Chapter 25+26+27

CHAPTER 25: CONTROL TOWER + LAST RUN TO THE SHIP!

Drew looked over the area once more. It was so close, Drew thought. We could have made it. Drew looked at the building where Leslie bravely fought the gigantic monster, and said a few words. She also looked over the wreckage of the ship where Kevin bravely rescued everybody from harm. This time, Adam said a few words.

They stood around for a moment longer. "Incoming." said Bob calmly.

Adam looked over to the North, where the shuttle was, and saw the group of monster that were surrounding the shuttle was closing in. "Move out! Double time!" said Adam.

Drew grabbed Adam's arm. "Wait, Adam!" Drew was panicky.

Adam looked at Drew. What's her problem? thought Adam.

"What's that?" asked Drew.

"That's the control tower. This is an airport." said Adam. Time's a wasting. They need to move now!

"And on top of the tower?"

"Antennas." said Adam. The control tower was adorned with various antennas. They're used for radio communication with airplanes over long distance.

"How come I didn't see it before?" asked Drew.

Adam thought for a while. "We were looking at the model of the compound, not the video." said Adam. "There weren't any antennas on the model."

"If we can patch into that, then..." said Drew.

"You can communicate with the shuttle!" continued Adam, his face brightened.

"Let's go do that, then." said Drew.

Adam had to make a decision, whether to continue their present course to hit the armory where success is guaranteed, or to trust that Drew can patch the tower controls enough to communicate with her shuttle. Then he remembered that Drew noticed the guys were scared, and he didn't. She knows more about the guys than I do, thought Adam. He leaned over and kissed her. "Sure." he said.

"Move out!" yelled Adam. "Double Time! Secure that control Tower!" Adam jogged to the control tower. Everybody followed.

They reached the tower just as the group of monsters came within shooting distance. Drew quickly came in, but was held up by Adam. Drew looked at him questioningly.
"There could be monsters inside." said Adam. "I'll go first."

Bob stood just outside the door, and with his Gatling gun, let out a long burst of fire that took out the monsters. Once all the guys were safely inside, Bob calmly walked in. They then barricaded the door.

Fortunately for Adam, they didn't encounter any monster. Up they went to the stairs and into the control room. Meanwhile, the guys downstairs fortified their position.
Once Drew got into the control room, she began patching her laptop into the terminals. She was successful. Adam smiled. Drew then donned VR goggles and get to work.

At the other side of the compound, the other shuttle started its engine, scattering any creatures that were camping nearby. The shuttle then began to fly toward the airport.

Downstairs, the guys get busy. The group of monsters came to them by waves, and each time the gun fires, more and more monsters came. It was their feeding time.

An extremely large group of monsters began to gather outside the airport. Even Bob, who was usually calm, began to worry. There's not enough ammo for them all. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw a shuttle swooped down on them, guns firing, and killed a whole bunch of them. He realized then that Drew flew the shuttle.

"Go down the stairs," said Drew. "I got the shuttle waiting."

"Come on, then." said Adam.

"I can't go on." said Drew. "I have to fly the shuttle."

"There's no cable attached to the terminal." said Adam. "You don't have to fly the shuttle from here."

"It's not that," said Drew. "I can't take off the goggles and fly the shuttle at the same time. And I can't go downstairs because I'm wearing the goggles."

"Yes, you can, Drew." said Adam gently. "I will guide you."

Adam took Drew arm, and gently guided her down the stairs. Finally, they met up with the guys downstairs. They can see the shuttle hovering just outside the glass walls of the building. "I got it, now." said Drew. "Please take off my goggles."

Adam took the goggles off Drew's head, and the shuttle flew through the glass wall. Broken glass sprinkled the floor. Drew maneuvered the shuttle to them, even opening the cargo door.

"Yee haa! That shuttle's mine!" said Danny. He ran quickly into the shuttle. All the guys followed up in a hurry. They really don't want Danny to be in control of the shuttle. Danny reached the cockpit first, and sat down on the captain's chair. "All right! Now let's fly this baby! Where's the control stick?" Danny frowned. It was then that he noticed the flight control stick lay down disassembled on the floor. Totally useless.

Adam ran up to the shuttle, Drew followed him. Instead of running into the shuttle, though, Adam ran up the wall on the side of the shuttle, and onto the roof. Drew followed. Bob, too, followed.

"Let's go!" said Adam. Drew took a seat by Adam's leg, leaning on them for support, and flew them out. Adam's decision to stay on the roof paid dividend as he pick off monsters that were missed from the initial shuttle run. Then he noticed that a group of monsters lined up the second floor, jeopardizing their exit. "Bob? Can you take care of them?" Adam asked.

Bob merely smiled in response. He let a long burst out of the Gatling gun. The monsters were decimated. The shuttle is home free!

As the shuttle flew across the canyon, away from the compound, Drew leaned over to Adam. Her hair whipped in the wind. Her composure was relaxed. She was smiling. The sun was setting, and she was very happy. What a romantic ending, she thought.

"C'mon, Drew." Adam said. "Let's get into the cockpit." Bob very gently helped her going from the roof to the loading gate. Adam followed. They move along the corridor and the guys were patting the arms, showing appreciation.

They reached the cockpit, to see Danny was inside. He was holding the broken flight control stick, pretending to be flying the shuttle. "All right, Danny." said Adam. "Move away from that chair."

Danny looked disgusted. "Can't you see I'm flying the shuttle here?" asked Danny.
In response, Bob merely clamped his hand on top of Danny's head. Danny dropped the control stick and meekly let Bob guided him out of the cockpit. Bob smiled at Adam and Drew as he closed the cockpit door.

