Aurelia gripped the smooth metal of the last rung and pulled herself up into the
Pasteur
’s control center. Her fingers narrowly missed being stepped on by a passing engineer.
The acrid odor of fire foam assaulted her. By the orange kesium glow, Aurelia could see the robotic scrubbers were still cleaning. The center was in the
Pasteur
’s front cone. The two sides had panel after panel of computer boards with chairs for all the engineers. The tip squared off, not coming to a perfect point. The view screen was here but at the moment was blank. The navigation computer boards sat directly in front of the screen along with the chief engineer’s seat.
Aurelia put one hand to her ear. “Can’t we get those alarms turned off?” she shouted to no one in particular. The chemical laden air stung the back of her throat.
“We’re trying,” shrugged the navigator, Daan Tilar.
“Where’s Rekhaan?” Aurelia asked.
Tilar pointed. The
Pasteur
’s chief engineer, Akshay Rekhaan, huddled with five others around one of the working computer panels. GEM Co. had sponsored Rekhaan, a native of India, as a transfer from the TransEuro-Asian Conference to the North American-Mars Federation.
The engineer’s black hair was plastered to his head. He rolled his brown eyes when he saw Aurelia. “I do not know anything. Please go away and let us work in peace,” he shouted before Aurelia could open her mouth.
“What happened? What’s the damage?” Aurelia asked anyway. Her ears rang with the silence. Then she realized the alarms had finally shut off.
Rekhaan’s shoulders relaxed a little. He spoke in a normal tone. “I have no answers for you, Doctor. Most of our systems are down. We did reopen the airlock and I am sure there are injured on the station you could be helping.”
“I want a full report within an hour, Akshay.” She managed to make his name sound like an insult. After five years, they had worked out a relationship of polite, slightly insulting sentences darted at one another. He promptly followed her orders, when he agreed with them, and she promptly responded when he asked something of her, within reason. Any social interaction during off hours was religiously avoided by both parties.
`Aurelia climbed back down the access ladder. The elevators were on the priority B list so it would probably be some time before they were running again. She had already made sure that no one on the
Pasteur
had been injured beyond a few bumps and bruises. Most of the medical staff had gathered in the mess hall waiting for orders and staying out of the engineering crew’s way.
The door to the mess hall had been propped open with an R.O. tuner, a hand held instrument that could override the locking frequency. R.O. tuners were not strictly legal but most GEM Co. ships had them for emergencies.
Stepping through the opening, Aurelia waved her hands for quiet. “They’ve got the airlock open. I don’t know what we’ll find over there. We’ll use standard triage procedures.”
“Conference hall.” Lak Zanin called out.
“No. We’ll use the main docking area this time. It’s more centralized. The comms are still down so everyone stay alert. Be careful people. Let’s go.”
Aurelia stepped aside as the exodus began. She tapped her nails against the side of Dr. Sshn’LRuh’s cart. “Keep you eye on those four, Sshn,” she said, indicating the four medical students who looked a little dazed and unsure of themselves.
“I’ll keep a sensor trained,” LRuh agreed, raising a tentacle in a sort of salute.
Satisfied, Aurelia forgot about them and headed to the space station.
Davis looked like the pictures Aurelia had seen of the aftermath of a hurricane. Tendrils of foam dripped from the walls and made the floor slick enough to be dangerous. Anything not bolted down lay scattered in every direction. The alarms had been shut down, all except one that honked intermittently like a sick wallerpod. Someone else must have realized the main docking area was a good central point because the place was already filled with people, some injured, some confused, some angry-- all of them talking at once.
Governor Arnott met Aurelia just off the tube where a flatbed loading vehicle was being used for the more seriously injured. Arnott hovered as Aurelia bent to the task of determining which patient needed immediate attention.
“This is a disaster,” Arnott mumbled. “I can’t believe... I don’t know what happened.”
Aurelia glanced up at him. His pants had twisted on him, his face was brick red and his hairpiece looked even more like some sort of mammal, a wet, miserable mammal.
“Governor, unless you have something significant to tell me, go away. You can see there’s a great deal of work to do.
“Yes, yes. Keep me posted.” Arnott moved away still mumbling. Two Sclarians accosted him and they began a lengthy, angry conversation.
