by Paul Phipps
“There are two transports, one for each of your groups. Major Padgett, I have taken the liberty of scheduling yours to land at the Base Hospital’s helicopter pad. Please board now, we have been happy to have you aboard and hope that you and your people’s futures are bright ones.” Evana told her and then waited for them to go to the Trans-portal. A few minutes later a set of large viewscreens high on the walls of the concourse showed a TSN vessel being released and falling toward the ground three hundred thousand feet below.
They all watched for a few minutes and then Evana spoke again. “Colonel Hernwell, my thanks and the heartfelt appreciation of the Terran Space Navy for the excellent progress you have made on the contamination zone at Niasar. We look forward to seeing you again next week and I hope that you and your people have a good weekend with your loved ones.”
“Thank you Captain Thomas for having us aboard, we will be on the Parade ground at 0800 Monday morning.”
And with that, the team marched forward and was delivered to the small vessel that was doing their transport for them.
* * *
“Captain Thomas, you have a communication request from the Fort Detrick Base Hospital.” The Louis Pasteur notified her. Evana was currently in the Med Center discussing the findings of the Artificial Glands in her two prisoners.
“Excuse me while I take this call.” Evana told the two AI’s she was working with. “Do you know who it is, Henri?”
“They identified themselves as Colonel Flores and Major Padgett, Captain.”
“Thank you, connect me please.” Evana told him.
“This is Captain Thomas, how may I help you?”
“Good Afternoon Captain Thomas, I hope we aren’t interrupting you too badly.” Major Padgett said, “I wanted to let you know that everyone that came back with me is doing fine and most have been released to duty or to go home on leave. I also wanted to give you a heads-up that the miracles of medicine you and your ship performed are being widely touted.”
“Yes they are! Came the second voice, “Good afternoon Captain Thomas, I’m Colonel Flores of the U.S. Army’s Medical Command. I too want to thank you for what you have done for our men and women who were so badly injured.
But as a philosopher once said no good deed goes unpunished.” At that point he sighed.
Evana laughed at that and said, “Well put, I can guess what you are about to say. But go ahead and tell me.”
“In case you didn’t know about it, the Army Public Affairs Office has put out a press release about the Terran Space Navy having requested our assistance in examining and cleaning up a Bio-Contamination site in the Iranian Unified Republic.”
“That’s fine with me. It’s the truth.” Evana said
“Ah yes, but the next part is the kicker. They also have put out a press release saying that the TSN gave treatment to several badly burned helicopter crash victims and not only saved their lives but returned them fully healed as well as a number of other people who had missing limbs totally regenerated and full bodily function return to them.” The Colonel continued on.
“Yes that’s true too.” Evana told him, “Major Padgett sitting right near you can confirm all of that.”
“Yes, I know and I also personally met and examined all of the people you brought back.” The Colonel told her.
“So what is the problem Colonel Flores?’ Evana asked him.
“What is the problem?” He then began to laugh a little and then sounded like he was going to cry. “In the last fifteen minutes my hospital has been fielding calls from all over the globe asking if we can get you to help out in one case or another.
I don’t know what to tell them and I can’t commit the Army or you and your vessel either.”
“Well then, let’s do it this way. Take down all of the information on each case. Sort them by order of likelihood of survival and for how long. The Louis Pasteur has close to three hundred beds available right now. We will take up to two hundred fifty.
Also the Louis Pasteur is committed to finding and dealing with the Bio-War weapon in the IUR. That comes first. We will help others as we can with the understanding that we are trying keep an Extinction Level Event from occurring.”
“Yes, we can do that for you and of course we have our own patients that we would really like your assistance with.” Colonel Flores said.
“I do have one caveat though. I will need help with these patients. I need Human Doctors to oversee their treatment and progress. I need nurses and physical therapy trainers. If these hospitals from around the globe want to utilize our facilities and technology they will have to pay with sweat equity.” Evana said with directness.
Major Padgett chimed in at that point. “Colonel Flores, Captain Thomas is quite correct, her facilities are amazing but all of the TSN people are AI’s. Human patients need Human touch and human compassion in a hospital situation.”
“Yes Major, that is true.” Evana told her, “But more importantly, these people need to feel that they earned what they are receiving. Charity is wonderful but too much kills the human spirit and eventually causes anger, depression and lack of self-worth. As a center for healing and health those are negative results to be avoided at all costs.”
There was silence for a few moments from the Army officers, Evana imagined that were looking at each other in amazement at her words. Finally Colonel Flores Spoke up.
“Thank you for listening to us Captain Thomas and for your willingness to accept more patients. Frankly now, I need to figure out how to put his in motion.”