Adam sat on the captain's seat. Drew sat in the co-pilot seat. They flew the shuttle into the vanishing sunset.

Time: 1 hour
Words: 1149

CHAPTER 26: PICK A NEW CAPTAIN?

The shuttle was just like when Drew left it. Messes are still strewn everywhere. Once Drew docked the shuttle, there was only one place where everybody would go: The mess hall.

It's like they have an instinct of gathering where the food supplies is stashed. The crews instinctively knew what to do after such a stressful endeavor. Unintentionally, Drew was about to be inducted into their man cave.

The doors to the Mess Hall burst open, and the guys were after one thing. The storage cabinet food near the fridge was yanked open and Adam toss beer after beer to the guys.

"Hey guys, don't drink so much beer!" Drew said. "Do you know how long it took me to brew those?" Everybody looked at Drew questioningly. Drew shrugged. "Never mind. I need one myself." Everybody cheered. Adam tossed her a bottle, smiling.

After drinking numerous bottles of beer, the guys relaxed around in their reveries. "So," Adam asked, "What should we do now?" They were guys in a spaceship without a captain, without orders.

"I think we need to pick a new captain." said Drew.

"Makes sense." said Bob.

"So, who do you think it should be?" asked Adam to no in particular.

"Guys, guys," said Danny. "The choice is obvious." He stood up in the center of the group. "As second in command, the new captain should be me!"

Somebody pushed Danny down to the floor. "Fuck you, Danny! You ain't never gonna be a captain!" Everybody laughed.

"Here guys, use these," said Drew, holding up a bunch of papers. "We can vote for a new captain with these."

Adam looked at Drew like she was an alien creature. "Drew," said Adam gently, "That's not how we pick a new captain."

"Oh?" asked Drew. "So, how exactly do we pick a new captain?"

"Around here," Adam said, standing up, "We pick the new captain based on WHO HAS THE MOST TESTERONE!"

"Yeah!" Everybody cheered!

"Now, as I remember it," Adam was addressing the whole group. "I was busy kicking the monsters' butt while you guys were all hiding behind the captain!"

"No way!" somebody answered. "Danny was hiding behind the captain! We were, uh, the REAR GUARDS of the captain!"

"Is that so? Then how come you didn't fire your gun?"

"Are you kidding me? I fired so many times I ran out of bullets!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember. You were shooting at that dead monster wasting bullets while everybody else was fighting live ones!"

"No way! That one was just pretending to be dead!"

"Hey, guys, remember who saved all your sorry butts! That was me!"

"My butt doesn't need any saving, thank you. Guns, bullets, that's all I need. Yessir. I think it's your butts who needed saving. You're blaming your defect on me!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Nevermind that! The most important thing is, I killed the most monsters!"

"Yeah, I saw that! You were busy back there with the little baby critters. I was wondering why that was. I thought you're some kind of pedophile or something. Now I know. You're just busy trying to inflate the body count!"

"Hey, it wasn't like that at all! I was bravely facing those deadly monsters all by myself!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I faced twice as many, and twice as deadly as you!"

On and on, the guys threw one challenge to another, trying to one up another. Drew just stared in disbelief. "THIS is how you pick a new captain?" she muttered. She looked at Adam for guidance, but Adam was in the thick of it, totally ignoring her. It was obvious that it was every man for himself.

But Drew was not a man. She was a woman. She felt left out by the process. She looked at the pile of voting paper she was holding, and threw it over her shoulder. She sighed.

Total Time: 1 hr 22 minutes
Total words: 1804

CHAPTER 27: TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR, OUR HEROINE MUSED.

Drew was staring out of the viewport of the library, per her usual habit. It always gave her a pleasure to look at the stars outside the spaceship. This is why we're out here in space, thought Drew. To explore the universe. To seek out new life, a better one than we have at home.

A whooshing sound can be heard. The door opened. Adam walked in.

"The toilet is clogged again." said Adam.

Sighing, Drew left the viewport. Some things never change. She retrieved the electromechanical plunger from the low slung cabinet.

"How come every time I come here, you're looking at the stars?" asked Adam.

"It gives me a pleasure to look at them." said Drew.

"They don't even twinkle!"

Drew looked at the stars through the viewport. She was reminiscent. "I think they're brighter now." She finally said.

"Well, you know what to do." said Drew, giving the plunger to Adam. "So, who is it, this time?" asked Drew.

"I think it's Bob's turn now." said Adam.

"Well, tell him thank you for watching over Danny cleaning up the toilet. I really appreciate the help."

"Yes, captain." said Adam.

"Oh, you don't need to call me that." said Drew. "Not after all that has happened between us." Drew tingled with pleasure.

"But you are the captain, now." said Adam. "It doesn't matter whether I call you captain, or sweet chipmunk."

Drew laughed happily. She kissed Adam. Adam smiled, and left the library. The door closed behind him.

Drew returned to the viewport.

"It was nice for them to make me the captain, once Adam reminded the guys that I single-handedly flew the shuttle and back. Bob supported the decision, too, as he believes that the best person for the job is the one who always planned ahead. And I guess, that's me. I always plan ahead. I just don't think that there is any other way.

"Sometimes I wonder whether they made the right decision. Adam could've been captain. Bob could've taken the position by himself. Sometimes I wonder if I can live up to their ideals. Sometimes I wonder if we can survive. Sometimes I wonder if somewhere in this big universe, there is a place for us to prosper."

Drew looked at the stars once more. She smiled. "I think we're going to be just fine."
She hummed the Twinkle song, as the spaceship sailed unto the stars.

THE END.

Total Words: 2217