Hi everyone.

Just found out one of my fellow writers isn't feeling well so I'm posting an early chapter to give her something to read; it starts off a bit wacky and I'm rather proud of it.

Pity it will only take several minutes to read though.

Chapter 29

At Eventual Sight

"Hey... are you okay kid?" Emerson asked.

Mild concussion was slowly becoming a new way of life for poor Blue but as his eyes began to focus once more, he saw something he'd never seen before. It is rumoured sometimes that in the seconds before a person dies, their whole life flashes before them as if the entire universe was saying 'I told you to do more with your life, but you just wouldn't listen'.

When a person regains consciousness after being knocked out, they can sometimes see life with a new clarity and notice things they had not noticed previously. And so it was as his vision returned, Blue looked at the girl standing over him and every impression of her face flashed before him.

He saw the ragged projectile who first knocked him out deep inside the tunnel. He saw the snarling beast threatening to stab him in the neck with a screwdriver and the suspicious fool doubting everything she was told. He saw the cranky child who would ask questions but get annoyed if Blue were the one to answer her and the aloof snob wanting to turn every task into a competition she could brag about. But as he moved on passed the unteachable know-it-all who refused to listen to instruction, he suddenly noticed a face with the look of caring and concern. Eyes wide and front teeth biting her lower lip, this was the girl Jeana Davey had once tried to bring to his attention.

"You're cute" Blue grinned sheepishly.

Neurobiologists, Behavioural Scientists and even Theologians could debate for years about the main reason why Calla's face turned bright red. Was it Blues unexpected declaration, her inability to contemplate the immediate future following the redirection of all mental function to the rapidly developing embarrassment centres of her brain, or was it simply her brothers annoying laugh?

"I've had enough of this" Calla declared as she turned away.

Losing her balance again on the slightly sloped floor, Calla stumbled into the rear hatch.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked with genuine concern.

"WILL YOU GET THIS THING OPEN?" she shouted as she thumped the hatch with her fist.

Emerson helped Blue up onto his feet and steadied him as they moved to the main control panel. The star field and the Earth disappeared as Blue turned off the imaging system and re-set the simulator. As it powered down, it levelled off and moved back towards the walkway before the hatch lowered and became a ramp once again.

"Maybe we should take you to see the doctor" Emerson decided as the clang of his sisters footsteps on the metal stairs echoed off the concrete walls of the simulator room.

"Don't worry kid" he smiled at Blue "she'll calm down eventually."

The two young men took the stairs down at a very slow pace; Blue gripped the handrail as if the whole room was moving because to him, it was. They found Emerson's sister sitting outside the simulator room on the back seat of the electric cart with her arms crossed and her face crosser. To her surprise and disgust, Emerson helped Blue into the seat beside her.

"For heaven's sake; do you have to put him next to me?" Calla protested.

"What's wrong with you?" Emerson sneered "Can't you see he's bleeding?"

Much to her surprise, Calla finally noticed her brother was holding his handkerchief against the right side of Blue's head.

The young girl turned suddenly mute when she realised this time Blue was really hurt and she was responsible. She held the cloth gently in place as Emerson tried to remember how to operate the electric buggy. Once he had found the on/off switch on the dashboard and the forward/reverse lever, the rest was pretty simple but he still panicked slightly when the cart began to move. With the ramp to the surface now open and many of the complexes inhabitants working either outside or on rebuilding vehicles, the corridors were mostly empty but after about eight hundred meters, the trio did find some people to help get them to the medical bay.

"What is going on with you lately Blue? This is the third time you've hit your head and it seems to be getting worse every time" Doctor Quill Vieira sighed.

"But to be fair, my sister was responsible for two of the three and the third was an exploding space bomb" Emerson noted.

"Space bomb?" the doctor's eyebrows raised so high, they almost rose above his head.

"Surface dwellers slang term for meteorites" Blue mumbled as Quill finished cleaning the small wound.

"The bleeding has stopped and I don't think you'll need stiches, but I'm confining you to your rooms for the next twenty four hours; you need to rest."

"But I feel fine" Blue protested as he dropped from the examination bed to his feet.

He may have been able to convince Doctor Vieira, if he hadn't needed to steady himself upon landing.

"Back on the bed, lay down, half an hour, don't move" Quill barked his orders.

"Maybe I should leave you to rest" Emerson smirked "I have to go and see if my sister has recovered yet."

"I shouldn't have let her operate the simulator without more instruction" Blue shook his head "Was she hurt bad?"

