The older I get, the more I enjoy a good afternoon nap. But since 'nap' sounds so wimpy, I like to call it a horizontal life pause. If you think I'm being lazy, remember this; Rabbits, Dogs and Cats all run and jump and live for 10-15 years while Tortoises do nothing and live for 150 years.

Get the idea?

Chapter 52

Unequal and Opposite Reaction

"Help me get them into the Star Runner" Blue cried out as he floated into the capsule.

Calla stayed in the EPC as Blue passed his sister through the hatch before going back for his father. By the time he had released the seat straps and guided Luis forward, Calla had already fitted Abigail with an oxygen mask and was retrieving a second for the new arrival.

"Has he got a pulse?" she asked as Blue placed two fingers on the side of Luis's neck.

"It's very slow, but it's there" he replied several seconds later.

"Do me a favour and close the hatch" Blue asked as he checked on his sister "Then we'd better report in."

Abigails pulse was steady and her breathing was strong so Blue returned to his father. He could see some colour returning to Luis's cheeks and his chest was moving with each new breath.

"I just hope we got to them in time" Blue sighed.

"I'm sure we did but..."

Blue looked up to see Calla was having a great deal of trouble pulling the rear hatch closed. He soon noticed the slight hiss every time she came close.

"Oh no!" he gasped and moved back to help her.

"Grab the locking mechanism and turn it when the hatch is closed" Blue ordered.

With Calla in place and ready to go, Blue pushed the door half open before pulling with all his might. With the momentum of its mass behind it, the hatch slammed hard into its frame but Calla still could not get the lock to engage.

"What's wrong with it?" she gasped.

"It's our tiny pressure leak in the EPC" Blue revealed "When the door is almost shut, the higher pressure in the Star Runner keeps the hatch from closing completely."

"Could we lower the pressure a little to compensate?" Calla asked.

"The leak would negate any advantage immediately" Blue shook his head "To make it work we'd have to lower the pressure to zero."

"You said these suits could handle it" Calla protested.

"Yes they can" Blue admitted "But I don't have a complete suit anymore."

Calla wondered what he was talking about until she remembered the glove slowly being torn apart and ejected into space in the tiniest of pieces.

"So what are we going to do?" Calla asked in near panic.

"That's just it" Blue admitted "I don't know."

They both looked around the Star Runner, hoping for inspiration but none was forthcoming.

"So the problem is we can't seal the hatch because our air is pushing its way through to the EPC where the pressure is always lower because of the leak."

"That about sums it up" Blue shrugged.

"Then we need to raise the air pressure inside the EPC" Calla put forward.

"Good idea but the EPC has no air supply of its own and the Orion is dead empty" Blue noted.

Without saying why, Calla started undoing the midriff ring on her pressure suit.

"Help me with the back of this thing" she snapped.

"What are you doing?" Blue asked in surprise.

"Being brilliant" she replied.

He wasn't sure why, but Blue did as he was asked and helped Calla separate the two main halves of her suit. When they were parted, she reached in and untied the waist cord of her borrowed sweat pants.

"Okay put me back together again" she ordered after removing the cord completely.

She handed the cord to Blue before taking the hood cord from around her neck.

"What are you going to do with these" he asked as he considered the two cords in his hands.

Without answering, Calla floated over to the port side and undid the straps holding their inflatable life raft in place. As she removed it and pushed it into the EPC, a look of wonder crept over Blues face until it slowly morphed into the broadest smile Calla had ever seen him give.

"Oh I take back what I once said about you being cute" Blue smiled "You are gorgeous!"

"Yes" Calla agreed "Yes I am."

"Hold the door firmly" she said as she took back the cords "I don't want to get trapped outside the Star Runner."

"You can count on me" Blue responded.

When she was inside the External Payload Carrier, Blue pulled the hatch, but with his foot jammed in to keep it from closing all the way.

"Close off the Orion if you can" he called through the gap "It should help raise the pressure if we reduce the area to be filled."

"I'm on it" Calla agreed.

With the Orion hatch closed, Calla tied one end of the first cord to the locking bar and the other to the base of the life raft. Now came the tricky part as she used the second cord to connect the Star Runner's hatch to the release tab of the life raft without setting it off too early. Taking great care to make it as tight as she dare, Calla breathed a sigh of relief when her task was done.

"Okay I'm coming back in" she called as she slowly opened the door.

"Right then" Blue took a deep breath "You know what to do with the locking lever don't you?"

"I've git a pretty good idea" Calla crossed her fingers "One shot."

"One shot" Blue agreed "On three then."

"On three" Calla repeated.

Blue could feel the stress building in his chest; they had to get this right or it was all over.

"One..." he began "two... THREE!"

With all his might, he pulled at the door and brought it firmly into place. At precisely half a foots width from the frame, the life raft's compressed air canister released creating one of the most useless forms of transport since the horse bicycle. As the EPC was filled with an oval rubber doughnut, Calla wrenched the locking lever up until she heard the bolts move into place.

"We did it" she gasped with relief.

"Not quite" Blue could feel his heat sink when the Lock light failed to illuminate.

Calla felt like punching something hard, but instead she leaned her shoulders against the bulkhead and thrust her left foot hard against the offending lever. With a metallic clack, the bolts rammed home and the light shone green.

"HA you did it!" Blue exclaimed with delight.

