by Lucas Marcum
There were none. Satisfied, Elizabeth checked her watch and spoke again, “Prepare your areas. We’ve got about seven minutes.”
At her elbow, Brian appeared. “Where do you need me?”
She turned and considered his question for a second. “Why don’t you go to ICW with Lieutenant Wilkowsky? This is his first time being in charge of an area solo. I’m sure he’ll do fine, but he’ll feel better with you there.” Brian nodded calmly and headed off towards the ICW.
Elizabeth checked off a few things on the checklist on her clipboard. She scanned the room, making sure everyone was engaged in preparing and checking equipment.
Suddenly she heard a low voice behind her, “Major Suarez, a word?” She turned to see the hospital commander, Colonel Assad, his executive officer Lieutenant Colonel Androvich, and his Sergeant Major, a burly, hard-faced Hispanic man named Octavio Cortez.
She lowered the clipboard. “Sir. What can I do for you?”
The colonel looked around the room at the providers who were taking these last few minutes of peace to talk or text or check equipment. “They have everything they need here?” His voice was gentle but firm.
“Yes, Sir. We’ve done this before. They’re good. It’ll be busy, but we’ve handled bigger events than this.”
The colonel nodded. “Good. Hand the room over to Captain Danske. We need to talk. Something big has come up, and we need your help.”
Elizabeth nodded and waved Danske over. “Captain, you’re in charge of the room for now. The colonel needs me really quick.” The young captain nodded and accepted the clipboard.
Elizabeth followed the colonel and his team into the next section of tent, which was a supply area. There was currently no one in there. Reaching the middle of the room, the colonel turned and began to speak.
“I got a call from Colonel Hagerty of First Battalion, Fifth Marines about ten minutes ago. Apparently, his recon boys have been skirmishing with the Elai all week, and finally ended up cornering a group of them about fifteen clicks from here, down in a ravine.” He paused, then smiled tightly. “Apparently they caught one.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? I didn’t think this group was surrendering.”
Shrugging, Colonel Assad responded, “They’re not, for the most part. Apparently, it’s pretty badly wounded. That’s where you come in. I need a secluded area, and whoever’s the best at Elai physiology to patch it up. There’s a pretty decent solar storm coming in, so we might not be able to move him up the transports for a while, so we may have to hang onto him for a few days. Organize a secure area, docs, nurses, whatever else you need to keep this thing alive, and do it fast. They’re ten minutes out. Let’s keep this quiet, though. We don’t need the whole hospital to know.”
The sergeant major rumbled, “You’ll have two sentries in the room and two more right outside. Not negotiable.”
Thinking rapidly, Elizabeth said, “Yes, Sir. Give me five minutes. I’ll get something together.”
The colonel nodded. “Get to it, Major.”
Elizabeth turned, headed back towards the Emergency Treatment unit, and sought out the two surgeons, Lieutenant Colonel Nwanka and Major Chen. Stopping in front of them, she spoke in a low voice.
“Ok. Keep this quiet, but I just talked with Colonel Assad. Apparently a recon unit is bringing in a shot up Elai prisoner. Which one of you is best at treating them?”
The two surgeons traded a look, then Major Chen slowly spoke, “Ma’am, neither of us. We’ve read the texts, but this is our first deployment.”
Colonel Nwanka nodded in agreement and added, “We’ll do what we need to; anatomy is anatomy, hopefully.” She looked at the other surgeon. “Why don’t you take this one. Xenobio was never my strong suit. If we have multiple surgical cases at once, we’ll have to pull you back, though.” Major Chen nodded. Nwanka looked at Elizabeth. “Sorry, Major. I know this comes from the top, but our guys come first. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Nodding, Elizabeth responded, “I understand, Ma’am. Major Chen, let’s take operating room one for now, since its temporarily out of commission for surgery due to the electrical issues. We can use it as holding and treatment area. There’s only one door, and we can keep eyes on it pretty well. Why don’t you go get whatever you think you might need?” The surgeon nodded and turned to start preparing his team.
