Chapter 48

Edited by Steve

Deniece finished with the Trade Commission and checked the time, and she still had three hours before Miss C was to be taken out of The Bed.

She got up and started for her home. She walked by the new Glamorous Zany Dress Shop, and a black dress in the window caught her eye. She thought, ‘I bet I’d look good in that for Tim. Then she remembered the red dress and the trouble it had caused. No, I don’t need something like that to happen again.’ She left the thought in the window and walked on.

The children:

Itsisa and her sister Thrumbal walked into the room and saw the children. There were hugs all around, and the children were wondering about Nacku and when she would come to see them.

Thrumbal said, “That Nacku would be there tomorrow.”

One of the younger kids asked, “When are we going home?”

“I will talk to the Captain tomorrow and see what can be done!” Thrumbal replied. She turned to look at the older children and asked, “How are they treating you?”

One of the boys spoke, “They have given us everything we could ask for. They have been so kind.”

A little girl walked up to Thrumbal and said, “Look what they gave me to play with.” She held up a stuffed animal.”

Thrumbal bent and picked her up and hugged her. She asked, “Did you name it?”

The girls held it tight and said, “I name her after you. This is my Thrumbal.”

“Well, Thank you. I hope your Thrumbal is keeping you company!”

“Oh, she stays with me all the time.”

Deniece headed to see Miss C. It was time for her to come out of The Bed. She entered the Medical Center and went straight to unit 45. She saw Tim standing next to the door. “Is she out?”

Tim turned his head to see who was talking to him. He smiled when he saw it was Deniece, “No, Madlyn, Doctor Dell, and Nurse Nancy are all in there waiting.”

Deniece looked into the room and saw Doctor Dell reach into the Bed with her stethoscope. A moment later, she saw Miss C’s legs come out and over the edge of the Bed.

Deniece felt her heart jump for joy. She grabbed Tim’s hand and said, “We have her back!”

“Yes, I’m glad that she’s OK!”

Madlyn turned and pressed a button, and said, “Miss C will be able to see you in about fifteen minutes. We need to check her first.”

Madlyn turned to Miss C and saw a strange look. “Miss C, is there something wrong?”

“Yes, who are these two?” Miss C was moving away from Doctor Dell.

Madlyn said, “I am sorry! Miss C, this is Doctor Dell and her Nurse Nancy. They are the ones who saved your life.”

Miss C is unsure of these two, a Doctor and a Nurse. “Where did they come from?”

Madlyn watched Miss C’s face, “Please, Miss C, trust me. They are OK; You know Tim wouldn’t allow them in the same room if they weren’t OK.”

“Where’s Tim and Deniece? I want to see them!”

Madlyn turned back to Tim and signaled Tim to come in.

Doctor Dell and her Nurse stepped away, allowing room for Tim and Deniece.

Deniece rushed into the room, hugged Miss C, and without thinking, planted a kiss on Miss C’s lips.

Miss C was taken by surprise. She hugged Deniece and said, “That kiss was a surprise, but a nice one.”

Deniece blushed and said, “Sorry.”

Tim walked up behind the two and had a group hug. He turned his head toward Madlyn and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, Miss C is shocked by Doctor Dell!”

Tim turned to Miss C, “Do you trust me?”

Miss C nodded her head.

“Doctor Dell is OK; she and her Nurse need to finish their exam, and then we’ll explain everything. OK?”

Miss C turned and looked at Doctor Dell and said, “I’m sorry.”

Tim and Deniece moved back to allow Doctor Dell to finish her exam.

Doctor Dell started asking all kinds of questions while Nurse Nancy took readings. After ten minutes, the Doctor told Miss C that she could get dressed.

Miss C saw that Deniece had brought her clothing, putting these on, and stepped into the waiting room.

Madlyn called Miss C into her Office, and as she entered, she saw that Tim and Deniece were both there.

Miss C asked, “What happened to me, and where did you get the Doctor?”

Madlyn looked at Tim. Tim said, “You are the Doctor here. Go ahead and tell her.”

Madlyn told Miss C the whole story and how close she was to dying.

Miss C said she was thankful to have good friends and now another good Doctor.

Miss C asked, “Am I free to go?”

Madlyn said, “Yes, but Doctor Dell or I have to check on you for the next couple of weeks.”

Tim, Deniece, and Miss C all thanked Madlyn and left. In the hallway, Miss C looked at Deniece and asked, “Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

Deniece lowered her eyes and said, “Doctor Dell is a good teacher, don’t you think?”

“Yes, a very good teacher.”

“Ladies, I must get back to the bridge; we’ll both of you be alright?”

Deniece said, “Yes, I have canceled all appointments for today.”

“Well, then, I will see you later.” Tim turned and headed to the bridge.

Deniece and Miss C started to their place. They were talking as they went.

Miss C asked, “Bye the way. Where are Doctor Dell and her Nurse staying?”

With an innocent look, Deniece replied, “In our bed.”

“Oh! She teaches kissing in the right place. Does she teach other things?”

Smiling, “You must ask her or Nurse Nancy that question.”

