"Mission accomplished!" Trever declared joyfully.
They had a brief, silent celebration and then returned to where the others were still hiding waiting for them to return. They got back just before Wentar went off on a solo mission and probably would have gotten himself killed. Peter and Lisa did their best to talk some sense into him, but Wentar already had his mind made up and he was quite stubborn.
Wentar had been delayed by cheep talk long enough and was just about to take some action when Trever, Fern, Hank, and Linda returned.
"Am I ever glad to see you!" exclaimed Peter. "Wentar has a plan for getting the Marrot V out of this jam."
Trever turned and stared at Wentar. Wentar was caught off guard. He was prepared to carry out his plan, but he wasn't ready to explain it. He thought if he could explain his plan Trever might approve it, so he started explaining.
"My plan," Wentar began. "is to sabotage the main engine, so the Marrot V can escape. I will find the main engine and destroy it while the rest of you return to the Marrot V, find Drake, and tell him to move the Marrot V to these coordinates."
Wentar had the coordinates written down on a sheet of paper.
"I will use the ship Tanbrook used to get here and rejoin you at those coordinates."
"I have only one question," Trever remarked. "How will you destroy their main engine?"
"I took some of you explosives," Wentar confessed showing him the evidence.
To his surprise, Trever just laughed.
"I'll agree to your plan on one condition," Trever explained. "I'm coming with you."
"Me too," added Logan.
Trever had excepted last minute volunteers on the way to the Ship of Death, but this time, he knew it was the fewer the better.
"No," ordered Trever. "It's far too dangerous. I'm not going to kid you. We're on a suicidal mission. Once the Ruler finds out what happened in the Weapons Chamber he's going to have his soldiers shoot to kill. I'm going along just in case Wentar fails, God forbid. Anyone else would only slow us down."
"Your job is equally important. You must find Drake and tell him to move the ship to these coordinates."
Trever took the piece of paper from Wentar and gave it to Logan. Logan understood Trever meant what he said and took the paper obediently. He had a great responsibility.
Trever and Wentar parted company from the others and disappeared from their sight.
"Are you ready for the long journey back?" wondered Peter.
Nobody answered, but they had to be ready whether they were or not.
TIME : 9:30 A.M.
PLACE : The Emergency Room of the Marrot V
The operation was complete. Grendlin was in critical, but stable condition. Strillan knew that he had done the best he could and all he could do was wait. When he walked out of the room, Drake was there waiting for him.
"How is she?" he asked.
Grendlin had been an important part of the crew ever since she joined the Marrot V and had displayed true heroics when she was injured. Drake's first concern was to protect the rest of the crew and passengers, but he couldn't help worrying about Grendlin.
Rinquin was next to see if Grendlin was all right. He could heal minor cuts and bruises like he did with his two children earlier, but Grendlin had a damaged spinal cord. They were still dependent on Strillan to heal the serious injuries.
There were 6311 people on the Marrot V and all of them knew that they were under attack. They had been attacked before, but never by the Ruler, yet most of them kept calm. They knew about the powers Rinquin and his children had and thought that they would protect them.
Drake and Rinquin returned to the docking bay trusting Strillan to take care of Grendlin. Drake predicted that if the Ruler couldn't have the secret of hypo-psycotic powers, he'd make sure nobody could by blowing up the Marrot V. He told Rinquin to watch out for missles being fired from the other ship and to stop them if he did.
Rinquin wondered if he was capable of stopping a missile. Fortunately, he never had to find out thanks to Trever and company.
Without warning, a ship landed in the docking bay. Drake told the others to get ready for another attack, but to Drake's relief it was Fern, Logan, and the officers from M.W.G.D. Upon seeing their father, Fern and Logan came running up and hugged him. They were reunited. Only Trever and Wentar remained separated from the others.
Logan showed Drake the piece of paper with the coordinates Wentar wanted him to move the Marrot V to. Drake rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly. It was a rather large distance to go in such a short time.
Back when it was first built, the Marot V was the fastest ship of its size, but it hadn't gone that fast in years. Drake wondered if it was still capable of such speeds.
With the shortage of crew members he faced, Drake turned to someone who was familiar with the Marrot V. If Rinquin couldn't do it, it was impossible.
"Rinquin," he called out. "We need you to help pilot the ship."
"I'm on my way," Rinquin replied.
The two of them headed for the Bridge to program the new course into the computer.
Fern, Logan, Marnia, and the M.W.G.D. officers watched them leave. Just when they had been reunited, they had to separate again. Peter and Marnia exchanged stories of what had happened to them since they parted company. Peter was saddened by what had happened to Grendlin and Grendlin was saddened when she heard that Cyrenna was dead. They both knew that the worst was yet to come and began preparing themselves for it.
Copyright MCMLXXXIX, MCMXCIX