Only 1 out of every 3 readers noticed there were two chapters posted last time and most skipped 91 altogether. I won't make that mistake again so the epilogue will be posted in a few days.
Chapter 93
In to an Uncertain Future
Outside on the tarmac, DeGroot just wandered along the apron making so much noise, Blue decided the base must be deserted, simply because no one had come out to investigate the racket.
"BLUE... CALLA... WHERE ARE YOU?" IT'S ME MAX DEGROOT! BLUE... CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"I think they can hear you back in Sumatra" Blue smiled as the three came out from between the buildings.
DeGroot spun on his heels upon hearing the young man's voice and his face lit up when he finally set eyes on them all.
"Ah my young friends... so good to see you again; yes, yes it is. What took you so long?"
"Hello again Mr. DeGroot" Calla smiled.
"And greetings to you too Miss Calla; and who would this be?" DeGroot wondered about the third member of their party.
"Say hello to my little friend" Calla smirked "This is Abigail; Blues younger Martian sister."
"Ah wonderful" DeGroot clap his hand together "Always a thrill to meet another member of the Dragon Rider family."
"But I'm not a..." Abigail began but Blue quickly changed the subject.
"How did you know where to find us" he asked.
"Ah... yes... I assume that means you did not read all of the Book of Gothi, so you wouldn't have found this bit" DeGroot nodded.
"The Book of Gothi told you we would be at Edwards Air Force Base?" Blue gasped.
Even though he had already witnessed the predictive powers of Gothi's ancient writings, this new occurrence still made the hair on Blue's neck stand up.
"Yes... well no... not exactly" DeGroot beat around the bush "I found a passage that said you told the Dragon Master, that you had returned from the heavens to a place called the Sky Fortress of Edward the Forceful. It took me a while but I eventually worked out it was Gothi's mistranslation of Edwards Air Force Base."
"You have the book?" Blue was confused since he had left it in his cabin back on the tanker.
"Heavens no... no I haven't... but of course I had read it many times before I gave it to you."
"So where is Professor Adisa; is he still with you?" Blue asked, hoping to see his mentor again.
"That is a sad story" DeGroot frowned "A very sad story indeed."
"Don't tell me... he's..." Blue's breathing shallowed.
"Oh he's not dead... at least I don't believe so. The good Professor was taken prisoner along with your grandfather."
"Prisoner? Taken prisoner by who?" Blue asked.
"There is a bunker about two hundred kilometres south of here and I'm told it is just like your Railgun Complex. Prime Governor Redding is there and he is the one who is holding your friends. Captain Branson went in undercover to try and help but I don't know how he fared because I had to make my way up here to find you."
"We've got to go back there and help rescue them" Calla burst out.
"I wouldn't recommend doing that, oh no not at all" DeGroot shook his head "On my way here I've been listening to some very disturbing radio traffic and there appears to be a new man on the scene and he has been trying to capture the rest of the One and All crew, as well as Captain Branson's allies from a local community. From what I've heard, he has failed and I believe Mr. Sumner has taken the One and All, along with another ship they managed to capture, and have all escaped out to sea. I believe he is going to warn Doctor Spencer of this new mans plan to attack and take over the Railgun."
"If Mom had known about this, I doubt she would have let us leave the Star Cruiser" Abigail noted.
"So if we went to this bunker now, we'd be on our own?" Blue checked.
"Yes indeed Master Blue; but I doubt we would be free for very long. If we were spotted by any of Sage's forces, I'm sure we would end up..."
"Sage; did you say SAGE?" Abigail gasped.
"I understand that is the gentleman's name."
"DeGroot is right" Abigail looked very scared "If Sage is here and has some kind of army following him, we have to get out of here."
"I suggest we go east" DeGroot nodded "We can go up through Canada and then across to northern Europe."
"We want to go to the Railgun in Sumatra, not to Europe" Blue protested.
"Oh we will" DeGroot smiled "We just need to go the long way to avoid Sage's forces both here, and on the Pacific."
"You just want to go looking for the ruins of Berk" Calla said accusingly.
