Chapter Seven

                                    

                                          


                          
Chapter Seven
                          
           
                          
The brief moment of happiness I felt at hearing the sound of Caleb's voice was suddenly interrupted by the sickening feeling of the Iliad beginning to roll, again. The pressure caused my head to hit the back of my seat.
                          
"Caleb, I thought you had control of the ship.  What's happening?" I attempted to lean forward to look at the control panel, hoping something would magically make sense and stop all of the crazy movement before I unleashed the few contents in my stomach. 
                          
"I have control, but the gravitational pull is stronger than I expected. Hold on.  Five, four, three, two, one..."
                          
Suddenly, the ship turned back upright. The only sound was our heavy breathing as we all looked around at one another hoping the worst was over, but unsure that this wasn't another temporary moment.  Audrina's body was hunched forward as she began to dry heave.  Behind her, Theo leaned his head back, letting several coughs escape his mouth. 
                          
"Captain James and crew of the Iliad, we have made it through Plesus."
                          
We all sat in silence for several seconds.   Our stomachs nauseated and bodies ached, but our eyes still saw the beauty in front of the Iliad.
                          
"Where are we?" Despite the darkness, it was easy to see the large planet in front of us.  Its edges appeared almost as if they were glowing. Behind it appeared to be what looked like one large moon.  "What is that thing?"  
                          
"Merak," Caleb's voice responded nonchalantly.  "We will arrive at our destination in twelve hours. I will alert you when we begin our decent."
                          
"Caleb, where is the Napoleon?"  My eyes searched the area in front of the ship.  Merak was visible, but there was no sign of the massive vessel carrying my mother and possibly my father.  The idea that I would have to deal with both of them only ignited my hanger even more.
                          
"Captain James, I am not locating the Napoleon.  It might still be inside of Plesus."
                          
"How would we have made it out before them?"
                          
"The Iliad is smaller and may have been able to withstand the climate inside of Plesus to make it out at a faster rate."
                          
"Caleb, that's not a good enough answer. I need confirmation on the Napoleon's whereabouts."
                          
"My apologies Captain James.  I am scanning now, but the Napoleon is not showing up anywhere."
                          
I looked over at Audrina.  We could no longer read each other's minds, but I could tell from her sour facial expression that she was thinking the same thing as me.  Something wasn't adding up.  The Napoleon should have been in front of us.  We should be able to see it right now.
                          
Audrina cleared her throat.  "Caleb, please scan the surface of Merak.  Maybe the Napoleon has already landed."
                          
"Is that possible?" My head whipped around to look at Theo, Gave and Luther's seat.  
                          
"There are no heat signals coming from Merak," Caleb's voice responded. "The Napoleon has not landed."
                          
"Alright.  I guess we will find out in twelve hours.  Caleb, please go ahead and lock in our course to land on Merak.  Theo, Gave, Audrina and Luther, you guys might want to do an inspection of this ship and find out if we have any sort of weapons.  I have a feeling we may need some sort of protection when we land."
                          
"On it," Theo released his seat belt and bolted up from behind Audrina.  
                          
"Right behind you Theo," Gave quickly followed.  The two were standing behind us with their hands on their hips.  I might have laughed at the absurdity of their stances, but something told me to be on guard.  She wasn't far away from me.  Dr. Marie James was watching us and she knew everything that was happening on this ship.