Elizabeth, her mind whirling, turned to go find Brian. She was going to need all the help she could get with this.
****
Fifteen minutes later in the Operations Center, Tony’s replacement, a bored-looking lieutenant, had arrived. He signed out the items on the operations checklist to the incoming officer and hustled out of the shelter. He headed towards the Emergency Triage Unit. He didn’t really have a role, as he wasn’t a clinician, but he wanted to see if Elizabeth was busy. He figured she would be, since she was the acting director of Clinical Operations, but it didn’t hurt to check. He’d also never seen a mass casualty, and wasn’t seeing how the Field Hospital worked part of this assignment? Plus, any reason to see Liz was a good enough reason for Tony.
A Valkyrie roared overhead, lower and faster than they usually flew over the camp. He clamped his patrol cap to his head to keep from losing it in the downwash. Ahead of him, towards the landing pads, he could hear another Valkyrie setting down, the distinctive roar of their engines cutting across the field hospital.
Coming around a corner, he could see the landing pads. Valkyrie Two had settled onto the pad and waiting ground crews were moving purposefully towards the read of the aircraft with litters. The side doors slid open, and the lightly-armored figure of the crew chief could be seen assisting people in UEA Marine uniforms out. Some of them limped, some were being carried, and others were soot-covered, but appeared to be moving without trouble.
Tony stopped and watched the first stretcher move away from the rear of the aircraft. There was a Marine riding on the stretcher, pumping on another’s chest with a determined look on his face. The man he was working on lay lifelessly on the stretcher, his arms gently swinging as the team rushed him into the emergency area.
Horrified but unable to look away, Tony took another few steps towards the entrance of the Emergency Triage Unit. There were more stretchers moving towards the door in front of him, more than he thought could fit into the specialized rescue aircraft. He turned back to the Valkyrie and saw the pad crew crouched at the edge, faces turned away as they waited for the big aircraft to lift again.
The distinctive low-pitched roar overtook all sounds as the pilots of Valkyrie Two increased power, lifted straight up, pivoted the aircraft precisely in place, then rammed the throttle forward and tore off across the jungle. As the roar of the engines faded, Tony realized he could hear screaming coming from in front of him, and the chaos associated with many people talking and working at once.
He took three more steps and could see under the overhang of the tent flap that served as the ETU’s ambulance bay. There were multiple litters there, with men and women in the remains of Marine uniforms. Some screamed, holding shattered arms or legs. Others lay silent and still, staring at the sky. Others sobbed, some for help, some for their mothers. Here and there, other Marines in similar battered uniforms tried futility to give aid.
There was a dark-eyed woman in a lieutenant colonel’s duty uniform with a dispassionate look on her face walking to each of the litters in turn. Tony couldn’t remember her name, but knew she was one of the surgeons assigned to the hospital element. There was a slender black staff sergeant with a clipboard following her.
As he watched, he saw her looking over a dark figure in a tattered uniform on a stretcher. She calmly and swiftly used a light to look into the figure’s eyes, then put a stethoscope on the Marine’s chest. She said something to the sergeant, who turned and snapped a single word to the three soldiers waiting at the side of the bay; a junior sergeant and two enlisted, who leapt when the staff sergeant spoke. He scrawled a few words on a
piece of paper on his clipboard and tore it off. It formed a length of paper with a black strip at the bottom.
The soldiers and the sergeant at the side of the room moved rapidly up and took the man on the stretcher. They started to move towards Tony, who stood in mute horror. As they grew closer, he realized the man on the stretcher didn’t have black skin. The black on him was burned flesh, charred so black his original skin color was gone. The man’s uniform was burned and shredded, and he was moaning slightly.
The sergeant with the litter team snapped, “We need this area clear, Sir. Please move.”
Tony stepped aside and let the litter through. As he did, the man on the stretcher opened his eyes and looked at him. His eyes were crystal blue, and there were tears trickling out of them. Then, as suddenly as they’d appeared, the litter team was gone.
