The Destroyers Book 3 Civil WarChapter 5 Mars and Space
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Tina Wayne stormed into her room. The com had just announced that Admiral Thompson had reassigned all the adults under the age of seventeen back to Mars base. Grabbing a vase off the nearest table and hurled it across the room. It shattered into myriad pieces, against the far wall.
"How dare he do this to me? He has no right!" she screamed.
Sampson came boiling out of her bedroom, a half chewed bone dangling from his mouth. Seeing his mistress he ran over to her, his two hundred pound body hit the coffee table and it flipped over.
Tina stormed over to the desk. She swept the books from the top, and activated the computer.
"Computer, I want all laws regarding the removal of adults from combat. Can a commander remove an adult from a combat situation because they are under the age of eighteen?"
"Negative. No Commander had the legal right to remove any crew from a combat position, except for medical reasons. But, he can request that person take another posting, or transfer them to another base if they are needed there."
The wheels started turning inside Tina's head as a plan started to form, and she said, "Can he prevent them from being a pilot?"
"Negative. The only way to prevent the subject from becoming a pilot is if they fail their flight qualifications."
Tina bit her lip and thought for a second, before she continued, "Question, if I pass the flight qualifications, he has to allow me to fight?"
"Negative, only if there are open positions for pilots."
Tina's heart fell, her perfect plan was crumbling and then the last four words came back to her.
'We are short of pilots, ' she thought. Then she said, "Computer, if we are short of fighter pilots, what about then?"
"Affirmative, he cannot endanger the ship if there are qualified pilots onboard."
Tina's heart soared. She now knew she had her way in.
"Thank you, that's all," she said, and the computer shut down.
Turning to her dog, Sampson, she sat down on the chair and started rubbing his massive head, while talking to him, "Sam, I'm going to become a pilot. I'm going to get revenge for what the Crytherians did to our family, and for all my friends they have kidnapped."
Taking the bone, she tossed it across the room as she turned to the com unit and called her friend Maria. Behind her, the huge dog went running across the living room and up onto the couch tipping it over.
Maria's face came up on the videocom and said, "Sandalwood quarters, Ensign Maria Sandalwood speaking. How can I help you?"
"Hi, Maria, this is Tina can you come to my quarters? I need to speak with you. I'll make dinner."
"Sure, Tina, I'll be right up."
"Thanks have to run," Tina reactivated the com and called her other friend Kathleen.
"Hernandez quarters, Ensign Kathleen Hernandez speaking."
"Kathy? Tina, here, are you busy?"
"Oh. Hi, Tina. No, not really. I just got off duty. I was going to take a shower and then make something to eat."
"Well, come on over. I'll get a pizza and some sodas. Maria is coming over, too. I need to talk to both of you."
Maria's eyebrows went up and she responded, "Pizza? You're on! Be right there."
The com went silent as Tina walked over to the replicator and said, "Computer, one extra large combination pizza, pie sliced, hold the fish ... Two large Cokes and a Diet Pepsi. Also a large order of bread sticks with melted cheese on them."
The replicator came on, and a large steaming pizza appeared. She picked it up, and set it on the table. Turning back to the replicator, she took the drinks and set them on the table, as well. Two had red straws, and the third had a blue one. Setting the drinks down, she grabbed the breadsticks and then got some plates and forks. As she was setting the plates down her door chimed.
"Come in."
The door opened and Kathleen walked in, her ponytail bouncing on her head. "Hey, Tina ... oh that smells good."
"Hi, Kathy. Grab a spot. The blue straw is your Pepsi. We're waiting on Maria."
"Okay, thanks."
Kathy grabbed a plate, slid a large slice of pizza onto the plate, and started eating it as Tina opened the door for Maria.
She waved with a bite of food in her mouth, and said, "Hi, Maria."
"Hi, Kathy, Tina ... How are you two?" Reaching down she rubbed Sampson's head. "Hey, Sammy! How you doing, big boy, I promise you a pizza bone, so don't worry."
Tina walked over and hugged one of her best friends, and said, "Thanks for coming."
Maria hugged Tina back, and said, "Your welcome. Let's eat. I'm starved."
Maria and Tina walked over to the table and started eating their dinner.
Sliding two slices of pizza on her plate, she said, "So, Tina, what's up?"
