cargo compartment. Racks of baggage filled the compartment in rows. Several had broken free
from the deck in the crash and spilled some of the children’s bags into a large pile, blocking part
of the floor.
He climbed over the mound of spilled luggage to see where the dust could be coming
from. He was able to wriggle through to the row of racks against the far right-hand wall of the
compartment. The source of all the dust became apparent as he neared the far wall. There was a
large tear in the side of the ship. The jagged edge of a large boulder protruded into the cargo
compartment; the obvious cause of the large gash in the side of the ship. The gash was very
large, large enough, for a person to crawl through with no trouble at all. Dirt and debris had
spilled in through the gash, but there did not appear to be any other damage. Unfortunately, that
gash meant that this ship would probably never be space-worthy again.
After a quick look around he did not find anything that looked like it might have supplies
in it. He wondered if they would be marked in some way to make it easier to find them. Devon
thought he had better go check with Mr. Jacobs. As the leader of the expedition, he obviously
would have a better idea of what kind of supplies might be down here.
After scrambling back over the mound of luggage, Devon began climbing back up the
ladder into the main cabin. Several faces peered down at him. He recognized them as Flim,
Jacinda, and Merrell.
“What are you doing?” Merrell asked.
“Just checking on something for Mr. Jacobs.”
Flim snorted a laugh through his nose as Devon climbed up through the hatch. “Deke
asked for
your
help?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, he did. He hit his head and isn’t feeling well. I think he passed
out.”
“Oh, no,” Jacinda’s breath caught in her throat. “We had better help him. Everyone at
the colony is taught to be a medic, just in case there is an accident. That’s because we practically
live inside the mine. I’ll go check him out.” She immediately jumped up and hurried toward
Deke’s seat. Merrell followed her a moment later, like a lumbering shadow.
“You guys shouldn’t be out of your seats,” Devon brushed the dirt off his coveralls as he
gave Flim a stern look.
“With Terry sitting in your seat? Not likely. It didn’t take him two minutes to start bad
mouthing Deke and the crew. He said that he would have them all fired.”
Devon gave Flim a pained look. “He may not get the chance.”
Flim stared in confusion at Devon for a moment and then blanched. “Oh, dear. You
think it’s that bad.”
Devon pulled Flim close. “It could be, but we can’t let anyone else know. We have to
keep the others calm. If everyone panics surviving this gets ten times harder.”
“So, what do we do if people start asking questions?”
“We just gotta hope Mr. Jacobs wakes up before then.” Devon shook his head, a worried
expression on his face.
Devon’s moment of reflection was disturbed by someone’s approach.
“What did you find, Devon?”
Devon smiled in relief when he saw that it was Deke who was speaking. The man
swayed a bit unsteadily, but seemed otherwise okay.
“The emergency exit I checked out looked fine; no blockage. I also found the cargo
compartment. Some of the luggage has broken loose and there is a big gash in the side of the
compartment, but that looks like about it.”
“Good, good.” Deke nodded his head vigorously and then had to catch himself on the
nearest seat. His eyes spun, as if he were dizzy. “I guess I am not as well as I thought.”
Jacinda came up behind Deke and took his hand. “You had better sit down, Mr. Jacobs.
We’ll take you up to our seats.” She pulled on Deke’s hand, leading him up the aisle like a
protective mother hen. As they passed, children asked Deke if everything would be alright. He
reassured them with a slow nod and a confident smile.
Devon sealed the hatch in the floor and followed the others a moment later.
It only took a few moments for them to reach the front row, but Deke looked very much
worse for wear. Sweat had broken out on Deke’s forehead and he was breathing heavily.
Jacinda and Merrell helped him sit down carefully, but he still winced.
“Easy, kids, I’m a bit fragile at the moment.” He managed a weak smile, but even that
soon faded.
Terry looked over from across the aisle, a sneer on his face. “I thought this guy was
supposed to be tough. He doesn’t seem it to me.” He sniffed, grinning.
Jacinda turned on him and snapped, “Okay, Terry, how about I smack you in the head
and see how tough you are.”
“Yeah, right,” he said with a laugh.
Jacinda drew in a deep breath, ready to give Terry a fierce tongue-lashing. Fortunately
for Terry, Merrell stepped between the two. He loomed over Terry, a burly giant in the cramped
aisle. “How about
I
smack you in the head, Terry?”
Terry’s face turned pale. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I’ve wanted to do it for four years, ever since I met you. Want to test me?”
Terry’s face fell, filled with fear. After a moment the fear disappeared, replaced with a
look of Bravado. “Okay, I have been friends with you and your brothers for a long time, so I’ll
let this go this time. But just this time.”
Terry slipped past Merrell and rushed down the aisle toward his old seat.
Merrell watched Terry hurry away and smiled. “Thanks for understanding, Terry.” He
turned to the others, a huge grin on his face. “Wow, did that feel good.”
The others smiled back. Flim slapped him on the back. “Well, I guess you aren’t the
slack-jawed buffoon I thought you were. Good show.”
Jacinda glared at Flim, but the alien boy just grinned. She just did not understand boys.
She did not realize that any sign of weakness was simply an opportunity to tease your friend
about it.
“Thanks Pal.” Merrell returned Flim’s slap on the back, perhaps a little hard, as Flim
nearly fell over but they exchanged friendly grins and then turned back to Deke.