Tony looked back up. The litter teams had moved the entire crush of patients while he had been distracted, and the ambulance bay was empty. He could still hear the screaming coming from the Emergency Triage Unit, but he was no longer interested in seeing what was going on inside. He felt his comm unit vibrating, and with a trembling hand, pulled it out and answered. His voice came out clear and strong. He noted this with a strange detachment. “Major Harris.”
The cold, accented voice on the other end of the calm snapped him into awareness, “Major Harris, this is Colonel Androvich. The commander needs you in the operations center, now.” The icy Russian officer hung up before he could answer.
Tony looked around, and then at the Triage unit door. A sergeant and a junior enlisted popped out, and he heard a snatch of the conversation.
The sergeant was saying “…uncrossmatched blood, as much as we can get, and all of the synth blood that’s left. Also, get supply to get more saline down here, now. Hustle!”
The private nodded and responded rapidly, “Moving, Sergeant!”
The soldier took off at a sprint towards the supply unit location. The sergeant ran a weary hand over her face. Tony noted that her hands and sleeves were bloody. She waved at the Valkyrie pad crewman to get their attention. When one of them straightened up, she yelled through cupped hands, “SIX MINUTES!! SIX MINUTES!!” The helmeted and goggled soldiers working on the pad paused at this, then one of them shot a thumb in the air. They resumed their activities with a flurry.
Tony turned abruptly and moved towards the operations center. A few minutes later he stepped into the dim command center. Colonel Assad and Lieutenant Colonel Androvich stood there, talking to Elizabeth and one of the surgeons. At his entry, Colonel Assad motioned him over.
With no warning, the colonel spoke, ”Major Harris, I understand you’ve studied Elai psychology?” Tony stopped in his tracks.
Attempting to recover, he tried to form an answer. “Sir, I wouldn’t say ‘studied’ exactly. I’ve taken the PsyCorps’ distance learning courses about their evolutionary development and hypothesized societal structure.”
The colonel fixed him with a hard look. “So you have taken courses?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Then you’re our resident expert, along with Major Suarez, since she’s encountered them up close before. I have a job for you two.” Tony looked at Elizabeth, who just shrugged. The colonel continued, “The Marines captured an Elai, but shot him up pretty badly in doing so. They’re bringing him to us. This is the first one that we’ve caught here on Paradise, so we’re going to try to keep him alive and get any useful tactical information out of him we can. We will then get him up the Thor’s Hammer when the solar storm clears in a few days. You’ll be assisting Major Suarez in this endeavor. She’s in charge; you’re her right hand and the main expert on the Elai mind. Understood?”
Not knowing what else to say, Tony simply nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
The colonel looked at him closely. “I realize this is a very strange task, Major, but you’re a Marine, and they pay you guys to improvise and adapt. You also don’t have any other duties here aside from filling in as our operations staffer. Colonel Androvich?”
The flinty-eyed Russian major nodded once in acknowledgement. The colonel ordered briskly, “Get the majors here whatever they think they need. They report directly to you, and you report to me. Understood?”
The Russian woman nodded again and said, “Major Harris, there’s a prototype AI-based translator we brought on the off chance we encountered Elai prisoners. It’s intended for medical use, but with some adaptation, it may be helpful. It will be delivered.”
Elizabeth and Tony nodded, silently acknowledging Colonel Androvich.
Colonel Assad eyed them steadily for a moment, then sighed and spoke in a kinder voice, “Listen, you two. I wouldn’t task you with this if you weren’t capable. There’s no manual for this. I’m not telling you how to do this, just do the best you can with what we have.”
They responded in unison, “Yes, Sir.”
The hospital commander motioned to the door. “Get moving. They’ll be here any minute.” Tony and Elizabeth saluted and rapidly moved out.
Outside the door, they paused and traded another look. Tony frowned slightly. “Liz, what the hell did we just get roped into?”
Elizabeth shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, at least it won’t be boring. And at least we’ll have each other for company!”
Tony shook his head and grinned. He motioned down the path towards the hospital. “After you, Ma’am. Let’s go do what we do best, according to the colonel.”