"Well, I'm sure you all heard the Admiral's announcement?"
Maria nodded her head 'yes' as she had a bite of food in her mouth.
Kathy set her pizza down, and said, "Yeah, I think it bites to send us to Mars to keep us safe. Especially after all the hard work I put in learning how to fly a shuttle."
Tina swallowed her bite of pizza, and replied, "Yeah I know. It sucks."
Maria swallowed her food, and said, "I know, it's not fair."
Kathy set her pizza down, and took a drink and then said, "Yeah, I agree. I think it's so unfair! By law, we are adults."
Tina looked at her two friends and grinned, 'good they are as pissed as I am, ' she thought, and then she said, "I agree and I have a question for you. I know how we can stop it. I checked the law and he cannot do this to us. He can transfer us, but he cannot deny us the right to fight."
Maria handed the pizza bone to Sampson who gobbles it down in one bite. "So what can we do about it?
Tina grinned and looked both of her friends in their eyes before answering. "Well, I have an idea, but it's dangerous. We could be killed. We also would need a fourth member. Here is what I propose we do. We train, we work as hard as we can and we form a fighter squadron. If we all pass our flight status, and the ship is short of fighter crews, then the Admiral cannot deny us. We would need to think up a unit name and figure out what we want to fly. I want to blow as many Crytherian ships away as I can. I saw the video feed from my parent's death. The bastards attacked their ship without warning."
Maria coughed on her soda, and said, "You saw the video?"
Tina nodded her head, and replied, "Yeah, I did. Two Crytherian cruisers appeared on each side of the Dachshund and just opened fire on her. No attempt was made to communicate, no warning, and sixteen hundred people died."
Kathy thought on it for a second and said, "I'm in. What about you Maria?"
Maria sat and listened to Tina, and said, "Yes, I'm in, too ... And, I know who we can get for the fourth member."
Tina sat there with tears in her eyes, and responded, "Thank you, both of you. Who?"
"Shannon Evans. She lost her entire family during the Reno explosion. The only reason she survived is that she was at a friend's house across town. She's staying with them, now. Mr. Jenkins, Tanya's dad, has signed up, and they are onboard. I heard she cries herself to sleep every night."
Tina bit the tip of her straw, and set the glass down, and asked, "Can you call her? Ask her to come over, now."
"Sure, let me use your com."
Maria got up and went over to the com on the desk. Sitting down, she placed the call to the Jenkins' quarters.
Shannon sat in her room, her teddy bear clutched to her chest as tears dripped down her face. She was thinking of her family, all dead, in Reno. Rolling over in the bed, and covering her head with the blanket, she heard someone in the other room. Getting up, and going to the door, she locked it. She then struggled to move the dresser in front of the door. Taking a knife, she jammed it into the door control and shorted it out, to prevent it from opening. With tears running down her face, she walked into the bathroom and striped, looking at the razor sharp knife on the counter.
She picked it up, stepped into the shower, and said, "Shower on, hot."
Standing there, she watched the steam build up, and then she stepped into the shower. The heat from the shower scalded her body as she sat under the spray, taking the razor sharp knife, and placing it against her wrist. As she was about to cut it, she heard a voice.
"Shannon that won't work, I'll not allow you to kill yourself."
Turning around quickly, she saw Amy standing there, and whispered, "Why do you care? I'm all alone, all my family is dead." Tears ran down her face as she looked at the hologram. "I miss them so much! All I want is to be with them. If you and this ship hadn't come along, my family would still be alive."
Amy sat on the floor and looked at Shannon. "That is true, and in five hundred years the Earth would be destroyed and all of your descendants would be dead or taken as slaves of the Crytherians."
"I don't care what happens in the future."
It dawned on her what Amy was doing. She took the knife and cut her wrist from elbow to wrist. Crying out in pain from the deep cut, she flipped the blade to her other hand, she quickly sliced the other arm as the hot water flowed over her.
With tears in her eyes, she continued what she was saying, "There. It's done and not even you can save me."
Amy was surprised when Shannon cut her wrists, and said, "You're wrong, Shannon."
