I Monstrum

Chapter 23 -Helping Hand

      Herald Dyer looked at the display showing a visual of Steve and Samantha walking up the ramp into the ship. "Okay, close the hatch."

      "Yes sir." The hatch slowly lifted into place. "Hatchway sealed, sir."

      "Good. It looks like the... Friendly creatures have left. The others are now trying to attack our ship. Prepare to fire..."

      "Belay that order!"

      "Huh? ...Captain on the bridge!"

      "At ease. We won't be firing on these creatures. They don't understand and we don't belong here. Just liftoff into the orbit of this moon Mr. Dyer."

      "Yes sir."

***

      General Jeremy Orwell sat alone at his desk, scanning through the seemingly endless messages he received, during the night. Some inconsequential... some very important and critical things that he needed to reply to immediately. Even so, he was looking for a particular message that was more important to him than all the others. "God, please let there be something from her... please."

      He had adjusted the settings for messages so that her name was pink, with maximum brightness and flashing so it would stand out among all the others... "There she is!" He clicked on the message immediately... A holographic video of her face appeared before him.

      "Daddy..."

      He paused it, looked up, smiled and said, "Thank you God." Then he pushed the play button to resume the holo-video.

      ..."I just wanted you to know that I'm okay. Thanks..."

      "Sir. (Pause) We really need to..."

      "Not now, Mister Debarron! Can't you see what I'm doing? Just give me five minutes."

      "Okay, sorry sir. He left and the door silently slid shut.

      (Play) "...for saving me... us. The military people were like super soldiers. I don't know how you managed to select these ones... but thanks. They knew exactly what to do. Only a few of the crew died. I was very scared for a while, but we made it. I'm taking a break from my mission, my whole crew has to... As soon as I get back, the first thing I'll do is visit you. I know you're busy, but I'm sure you can spare some time at least for a meal or whatever you want. Okay? Bye Daddy. I love you."

      He slowly let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Whew! A meal with my sweet Jenny... sounds good to me. I'll make it happen for sure." He pushed a button on his touch display and said, "Okay Mister Debarron... You better hurry up and get in here because there are critical matters for us to address." Immediately the door opened and Mister Debarron entered.

***

      "I don't understand. Why should we help them? They killed some of us and were trying to kill all of us."

      "I understand Captain Orwell, but not all of them were trying to kill us. Some even tried to defend us if you'll recall. Sam... 1st officer... Mrs. Blake and I believe we know why. You see, no one else here knows this but we recognised one of the creatures that defended us. We remember it from our first encounter with it over 5 years ago."

      "Really... how could you recognise it?"

      "Believe me when I say that we are certain that it is the same creature. Did you see all the marks on it?"

      "Yes."

      "They are scars... inflicted by us."

      "Then why would it defend us?"