Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy) (42 page)

Joseph eyes opened wide
, and he replied, “Sorry, sir. I forgot. It won’t happen again.”

Gideon
gave him a smile, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

When Gideon caught up with the group,
Commander Steward and Corpsman Wong were standing outside another curtain-enclosed bed area, discussing meal schedules for the patients. Mary was inside, standing by the bed where another child, a boy, lay. Gideon walked in and stood by Mary. The child was asleep and looked a lot like the girl he had seen when he walked into the sick bay. The boy was thin with short blonde hair, connected to several IV’s and had a few small nano bandages on his face.

“
Sir?” Gideon whispered.

“
Yes, Lieutenant?” Mary whispered back.

“
I was just wondering why you didn’t correct Sipes when he addressed you as ‘ma’am,’” he said.

“
I decided he is allowed,” she replied without hesitation.

Caught off guard,
Gideon followed up. “Any reason, Captain?”

“
The way and reason he addresses me as ‘ma’am’ are just as respectful as the way the rest of the crew and your marines address me as ‘sir’ or ‘Captain,” she replied. She paused and added, “No more questions on the subject, Lieutenant.”

“
Yes, sir,” Gideon said with a smile.

A few seconds later Dr. Pettway walked in. “I’ve been busy, Captain, and haven’t had a chance to properly let you know how our patients are doing.”

“
That’s fine, Doctor. I didn’t expect you to give me a status until you were ready. We’re just going to walk through and get an idea of what you’re up against. Please don’t stop for us. We can discuss the situation later,” Mary said.

“
Well, sir, it just so happens everything seems to be settling down now, and I was going to contact you anyway and ask that we meet. I’ve found some interesting things I think you should know,” Dr. Pettway said. “Is now a good time, sir?”

“
Yes,” Mary said. “Would you like to speak to me privately, or can Commander Steward and
Lieutenant
Klaxton join us?”

Pettway thought for a second and
said, “It might be a good idea to have them join us, Captain, especially,
Lieutenant
Klaxton. He might be able to help me understand some things concerning my patients. We can meet in the diagnostics room if you’d like.”

The group followed D
r. Pettway to the medical diagnostic room. Commander Steward and Mary sat in the only two seats in the room, while Gideon and Dr. Pettway stood. Dr. Pettway said, “
Unfortunately
, two of the women and one of the children have died. We currently have five women, ages ranging somewhere between sixty-five to ninety-five, and eleven children, ages four to eleven. They are all malnourished and have various cuts, infections, and parasites. I expect they’ll fully recover physically, but their mental recovery is a whole other matter. Only a few of the women have spoken, and none of the kids have said a word. It has to be some type of post-traumatic syndrome condition. From the wounds, scars, and skeletal bone scans I’ve seen, I’m sure all of them have been tortured. That probably has a lot to do with their state of mind.”

“
Have you talked with the women who have spoken?” Mary asked.

“
No, sir, not yet. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about it. I’ll probably talk to them when they are feeling better and feel safe.” Dr. Pettway paused and looked at Gideon. “
Lieutenant
Klaxton, I noted from a blood test that all the women and children were exposed to some type of biological agent I can’t identify. I assume it must have happened before you found them because Gunny Xia’s blood test didn’t have the agent. Do you happen to know what it is or how they may have been exposed?”

“
No, Doctor, I don’t. Sorry,” Gideon said.

“
Is it dangerous, and is it contagious?” Mary asked with a concerned look on her face.

D
r. Pettway smiled. “No, Captain, it’s not life-threatening or contagious. But to tell you the truth, Captain…I wish it were contagious.”

“
Really, Doctor. Why do you say that?” Mary asked surprised.

“
I did a standard DNA test on each patient to gather information on the damage to their DNA. I expected to see damage caused by naturally occurring mutagens, genetic mutations, and age-related damage to the DNA in the old women. As you know, once I know the damage, I can start treatment to prevent future health issues.” Dr. Pettway paused with a puzzled look and continued. “What I found was amazing; none of the patients had any type of DNA damage! It’s one in a million to find a newborn baby with no DNA damage. Finding no DNA damage in sixteen patients, aging from four to ninety-five, is statistically impossible. The only thing the patients have in common is the unknown biological agent I found in their blood, so my theory is the agent somehow has repaired their damaged DNA. I’ll, of course, have to do further testing to try and prove it.”

“
Michael,” Gideon said in a low voice. He remembered how Michael had shielded the women and children against the atmosphere on Leonis when he escorted them from the building to
Bernice
. Could he have given them something or done something to them? In a louder voice he said, “Michael, our contact on Leonis may have something to do with it.” Gideon then explained what he had seen.

Bridge, SRS
Stephen Hawking

0555
—March 3, 2372

Mary
sat in her command seat as she watched her bridge crew double-check their status consoles. She took a deep breath and gave the order to prepare to proceed to the first observation point using the course Stephen had plotted
.
Never in the history of space exploration had man attempted to go so far using such speed. Mary wanted to make sure everything was operating perfectly before she allowed the maximum energy created by the HPS antimatter system to power the ship’s engines and BHP. She didn’t want her ship and crew to go down in history as the largest man-made explosion.

All the scientist
s and officers had gathered on the bridge for this historic event and the ship’s external camera videos were being piped to every holographic display on the ship so the crew could witness the occasion.