Aurelia turned to Zimbin who was following her, waiting for instructions. She pointed at two Aguanians. “These two head wounds to the ship. The broken wrist can wait.” That belonged to a Jidalian GEM Co. employee who nodded in understanding.
Aurelia bent over a tiny Melganite, delicate mole like creatures with lots of little bones. “I need a Surg II unit now.”
One of the
Pasteur
techs passing by called out,” Got it, Doc. Five seconds.” Opening an equipment box, he was as good as his word, bringing the portable surgery unit right over.
Zimbin slid one big hand beneath the Melganite and placed her in the Surg II Unit. It was about three feet by three feet, normally used for emergency surgery on limbs or in this case very small beings. The big Berellian nurse locked the lid then stepped aside for Aurelia.
Aurelia adjusted the unit’s sterile field and life support controls. Zimbin squatted down to watch the anesthesia level. Satisfied, Aurelia put her eyes to the microscopic lenses on the top of the unit and manipulated the enclosed surgical instruments with minute, precise movements of her fingers on the controls.
The rest of the room faded away. Aurelia’s entire mind, body and soul focused on the network of tiny purple blood vessels, shards of fragile bones, lavender spurts from a lacerated organ. In the zone, she called it, the place she felt most comfortable, where there was nothing and no one but herself and a damaged body that needed her skill.
It took about twenty minutes to complete the work. Another five to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
Zimbin bared his fangs in a huge grin. “Nice work, Doc.”
“Back to the
Pasteur
with her,” Aurelia directed, rubbing the kinks out of the back of her neck. Two techs lifted the Surg II unit with the Melganite still asleep inside and took it to the ship.
Walking around, Aurelia felt proud of her crew. In twenty-five minutes, they had created an orderly treatment room out of the docking bay. It soon became apparent that only about ten people had serious injuries, the Melganite being the worst.
Aurelia found Millie in one corner applying synthetic derma-flesh to a gash on Althan Tahk’s forehead.
“There you are. You all right, Mil?” Aurelia asked, taking in the head nurse’s bedraggled appearance.
Millie nodded. “We got caught in a hallway with all the fire doors locked down. Thought I was going to smother in foam. Other than a huge bruise on my hip, I’m okay.”
Aurelia plucked the applicator out of Millie’s hand. “I’ll finish this. You need to go get some sleep.”
“I’m fine really. There’s work here to do.”
Aurelia shook her head. “We have plenty of help here. That’s an order.”
The head nurse protested a while longer then finally gave up. As she turned to leave, Tahk caught her hand. “Thank you,” he said.
Smiling, Millie nodded and walked away.
Aurelia bent over her task. “So, Mr. Tahk. Any idea what happened?”
“None at all. You?”
“No.” Aurelia finished with the applicator. “Still negotiating with Conlin?”
Tahk gave her a sly smile. “As far as I know.”
She gave him a quick scan. “Millie gave you Tridol for the pain. Do you want anything else for later?”
“No, thank you. That won’t be necessary.” Tahk got to his feet. “Thank you, doctor.”
Aurelia watched him leave. He was polite, charming and left an evil taste in her mouth. She wished she had some clue what Tahk and Conlin were up to.
Torp Nevad leaned over to talk in Bridget’s ear. “Dr. Aurelia just did surgery on a Melganite.”
Bridget dropped the bandages Dr. LRuh had told her to roll, which was a completely pointless task. “You’re kidding?”
Torp grinned. “Nope. She used a Surg II unit. I couldn’t see all of it but it was totally reactive. She was fast too.”
Bridget smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me? A Surg II ... that’s... Professor Allson says that’s one of the hardest things to do.”
“I know. It was great.”
“You could have told us,” Miguel broke in on the conversation.
Shrugging, Torp apologized, “I’m sorry. I’m sure she wouldn’t have wanted an audience anyway.”
“You’re probably right,” Miguel agreed.
Bridget blew her breath out between her teeth. “I have the feeling I’m going to be rolling bandages the rest of my natural life. They don’t even use these stupid things.”
