Part 3
As I was heading towards my quarters to spend the rest of the day in my bunk, I bumped into Gerrod.
"Oh great," I thought as I tried to walk normal.
He kept his eyes on me as he approached, not saying anything, and I, of course, tried not to look at him, but I couldn't help it.
"Where are you supposed to be right now?" He asked giving me a suspicious look.
"None of your business." I said coldly.
"Oh, I'll make it my business, now you tell me." He said in that tone I despised. I mean did every man in my family get the asshole gene?
I was not going to tell him anything, especially the truth. I was just going to walk right past him, but when I tried he stepped in my path, grabbed my shirt and pushed me up against the wall so high my feet weren't even toughing the floor anymore.
"Look you little _s_h_i_t_ I'm...." He started to yell, but then he stopped and just looked at me with a confused expression on his face.
"What?" I yelled.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked easing my feet back down on the floor "You look like you've been crying."
"I haven't been crying. I'm just not feeling well, that's all." I lied.
"Well what's wrong with you?" His voice was starting to drop in volume.
"I'm sick of assholes like you, all right. Now, let go of me." I yelled and pushed him away. He just let me walk away.
"You know what, someone ought to take a belt to you one of these days, maybe remind you to keep that smart mouth of yours shut." He yelled after me.
"HA." I thought and kept walking. If he only knew.
When I got to my quarters I threw myself down on my bunk and sulked for a while. Half hour into it my door slid open and my friend and room mate, Darren, walked in.
"That was quite a performance today." He said grinning. "I don't think I've ever seen that many veins pop out of Blake's neck before. You must be pretty proud."
I smiled and gave a little laugh. "Yeah his face was pretty funny." I said.
"I also never saw him beat the crap out of anyone like that before. Are you OK?"
"Oh, I'm fine." I lied. "I hardly felt it."
He knew that was bull_s_h_i_t_, but he didn't say anything. He just went to his own bunk and flopped down. "Oh God, I think I ruptured something during the Blake workout."
"He's such an asshole......Making us do all those things. Where does he think we are. Where do they all think we are."
"Hell if I know man. I just do what they tell me."
"That's the problem around here." I said sitting up quick. "Everyone just does exactly what they are told to do."
He looked at me as if I were crazy. "Those are the rules."
I got a disgusted look on my face. "Oh _f_u_c_k_ the rules. I think it's about time we showed this academy that we are not going to take any more crap."
"And how, pray tell, are we going to do that?"
I got to my feet and walked over to the door. "We're getting out of here."
"Why do I not like the sound of that."
"Just come on." I said and walked out the door.
I waited out in the corridor for a minute or two, then finally Darren came out. "OK, Mr. We're getting out of here. Where are we going."
I grinned. "Lets go get the guys together man." I said and led him down the corridor.
"Mike......" He said. "Hello Mike." But I did not turn around.
"We need to have a meeting." I said.
Darren and I rounded up the other boys in our little group Ian, Joshua, Steve and Bryan - and went to our secret place (The john) to brief them on THE PLAN.
"OK Gentlemen. Things have gone way beyond serious now, and It's time we stood up to these _f_u_c_k_ers." I said as I paced the floor in front of them. "Now I know you will think My PLAN is a little nuts, but after what happened to me today I say that it is just about time. We need to send a message here men, and that message is that we are not going to take any more _s_h_i_t_. We are going to show every one of those sons-of-bitches that they can't push us around."
"Uhh, excuse me, high commander." Steve said arrogantly. "Just what the hell are you planning to do here. I mean are you cracked. How the hell are we going to show those, and I quote, "Sons-of-bitches" anything?"
"Yeah Mike. What exactly is your plan?" Darren asked.
"I'll tell you what my plan is........We are going to get the hell out of here." I announced. "Tonight."
"And what the hell do you mean by that?.........Leave the Academy?" Darren asked looking quite worried now.
"Yes."
Almost all of them started to laugh.
I did not crack a smile or anything. I just stood there stone faced and determined.