Amy materialized in medical and saw Doctor Gretchen Hillary doing her rounds, "Doctor Hillary, we have a medical emergency in Sergeant Jenkins' quarters. Room 1015 on deck 16, their guest Shannon Evans, is going to try to commit suicide. She is in her shower with a knife, and had blocked her bedroom... " Amy stopped talking for a second and then said, "Damn it, she has cut her arms and wrists. She is bleeding pretty badly. I'm trying to stop the blood flow with tractors, but they are not working. You have one minute to get to her."
Gretchen grabbed her case as she listened to Amy and said, "I'm on the way! Get the doors cleared."
Running out of the medical room, she stepped into the transport tube and said "Deck 16 room 1015."
The transport tube took off, with her in it.
Shannon looked at the wall as she leaned against back of the shower. The cut on her right wrist is deep almost all the way through her forearm and running about nine inches long. The other was only about a half-inch deep and six inches long. Holding her arms into the spray of water to numb them and to speed up blood loss she looked at Amy as her vision blurred.
"Momma? Poppa? I'm coming. Tell Lori I love her, and will see her soon."
Amy tried to activate her tractor beams in the bedroom and bathroom, but they were not working.
"Shannon, what did you do to my emitters? I'm sure your parents would rather you live."
Amy materialized in the living room and startled Louise Jenkins.
"Specialist Jenkins, we have a medical emergency! Shannon is trying to kill herself in her shower."
Amy activated the tractor beams in the living room, yanked the doors off their tracks, and set them in the hallway. Using the beams, she lifted the dresser up and out of the way as Louise rushed by and into the bathroom.
Seeing the young girl lying on the bottom of the shower, she said, "Shower off." Stepping into the shower and through Amy's image, she heard Shannon call for her mother and father, and she cried out, "Shannon! It's me, Louise! I'm here."
Picking the nude girl up, she carried her into the bedroom and set her on the bed.
"Replicator, I need two large nanobandages, right now."
The requested material materialized on the pad and Louise grabbed them, wrapping them around Shannon's wrists and forearms. As the blood soaked the nanobandages, the nanobots embedded into them went to work on healing the wounds.
In the doorway, Louise's two younger children were standing there watching.
"William? Cindy? Go to your bedrooms ... now!" Louise shouted out.
From the doorway, a voice shouted, "Make a hole, people."
Suddenly, Doctor Hillary was there on the bed beside Louise and Shannon. Flipping her case open, she extracted an injector and filled it with healing nanobots. Pressing the injector against each of the girls wrists, she said, "Shannon, talk to me."
Shannon curled up on her side crying, and said, "Please just let me die! Let me join my family."
Shaking her head no, she said to the young girl, "Shannon, I cannot allow that. You must live, and I must try and save you." Reaching into her kit, she pulled out another injector, and said, "Now, Shannon, I want you to sleep. When you wake up, we will talk some more." Pressing the injector against the girls arm, she activated it and watched the powerful sedative go to work on the young girl.
Looking up at the woman beside her, she said, "Okay. Now, why would she try and kill herself?"
Louise looked up at the doctor as she brushed Shannon's hair out of her eyes, "She lost her entire family in Reno. She was spending the night at my house when the explosion happened. So we took her in, to keep her safe."
Gretchen looked down on the sleeping girl as she wrapped a sheet around Shannon's body, noticing that the wounds on the girl's wrists were not healing, and she blurted out, "She's not enhanced is she?"
"No, she didn't want it. She blames the Admiral for the destruction of Reno and wanted nothing to do with the ship or the technology that it offers."
Gretchen cursed under her breath, then said, "Stupid girl. Okay, well she's going to get it. We need to get her depression under control, too."
Sliding the sheet over Shannon's body, she tucked it in, picked the girl up, and said, "Louise, can you get my case for me, and follow me to medical?"
Going out the door, she headed for the transport tube and stepped in with Louise right behind her.
"Medical," she said.
Looking down at the young woman, she adjusted her grip.
"Hold on, Shannon. You're going to get better. I promise you."
Maria activated the com unit. "Can I have the Jenkins' quarters?" She waited for it to be picked up on the other end and a young boy picked up. "Hi, I need to speak with Shannon Evans, this is Maria Sandalwood calling."
William looked at the girl on the screen and replied, "I'm sorry. She's not here. My mom and the doctor just took her away. She hurt herself."
Maria sat there, fear ran through her for her friend, as she said, "Okay, thank you. Is she going to be okay? Do you know how she hurt herself?"
