Chapter 52
Keep the Saticons from hurting another human being…
Robert stood by his grandparents. He didn't have to say what was on his mind. Jan placed an arm around his shoulder and asked, "Shall we try to call your mother?"
Robert looked at the floor. "What if… what if we can't reach her? We didn't hear from Boston yet."
"But we have heard from Philadelphia. New York and Boston can't be far behind."
"Robert has a point, Jan," Mark said. "Let's be sure we have contact with the area before we try. As John said, there's no need to set ourselves up for disappointment if the crystal wasn't destroyed."
"Then let's get back to the communication room," Lee Ann suggested. "If the mission was a success, Red should be sending us a message by now."
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Red had not sent that message because he had no knowledge of what was happening on the mother ship. He had instructed Mike Ryan to contact Judy. "Any luck yet?" he asked.
"No. You don't think the Saticons got a black box on our ship, do you?" Mike Ryan asked.
Red looked at him in exasperation. "You dismantled it. Remember?"
"Yeah, but, maybe they snuck one on while we were fighting them."
Rebecca glanced at the console. "It might help if you actually turned the switch to the 'on' position," she suggested.
Mike's face turned red in embarrassment as he turned the knob. He tried again. "Judy, come in, Judy." Still… silence. He sighed in frustration. "Judy!" Finally… an answer.
Rebecca lifted her eyebrows and gave Mike a wry smile. "What would you men have done without us women?"
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Judy loosened her grip on the pole that had been holding her upright. 'Alive…' she thought. 'He's alive…' Her communicator beeped, and she moved quickly to silence it. Its intrusion hadn't been missed by the Saticons. "Did you hear that?" one asked the other, who nodded. "Investigate it."
"You investigate it," the other replied.
"I am not security."
"Then let the security chief investigate. It is his job."
The first Saticon nodded. "You guard the prisoners. I will inform the chief of the unidentified sound."
Judy breathed a sigh of relief and backed away from the prisoner's area. She had to find a quiet place to answer the call. She assumed Red was on his way back and needed a way in, and she could provide it. She crept back to the mechanical area and reengaged the tractor beam. Now Red would be able to glide back into the mother ship as easily as a fly caught on a frog's tongue.
Judy pulled out her communication device and softly called Red's ship. "Judy?" It was Mike Ryan replying to her call. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"We're coming back for you."
"The tractor beam is back on," she told him. "I can't talk long because they're going to come looking for me. Don and Tom are prisoners, but the crystal is gone."
"They did it?"
"Barely… They're both hurt. I'm not sure… I'm not sure how badly. I'm not keeping the communicator with me. I'll be in Saticon garb and I can't take the chance of it going off."
"No, Judy. Keep it. How else will we be able to find you?"
"Don's homing device is still in his boot. It should be going off soon. If you find him, you'll find me. Over and out." She clicked off and tossed the communicator aside. She hesitated before pulling the pantyhose over her head. The thought of having to breathe through those constricting fibers turned her stomach, but it was her only chance of escaping detection. The caftan and derby were in place. She pulled on the gloves and turned, ready for her encore performance.
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The chief listened to the report of the unidentified sound with disdain. What he would give for a Saticon who could take initiative rather than follow the path of least exertion. "Did you not think to investigate before reporting to me?"
"Yes, but you are the security chief. It is your duty to keep us secure. Not mine."
Technically, the Saticon was correct. And it was the chief's head that was on the chopping block. If the Earthlings were to escape, he, and only he, would be held responsible. The chief stood, swayed a bit, and shook his head in another failed attempt to clear it. He had to get below, whether he was sober or not.
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The sound that had sent the first Saticon to the security chief might have been unidentifiable to them, but it was familiar to Tom. Someone had left Red's ship after he had. He hoped it was Mike Ryan, but he'd lay money on Rebecca or Judy. If it was one of the women, he was sure Red would be on his way back.
A small Saticon seemed to come out of nowhere and moved towards the detention area. He (or she) approached the guard, stretched out one hand and waved the guard away with the other. The guard shrugged and handed over his weapon, happy to relinquish his duty.
There was something odd about that small Saticon. Tom stared at the face. Although it had the same skin covering as the others, its face was human-like in shape. Once the dismissed guard had climbed the rope back to the upper floor, the small Saticon waved its hand in front of Tom's cage and the door opened. "What are you doing?" Tom asked.
"Letting you out," was the reply.
"Judy?"
She set the weapon on the floor and asked. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, my God. It is you… but how did you…"
"Never mind that. Help me get Don out of this cage."
Together, they pulled Don out of his cell. Judy stripped off her gloves and immediately began to feel his body for broken bones. She pulled a bottle of water from under the caftan and poured a small amount in her palm. She handed the bottled to Tom and nodded for him to sip some for himself.
Judy gently wiped Don's face with her wet hands. His eyes blinked open. Although his vision was blurred, he recognized this Saticon. It was his Saticon. "Judy," he whispered. He groaned as he tried to raise his head.
Judy kept a firm hand on his forehead. "Don't move yet."
"I'm all right," he murmured as he squeezed his eyes shut from the pain that seared through his skull.
"You have a concussion, Don," Tom told him.
Don almost smiled. "Not the first time," he muttered.
Judy took that moment to rid herself of the hat and "skin" of her costume. Don opened his eyes. They went wide in fear. The security chief was steps behind Judy. Tom followed Don's look of horror and reached for the weapon that lay on the floor, but the chief firmly planted his foot on top of it with his next step.