“Well, have you learned anything else?”

“You will have to wait until we get home for that answer!”

“Well, then, we had better get a move on.” Miss C said as she stepped up the pace.

The Silver’s ship:

Captain Mike and his clean-up crew of Targkeleax were about to enter the bridge. Captain Mike opened the bridge door slowly as Tim told him about the bodies inside the doorway.

Captain Mike stepped over the bodies and saw that the ship’s Captain was next to his seat. He checked the Captain’s body and saw seven laser holes in him. He thought, ‘This Captain was a Great Fighter. To receive seven shots and still take down six enemies. Most individuals who received the first laser blast would have died.’

Captain Mike’s men started to take away the bodies. One started toward the ship’s Captain. Captain Mike said, “He will be removed with honors.”

The man turned and started calling for the honor guard. The room was cleared of all but the Captain’s body.

Captain Mike looked at the doorway, and six soldiers in dress uniforms stood. They carried an anti-gravity board, placed it next to the Captain’s body, and carefully lifted him onto it.

As the board rose, they all saluted the dead Captain. With three in front and three in the rear, Captain Mike fell in behind the last soldier as they walked from the bridge. When they passed the workers, the workers stopped and stood at attention, allowing the Captain’s body to pass respectfully.

As the honor guard approached the MTS, There stood Tim, Deniece, Thrumbal, and Itsisa.

Tim now knew that Thrumbal and Itsisa were the dead Captain’s daughters. With tears in their eyes, they two fell in behind their father’s body.

Earlier that morning, Tim had asked Thrumbal what she wanted to be done with her father’s body. She had asked if he could be placed in a casket and sent into space, for that was his home.

They moved to the airlock, and the body was placed in a casket, and the airlock opened. As the casket began to exit, Tim and the soldiers all saluted.

Tim’s Office:

Tim returned to the bridge and sat in his seat, wondering if he would be going down the same road. Mayio interrupted Tim’s thoughts. “Sir, we are on the edge of a system. The system’s name is Hutnoid, explored by humans three centuries ago.”

“Send out the probes, just the standard formation.”

“We will call you when the information begins to come in.”

Tim proceeded into his Office, “Sarha, is there anything in your database files on this system?”

“I have the report from when I was traveling through your system. It looks like life on one of the planets, the fourth planet. In the report, there was another planet that may have life also.”

“What does the report tell us about individuals on the first planet?”

“At the time, your people landed and observed a tribe of primitive people, by your laws at the time. They made no contact with them.”

“Sarha, I need a probe sent to that planet and check it out.”

“Tim, the other planet was the sixth planet. There are no notes or reports on this subject, which was just mentioned in one line of that report.”

Tim thought, ‘when they said primitive people, I wonder what they meant?’ “Sarha, were there any pictures or drawings from the planet?”

“Yes, I’ll display it for you.”

The display showed a large male dressed in a loincloth, but what caught Tim’s eyes was the man in the display only had one eye, right in the center of his head.

“Sarha, is this the only picture they got?”

“Yes, Tim, it looks as if the gentleman approached them by accident.”

“I wonder how far up the technology ladder they have come.”

The other probes started to return their information. Pauline waited an hour to call Tim, and there wasn’t much to report. The fourth and sixth planets did have life; the sixth planet’s civilization was still in the era of using stone weapons.

But the fourth planet needed to be looked at in more detail. Tim decided he should visit a village. He wanted them to resemble the locals. He would have a cloaked probe watch. So, when people got outside to start their morning work. He asked Sarha to manufacture clothes that look like theirs...

An operator in the TOC is watching the screen as the probe gets closer to the planet. She was looking for a city or a significantly built-up area. “Pauline, I have found a few small villages, maybe towns.”

“Send the probe in closer; make sure it’s cloaked.”

The probe controller guided it into one of the smaller areas to be safe. It approached the area and saw that it was a small village with only six or seven buildings.

It was early evening for this planet, and people were heading toward the buildings from the fields. One of those buildings looked like a place for them to store their tools.

The controller saw that the door was left open and decided to enter the building to see what it looked like inside.

As the probe approached the doorway, the lights came on. The controller stopped before entering the building and looked inside to be on the safe side. She didn’t want to cause a problem if someone was still inside.

She could see the right side from the doorway, where they stored their tools and other working items. But the left side was a generator powering the lights, and the probe’s sensors picked up heat from a unit next to the generator.

She moved inside since she was sure no one else was there. She could see a line of control panels. She moved closer and snipped a picture to allow Sarha to translate it.

Sarha translated it. Since she had the information from the first visiting ship. Sarha showed the translation over the original writing. It leads to water in fields 1 – 5. The other switches were for lights in each housing unit.

Two vehicles on wheels were in the middle of the building, and electric batteries also powered them.

A female came into the building, checked the wall of tools, and then the wheeled vehicles. The controller snapped a image of the female for later use. The controller moved the probe next to the doorway. If she were to close the door, she would have time to get out.

She didn’t close the door, but she made a sound, using her hands against her mouth, and some animal came running in. She patted its head and said something.