warmth envelope him.
"Are we sure about this cure", Will asked. Doctor Fine, nodded, "it makes a lot of sense Will, the ailment occurred because the ground was covered." Don was partly correct when he said the area is to blame, enclosing all those people in that oldest part of the city has meant none of them could find a natural cure. Instead it is just making the ailment stronger".
Will, looked at Penny ,it was a meaningful glance that spoke volumes. "Then we have nothing to worry about", they said together . They turned toward Don and threw themselves at him. He could not escape as Will snuggled into his left side and Penny into his right. They were crying he noted.
Don stretched out his arms wide so he could wrap them around both of them. Tears fell from his own eyes then. Penny ,feeling the warmth on her arms , looked into Don's face, "are you crying", she said in amazement. Previously Don would have denied this and made an excuse about 'sore eyes. But now it felt right to say, "yes Penny, I think its appropriate in this situation. I missed you both".
"We missed you too Don", Will told him as he squeezed him even tighter. Don had always been his 'surrogate big brother. Yet the pilot seemed to keep a distance from him that had made him wonder what he really felt. So it was a revelation that Don did indeed love them a lot .
"Major I hate to intrude on this moment of sentimentality, but we do have a timeline", the robot just had to remind him. "You will have to stop liftoff, Will told him as he pushed himself out of Don's arms
Don hurried to the controls and immediately evalauted their situation. The ship was being controlled from elsewhere. "Dammit, I am not going to be able to stop this", he said .
Penny paled then, she had been feeling so good that everything was on track to cure her parents. Beside her Will was pale and shaking. Doctor Smiths face was neutral, and she found herself yelling at him, 'you can at least feel sad Smith'.
Doctor Smith opened his mouth ready to defend himself when Don cut in, "he does not have to feel sad". Had Major West actually just said that, how amazing. "Thank you my man, I always knew you..."Shut up Smith, Don interjected, "I only said that because I have a plan. We don't have to try and alter the liftoff. Instead we use at for our own gain. "Now I am going to have to stay here and deal with the flight, I warn you its not going to be smooth. There are some things I need the rest of you to do".
It occurred to him rather sharply after he started delegating that he sounded like John. I am not taking his place he told himself firmly. Looking over at the children, who seemed to already regarded him as an almost dad, he added, in anything. It was not that he did not care for the children, just that John was a wiser man than he was, and Will and Penny needed that wisdom. He was despite discovering that he actually could cry, still hot headed.
Now that was a trait that would also work for him. As Will , Penny and Doctor Fine hurried off to do his bidding, only one person remained. He had not given Doctor Smith a task that required any physical aptitude, because he was not good at those. What he had in mind though was something Smith would ace. "You will deal with Administration Smith, while we deal with the real mud, you can throw some word mud at their faces". Make them back away from their plans to torch the Quarantine area. We don't need to deal with that problem as well".
He was prepared to use the Jupiters weapons, but knew that would have to be a last resort. If this came down to a battle the Jupiter might be outgunned by this planets own craft.
"I hate to bring this up Major", Smith stated," but I have not had much success in dealing with administration", he held up his injured hand. "They threatened to kill me not long ago".
Don knew the type of threat, would effect Smith deeply. He needed extra motivation. "Well now is your time for revenge Smith. We have the upper hand, Administration is responsible for an ailment that has killed many. Now they are planning to wipe out a whole area of people". It's time they stopped denying things and took their part in helping out". Now stop complaining and get talking Smith." Don's voice cracked power on that last bit.
Doctor Smith turned away, and hurried to activate the communication system. He did not even try to argue further. A fiery passion was building within, he was going to make Administration feel very sorry.
"Right ,lift off is in five minutes", Don told them. He opened the panel in front of him. "I advise caution Major", the Robot warned. "I don't plan to damage anything vital robot", Don explained. In fact there is only one part, that I can alter at the moment as everything else is slaved to the planets own systems. However they can't control something already damaged."
Don increased the current flowing to the part in question and watched as it started to dissolve. "Without this part we cannot leave orbit, which is perfect for the plan. "The trouble is , our flight is not going to be very stable."
He waited until the ship started to lift then took over the controls of navigation and flight . He kept the Jupiter moving at a slow speed as it left the landing site and headed over to the unstable portion of ground. The Jupiter hovered there, listing slightly as Don struggled to keep the craft steady enough to carry out their plan. Finally the Jupiter stilled its shaking and Don shouted through the communication lines, "you can commence pumping up the earth now".
