As Earth shrunk away behind him, Mars grew ahead of Flash, who monitored the speed and distance from the helm of the mothership. With the setbacks and crew changes, Flash thought it would be a good idea to radio ahead to Nomicon.
He dialed their frequency into his radio and said, “Flash Meridian calling Nomicon. Come in, Nomicon.”
“Do you read me? Come in, Nomicon,” he repeated. There was no response.
“Not again…” Flash muttered to himself.
With a visual fix on Mars displayed on his main screen, he called up satellite images on his computer terminal. Zeroing in on the Nomicon camp, Flash could see that a windstorm was raging, pelleting Nomicon’s equipment with dust and debris. This was not uncommon for Mars, and he knew that when the Martian winds kicked up, the inhabitants took refuge in underground tunnels. Because of the high iron content in Mars’ crust, radio signals were ineffective in reaching them, so he switched to the video phone.
His call was answered by Kid Corvair, foreman of the Nomicon crew.
MEANWHILE:
A ship was returning from the vicinity of Sirius, in Canis Major. Their pilot was barking orders to other crew members, which Flash picked up on the radio he had just set down on the control panel. It was not uncommon to hear signals from other ships if your radio happened to be set to their same frequency. In this case, Flash was well acquainted with some of the crew members, and so he made himself known.
“Flash Meridian to Procyon… Come in, Procyon,” he called to the other ship.
“This is Procyon Star Cruiser,” a voice growled over the radio. “An old friend wants to speak to you.” There was a click, followed by a different voice.
“Flash Meridian! This is Galaxy Girl. We’ve been sniffing out the dogs of Orion, and are heading back to Earth. Permission to come aboard?”
“Of course!” Flash answered and powered up the transporter. Galaxy Girl had been his best friend back on Earth. Flash monitored the progress as she was converted to an energy pattern, beamed to the mothership and rematerialized. When the process was complete, he opened the door on the front of the transporter.
With her tail wagging, Galaxy Girl greeted Flash. “Do you have any cookies?” She asked. All we have left on our ship is some dry kibble.
Flash ordered up a treat on the table of elements, and handed it to Galaxy Girl, who danced with excitement. After she ate it, she said “You’ll be missing a few molecules after I’m gone. Do you want me to leave some for you?”
“No, thanks,” Flash answered. “That was really thoughtful. You really are a man’s best friend.”
The face of Galaxy Girl’s pilot appeared on the screen. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help over hearing.” His mouth was watering. Flash realized that his radio was still on. Can you send me one of those cookies?”
“Oh, sure,” Flash said. For inanimate objects, he could use the Particle Beam Separator. “Here it comes.”
Flash Meridian urges you to support Animal Allies Humane Society. Over the last 50 years, Animal Allies Humane Society has earned the reputation as the leading protector of companion animals in the region. Today, Animal Allies places more stray and abandoned animals in adoptive homes, provides more and better services to those animals prior to adoption, spays and neuters more animals, and educates more schoolchildren than any other humane organization in northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. The result: Duluth is a dramatically kinder community for vulnerable cats and dogs than it was just 25 years ago. Fueled by Animal Allies’ leadership, the number of homeless animals has declined by 40%, adoptions have increased more than 400%, and the number of animals euthanized has decreased by 80%.