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  “I’ll get your med kit,” Maggie squeaked as she ran out of the room.

  “All of you get to work,” Lizz ordered. “I’m in command until Doug recovers. Trae, Fergus, check out that possible hanger after you two figure out where the radiation is coming from. And take Andy with you. If he isn’t here tinkering, then he can’t break anything.”

  cHAPTER 14

  Unknown Red Giant System

  2nd planet, Northern Hemisphere

  May 26th, 2176 / Early Morning (Betty time)

  A ndy cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. “Ya know the Brits back in the day really knew how to build a beast of a vehicle,” he said, his voice muffled and tinny through the suit speaker.

  He bounced and rocked with the movement of the pieced together transport as the trio raced north across the sand-strewn surface of the starport.

  “I mean, look at this cross-bracing on the roof frame. This thing could probably land on its top and not even get a dent.”

  “Really, Andy?” Fergus shouted. “Are you kidding me? If we could have found an old deuce and a half in decent enough shape to convert, we would have,” Fergus said. “Those things were beasts. I’d bet we could jump that thing at least three hundred yards in lunar gravity with a good run-up.”

  “Hey, Andy,” Trae broke in. “That’s like saying that Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche knew how to build a good family vehicle back in the day. There are reasons that companies like those didn’t survive the Hell Years. They didn’t know how to do but one thing and one thing only.”

  “Unlike us,” Fergus added with a chuckle.

  “Exactly,” Trae said.

  “We took this busted ass hulk and turned it into something usable,” Fergus continued. “She was dinged, missing the powertrain and the rear wall. Trae here somehow managed to scrounge parts from six other heaps to build her,” he said, thumbing toward Trae

  “Yup, that we did. The power plant and rear hull I picked up from a class three mining shuttle. Tranny and axles were out of an old Mark V lunar transport tug. Solid wheel assemblies from an old excavator that we found abandoned south of Atlanta.”

  Fergus chuckled. “We even stripped out a busted-ass C-130 for the wiring harnesses and the seats. Sensor and communications package from an abandoned,” he said using air quotes, “Russian communications satellite. Thrusters from an old Chinese launch capsule. Um...The gyro from an old World War 2 sub,” he said as he tapped at the gyro display mounted in the center of the dashboard. “Oh, and the best part. We’ve got the hood ornament from a 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II that we came across on a cargo run to Switzerland.”

  “Oh God, that was a sad moment,” Trae said. “The hood ornament…”

  “Yup, the hood ornament,” Fergus said with a sigh.

  “Why’s that?” Andy asked, leaning forward between the front seats.

  Trae and Fergus looked to each other then both laughed.

  “Ya see, we were sent to this old warehouse for this particular delivery. The place was a disaster,” Fergus said.

  “Oh God, yeah,” Trae said. “I’m surprised the two walls that were still standing didn’t collapse on top of us.”

  “The warehouse,” Fergus took his hands off the steering wheel momentarily and air quoted,” had partially collapsed. Apparently, it had taken a few hits from artillery fire from during the Great War that started the Hell Years way back when. Well, we were there waiting for hours. So, when we got a little bored, we started to look around for any good scrounge. You can’t turn down good usable scrounge that might come in handy somewhere, ya know. Well, the back section of the joint had taken most of the damage. Looked like a few mortar rounds had gotten to close or a few small bombs. The craters that were still there weren’t all that big. Someone at some point in the past had gone through and added supports to sections and tried to salvage part of the structure, but the main roof beams had collapsed. And wouldn’t you know it, one of those roof beams had landed a little off-kilter but more or less longways on top of this classic Rolls-Royce Phantom.”

  “The hood ornament was the only thing worth salvaging from the mess,” Trae said. “And that was the moment that we decided to name this heap, Lazarus.”

  “What were you hauling to Switzerland?” Andy asked. “I thought those borders were completely locked down decades ago?”

  Trae coughed. “Don’t ask.”

  “Nope, don’t.” Fergus snickered. “We’d have to kill you if you knew.”

  “Um … Okay,” Andy said nervously.

