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  As Mack drew him into his arms, his best friend hugged him, weeping against his shoulder.

  “I've missed you! I'm so glad you're back...What are we going to do?”Jinx said tearfully.

  “Nothing, we do nothing, it's going to be fine, it's okay, I'm here,” Mack said, clinging to him as his hand linked with his, and Jinx held on tight.

  “It's going to be okay,” Mack whispered again as he continued to hold on, as over Rik's shoulder he watched the skies, gripping his best friend tighter as in the distance, a mushroom cloud rose, gathering height and brilliance as it exploded, and then the world washed white, and all was gone. And everything was white and blank, and the blankness seemed to carry him into it.

  “Mack,” someone said, and Mack blinked, staring through the haze of white as the world around him began to take on shape and form once more.

  “Mack,” the voice said again, and this time the voice was clearer.

  It was Jody...

  How was Jody calling him?

  He was dead, he was sure of it...

  “Mack,” she said again, “Come on, I know you can hear me...”

  Mack blinked, and suddenly the world came back into focus – and it was not the one he had just left behind in the shadow of a nuclear bomb...

  Chapter 11

  Mack closed his eyes again, his body felt like lead and opening his eyes seemed like too much to ask. He thought about the blast...had he survived a nuclear bomb? It didn't seem possible...

  “Mack,” Jody said again, and he felt her soft touch as she ran a gentle hand over his hair, ”Open your eyes, time to wake up...”

  He gave sigh and just for her, opened his eyes, very slowly. Then confusion clouded his gaze as the world came properly into focus and he saw the pale walls of the hospital room, there was a window beside the bed and it looked out on to a green landscape that could only belong to earth...

  “Am I dead?” he whispered.

  His words made tears glaze her eyes as she shook her head.

  “No, of course not! Oh Mack, we've all been so worried about you!”

  And she leant over him and kissed his cheek.

  “Do you remember what happened?”

  His mind was full of too many horrors, the savages, the bloodshed, being forced to have sex with Cora, watching Jinx go insane...

  Suddenly it was hard to speak as his heart ached and he gave a weak sob.

  “I tried to save everyone but I couldn't....I'm sorry!”

  Confusion clouded her gaze.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Shyra-K1,” he whispered, “It was all true...” he gave another sob, “Rik...he wouldn't come with me, I had to go back for him...”

  There was a pause.

  “Shyra-K1? That stupid urban legend...” she thought back to Zeke's story of the fictional crew and the fictional planet, “Mack, it's just a story, Shyra-K1 doesn't exist.”

  Mack blinked to clear his vision as Jody brushed away his tears. As he looked at her, a wonderful surge of hope was filling his heart and mind as it dawned on him that at some point in his hazy recollections, he had been locked in a terrible nightmare. And something still felt out of place, as if something somewhere had gone terribly wrong, but he could not work out what it was. Maybe he was just confused, he wanted to think deeply on it, but his mind felt hazy and his body felt weak.

  He blinked, recalled the ground looming closer, Rik looking terrified as their hands linked and they prepared for impact...

  “We crashed?”

  “Yes,” Jody replied, “We did. We got caught in a debris field in space and the shields were compromised -”

  “And I was knocked out...repairing the wiring?”

  “The ship took a sudden impact and you were thrown backwards.”

  “And knocked out. The scanner said it was bad, but the scanner was broken. I was fine.”

  She blinked, her expression registering surprise.

  “No,” she said, and then she paused, gathering her thoughts before carefully explaining, “You were thrown back and hit your head very badly. We took you to the med centre and I stabilised and secured you and then we had no choice but prepare for a crash landing. Jinx was amazing, he took control of the ship and we made it, we had a rough landing but we survived. Half of the ship was destroyed in the crash, there was a fire and we lost most of our supplies. Jules and Tina were both injured in the crash and sadly they died, you were critical but I had just about enough working equipment in the med centre to perform a procedure. You had bleeding to the brain and I had to take the pressure off and release the bleed. You were drifting in and out of consciousness. Sometimes you seemed to be recovering, then you'd start slipping away again. You needed an operation and I didn't have the equipment or the medics to assist me. I gave you meds to keep you stable, and when rescue came they took you straight to the med bay on board the ship and you had the surgery before we returned to earth. You've been in a coma ever since, Mack. That was almost a year ago.”