"How the hell are we going to do that?" Bryan asked, still laughing.
"We're going to take the transport ship and leave."
They all looked at each other.
"Jesus Christ......you are crazy. I mean What the _f_u_c_k_, Mike?" Ian said with a laugh.
"I'm serious." I said.
Bryan looked at me funny. "How the hell are we going to take the transport and leave?"
"We're going to steel it." I told him still not changing my expression.
Bryan spoke first after a long silent period. "You're serious?"
"Dead serious." I said.
"Yeah, you got the dead part right. Do you know what would happen to us for getting caught pulling a stunt like that." Joshua asked looking around the room at all of us.
Bryan chuckled. "I'm thinking death."
"Look, we can't worry about that, all right. We'll just have to deal with that when the time comes. For now all we need to do is think of a good place to go where we can hold up for a while.
"What about your family Mike? I mean a real live Kreller running away from the academy. What would your father say?" Bryan said with a grin.
"_f_u_c_k_ my father. He don't give a _s_h_i_t_ about me, and I don't give a _s_h_i_t_ about him. I've had it with this place, and I'm not staying here any more."
They all just looked at each other for what seemed hours, but then finally Bryan , who was leaning against the wall, pushed himself off and spoke, "All right men, I think we've heard enough. We vote.......All who think Kreller here is a crazy _f_u_c_k_, raise your hand."
Bryan was the first with his hand in the air, which I expected, but I was disappointed to see that all of the others raised their hands also. I thought it was over. I had lost them and would have to do it alone, but then Bryan went on.
"All right, all right, now anyone who is in......" He had to laugh right here. "......on this crazy, suicidal mission, raise their other hand.
Every hand went up, Including Darren's.
"So it's official then?" I asked with a smile. "We do this?"
"We do this." Bryan said, and suddenly they all started to shout and cheer like they were a bunch of lunatics, well all but Darren who just dropped his head into his hands.
"OK," I thought to myself. "It begins."
Lights out was at 2200 hours. We all went to our quarters and waited - Bryan and Ian in theirs, Steve and Joshua in theirs, and Darren and I in ours.
2300 hours Darren and I got up and ran to meet the others in the JOHN. Once we got in there I saw that he looked a little sick. "You all right man?" I whispered.
"Not really, no." He whispered back, sounding a little angry.
"Do you want to back out?" I asked.
"Yes, but I won't."
"Are you sure, because if you aren't, you'd better decide." I said hoarsely, trying not to yell.
"I'm sure, all right." He said just as the others came in.
Ten minutes later all six of us were scurrying quietly down the corridor - in the dark - towards the transport pad. When we reached the night watch area, by the doors which led outside, we all got down and got ready to sneak past the guard, but when I peeked around the corner I was amazed to see that the guard was gone. I looked all over, but he was just not there.
"What?" Bryan asked when I pulled back.
"It's all clear. The Guard isn't there."
"Well then where the hell is he?" He asked.
I shrugged. "Probably taking a leak or something."
"Well then lets hurry up and go before he gets back."
We all got to our feet and took a deep breath. "On three." I said holding up my fist. Then I started a silent count using my fingers. First one, then two, the three. On the three we ran for it. Across the floor, and up against the wall - all of us sticking together in a tight little mass - up to the door which showed a red light, meaning it was - of course - locked.
"No problem" I thought. I had watched the guards open the dumb thing enough times to where I was able to pick up on the code. It was easy as pie. 9748-8312-REB21.
There was a beeping sound as a green light replaced the red, and the door slid open. I looked back and smiled at the guys as if to say that they could thank me later, then we all made a run for it.
My eyes were fixed on the transport ship as I ran. "There it is." I thought. Our freedom only a few yards away. It felt so great that I wanted to cheer. At last we were out of there and I knew we were going to have a great time.
"Awl _s_h_i_t_....there it is." Darren said happily, obviously feeling like I was.
I guess most of us were pretty excited about the whole thing, well, except Darren. He still had that sick look.
