Dark as Daylight Ch. 15

"Thank you Mr. Trainor."

"Helm is ready Captain."

"Make your altitude 3000 feet, lift off."

"Lifting off Captain, heading 340° climbing through 550 feet to 3000 feet."

"Engineering, open the exterior valves and vents."

"Engineering is opening the exterior valves and vents."

"Teddy, I don't see the rain. Where is it?"

"To the right and higher."

"How high Teddy?"

"It not fall to the ground yet, but is much higher. It is raining very hard."

"Will you tell me when we are right under it?"

"Yes, big area, lot of rain tomorrow, lot of flooding. You must move the ship far away from where we were."

"Thank you Teddy, I will do that when we get back."

"You can go up now. We are directly under the rain."

"Attention on board, we are about to go up into the rain. I do not know what to expect when we enter it, so please hang up on. It is raining very heavily, and I do not know what kind of wind factor there is with it. Security please help out in a nursery. Here we go."

"Mister Hathaway make our altitude 13,000 feet, and do it slowly."

"Aye, Aye Captain."

"Teddy get into your chair and buckle yourself in."

"Yes Big Captain."

As soon as they passed through 12500 feet they could hear the rain smacking against the exterior hull of the ship. They could also feel the wind blowing them around.

"Captain, helm, I am no longer able to maintain a heading of 340°. I need more power, or I am going to have to let the wind take us."

"Mister Hathaway let the wind take us."

"Yes Captain I will advise you of our heading. I would still advise you to increased power on the nuclear engine just in case we need to get out of this thing."

"That's a good idea Mister Hathaway."

"Engineering, increase power to the nuclear engine to 40%."

"Nuclear engine to 40%."

"Captain from what I'm seeing on my displays, may I suggest 60%."

"Go to 60% Jack."

(Ten Minutes Later)

"How are we doing on water, Jack?"

"Give it few minutes, and we will be full-up."

"Very good. What are you seeing out there?"

"Captain, if we were on earth, I would tell you we are in the middle of a tornado."

"Screw it, in 30 seconds close the water intake valves, go to 80% on the nuclear engines, 100% on the antigravity engines, and we are going to get out of this thing in a hurry."

"You are too cute Captain. I would have everyone lie down for this maneuver."

"I was going to do just that Jack."

"Great minds think alike Captain."

"Attention everyone on board, if you are near your reclining seats get in them and buckle yourself down. If you are near your beds get in them and lie down. If you are not near anything else lie down on the floor. I am about to perform a maneuver that is going to take us straight up out of a tornado. This maneuver will take 10 seconds, and may knock the breath out of you. I will count you down when it's about to begin."

Teddy said, "That's my job."

"What's your job Teddy?"

"When we leave Earth, I count down from 10. We do this maneuver; I count down from 10."

"Okay Teddy, you can count down from 10."

"Engineering is everything ready to go?"

"Engineering is 100% go."

"Ships company this is your 30 second warning. Teddy will count down from 10."

"Jack close the vents and valves."

"Done."

"Teddy is ready to count down from 10."

"I just told them that Teddy."

"I know."

"At Zero, Make your altitude 200,000 feet Mr. Hathaway."

"Aye aye captain."

"Start Teddy."

She pushed the button on her chair. Here we go; "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-Blast Off. Plus 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Engine Stop."

Monty said, "Smart ass. That was my job."

"We in space now."

"What; what is our altitude, Mr. Hathaway?"

"381,062 feet above the planet, and rising. We sort of passed 200,000 feet, Captain."

"I noticed. Take up a heading to bring us back to where we started from, plus 1 mile west. Navigation give him a heading. Engineering reduce nuclear engine to 10%. Reduce antigravity engine to 20%."

"That was one kick ass ride Captain. I think we may have overdone it a little."

"I've never been in a tornado Jack, and I wasn't taking any chances getting out of this one. As long as our tanks are full, and no damage was done to the ship, our mission was successfully accomplished."

"That it was Captain, a 100% success. Engineering, out."

"Adam Schiff would you check your gauges and verify the water tanks are full from your end."

"I'm already here, Captain. The water tanks are full to 104%. However, everyone seems to be using their sanitation units at this time, because of your last maneuver. We will be down to 102% of capacity momentarily."

"Did the maneuver upset Laura?"

"No, my lovely wife is a champ. She took this as she took instructions from her former mentor, George; gracefully."

"I did not, you asshole. I'll get you for that Monty. I thought the baby was going to come out of me."

"That would have been a good thing, Laura; no labor pains."

"I might not have had labor pains, but that asshole husband of mine would have."

"Laura, I promised I would love you until death do us part. If you kill me, at least I would have kept my part of the bargain."

"Do you see what he does to me Monty? He puts all the blame on me. He is such a nice person; I can't bring myself to kill him."

"People are making bets on you killing Gordon, after you have the baby. You can kill him, without feeling bad."

"I hadn't thought about that, but you're right. I can kill him and not feel bad. What are the odds between me and Gordon?"

"Since Gordon beat me in 22 seconds, the odds between you and him are even."

"He beat you in 22 seconds, and the odds between him and I are EVEN?"

"Your exploits preceded you darling. Your husband keeps talking about your Longshoremen's handshake, and what it did to him the night before you had to bring in your luggage."

"That no good loudmouth."

"Laura, how many people do you know who can dislocate a man's shoulder by shaking his hand?"

"I was angry with him."

"Please remind me never to get you angry with me."

"The bastard got me to marry him, didn't he?"

"You could have said no at any time. No one broke your arm, did they?"

"I didn't break his arm. I only dislocated his shoulder."

"You fired your best friend, your defense team quit, and you were left on your own on the biggest day of your life. Should I say anything else about what you did the day you got married?"

"I am going to kill him, very, very slowly. He's like a woman who can't keep her mouth shut."

"How about you Laura, can you keep your mouth shut? Should we discuss your husband's length and girth?"

"I hate you, I hate him, and I hate me and my big mouth."

"It happens to all of us Laura. Now suck it up and relax. A few months after the baby is born, you can start training again, and beat the shit out of Gordon. Use that as your motivation."

"He beat you in 22 seconds. You were at the top of the charts. What am I supposed to do with him?"

"No one is invincible Laura. No one is invincible."

**************************************

"We are passing through the atmosphere now, and will be landing about a mile and a quarter west of where we were originally. Teddy advises us there will be severe flooding in the area where we originally landed."

"Navigation pick us out a good spot for defensive purposes. We've only seen one carnivore in this area, and it came after Teddy. We have a few thousand cows, and about 30 horses here. The heavy rain may force them down from the hills. This will become prime feeding ground for them. I just don't want them to come too close to us, especially if they come in packs."

"I'm going to move us further away from the tree line, Captain. It will give us a better line of sight for anything coming up the plain at us. It also gives us more time to defend ourselves from anything coming out of the trees."

"I agree, let's do it."

As soon as they landed, and the elevators and stairways were down, Teddy asked Monty if it was okay to go outside.

"You have to ask your mother first, and if she says okay you have to sign out."

"I promise to do everything right, Big Captain."

As she was running to her parent's room, she passed Gordon.

"I need you to come with me, otherwise many will die."

"Who will die Teddy?"

"Cows and ponies will die, because of fast water coming down the hills. There will be much flooding today, and they don't know it. I have to tell my mother I'm leaving the ship. It will be better if I tell her I'm leaving with you."

***************************

Delicious open the door to their room and looked at Teddy."

"Where have you been all day?"

"I was on the bridge counting down, and counting up."

"I heard you. You did an excellent job. The only thing you didn't do was tell me where you were."

"Big Captain kept saying my name and I wanted to make sure she knew I was on the ship. She seemed very worried about me, and I wanted her not to worry."

"Did you ever think your mother might worry?"

"I tell you I was on the ship, when Gordon and I came back on."

"Yes you did, but did you think that was enough when we had to take off in a hurry?"

"I didn't have time to tell you again, because I was on the bridge telling Big Captain where the rain was."

"There is going to be bad rain today, and if Gordon and I don't get to the animals there are going to be many killed."

"Is that where you want to go now?"

"It's where I have to go now."

"Delicious, trust me, if she says she has to go somewhere, there is a reason behind it."

"What is the reason?"

"I can't tell you the reason, but I know as sure as I'm standing here, she has to go there. You are stopping us from doing our work now. We have to leave, tell her it's okay. She won't leave unless you tell her it's okay."

"You are going to miss breakfast again."

"I promise to eat breakfast as soon as I come back with Gordon. He will tell you what I had for breakfast. I promise mommy."

"Why is it I can't say no to you?"

"Because I love you so much."

"No it's because I love you so much. Get going, I don't want anyone's death on my conscience."

Teddy reached up, and kissed her mother.

"I love you my mommy."

"Go ahead Teddy, I love you too."

********************

As they reached the first floor Gordon had an eerie feeling.

"Teddy stay here, and don't move."

"Okay."

Gordon went to the Sergeant at arms and asked him for a Sidearm.

"Where are you going Gordon that you need a Sidearm?"

"I'm going back to our original landing site to try and move the herds of cattle and horses back this way. I have an eerie feeling that I'm going to run into some carnivores back there. I just want to protect Teddy and myself from them."

He was given a Sidearm and one other item. One of the security team, Devon, was assigned to go along with them. She carried a rifle, and a Sidearm with her.

As they got within shouting distance, Teddy yelled, "Daylight, Daylight come to me."

Gordon said, "Call Admiral also."

Teddy called him.

Soon, the pony and the large stallion came running their way. After their greetings were finished, Teddy said to Admiral, "There will be a big flood here very soon. Many cows will die, unless you move them to where our ship is. Can you help us?"

Admiral ran back to his harem, and issued instructions to them. All the ponies ran towards the cows trying to get them to turn away from the water and move to the spacecraft, and safety.

Thousands of them did, but hundreds were reluctant to move from the fresh water.

Teddy saw the water begin to rush down out of the high mountains, and through the gouges formed by previous onslaughts of flooding.

"Daylight tell Admiral to get the horses away from there. The water is coming fast."

Daylight ran swiftly to Admiral.

The stallion reared up on his hind legs, and all his mares ran to him and away from the cattle. As they approached Teddy, she pointed towards the ship, and told Admiral to take the horses to it for their own safety. They ran fast, and fortunately, none of the ponies were lost.

The water moved down the mountain passes so fast many of the cattle were caught in the quick rising river. Hundreds of them did not know what to do. They began circling together and mooing. The began looking for someone to tell them what to do.

Gordon said, "Devon, she stays with you. No matter what happens to me, she doesn't leave your side. I don't care if you have to knock her out, and carry her back to the ship, she does not leave you."

"Yes Captain."

"Gordon, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to become a cow."

"You can't be a cow; you're a boy."

"If you don't tell them, I won't."

Gordon walked into the fast moving water, until he was almost knee deep. He grabbed one cows' ear and her little calf that was trying to stay near her. He began pulling both of them towards the river's bank, mooing, as best he could. He did it again and his imitation of a cow was no better than before. Not only couldn't he sing, he couldn't even imitate a cow.

He grabbed another cow, and was pulling it out of the river, along with her calf. Her calf went under water, and Gordon didn't see it for a few seconds. When it finally surfaced, it was 15 feet downstream, and moving away fast. He had to let it go, in an attempt to try and save others. He felt like shit.

He went back into the water, which was now waist high. He grabbed a cow by its upper lip, and put her calf over his shoulder, so this one wouldn't die. He couldn't moo, because the water was taking too much of his strength away.

As they reached the edge of the river, more of the 4 legged beasts swam towards him, but not fast enough for the rising water. Soon, many of them would be washed downstream, and would die.

Gordon had one more card to play. He took his 9 mm Sidearm, pulled back the slide and loaded a round into the chamber. He released the safety, and fired one round into the rocks. The cattle were so stunned by the loud report; they began moving out of the water by themselves, and towards the closest shoreline.

Once out of the water, the cattle on the west side moved towards their brethren and continued their slow march West, until they were part of the large herd.

The cattle that moved to the east side of river seemed unperturbed by their separation from the main heard. They began grazing until several of them sounded an alarm. They began running south.

Gordon didn't see why until he rejoined Devon and Teddy.

Devon said, "Those cows are toast."

He turned and saw why.

