Get Back Up

Part 1

They had agreed to split up but now Taz wasn't so sure.

To begin with, this strange planet, named Speron SF9, had never really been explored before. There had been no need to: there was no sign of life or any valuable materials, and there were other places that were more important.

That was, until the Starship Rangers had received a distress signal from another ship that had apparently crashed on this planet. They hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact location, but they knew the general area and had split up in order to scour the few miles carefully.

But Taz didn't know this planet very well, and she was tensed and ready for some strange creature to jump out at her and attack. She kept one hand on her blaster as her dark eyes scoured the barren, arid landscape. It was nighttime, which meant that it was dark. This made Taz wary.

It didn't help that she was alone. Of course, she wasn't scared, she told herself. She was just used to working in a team and she missed the others, like Krayonder, Tootsie, Specs, and even that estúpido robot Mega-Girl and the ditzy February. Not to mention Up. She worked best with him.

And suddenly her caution faded as her mind turned to Up. Her body relaxed as she mulled over the last words she had spoken to him before they split up. She had told him something along the lines of, "Don't die, you idioto," and he had laughed and told her that she had nothing to worry about. 

Suddenly, Taz realized that the silence had been interrupted by her radio going off. She quickly lifted it to her mouth and shouted out, "¿Si? Hello? What is going on?"

"Taz! Finally!" February's voice came from the radio. She sounded panicked, but then again, February panicked over the smallest things. 

"What's happening?" Taz asked.

"Oh, you missed it. We found the crashed ship. There was this thing, this monster that tried to eat the Rangers aboard, but we did it. We saved them and they're all okay." Then another voice, faint and in the background, said: "You forgot to mention Up!" Taz recognized Tootsie's drawl.

"What about Up?" she asked quickly.

"You'd -- you'd best come back to the ship so that we can explain," February said hesitantly.

"What? No! ¡Espere! Wait!" Taz began to run back in the direction that she had come from, shouting into the radio with no reply. Her breath came in ragged gasps and her feet thudded on the ground. They seemed to be shouting his name. Up, Up, Up. Her mind, which was so good at imagining the worst, whirled.

And then she saw the ship, and the others standing in a cluster. There were a few people she didn't recognize -- the Rangers from the crashed ship, she presumed -- and there were her teammates. She scanned them, seeing everyone in relatively stable condition, except for one person: Up.

"Where is he?" Taz cried. Her voice was hoarse. "Where is Up? ¡Dime!"

"Gone," said Krayonder mournfully.

"Gone? Gone where? Someone tell me now!"

"Listen, Tazzy, just sit down. . . ." February helped Taz into a seated position. "At least he died doing what he loved -- saving people. The alien thing attacked but he ran in, blasters at the ready. He got all of the other Rangers out but then the thing grabbed him and just -- just sort of absorbed him."

"Died?" Taz felt the world spinning around her. "No. No, no, no."

"Well, he might not be dead, really," Tootsie piped in. His arms were wrapped around Mega-Girl, who also began to speak.

"While we did not see Commander Up perish in front of our eyes, he has about a ninety-eight point three percent chance of death," Mega-Girl reported.

"Ninety-eight point three? But what about the. . . ." Taz hesitated -- math had never been her strong suit -- before continuing. "What about the other one point seven?"

"The what?" Mega-Girl's face, which was almost always scowling, looked even more disgruntled than usual.

"There's a ninety-eight point three percent chance that he's dead which means that he might not be dead. I need to find him." Taz stood up, reaching instinctively for her blaster, which she always kept at the ready. "No one else follows me. I do this solo."

"What? Taz, no. It's too dangerous." Specs stepped forward now. "You're putting your life at risk."

"He'd do the same thing for me," Taz insisted. "Tell me where he is."

"Well -- we came from that direction," February pointed. Then, she clapped one hand over her mouth. "I mean, I don't know. Um, I don't remember. You shouldn't go. Tazzy, you really shouldn't go. We need you here! Without Up, you're our new leader!"

"Without Up, I'm not fit to be anyone's leader. He makes me who I am." Taz began to sprint off in the direction that February had pointed, and no one tried to stop her.