A NEW WORLD

CHAPTER SIX

Tucker, Jennifer, Derek, Chief Medical Officer Sally Brier who is also a little person like Derek, Tatto, and Elaine are in Tucker's cabin sitting in the living room area drinking soft drinks, munching on some snacks, and talking everyone is in their uniform.  Jennifer looks at Tucker and speaks.  "Are you going to toss your name in for President?"  Tucker grins while looking at Jennifer.  " No that's not me."  Tatto looks at Tucker.  " Yeah Captain, why not run for President?"  " Well, for one thing, I'm not interested in being President, for another thing I like the job I have now, and I'm surely not a politician."  Everyone agrees with Tucker's decision. Derek looks at Tucker and Tucker looks back at him.  "People start to put the names in tomorrow, in two days from tomorrow we'll have a new President, First Vice President, and Second Vice President."  Sally speaks and everyone looks at her. " Yeah and then the new President will elect department heads for our new government."  Jennifer shifts her weight to one side of her cushion and then speaks. " It's kinda scary when you think about it."  Tatto looks at Jennifer and speaks. " Don't be frighten love, I'm here with you."  Sally looks down at the deck plate and Derek notices a sad look on her face. " Sally, what's wrong?" Sally tries to smile but can't, it's even hard for her to even speak while holding back tears for thinking about her family back on Earth.   " I was just thinking about my family back on Earth, wondering if they're still alive."  Everyone looks at each other with a sad look on their face for a few minutes, and then Tucker speaks with a sad voice.  " I think they are still alive, and maybe one day soon they too will find Eden."  Alarms go off and red lights start flashing, everyone's wrist communicators start to beep, and everyone rushes to their stations.  Tucker, Jennifer, and Derek arrives on the bridge and sees the planet Eden getting closer and closer very fast on the viewscreen, no one else is on the bridge and so Tucker rushes over to the helmsman console and tries to stabilize orbit around the ship, on the viewscreen, they see a fiery outline of their ship as it enters the planet's orbit, Jennifer taps her wrist communicator while sitting in her chair.  " Jennifer to Tatto! Tatto come in!"  " Tatto here Jennifer, I'm trying to stabilize the ship's engines!" " Tatto we need all the power you can give us so that we can break out of orbit!"  " Sorry Jennifer that's not going to happen, we'll not have no fuel left to keep orbit if we boost out of orbit now, we're too far into the planet's orbit!"  " Tatto we have to do something!"  In really no time flat the Ohio crash lands very hard on a bank near the river causing a crater two miles deep into the planet's surface. The three of them are knocked out cold. Tucker is awakened by someone shaking him, he slowly opens up his eyes and tries to focus on the person who's shaking him, Sally is leaning over him.  " Captain wake up, Captain."  Tucker focuses on the background and realizes that he's in sickbay, and then he focuses back onto Sally.  " Sally I'm awake, you can stop shaking me now."  Sally stops and backs off so that Tucker can sit up in bed, Jennifer walks in wearing a blue and red dress or casual wear, but no matter what you want to call it, it's civilian attire. Jennifer walks up to him and stands beside his bed, she looks at Sally and speaks. " How is he Doctor?"  Sally looks at her.  " He just woke up so it's too early to tell right yet."  " May I speak with him alone?"  " Yes ma'am, if you need me I'll be outside."  Sally leaves the room and Jennifer looks at Tucker with a smile on her face, Tucker looks at Jennifer, Tucker feels something wrapped tight around his head and reaches to find out what it could be, but before he can touch his head Jennifer grabs his hand.  " I wouldn't touch that if I were you, it could come off."  Tucker looks at Jennifer puzzled. " What is it?"  " It's your bandages and you're not all the way healed yet." " I must have hit my head pretty hard." " Yes, you got banged up pretty bad."  She lets his hand go. " It was touch and go for a while keeping you alive."  " I want all senior staff to report to the briefing room in two hours, I want to know what the heck happened to the crew on the bridge."  " They all stepped out to put their name on the ballots a day early, don't worry though, they have all been arrested for abandoning their post, well court-martialed I should say and then arrested."  A surprised look shows on Tucker's face. " That fast huh?" " Well it took some time for the investigation, but we got through it." " How many casualties  do we have?"  " Eleven died and twenty are in a coma."  " Oh. How bad is the ship?"  " The ship is intact although it will never fly again, we still use it." Tucker looks really intent at Jennifer. " Jennifer, what are you not telling me?"  Jennifer lets out a heavy sigh, she sits on the bed beside Tucker, she holds his hand while looking him in the eyes.  " Tucker, I'm going to tell you something that may shock you, but you're strong enough to handle it, I know you are. You've been in a coma for the last two years ever since the crash, I've been coming here to see you every day and hoping you'll wake out of it, and you did."  She smirks a little.  Tucker looks at her in silence for a few seconds so he can process what he'd just learned.  " Oh ok, so does USA still exist?"  " Yeah, just on a much very smaller scale, we still don't have any contact with Earth, we have a government system now."  " Oh yeah, who are the heads of our government now?"  " Well there's Bo Kennedy which is the Second Vice President, he used to be a lieutenant in security, there's  Dan Forrester as First Vice President, of course you know he used to be the chief political officer, then there's the President which is, me."  Tucker sits up straighter in his bed forcing Jennifer to let go of his hand. " You? You're the new President of Eden?" " Yes, I am." " Where do you live now?" " I still live on the ship and work out of my office." " Well, congratulations on being President Madam President."  Jennifer lets a big grin show on her face as she blushes. " Thank you. Now that you're out of a coma, I would like to offer you a job on my cabinet."  Tucker grins while looking at her and speaks. " Ok, which job?" " how about Secretary of Defense?"  " That position hasn't been filled yet?" " No, because I was holding it for you." Tucker shows that he's thinking about it but then answers her.  " I'll take it, and I'll live and work on the ship." Jennifer laughs and then straightens her face. " Good because we don't have any materials to build you an office building yet."  Tucker slowly reaches for Jennifer's hand while looking at her.  " Where's your husband and son?"  Tucker asks while griping her hand. " He's at home, they both are." Tucker smiles. " Ah." Jennifer stands up and smiles at Tucker again. " I'll let you rest for now, and I hope you like your new job."  " I'm sure I will and thanks again." Jennifer backs up toward the door slowly and then turns around and leaves.  Tucker lays down slowly and lets himself get lost in his own thoughts, as time passes, Tucker drifts off to sleep.