"Only her over inflated ego, but I was referring to her recovery from what you said."

"Oh; did I get mad at her?" Blue asked guiltily.

Emerson found Calla where he'd left her in the doctor's outer office; she still looked a little worried.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"No stiches and he's been ordered to rest for now, so no need to worry too much."

"Who said I was worried about him? Besides I'm more concerned about what he said afterwards."

"I think he was a bit delirious at the time because he thought he'd upset you by getting angry and shouting at you" Emerson noted.

"Oh good, I won't have too..."

"So I told him what he'd really said."

"You did WHAT?"

A few minutes later, Doctor Vieira came out to find Emerson sitting with his head back, trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

"Now what's happened" he sighed.

"I err... had a little accident" Emerson explained "I fell onto my sister's fist."

The day wore on in a dull way for Calla as she kept to herself in Sarah Spencer's rooms. Emerson helped Doctor Vieira take Blue to his own home next to Sarah's and put the convalescing boy to bed. Upon the doctor's request, Emerson remained in the living room and promised to check on Blue regularly.

"Is there anything I can read around here?" Emerson asked Quill "Preferably about this place and the Mars base."

Quill gave the young man one of Blue's data tablets and gave him a quick lesson in how to navigate it. Outside the base, work on the road, the vehicles and the ship slowly progressed while a small yacht made good time as it sailed southeast all through the day. As the sun neared the western horizon, the Star Runner rounded the peninsula of the southernmost bay south of Padang where a flotilla of boats and two small ships awaited their arrival.

Professor Adisa had to admit he did not know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what he was looking at. The fleet consisted of mainly rough looking sailing yachts (some were even smaller than the Star Runner) and five sea going tug boats. The largest vessels were two open water ferries of the old single hull design about one hundred metres long, but Maynard Linwood was headed for a ship half the size; it was a two masted Brigantine and it bore the name One and All.

The Star Runners crew tied up to the ship alongside a rope ladder where several people stood ready to help everyone on board.

"No offence Maynard but I already prefer this ship" Henry Deming declared "I can't feel the deck move on this one."

"Not much of a sailor eh?" a tall sun dried man grinned "Not surprising after being stuck on that poor excuse for a bathtub."

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Captain Reed Branson" Maynard smiled "Large in stature and ego but small in mental capacity and tact. And these terrified faces belong to Doctor Henry Deming and Professor Linton Adisa."

"Looks like you've struck gold Maynard; we're always happy to have a doctor on board... I'm not sure we'd have much use for a professor though."

"Sorry to disappoint you sir but I'm a biologist, not a medical doctor" Henry stated "although I have been known to apply an adhesive strip or two in time of need."

"Welcome aboard anyway." Captain Branson nodded before turning to Maynard "We've sent a few boats ashore to see if they can find any water and to see if there are any people in the area. I assume you didn't stop here?"

"No we were on our way to a bay in North Sumatra" Maynard replied "It offered more shelter for the fleet but before we got there, a badly timed storm brought the Star Runner ashore near a..."

Stopping mid sentence, Maynard glanced at Professor Adisa and decided on a new direction.

"This is too much story to go in to now because I've got news like you wouldn't believe; I'd like to get the fleet together to break the news to as many people as we can."

The Wood Duck of Curiosity faced down against the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern beak to beak on the foredeck of the One and All. Captain Branson wanted to find out what his friend was alluding to but he took Maynard at his word and quickly organised the flotillas version of a town meeting on the larger of the two ferries. As Linton and Henry looked out over the small crowd of faces, they were surprised to discover there were people from all over the world amongst them. Linton talked to a few while the meeting was organised and discovered many people had fled the northern hemisphere to escape the war with the EFA over twenty years ago, but were now wanting to return to see if their homes still remained; most did not have high hopes.

Maynard meanwhile had some fast talking to do as he explained to his wife Ursula why her children were missing?

"They're perfectly safe dear in an underground complex further up the coast and a few hours inland" he crossed his fingers hoping she would be satisfied; she wasn't.

"I promise you Mrs. Linwood, your children are in a very safe place and are being well taken care of" Professor Adisa tried to reassure her.

"And besides" Captain Branson interrupted "these two are great hostages; one's a professor and the other one says he can do first aid."

"Hostages?" the Professor gasped.

"Oh not my hostages" Branson grinned "but you know what a worried mother can be like when her kids are missing."

One more chapter down and about twentyish more to go; but first, bed time.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz