Chapter 16 Survivors

An excerpt from The Starlover Series Book 1: Project Earth

“Hal? Are you still alive?”

“Starfire?”

“Oh, good you can hear me. Starlover, Fred, and I are here near Earth now. Are you safe?”

“Yes. The attackers are gone now. But I’m trying to find the children. They are the only ones alive and terribly frightened. I know they’re hiding somewhere nearby.”

“Okay, Starlover and I can see where they are hiding. They need water, food, and medical attention immediately.”

“Oh, I see where they are now.”

“Hal, listen to me. This is important. You can’t rescue the children. But Fred can. He can’t see you. If he does, he won’t understand why you’re still alive and all the other adults are dead. I’m sure he will give you a medical exam and then he will know your secret.”

“Damn. Are you sure the children will be alright until Fred gets to them?”

“Yes. They aren’t going to die. Starlover and I don’t see anyone else in the area. He’s about to land the ship now.”

“Alright. Then I’ll stay hidden. I’ll leave when I know Fred has the children.”

“Alright. Do you know who the children are?”

“Yeah, they are the two who were born here. Fred’s niece Lizette and Jaekob Lutin.”

“Noted. Should I tell Fred?”

“No. He’ll know his niece as soon as he sees her. I don’t know if he knows the boy.”

“Noted.”

Fred landed his spaceship where he had built it. He sighed. He unstrapped himself and stood up.

“Standing by,” said Starfire.

“Okay.” He looked at the screen in front of him.

Starlover spoke next. “Scanning the area for survivors. There are two, but they are injured. They need medical attention, water, and food.”

“Where?”

“Oh, they are small humans. Just children. They appear to be hiding.”

“Where?”

A map appeared on the viewscreen. Fred made some mental notes. Then he left his ship. He looked around at the ruins. He gasped to see so many dead just lying on the ground. It was clear that many had been dead for days. He saw both his brother and sister-in-law among the dead. He also found Dr. Asimov.

He sighed and resumed his search for the children. There was debris in the way. He pushed and pulled things out of the way. According to the map he was given, the children should be in a small spot. How was he going to get them out? He sighed and moved more debris.

After an hour, he saw the two children lying in the tight space together. He nearly gasped. They were so dirty. He studied them as closely as he could. He sighed when he saw they were breathing. Perhaps they were just asleep?

“Hey, wake up!” He shouted.

The children were startled as they opened their eyes. They sat up quickly. They were ready to bolt at any second. They gaped at the adult who was looking right at them.

“Hey, it’s okay. The attackers are gone now. I came to rescue you two, but I don’t see how I’m going to get you out of there. I can’t even follow you inside your hiding place.”

The kids blinked. They continued to stare at him. Soon they relaxed.

“Uncle Freddie?”

“Lizette, is that you?”

She nodded.

“And who’s the other one?”

“I’m Jaekob.”

“Oh. Will you two please come out? You both need baths. But more importantly, you need water and food.”

The kids looked around. Slowly they crawled out. They stood up beside Fred.

“Alright, can you walk? My ship is a little ways from here.”

They nodded. He stood up and walked back towards the ship. The children followed. No one said anything. They walked inside the ship. Fred showed them to the kitchen and gave them each a glass of water. The kids drank greedily. He prepared some food and set it in front of them. He refilled their glasses.

“Take your time. You both have been through an ordeal.”

The kids ate and drank more water. They didn’t want to speak. After they finished their meal, they both yawned.

“Okay, let’s get you to the medical bay. I need to check you to make sure you’re alright. Follow me.”

The kids left the table and followed him into the medical bay.

“Okay, each of you get on a bed. I’ll scan you both.”

The kids climbed onto two different beds and waited. Fred scanned both. Wordlessly, he asked Starlover about the kids.

She answered in his head, “They are fine. Just a little bruised and scraped. All their wounds are minor. They just need to clean up. They could use some more sleep.”

“Looks like you two are going to be fine.”

In his head he heard Starfire telling him, “Fred, I think I should go outside the ship and help to clean up the bodies.”

He answered her wordlessly. “Good idea. Just don’t let the kids see you. Oh, can you find them clothes? I’m sure they had more in a couple of the houses.”

“I will check.”

Starfire left the bridge and quickly ran off the ship before either of the kids even knew she was around. She looked at the devastation. She wanted to cry for the dead.

“Hal, where are you?”

“I’m here. Look over towards the debris.”

She saw him. “Okay, I offered to help clean up this mess and deal with the dead. Fred has his hands full looking after the two children. He wants me to look for their clothes. I don’t know where to look.”

