The Tales of the Silver Wind

"One minute," Akasha said as she watched as the gauge inched closer to the red line.

"Captain, I'm having trouble keeping our altitude," Nathan said taking the yoke by both hands.

"Sebastian, we need more power to the engines!" Lulu shouted over the intercom.

"I can't give you what the ship doesn't have Captain. The engines are already at a hundred and ten percent any more it will run the risk of stranding us here," Sebastian said over the noise of the whirling engine.

"Then shut off all systems we don't need and draw the power from them! Adriana open the vents, Sebastian take life support offline and everywhere else except for sickbay," Lulu said taking charge. Sighing when she heard the hum of the engines kicking in.

"Thirty seconds Captain," Akasha said praying that the weapons would hold out as they went into the red. "We're through!"

"Cut all power to the beams! Nathan bring us over the hole...," Lulu turned as a power surge arced across Akasha's console. "Akasha!" she yelled as the panel exploded tossing her friend against the wall and imbedding shards of metal into her forearms that she used to protect her face. "Amanda! Medical emergency!"

"Captain, we'd better make this quick. the engines are fighting me," Nathan said bringing Lulu out of her shock.

"Don't worry, I'll look after her until Amanda gets here," Adriana said jumping from her seat.

"Right, Nathan keep us airborne for as long as you can," Lulu said rushing over to Nathan's console, bypassing the weapon subsystems into it. Slapping the screen as it started to flicker out. Her tongue poked out from the corner of her mouth as she lined up the shot.

"Captain, we only have a minute of power left. Whatever it is you're going to do, do it now!" Nathan grunted as he struggled to keep the Silver Wind in the air.

"There!" Lulu said launching the probe. "Get us to the village," she said jumping from her seat having already set the device to break apart once it touched the water. "Akasha, can you hear me?" Lulu said kneeling beside her helping Adriana to stop the blood flow.

"D-Did we do it?" Akasha asked weakly.

"Yes old friend we did...," Lulu began to smile only to watch as Akasha's body went limp. "Akasha! Akasha!" she shouted trying to wake her Candary friend.

"Psst, hey," a sweet deep sinful voice whispered into Akasha's ear, "wake up."

"Five more minutes," Akasha mumbled only to hear that same sweet voice chuckle. Her eyes shot wide as the explosion flashed in her mind. It was only because of his restraining hand that kept her from undoing the nanostitches Amanda had used in the surgery.

"Not so fast Akasha," Sebastian said gently brushing her cheek. "You have a few more days, you need to heal."

"S-Sebastian?" Akasha asked blinking her blurry eyes.

"The one and only," Sebastian said smiling down at her covered in bandages.

"What happened to you?" Akasha asked wincing as she finally felt the pain.

"Oh, just some third degree electrical burns," Sebastian said his hand gently grasping hers. "You've been unconscious for three days now."

"Three days?! Then why hasn't Amanda healed you yet?" Akasha asked drawing strength from his hand.

"Amanda has more pressing matters to attend with at the moment than me. My nanites will heal me just as fast as she could if not faster. It's you that had me worried there for a while," Sebastian said leaning down getting his first kiss in three days.

"Then what is she doing that she couldn't see to my mate?" Akasha huffed feeling her cheeks heat at his chuckle.

"Administering the antidote I helped her create to counteract the poison in the water," Sebastian said sitting on the edge of the table.

"Oh. Sorry," Akasha said bashfully. "So how's the ship?"

"Ah, the ship, that's another story," Sebastian sighed. "The Silver Wind is going to have to undergo a major overhaul once we get to Dindingwe. The power relays for the beams have been fused together. Their emitters were all burnt out, but I suspected that to happen. The gravity plating on the third deck is no longer working. Most of the main electrical hubs have been fried. The dark matter drive might be able to be salvaged, if not then we might as well put the Silver Wind into mothball. The engine was already old, the strain that was put on it pushed it to its breaking point. I don't think even I can bring that thing back to life. The only good thing is the fold and shield generator weren't damaged at all, oh and, and the food replicator."

"No, it can't be," Akasha said her lip trembled at the thought of losing another home. "Please tell me that you can fix it?" she asked with pleading eyes.

"I don't know if I can Akasha," Sebastian said his thumb brushing away her tears. "The Silver Wind is badly damaged. It took all this old girl had to save these people. It gave us time to get back to the village before the engine gave out. Even if I could repair it, it would only be prolonging the inevitable."

"So we're stuck here?"

"No," Sebastian said shaking his head, "Pantra has sent a carrier to retrieve us."

"But we aren't leaving the Silver Wind behind, right?!" Akasha said clutching Sebastian's shirt tightly.

"No, of course we aren't," Sebastian said sweetly gently brushing the back of her hand reassuringly. "I would never leave a soldier behind, and," he said looking towards the ceiling and around the room, "this old girl deserves another chance at life don't you think? Now you rest, you need another day before you can move."

"What are you going to do?" Akasha asked as Sebastian neared the door.

"Help out, however I can," Sebastian said looking back at her, "my people caused this, it's only fitting that an Nephelian helps make it right again."

"Who would have thought this was how I was going to end my time as a captain?" Lulu asked as she stood beside Sebastian staring up at the nose of the Silver Wind. Remembering all the joys and the battles, and all the schemes she ran onboard her ship. Her heart breaking seeing her ship laid low, to see its once luminous running lights now darkened. To see the scorch marks on its hull as the dark matter drive went into overload. Knowing the times she had shared with her crew were now a thing of the past and relegated to the boneyard. Looking over as Sebastian squeezed her hand.

"Oh, I think some endings are just beginnings for more interesting times," Sebastian said with a smirk. He was going to see that the Silver Wind flew again. Even if he had to rebuild the ship from the frame work up, but she would sail the stars once again he was sure of it.

To Be Continued...