CHAPTER FOUR: THE AFTERMATH

DAY THREE.

Quibs rushed in the midst of the chaos at midnight. He shakes Brooks trying to get his attention, but he seemed to be caught in a trance. Quibs grabs him by the shoulders and shouts. Brooks had sank into the deepest of his conscience, he mutters a word to Quibs 'Maggot.' Quibs steps back frightened, he then looks at Jacobs standing behind Brooks."What's wrong?" Jacobs asked but Quibs was unable to answer. It was incomprehensible. The Maggot was a beast so feared, that even the gods did not dare to trample its path. How the sentinels got ahold of it was nothing short of a miracle. It was a beast that caused fear in the depths of the conscience. The Maggot was a beast of legend, believed to have existed even before the making of the gods.

Out of nowhere, Jeno returned and grabbed Quibs before he would become one of the victims.

"What are you doing?" Quibs protested.

"Saving your sanity. Where were you before you blacked out?" Jeno asked him

"What? What are talking about? I was in the lab.' he answered, confused.

"We are in the ship, Quibs." Jeno told him.

Quibs stood up from where he was laying, only to come to reality. He was inside a ship in space, orbiting Morach. He looked through a glass panel and saw other ships fleeing the planet.

"What about the others?" he asked worriedly.

"They are safe but we lost the planet." A sentinel standing next to Jeno replied.

"So quick?" he turned away from the panel and looked at both Jeno and the sentinel with tears in his eyes.

DAY EIGHT

"It has been five days Quibs. The Maggot moved faster than we anticipated and someone got terrified and he sent a beacon to Endock. The gods were able to trace our location and arrived unaware to us. It was brutal, we couldn't get everyone. Sorry Quibs." Jeno said to him.

"It's like Endock all over again." He sat back holding his head to grasp the reality. He started shaking and whining.

"It's okay Quibs. We all lost something that day." Jeno comforts him while holding back his tears.

Jacobs awakes in a ward room and looks around confused. Beside him, was Brooks laying unconscious on a bed with a holter monitor connected to him. The ward was large enough to contain about two hundred patients. The doctors and nurses were engrossed in making sure everything was working right. Jacobs could barely get the attention of a female nurse. He was relieved when she came and asked how he was doing. He stretched forward to ask her a question but he couldn't. He groaned in pain and she rushed to aid him to get back on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We got attacked after the beast went loose." she replied.

"Are we on the ship?" he said.

She nodded and pulled out a small device from her pocket and showed it to him. He asked what it was and she told him it was a database of his injuries, which displayed he had cracked ribs. He lets out a light groan as she turned to check on Brooks.

"What's wrong?" she said.

"How long have I been out?" he asked while putting his thumb and right index finger between his eyes.

"Five days, four hours and twenty eight minutes." she responds.

"You must be really good with time." he said.

"No, I just have a good watch" she smirks.

He turns his head and looked at her wrist. "When will I be free to go?" he looked up as he anticipates a smile from her and she smiled to his delight.

"Two days, Captain. When your ribs have healed."

The nurse left to attend to other patients.

"You have still have the charm." Brooks whispered.

Jacobs laughed.

Inside a room where Jacobs' team was, Lieutenant General Bizmah entered. The sentinels stood to their feet, saluting him. He walks to the end of the room and turned to face them.

"The gods are getting stronger with every passing day, The Council has given a space of two days before you leave for the mission." He pauses and looked around. "Where is the Captain?" he directed the question to Quibs but Quibs stammered. He turned to Jeno who was on his left. "Well?"

"He is in the ward." Jeno responds.

Lt. General Bizmah then walked out and heads to the ward with a group of sentinels following him from behind. He entered and everyone froze.

Jacobs raises his head to see what was happening, from afar he saw the General coming. He tried to stand but fell off the bed. He quickly supports himself up using the bed.

As he was twisting to stand at attention, the General clears his threat. Jacobs saluted him.

"When will he be ready?" Lt. General Bizmah said.

"In two days." the nurse that conversed with Jacobs, replied from behind.

"Good." the General said "You will be deployed to Endock in two days." The command caught everyone's attention, the nurse tried get close to the General but she was stopped by one of the sentinels.

"What's the problem ma'am?" he turned to her.

"He clearly won't be in condition for a mission." she protested.

The General raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Won't you be in condition, Captain Jacobs?" he asked.

"I will" Jacobs replied.

"Well then." he said and walked away

"What was that?" she said.

"Following orders." Jacobs responds.

"That is absurd. Even if you leave in two days, it will take you about a week to fully recover." she said.

"We have to follow the Creed. That has always been the way, to disregard orders is to break the code that binds us. I don't know about you, but you must have been brave to question the General." Jacobs said.

She stepped back and held a pole. " That was the General?"

"Lieutenant General Bizmah." Jacobs said.

"I didn't know." she said.

Jacob gets on the bed and sighed.

"Well, he seemed nice" she said.

"Yes, he is" Jacobs affirms.

"What about me?" Brooks asked.

"Huh?" the nurse looked to her left.

"When will I be free to go?" Brooks said

"About five days and fourteen for full recovery." she responds.

Brooks lets out a burst of wind from his mouth and groaned.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked.

"Ahhhh!" he exclaims.

"You weren't joining in the first place." Jacobs said.

"What? I thought you talked to him?" Brooks said.

"He gave a direct order, Brooks. I just can't-"

Jacobs got interrupted when Quibs, Jeno and two other sentinels walked in.

"Captain." Jeno saluted and the others

followed suite. "Reporting for directives" Jeno said.

"Where are the rest?" Jacobs asked.

"In the training hall." Jeno answered.

"You are in charge until I recover. Get

everyone ready." Jacobs instructed.

"What about Brooks?" Jeno points to him

"He is not on the squad. Direct orders." Jacobs responds.

Brooks turned his face away from them. Jeno walked to him and whispered, "Sorry kid." while holding his shoulder.