Dynamic Patrol: Gel Squad! Episode II

Chapter 61: A Billion Pieces

Now that they had the robot and the means to save their people. Kipp returned to the ship as he was told and almost destroyed the control panel when he angrily smacked it to close the airlock. Cam was the first one to meet Kipp. He'd been waiting for him to return and maintained a lookout on the docking port because no one had a medical issue; it was the most useful he could be at the moment, and from his look of surprise as he was entering, Kipp could tell that things had been relatively uneventful here. So he suspected that the only thing Cam was doing was staring out the little slits on the side of the airlock doors, fantasizing about exploring the planet. "Wait a minute, where's Max?" Cam questioned. 

"Gone! His mother kept him like a little pet!" Kipp growled. He pounded his hand against the wall again and again, a good four or five times before he finally resolved; Cam, concerned, warned Kipp to stop just as he was into the third round of hitting the wall. "Kipp, you'd better stop that before you hurt yourself!" Cam said, edging closer, holding Kipp by the wrist. Kipp pulled out, and the throbbing pain from his palm set in. He ignored it for now, but it was a good thing he did not have bones because, by now, he surely would've fractured a metacarpal. "Stop it! Stop it! Don't touch me!" Cam put his hands in the air like he was under arrest, and Kipp started pacing back and forth, growling like a raging bull, before resting his forehead against the same wall. "I can give you a mild sedative to help you relax," Cam stated. Kipp noticed the fluctuations in Cam's tone made it sound more like a threat than an offer to help. "Just give me a minute," Kipp said, forcing himself to calm down before Cam decided to tranquilize him and force him to do it. While he did, Cam scanned for Maxion as if someone were playing a joke on him; it took Cam a full minute to absorb the words, but then he blinked in shock when he spotted A1, who lingered but remained silent until spoken to. "Did you trade our friend for a droid?" Cam asked, Kipp was shocked by the accusation, he ripped his head off the wall, and stared daggers into Cam's soul, "No! Like I said, his mother wanted him in exchange for the ship."

"Ship?" Cam asked with raised eyebrows. "Show him," Kipp ordered A1, thrusting his pointer finger out to space; the droid floated near Cam and activated his holoprojector. Once again, showcasing the mighty vessel in question. Cam was immediately amused; his pupils dilated as soon as the projection materialized in front of his eyes, scanning eagerly. "Impressive technology." He mused in astonishment. The droid spared them the sales pitch this time. "She wants us gone as soon as possible," Kipp said, pacing back and forth, rubbing his chin. Cam frowned, his eyes drifting toward the deck plating in thought before he refocused on Kipp, "Not without Maxion. I promised Russell I'd keep him safe. Either we all leave, or nobody leaves." Cam retorted nobly; he grabbed onto the straps of his pack. Kipp admired Cam's determination to retrieve his secondary father. "I agree, and I have an idea. We have the droid... we'll make it look like we're on our way out. But as far as I'm concerned, the deal has changed," Kipp said, climbing the steep but short ladder placed on the end of the aft wall, and Cam followed.

A1 floated over to a recessed section in the wall, which was colorfully marked in Omeoneese and English as a droid lift. The section breezed open, and he crept inside. A vacuum tube delivery system transported him to the cockpit, where he met Kipp, Cam, and everyone else. "Where's Maxion?" Cal asked as they entered the next section of the ship. Just like Cam, Cal analyzed the area in search of their Raccoon pal, but again, he was nowhere to be seen. Kipp was partly surprised that Cal cared about Maxion's well-being at all.

 "We're not leaving without him, are we?" Gauge wondered, piggybacking off Cal's worries. "Of course not; just go into orbit, and you'll see what I mean," Kipp ordered, ignoring the chain of command. Kai hesitated, but a nod of confirmation from Cam made him swivel his chair and begin tapping at the consoles, commencing the launch sequence. The ship lifted and climbed to the upper atmosphere beautifully before Kipp took his station. His face changed into something that displayed twisted deviance. "What... are you doing?" Cam asked, moving over to Kipp's station; he watched the kitty work at the touch panels, playing them cleverly like a piano. Kipp always seemed to enter a little zone whenever he was conducting engineering operations; everyone gathered around, and Kai even set the autopilot to investigate what Kipp was doing.