“Colonel if I were in your shoes I would call up your Public Affairs office and tell them to handle it. They were the ones who made a big deal of it. Now they get to handle the calls for help.
Since I can’t tell you what to do, please accept that last as unasked for advice from a fellow Commanding Officer of a Hospital.” Evana told him candidly.
“Thank you again Captain Thomas, we’ll be getting back to you.” Major Padgett told her.
Once the call was finished Evana shook her head and thought for a few moments then continued her interrupted conversation with the Med-Center and Alessandra the Medical Research AI.
“Alright let’s get back to what you were saying Alessandra, if I understand you correctly this ‘non-natural glandular construct’ is excreting a continuous miniscule amount of a complex molecule that is very similar to the Zombie Drug that was in the Darts we confiscated. Correct?” Evana asked.
“Yes Captain, that is fairly accurate of what I told you.” Alessandra told her.
“Ok, now Med-center you are telling me that this glandular construct cannot be removed without causing the patient to die. Correct?”
“Yes Captain, the excreted chemical is now necessary to the survival of each of the patients. It has completely supplanted several natural hormones and enzymes.” The Med-Center told her.
Evana nodded her head and thought then started to pace in the treatment room she was in, occasionally scowling at the naked man floating in the Gel-Cell beside her. Suddenly she stopped and with a quick turn stared at the man.
“Alessandra!” Evana said sharply. “I need you to run a quick series of tests and simulations with the following parameters. First, check to see if either of these two men has ever been infected by the original version of DE1T8 or the modified version that we found at Niasar.
Second, run a simulation on the interaction of this secreted chemical and the two different versions of DE1T8.
Third, I need to see if there is a way to wean these two men off of this chemical. Possibly by surgical removal of the Glandular Construct and use of an internal drug pump to dispense decreasing amounts of the chemical and allow the body to restart production of required hormones and enzymes.”
“Certainly Captain, that sounds like an admirable tact to take with these two cases. I’ll get back with you once I have some results.” Alessandra told her and then the hologram of a woman Doctor faded away.
* * *
Evana is in the Captain’s Cabin talking to Henri the controlling A.I. of the Louis Pasteur.
“How far along are you in designing the Comfort, Henri?” Evana asked as she munched on a quick snack. She was scheduled to have dinner with the four young women from Ramsheh in a couple of hours, but she was famished and needed to eat something ‘now’.”
“Our inputs to the design have been accepted. I did a research and analysis of disasters on this Earth Analogue over the last two hundred years and found some interesting correlations. That prompted me to increase the bed and treatment room count as well as all of the associated facilities that are required in recuperation of patients.
This also prompted me to increase the number of Auxiliaries of the Louis Pasteur class from eight to twelve. This means that the Comfort will have seventy five thousand treatment rooms, two hundred and eighty surgical and trauma suites and fourteen dedicated Emergency rooms scattered throughout the Auxiliaries and the Comfort herself.
And as usual the Treatment rooms can be equipped with standard diagnostic beds or Bio-Med Gel-Cells as required.
There will be the need for two full size hanger decks. There will be four hundred dedicated Search and Rescue craft, eight hundred Air-Ambulances each with ten Gel-Cells and ten standard Diagnostic stretchers and associated equipment.
This means that the final exterior dimensions of the Comfort are Sixteen Miles in Diameter and Twenty miles in Height. We are going to use the same plan as the Susannah’s; it’s efficient and well suited for the purpose that the Comfort is being designed for.” Henri finished up.
“Ok, I’m sure we can tweak things as time goes by until we know exactly what we are doing, Right?” Evana said pointedly.
“Yes Captain, that’s true, after putting in all of the required engines, Power Generation, Fuel Stocks and the other necessary equipment there is still thirty five percent of the interior volume not being utilized.”
“Does that include crew and family quarters as well as the facilities required by them?” Evana asked.
“Yes Captain, we are planning for an ideal crew complement of fifteen thousand plus any family members that wish to join with them.” Henri told her a little smugly.
“Very good Henri, when will she be available for us to move to? Also you are going to be my Command A.I. aren’t you?” Evana asked.
“She will be ready for work in seven days and fully fitted out in three weeks plus or minus a day. And yes, I would be honored to continue to be your Command A.I. for the Comfort.” Henri said with feeling.
* * *
Dinner was a smashing success. The four young ladies from Ramsheh were visibly blossoming in the new and completely different environment they found themselves in.
“Gelya, the Med-Center informs me that all of your injuries are nicely healed and that the baby is doing well also. Now that you have had a chance to think have you made any decisions on what you want for your future?” Evana asked her.
Gelya had been drinking a glass of Orange juice with a delighted look on her face. As she listened carefully to Evana she frowned a little bit as she thought.
