ing six inches above the ground, they
materialized six FEET above it. Unprepared to fly, they could do
nothing but drop.
8 North landed on the muddy edge of a bubbling hot spring, one of the
other Cadets landed moments after, to his left, in the rocks. Hearing a
cry to his right, North turned to see his other companion plunge into
the boiling water and steam splashed over him. North fell to the
ground, screaming with pain. The exposed areas of his body and face
were terribly burned.
9 Someone pulled his hands away from his face and screamed at him not
to touch it. but with the burning fire in his brain North barely
recognized Morn's voice. The Instructor called the ship and reported
the transporter malfunction. The ship was well aware of the trouble.
The disperser unit had blown. They were busy fighting the fire.
10 They sent a bus down for the casualty and North. the small ship
could not land where they were, and it was too dangerous to try to fly
among the erupting geysers and exploding mud pots. So, tending to North
as best they could, they quickly carried him to the nearest landing
site. It wasn't easy, but they reached it just as the ship was sitting
down. They dropped everything, got the ship out of orbit, and headed
for the nearest colony with a major hospital. Miraculously North
survived, even with lungs scorched with steam.
11 The Doctor joked with him that the next time he was exposed to hot
steam, not to inhale. North said he wouldn't, and thanked the Doctor
for the new lungs they had grown him.
12 "They're working fine, the Doctor remarked. "It'll probably take
them a month to grow to full size....no heavy exercise until then.
Then, they'll be just as good as your old ones. You're a lucky man,
Cadet! Every member of your crew fought to save your life. You must
have blood from a dozen of them floating around in you, not to mention
the skin grafts!"