He was accessing a system that they hadn't tested yet. Kai recognized the schematics of the device Kipp was pulling up. "Hey, that's the... teleportation thingy from when Bodi and I fought Yar. But when we used it, it was short-range. Do you honestly think that you could grab Maxion from orbit?"

"What makes you think I'm trying to teleport Maxion?" Kipp asked, continuing to work with his console. "Because I think I've known you enough to realize your right eye starts twitching when you have a wild idea. Kipp, Maxion means a lot to all of us. When I first got here, he helped me acclimate to the station, even when my brother was in a coma... but do you think it's wise to risk teleporting someone from so far away?" Kai asked.

"Well. Fortunately for Maxion. I won't be working alone. A1, could you describe what you did to my finger when you bit it a few hours ago?" Kipp showed the finger in question. And A1 beamed a light that could brighten the chip's position in his finger. Like an X-ray light. "Sub-dermal identification processor. Allows for low-power signals to be transmitted to computers for verification purposes. This processor is assigned to Kipp, relative of Maxion, house of Larren."

"Theoretically, a chip like this emits a signal that could be detected from orbit. Quite ingenious." D1 commented; the crew jumped, forgetting about their omnipresent companion who lurked silently in the background and worked the ship. Kipp smirked as someone finally began to pick up what he was doing, "But wait a moment..? If there are so many chips in circulation— not to mention all the droids and computers that emit their own signals down there. How will you tell which one Maxion is?" Gauge asked. A1 scooted up, "I will be able to provide you with the exact specifications for Maxion's identification chip."

"But aren't you working for that woman?" Cal pressed with a raised eyebrow. "My purpose is to assist the individual to which I am assigned. This unit was reassigned to assist Kipp today at 0430 hours."

"But how do we know he's actually giving us accurate information?" Cam's anxiety spiked, and Kipp immediately swiveled to put him at ease. "Cam, he's a tool, a toy. He will help us." Kipp expressed confidently, "That's what he was designed to do. A1, integrate yourself with the Eclectus computer and prepare to transfer the coordinates to D1."

"Very well. Uplink established." A1 conveyed immediately, he was very snappy, which was expected given the amount of technology packed into his body. "I have the coordinates and spacial translocation matrix online," D1 reported.

"Oh. So that's what it's called." Kai commented. Kipp turned back to his console and began the teleportation sequence. And in a bright beam of blue light, the familiar face materialized in the cockpit before the crew's eyes. Maxion screamed in horror after he regained full, solid form; he felt his chest to make sure he was all there. His breathing was shaky, and he couldn't seem to comprehend that he was receiving a group hug from just about everyone(with the exception of Cal.) "How..? Am I here?" Maxion asked as he was released; he inhaled and exhaled several times, like he was drowning, or he'd just died and had been resuscitated.

"I teleported you! I'm so glad we have you back." Kipp was perhaps the most affectionate. So much so that Maxion had to pull his son away while at the same time making sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Wait? Did you just chop me up into a billion pieces and then reassemble me here?"

"A crude but accurate description." Kipp shrugged. "Kipp, I'm happy that you saved me, but I'm not happy you decided not to listen. You were supposed to leave, but now my mom will never let us have the ship. Very selfish." Maxion frowned; he was disappointed in Kipp and was sure Russell would've felt the same. "But she will. We still have the droid, see." Cal pointed, A1 waved neutrally. The console trilled several times, and Cam turned to press the flashing button on the weapons console, assuming that it was the sensor array notifying them of ships approaching. "Either we have a malfunction in one of these systems, or three armed vessels are on an intercept course." Cam's started to shake violently. "Well, she's mad," Maxion said.