The torrential rains forced large predators out from the mountains, their natural hunting grounds. These large cats, much longer, but sleeker than lions, and with great spots, and stripe covering their bodies, began chasing the cattle. There were 13 of them in this one pride. There was 1 huge male, 6 females, and 3 yearlings, and three cubs.

It was no contest when the cats caught up to the lagging cattle, and the small calves.

Gordon was amazed to see the yearlings take down one of the calves. This was not normal conduct for a lion yearling on earth.

It was not the only group to come down from the mountains. There were 3 groups they could see, and although they didn't act as teams, they separated groups of cattle, as they went after them.

Devon said, "Let's get back to the ship. They can come down on our side, and I don't feel like fighting something that size, with one rifle, and two pistols. Let's go Teddy, run."

Gordon got on his communicator, and told security to look for large cats coming out of the mountains. They were running back to the ship for their own safety.

When Monty was appraised of this situation, she sent every security team outside to protect the ship.

It was a good thing she did. Out of the mountains came all sorts of carnivores, there were the big cats, and others all the way down the type that initially attacked Teddy. It wasn't the smallest of the carnivores, but it was close.

It was also the first time they saw a bird. This one was a fearsome looking, and featherless. This was not good! It had a wingspan of nearly 10 feet, like a 'Chilean Condor', but a neck like a vulture. They would catalogue it later.

"Devon give me your rifle. Pick up Teddy, and run to the ship. I will try to keep them away from you for as long as I can. Don't stop, I will try to keep up with you, but her safety is more important than mine."

"Gordon, that's my job."

"Devon, your faster than I am. I am the captain. Give me your dam rifle and go. That's an order."

"Bad word, Gordon."

"I will meet you in the chapel."

"No wonder your father tells everyone you are a pain in the ass."

"He's right. Now take Teddy and run."

*********************

Gordon started shooting at anything that was close to Devon. He was determined nothing would happen to them. Even though the hyenas were closing in on him, he concentrated on the animals that were closer to Teddy. Shot after shot those animal fell. He never realized he was that good with a weapon.

The hyenas were closing in on him, and the rifle was of no use. He was about to shoulder it, when they started falling. One of the got to his left leg, and he howled in pain. Suddenly, the animal died, and let go. He didn't see who was shooting at them, but he was grateful for the help.

He resumed firing the rifle, until the magazine ran out of ammunition, he threw it over his shoulder, and took out the 9 mm. It was not effective at range, but anything that got close to him went down.

Then he saw the line of security forces lying down in the grass picking off the carnivores as they approached him. He changed his direction, and within 30 yards he limped behind them.

"Someone give me a magazine, I'm out of ammunition."

"The sergeant said, "Haven't you caused enough problems for today? Go inside and return your weapons. We have this under control."

"I didn't do this; the rain did it."

"Go tell that to Monty. Go to the infirmary and let them bandage that nick in your leg."

"He picked up Teddy. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine. I could have stopped the animals, and we could have walked here."

"How would you explain that to Devon?"

"She fainted?"

"I don't think that would have worked, little one. Too many people would have noticed the time lapse. Let's keep that secret between the two of us; Okay?"

"Okay."

"We have two things to do. We promised your mother you would have breakfast as soon as we returned, and we have to get yelled at by the 'Big Captain. What do you want to do first?"

"I think we should eat first. I may not be hungry after I get yelled at."

"How do I explain my leg being fixed?"

"It bit your shoe, and the blood is the animals?"

"I think we both have to go to the chapel, don't we?

"Yes."

"We didn't do anything wrong, Teddy. We went for a walk to save the horses and cows."

"Why did you take a gun."

"Are you on my side or hers?"

"Breakfast, please."

"Somehow, I think we will be in the chapel later, trying to ask God to forgive our bad thoughts."

"Not me, I love everyone."

"Tell me that after I spank you."

"Why are you going to spank me?"

"Because you love everyone."

Teddy laughed.

******************

As they sat down to breakfast Teddy said, "After all the running, I am hungry."

"Don't tell your mother why you were hungry, unless she asks you."

"Isn't that lying?"

"No it's not. It's only a lie if she asks you why you were hungry, and you don't give her a complete answer.

If she asks you if you had breakfast, and you say yes, that's not a lie, because you did eat breakfast."

"I think that's very close to lying."