Part Four
By Me, Leah
The door snapped shut and Elmira jumped to the ground, suddenly awake and yelling. TJ was right behind her, waiting to die.
The Spung killcruiser exploded, sending the escape pod out into space. TJ screamed; Elmira was still on the ground, her hands over her head. She had been taught that that was what saved children's lives right after or during explosions.
The ship hurtled into space, slammed into a piece of wreckage, and stopped moving. TJ stopped screaming and pulled herself up to look at what was happening.
The ruins of the killcruiser were all over the place. [Like in On the Road To get Out.]
"Where's Mommy?" Elmira asked, swinging herself up onto a seat. "Is Daddy OK? And Carrie? Are they alive?"
TJ looked around, hoping that they weren't, even though that was very cruel, considering the little Spung girl's position.
"We're going to call for help. Don't touch anything, do you understand me?"
"I do not. I do not. I do not touch anything. Nothing is touched. Anything not is touched. I am good. Ellie not touch anything."
"Yes, child, good." TJ began fooling with the Spung controls, trying to figure out why they were in this mess to begin with. And what the controls did, which was also a problem.
"Does nice lady need help? Daddy presses that button when he sends letters talking to Jeffie. Uncle Jeffie."
TJ pressed the button indicated and started talking into it. "Someone, anyone, help us. We are stranded in space. I am TJ Davenport, and this is, um, some little Spung girl who may not know what her name is."
"My name is Elmira. Or Sorola or Ellie."
"Her name is Elmira Sorola Ellie. I think. Please, Earthers out there, help! My father works for the StarCademy!"
There were no sounds in repsonse. TJ began to get scared.
"Do you think we really should've left our other daughter out there . . . to die? Don't you find that a tad cruel? Elmira, oh, my poor little girl..." Bea was twisting her hair and beginning to cry.
"Bea, if we hadn't left when we had, we would've been blown up, too. It was impossible to win it. At least Caroline's safe."
Caroline was playing with the fake controls on a toy she had. She looked up at her parents, and then looked back at the toy. "I need the nagivator. Me pilot. Where navigator? Ellie navigator with me."
Bea cried harder and Shank was considering hitting Caroline. He refrained from doing so.
TJ and Elmira were sitting in silence when they heard a crackling and, on an Earth frequency, a voice said, "We hear you, TJ Davenport and Royal Daughter Sorola Elmira, and we are coming to pick you up."
TJ jumped up and clapped. "Elmira, I'm going home!"
Elmira did not care. She was looking out the window and pointed at a piece of the wreckage. "Bad guys coming from over there."
From there, a very small Earth ship, about half the size of the Christa, came into view. They flew toward the little escape Spung pod.
They linked and TJ picked Elmira up again and pulled her into the airlock, even though Elmira was screaming loudly. "BAD GUYS WANT KILL ME! BAD GUYS WANT KILL DADDY! NO NO NO NO!"
The STARDOGS stared at Elmira and TJ. They smiled. Elmira would be held for ransom. The Spung Empire would pay dearly for her.