“
Final system status report please,” Mary ordered as she shifted positions in her command seat.

“
Weapons systems disabled, and weapons deployment fail-safe protocol is enabled,” Commander Steward replied.

“
Primary and secondary communications systems are showing no errors, and all ship’s video cameras are recording,” Ensign Young reported.

“
Course vector has been verified using navigation simulation authentication programs,” Lieutenant LaPalm said.

“
HPS, BHP, and engines are all green across the board. All systems are ready for maximum power,” Lieutenant Commander Vanderver responded.

“
Very well,” Mary said. “Stephen, you have control of the ship. Start audible countdown at T minus ten seconds and proceed to the observation point coordinates.”

“
Yes, Captain,” Stephen’s voice replied over the bridge intercom.

***

Gideon stood beside Sergeant Tidwell, who had been assigned bridge security duty. He was the only enlisted person on the bridge.

Gideon leaned over and asked in a whisper
, “Sergeant, how does it feel to be part of history?”

“
To be honest, sir, I’d rather be anywhere than on this keg of dynamite,” Tidwell whispered back with a smile. “I’m not very optimistic this is going to work.”

***

A minute later Stephen began the countdown. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Systems activated.”

Microseconds
later the extreme amount of power generated from the antimatter HPS was allowed to flow to the aft engines and forward BHP. Gravity panels embedded in the floor, ceiling, and walls throughout the ship kept the crew safe from the deadly gravity forces and the instantaneous acceleration. The entire crew of the ship looked at the view provided from the forward video camera as the BHP projected a black hole. The black hole was enormous. Ensign Young had to adjust the camera so the entire singularity could be displayed. The size awed the entire crew, and Mary wondered if it was supposed to be as big. An instant later the ship entered the time-speed dimension. The enormous black hole remained stationary, but the close stars and distant galaxies that weren’t hidden by the singularity passed by as if they were comets with long, thin tails.

“
You’ve done it, Doctor Harper!” Dr. Jones exclaimed and gave him a brief congratulatory hug. The other doctors, standing close by, also congratulated him.

“
Thank you, but we’d better see if my theory is now law,” Dr. Harper said in his Southern drawl to the group of doctors. Then he looked toward Mary. “Permission to have Stephen verify our trajectory and vector, Captain?”

“
Granted,” Mary replied with a smile, not really knowing if her smile was a way to congratulate Dr. Harper or if she was just happy to still be alive.

“
Stephen, report our current trajectory and vector,” Dr. Harper said.

“
On course to observation point. Estimated arrival time in six hundred seventy two point seven five hours. Speed is increasing per calculated trajectory vector. Ship will reach maximum acceleration speed in three hundred thirty six point three eight hours and then begin a controlled deceleration to our destination,” Stephen reported.

“
Thank you, Stephen,” Dr. Harper said.

***

“Sir, what does all that mean?” Tidwell whispered to Gideon as the scientists once again congratulated Dr. Harper on his success.

“
We’re going faster than anything has every gone in the time-speed dimension, and our speed is increasing,” Gideon said. “We’ll continue to speed up until we get halfway to our destination, and then we’ll turn the ship one hundred eighty degrees and start a gradual slowdown until we get there.”

“
That’s all fine and good, sir,” Tidwell said. He paused and added, “But is everything working as it’s supposed to, and are we going to live?”

Gideon smiled and answered,
“Sergeant, looks like everything is working fine, and we’re going to live.”

Sick Bay
,
SRS
Stephen Hawking

0947
—March 4, 2372

Corpsman Wong
had been in sick bay, caring for his patients for days. He’d grabbed a nap and something to eat whenever he had a chance. All the patients were getting better physically, but none of the children had spoken, and the women weren’t saying much. Gunny Xia’s monitoring equipment reported he was healing as expected, and Wong was replacing the nano bandages wrapped around Xia’s leg when Joseph walked in.

“
Hi, Thomas,” Joseph said with a smile. The two were now on a first-name basis.

“
Hi, Joseph. You want to read to Gunny?” Wong asked.

“
Yep, unless there’s something you’d like me to do while you’re finished up here,” Joseph said.

“
I’ll have new bandages on him in an hour or so. Would you mind checking on the kids and making sure they’re all right?” Wong requested. He had asked Joseph to do several things for him around the sick bay, and Joseph had always happily agreed. Dr. Pettway had noticed how Joseph was with the children, and she didn’t mind since they needed the help.

“
Sure,” Joseph said. He turned and walked away to check on the kids.

***

Joseph visited every child and talked to them as he offered them something to eat or drink. Sometimes a child would drink or eat a bit. He also took each child to the bathroom, put him or her on the toilet, and closed the door so the child would have some privacy. He did it because that’s what he would have wanted if he were a kid. After a few minutes he’d take them back to bed and tuck them in.

On this day a few of the kids hugged him tightly as he carried them to and from the bathroom
, and a few smiled at him as he tucked them in. Then he would take out his book and read a little to them. He had been reading a different story from his book every day. They listened carefully as he read, and the lull of his voice relaxed most of the children enough so they fell into a peaceful sleep. After he finished reading to the last child, he walked back to Xia’s bed to see if Wong had finished.

“
I took the kids to the bathroom and read to them a little,” Joseph said as he entered the open curtain.