"I think she fell on a knife, there is one that's all bloody in the bathroom. Oh, here's my sister."
The image changed to a young woman. "Hello? Oh! Hi, Maria, what's up?"
"Hi, Tanya, I'm trying to get a hold of Shannon, but your brother said she'd been hurt, and something about a knife."
"I don't know, I just came in. Her bedroom door has been ripped right out of the wall and her dresser is lying against my bedroom door. I know she's been depressed over the loss of her family. Wait, here's my mom let me ask her."
The image went blank for a second, and then she came back on.
"Maria, it's bad. She tried killing herself, and they have her sedated in medical."
Shocked Maria asked, "Can we see her?"
Tanya shrugged her shoulders, and said, "I don't know, Maria. You can go down and ask, or call Doctor Hillary. I have to go. We have to clean up a mess."
Maria stood there looking at the blank screen for a second and then looked up at her friends eating their pizza. Walking over to them, she stood there with a shocked look on her face.
Tina had her pizza halfway to her mouth when she looked up at Maria and saw the strange look on her face, and asked, "Maria, what's wrong?"
Maria sat down, as tears started running down her face, and she blurted out, "Shannon tried to kill herself, she's down in medical. I don't know what her condition is, but we should go see her. We need to be with her, when she wakes up."
Tina dropped her pizza on her plate, "Yes! We should be there when she wakes up. She is going to need all the friends she can get." Reaching down she picked up her soda and she took a big drink of it and then set it back down, as she continued, "I'm ready! Let's go!"
Tina walked to the doorway with Maria and Kathy behind her.
As the door closed, Sampson got up, stood on the table and started eating the pizza. As he licked the platter it slid across the table and dropped to the floor, where the two hundred pound dog started eating his share of their dinner.
The three girls stepped into the transport tube, and Tina said, "Medical."
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Ted walked down the hallway, passing people who were being guided out of the medical bays, and were being lead back down to the shuttles. Passing a side passageway, he started to head into medical when he heard the crying. Turning around, he saw a brown haired girl sitting against the wall. Her dress was slightly dirty, and her knees were pressed tightly to her chest as she rocked. Walking over, he saw she was about eight years old. Kneeling beside her, he said, "Hi, I'm Ted. Are you...
The Federation battleship USS Washington: 1:50 P.M. Jessica handled the ship as though she was born to do it. The ship was shrugging off the enemy fire and her weapons were firing at the Washington D.C. shield trying to take it down. Turning her head she smiled at her husband and wife as the status reports came in from the fleet. "Enemy shield down to 36% power," reported Lieutenant Akiko Fujimoto. "Thanks, Akiko. Keep up the pressure," Tammy said just as Jessica screamed and the ship...
On the main screen, the shuttle with the NAT teams moved into the hanger and shut down. The image changed and they saw the twenty-four men and woman come down the ramp with their weapons on their shoulders. They were followed by eight techs, who would work the equipment in the dome. Ken sat back and watched the shuttle. His mind wandered back to the trial and all that had happened that day. Trial Ken looked up at the sound of the chimes at his door. "Come!" The doors slid open and...
The girls separated and headed for their quarters, where they started packing their belongings. Tina skipped down the passageway to her cabin, and opened the door and stopped. "Oh no! Sampson, what have you done?" Walking in, she looked at the dog's head and chest. It was covered in pizza sauce. The table was overturned. Shaking her head, she started cleaning the mess up. Ten minutes later, she had the auto-vac vacuuming the floor. She led Sampson into the bathroom, got the shampoo out...
Governor Kailnis watched the strange ships come down. Before he could activate his defenses, the weapons on the freighter blew them away. "Order up the guard! We need to stop these invaders, send orders to the fleet to get us help..." an explosion stopped what he was saying and he turned his head and saw one of the armored hover cars explode as a giant war machine came in sight, and he continued, "Destroy that thing." Heavy laser cannons opened up from the top of the defense wall and...
I slid the report into the proper file just as he walked into the room. Dennis Butz stood there wearing his three-piece suit, looking as handsome and charming as any man could. But I was not to be tamed by his charm. "Hello, Linda," he said with a friendly grin. "Judge Herns isn't in today," I replied back in a frosty tone. "I'm not here to see her." "My plane leaves in less then an hour Dennis, what do you want?" I slammed the file drawer shut and walked past him to my desk...
