CHAPTER FIVE
"C'mon, Apollo. Tighten up the formation," Nova Leader said.
"All right, already. Closing in." Apollo slapped the side of his head to clear the cobwebs. He was thinking of Samantha - Sam - all through the afternoon. He shook himself free of his daydream long enough to realize he was on a collision course with an asteroid. Instantly alert, he pulled out of his unintentional suicide run. Each action threatened to drive him through another asteroid, but he avoided each one with a grace more defined with each move.
"Stop horsing around, Apollo. We know you don't have much to do today, but we'd like to get back to the Academy before graduation." Andrew, Nova Leader, shook his head at the craft making the wild loops through the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter; but he was shaking it more out of awe than frustration. Man, he said he could fly, but I never knew he was this good.
Apollo left the asteroid field, where the squadron proceeded to finish their maneuvers. As they were returning to Earth, Apollo felt he had to explain himself. "Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to get lost in space up there. It's just that I had a lot on my mind."
"Understood," came the reply. "Skip had told us you were having girl problems."
Apollo flushed at the affront to his privacy, but the moment quickly passed. "Actually, those problems recently reached a resolution. And frankly," he finished with a mischievous gleam in his eye, "I couldn't feel better." Upon approaching the west coast, Apollo put on a burst of speed and lined up to pass under the Golden Gate Bridge.
"Apollo, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Andrew said. He then saw a flash on his screen. "Apollo, look out!"
Apollo looked in time to see a tour shuttle cutting across his path. He jerked up in time to avoid the shuttle, but he grazed the underside of the bridge, sending him out of control. He fought to recover his flight path, while at the same time he headed for the hanger. He felt that he could pull off his stunt yet, regaining control just as he would reach the hanger, he could slide gracefully into his spot. It would probably impress the hell out of his comrades.
Apollo's luck ran out that day. His craft dipped sharply just inside the Academy grounds and plowed into the earth. Only at the last second was he able to realize his problem; he allowed a calming effect to overtake him, realizing that this could be it. He hit the button that would activate the emergency transporter in his craft, but it was too late. At the last second, he heard a sickening crunch, and blackness overcame him.
~ * ~
The explosion rocked the Academy grounds. Skip was in class when he heard the blast. He looked outside and saw a plume of dark smoke. "Holy shit! What was that!?" he exclaimed. His class rushed outside toward the area he thought was the source. Reaching the spot, and seeing the Nova Squadron crafts - minus one - heading for the hanger, he knew what had happened. A smoking crater a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide disfigured the ground before him. It wasn't long before a crowd gathered, but Skip was headed for the hanger. He intercepted Andrew. "What happened?" he yelled.
Andrew ran right by him, heading for the infirmary. "It was Apollo," he screamed back. "Gotta hurry! We registered his emergency transporter kick on just as he crashed!" They rushed into the building and headed for the transporter room, followed by the rest of the squadron.
When they reached the transporter, however, nothing was there. "I don't get it." Skip said. "He should be here, right?"
A medic shouldered his way into the room. "One side!" he shouted, reaching the console. "Cripes!" he said, looking at the readings. "How he got the thing to work, I couldn't even begin to guess!" The medic started to work the controls. A humming filled the room and a pad on the platform glowed to life.
"What's he talking about?" Skip said.
Andrew shook his head. "Well, if we registered his transport correctly, it happened at the exact same time as the crash. Seems that its last duty before it turned to slag was to get him here. Anyone using an emergency transporter will be caught in suspension until a medic can beam him in. That way they can be sure that someone will actually be present when that person arrives."
"Here he comes," he said. Other medics came in with an anti-grav stretcher. A figure coalesced on the pad, barely recognizable due to his condition. No one could speak, but the medics were galvanized into action. They managed to stabilize Apollo so they could place him on the stretcher and place him in stasis. They rushed down the hall, leaving the crowd behind.
Skip led the group out into the main waiting room. There was already a small group there; Samantha was one of them. "What happened?" she asked, worried. She looked at Nova Squadron and realized that one of them was missing. She ran up to Skip. "It was Apollo, wasn't it? What happened to him?" She started to head in the direction of the medics.
Skip caught her by the arm. "Sam, you don't want to go back there."
His grim statement only got her more worked up. She struggled to free herself, screaming, but Skip held fast, while Andrew ran up and grabbed her other arm. Finally she just collapsed in Skip's arms, sobbing. Skip couldn't help but shed tears himself. He wanted to tell her that he'd be all right. But he saw Apollo on the transporter platform, saw what had happened to him; and he honestly couldn't say anything.
~ * ~
Darkness surrounded him. He fought to find some light. When he did find it, it was hazy, blurred, colored insanely. He couldn't even decide if he was actually seeing anything at all. He tried to speak, but could only gurgle (Gurgle?, he thought) a bit.
One of the doctors working on him heard the sounds. "My God, he's coming to! Put him back under!"
He struggled to think. Who was that? Why would they be afraid of me waking up? Why do they want me unconscious? It was then, just before he heard the hiss of a hypospray, that his nervous system was overwhelmed by a cascade of pain; together with the sedative, Apollo succumbed to unconsciousness with relief.