Chapter 4

  Mara bit back her tongue the thousandth time, lest she be the voice of emotion raging through the rocking ship. That storm they had seen over the Gulf, had caught up with them. A little over a half hour till reaching the Florida coast, it sent them tipping this way and that. William lay gripping his cot. She also fought to keep from rolling off. Alarms blared all over the ship.

  William grunted as the ship suddenly pitched at an odd angle. Other sounds of grunts could be heard outside their door, as gravity pulled Mara back to the wall, giving her back a hard blow. It took all self-control to not make any noise. She tried to hold on to the cot. A minute passed before the ship regained stability, only for it to be flipped over.

  Mara was flung from her cot to the other side, hitting her hip hard on the other bunk. Then it happened again, this time her hip hit the edge of the cot. She landed wrong and felt her shoulder pop. William slid out. He still held onto the cot as gravity tried yanking him down. He was hit in the front by the cots when the ship righted again. The rocking subsided. Mara breathed heavily. Pain was increasing in her hip, while her shoulder throbbed horribly. William gasped as he steadied himself after the blow. She slowly sat up onto a lower bunk.

  "You....," began Mara. Speaking through pain was never easy.

  "Yeah?" replied William, as he regained some control.

  "You alright?" she managed.

  "Yes …,” he paused taking another breath. “How are you?"

  Through gritted teeth, she said, "Popped my right shoulder." She struggled to sit up, while her hip protested. 

  He looked at her, then walked over and took her uniform coat off. Seeing the dislocation, he gripped her arm, along with the shoulder.

  "Ya ready?"

  She tensed; gave him a nod for him to put it back in. 

  Pop! Intense knife-like pain pierced her. She winced, keeping eyes shut. The hurt subsided and left a bruise seconds later.

  Mara stiffly turned to William, with controlled expression conveying confidence. "Thank you".

  "No problem," he replied, smiling. He patted her back.

  A sailor came in. "You guys okay?"

  William answered, “Aside from having the wind knocked out of me and my sister dislocating her arm, we are doing okay. How are things in the rest of the ship?"

  As the sailor gave an account of current conditions, Mara stood up to put her uniform jacket back on. She felt something at her hip. Looking down, she saw blood. Why is it that girls are the ones to get hurt like this?

  "Sailor, I need a medic ... pronto." This needed to be patched up before heading out. The sailor stared at her with doubt written on his face. Then he caught sight of her pants slowly absorbing blood.

  "Yes, Ma'am, right away." He ran off.

  "What happened?" asked William.

  "I think I hit my hip too hard during the rocking."

  He frowned. "I think you did more than that, Mara," he said. He got up from the cot, grabbed the pillow and ripped the pillow-sheet off.

  "Here, use this. Your pants are going to be soaked at the rate you're bleeding."

  "Thanks," replied Mara.

  Trying to apply pressure to the invisible wound beneath was an awkward thing to do. The pillow sheet was nearly soaked, before a Navy man arrived carrying a medical bag. He walked right over to Mara, while William stepped back.

  "What happened?"

  "While the ship turned over, I hit my hip on the edge of one of the bunks." With the adrenaline wearing off, she could feel the pain increasing. 

  “Try to stay still as I take a look."

  The doctor opened his silver bag, retrieving a pair of scissors. He cut away the fabric hiding the wound. The tip of her hip bone could be seen with purple and black mottled skin surrounding it. Without the pressure being applied, blood flowed from the puncture.

  "Oh, man!" exclaimed William. 

  "I need you to hold the sheet to it," said the doctor to him.

  While William held the wound, the physician quickly got a thin cylindrical object out and jabbed it slightly to the right of the wound. Mara gritted her teeth.

  "That should do it. Continue to hold that for another minute."

  Mara felt nerve pinching, along with a strange sensation of increased mass at her hip. 

  "Okay, now let go."

  William took the red soaked sheet away, revealing skin that looked as it had never been damaged.

  "The nannites will continue to work until there is no more pain or other type of damage. How are you feeling now?" asked the doctor. 

  "I’m feeling much better. Thank you,” Mara replied.

  "You’re welcome," he replied. "Send word if there are any more complications."

  "I’ll do that, Sir." With that he left.

   Seconds later, the self-mending material of her pants had sealed where the medic cut. Unfortunately, the smelling stain of blood still remained. "Captain Koilo and Airman Koilo please report to the upper deck," a male voice said over the intercom.

   Mara grabbed her box that had slid under one of the cots. William wiped his bloody hands on the cot's wool blanket, with nothing else to wipe his hands on. He left the blood-stained items there.

   "Let's go," said William.

   She let out a relieved sigh. What a day!

   They stepped out of the room, heading to the open air deck. Stars lit the night sky. Swelling waves, splashing here and there glistened in the moon's bright light. Distant thunder rumbled. The full moon allowed them to see the structure their transport docked with.

    The structure was an intricately designed, shining metal dock. Long windows a few feet above the water reflected the night sky. Finely woven metal in a braid-like fashion, framed each window. The same design was etched into the entrance's frame they were about to enter. A warm, humid breeze brought scents from land.