She gave him an impish grin. “Tony, I’ve been making it up as I go my whole career. Why change what works?
He grinned back, and they moved rapidly towards the hospital as the roar of another incoming Valkyrie blanketed the area.
-16-
“Discovery”
IMPROVISED DETENTION FACILITY, FORWARD SUPPORT BASE OLYMPIC
0533 hours, November 21, 2247
“Liz. Hey, Liz.” Elizabeth started awake with a gasp at the sound of her name. There was a sheen of sweat on her face, and she stared up in the dim room at whoever was speaking. A soft light flickered on, and Tony’s face came into view. He looked concerned. “Hey. You were making noise. You ok?”
Elizabeth worked her mouth, feeling the sticky, sour feeling of not having brushed her teeth in many hours, and managed to force the words out, “Yeah. I’m ok.”
Tony’s concerned look didn’t go away. “You sure? Because you didn’t sound like you were ok.” He leaned back, and Elizabeth sat forward in the chair she’d fallen asleep in, rested her elbows on her knees, and rubbed her face.
After a second she spoke again. “I’m ok, Tony. Sometimes I have…dreams.” She looked up at him, her dark eyes shining in the dim light. “Of...well. You know. Desolation. And those things.” She indicated the monitor that showed the Elai prisoner shackled to the bed, not moving. “I’m ok. Really, I am. I’d rather not talk about it.”
Tony nodded and responded in a kind voice, “I understand. We all got rocks in our ruck. You let me know if there’s anything I can do. Ok?”
She smiled at him and replied, “I will. Thank you, Tony.”
After a moment of silence, he glanced at the monitor screen. “It’s stirring. I guess whatever Doc gave it to knock it out is wearing off.”
Elizabeth sat forward, looking at the monitor. Someone had hooked up a vital sign monitor to it, and the numbers were reading out on the display. She frowned. The vitals were all wrong, but that was for a human. For the Elai…who knew?
Tony was rummaging around in the darkness, then pressed a warm paper cup into her hand. She smelled it and looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “Chamomile?”
The slender Marine shrugged. “Don’t judge me. It was all I had. My tent flooded, and I lost everything else.” Elizabeth took an appreciative sip, then grinned.
“I’m not judging, it’s just…not very a very ‘Marine’ thing to drink, is it?”
Without missing a beat, Tony replied, “Well, I was fresh out of
snake blood, so…you know. Plus, not being ‘very Marine’ is how I get myself into these messes.”
Elizabeth wiggled back into the chair and shifted her weight so she could see Tony and the monitor at the same time. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I do dumb stuff. ‘Why don’t you major in psych, Tony?’ and ‘Why don’t you join the Marines, Tony?’ and ‘Why don’t you go to Recon School, Tony?’ and ‘How’d you like to get into PsyOps, Tony?’. I just keep getting asked to do stuff, and then it leads to more stuff, and now I’m here in a high-tech version of a trailer, on a nightmare jungle planet full of monsters, in the unending rain, babysitting a scary-smart lizard-shark with an attitude problem.” He paused. “But the company is good, so I got that going for me.”
Elizabeth grinned and shook her head. “You know, you OUGHT to feel privileged.”
“For what? I asked for a rotation in PsyOps Command. I could be writing doctrine right now. On Earth. In California.”
Leaning forward so her lips were a few inches from Tony’s ear, she placed a hand on his knee and breathed huskily, “Well, you’re here with me…alone…in the dark.”
Startled, he jumped back and looked at her. Elizabeth burst out laughing. After a moment, Tony grinned, too. Shaking he head, he commented, “You know, you’re a brat.”
Smiling smugly, Elizabeth answered, “I know.”
Suddenly Tony froze and pointed at the monitor. “Look who’s up.” Elizabeth turned to look at the monitor. The Elai’s black, pupilless eyes were open, and it was looking around the room. They could see it gently testing the restraints, and when they didn’t give, relaxing its body. With a flat stare, the alien continued looking around the room.
Tony poked a few controls on a small device in front of him, looked at a readout, and spoke thoughtfully.