Excitedly he threw his arms around her and kissed her forehead, but the broad grin on his face soon vanished as Blue went tumbling head over heels into the flight deck. It was Calla who felt the greatest shock though, as she looked down at her throbbing fist and realised what she had done.

"Oh no!" she gasped "I am so sorry; I just... I... uh... oh damn it!"

Calla floated forward and after she had removed the seat strap mercilessly tangled around Blues face, she resumed her rapid and constant apologies until he could take it no more.

"Enough; it's alright" he begged "I'm not angry, just very surprised. I'm sorry I overreacted; I was just so happy when the door finally closed."

"You're not the one who overreacted" Calla admitted "It's just that... well... I didn't expect..."

"We'll talk about this later if you want" Blue interrupted "Right now we have to check on our patients and start looking for a good landing site; preferably without water since someone who shall remain nameless decided to misuse our only life raft."

Calla smiled at Blues bad joke as she followed him back to the centre of their craft. Luis and Abigail were both still unconscious but their pulses and breathing were steady. As they lay there in front of him, Blue took the opportunity to really see them for the first time.

"My family" he started to cry a little "I can't believe we're finally together."

Calla smiled as she looked from Abigail to Blue and back again.

"You've got the same chin as your sister" she noted "but you've got your fathers nose."

"If I've got his nose, how does he smell?" Blue grinned.

"Like a sweat filled space suit" Calla laughed.

"You don't know the half of it" Abigail mumbled "I just spent over a month with him in close quarters."

"You're awake!" Blue said as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious did his work well.

"How are you feeling?" Calla asked with concern.

"Like an egg on a billiard table; confused and spinning in all directions."

Calla and Blue were so excited to see the first of their patients recovering but for Abigail, waking up brought on a fresh wave of panic. As she slowly became aware of her surroundings, she also recalled the last thing she had seen before passing out.

"Dad... DAD... WHERE'S DAD! she gasped with arms flailing wildly.

"It's alright, it's alright" Blue lightly grabbed Abigail's wrists before she did some more damage.

"He's right here beside you" Calla said calmly "Don't worry, he's alive."

Abigail took a few more short, sharp breaths as her brain caught up with what she had been told. As she barely avoided hyperventilating, her eyes finally fell on the man close by; eyes shut and breathing deeply.

"Oh Dad... what were you thinking?"

"What exactly happened?" Blue asked "I didn't expect to find you in such a state."

"Commander Sage tried to kill us" Abigail sneered "We weren't supposed to find the ship where you were born. When we did, he started to cut us loose from the rest of the ship with the hatch still open. I managed to get it shut before we decompressed but we didn't come though totally unscathed, and Dad had to bandage my eyes for a while. While I couldn't see, he must have connected the life support from his suit to mine so I'd have a better chance of survival.

Abigail started to tear up as she finished her explanation.

"But you made it in time" she half smiled "Thank you... thank you both."

Leaning forward, Abigail reached out and wrapped her arms around both Blue's and Calla's necks, hugging them tight. Calla started to feel particularly guilty when Blue's sister kissed them both on the cheek. After a time Abigail turned back to her father and took his hand.

"So you're my brother" she smiled as she continued to gaze at Luis's peaceful face "Such a shame for us to meet like this, but I'm glad we did."

"In a very strong way, it was all thanks to Calla" Blue admitted.

"ME? What did I have to do with it?"

"If you hadn't fallen down the pressure release vent when you did, we would not have known the ship was close by and would not have been ready to launch in time."

Calla pondered what Blue had just said and it took her a while to realise the truth in what he'd just revealed.

"Oh yeah" she grinned "I'm a genuine hero."

"You always will be to me" Abigail nodded "Even though I have no idea who you are."

"Oh, I'm Calla Donia Linwood" she waved.

Abigail smiled knowingly at her rescuers and started to ask a loaded question.

"Are um... you my brothers...?"

"Co-pilot!" Calla said abruptly.

"Aren't you a little young for a co-pilot?" Abigail asked suspiciously.

"Yeah and I'm also a little short for a Storm Trooper" Calla huffed "but you look about the same age as me anyway."

"I'm thirteen" Abigail admitted.

"Well I'm fourteen" Calla replied.

"Ah, but I'm not a co-pilot; I'm a Cadet."

"So is Calla really" Blue revealed as Calla shot him a very dirty look.

"But I'm also an assistant trainer."

"I'm sorry" Abigail giggled "I didn't mean to upset you but when I think of co-pilots, I think of the people who trained me like Lieutenant Kinderman and her husband, Lieutenant Kinderman."

"Sounds confusing" Blue noted.

"Well I suppose it would be if both their first names were Lieutenant" Abigail sighed "Come on Dad, wake up."

With everyones attention focused firmly on Luis, the sudden noise from the flight deck made them all jump.

"What is that?" Calla blurted out.

"Proximity alarm" Blue answered as he floated forward.

"You're the co-pilot and you don't know the proximity alarm?" Abigail noted.

"Hey give me a break" Calla defended herself "I've only been training about a month."

"Sorry it's just that you would not believe the hoops I had to jump through to be able to fly in space. I think the hardest part was convincing my mother to let me go."

"I can relate" Calla smiled.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I like this chapter. Starts a bit stressful but soon lightens up and ends on a few jolly notes (with one little bit of mystery).

Bye for now and remember this, you may like to sing in the shower but if you get any shampoo in your mouth, you'll be doing a soap opera.