I was the first to reach the transport ship, and the one who opened the door and stood aside so they all could run in., then I ran in behind them. When I got up front I realized that the pilot's seat was still empty. Obviously they were expecting me to fly us out of there, which was something I was not fully prepared to do, or wanted to do, but what could I say. They had all followed me on this crazy journey and were now waiting for me to finish it. So, without looking as scared as I felt, I sat down into the Pilot's seat - which was positioned back a little too far - and tried to figure out how to start the _d_a_m_n_ thing.
Actually it wasn't much different from the simulator my father had when I was with him. He used it to help brush up on his skills, and every once in a while he would let me have a go at it. Of course I sucked compared to him, but maybe it was enough to get us off the landing pad. It was.
I turned on the thrusters and hit a familiar button and, to my surprise, we began to move upward, and upward, and upward, till we were high above the academy. Bryan looked out the window and waved. "See ya."
" So far so good." I thought.
All of a sudden we were being hailed like mad. "They see us." I said thinking it was the academy.
"Should we answer?" Bryan asked.
"Sure, go ahead. Tell them to go _f_u_c_k_ themselves." I said with a laugh.
"Identify yourself." The voice said when he opened the frequency.
"First Identify yourself." Bryan demanded.
"This is commander Felps of the Meridian Dream."
I snapped my head around to Bryan and he and I just looked at each other.
"Who the hell is Commander Felps of the Meridian Dream?" He asked looking confused .
"It sounds like another ship." I said.
"Oh, hello commander Felps. This is commander Dobbs of the uhh........the uhhhhh." He tried to think...."Who the hell are we." He said looking at me.
"Make something up." I yelled, but he didn't have a chance.
"Well, commander Dobbs, you better change course because you're heading right into our path." Felps said calmly.
Everyone jumped out of their seats and looked out the window. There it was, and he was right. If we kept going like we were we would hit them.
"What the hell are you doing Kreller?" Steve yelled. "Change course."
I was trying to do just that, but I couldn't get it to move. "I'm trying." I yelled.
"What do you mean trying. Just do it." He yelled.
"I can't. It won't move."
Steve ran over and tried to help me by hitting every button.
"Don't, you'll knock the computers off line." I yelled trying to push him, but it was too late. The ship was out of control.
"AH, _f_u_c_k_!" I yelled.
"What do we do?" Bryan asked.
"Hail them back, tell them to move." Ian yelled.
"They can't, they're too big to be able to move in time." I told him.
"Hail them back! Hail them back!" Darren was yelled.
"Uhhhh, Commander Felps......."Bryan said in a shaky voice. "We are unable to do that."
But commander Felps was not there, only dead air silence.
I could tell by the monitor that the gap between us was closing faster than it actually appeared.
"Oh my god." I said trying one last time to so something to help us, but nothing worked. We were doomed.
Everyone started yelling and screaming as we got closer and closer.
"We're going to die." I thought and I started to count down the seconds before impact........10, 9, 8, 7, 6 5, 4, 3, 2.........I shut my eyes, and felt the beginnings of the explosion, but then there was nothing.
As I sat there with my eyes closed I realized that nothing was happening. No crash, no more explosion, no pain, nothing. Just a weird buzzing sound in my ears.
I opened my eyes one at a time and realized that the weird buzzing sound was the hum of a lazor riffle being pointed right at my head.
We were on the other ship, all of us sitting on the floor in the middle of this room surrounded by large muscular men in uniform.
"Oh _s_h_i_t_." Steve said, and we all agreed.
"Jesus Christ, they're kids." One of the men said, sounding slightly relieved.
Slowly all the weapons were lowered and the men just stood there starring at us, shocked.
"H-O-L-Y _s_h_i_t_" I heard a familiar voice coming from my left. I snapped my head around and was surprised to see that the man was Paul, from my fathers squad., which was a shock because I never knew he got transferred.
"H-O-L-Y _s_h_i_t_." He said again and he slowly stepped closer, not being able to take his eyes off of me.
I looked up at him and forced a smile.
