2
Repairing the ship was proving to be more difficult than first thought; Rubik’s attack had done a lot of damage. I could kick myself for not being prepared; I should have expected an ambush. Now my ship was severely damaged, and our lives were in mortal danger.
The first barrage of fire from Rubik’s ship severed all of the major cables that led to the power conduit. He had planned his attack well, but seemed to have neglected my response. He was out gunned and out matched and lost in the end… or did he? Something nagged at the back of my mind… damn I couldn’t remember. So I filed the thought away for later and concentrated on the work at hand.
Mya and I were splicing wires left and right just to keep in space. It soon became very clear that we could not repair the ship in space; we had to land somewhere, and repair it from the outside. We managed to get some power back online but were barely able to keep the ship from breaching the planet’s atmosphere.
Mya, extremely upset, kept going back and forth down the hallway to the engine room and back again urging me to cloak and land on the planet before the engines quit permanently. I tried to explain that I had no control over the ship, let alone any cloaking ability. Besides, in all reality we would crash if we attempted it now. I had to get a few more wires spliced together, it might give us some control, and hopefully enough so we could land.
Mya turned black upon hearing the desperation in my voice; she knew I was racing the devil. She quickly offered to help solder the wires together, which I accepted, and about two hours later we had the control we needed. How long it would last was anyone’s guess… hopefully long enough to breach the atmosphere and land.
“Mya, I need co-ordinates to the most remote place you can find within the parameters we have. If I am to remain cloaked until the last second, I have to have precise numbers.”
“As ever Mya, you are one of a kind.”
Tam began to pull several levers and push some buttons. The ship shuttered and began a slow descent into the Earth’s atmosphere. It remained cloaked except for a few brief seconds when they altered their course by one degree. The cloaking device was brought back on line and none too quick as it only appeared as a shadow on the military radar; a new and inexperienced monitor didn’t even notice it.
Down below Brent was scanning the sky, calculating how long before the snowstorm arrived.
Maybe I can get one last look before it hits, he thought to himself.
He grabbed the telescope and headed towards the ridge above the frozen lake. By the time he reached the ridge snow was falling pretty heavily, and the wind was picking up. He might get a quick look, but at this rate it would only be for a minute or two. In the end he decided against it; he didn’t want to take a chance of the wind blowing the telescope over. He headed back towards the cabin as the snowfall increased and the wind doubled. As he reached the cabin he opened the large front door and turned to the hawk in the tree just outside and to the left about five feet.
“We got a nasty ice storm coming Red, you want to spend the night with us?
The hawk keened once, flew thru the door, and perched up in the rafters of the open cabin.
It knew if this human offered sanctuary, it was wise to accept. Besides, it would be nice and warm, and the human would offer meat. Of all the humans the hawk had dealt with in its lifetime, he found this one trustworthy.
The cabin was one large room, sectioned off into three main areas: the kitchen area, the sitting area, and bedroom area. When building the cabin he found it easier to just keep it simple, one large room he could partition off with furniture. He situated the cabin backed up smack into the mountainside. He hollowed out a large 12’ x 12’ room inside the mountain itself, accessible only by the back door of the cabin. He used this space as a storeroom and root cellar, and expanded it over the years. A large front porch wrapped around the cabin half way, leaving a space for the woodpile for the stove. The front door was extra wide with three ‘U’ shape slots on it. When shut, a bar could be run thru the slots and seal the door from the inside. The same with the windows, they could be shut tight in seconds.
During his first year on the mountain, he was overrun by two hungry bears just as winter set in. They turned the place into a shambles and made off with most of his food. He learned a bitter lesson the hard way, (best way to learn a lesson), and reinforced the cabin doors and windows. He hadn’t had a problem since. Brent closed up everything knowing the storm would pass during the night. He laid extra wood by the fireplace and built up the fire; it was going to be a very cold night. Rusty was already curled up on his rug by the fire. He made his tea, changed into some warm PJ’s, and climbed into bed. He read for about an hour and then turned off the light, slid down under the covers, and drifted off to sleep.
Outside the wind howled, and the storm began to rage as it moved into the valley.
From far away a loud voice was intruding into Brent's dream...
“What?”
Brent jolted awake, he sat up and looked around clearing his mind. A loud screaming sound had woken him, or so he thought. He listened for a moment but all he heard was the storm howling outside the cabin. Maybe it was just a dream of someone calling.
TAM! (there it was again!)
Brent's head was throbbing; he sat and rubbed his temples for a bit. He drew his legs up and leaned on them for a moment, rocking. Finally he threw the heavy quilt aside and got up and went for a glass of water. On his way to the kitchen he heard it again.
…….Tam?
He grabbed his head and stopped for a moment, reeling with pain.
