Chapter 30.

SOMEWHERE IN THE INDO-PACIFIC

Considering who and what he was towing, taking only an hour to cross the Atlantic (and round the South African Cape of Good Hope) was an amazing feat for Sarpedon. Even so, he breathed a sigh of relief upon sighting the S.S. Vlodnik, right where Hobart had told it would be. It meant he could finally get rid of that not-so-lightweight Toth demon!

Micro-seconds later, he swerved up to and away from a rope ladder dangling over the starboard side of the ship. And the Tothric (who had been carefully instructed, again and again, to prepare for this moment) immediately dropped the cross bar he had been holding on to. Letting residual speed and momentum do the rest.

Even so, there was a temporary twinge of pain as he grasped at one of the eye-level rungs of the rope ladder and, then, swung upward at a ninety-degree angle. At the height of that swing, he got rid of the water skis and continued his ascent to the Russian freighter's deck.

Waiting for him there were about half a dozen goblins who could have been clones of Hobart. Along with Dr. Ben Wilkinson, whom they flanked in two groups of three.

"Are you Tothric?" asked the doctor.

The Toth demon growled and nodded.

"Do you have the rod?"

More growling and nodding.

"Then follow me."

Tothric did so, with the two trios of goblins bringing up the rear. When they got to the one-and-only door to sickbay, Wilkinson went in first. And, he could not help partially smiling when he heard Cordelia complaining to herself.

"What is it with doctor's offices and magazines? Is there, like, some AMA rule that makes it a Federal offense to have a back-issue less than ten years-old?"

"Sorry, Ms. Chase," he replied.

"Oh!" she jumped back, suitably startled, against the head board of the infirmary cot.

"But, beggars can't be choosers," he continued: "I had to steal these from a dental waiting room as it was!"

"Very funny!" she replied, in a tone that clearly implied she regarded it as just the opposite.

"What can I say? I'm a doctor, not a comedian."

"And, I'm not big on Trekkie puns, either!" she retorted: "Nor am I an actress suffering hallucinations. I told you where I really came from. And, I want to use your ship's radio to call the Navy, or the American embassy, or somebody to get me off this tub!"

"And, that's where I think I can help you," said Wilkinson, as he finally reached the left side of the cot. Then, he turned back towards the door to the infirmary and told Tothric to come in. The latter did so. And, naturally, the first thing Cordelia did when she saw him...was to start screaming her metaphorical head off!

With her mouth opened wide like that, it just as naturally left her exposed to a white terry-cloth towel soaked in chloroform. And, when Cordelia had finally succumbed to its effects, Wilkinson turned to Tothric and said:

"Let's get this over with."

Tothric advanced. Withdrawing the Ferrula Geminiarum as he did so. He then aimed it in Wilkinson's direction, and willed a sickly-green beam of light to fire from it. The beam hit Wilkinson, enveloping him in an opaque blur. And, when the blur faded away?

"Well, well, well!" said Glory (arms akimbo on her scantily-clad body): "I'd make a joke about being beside myself. But, something tells me you wouldn't appreciate it."

"And, you'd be right," growled the young doctor: "Let's complete this ritual before the re-merging factor kicks in!"

"Where's the Orb?"

Wilkinson handed her the small glass globule. Whereupon, she placed it in the palm of her left hand. . .while phasing the fingers of her right hand into Cordelia's forehead. The ensuing pain rousing the poor girl from her forcibly-induced slumber.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A moment later, the Orb of Thesulah was glowing. And, Cordelia was once more mercifully unconscious. Glory, however, appeared to be just as weak, as she suddenly staggered a bit. Indeed, she probably would have fallen to the floor if Wilkinson had not caught her in time!

He swiftly laid her down on top of Cordelia. Then, he turned to the Toth demon and yelled:

"Quickly! Do it now!"

There was another sickly-green beam of light. Only, this one enveloped the two women on the cot. And, when the resulting opaque blur had faded away for a second time?

Only one was still there.

Wilkinson picked up the Orb of Thesulah from where it had dropped to the floor (remarkably, without breaking), and put it away in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. He then returned to the cot with a small plastic capsule of smelling salts. The type that could easily be opened up with enough bending.

Two seconds later, Cordelia was sitting bolt upright in bed.

"Ugh! Pew! Get that stuff out of my face!"

"Are you all right, Ms. Chase?" asked Wilkinson, a small note of trepidation in his voice.

"Who the frig is Ms. Chase? You can call me 'Your Gloriousness'."

tbc