  Mack was feeling alert now. He looked at Jody in surprise.

  “A year? How long were we stuck on S54Q?”

  “We didn't get there,” she told him, “We had to head for the nearest planet – S54Q's neighbouring S69Q -1. It was all forest, and the search parties were searching the neighbouring planet, thinking we'd crashed there – it was four months before we were finally rescued.”

  “Was the planet inhabited?”

  Confusion clouded her eyes.

  “No, it was just us and your wrecked ship...by the way, the Pharaoh 2 was beyond salvage, you lost the ship, I'm sorry...”

  “I'll have to get the money together for an upgrade,” he replied, feeling thankful the events of his vivid nightmare were starting to fade out.

  Jody took hold of his hand as she sat on the edge of his bed.

  “Mack,” she said carefully, “You won't be able to fly another vessel. You had a head injury and it's going to leave you feeling weak and tired sometimes, a little bit unsteady too. Sometimes you might be forgetful, dizzy spells...it's not going to go away. You're going to make a recovery but you won't be well enough to fly another ship, you have brain damage. It's not as bad as it sounds and it could have been worse, but we're all here for you. After surviving for four months alone on that planet, we're like a family now, you, me, Rik, Cora and Zeke...We are so close now. And we're all going to be there for you, okay?”

  His mind felt cloudy and confused as he took in the news that he would never fly a ship again, and she gently stroked his cheek as he closed his eyes, fighting off tears as he gave into tiredness and then slept deeply.

  As Mack rested, the nightmare with alien savages and all the horrors he had believed to be real faded away as he slept on, now in an easy, restful sleep that carried him through until he opened his eyes to a nurse who raised his bed into a sitting position and helped him to manage some breakfast.

  Then he rested a while longer, his mind a mix of clarity and fog as he struggled to recall the events of the crash and what had followed:

  Yes, there had been the debris field, and it had been much larger and more destructive that anyone could have anticipated. The shield systems had started to fail, the ship had taken damage...He recalled the boom that shook the ship and falling backwards and the world turning dark...

  And then?

  Nothing.

  But it felt like there was something, as if fragments had not yet slipped back into place in his damaged mind...He blinked and images flashed to mind:

  Firelight glowed orange, cracking as the flames claimed the kindling in the dark of the forest. The night sky, the bright flame, then the crack and snap of the kindling...

  He blinked again,and the image was gone. Then Jody came into the room and gave him a smile that warmed his heart.

  “You'll recover quickly,” she promised him, “You've had the very best care. You'll soon be back on your feet.”

  “And then what?” he said, thinking of his wreck
ed ship rusting on a far off planet, the ship he would never fly again.

  “And then we have a big surprise for you,” she told him, “Cora's father owns a space transportation business – cruisers, luxury ships made for travelling the stars...He was so thankful to Rik for all he did for us, and for saving his daughter. He gave your best friend a five star luxury ship...It's a Galaxy Princess, A Grade.”

  Mack looked at her in surprise.

  “That's the finest model of cruiser, I'm not an enthusiast like him but I've heard him talk enough about the Galaxy Princess range over the years!”

  “And that's not all,” she added, “Her father is also in the colony business...he found a planet off the list, rejected because it was too small via land mass compared to water area, so he purchased it as a future getaway, planned to build some luxury homes there for a few wealthy clientele – but then he changed his mind with the shipping expenses because its so far out...So he signed that over to Rik, too. We have a luxury ship and a whole planet to call our own. It's beautiful there, peaceful. And we intend to spend as much time there as we can. It would do you so much good to come with us, Mack.”