Will had led Doctor Fine below to an area of the Jupiter where large collection tanks were stored. Each one had a pipe that could be lowered out of the Jupiter to suck up water or other liquid based materials. Normally only a couple of tanks could be filled at one time, as it was a heavy job that required a lot of adjustments.
Don and John would sometimes take several days to get enough materials ,which is why the Jupiter landed upon most surfaces and the rest of them found other ways to collect supplies. Now they had minutes, which would be impossible if they did not possess the right tool, a multi armed octopus called Doctor Fine.
She grabbed several pipes and sent them flying downward straight into the mud. The pumps began their task of sucking up the mud.
Doctor Smith cracked his knuckles loudly , he got a glare from Don at the sound and reminded himself not to distract the person who was keeping their ship stable.
Activating the communication console, Smith contacted the Administration .He tried to steady his panic and ready himself to face the threats he knew these people would inevitably make. Even their first greeting sounded unfriendly as they snapped out ,"Jupiter 2, why are you not in orbit."
Surprisingly Smith found his fury rising at the demand, "because we want to help some beings that you have been ignoring. Of course you will come over all clueless and claim you don't know who I am talking about, but you do. There are hundreds of beings from many different worlds still on your planet and you are planning to wipe them all out." I am speaking of those in the Quarantine zone", Smith declared.
Now the communication console went silent and Smith could imagine them carefully thinking up a reply. He imagined it would be a total lie ,so was shocked to hear ,"alright Smith, we will not deny you are correct".
"We have worked for years on a cure, hoping to save the lives of those people, but sadly we have not found a cure. So we have to take action to ensure the safely of our visitors. It is regrettable, but it has to be done". So this was their line , the whole , we are just protecting people thing. Smith realised he too had used this very defence, when he'd done something to endanger the others. No wonder Major West had given him this job.
The Major never accepted this excuse and he now found himself in the strange position of trying to channel the words of the man who annoyed him the most. "Killing people won't stop the ailment. We know the cause. Its because you have covered the earth of this planet. There is something in the earth that provides a cure. Major Donald West discovered this when he splashed some of that earth over himself. We are now sucking up that earth into the tanks of our craft and plan to drop it on the infected population." All we want you to do is stop your plan of trying to wipe out those in the zone", Smith said forcefully.
"Its a pretty lie Smith, and one we have heard before", came back words that bristled with determination. "The Robinson children have received compensation and won't be getting more. So leave orbit now and don't try to extort credits from us".
"Are you all dense", Smith found himself yelling, "its not about credits and never was, we are trying to save people". "Yeah and I can testify to the fact we have the cure", Don leant over to snap into the console.
"Well we don't believe you", that reply really stung. "Because it suits you not to believe us", Smith countered, "what are you planning to do with that quarantine area once everyone is dead, build something else ugly and fake to take credits from the visitors. " I am sure it will be very successful, Smith paused, until people start dying again". But why should you care about that, you haven't about much else."
"It's called business Doctor Smith and yes sometimes it caused us to make tough decisions. Yes, we are going to eradicate the ailment for good, this is our moral duty. We do not believe that you hold the cure, it is just sentimentality on the part of the young children who are losing their parents. So we will get on with our plan and save others", there was in that tone a finality that told Smith he had lost.
He looked over and saw Don cast him a disappointed look. Offering a lopsided smile in return Smith played his final card, "we have the cure ,even if you wish we do not. I wonder what others would think if they knew you were ignoring the opportunity to save those infected".
It was another taunt and Smith was waiting for an equally as nasty response. When it came it did not disappoint, "who cares what they would think Smith. Its only you who knows about this so called cure. Those other ships have all left ."
Smith smiled wider, "that is true, but they have heard every word you have said", he told them. He had held his finger on the wide broadcast button the whole time. Thousands of ships and their passengers had just heard their conversations. Now the ailment was no longer a secret of a select amount of people.
Don gave him a wide eyed look that was part shock and part admiration.
No response came back and Doctor Smith could imagine that an intense conversation was taking place between those who worked for administration. They would need a few beings to carry out their own plans and perhaps now some of those beings would have second thoughts.