"Oh no, no... I mean... we may be able to pick up some clues along the way, but I fully understand that getting you back to Sumatra and then joining the fight against Mr. Sage, is the first priority. Who knows; we may find some allies along the way to help bolster Doctor Spencer's defences."
"Doctor Spencer's Defences?" Calla grinned "It sounds like a weird children's book."
Blue took the girls aside and whispered in a huddle.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I'm sure you can trust DeGroot to sneakily take us on some very time consuming side quests" Calla offered. "You know how obsessed he is about history of the Dragon Master."
"Maybe so" Abigail added "But I can't over emphasise how dangerous Commander Sage can be. I like the idea of going in the opposite direction to where he is."
"Right then" Blue nodded "Then we just have to get some ground rules established with DeGroot, and we can get started."
The huddle broke and they returned to the very anxious looking DeGroot with an ultimatum.
"We'll go east with you but remember this; Calla and I say where we go and how long we stay in each place; agreed?"
"Oh most certainly Master Blue; but err, what should we do with your shuttle?"
Blue looked fondly at the Star Runner II; the ship that had help him save his father and sister, and had very agreeably not disintegrated when re-entering the atmosphere at a steep angle.
"I can't see it ever being launched into in space again" he pondered "but let's stick it in the hanger anyway."
"Certainly" DeGroot nodded and led the group back to his odd vehicle.
"Hey" Calla said as they approached "That's not a tank; that's a train."
"It's a train on Bull Ant tracks" Blue noted "Where did you get those?"
"The Professor brought them with us" DeGroot answered "Before he was captured, he planned to travel all over the North American continent looking for answers about what had happened after the Railgun had been locked down, but it appears he got all he wanted from his captor."
They all climbed up inside the two story car and looked around. To Calla it was just another piece of typical junk she was used to finding on Earth but to Abigail, it was a thing of horror.
"Ugh it's disgusting in here" she declared as she perused the dirt, rust and mess.
Having seen the sterile environment Abigail was accustomed too, Calla came up with an idea to help her get used to her new life.
"When we've parked the Star Runner, I'll go and get the rest of the tools I found; and let's see if we and get this thing fixed up a bit."
"Good idea" Blue agreed "I'll see if I can find some salvageable furniture and maybe we can turn this into a nice little home away from home."
After parking the Star Runner underneath the wing of the cargo plane the team spent the rest of the afternoon carrying out Calla's plan. DeGroot pointed out the batteries needed time to charge up before they would be able to get very far so he suggested they move the Bull Ant behind the Fire Station where the solar blanket could be extended to get full sunlight, and then move on in two days time.
There was cleaning equipment in every building but the only useful things Blue found to take with them, were a few tall cupboards they could stack their supplies in, thus clearing floor space on the lower level. His luck changed though when he found the bases main storehouse and supply depot where he managed to procure mattresses and pillows still wrapped in plastic.
A few hours of sweeping, mopping and cleaning cracked windows, made the odd vehicle look much more acceptable to everyone; even DeGroot liked the changes. Calla then started working on ways to make the Bull Ant more secure while Blue and Abigail decided to raid the supply depot again for anything else they would find useful. As the sun was starting to set in the evening, Blue was loading up some boxes of liquid soap, air freshener and other bathroom supplies when his sister suddenly came running up in another panic.
"I'M SICK!" she cried "I'm diseased; am I going to die?"
"What the hell is going on out there?" Calla called down from the top floor where she was covering a broken window.
"Abigail thinks she's going to die" Blue shrugged.
"I am going to die, just look; my skin has broken out in puffy red lumps!"
"Well... one puffy red lump" Blue corrected "It looks like a mosquito bite."
"I remember learning about mosquitoes" Abigail whimpered. "I've probably got malaria!"
"What you've got is an acute case of hypochondria" Calla said as she climbed down the front ladder.
"You don't have to worry about one mosquito bite in a place like this" Blue tried to comfort his sister.
"Yeah; have a look at these babies" Calla agreed as she showed the three bites on her left arm.
"Oh what have I done?" Abigail sat heavily onto the ground "I'm not cut out for a life outside. I need a sealed home; I need a protective suit."