  Her hand closed over his as she looked into his eyes fondly.

  “You belong with us, like I said, were like a family now. You may not remember how hard it was when we were stranded, but Rik, he was amazing. He kept us all together, he got us through.”

  Recalling the details of his fading nightmare, Mack laughed.

  “It wasn't like that in my bad dream! In that, he went insane...it was terrible. The androids were shut down and he was the only one left after the rescue ship left and earth defence was about to launch the nukes. I went back for him, he sobbed in my arms as the bomb went off.”

  She had been listening intently, then she smiled as she shook her head.

  “Oh no, not Rik. He saved us all,” she promised him, “I wish you could remember, he was magnificent, a real hero.”

  In the back of his mind, he saw that firelight again, and then he also saw the tall, sleek silhouette of Rik Jinx, standing over the fire. With a long bladed knife in his hand.

  Mack caught his breath, staring as the image played over in his mind, and then Jody put her arm around him.

  “Mack...it's okay,” she said gently, “It's just dreams...some of your memories might be distorted or confused. Lie back and get some rest, Rik will be along to see you soon,” then she laughed softly, “He was bringing the Galaxy back to earth when I told him you'd woken up, oh bless him, he was in tears! He's going to be so emotional when he sees you. He never left your side, Mack. He took care of you, he devoted himself to caring for you.”

  Then as he laid back and she adjusted the bed to a sleeping position, she leant over him and kissed his cheek.

  “Just think,” she said, “When you get out of here we have so much catching up to do! By the way, I still have a crush.”

  He started to smile as he recalled the day he had sat in the artificial environment, the day Zeke had related that tale, the urban legend responsible for his nightmares...That had been the day he had kissed Jody for the first time...

  “Oh I see...you still have a crush? On me, are you sure?”

  She smiled as she looked into his eyes.

  “I love you, Mack, we all do,” she told him, “And that is never going to change.”

  Then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

  Mack felt comfortable as he settled down in bed, feeling as if some of the heaviness and weakness was lifting out of his body now. He smiled as he thought on what Jody had just said, and then he closed his eyes.

  The image jumped to life in his mind again, firelight against a darked forest and a starry night sky, Rik standing over the fire, his back turned, with a long knife clutched at his side.

  He caught his breath and opened his eyes, trying to stay calm as he recalled what Jody had explained about his bad dreams. Of course, that was it had to be, it was clear the horror he had seen in the nightmare was just a terrible dream, and no wonder, after a head injury, two surgeries and months in a coma...

  “Stop it Mack, it's not real,” he whispered, and then he closed his eyes again, and drifted off into a dreamless, easy slumber.

  “I got back here as fast as I could...had to dock the Princess and then me and Cora ran through all the security codes to make sure she's locked down okay...I haven't stopped thinking about Mack since you sent me the message! How is he? I want to see him!”

  “Calm down!” Jody said fondly, “He's awake, he's alert, he's getting movement back, he can speak and see and hear and he's still Mack.”

  As Mack opened his eyes he smiled on hearing the rather emotional voice of his best friend somewhere from the doorway as Jody tried to calm him with reassurance.

  Mack pushed a button and raised the bed to a sitting position, and as the door opened and Jinx walked in he saw tears in his eyes, so much emotion reflected in his gaze as he looked to his best friend.

  “Mack, you're awake!” he said, and he went straight to his bedside, sat down, wrapped his arms around him and gave him the kind of tight hug he could only compare to the nightmare, when Rik had clung to him, waiting for the nuke to hit...

  “You're going to be okay,” Rik promised him, and then he let go, took hold of his hand and raised it carefully, pushing his finger tips through Mack's hair.

  “Do you feel that big scar?”

  As he guided his fingers over what was a surprisingly big scar considering in this day and age most surgery could be minimally invasive, he looked at Jinx in surprise. His best friend kept hold of his hand as he lowered it from the site of the operation.