Smith noted their own communication lines suddenly beginning to register thousands of incoming calls as ships contacted them for clarification.."We don't have time to deal with all of them", Don told him. "The pumping of the Earth has concluded now Major, the robot told him. You may commence flight to the quarantine zone".
Don was focused on the red light that had started to flash. It warned him the ship was dangerously overloaded. "Thanks for your assistance ", he told the others. "I will now lower the ramp and you can exit the craft. It will be a little bit of a drop, but not enough to cause significant damage". He knew his words were a shock to the others, they would not have realised he intended to make them all leave. But unfortunately the craft was too heavy and without the others, he would at least be able to fly to the quarantine site.
"We are not leaving Don", Penny protested. 'You have no choice Penny, its either you or the earth, not both. Please you must leave the ship now". I can carry out this job, with just the assistance of the robot, Don told them.
"Why do I get the feeling you knew this was going to happen", Smith accused. Will found himself nodding in agreement ,Don would know that the ship would be unable to handle too much weight. But he had not told them because, ultimately Don West, did not want to put them in danger . It could be that the Jupiter 2 faced a battle at the Quarantine zone. Don had designated himself as the one who was expendable .
Will ground his teeth with frustration, unfortunately there was little they could do. Don knew that as well.
The inflatable raft was thrown out, providing them with a very comfortable place to fall. "Go now", Don told them.
He knew Doctor Smith would not hesitate and watched as the man quickly left his side. He threw him a "well done Smith", as he left. That complement actually made the Doctor stop and stare at him for a whole two minutes. Then with a smile on his face Doctor Zachary Smith hurried to join the others.
Doctor Fine, took Will's hand in one tentacle and Penny's in the other. They made their way to the hatch, "I can't hold her steady for much longer", came Don's warning. Will could hear the engines straining. As Doctor Smith ran to their side, they positioning themselves on the edge. It looked like a long way down. "On three, one, two three", called Doctor Fine.
They leapt out of the craft and onto the inflatable ramp. It cushioned their fall so much that they felt like they had landed on a pillow. As they watched the Jupiter, flying on a slight angle shakily made its way upward and then headed in the direction of the quarantine zone.
"Warning planetary defences are targeting this vessel", the robot announced, merely 2 minutes later. Don could see them on the view screen. They were like Earths ground to air missiles. Looking at their yield, Don swallowed, they could destroy the Jupiter. He took his fingers off the flight stabilisers and the ship began to shake and jump about on an unsteady course. "Try and hit me now", Don challenged the missiles .
"Major , even at close proximity those weapons can significantly damage us", The robot warned him. "Yes I know", Don replied. "I will try and make our flight path as unpredictable as possible, they aren't heat seeking, thank goodness".
Don kept watch over the alerts, waiting for the moment the missiles were launched. It did not happen.
"We will be at the quarantine zone within 2 minutes. I am registering a large mass of people heading toward the sea. Also I am picking up another mass, with intense heat signatures heading toward the quarantine zone. I believe this mass of people will reach the zone before the others make it to the safety of the sea", came the next chilling report.
Now Don put his finger on the broadcast button, "damn you", he swore. "Tell the people heading for the zone to stop".
Now he got no response and he guessed that meant that all conversation was concluded. Administration would not change their plan. So it was up to him.
He engaged the stabilisers again. "Robot ,go below and get ready to release the bottom hatch on my command'. The robot turned but did not immediately depart. "Are you aware Major, that the Jupiter 2 is in a critical condition, removing that part did cause a reactionary cascade that cannot be stopped. If you do not cease flight within the next fifteen minutes the ship may explode", the robot stated. It waited noting that Major West did not look surprised.
"Yes, I did know that", Don confirmed. "Carry out your task robot, then exit the ship", Don told him. Now the bubble shaped head shook up and down, "negative on that Major West", it stated. "I will return and fly the ship, you will be the one who will exit".
Don stared , the robot sounded very definite. "You won't be able to control the craft effectively robot, crashing into an area of the city would cause damage and could threaten the lives of those who do remain on this planet." This ship unfortunately needs its pilot, though I do appreciate the thought. If Judy knew what I was planning she would try and find a way up here to slap me, or even blast me herself".
He felt himself shake as he mentioned Judy's name. All those times he had undertaken dangerous missions he had not wanted to leave her. It was only thinking of her that made him tough out many missions that would have terrified other people. Yet he could never bring himself to tell her that. Because there was still a chance he would not come back. Now that they were lost in space, keeping promises was a difficult thing to do.