Sitting down beside the distraught girl, Calla put her arm around Abigail and hugger her tightly.
"We never thought these little things that Blue and I are so used to, would be such a problem for you; but try not to worry. You bent over backward to help me live and work in space so I promise to try harder to help you get used to the Earth. It won't be long before you'll be shooing away flies and swatting mosquitoes like the rest of us; you'll learn so much and have the most incredible adventures."
Abigail wiped her nose on her sleeve and tried to smile through the tears.
"I feel like such an idiot" she sighed.
"Join the club" Calla nodded "I've been feeling like that ever since I fell down the Railgun Exhaust Vent."
"But she got used to the changes and so will you" Blue said "Just give it time."
"Did I hear someone cry out in distress?" DeGroot asked as he carried two more boxes over from the supply depot.
"Must have been your imagination" Calla lied "Or maybe it was a Hawk!"
The Red Tailed Hawk of Unrecognisable Noises turned up its beak at the thought of giving an uncouth squawk for no reason at all. This human girl obviously had very little knowledge of bird etiquette.
Dream Chaser space shuttles were in very short supply at the Railgun; and so because Amos, Jeana and Sid would not be returning to Earth in the foreseeable future, they would be travelling into orbit to meet the Star Cruiser in a simple capsule. Amos and Jeana were both excitedly looking forward to their upcoming journey, but Sid was feeling rather apprehensive about the whole trip. As the three were being fitted into their pressure suits for the initial launch, Amos passed the time by making up some new lyrics to a century old space shanty.
"Ground control to Major Sid" he sang.
Sid shivered in annoyance at Amos's obvious mockery of his anxiety.
"Ground control to Major Sid" Amos repeated.
"Will you stop that?" Sid huffed.
Amos thought for a moment about what the next song line should be, and then it came to him.
"I like calamari, even though it's squid."
"I swear if you don't stop singing, I'm gonna come over there and stick this space helmet where the sun doesn't shine!" Sid threatened.
Amos thought again for another moment before checking on something.
"Barrow Alaska in February?"
"What?" Sid grimaced.
"I don't think the sun shines at all in Barrow Alaska during February; so I was wondering if that was where you were going to stick your space helmet."
"Just stop singing" Sid grumbled.
"About squid?"
"ABOUT ANYTHING!" Sid barked.
Amos sat quietly for a while and pondered life, the universe and everything.
"Spongebob Squarepants lives next door to a squid" he said.
"Spongebob's neighbour is an octopus" Sid corrected.
"But his name is Squidward!" Amos noted,
"And he's an octopus" Sid stated.
"Spongebob is a sponge, Patrick Star is a starfish, Mr. Krabs is a crab and Plankton is pretty much self explanatory" Amos pointed out.
"Pearl isn't a pearl though, she's a whale" Sid put forward.
"Whales eat plankton; so I wonder why Pearl never tried to eat her father's competitor?"
"She's the wrong kind of whale" Sid corrected again.
"What do whales like Pearl eat?" Amos asked.
Sid thought for a second and smiled at the answer.
"Squid" he admitted
"Oh man" Amos gasped "you just blew my mind."
"I hope you two aren't going to be like this all the way to 16 Psyche" Jeana warned them "or I may have to lock you both back in the capsule and tow you all the way there, behind the ship."
"We'll be good" Sid promised.
With every orbit of the Earth made by the Star Cruiser, Luis would visually scan any viable place to land an unpowered craft along the Star Runners last known trajectory. As the ship moved around the far side of the planet, he would scour the latest batch of high resolution digital images taken of the south western United States while everyone reviewed the ones he had taken previously. Their tenacious efforts eventually bore fruit when Ruth Kinderman found a small clue.
"There is something on the western edge of runway 22 down at Edwards Air Force Base" she informed the others.
"Has anybody else got any images of that area?" April asked.
Soon the crew had every last picture Luis had taken of the area in question and it made for some very interesting viewing. The first picture was a white outline on a highly reflective off-white lake bed but with each orbit, a change of angle and the setting sun showed their target in a different light. The crew were also able to see a large rectangular vehicle move closer and then start to tow away the thing they were trying to identify.