  “We need some music,” Trae demanded.

  “Yes, we do, my brother from another mother,” Fergus said. He leaned forward and tapped at one of six touchscreens mounted to the dash.

  “Unbroken!” Heavily distorted harmonics shook the cabin from the hodgepodge myriad of speakers mounted throughout Lazarus interior.

  “Hey, you got anything in there like Metallica or Kiss?” Andy asked.

  Trae turned in his seat and awkwardly reached into the back seat, fumbling for Andy. “Stop the fucking truck!”

  “Okay,” Fergus giggled. Lazarus slid to a bumpy stop in the dusty sand.

  “Get out,” Trae demanded.

  “Better do what he says,” Fergus calmly said.

  “Get the fuck out now!”

  “What? Why?” Andy leaned to his right and out of Trae’s reach.

  “Because those two are some of the most overrated corporate sellouts from back in the day, Trae said. “I wish to God that the Gutenberg project hadn’t saved those files. They lost sight of the passion and the soul of the music.” Flecks of foamy spittle clung to the inside of his helmet. “To them, it was all about the all mighty dollar, not the music! For Christ’s sake, Andy, Kiss turned to disco!”

  “Let it go, brother,” Fergus said calmly. “Breath, man. Just let it go. Cap won’t be too happy if we leave Andy out here. It’s all good. Lean back, take a deep breath and just soak in the rifts, man.”

  Fergus turned the volume dial to eleven, which was marked on the dash console in bold, dark marker. “Yeah, baby!” He pumped his fist in the air then swung and missed Trae’s shoulder. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

  Fergus slammed the pedal to the floor. Lazarus slid sideways once again as a fountain of dust erupted in an expansive cloud behind the rover.

  The rover lurched forward, sliding to an abrupt stop. “Oh hey,” Fergus said. “I think we’re here.”

  “I’d say so,” Trae said. “That sure looks like a set of hangar doors to me.”

  “Are you sure?” Andy leaned forward between the two front seats. “Just looks like some rock sticking out of the sand to me.”

  “Look at those dark spots peeking out from behind that sand dune,” Fergus said, pointing.

  “Yeah?” Andy leaned further forward to get a better view. “It just looks like a rock to me.”

  “Well it looks like a corroded blast door to me,” Fergus said. “Like that time, we were doing that job in Sarajevo and we got lost in the desert.”

  “Exactly,” Trae added. “Man, that was an interesting trip.”

  “Well, maybe not as good as the trip to Thailand,” Fergus said.

  “Are you kidding?” Trae chuckled. “Oh man, Thailand. That’s been well more than a minute ago. That harem we rescued in Sarajevo didn’t hold a candle to the girls at Mother May I’s.”

  “Nope,” Fergus sighed. “Contortionist college girls, what’s not to love?”

  “What happened in Sarajevo and Thailand?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Fergus demanded.

  “We wouldn’t want to have to kill you,” Trae finished.

  “Good times man, good times,” Trae said.

  “Yup!” Fergus chuckled. “Welp, let’s go ladies. Times a wasting.” He flung open the driver’s door and slid to the ground. “Holy fucking shit! There’s something in the sand!” Fergus let out a blood-curdling scream.

  Trae stared at the open door as
Fergus clawed and grasped for something to hold onto. He turned to Andy. “Get out!”

  “Oh my God, it’s got my leg!” Fergus shouted.

  “What? No,” Andy said. “Why should I get out? You’re the one that’s attached to his hip.”

  “AH! Ah! Ah! Why me? I’m too young to die,” Fergus said sobbing.

  “Get out of the fucking truck!” Trae drew his sidearm and charged the bolt.

  “Hell no! I’m not going to get eaten by some Venetian sandworm.”

  “No, no, no! It’s crawling up my pants leg! Oh my God it’s in my pants leg!”

  Trae pointed the gun at the open door, fired, then aimed the pistol at Andy’s crotch. “Get … out … of … the … truck,” he growled in a low tone.

  “Oh shit. Okay, okay, I’m going,” Andy said as he leapt from the transport and unceremoniously tumbled headfirst into the sand.

