Chapter 21: Escape

The floor was nice and cool. The floor was the best friend Jack had ever had. It was the only one that understood Jack. He wanted to hug it but he couldn't get his arms around it. A small hand took Jack by the shoulder and turned him onto his back. He blinked his eyes. Memories came back to him. Recent memories. His nose was stuffed up with blood and his mouth was filled with it. That's right. Someone had hit him with a cannon ball. Least ways that's how it felt. Finally his eyes came into focus and he could see Annamaria stooping over him. She was saying something but the ringing in his ears drowned out her words.

"What?" Jack gurgled at her. He shook his head but that was a bad idea. His vision swam again. There! He had almost heard what the girl had said.

"What?" He asked again.

"I said. Are you all right?" There! He had heard that.

"I don't know." His hand went to his jaw. No. Not broken. He looked earnestly up at Annamaria. "I don't think I deserved that."

Annamaria smiled, drew back her arm and slapped him as hard as she possibly could. His vision swam again and he found his old friend the floor waiting to embrace him once more.

"I don't think I deserved that either." Jack mumbled as he struggled to rise. Strong hands took him by the front of his frock coat and lifted him to his feet where he wobbled woozily for a moment.

"Are you all right?" It was Delbert's voice. Jack looked at him with solemn concern.

"You're not going to hit me too are you?"

"No." Delbert was puzzled by that. "I suppose I should but I'm just too glad to be out of that darn cell." Kindly Delbert straightened Jack's coat and brushed dirt from it. "My wife has a temper some times. I'm glad to say that she never shows it in front of the children."

"You two have children?" Jack knew this was not the time to ask family questions but he was having a hard time thinking just then. Vaguely he remembered Amelia mentioning them.

"Four actually. Three girls and a boy." The doctors eyes went misty thinking about them. "I really have missed them you know."

"But you're a dog." Jack accused. "And she's a cat."

"What is a dog?"

"Enough of that, darling." Amelia interrupted the inane conversation. "We have to get to the ship. It'll be a bit crowded now but I can't leave anyone behind."

"Why not take the Livesey too?" Delbert asked.

"Jack, is it still out there?"

"Course it is." Jack was less wobbly now.

"You had said that the Smollette was the only ship left." Amelia accused.

"Sorry. Misspoke. You're not going to hit me again are you?"

"No." Amelia said grudgingly. She smiled softly. "I suppose what you did was no worse than leaving you tied to that damn stake waiting to be eaten all day. How did you get in here anyway, Jack?"

"It's surprising how easy it is to get around this place without needing to touch the ground, Amelia." Jack smiled back at her. "I just thought to myself. What would Amelia do? And so I came over a couple roof tops and through a window back there."

"Amelia, there's something I have to tell you." Delbert said urgently.

"I know, darling. I love you too but there's no time right now."

"No it's not that. I mean, yes I do love you. Of course I do. And I have wanted to tell you that for some time now." Amelia's hand shot out and gently pressed his lips together. Delbert's eyes met hers and his thoughts cleared. She removed her hand. "The comet. It's more than just a base for the Mhinm."

"I don't understand, Delbert."

"The Mhinm put this thing together from asteroids and debris fields. They set it on a trajectory to strike at the heart of Interstellar Command. There's nothing anyone can do about it. If it continues on this course it will run straight through all our defenses and strike the planet with enough force to destroy it. The resulting explosion will send smaller meteors careening all over the galaxy. Some of them will hit other planets with devastating force. That's why they kept taking us to work on the surface. We had to keep adjusting the flight path until it was just right."

"So this base, this comet, is like a giant billiard ball." Amelia's face clouded with uncertainty. She couldn't just let this thing go on its merry way. "Can we alter its course?"

"Certainly. But we have to get to the surface of the comet. There are still several charges stored out there. If we detonate them we can cause the comet to fly off harmlessly somewhere."

"I thought you just said there was nothing anyone could do about it." Put in Jack. "I don't understand. What's this comet going to do anyway?"

"The Mhinm have set it on a course to ram our Fleet head quarters." Amelia said absently.

"You mean it's like a fire ship about to ram a flagship?" Jack's muzzy head was starting to clear. "And there's nothing we can do."

"Well no. Or actually yes. I mean..." Delbert turned his intelligent eyes on the pirate. "We were using powerful explosives to adjust the course of the comet until it was lined up where the Mhinm wanted it to go. You can't just steer a thing like this with a tiller. It's got too much mass. It's too large. Now we're going to use some more explosives to change the course so that it will miss the planet."

"How does an explosion change the course?" Jack couldn't quite grasp what was going on. It didn't make sense.

"Put one of your small cannon in one of your launches on Earth, Jack, and point it over one side." Amelia put in. She saw that Jack was beyond his experience. "Under full sail you set it off. What would happen?"

"Slue you round hard." Jack blinked with the dawning light. "You'd have to haul back on the tiller sharp to get back on course."

"That's what we're going to do with the explosives. But we wont be pulling back on the tiller." Amelia growled. "We'll have to take the launch. Smollette would be noticed by the patrols but she can cover the launch while that team is doing its work. I had planned to send the launch to warn the Fleet base the Mhinm are heading for now but this is more important."

"Send the Livesey." Delbert interjected. "She was built to chase comets. She can be to the base well ahead of the Mhinm."

"Brilliant!" Amelia smiled at her husband. She was so glad that he wasn't some dunder headed book worm. Well really he was most of the time but he often rose above that. "Mr. Strode."

"Aye, ma'am." Strode came from the mixed crowd of spacers and scientists.

"You will take command of the Livesey. Take Mr. Weyt in case there are any problems with the repairs done to her. You must get to the Fleet base at Situla before the Mhinm fleet arrives. They must be warned! The Livesey's crew and the civilians will go with you."

"Aye-aye, captain." With those words Strode's shoulders squared and his already impressive chest swelled with purpose.

"You're forgetting one thing, captain." Annamaria said in the gap of the conversation. All eyes turned to her. "We still have to get out of this prison."

"Annamaria, you're right." amelia said approvingly. The girl had a level head and from what Amelia had seen a moment ago she had a good right cross too.