Luis zoomed in closer on their next flyby and the group were very relieved to see the very obvious outline of the Star Runner II now contrasted against the grey tarmac of the taxiway.
"That is definitely our kid's ship" Luis declared as April heaved a sigh of relief.
"While I'm overjoyed to know they made it down safely, I can't help wondering who it is taking the ship away" she said.
"We'll they are towing it to the base Honey" Luis pointed out "so it could be base personnel helping out."
"I know you're only trying to make me feel better" April smiled "but you and I both know that it is highly unlikely to be a standing, government backed military left in any country on Earth."
"We'll keep watching as long as we can and hopefully we'll find out more" Luis offered.
"Do you want to contact Sarah?" Jarred asked "I'm sure she'll want to know they are safe and where they are."
"Definitely not" Luis stated "If we do, whoever fired that missile could find out they failed to destroy it, and learn where they can find the shuttle; then they may try again. Best we just leave it for now and find another way to let Sarah know what's happened."
As they talked about possible ways to do just that, the navigation computer signalled Luis they were coming up on the site again.
"As well as taking high definition stills, I've set up a live video feed of the last known location of the shuttle" he said as he brought up the image.
Saffron took the closest position as everyone moved nearer to the main screen and watched intently. The image panned slowly as the ship moved overhead and as they approached the closest point, two figures could be seen pushing the small shuttle back towards a building by the taxiway.
"Is that them?" Saffron asked.
"Could be" her mother said hopefully.
The image became a little clearer as the ship in orbit became almost perpendicular to its target and April was able to recognise the colour of the T-shirt, Blue had worn under his pressure suit that morning.
"It's him!" she cried out with glee "It's Blue!"
"Are you sure?" Jarred wondered.
"Believe me; a mother knows" April nodded.
As the orbit started to take them away again, two more figures could be seen emerging from under the shuttle, where they had been pushing on the landing gear.
"That must be Abby and Calla!" Saffron said excitedly.
"Yes and whoever that is with them seems to be helping them" Luis noticed.
Indeed as the ship moved further away, April could see all four people casually come together to talk. After the stress of watching two of her children and their friend being attacked by a missile, it was comforting to know they had found a friend upon landing. At least he did not seem to be trying to hurt or restrain them and for now, that was all the comfort April could hope for.
From their box seat in space, Luis and April would be able to monitor the movements of their children until it was time to leave orbit and head out into the solar system once again. But before they did leave, a plan had been hatched to get all relevant information down to Doctor Spencer without giving anything away over the comms system.
As soon as the three new passengers arrived from Sumatra, April would send the capsule back with video messages about what she had learned from Olive Roux, as well as what Gretel Descott had said about her long lost brother, David Redding. Hopefully Sarah would one day get the chance to investigate the mystery, although no one knew where she should start. April also planned to send a copy of the video Luis had obtained of the lost children safely on the ground at Edwards Air Force Base; this would surely bring some comfort to Calla's parents.
Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Haley sat on a hatch cover with her father Cid as they watched the clouds roll by on what had turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, after a rather rough morning. Haley rubbed her left leg as a twinge of pain shot up through her hip. The pain seemed to be coming from lower down, but she knew that wasn't possible because that part above her ankle was made of wood.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait a few more weeks till the wounds have healed a bit more?" Cid asked.
"I may not be able to walk on it yet Dad, but I want to get used to wearing it and feeling its weight" Haley replied.
Cid could not express how proud he was of his daughter. Sure there had been emotional outbursts, but that was to be expected after the loss of a major limb. Most of the time, Haley just tried to stay positive and get used to the idea that even though her life had changed, it was still far from over.
"When it gets too uncomfortable, let me know and I'll remove it right away" the ship's doctor said to her.
It wasn't the best looking wooden leg ever made, but Haley was glad to have it so she could start her recuperation, and not just spend her time sitting around waiting to arrive in West Sumatra. Although they could not yet know for sure, Jack Sumner had said he was positive the engineers at the Railgun Complex would be able to make her a much better leg in the long run.