He reached out suddenly and yanked me off the floor. "Get up!" He snapped.
Everyone else got to their feet as well.
"What the hell is going on here Mike!" He shouted at me as everyone else in the room starred.
"You know this kid Sarge?" One of the men asked.
He looked at the soldier, then his eyes shifted back to me. "Yes, unfortunately I do.......Men, this is Mike Kreller." He told them.
"Oh man." One man said.
"You got it.....Captain's son." Paul said for those who were a little slow, including me.
"Captain's son!" Darren said.
It was like I was in a state of shock. "This is my fathers Ship?" I asked.
"Welcome to the Meridian Dream."
Bryan looked like someone hit him in the stomach. "Captain's son." He said looking at Ian and Darren.
"Quiet." The soldier behind him said and gave him a shove. He closed his mouth instantly.
"How do we handle this Sarge?" One of the men asked.
Paul laughed. "Well I can't just surprise the Captain with something like this. I'm going to have to break it to him first" He said, obviously trying to think of something. "I guess just take them to the brig and hold them there."
"Yes, sir." The man said with a salute then gave us the order to move out.
As we were being forced to walk threw the corridor towards the brig, Bryan blew up at me.
"Nice plan asshole. You almost got us all killed........ Crashing into your FATHERS ship, destroying the transport ship. I mean do you have any idea how _f_u_c_k_ed we are?" He said coarsely.
"How the hell was I supposed to know about his ship was out there. I mean what are the odds on that." I said, trying to plead my case. "I didn't even know he had a new ship."
"Quiet!" One of the Soldiers snapped.
We were for a few seconds, but Bryan started up again. "It looks like you planned the accident." He was whispering now.
"Why would I plan something like that. You think I wanted to kill us all.....I'm not a lunatic." I whispered back.
"Yeah, well you sure are looking like one to me!" He said and without warning he shoved me.
"Hey!" The soldier beside him yelled, and tried to grab him, but I got to him first.
"Don't put your _f_u_c_k_ing hands on me, man." I yelled and shoved him back hard enough to send him stumbling back into one of the other men.
"YOU _f_u_c_k_ER!" He yelled, and that was it. There were no more words. He just jumped on me and the next thing I knew he and I were wrestling around on the floor at the soldiers feet, trading punches when we could fit them in.
"You _f_u_c_k_ing asshole!" He yelled.
Two of the Soldiers had to grab us and pry us apart.
"Knock it off." The one who had me yelled, giving me a good shake.
I stopped instantly, but the one who had Bryan had to lift him off his feet and hold him there to get him under control. "Knock it off." He yelled at him.
Bryan seemed to calm down, but it was short lived. As soon as the Soldier put his feet back on the floor he jumped for me again, but he didn't get to far. The man yanked him back and pulled up on his arm so hard Bryan winced.
"AHHHH, let go of me!" Bryan demanded as he tried to pry the mans fingers off his arm, but he was not able to break the strong hold.
"I said to knock it off, boy. Now are you going to stop or do I have to get rough?"
Bryan had a look of pain on his face. "OK, OK, I'll stop, I'll stop!" He cried.
The man released him with a shove then pointed straight ahead. "Move out."
Bryan walked quietly, rubbing his soar arm as he went.
"What's going to happen to us, sir?" Steve asked the soldier closest to him, but the man only told him to be quiet.
When we got to the brig Ian, Steve, Joshua, Darren and I were thrown into one of the holding sections and Bryan was thrown into another, then these red security beams were turned on to keep us there.
"Make yourselves comfortable gentlemen." One of the men said.
Darren leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. "This is not good." He said.
Ian just kept looking at the red security beam. "How long do you think they'll keep us here?"
Paul yelled over to our side. "They're going to lock us up and throw away the key thanks to our fearless leader." He was obviously still very, very pissed at the moment. "Your fathers _f_u_c_k_ing ship.......I hope he kicks your ass for this..........I hope he _f_u_c_k_ing kills you!" He yelled, which only got him into more trouble with the soldier who had threatened him earlier.