Kevin sneaked through the darkened ship, his plasma rifle at 'port arms' and ready to fire. Watching for the 'bugs' as he walked down the passageway, he came to an intersection. Stopping, he looked carefully in all four directions, and listened. Detecting nothing, he leaned down and marked the floor in the way he had come. He turned and moved to the right. Moving past a door, he looked in. Then he heard the scream. Jerking his head up, he ran silently towards the screaming and came to...
The transport tube doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway outside of the medical bay. Turning she led them down the short corridor and into the medical section. Molly was helping a young man to sit up in his bed as they entered. She was holding a glass in her hand. Once the patient had taken a drink from the glass, she set it down on the table. "Molly, I have some guests for you," Tammy said. "Be right there, Tammy." Looking at the young man she said, "Lieutenant Myers,...
Molly watched her new friends drive away. When they were out of sight, she turned back to her mother. She stepped back in to her mother's arms and gave her a hug. Stopping the hug, she looked her mom in the face. "Mom, how about pizza tonight?" Kathleen looked at her baby, and she felt complete again as she realized the hole in her heart was once again filled. "What ever you want sweetie, the number for Pizza Hut is on the fridge like always." Shaking her head, she replied, "No mom,...
Ko'Nar heard the accursed Marines coming. He stood there waiting. His knives were ready, and in the rooms on each side of the passageway, some of the Royal guard stood ready to fight. Hearing the breathing of the humans, he waited until he saw the gun, and swung his upper left arm. The knife hit his target in its eye, and it went deep into its brain. Screaming as he stepped around, he started to hack at the next human, as it pointed a strange weapon at him. The next thing he knew, he was on...
Ted looked down at Shawn, and said, "Raise construction dock one, I want to talk to the Commodore Thompson in person." "Aye-aye, Captain." Turning the com on again, he said, "USS Oregon to Space Dock One." "This is dock one, Ensign Vincent Hubber speaking. How could I direct your request?" "Ensign Hubber, Captain White needs to speak with Commodore Thompson ASAP." "I will transfer you to his office." Shawn quickly replied, "Thank you." "Commodore Thompson's office, how...
Corporal Ricker watched the T'Lari go through the dead ones, and start eating them. Within three minutes, it had cracked open a leg and sucked marrow out of the bones it found. Suddenly his com chimed in his head and he heard Tom Morris' voice. 'Corporal Ricker, this is Corporal Tom Morris. I am bringing in twenty-one survivors, one critically wounded, two KIA. Sean is one of the dead, but he went down fighting.' 'Okay, Tom. Let me take care of the T'Lari that's eating his...
Sammy stood there, her axe and knife clutched firmly in her hands as she looked up at the creature, trembling in fear. The fourteen-foot tall creature reared up, its twenty-foot long tail swinging up and over its head. Its front upper claws clicked together as the lower two hands held giant swords. Its mandibles clicked and crunched the remains of the small child in its mouth. She looked down on the two humans as her forked tongue cleaned her face of blood and gore. "I so love your small...
Aboard Space Dock One, Commodore John Thompson walked out of his office and headed for his personal shuttle. It was docked in one of the many launch bays on the twenty-mile long space dock. Walking through the concourse, he looked out at the USS Ark Royal. He saw the ship was almost completed. The command tower was going up as he watched. He picked up the pace and entered the shuttle bay to find his aide standing there. Lieutenant Susan Blake ... all of four foot nine inches of her, with her...
Commander Jimmy Hutcheson led the five groups of Seals down the Truckee River. A couple of fighters seemed to be flying search patterns so he had his men duck back under the water and hug the bottom of the river. Swimming along they pass the wreckage of downtown, and head the three miles toward the City of Sparks. Two hours later, after they surface near the backside of the 'Reno Hilton' the teams fanned out along the riverbank while Jimmy stripped out of his black suit and pulled on some...
Stepping out of the transport tube, Tammy walked into the medical bay, and over to a young girl. Looking down, she saw a beautiful child lying there, who should not have a care in the world. "Ashley, we will make it better for you, I promise." Tammy looked around the huge room, and saw Molly down at the far end talking to someone, and wandered down that way. As she got closer, she saw Commander Hutcheson sitting up in one of the beds. "Commander, you should start feeling better, now....
