Rommie and Rick arrived back at the ship with John Styvers and the rest of the freed prisoners. Those that were strong enough helped carry the weak and the sick.
Trance was still busy trying to save Brendan's life and was unprepared for the multitude of people that arrived, in need of medical assistance.
"Trance." Rommie said. "Perhaps I can help Lena repair Mr. Styvers. I understand that besides being an excellent cybernetic engineer, he is also an expert physician. Once repaired he can help you treat your new patients."
"Thanks Rommie." Trance replied. "It would also help if Shauna could return and help as well."
"I'll contact her and see if she is able to return." Rommie said.
Rommie closed her eyes and contacted Shauna Styvers.
"We found John." Rommie told her. "He is in need of repairs, but I believe he has received no permanent damage. All my scans show that his internal matrix is unharmed."
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that Rommie." Shauna replied.
"There is something else Shauna." Rommie said. "There are many sick and wounded prisoners in need of medical attention as well as our own injured squad members beginning to come in. Trance could really use the extra medical help that you could provide."
"Understood. I'll be there as quickly as possible."
Rhade looked at Shauna, seeing her in somewhat of a trance, he thought she might have been damaged during the battle. He didn't realize that she was communicating with Rommie.
"Shauna, Are you alright?" Rhade asked.
Shauna looked at Rhade, having ended her communication with Rommie.
"Yes Rhade." She said. "I'm fine. Rommie contacted me. She said that they found John."
"That's great!" Rhade replied. "Is he ok?"
"Rommie said she didn't detect any permanent damage."
"Good. I'm happy for you Shauna."
"Rhade, Trance needs me to help her care for the injured." Shauna explained. "And I'd also like to be there to check on John."
"Go ahead." Rhade said. "We'll continue on till we meet up with Harper's team."
Shauna started to leave but Rhade stopped her.
"What?" She asked.
"Be careful." Rhade told her. "There's still a lot of Dragans out there."
"Don't worry. I can take care of myself." Shauna said. "And nobody is going to stop me from seeing my husband again." She then turned and began running back to where Eternity had landed, wielding a force lance in one hand and a gauss gun in the other.
Rhade watched as she left. "I pity the man that would be foolish enough to try."
In Eternity's medical lab Trance was busy treating Brendan. The bullet had came very close to his heart and the damage it caused was severe. The bullet was still lodged dangerously close to the heart and needed to be removed. Although Trance was a skilled medical officer, she didn't trust herself to perform the delicate surgery needed to remove the deadly projectile. She was able to get him stabilized, but if the bullet wasn't removed soon it could be very bad for Brendan.
"Trance." Rommie said. "Shauna is on her way."
"Good." Trance said. "With her here to remove the bullet, there is a much better chance that he'll survive the operation."
"I'm going to see if Rick and Lena need any help with Rick's father." Rommie said.
"Ok Rommie." Trance said. "The sooner John Styvers revives, the better. I can use all the help I can get in Medical."
Rommie left medical and Trance gently placed a bandage over the bullet wound in Brendan's chest.
"Eternity, could you watch over Brendan while I see to some of the other patients?"
Eternity's solid holographic form appeared in Medical and agreed to watch Harper's cousin.
"Thank you Eternity."
"Your welcome Trance." Eternity replied.
Trance then went to Eternity's cargo bay to treat the many sick and injured people that had been freed from the prison. All of them were undernourished and weak, but some were very badly beaten and in need of emergency medical attention.
She began treating the worst cases first and then as quickly as possible would move on to the next patient.
She worked like this for hours. And although she was an Avatar of a star, she was beginning to feel exhausted, and she hadn't even treated one fourth of the patients yet. Then she heard a familiar voice.
"Need some help?" Shauna Styvers asked.
"Am I glad to see you!" Trance said. "Yes I definitely can use your help, .. But have you checked on your husband yet?"
"Yes." Shauna replied. "They have completed repairs to his body and are about to bring him back online. I have also successfully removed the bullet from Brendan Lahey. He came through the surgery very well and should make a full recovery."
That's fantastic!" Trance said. "I'm glad Brendan is going to be ok. I don't know what Harper would do if he lost his cousin. He already thought he lost him once."
"They are both very special men." Shauna said.
"That they are." Trance agreed. "Now that you're here maybe we can get these people on their way to recovery."
"Let's do it." Shauna said.
Hearing the good news about Brendan and John Styvers seemed to give Trance a whole new wave of energy. She was no longer exhausted and she and Shauna quickly went to work taking care of their patients. They were delighted minutes later to be joined by Rick, Rommie, Lena, and John Styvers.
Shauna had just finished wrapping a bandage around a badly burned arm of one of the patients, when she saw John and the others enter. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him, happy that he was alive and with her once again.
Rick watched as his parents embraced, (for that's how he decided to refer to them both.). They may not have been his birth parents, but they were the ones that raised him and Rick decided that that was all that really mattered. He was glad to see them together and happy.
Rommie looked at Rick. "We need to be going." She said.
"You're right." Rick replied. "We can be of better help where the fighting is."
"You two are leaving?" Trance asked.
"Yes Trance." Rommie said. "Harper and Becka need us."
"I understand." Trance said. "I'd feel better to know that you two are out there helping Harper anyway. I'd ask you to tell him that Brendan is ok, but I don't think he knows he was even injured. I didn't want him to be distracted by worrying about him."
"That's ok Trance." Rick said. "You did the right thing."
"We better leave now," Rommie said, "so you can get back to your medical work."
"We'll see you later." Trance said.
Shauna walked up to Rommie and wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you for bringing my husband back to me." She then hugged Rick. "You take good care of yourself and Rommie out there."
"I will mom." Rick said. He then looked to his father. "I wish I had more time to talk with you dad, but they need us out there."
"I understand son." John Styvers said. "You go do what has to be done."
Rommie and Rick leave the ship and head for Faneuil Hall. They are once again followed by the Planetary Warbot, controlled by Eternity.
In orbit around the Planet Earth, Andromeda's sensors detect a ship approaching the planet.
"Dylan." Andromeda's hologram states. "There's a ship nearing our coordinates."
"What type of ship?" Dylan asked.
"Unknown at this time." Andromeda replied. "The ship is still not close enough for my scanners to identify it, but it hasn't attempted to contact us."
"That doesn't sound good." Dylan said.
"It seems your plan to free Earth may be coming to an end Captain." Admiral Stark said followed by an evil grin.
"Andromeda confine Stark to Medical deck and place guards outside the room. I think it may be prudent to sound battle stations."
"I agree." Andromeda said. "Droids are in place outside medical."
"Very good. It's time we headed to the Command deck."
After they left Admiral Stark alone in medical, he stood up and walked to the door.
"Ship! Admiral's authorization command override Alpha Delta 537B2!Remove droids guarding Medical and open Medical door."
"COMMAND OVERRIDE DENIED!" Andromeda's voice announced, as the Admiral was shot by a low energy spark from Andromeda's internal defense system.
"How Dare You!" The Admiral shouted.
"I will dare much more if you attempt to override my systems again!" Andromeda warned.
The Admiral began to say something again, but heard the sound of the internal lasers charging up. He decided it might be best if he remained silent and stayed in Medical.
On Command, Dylan watches as the mysterious ship nears Earth.
"Dylan I'm detecting massive slipstream activity."
"On screen." Dylan said.
On screen Dylan not only saw one ship, but a whole fleet of ships as they exited slipstream.