I'm slowly churning my way through these.  I didn't know winter vacation
could be so taxing!  I have almost no free time for the REALLY important
stuff!!  8)

----------

				 *******
			      Blue Lightning
				 *******
				Volume IV

			 (c) 1995 By Damon Casale


    The year is 2008.  Overcrowding, a totalitarian government, and
vicious, constantly infighting intelligence agencies plague the world.
It's not a nice place to live.

    I had a plan.  There was a way out, away from all of the worst
humanity has to offer.  It was only a matter of time...


* Captain's Holiday


    "You sure you want to come?"  I asked.
    Chris harrumphed.  "You kidding?  When was the last time I got away
team duty?"

    We walked into the shuttlebay.

    "I can't guarantee we'll be able to reach you once you're down
there."  Jeremy looked pensive.
    "I'm bringing a flare gun.  If we need help, we'll use it."
    Steve smirked.  "Whatever works..."

    The airlock and the scoutcraft bay pressurized.
    Steve, John, Chris, and I entered the airlock, and stepped through
into the scoutcraft bay.  I pressed a panel on the ship, and the exit ramp
lowered.
    The ramp closed, and Jeremy depressurized the bay from a console
outside the transparent plexi wall.


    "Atmosphere in three seconds..."

    On the viewscreen, the planet slowly grew closer.

    The scoutcraft shuddered slightly, and plunged through a layer of
dirty, grayish clouds.
    Steve sighed.  "What a drab planet."
    "We were lucky to find a class M at all.  Type F suns don't usually
have them", Chris spat out.

    Suddenly, the ship shuddered and rocked wildly, falling faster
through the dim gray mists.
    "What the..."
    "Lightning strike", she breathed.

    I peered at my console, then looked at the viewscreen again, as the
land reappeared below out of the clouds.  "We got hit bad.  Over half the
gravdiscs are out, and the generators are having trouble dumping the excess
energy."
    "You can't just turn them off?"  John asked, worried.

    "Not now.  We'll run a bit hot for a while.  But I'm more worried
about landing."
    Steve stared at me.  "It's that bad?"
    "Worse.  We can't get back to the ship as it is.  Strap in, it's
gonna be a rough landing."

    Steve and John found empty chairs, and we strapped in.  Always
wondered why they didn't have seatbelts on Star Trek.

    The ground grew huge, spreading out before us.  The structure, now
revealed as ruins, shot by beneath the ship.
    The scoutcraft began to shake alarmingly, as it brushed against
some of the highest treetops.  Suddenly, a thicker tree appeared out of the
mist--

    The scoutcraft was hanging down at about a 30 degree angle, and the
viewscreen was dark.  John rolled himself out of his chair.  Moments later,
Steve pulled himself up, and stood as well.
    They glanced at each other.

    John climbed down the tilted floor carefully, and braced himself
against ops.  He looked Chris over, then finally turned her head...
revealing a bloody gash in her cheek.
    "Shit."
    "Only a bruise here."  Steve bent over my prone form.

    John pulled open a panel in a nearby wall, taking out a medkit.
Pulling out a bandage and a small pad, he daubed at the gash, wiping away
most of the blood.

    Steve straightened up.  "What next?"
	"There isn't much we can do."
    He nodded, not too happy with that.  "We're probably not on the
ground."
    "That'll only make things harder.  We certainly can't repair this.
I doubt even Jeremy could, if he were here."

    Steve shook me.  "Come on, D.  Wake up."
    He shook me a little harder.  I moaned.

    "Ow. What..."
    I looked around.

    "Is she gonna be okay?"
    "She'll be fine", John replied.  "But what about us?"

    I looked down at the floor.  "I don't know.  Getting down is going
to be a problem."
    "Getting down?  Try getting back."  Steve glared at me.
    I looked up at him.  "One step at a time."

    "John, get whatever you think we'll need.  Medkit, rations, etc."
    "We don't have much."

    I stood up, balancing on the angled floor.  "I think we have some
rope somewhere..."

    John looked down at Chris.  "What about her?"
    "She'll be safer here--"

    The ship rocked gently, slipping down a bit further.  The wind
screamed fiercely outside.

    "On second thought, she comes with us."

    She stirred, then sat up and blinked a moment later, looking
around.

    "At least we're still in one piece."
    She felt her cheek, rubbing the bandage tenderly.  "Mostly."

    "All right, let's go."


    Outside, the rope uncoiled and fell away into the mist.  Chris and
John started down from the crashed scoutcraft, now wedged in between the
top of one tree and the trunk of another.
    The scoutcraft slipped a little further down the trunk.

    "Hurry!", I shouted as I climbed down after them.  Steve followed
me.  Both of us, and John, were loaded down with backpacks full of
equipment.

    Somewhere below, Chris called out.  "We're down."

    And then the scoutcraft was falling.
    We jumped.  "Watch out!", I yelled.

    We hit the ground, rolling.  Behind us, the scoutcraft came
tumbling down.  It hit the ground, almost totally crushing one end, and
just barely missing the four of us.

    I rolled over and sat up, looking at the ship.  "This could be a
problem."

    Steve checked himself for bruises, then stood up and dusted himself
off.  "Nice holiday, D."
    I glared back at him.

    Chris shivered, looking at the darkening sky.  "It'll be night
soon.  And it'll be raining soon, too."
    I nodded.  "We'll head for those ruins, and hole up there."

    As we trudged away from the scoutcraft, my voice drifted away in
the moaning wind.  "I don't know *how* we're gonna get out of this one."


    The rain was cascading down in sheets, ice cold, driving away what
little warmth there might have been.  Above, the sky was darkening quickly.
Thunder rumbled ominously across the heavy clouds.

    We ran through a large hole in the wall of one of the ruined
buildings.

    For a moment, the room was nearly silent, save for the wind and
rain outside, and the ragged breathing in the darkness.
    Steve clicked on a flashlight.

    The far wall was intricately carved, covered with designs and
figures.  A rusted door was set into it, slightly ajar.

    "What was this, a temple?"
    Steve shrugged.  "Don't know."

    The rest of the room was pretty much bare, aside from a sizable
amount of greenery covering the floor.

    "All right.  Steve, up against that wall.  You're doorguard.  John,
clear an area on the floor here.  I'm going out for some firewood."

    Steve propped himself against the wall, next to the door.

    Chris walked over.  "I'm coming with you."
    John looked up.
    "You sure?"  I asked.

    "Stop asking stupid questions.  Let's go."

    John watched her as we walked away into the stormy night.
    "I hope she'll be all right", he breathed.
    "I wouldn't worry too much.  Damon can only get us into so much
trouble."
    John looked back at Steve.
    Steve smiled.  "I think he's done for tonight."

    John stood before the hole, staring off into the night.

Damon Casale, dc56+@andrew.cmu.edu

* Maison Ikkoku * Kyoko Otonashi * Video Girl Ai * Amano Ai *
               * Blue Lightning * Kerin Gray *
                   Blue Lightning forever!!