Dreams and the Launching of the attack Richard grabbed the tail of the creature they had killed. With it still stuck in the hole, he braced his feet and tried to pull it free, or turn it. He heard another click as it turned in the other direction. The hum disappeared as a loud snap came from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a huge bed, with piles of human skulls around it. A computer console stood next to the bed. "Damn it! It wasn't the tail that took out the gravity, it was...
Ted watched the Chinook helicopter, flying due north, disappear behind some nearby mountains. "Rita, where the hell is that damn lander that I asked for?" Ted said as he scanned the sky. "It will be above us in forty-five seconds. I suggest you come to a stop so it can pick us up." Ted brought the fifty-ton Mech to a stop, and scanned for the lander. The two hundred thousand ton ship came out of the clouds and hovered directly above him. The iris opened in the bottom of the ship. A...
Asteroids tumbled around the two Crytherian freighters as they slowly skirted the Oort cloud, at edge of the system. Aboard the Crytherian freighter, Bountiful Trove, Captain Jelkisa watched their escorts hyper to the ninth planet, to check out the sensor target they have picked up. Watching the view screen, he said, "Navigator Tilsi, set coordinates for two destinations, one the ninth planet, the other for the planet Karsakini." Turning to another Crytherian he continued, "Liskeria,...
Wand, Book and Candle, Part 1 By Elliot Reid "If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me; I had it from my father." I snapped the book shut, eyes unfocusing from the text. With my fingers I massaged my temples, kneading tension away. I was approaching my birthday with mixed feelings. In two days I'd be sixteen. I'd have crossed another threshold. Would I feel more grown-up? I looked over at the stack of comic books by my bed, beside the Joseph Campbell and the Homer that I was...
Night Skies Hotel VI: Destroyers of Worlds By Solari Author's note: "Destroyers of Worlds" is the third story in the three-part "Foundations" trilogy that shines a light on the wider Night Skies Hotel universe. The other stories in the "Foundations" trilogy are "Night Skies Hotel IV: The Lost Worlds," and "Night Skies Hotel V: Shadows on the Sun." It is recommended that the stories be read in order, or the reader risks not understanding the events that unfold. "What you consider...
Ken watched the Captains file out and head back to their own ships. Sitting in his chair, he smiled at Kala, and said, "I think your plan is going to work, at least the other Captains were excited about..." he said. He looked up as the doors open and Tammy walked in. "Hi, love, it's good to see you." Tammy walked in to the conference room and stopping as she saw the platinum haired woman sitting across from Ken. "Hello, Admiral, who's your friend?" 'Hello, sister, I am Kalaria,...
Ken looked up at the sound of the chimes at his door. "Enter." Susan walked in and faced Ken and came to attention. "At ease, Commander." "Thank you, Sir," Susan said. Then she continued, "Sir, the NAT's are going in, now." Ken stood up and hit save on his computer pad, saving the document he was working on, "Thank you, Susan, I will be right out." Walking to the huge bay window, he looked down on Pluto as Susan walked out of the room. 'What's down there?' he thought then...
Ted recovered first, as he looked at his baby sister, and said, "Lisa what are you doing here? What do you mean the ship has..." Lisa faded away, re-appeared in front of him, and replied, "That is what I meant big brother." Ted felt the blood drain from his face as he looked at his sister. His thoughts flashed to Amy, trapped in her capsule, and he lost his temper. He growled, "No! I won't have it!" Walking over to the com unit, he pressed an icon on the panel, and said, "This is...
Ken felt the connection close after talking to his mom, and he looked out at the bridge. His thoughts were on his sister who was lying wounded in the Oregon's medical bays. In his gut, he feared the worst because his dad was on the way to the Oregon. Looking around the flag bridge his eyes settled on Susan at the com station. He asked, "Susan any word on NAT team one?" "No, Sir. Nothing. NAT team two is going down now, they are going to have to re-bore the hole and see if they can get...
Amy watched from her sensors as her Admiral and his friends had their party. On the screen, her image wandered through the party chatting with her friends. The hours go by as off duty crew came in and had a dinner of the strange foods she has never tried. She vowed that Ken would share them with her one day. Over in a small meadow, some of the many kids played a game she'd had to look up. It was called baseball. Some others played volleyball. Going over the reports, she saw her shuttles...