“I do. I know which houses they lived in. Let’s get started.”

They dug a large grave and threw all the bodies in. Next, they cleaned up the debris and buried much of the useless stuff with the bodies. The useful items were set near the ship. They covered up the bodies. Lastly they searched the two houses for the children’s clothes.

They found a few toys as well.

“We should take the toys. They’re children. They need some toys to play with.” Hal picked up a few toys.

“Okay.”

They finished gathering up the clothes and the toys. They put everything down just inside the ship. Starfire turned to Hal.

“Where are you going to go?”

“I was thinking about leaving the planet.”

“Oh? Where to?”

“I think I need to go to Venus.”

“Okay. Fred sees a woman there in Aphrodite.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Good luck to you.”

“Good luck to you too.”

Hal walked away and went back to his house one last time to pack up his few belongings. He cleaned himself up and changed his clothes. He soon left and went to the nearest spaceport.

Starfire loaded the useful spare parts onto the ship. She closed the hatch. She hauled the parts to the repair station and stored them. She went back to the hatch and grabbed the children’s things.

Wordlessly she contacted Fred. “Where do you want the children’s things?”

He answered in her head. “Just set them down outside of the medical bay and go back to your room.”

She did as he asked. Soon she was walking quickly back to her room. The door shut behind her. She sighed.

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

Fred opened the door to the medical bay and saw a couple of suitcases. “Looks like your things have arrived. But I don’t know which suitcase belongs to which one of you. I guess I’ll just have to open one and ask you.” He brought the suitcases inside the room.

He set one on a table and opened it. Inside were clothes, a stuffed animal, and few other toys.

“That’s mine!” said Jaekob.

“Okay.” Fred closed it up and handed it to the boy.

He set the other one on the table and opened it up. It was similar, but clearly the clothes and the toys were different. “Yours, Lizette?”

“Yes.”

He closed it up and handed it to her.

“Okay, take your suitcases and follow me. You both need to bathe now.”

“Separately or together?” asked Jaekob.

“I would think separately.”

“I don’t know how to start a bath,” said Jaekob.

“Neither do I,” said Lizette.

They continued to follow Fred.

“I’ll do that part. I trust you two know how to undress and dress yourselves?”

They both nodded when he looked at them.

“Good. That at least helps.” He stopped. “Here’s the bathroom. I’ll get you a washcloth and a towel to use. Who wants to go first?”

Neither kid said anything. He looked at them.

“Okay, Jaekob, how about you go first?”

“Okay.”

Fred handed the boy a washcloth and a towel. Fred started to fill the bathtub with water. He set some soap and shampoo out on the edge of the tub. He stepped out of the bathroom. “Okay, we’re going to give you some privacy. Call me, if there’s a problem. Please scrub well.”

Jaekob nodded. He stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door. Lizette stood with her uncle in the hallway.

“Uncle Freddie, how did you know we were in trouble?”

“Your mom sent me a distress call.”

“She did!”

“Yeah. I had to use scanners to figure out where you two were hiding. Then I had to move a lot of debris out of the way to get to you. You hid well.”

“We had to. The monsters would have gotten us.”

“Monsters? You mean the attackers?”

She nodded. “They were as big as you are. They bit us. But we ran and hid. We saw the adults were dead.”

“That’s a horrible thing for you to see.”

“Yes, it’s awful. Can I stay here with you?”

“Of course.”

“What about Jaekob?”

“I think he needs to be with his family.”

“He has grandparents.”

“Good. Then I’ll contact them. For now he can stay with us.”

“Good.”

“He’s a friend of yours?”

“Yes.”

Fred smiled. The bathroom door opened. Jaekob stepped out clean and dressed. He towed his suitcase behind him. Fred went in and drained the bathtub. He hung up the used towel and washcloth together. He rinsed out the tub and then filled it again. He made sure the soap and shampoo were still usable. He got out another washcloth and towel.

“Okay, it’s your turn, Lizette.” He stepped out of the bathroom.

She walked inside with her suitcase and closed the door. Jaekob looked up at Fred.

“Can I stay here?”

“Yes for now. Lizette tells me you have grandparents.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. I’ll contact them. I’m sure they will want to take you.”

“Okay. But until then I can stay here with you and Lizette?”

“Yes, of course.”

A few minutes later, Lizette came out of the bathroom clean and dressed. She towed her suitcase behind her. There were dirty clothes lying on the bathroom floor in two piles. Fred walked into the bathroom and hung up the towel and washcloth together. He left the clothes on the floor for now.