The chief reached down and pulled Judy up by the collar of her caftan. "You!" he exclaimed. "I should have known… You followed orders too well." The tractor beam alarm sounded. The chief growled in frustration. "Your friends will not enter." He put his arm across Judy's neck and demanded, "Into the cages. Both of you." Neither Tom nor Don moved. The chief berated himself for coming below alone. His only hope was that both men cared for the life of his hostage. "Into the cages or her neck will be snapped."
Tom looked at Don and crawled back into his cage. Don still lay, unmoving on the floor. "I… I can't move," he told the chief. "My back… the explosion…"
The chief had no idea if he was telling the truth, but he had no time to examine him. He couldn't allow that incoming ship on board, or all would be lost. His only hope was to convince the Commander that they needed to leave the solar system immediately with their prisoners. Perhaps, by bringing these three Earth people to the council, he would be spared condemnation.
The chief pointed towards Don. "If you are not still lying here when I return, this Earthling will cease to exist." He bent down and picked up the weapon that had been on the floor and pulled Judy with him as he moved to the mechanical area.
Don considered his options. He had no doubt that the security chief would follow through on his threat. His gut told him that the chief was a man of his word – for good or bad. Within moments, the alarm was silenced. There would be no rescue team aboard the mother-ship.
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The ship lurched as the invisible beam let go of its mass. "What the hell?" Red exclaimed.
"What happened?" Rebecca asked.
"Tractor beams's been cut," Red explained.
"Then… Judy's been captured," Mike added.
"Good bet."
"What can we do?" Rebecca asked.
"Not much. The only way in is from the inside. All we can do is wait until those doors open for us."
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The chief returned, and Don had not moved a millimeter. "I will send men below to drag you back into your cage," the chief announced.
"No!" Judy exclaimed. When she had examined Don, she had not thought he was badly injured, but she might have been wrong. "He's already been moved too much. His injury might be permanent."
"That is not my concern. He has caused havoc on this ship and already killed," the chief told her.
"I killed your Saticons, not him. Please, leave him alone," she begged. Don closed his eyes in frustration.
"You?" the chief asked in disbelief. "I would not have thought one as delicate as you could have killed a living being. Again, I underestimate the Earth species." He pulled Judy away from the security area and dragged her to the rope. He held her around the waist with one arm and climbed up the rope with the other. They disappeared into the upper deck.
Don wasted no time in scrambling to his feet, but he could barely put weight on his hurt leg. He pulled at Tom's cage. "Wave your hand in front of it," Tom told him. Don followed his advice, and Tom was beside him in seconds. "What now?" he asked.
"Find a way to open those bay doors without sounding the alarm. I'm going after Judy," Don told him.
Tom grabbed his arm. "Wait! Don't go off half-cocked."
"I'm not letting them hurt her!" Don exclaimed.
"You don't want to get her killed, either. We're getting those doors open… together… and coming up with a plan."
Don grabbed a stick in the debris that he could use as a crutch and reluctantly limped behind Tom. They entered the mechanical area and Don spotted the communication device Judy had left near the tractor beam switch. "West calling Miles. Come in, Miles."
The device crackled to life. "Major, it's Mike Ryan. Has Judy been captured?"
"Yeah. We need you and Red back here. How close are you to the landing bay?"
"Red's been circling the ship. We're on the other side."
Don looked at Tom, his eyebrows up in expectation. They heard a commotion at the elevator hole. Saticons were coming back down. "Damn. We need more time," Tom said. "I'm going to reengage the tractor beam, but I'm not sure I can cut off the alarm."
"Mike, the tractor beam will bring you in," Don said. "Get to the detention area as soon as you can. You have the Robot with you, right?"
"Yeah. Professor Robinson insisted."
"We'll need him. And Tom and I are fine, so don't believe everything you see."
"What?"
"Just tell everyone what I said. Got it?"
"Got it."
Don stuffed the communicator into his space suit and told Tom, "I'm going to rig your cage so that it doesn't lock. Get back in there as soon as you're done."
Tom nodded. "Prisoners again," he mumbled, but at least they had the semblance of a plan.
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The chief dragged Judy to the commander. "What is this?" the commander asked.
"This is what caused the first killings."
The commander approached Judy and he eyed her from head to toe. "This? Is this not the one that was studied by our fellow Saticons?"
"One and the same… She was the reason Earth was chosen as a target… a species easily drugged and seduced into delusion."
Judy was incensed. They chose Earth because of her? She tried to pull away from the chief, but he held her fast. She screamed in frustration.
"Stop!" the chief commanded. "Do not think you will escape."
"What happens to me doesn't matter," she exclaimed. "You've lost! Your crystal is destroyed and so is your hold on my planet."
"Perhaps," the commander replied, "but you and your friends must pay for your crimes."
The chief cursed in his native tongue. Her friends… his mind was still clouded from his sojourn, and he had forgotten to send men down to encage Don. He shouted to several Saticons near him to arm themselves and put the damaged Earth man into the cage.
The commander was not pleased. "You left them unguarded?" he asked.
The chief had no excuse. "A result of my sojourn," he replied.
"Then pray that the Earthlings are indeed incapacitated. If they interfere with this mission one more time…"
The chief wondered if the commander was delusional or simply recovering from his own sojourn. "Mission?" he repeated. "It is over, Commander. As the Earth woman has said, we have lost."
"I will not return a failure because of your incompetence!" the commander shouted.
"Yes, I have made mistakes, but I argued against this mission from the beginning. To base the invasion of a planet on the reactions of one individual was foolhardy. The Earth people are not the frightened, weak, easily subjugated species we believed them to be… and the evidence is right here in front of you!"
Judy cringed at his description of her. She had been at her most vulnerable when they had studied her mind, but that seemed as if it had been years ago. She was stronger now. She would do whatever she had to do to keep the Saticons from hurting another human being.
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