Back in the Sumatra Base, Jeffery the Jingle Cat sat beside Sarah as she lay on her bed, trying to nap after a very long and stressful day. Amos, Jeana and Sid were now safely away from the Earth and on their war to the Star Cruiser, and work had begun on fortifying the complex against an unknown future. The poor cat could not lie down and relax because unlike his pet lady, he could easily see the menagerie of birds surrounding them in the room.
The Pelican of Everything going Down the Toilet stood proudly by the door while the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern and the Goshawk of Upheaval perched side by side on a nearby chair. The Ibis of Doubt teamed up with the Snow Goose of Suspicion on Sarah's dressing table, as they tried to stare down the Toucan of Defiance standing, as his name suggested, defiantly on the head of her bed.
Several other birds, such as the Ruddy Turnstone of Paranoia, the Snow Goose of Suspicion, the Southern Lapwing of Nervous Anticipation and the Raven of Despair, had all tried to find a place for themselves in the room, but the afore mentioned Toucan of Defiance had attacked and seen them all off; this was why the remaining birds were keeping their distance from the bed.
Sarah eventually managed to put her troubles behind her and drift off to sleep, totally unaware that she was being protected by one very determined Toucan.
After spending two and a half days in the deserted desert air base, the Bull Ant was finally ready to begin its long journey. With everyones help, Calla had created a rough but functional travelling home with separate rooms divided by canvas tarpaulins, storage for all their supplies, and an outdoor lookout platform on the roof of the railway car, complete with a round cast iron outdoor table bolted down and with a large patio umbrella sticking up from the centre. This modification would be handy as a place to fly the camera drone from while the crew of the Bull Ant checked the road ahead for trouble; true the vehicle now look like it had a flower growing out of its head, but it did provided a shady spot to observe from.
Of course everyone had to be on board before they could finally leave, but one of the group was missing in action. Calla eventually found her lost companion back in the aircraft hanger, looking fondly at the small shuttle that had brought them there. He seemed to be feeling melancholy as he ran his fingers along the leading edge of the lifting body, blackened by the heat of re-entry.
"Why do I get the feeling you really don't want to leave it behind?" she said softly.
Blue turned his head without removing his hand and smiled as Calla walked closer to stand alongside him.
"You can hardly see where I painted its new name anymore" she noted.
"Yeah the paint was not very heat resistant" Blue nodded.
There was a moment of silence between them and Blue felt he should fill it with an explanation.
"I just realised when we depart from here, I'll finally be leaving the last part of my old life behind" he said. "Even when we were millions of kilometres away in space, just knowing that the Star Runner was close by, meant we could go home whenever we wanted to. But now... I feel like I'm losing our last link with Sumatra and the people we left behind; for the first time ever, I really feel like we are alone in the world."
Calla smiled at the young man's confession of concern.
"Don't worry Princess" she said as she rose up onto her toes and kissed his cheek "Your knight in shining cotton will protect you from the big bad planet."
Calla had casually walked all the way to the door of the hanger before Blue inhaled again, but it was another twenty three seconds before he blinked. When he failed to appear back at the Bull Ant, Blues sister next tried to fetch him.
"There you are" Abigail declared "Calla told me I'd find you here with a silly grin on your face and she was right; what are you smiling at."
Blue did not answer as he turned to his sister, but the silly grin did grow into a broad smile.
"Would you prefer it if I were grumpier?" he asked.
"I would prefer it if you wouldn't smile like that; it makes you look like you are planning something."
"Not planning, just thinking about how surprising life can be" he smirked.
"Hmm" was all Abigail could come up with in reply.
"Come along my dear sibling" Blue said cheerily as he took Abigail's hand and half dragged her to the door "Let us go and be surprised by what the world has to offer us."
In one of its very rare appearances on Earth during these dark days, the genuine one and only Bluebird of Happiness fluttered out the door following after Blue, hoping to spend a little bit more time with the young man and his friends; at least for the foreseeable future.
FIN (finally... almost)
When 'How to Deal with a Seasick Dragon' was finished, I knew there was much more to write for those characters and this one is the same. As promised though, the next installment won't be as long.