"I am sorry Judy", he said out loud. This time ,he would probably not live to tell the tale.
He would save the others though and that was enough. "I regrettably have to comply with your instruction", the robot stated. "I will tell Judy Robinson that you are sorry. I doubt it will comfort her", the machine added. He was right Don knew.
Below and the ground John , Maureen and Judy smiled as they saw the Jupiter 2 approach. John could hear the roar of the engines and frowned, that did not sound good. The craft would reach them soon.
Looking over to the left, John could also see burning torches coming their way. "Everyone, our ship approaches , hopefully they have some good news for us. We will stay here and await their arrival".
It was a risk John knew, because those beings with the torches would also be close enough to take action.
"Gosh, look at how she is flying ", Judy stated as the Jupiter suddenly lurched . "The engines don't sound good either, what on earth is Don doing", she noted her tone sounded worried.
John hoped Don did know what he was doing.
"Beings on the ground, this is Major Donald West onboard the Jupiter 2, we have the cure for the ailment . If you could all mass together we will drop this cure on top of you all".
Well that sounded like Don knew what he was doing.
Inside the Jupiter 2, Don struggled to keep the ship steady. If he dropped the mud only on the buildings it would do those people no good.
"Dammit", he swore as the Jupiter, flipped to one side, he had to hold on tight, otherwise he would have been thrown across the floor "Over the location in thirty seconds", the robot told him. He hoped they would not crash before then
Don was flying over the beings wielding flaming torches now, "Cease you actions and turn around", he demanded.
They ignored him.
"Robot, you can exit the craft now", Don stated firmly. He slid down the ramp one last time.
The robot activated its magnetic traction and wheeled slowly toward the ramp. He was within seconds of leaving the ship, when it suddenly lurched upward as if grabbed by a giant hand.
Don did stumble that time , thankfully falling across the soft surface of the flight chair. He noted that every control on the Jupiter had gone dead. They were not crashing though and he only had to look out the view screen to see why.
It was a massive ship, at least 20 times the size of the Jupiter 2 and it held them tightly within a tractor beam. Don felt failure hit him hard. It seemed like those in power on this planet had others firmly under their control. They were using a very big stick, to hit back. There was nothing he could do. The Jupiter was already ailing and simply did not have the power to break free. All he could do was await his fate. He felt like a mouse trapped in a cats mouth and waiting for the moment the jaws clamped shut.
Indeed soon a very gleeful gloat came through from Administration, "now you will do as we say Jupiter 2". Take them on board Galantour and make sure they are secure . We will now take care of the problem of the infected population"
"No", the response from the massive ship actually stunned Don. "We are not here to stop what is happening. Jupiter 2, we offer our assistance. We will keep you steady while you dump your load", the ships Captain told him.
Now Don found a smile emerge, the power of the people had saved the day, this ships Captain obviously cared enough to let him at least try to cure those infected.
"Affirmative", Don replied. "Just one final word Jupiter 2, if the cure does not work, we will release the tractor beam and allow your vessel to complete its cascade failure and explode. One fire will be just as effective as another", Captain Tragar, told him.
Don did not reply to that statement as his voice had failed him. All he could do now was press the button that send the mud flying out of the tanks and onto the people below him. He then crossed his fingers for luck.
Below on the ground, Maureen and John felt a sensation of extreme cold hit them as disgusting black mud enveloped all of their bodies. It seemed to sink into every pore, leaving them looking like some horrific creature. Around them others were equally as hideous and smelt like sewerage. They were all conscious of the large spaceship, that had appeared above the Jupiter. It had very obvious weapons that could easily be used against them. At the moment it seemed to be helping, but that could change in an instant.
John looked around at the mass of beings, noting that the mud had soaked everyone outside. Of course there were still many in the buildings that had not been able to move. Their fate hinged on the next few minutes .He did not try and brush off the mud yet, even though it felt disgusting. "How long do we wait", he asked Maureen.
"She thought about that, I would say a reaction will happen quickly as Don was exposed to the ailment not long after coming in contact with the earth. Maybe we should just check on part of our bodies".
John used his left hand to wipe the muddy earth from one part of his right arm. He stared down at his skin. While it had not completely disappeared the large sore there had significantly decreased in size, and as he watched it shrunk further.
"It works", they were just two little words, but they meant so much to a whole lot of different beings.