    Just then, the navy man who had checked on them earlier greeted the Koilos as he jogged to catch up to them. "The captain sends this to you," he said. He handed Mara a tablet. She tapped the top, glowing light appeared in the form of text. She read it. William moved to read over her shoulder. It carried quite a message. She was officially promoted to Airman First Class and assigned to the Air Force Special Operations group on board the spaceship, Dale, for integration training. William was to continue to Sector 7 for further instruction within a week.

    Mara turned the device off and held it at her side. "Thank you, Sir," she said.

    With that he walked back to the watertight door, from which he had exited. 

    "Well, this is bittersweet," stated Mara, disappointment lacing her voice.

    Knowing what she referred to, William said, “It wasn't expected to last long, Mar. After all, we are in two different branches of the Military."

   “You are right.” Mara stood thinking for a minute. “Well, let’s go.” They walked across a retractable medal plank to the dock’s entrance. Double gray doors opened upon their presence. A lady, dressed in a sleeveless summer dress set with blended sunset hues, greeted them. A name tag flashed with the name 'Lira' near the shoulder strap. A woven, copper circlet graced her forehead, while her brown hair was gathered in a bun. "Welcome to Destin Dock," she said, smiling; giving them each a hand shake. “You are Captain and Airman Koilo?" Lira asked. 

   "Yes, Ma'am" said William.

   Lira nodded. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you below to your rooms for the night." They proceeded to walk down a cozy red hall.

   Destin Dock reminded Mara of being at the Military training base; except this place had ornate designs and marble flooring. Lights adorned the red hall setting a calm atmosphere. They passed through an archway and walked onto a window to the watery world beneath. Through it they could just see more of the lighted winding structure ahead of them. The lady led the way across the domed room to a snaking, underwater tunnel. Along the tunnels exterior, sidelights fought back the pitch black night. 

    At the end, the trio reached a part of the construction that was embedded into the cliff. The Koilo's Military boots made rubber squeaks on the gray marble. High above them, in a vaulted ceiling, low lit lanterns graced the atmosphere. Lira turned to the right and opened one of many doors lining the massive chamber. It opened to a cozy bedroom. 

    "This is your room, Ma'am. Sir, your room is this way." She proceeded to walk past 5 more doors, with William following her. He bid her a good night and then came over to Mara.

     “Well, how you doing?” inquired William.

     “I am tired, how about you? Are you ready to crash yet?”

      William laughed. “Yes, I am ready. Today was a rough ride. It may become more so over the next week.”

      “Indeed. Do you have any idea what you might be doing in Sector 7?”

      “Whatever it is, it will be dangerous. It’s a war zone over there. I really don’t know what they’ll have me do, to be honest. What about you?”

       “I have a feeling that I’ll be in a war zone before long.” Mara looked out at the surrounding architecture. Emotion rose in her chest as she realized the situation she and her brother were going to face. She looked at him, “Just come home in one piece William. Okay?”

        “I’ll try,” he said with a nod. Then she gave him a hug. After saying their good nights, Mara went in and collapsed on the soft, king sized bed. Exasperated with the day she dragged her hands down her face. Come what may, I’ll keep on going. The room was dark. A framed picture of an island sunset hung above the bed. Behind her stood a large window looking out into the ocean's udder darkness of the night. The carpet looked plush. Lights in the ceiling glowed; despite how dark it was, giving a slight, soft appearance to everything.

    Sitting up, she found the bathroom, right next to the door she came in. She went on in. Then 15 min. later came out drying her hair, wearing her uniform, with her boots off. She got her box from her bed which she had been carrying. Opening it up, rummaged around for the Bible. She found it, then had it molded in no time (much the way the IPod was done). Mara opened up the Bible to Proverbs 3:5-6. As she read it, a subtle meaning crept into her thoughts: Trust God. Closing the Word and putting it away, she sat down on the bed. God, it is hard to trust you, but I will anyways. Will you please teach me to remember to each day? An alarm clock illuminated beside the bed when she lay down between the covers.

    'Alarm activated for your convenience. Please, choose time setting.'

    "4 a.m.," Mara replied sleepily.

    'Time set.' Lord, please be with my brother and me as we go on these new assignments. With that, slumber took over.

    William also prayed the same prayer. Honestly, he was scared to death. He had already been on a couple deployments to the same war zone he was going back to. He took off his boots and lay down. Sleeping in his uniform was a necessity nowadays, what with being called up at odd hours of the night sometimes. He got used to it.

    Looking out into the dark abyss from his bed, he thought about his sister and their family. Living to defend freedom came with a price. William knew that one way or another that price was going to be paid. He just wondered if he would be the one to pay it one of these days. How would that affect my family? Will I die on this mission? A memory resurfaced of an elderly man sharing how he got through those moments where he knew he might face death. The man had said, “As long as you know where you’re going, you can focus and have peace doing so. Keep your hope fixed on Christ. You just keep fighting the good fight, young man.”

   William fell asleep with peace settling upon his heart. He knew where he was going if he should face death.