Drew of the Stars

Chapter 3 and 4

CHAPTER 3: DREW TO THE RESCUE!

<blockquote>
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder how you are
When you're alone on the ship
When nobody else is here
That is when you realize it
You're FUBAR and you know it
Twinkle, twinkle little star
Please help me soon or I die!
<blockquote>

The ship felt empty. The strewn mess kit littered the mess hall, and Drew didn't feel like cleaning it up. As much as she hated to admit it, having some guys are better than none. In the end, there is nothing to do, but wait for the next supply ship to come in. No doubt that they're wondering about the lack of communication, eventually. As yet the ships can travel faster than light, communication beam is still limited to it. She thought of sending torpedo messages, those travel faster than light, to back home, but due to the expense involved, it'd better contain more messages than "Help me! The whole crew is gone including the captain, and I don't know what to do!"

Eventually, she decided to get down there and see it for herself. There is one planetary shuttle left. Much to her dismay, the control panels are in disarray. Obviously, the guys are using this shuttle for parts. But the structure looked good, and only the computer needs fixing. That, and the steering columns are on the floor, broken beyond repair.

Undaunted, she pulled the engineering manual from storage. "I am an engineer!" she said to herself. "I should be able to do this!" She reassured herself. "All I have to do, is connect this wire to this wire... or is it this one? or this one? or this one?" The instruction pages were missing, the pages ripped off from the manual to who knows where. "Well, there's always the trial and error method of engineering!"

"Ouch! Not that one." as she got shocked from trying to splice the wires together. "Ouch! Not that one either." Sparks flew rather fiercely. "Ouch! Keep trying girl, you're the only one left!" She steeled herself. "Oooh! That works nicely!" All the lights lit up properly. "Yes!" She'd be dancing with joy if nobody was looking. Then she remembered that she was alone. She danced a little victory dance. Yes!

After she hooked up the diagnostic laptop, she discovered that she can control the shuttle from the laptop. As an afterthought, she slapped in a remote control unit to the laptop. Now she can be away from the ship and still control it. She made sure that the cameras were intact.

Taking a deep breath, she tightened her armor close and clipped a few grenades on them. Can't be too careful. After all, whatever was down there, it was major. She doesn't want to make the mistake of being undergunned. She made sure that the big honking rifle was loaded and that she carried enough ammo for it. Then she pushed the button to start the engine. As the shuttle cleared the spaceship, she felt a tinge of regret. She should've programmed the torpedo message to launch on timer, just in case she end up being stuck on the planet. She piloted the shuttle down to the planet with excitement and fear. She trembled with fear, yet gamely pushed on.

"Here goes nothing. I hope I don't die."

CHAPTER 4: MEET OUR HERO, ADAM

The colony looked exactly the same in person as it was from the space: empty. There was the door that was opened where the guys made their entrance. There is the courtyard where the captain held impromptu meeting as to what to do. There is the building where disaster happened. Wisely, Drew decided to avoid all that and approached from the other end. Gingerly, she entered the complex or small colony town. The roads were vacant. There was no lifeform visible. She tightened her grip on the rifle, knowing that when danger comes, it would be sudden and deadly. She carefully cut the pie, going through corners. Still, she saw nothing.

The silence is deafening. There is no sound. No sound at all, except her gentle footsteps, and her labored breathing. She was feeling the tension from the danger that is certainly around her. Yet, still nothing. The hallways are remarkably clean. None of the chaotic mess that characterize sudden departures. Drew just about to turn jello with fear.

Then it happened. She froze. Was that a sound? She's not sure. She was standing in one of the hallways, lined up with lockers. She hesitated. There was absolutely nothing to see. All the lockers seemed to be intact. It couldn't house any alien creatures, ca it? She decided to wait a little bit. After a while, she decided to move one.

The creak on one of the lockers definitely identified it as occupied. Thousands of scary thoughts crossed her mind. Steeling herself, she quietly took the rifle off safe, and aimed it at the locker where the noise originated. And she waited some more, waiting for another sound, waiting for the creature to reveal itself before she opens fire. She noticed now, too late, that the top of the lockers are holes large enough for alien creatures to jump into.

A clack on the locker caused her grip to tighten and with it the gun discharges the bullets in the magazines. She emptied the magazine, putting numerous holes on the door. Just to make sure, the tossed in a grenade through the overhead hole.

Her heart leaped to her throat as the door opened with a bang. She was out of ammo and completely helpless. Out come a very terrified ADAM SANDLER. "Grenade!" he yelled. Then, seeing Drew for the first time, he jumped her and forced her down, shielding her with his body, ans the grenade detonated inside the locker, taking the door off it hinges.
They were just staring at each other for a while, catching their breaths. "Are you okay?" asked Adam, finally.

"Yes, if you would just get off me, I'll be fine," replied Drew.

Time: 30 minutes
Wordcount: 1009

"Oh, sure. Sure." He got up. "Wow, I thought that I was going to die when that grenade came down! It sure scared the hell out of me!" he said. Then he looked around, and saw that it was only him and her. "Did you? Are you the one who threw the grenade in?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Uh, oh, um, yes, I did." she admitted.

"Geez! Why did you do that for?! I could've been killed!"

"Sorry. I didn't know it was you who was in there. I though you're some kind of nasty alien creature. Ummm, if you don't mind my asking a question?"

"Yes?"

"How did you survive being shot a magazine worth of high velocity bullets?" They both looked at the locker's door, with lots of bullet holes decorating its mid-section.

"The bullets went over my head. I was sitting down. It sure scared me, though. The bullets went through the wall to the other side."

"Well, I'm glad that you're safe. Ummm, where is your weapon?"

"I don't know. I dropped it somewhere."

"You _dropped_ it?" She was having a hard time believing it. Carrying a weapon in a dangerous siutation means survival.

"It's not my fault. It was a big and scary monster!"

"So, instead of shooting this big and scary monster, you decided to drop your gun?" She looked at him accusingly.

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"So, instead of purposely shooting this big and scary monster, you decided to accidentally drop your gun?"

"It's not my fault. "He looked sheepishly ashamed, lowering his head. "Can I have some grenades?"

"Maybe later. First, let's kill this monster." She doesn't want him to accidentally drop live grenades around their feet. "Where is the captain?"

"I don't know. We got separated. I was covering their withdrawal when I run into this big and scary monster."

"Quit saying big and scary monster! If it bleeds, we can kill it!"

"You don't know how big. It's different here than in Texas."

"How was it in Texas?"

"Kill it. Gut it. Clean it. Cook it. Eat it."

"Oh," Drew wasn't amused. "Let's find the rest of the crew then. We'll be safer in numbers."

"I really would feel safe if we just go the other way."

"We have to find the crew!" she insisted.

"We can go look for them after I secure a gattling gun!"

"We don't have to have that. I'm sure they have a weapon cache here somewhere."

"It's a big and scary monster!"

"I'll kill it. I have a big gun."

"I think you need a bigger gun than that."

"I don't think so."

"It's a big and scary monster!"

"I'll believe it when I see it. Let's go!" with that, she walked along the hallway. She has just enough of his cowardice, blaming the monster for his incompetence. Adam followed her timidly.

Time: 14 minutes.
Words: 1493
Total Words: 1502