The Scalian Legacy
Chapter Ten

The jolt of the ship landing on another surface was enough to bring Jack back to consciousness, but the effects of his lack of oxygen lingered as he struggled to remain conscious. He was about to drift back to sleep when he realized he was hearing English! Adrenaline rushed through his body. Even in his disoriented state, Jack knew this made no sense. How could someone be speaking English out here?

“Thank you, Admiral Alterman.” A deep, rasping voice was speaking. “It is a pleasure to see you again, as well.”

Jack tried to focus his eyes, but all he could see was one large blur, as his eyes were still adjusting. More voices spoke. Then Jack heard a couple of swoosh sounds. Jack decided it was time. He had to get out of this position. He had almost died already; the next trip could very well finish him off. In addition, the fact that folks were speaking English, while mysterious, provided the opportunity he was hoping for. At least someone could hear him out.

Jack pushed himself out of his perch as quickly as he could, but his muscles were weak, and his coordination was out of sorts. Slowly, his legs began to dangle down towards the floor as he released one bar and held on to the next. Soon he was hanging from the last bar and suspended over the bottom of the ship’s leg, which was about ten feet below him. He figured the drop would be painful, but there was no choice.

He let go.

Jack tried to soften the landing by bending his knees as he reached the bottom, but he heard his right ankle snap as he tumbled to the floor. The pain was sharp, but he gritted his teeth to refrain from yelling. He didn’t know how bad the damage was, but he had to get up and walk out of this area so that someone would see him. He looked around. Jack seemed to be in yet another ship’s hangar bay. While his vision continued to be blurry, he could vaguely see what appeared to be doors of some kind in front of him. He stood up; the dizziness dropped him back to the floor almost immediately. He tried to stand once more but lunged forward as he fell again. He then started to crawl on the cold metal floor as best he could towards what looked like an opening.

He looked around the rest of the area, but it was mostly a light-colored blur. Other than the alien ship that had been his home for these past few hours, the area seemed empty. He continued his struggle towards what he assumed was a door, but Jack was beginning to realize his effort might be in vain, as his breathing labored and dizziness impacted him even as he crawled. Still, he persevered for about a minute, crawling slowly. Finally, as he neared the door, it opened. He saw some blurry boots come his way.

“What the blazes?” he heard a voice call out as he collapsed from exhaustion and fell unconscious.

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