Silence settled again over the trio. Kate checked the logs. As she had anticipated, that message had been received just ten minutes after she had jettisoned away in the pod. The second message had been received a full day later.
“Well, we’ve got one more. No doubt this will be my official dismissal.” She brought up the other message onscreen.
The smiling face of John Phillips filled the screen. Kate’s brow furrowed. She had expected Hunter again.
“U.S.S. Letanya, this is Houston. I hope you get this message, captain. It’s important. When word got out about Admiral Hunter’s orders to you to abandon your crewmates and head for home, the reaction was swift and overwhelming. The general consensus was, ‘American astronauts do not leave their buddies behind.’ The country rose up with one voice and backed your decision to go down to the planet, despite the risks. The president removed Hunter from his post just four hours ago and has put me in charge of the mission until you return.”
Kate had trouble believing what she was hearing. She heard a soft “All riiiight!” from Ally as they strained to hear the rest.
“We all hope and pray that you succeeded. We’re sending another two ships to you now. The U.S.S. Saratoga will arrive in six months, the Sovereign a month later. The Saratoga contains a boatload of Marines just itching to free your crew women. Scientists are aboard the Sovereign, ready to study the planet and it’s people. If you hear this message, please respond if you can. The entire country is waiting to hear from you. This is Houston, over and out.”
A ragged cheer went up from Ally and Greta. Kate was simply too emotionally drained to react. She took a few minutes to compose herself, then gave her crew women a thin smile. “Well, I think we’d better check in. I only wish we could’ve rescued them all.”
Kate asked Ally and Greta to stand behind her as she dialed up the radio-telescope. “Houston, this is Letanya. Three of us are back aboard ship. As you can see, Commander Egerton and Mission Commander Hanson are safe. Hanson did suffer some injuries, but they are not considered serious. It was a risky operation, I admit. We were successful in getting all five crew members away from the village, but unfortunately, we had to leave Dr. Reyes and Lt. Commander Smith behind. They have been taken back into the village by the humanoids.”
She paused, blinking back tears. “With the personnel and equipment we have, I’m not sure another rescue attempt will be successful. These humanoids are aggressive and strong and aren’t intimidated by our display of modern technology. I’m willing to try, but after our close call, I’m afraid if we go back, we could be recaptured. Please advise us as to what course of action you recommend. This is Letanya, over and out.”
She turned to the others. “You can send personal messages while we wait. If you prefer, you can record them in your quarters.” They both nodded and left the bridge. Kate sat alone, wondering what ordeals the astronauts were going through down on the surface. Were they being beaten? Raped? Maybe even executed?
Kate put her head in her hands and cried.
Chapter 33
NASA agreed with the captain. Don’t risk another rescue attempt, she was told. “You are ordered to come home, Letanya,” Phillips said gently. “Everyone here knows that you’d like to stay in orbit. But you know that you’d have to go into cryosleep anyway to conserve air and food, so you wouldn’t be any help to Dr. Reyes or Lt. Commander Smith. And after you woke up long enough to watch the Saratoga rescue your friends, you’d face another seven months of sleep to get home. Cryosleep isn’t recommended for such long periods. There really isn’t any more you can do for your friends. Please come home. Houston, over and out.”
Kate bit her lip. NASA was right, there was nothing they could do here. “OK, you heard ‘em. Looks like we’re going home.”
“Is that really right?” Greta asked. “We’ve only been out here eight days. Seven months in cryosleep and we go home a full six weeks short of our mission parameters? Can’t we explore some other worlds while we’re out here?”
The captain sighed. Greta, always the go-getter. No doubt she could just write off the two lost crew members and go on. Kate couldn’t and she doubted Allyson could either. “No, we have our orders. And we’re short-handed. Besides, we owe it to our grateful nation. I’m sure they’d like to congratulate us on our rescue efforts.” The sarcasm oozed from her. A tear tracked down her cheek. Angrily, she wiped it away. “Frankly, I don’t like it either, commander. I don’t want to leave them down there, and I don’t want to hang around up here, helpless. It’s time to go home. Leave the rescue to the Marines.”
They left orbit four hours later and aimed the ship for home. When they were clear of the solar system, Kate pushed the ship into warp and watched as the stars blurred. “Time to take a nap, girls,” she said, and led them down to the sleeping chamber.
They all undressed silently, their thoughts heavy. Kate helped the others in, then locked down the capsules. In minutes, they were in a deep sleep. Kate took one last look around. “I’m sorry, Beth, Jorja. I’m so sorry,” she whispered to the silent room. Then she crawled into the cocoon and locked down the hatch.
Chapter 34
Jorja and Beth marched back with the crowd toward the village. They heard the roar of the bobsled behind them as it took off.
“Do you think we’re in for it?” Beth asked nervously.
“Maybe,” the engineer responded. “Maybe we can bluff our way out of this.” Jorja was dismayed to see the figure of Gulnark approaching.
Gulnark, with his father right behind, marched right up to Jorja. “You baramus!” He shouted, his face contorted with hate. “You dare you harm my people, and run from me? I’ll show you who is master!” He backhanded her across her face. Jorja just had time to bring up her hand to partially block him, but didn’t counter, though she had an opening to give him a knee to the groin. She bent with the blow, her eyes tearing up.
Beth shrunk back as other men surrounded her. Some had telltale burns on their chests from phaser blasts. She could see they clearly wanted to punish her on the spot.
“Kill them!” a man shouted, trying to incite the others. “They will destroy us!”
“They aren’t our kind!” said another. “They have magic—bad magic!”
Gulnark, emboldened when Jorja didn’t fight back, tried to slap her hard across the face. Someone grabbed his arm.
“Gulnark, if you want to fight her, talk to me.” Jorja turned to see the square face of Keltar.
“She belongs to me!” Gulnark screamed. “You can’t interfere!”
“Very well,” he responded, letting go of his arm. “But first, let’s settle our bets.”
Two bookies appeared silently on either side of Keltar. Gulnark blanched.
“You owe me 200 quitnums,” said one.
“And me 100,” said the other.
The scene caused the men around Beth to stop what they were doing long enough for Niktus to push through the circle. “I will take charge of my slave now,” he said calmly, keeping his eyes steady on the irate men. They knew she belonged to him, so they edged back just slightly, though they didn’t stop glowering. Fortunately, the confrontation between Gulnark and Keltar distracted them.
“I-I do not have the money on me at the moment,” Gulnark stuttered. He looked at his father, who just shrugged.