“Good God!” He exclaimed in momentary alarm as he slammed his back into the wall and slid down to the floor. He waited for a second and Rusty came to his side meowing with concern.
“It's okay boy, I’m having a moment… I’ll be alright.”
He slowly got up and went to the sink, worked the pump and got a glass of water. Five minutes went by and nothing. He grabbed his coat and slippers and went out front and listened… nothing. It was bone chilling cold out there and except for wind, nothing. He decided he must have been dreaming; he turned to go in when he heard it clearly…
Mya… where are you?
He froze in mid-step.
Mya?
Tam?
Brent immediately felt the urgency in the voices. A ‘flash’ came into his mind of a long dark hallway; smoke all round. There was another flash of a smoky room, and a lot of dials on a long dashboard in front of him. He went inside and sat down holding his head, his mind racing with thoughts. He tried to calm himself, but he had several more ‘flashes. He tried to figure out what was happening.
“… it’s in my head; I’m hearing it in my head!”
He had studied metaphysics and various religions and even dabbled in mind-altering experiments. In the end he had found his own truth about the world, God, and Life. It brought him the peace he so earnestly had been seeking. Now he was applying that knowledge to what was happening.
I am not mad, this I know; so I must be picking up something telepathically.
Ok, calm yourself man; center yourself.
A deep breath and a long slow release and peace of mind returned. Brent took another deep breath and sent his mind out ever so slightly. Listening to the storm outside, he got an immediate ‘feeling’ of unexpected mayhem and something akin to fear.
Mya, where are you? I’ve been hurt; I can’t--- can’t find you.
Tam… Tam, I am trapped… a beam has me pinned!
Mya?
Brent had the distinct 'feeling' that there was a link to what he saw the previous night and what was happening now. He couldn’t explain how he knew, he just knew. He made a conscious decision to do something about it.
He changed clothes and dressed warmly right down to his boots. He took his backpack out and filled it with the first aid kit, some rope, and a flare gun. He grabbed a flashlight, several blankets, and pulled on his hat and goggles. He turned up the collar of his coat, wrapped a warm wool scarf around his neck, and headed out towards the shed on the side of the cabin. He had to shovel some snow out of the way so he could open the door and drag out the sled. He also grabbed his snowshoes and put them on. He threw the blankets and an extra sleeping bag in the sled and headed for the lake. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the snow was falling heavily, but the sled glided easily and he made good time. As he came around the side of some large boulders he stopped in his tracks and stared at the scene before him. Something had landed at the far end of the frozen lake and skidded into a large snowdrift.
A spacecraft!
It was oblong and silver in appearance; a wing was poking out of the large snow bank. It was dotted with dark blast marks along one side. The heat from the craft was melting the snow on it and he got a pretty good look at the ship.
Sun of a gun!
He moved forward unafraid; in fact he was extremely curious. An alien craft and the possibility of lizard-like creatures or worse never entered his mind. As he moved closer he began to feel the heat coming off the ship. The first cohesive thought to come into his mind was to wonder if anyone was hurt. As he moved closer there was a loud hissing sound and a panel on the side of the ship slid open. A great billow of dark smoke poured out and was immediately swept away by the wind. He froze in mid-step.
Covered in snow like some gigantic snowman, he blended in with the storm and surrounding area. Movement from inside the ship alerted him and he watched with held breath.
Suddenly a man came to the doorway and fell out onto the snowy ground. He was tall, at least 7 feet. He was muscular, chiseled facial features, long white hair, blowing wildly in the wind. His head and face were very bloody. He slowly rose and took a step and fell again and rolled over. Brandon could see he had a nasty cut on his forehead; it was deep and bleeding profusely.
Mya...! He screamed loudly without opening his mouth.
That’s when Brent realized he was hearing him in his mind. So what he had heard before was real and not a nightmare. He took a step forward and the alien/man in the snow turned and looked at him with wild eyes. Summoning his courage he raised his hand as if patting the wind saying; it’s all right, I’m a friend; I’m here to help.
The alien/man stared at him for a moment and then answered.
Mya… Mya is trapped inside; got to help her. Oh my head… I can’t… I…
He fainted right there in the snow, the wind howling about him.
“Okay… now what do I do?”
Assessing the situation Brent decided to drag the man to the sled.
“You’ll freeze if I leave you out here.”
He pulled the sled closer and threw the blankets on it and put the sleeping bag on top and unzipped it. Then he went to the man and dragged him over to the sled and after several tries managed to get him on it. He zipped him up in the sleeping bag and then wrapped the blankets around him and shielded his face from the storm. When he was satisfied that he was warm enough he turned his attention to the ship.
Cautiously Brent walked over and stepped up into it.