Their guide was barely conscious. He seemed to be drifting in and out; barely able to
function when he came out of his fog. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and he looked at
Devon and his friends.
“Pretty soon the others will realize how long it has been since they ate or drank anything.
I need you people to see if you can gather all of the food and drinks up here so we can hand them
out a little at a time. I’m not sure how long we will be down here, but I wouldn’t be good if we
went through our supplies too quickly.” He paused for a moment, trying to clear his head.
“The Galley is right in front of us, so I want you, Merrell, to try and get that door open.
If you can’t, that is no problem. There should be supplies stashed down in the cargo
compartment. If you can’t get into the galley then I want two of you to go down below and
gather as much as you can. You can tell which cases have the supplies because…” Deke
swooned, his eyes closing and his head dropping to his chest.
Devon and the others looked at each other. Jacinda nodded her head, looking like she
knew exactly what to do.
“You heard him, Merrell. See if you can get that door open.” Merrell responded
immediately to the authority in her voice. He motioned for Devon to stand aside from the door
leading to the crew compartment and then grabbed the handle. His face twisted with effort as he
tried to turn the handle. It did not budge at first. Gritting his teeth, Merrell redoubled his efforts.
His face turning red, he pulled on the handle. It slowly began to shift. He could feel the bolt
holding it closed begin to slide. With one final grunt, he forced the handle to turn the rest of the
way. They all heard the bolt click open but the door still refused to open. Something else must
be blocking it. Merrell set his shoulder again and tried one final time to push the door open, but
it still would not move.
“I guess we need to go down below and see if we can find any supplies.” Merrell sighed
as he spoke.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jacinda added, smiling at Merrell.
As a group, the four friends made their way back toward the hatch that led below. Devon
opened it much more easily this time. He climbed down the ladder, followed by Flim, Jacinda,
and Merrell. The cargo compartment was exactly as he left it.
Devon wondered where they should look first. Each of the students had been given a
small amount of emergency rations to include in their gear, but he knew that it would be better if
they could find a larger amount of food and water all together. That way they would not have to
go through everyone’s personal items.
Jacinda looked at the pile of spilled luggage and nodded. “Okay, I suggest we try to find
any extra supplies that were included for the expedition. From what Mr. Jacobs said, the boxes
with the supplies are marked somehow. Try to find cases with the same markings. I’ll bet those
are the supplies. Each of us needs to take one part of the cargo to check. Let everyone else
know if you find anything.” Her suggestions echoed Devon’s own thoughts and he nodded in
agreement.
Each of them moved toward a different corner of the cargo compartment. Flim and
Devon had to scramble over the pile of luggage to get to their corners. Devon watched Flim
gawk as he passed the gash in the side of the ship.
Nearly ten minutes of fruitless searching passed before Flim cried out.
“I think I found something.” The others started toward his voice. Devon was the first to
reach Flim. The alien boy was grinning widely and pointing to a large stack of stout looking
travel cases. Each case had the shipping line’s logo stenciled on the side along with the words
Emergency Supplies
.
Flim smiled, “I could be wrong, but I think these may be it.”
Devon laughed at Flim’s joke just as Merrell and Jacinda reached the pair.
Jacinda examined the cases carefully, a serious look on her face. “Excellent work, Flim.”
She immediately turned to Merrell. “How heavy do you think these are?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Let’s open one up and see what is in it before we start
moving them all up the ladder.”
“Good thinking”
Flim and Devon were suddenly feeling out of place. Jacinda had taken charge so
naturally that they had not even realized it. It seemed that she and Merrell worked very well as a
team. Devon and Flim could not help but feel a little left out.
Sensing their discomfort, Merrell turned to Devon and Flim. “What do you think, guys?”
The two nodded in agreement and then began to wrestle one of the cases out of the rack
onto the floor. It hit the floor with a thump, but did not seem too heavy. Devon flipped open the
old-style latches on the case and raised the lid. All sorts of supplies were packed inside. He
could see food concentrates, a large first aid kit, and two containers of water. The others
crowded around behind him, examining their prize.
Jacinda reached out and closed the lid of the case. “Okay, no time to waste. Let’s start
getting these up to the top deck. They look light enough for each pair of us to handle one.”
They all nodded as Devon fastened the latches on the case they had examined. He
scooted it toward Merrell and Jacinda who lifted it up and turned back toward the ladder. Devon
and Flim retrieved another case and followed the others. It took quite a bit of effort to drag the
cases over the pile of luggage, but they managed. By the time Devon and Flim got their case to
the ladder leading up Merrell and Jacinda were still pondering the best way to get the case up the
ladder.
Finally, Jacinda climbed the ladder and then Merrell picked up the case over his head
with one end toward the open hatch. Jacinda reached down and grabbed the handle of the case
and was able to lift it slightly. Merrell immediately began climbing the ladder while pushing the
hanging end of the case with his shoulder. After a few moments the two were able to lever the
case through the hatch and into the passenger compartment.
Devon looked over at Flim. “I don’t think either of us are big enough the pull that off.”
“Yup,” Flim nodded in agreement.
Just then Jacinda’s head appeared through the hatch. She was smiling widely.
“Let’s go, you two.”
“Ah, I think we need some help.”
Her smile grew even wider. “As long as you admit you need help. That is the important