"Hey, you with the big mouth.....Shut the hell up or I'm going to come in there and show you just who will get their ass kicked."
Bryan grabbed himself in front of the man and said. "Bite me."
Well, let me just say that was not a smart thing to do. The soldier flew across the floor and started punching in the code to drop the security beam so hard the wall rattled.
Bryan quickly realized that he had made a horrible mistake.
"Wait, I'm sorry....." He said backing up, but the man kept punching the code over and over trying to get it right. "I mean it......I'll shut up." Bryan yelled sounding like he was about to cry.
The soldier stopped punching numbers and just looked at him. "One more chance, you hear me. If I hear anything else out of you, I'm coming in there. You got that?"
"Yes sir." Bryan said in a shaky voice.
The man looked at him for another second, then walked away.
Just then the door opened and Paul came rushing in.
"Get the security beams down, captain's coming and I don't think he'll bother to stop for them." He said and it was done.
A second later the doors slid open again and there standing straight and tall, looking both furious and shocked, was my father. It was like he couldn't believe what or who he was looking at.
My feet frozen to the floor."Hel-l-l-l-o-o-o-o S-S-S-Sir-r-r-r." I stammered.
His hands moved quickly to his waist where he clicked the button, releasing his belt, then he darted across the floor toward me, his eyes fixed and determined. Ian, Darren and Joshua all scattered as the large man they had heard so many stories about ran in.
"Father, please, let me just explain." I yelled as I tried to back up, but apparently he already knew all that he needed, or more so, wanted to know. The only thing left to do was take action.
"Please sir, wait!" I shouted as he grabbed me and knocked me to the floor, but there was no waiting. He undid my trousers and gave a good yank, exposing me to the whole room, then he flipped me over on my stomach, pressed his knee between my shoulder blades and proceeded to give me a tanning like I never deserved in my life.
The first blow came scorching across both cheeks with a loud crack. "OWLLLL!" I cried out and quickly tried to throw a hand back, but he grabbed my wrist and locked my hand down at my side.
CRACK.......CRACK.........CRACK........CRACK.......CRACK
"OUCHHHH.......UHHHH......please Dad....AHHHAAA!!" I screamed but he kept on hitting.
CRACK........CRACK.......CRACK.........CRACK........CRACK
"UHHHHH......Dad Don't .....AHHHHHH......stop......... OUCHHHH........AHHHHH." I was crying so hard I could barely breath, but no amount of tears was going to put out those flames. No way.
CRACK.......CRACK.........CRACK........CRACK.......... CRACK........CRACK
The blows came hard and fast. So fast I couldn't tell where one ended and another began.
CRACK........CRACK......CRACK..........CRACK.......... CRACK........CRACK
I was screaming and thrashing about like an animal caught in a trap, but I could not get away from the scorching blows. I think Paul even felt sorry for me because he spoke out suddenly.
"Sir, I think.........." He started to say, but my father quickly shut him up.
"Stand Down!" My father yelled, which were the first words I had heard from him since he came into the room.
"Yes sir." Paul said softly.
Shortly after that it ended and my arm was released, and the pressure was lifted from my back, but I couldn't move. I just laid there on the floor, crying, as my beet red backside glowed for all of them to see.
"As for the rest......" I heard my father say, and I could tell that everyone was holding their breath as they probably thought they were in for the same, but that wasn't going to happen, at least not by my fathers hand. "..........Get them off this ship."
"Yes sir." Paul said.
A few seconds later I heard them all breathing again and I knew my father had left the room. Darren dropped down next to me and put his hand on my back. "Mike....are you OK?"
"Come on, you heard the Captain, you're leaving." One of the soldiers said.
Then I heard Paul. "It's all right." He said to Darren. "I'll stay with him. You better go."
"But, what about........."
"Don't worry, it's over." Paul told him.
"Should I say good-bye now?"
"NAAAA.........You'll see him in the morning."
To be continued............ Tell me what you think so far.....Thanks Roland