  Trae pushed open his door and stood, leaning out of the cab. “Quit laying there trying to get a suntan. Won’t do you no good, no how. Now get over there and check on Ferg.” Trae aimed the pistol at Andy.

  Fergus screamed.

  “I’m going, I’m going, geez man!” Andy scrambled across the deep dusty sand and jogged around the front of the transport to the driver’s side. “He’s not here.”

  “Bullshit, he has to be there.”

  “I’m telling you, he ain’t here,” Andy said.

  Trae reached across the cab through the driver’s door and grabbed the door handle. “Did you look under the truck?”

  Andy leapt back, out of the way as Trae slammed the driver’s door closed. “Oh crap. Um...Trae. I … I … I think I found his head.”

  “Where? What do you see?”

  “His helmet is up under the truck, half-buried in the sand. Do you think his head is still in it?”

  “Dammit,” Trae grunted. “The hell if I know. Is the suit still there?”

  “Um …,” Andy glanced around the area. “No, I just see the helmet.”

  “Dammit to all the hells, Fergus!” Trae shouted. “You had to go and make even more work for me. Now I have to figure out how to make a new suit.”

  “Um … okay,” Andy said. “But what about Fergus?”

  “He’s probably worm food by now,” Trae said. “Better to just forget and move on. Grab the helmet and get back in here.”

  Andy crouched, slowly. The helmet lay silent in the shadow of the massive transport. Grains of sand tapped at the side of his own helmet as the wind picked up.

  “Hurry the hell up, Andy. We need to check out this place and report back to the Cap.”

  “What if his head is still in the thing?”

  Trae let out an exasperated sigh. “Then dump it out. How hard is that to figure out? My God man, it’s just a freaking head.”

  “Sure, just dump it out,” Andy mumbled to himself. “It’s just a head. Nothing out of the ordinary at all about that.” He inched to within an arm’s length of the helmet and hooked the edge with one gloved finger. “Got it,” he said and began crawling backward from beneath the vehicle.

  The weight of something massive wrapped itself around his left leg and dragged him away from the transport.

  “Trae! Help! Don’t let the sandworm eat me!” Andy clawed helplessly at the ground as he slid backward, legs elevated, his face plowed through the sand.

  “Nope, sorry man. No can do!” Trae shouted. “You’re on your own. Gotta conserve the ammunition ya know. Really, it’s nothing personal.”

  “Damn you, Trae! Get out here and save me!” The thing released its grip as abruptly as it had grappled his leg. “Open the door, Trae!” Andy stumbled and clawed his way across the loose sand to the transport.

  “Nope, sorry man. Can’t help you.”

  Andy beat his fist against the driver’s door. “Open up!”

  “Hey Andy, can I have my helmet back?” Fergus broke out into hysterical, snorting laughter.

  Andy turned to see Fergus, red-faced and gasping for air between snorts.

  The driver’s door of the transport opened. “Are we good?”

  “Oh yeah … We’re … Good,” Fergus sighed. “We’re better than good, now, we’re golden.”

  “Ok, good. Let’s get to it then.” Trae leapt from the cab to the ground next to Andy. “You good?”

  “Ass.”

  Trae laughed, “Yup.” He walked around the front of the transport toward the buried cliff face.

  “Can I have my helmet back?”

  Andy turned back to Fergus. “I hate you,” he said, then trudged angrily in Trae’s direction. “Get it yourself, ass.”

  “Admit it, you love me.” Fergus chuckled as he picked up his helmet and trotted ahead of Andy.

  “You’re both a couple of douche nozzles!” Andy shouted.

  cHAPTER 15

  Unknown Red Giant System

  2nd planet, Northern Hemisphere

  The Betty / Captains Quarters

  May 26th, 2176 / Mid Afternoon (Betty time)

  W arm scents of lavender and vanilla mingled, filling the candlelit cabin. Slow, shamanic drumbeats resounded like the rhythm of a mother’s heartbeat.

  “I do not want to hear any argument from you,” Krista said. Annoyance heavily weaved into her voice. “Shut your trap, lay still and just relax.” She carefully tipped the vial of warm oil across Doug’s back.

  “Um, Krista, that’s hot,” he said, squirming away.

  “Hush,” Krista said soothingly. “It’ll be good for you. Just let it happen, man. Just let it happen.”

  “Fuck you, Sadist,” Doug sniggered.

  “Maybe later, big boy. For now, just try to relax and forget all of your problems.” She sat the vial back into the warmer on the side table.

  “How am I supposed to forget that we’re stranded on an alien world with limited supplies and no idea of how to get home?” Doug grunted as she leaned her elbow into the muscles under his left shoulder blade.

  “You’ve got to let some of it go to start with.” She worked the oil across his back in clockwise spirals then began to knead the muscles from his neck down. “This isn’t your fault and you can’t take it all on alone.”

  “How is that? I’m the Captain of the ship and they are the crew. Their lives are my responsibility.”

  “Because we all signed on for the job, that’s how. Each one of us freely chose to be here, and in this moment. You didn’t force us to be here. Every one of us could have just as easily walked away back in Atlanta, but we didn’t.”

  “You might not be saying that in six months when the food runs out,” Doug said.

  Krista sat back on her feet and sighed. “Ya know, you’re probably right. We should just go ahead and throw this big ass barbecue with what we have left, crack open the kegs of beer in the hold, and say fuck it all.”

  Doug stretched and groaned as he rolled over onto his side. “No, I didn’t say that at all. I’m just not sure what we’re going to do at this point. There are too many possibilities to calculate and too many unknowns at the moment.”

  “Well, start with what needs to be done first.” She leaned forward and smacked him on his naked butt cheek, “Lay your ass back down, I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Doug rolled back and laid flat on his stomach once again.

  “The boys told me that they had figured out the radiation issue,” Krista said. “They said that the levels dropped to nothing after the sun went down. There was only a residual reading when they went outside with that scanner of yours. They took off this morning in Lazarus to check out the thing you found. I made sure they wore their suits and had plenty of Remy’s with them.”

  “Good,” he sighed.

  “So, we need supplies and shelter to start with, right? I had some vegetable seeds stashed away in the cupboard,” Krista said as she continued with her massage.

  “Good,” he said through a grunt. “If we can get those to grow, then that’ll help with the supplies. Make s
ure that Mel saves peels and eyes from the potatoes. If we can get those started, they may very well save our lives. Not to mention we can use any waste as compost.”

  “Well, what about shelter? Won’t we be safe here on the ship?” She continued the massage, her fingers digging deep into his lower back.

  “Yeah, we would,” he said. “But how easy is it going to be to plant crops on board and keep them going. They will most likely do better in the soil if it isn’t dead or can at least be conditioned. Has Cheezy had any luck figuring out where we are?”

  “Not yet,” Krista said. “She thinks she’d have a better chance if we launch one of the ships so she can start comparing the stars to our existing charts. Oh, and the boys think we might be able to do something with those satellites in orbit if they can get a closer look at one of them.”

  “As long as we shut everything down while planet side and run the solar collectors, we should be good for years on power. But that will also depend on the number of launches we do. Has Willy made any progress on the new drive system yet?”

  “No, not yet that I know of,” she said. “Lizz has been helping him translate everything until Wes can find the language controls.” She slowly moved her hand down the back of his naked thigh.

  “That tickles,” he squirmed.

  “Oh, really now?” Her fingers lightly scraped at the inside of his thighs.

  Doug jerked away and rolled onto his back.

  “And exactly where do you think that you’re going, young man?” Krista giggled.

  “That really tickled.” He fought back laughter.

  “It was supposed to.” She purred, then leaned over and nibbled the inside of his quivering leg.

  “Stop,” Doug whined.

  She nibbled at his quivering flesh with deliberate tenderness, moving upward one delicate inch after another.

  “Oh god, you are sadistic.”

  “Yes, I am,” she proudly purred. “Now hush and enjoy the doctor’s prescription.”

  Unknown Red Giant System

  2nd planet, Northern Hemisphere