Patting her on the shoulder, Torp grinned. “Look on the bright side. You’ll be the foremost authority on rolled bandages. You’ll be in great demand at seminars.”
“Ha. Ha.”
“Hey, have either of you heard anything about what happened?” Miguel asked, lowering his voice.
“No.” said Torp. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say it almost seemed like Hanson’s Anomaly.”
“What’s that?” asked Bridget.
“It’s what happens when you try to jump into hyperspace inside a gravity well,” Torp explained.
“Maybe that was it.”
Torp shook his head. “We wouldn’t be standing here talking about it. We’d be little particles of cosmic dust.”
“I was talking to a Sclarian,” said Miguel, still keeping his voice low. “or rather he was talking to me. I wanted to turn off my translator. But he was claiming that the Kaprinians tested a new secret weapon.”
Torp and Bridget looked at each other and started laughing.
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility,” Miguel said.
“Come on, Mig,” Torp punched his shoulder. “A secret weapon? Sounds like James Bond Episode 57.”
“I liked the last one,” Bridget piped in. “They finally got a new James Bond. Much better looking. He’s got one of those fancy Spacecraft MK1000’s too.”
Miguel glared at her. “You realize if this is true, we’re right in the middle of it.”
“Well, that would be much more interesting than rolling bandages,” Bridget declared. “Speaking of which I’m off to find more. Oh, joy.”
Wandering around the docking bay, Bridget looked for Dr. LRuh for further instructions. Maybe she would let her do something more interesting. Just as she caught sight of the Gidellian doctor’s tentacles, she was accosted by a young man wearing a GEM Co. dress coat that was missing a sleeve. The logo had come off, but his name, Gerard, could still be read above the breast pocket.
He gripped Bridget’s arm. “We need help in the C.C. A doctor. Anybody who can help.”
“O...Okay,” Bridget stammered. She looked around. Aurelia was the nearest doctor. She led Gerard over to her. “He needs help,” Bridget blurted.
Aurelia looked at Gerard, ignoring Bridget. “Are you hurt?”
“No, ma’am. A couple people are trapped in the C.C. A crew is digging them out but we could use a doctor. And more people to help too.”
Aurelia picked up a first aid kit, handing it to Bridget.
It was heavier than Bridget thought and she almost dropped it. She tried to look like she had everything under control as she followed the chief surgeon out. On the way, Aurelia waved at Torp and Miguel, ordering them to come too.
Two express elevator trips brought them to the communications center.
One of the big barrel computers had exploded. Its gaping remains dripped sparking shards of korlonite crystals and gold filaments. The interior kedellium wall on the left had collapsed, burying the cubicles on that side. GEM Co. employees scrambled to clean up the debris.
The Jidalian crew chief approached. “There’s a human female in this cubicle. Her vitals are good so I don’t think she’s hurt. An Aguanian male is in the far cubicle against the wall.” He pointed to a pile of glass and kedellium. “He’s not good. We’ve cleared enough so one person can crawl in to him. He’s trapped under a big piece of that wall though. It’ll take us a while to shore that all up.”
Realizing that the others had moved on to the pile, Bridget hurried to catch up. She still wasn’t used to the delay in the translator. Dr. Aurelia didn’t even have her translator’s ear piece in. Bridget set the first aid kit down and peered in to the small tunnel that had been made through the debris.
Dr. Aurelia took off her utility belt, handing it to Gerard.
“Do you want your translator?” Bridget asked.
“Won’t need it.”
Bridget decided right then she was going to learn as many languages as possible. Everyone watched as Aurelia crawled on her stomach through the hole and disappeared from view.
The Jidalian crew chief, Torp and Miguel went off to work on shoring up the wall. Bridget and Gerard waited for Aurelia’s return. She was back in a few seconds, ripping open the first aid kit.
Aurelia looked at Bridget as she collected materials. “Patient is shocky, massive hemorrhaging, difficult breathing. What do you do?”
Bridget wracked her brain. “Ummmm, administer Hagatrol, intubate and direct pressure.”
“Except this is an Aguanian. No internal temperature control,” Aurelia said as she snapped a vial into the hypogun. “He gets Zamiline and we get him out as fast as we can.” She pulled out a quad ionic cutter, turned it on and off to make sure it was working.
