North, "wake me up. There's a chance, a slim
chance, there still may be survivors in some of those pieces of
wreckage. As soon as the rescue ship is here, to take care of these
people, we start hunting. We don't stop until every sizable piece of
the freighter is located, checked, and plotted so it can be picked up.
26 North's crew understood. It seemed like North had barely gone to
sleep when help arrived. But much to his crew's dismay he spent the
next twelve hours in the Pilot's seat as they completed their task.
27 But finally it was done, and to their joy, in one of the last cargo
pods they tracked down they found two crewmen alive and well. They
towed them back to the rescue site and with other ships now arriving to
take up the recovery work North and his weary crew finally got to
finish their journey to Hades.
28 North spent most of the time in the scout's med com, at Thundering
River's insistence. As they entered system, most of the ships of the
Hashon Defense Fleet greeted them with a fly by.
29 As they finally entered orbit and prepared to beam down, North
saluted his companions. "Whatever your assignments were," he promised,
''be assured I'll get you commands of some kind! You've earned them!
I'm damned glad you gentlemen graduated when you did!"
30 "I'm afraid, sir," admitted Thundering River, "we're not graduates.
We're last year flunk-outs! I'm afraid command will be difficult, even
for you! And if you could, sir, I'd much rather get an assignment to
Medical Services. I've always wanted Command, but something
happened to me out there. There was something about using the med com
and saving those people's lives. I'd like to be able to do it better,
maybe take medical training."
31 North laughed. "I've got just the man to send you to!" he promised.
''I guarantee you, if you want to