RE:Inspiration; Titan III Read online

  ~~~~~

  Captain Morgan Hughes looked at the small crowd gathered around him: Trip Canta, Shaark Durstal, Bolt, Jolt and Avast. He closed his eyes.

  Sara, Charles and Charlie were all still in the operating room and, according to Jolt, the girl’s chances of rebounding from her injuries were very low.

  “What are we going to tell Captain Myles?” Trip’s voice was louder than he had intended and his relief was apparent when a sudden burst of laughter from Jacobi’s bed side kept his words from carrying too far.

  Morgan looked over his shoulder and saw Tiger handing Jacobi a glass of water.

  “Nothing yet. I want to make sure that he’s telling the truth before we tell him anything else.” He paused for a second before adding: “That, and I want to make sure that there’s no chance of anyone following them. If this Gabgoblin person has stolen Tel’atomic technology it might prove to be problematic if he comes searching for our guests.” He looked into the operating room where several new robotic arms had joined the half-dozen already at Sara’s bed. “Hopefully by the time Captain Myles is finished with his story Jolt will have some good news for us.”

  He sighed. “For now, I don’t want anyone bringing this up. And that’s an order.”

  A small patch of silence passed before the two humans and three holographic A.I.’s snapped a salute and barked, in unison: “Yes sir!”

  Morgan could feel the fatigue pulling on his mind, it had been days since he was able to sleep for more than minutes at a time and he could tell he wasn’t going to last much longer.

  He arrived at the foot of Jacobi’s bed and cleared his throat. The idle chatter that had filled the room quickly quieted and all attention was returned to the Captain of the Windsor. “I am terribly sorry for the interruption Captain Myles, are you still able to continue with your story?”

  Jacobi looked up at Morgan. Morgan could see traces of worry surface in the young Captain’s eyes, it wasn’t clear whether it was for Morgan, who was obviously reaching the end of his battle with fatigue; or for his crew who still remained in the operating room.

  Jacobi’s hand found its way to the bandages wrapped around his neck and he ran two fingers along the wound. He nodded. “Yes, I’ll continue.”

  Deep down Morgan had hoped that Jacobi would have asked for some time to rest, thus allowing him to rest as well, but he knew that it was his duty to hear Captain Myles out through to the end. “Very well. The ceiling of the sewers collapsed…”

  Jacobi’s mouth twisted in thought. “Right,” He paused. “Do you know about Vitalizers?”

  The sudden change of subject surprised Morgan and he hesitated.

  Before he could answer Fen Mao threw her hand into the air.

  “Uh, yes?” Jacobi was obviously puzzled at her actions.

  “We do.” Mao answered promptly.

  Morgan nodded when Jacobi looked to him for confirmation.

  “That’ll make things easier then.” He drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Stop me if I’m wrong,”

  Morgan nodded and then he continued: