Starship Armstrong - Season 3

Part 9 - The Statue Of Dr. Kang (VIII)

McAfree carefully carved the molds for the various pieces of the lathe out of a mix of wet sand and clay. Once they were ready she nodded, and two local men carefully poured molten iron from the crucible into the molds. It was left to set, and McAfree got to work on the next set of molds.

"Traveled over sixty light years through a tunnel in space/time just to help make a lathe out of pig iron," she grumbled to herself. "Could go up to the ship and make a lathe in 12 seconds, but no, we have to show these backwards yokels how to make them themselves. Let them carve the molds then."

The two men helping her smiled at her. They didn't understand a word of what she was saying. Suddenly they looked up, began shouting, and ran off. McAfree turned to try and see what all the fuss was about. That's when she heard the distinctive hum of a Foundation AG module.

"Finally," she said, and abandoned her work.

She wiping her dirty hands on her pants.

Everyone was gathering in the center of town, yelling, whooping, and pointing. High up in the sky was the Vostok, a great metal bird of a kind they had never seen before. Slowly and gracefully it was lowering itself to the ground. The crowd backed far enough away to give it room.

Dr. Kang came marching over angrily, accompanied by Keely and Yig.

The Vostok kicked up a small cloud of dust as it landed. The door opened and out came Mitzner, smiling. A murmur fell over the crowd.

"Show's over Kang," she said. "We're leaving. Get in the shuttle."

"No," said Dr. Kang simply.

"I said we're leaving," said Mitzner. "I don't mean the Vostok I mean the Armstrong. Captain's orders."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Dr. Kang.

"Well I am," said McAfree, walking up to Mitzner. "You win, Lieutenant-Commander, let's go."

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Dr. Kang.

"Back to the ship," McAfree almost laughed. "I'm done here. This is stupid."

"You wouldn't dare leave me," sneered Kang. "You still have too much to learn."

"Not doing manual labor on a forgotten rock for some paleolithic tribe just because they pat your ass and call you special," said McAfree, crossing her arms.

"This is important work!" said Dr. Kang.

"Is it?" asked McAfree, tilting her head.

She turned around, walked past Mitzner, and disappeared into the shuttle.

"Move over Wagner, you're in my seat!"

"The only person in the entire galaxy who can stand you for even a minute just abandoned you, Kang," said Mitzner. "It's time to throw in the towel."

Dr. Kang laughed derisively.

"I don't need McAfree," said Dr. Kang. "Anything she can do I can do better. She's merely a convenience."

"You really are the most miserable piece of human garbage in the galaxy, Kang," said Mitzner. "I hope you do stay here. I hope you die on this planet. As soon as we leave orbit without you I'm going to throw a party, and there isn't a person on the ship who won't come to celebrate."

She started to climb back into the shuttle.

"The Captain won't leave without me!" sneered Kang, as she shut the door to the shuttle. "She'd have to answer to the Foundation!"

"The same Foundation that's run by a cabal of your enemies?" came Mitzner's voice over the shuttle's loudspeaker. "Have a nice life, Kang."

The Vostok began to rise back into the air with it's signature hum. The crowd watched, still stunned with awe at what they were seeing.

"You weren't lying," said Yig. "You really did descend from the sky."

"You seem to be in conflict with your comrades," observed Keely.

"Pah!" scoffed Kang. "She's bluffing. My intellect is as profound to my own people as it is to yours. However we are now down one expert. Our labor shortage just worsened. Did you complete the census?"

"The baskets of stones are waiting for you at the temple," said Keely.

The Vostok disappeared past the clouds and into the upper atmosphere.