“What are you doing with that?” Bridget asked.
“His tail is trapped. He’s bleeding out and I have to move fast. Be ready.” Aurelia disappeared back into the hole.
Bridget’s stomach churned.
“What did she mean?” Gerard asked.
“I think she’s cutting his tail off.”
Gerard’s eyebrows waggled. “Reactive.”
Giving him a withering look, Bridget turned back to watch for Aurelia. Gerard went to get a gurney. Bridget wished she had thought of it.
The distinctive grind of the cutter filtered through the hole. A few minutes later, Aurelia scrambled back out, her hair tumbling out of its comb, puke-green blood splattered on her hands and face and smelling like a swamp.
“Help me get him out,” she ordered.
Gerard jumped to help tug the Aguanian onto the gurney.
Staring at the grayish-greenish lump of ridged skin, Bridget almost gagged.
“Put direct pressure on that wound,” Aurelia told Bridget.
Bridget hesitated a fraction of a second but long enough for Aurelia to shove her aside and redirect the order to Gerard. Then they were both gone, pushing the gurney ahead.
Bridget slumped onto the pile of debris, staring into space. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there until Miguel tapped her on the shoulder.
“Something wrong, Brid?” he asked.
“I’m a complete idiot. Not just a partial idiot but a complete, total, absolute idiot.”
Crouching beside her, Miguel tried to reassure her. “No you’re not. What happened anyway?”
“I froze. I’ve never seen blood like that before and...and that...that desk clerk did better than I did.” Bridget bit her lip, blinking rapidly as a tear threatened to fall. “Dr. Aurelia hates me now.”
Miguel gave her arm a shake. “No, she doesn’t. Come on, Brid, everybody freaks out at least once.”
“Why did it have to be now? In front of her?” Bridget wailed.
“I’ll bet even Dr. Aurelia has had a bad moment or two. Unless...” He dropped his voice into “spooky” mode, “she’s not really human but a Kartillion cyborg sent here on a mission of death and destruction.”
Bridget had to laugh. “Thanks for making me feel better, Mig.”
They both looked up as the GEM Co. crew cheered. They had freed the human female and she appeared to be unhurt. That reminded Bridget of something. She jumped to her feet.
“We’ve got to get that tail out of there,” she said.
“What tail?”
“Aurelia cut the Aguanian’s tail off so she could get him out.”
“Cool.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Bridget gave Miguel a dark look. “Why do you guys think that’s such a great thing? I’m sure the Aguanian thought it was really reactive to get his tail cut off.”
Miguel shrugged. “I guess it just seems like a macho thing to do.”
“Macho?”
“Yeah, you know, machismo,” Miguel snapped his fingers. “My people invented it centuries ago. Face the bull kind of thing.”
Bridget rolled her eyes. Grasping a handful of his shirt, she pulled him along with her, “Come on, Mr. bullfighter. We’ve got a tail to recover.”
Wanting to redeem herself, Bridget was disappointed when they were stymied by the Jidalian crew chief. Now that the Aguanian was freed, he seemed disinclined to work any faster and he seemed unable or unwilling to understand why they needed the tail.
“Look,” Bridget began for the fifth time, “they can reattach his tail but there’s kind of a time limit where they can do it so he doesn’t have any problems with it.”
Miguel nudged her, “There’s Dr. Rialus.”
Relieved, Bridget motioned to the Kaprinian doctor, who quickly walked over to them.
“Aura sent me to retrieve a tail,” Dr. Rialus spoke with a question in his voice, looking from Bridget to the crew chief.
“We’ll have it out in a few minutes, Doctor,” replied the crew chief and hurried away.
Bridget stared after him.
With his index finger under her chin, Miguel gently closed her mouth.
“That’s not fair,” she finally sputtered. “I told him we needed that tail and he wouldn’t listen.”
Dr. Rialus waved an antenna at her. “An adult Jidalian will not listen to anyone under the age of thirty. Remember, you’re not on Earth anymore.” He turned and followed after the crew chief.
“Let’s go help,” Miguel suggested.
Bridget nodded and slowly trailed after him. She was beginning to realize how far away she was from home.