“Captain Thomas, this is all so new to me, I always thought that my future would be the wife of a herder or a farmer or maybe if I was lucky to someone in town that had a shop. But now? This is all so new, so big; all I ask for is some way to repay you for your kindnesses. That will give me time to think about my future,” She paused and then added softly, “and that of my daughter.”
“In that case, there is something you can do for me, actually all of you can.” Evana looked around the table at the others. “We are going to have many, many terribly injured and sick and dying patients within a week coming aboard. I want you to learn English and French and German at first and then I want you to learn how to talk to and comfort these patients.
It will take time, but not as much as you might think. At night when you sleep there will be on your bed a very lightweight hairnet I want you to wear every night from now on. As you sleep and dream you will also be taught these new things.” She finished up confidently. The four girls looked confused and a bit anxious.
“All we need to do is wear this ‘hairnet’ when we sleep and we will learn these new things?” Vana asked Evana dubiously.
“Yes, that is correct, try it tonight. You will be taught English and you will be able to talk in English with each other in the morning. I unfortunately will not be there to see you do it. I will be unavailable until Sunday. So will you do this for me?”
Gelya looked at the others and took on the leadership role. “Yes Captain Thomas, we will do this tonight and every night until we are taught what we need to know.”
TSN Belle, Cornwall, England 0715 GMT, Saturday November 21, 2026
The Belle is Enroute to England to hold an interview with Warrant Officer Class One (Retired), Sarah Cavendish at her home in Cornwall England. The Belle had taken the precaution of informing the English Air Traffic Control System that she would be in their Air Space and no request for a landing clearance would be made as she did not intend on landing.
The Air Traffic Control system grudgingly gave her clearance and instructed her to inform them when she left their controlled air space.
Ansel in turn grinned at the thought that a whole bunch of bureaucrats would be going nuts as they were called at home with the news that a TSN vessel was visiting England and was NOT planning on seeing any government official. That made him smile a bit as he thought about the furor.
“Belle, I think that what I want you to do is to go off of the coast and stay out of any standard flight paths. I think a height of ten thousand feet might be a good one. Just loiter around and attract some attention.
I’ll take Comanche under Stealth to go visit Ms. Cavendish. With you generating some excitement and distraction I should have a smooth visit.” He then sighed as he stood up, “At least I hope so.”
* * *
Comanche had managed to find a spot that was not under the constant surveillance of the enormous closed circuit camera network that infested England. Ansel mused quietly at how such a proud and adventuresome people had been crushed and tamed under the boot heel of ‘public safety’.
Ansel smiled to himself as he heard the tinkle of bells from the old-fashioned bell pull next to the front door of Ms. Cavendish’s cottage. Behind him he could hear the voices of people several streets away lining the road near the cliff edge watching Belle as she hung quietly in the air several miles off of the coast.
Just as the door opened for him a pair of Royal Navy Lynx helicopters roared overhead as they headed out to sea towards where Belle was loitering around. A spritely lady in her mid-50’s sat ramrod straight in the Powered wheelchair she occupied. She still had auburn hair and a ready smile was on her lips.
“Good Morning Ms. Cavendish, I’m Commander Ansel Webster of the Terran Space navy.” Ansel told her formally.
She in turn smiled even wider and then motioned him to come in and shut the door. “That was smart of you to provide a distraction. There are a lot of small minded busy-bodies in a town like this.” She told him in a lilting accent he couldn’t quite place.
“I imagine so; it is the nature of small towns to be like that though. I grew up in a community like that myself. Everyone knows the business of everyone else; or at least they think they do.” Ansel told her in agreement.
“Would you like some tea”, Ms. Cavendish asked him.
‘So we are going to be sociable first.’ Ansel thought to himself, “Yes please, that would be nice.”
After the pleasantries had been gone through and Ansel had been treated to real English crumpets and orange marmalade they got down to talking about Sarah Cavendish and her life experiences in the Royal Navy. Ansel in turn told her more about the TSN than she had gathered from the news media and the briefing that Ansel had given to FOX/CNN a week earlier.
Finally the meat of the conversation was arrived at.
“Commande
r Webster now that we have all of that out of the way, why are you interested in a crippled retired Warrant Officer?”
“Being crippled or being older doesn’t bother the Terran Space Navy at all, Sarah. What we want is a person who can take charge and deal with situations as they occur without always running to the rule book, we want people with common sense, very few or no prejudices and have empathy for others and above all else have the innate ability to reason out right from wrong knowing that their decisions mean they hold the lives of all humans in their hands.”
Sarah Cavendish frowned slightly, “Some of that I can understand but not all. Please tell me why those characteristics?”