  “It was a major procedure,” he said, “Jody had done the emergency op, then put you on meds to help stabilise you – but you needed a major op to fix the problem and we had to wait for rescue before that could happen. You were in and out of consciousness, sometimes you could get up and walk a few steps, other times you'd sit by the campfire... then we had horrible days when you had to be on the ship in what was left of the med centre, because you were struggling again. I stayed with you. I looked after you.”

  “Jody told me that...” he murmured, trying to think back, but right now, it was like his scattered memories were shrouded in fog.

  “What happened to Jules and Tina? How did they die?”

  “Crash injuries,” he replied, “I did my best, Mack – but I was solo flying a two pilot control system and the ship had taken a battering. It was a miracle any of us survived. Jules went first, Tina went a few weeks later. We buried the bodies on the planet, Zeke told me in these situations its health and safety recommended advice to do that...so that's what we did.”

  “I had a terrible nightmare,” Mack said quietly, “It was all about that crazy story Zeke told me before the crash – about Shyra-K1.”

  His eyes widened in surprise.

  “He told me that story too, two days after the crash. I think it was the campfire that did it, he thought he'd tell a scary urban legend...I worked out it was fake halfway through because when he said the whole incident was recorded...no way, they didn't have that tech, not to last that long, not in those days. And the part when he said, it happened to a small crew a bit like this one...I worked it out right away! I'm not surprised you've had bad dreams, Mack. It's a miracle you're still alive.”

  Then a look of fondness filled his gaze as emotion made his voice tremble.

  “I'm just glad you're still with us...” he was still holding Mack's hand, and with his other hand, he wiped away tears, “I know you can't fly again, but I promise you, when we're up in space in the Princess, I'm setting her on auto flight, the whole flight is locked into the programming – you wont have to do a thing. You can just sit there and be the pilot, doesn't matter the ship will be flying itself, you'll be in that pilot's seat, Mack. Flying the finest cruiser money can buy. At least you can still do that. I won't let the accident take that away from you, I want you in my seat, feeling li
ke you're flying the Princess.”

  Mack smiled.

  “I would love to do that,” he replied as warmth shone in his eyes.

  “Do you remember anything about being stranded on the planet before rescue came?” Jinx asked him.

  He looked to his best friend, shaking his head, cancelling out the image of Rik with the knife as another of his bad dreams and confused flashbacks.

  “Not yet.”

  “Well I'm sure much will come back once you're out of here and well enough to fly with us. I'm taking some time out, off to my own private planet with Jody and Zeke, and you...the Pharaoh 2 club, the survivors club!”

  Mack laughed as he gave Rik's hand a squeeze.

  “Jody says you were amazing, you saved everyone.. you looked after them all.”

  “Well, I only did what had to be done, Whatever it takes, that;s what I said, we adapt and survive..” he replied, and warmth and kindness shone from his eyes as he looked fondly at Mack.

  And at the back of his cloudy mind, Mack heard the echo of weeping.

  “No, please don't...” a woman begged, but the sound came from far off, somewhere else in the empty ship as Mack lay on a bed in the med bay, his head aching and his vision blurred.

  “Please!” she cried in desperation.

  Mack blinked, catching his breath as the memory sent a chill down his spine... What had Rik just said, Whatever it takes...Adapt and survive? Had reality in his more lucid moments after the crash, somehow leaked into his mind, dropping clues into that terrible dream of some kind of echo of the real world? Mack shivered and Rik noticed at once and a look of concern flashed to his eyes as he clutched at Mack's hand firmly.

  “Are you okay, Mack?”

  He blinked again, and the vision was gone.

  “I keep seeing and hearing freaky shit...” he said, “It's like dreams but I'm awake..flashbacks...”

  “You know you have brain damage, Jody told you that?”

  Mack nodded.

  “So I guess I'm stuck with it, then.”