As he droned on, Aaron whispered to his superior. ‘Cheeky bastard, ain’t he, sir?’
Finally Dillon stepped in front of his fellow prisoner, his resonant voice soft but firm. ‘What brother means to say is that we view the presence of any outsider, especially a woman, as a violation of the harmony, a potential break of the spiritual unity that gets us through each day and keeps us sane. You hear what I say, Superintendent? You take my meaning?’
Andrews met Dillon’s gaze unflinchingly. ‘Believe me, we are well aware of your feelings in this matter. I assure you, all of you, that everything will be done to accommodate your concerns and that this business will be rectified as soon as possible. I think that’s in everyone’s best interest.’ Murmurs rose from the crowd.
‘You will be pleased to know that I have already requested a rescue team. Hopefully, they will be here inside of a week to evacuate her ASAP.’ Someone in the middle spoke up. ‘A week, Superintendent? Nobody can get here that fast. Not from anywhere.’
Andrews eyed the man. ‘Apparently there’s a ship in transit to Motinea. She’s been in the program for months. This is an emergency. There are rules even the Company has to comply with. I’m sure they’ll contact her, kick at least a pilot out of deep sleep, and divert her our way to make the pickup. And that will put an end to that.’
He knew no such thing, of course, but it was the logical course of action for the Company to take and he felt a certain confidence in presupposing. If the ship bound for Motinea didn’t divert, then he’d deal with the situation as required. One potential crisis at a time.
He glanced up at Clemens. ‘Have you had enough time to make an evaluation?’
The tech crossed his arms diffidently across his chest. ‘Sort of. Best I can manage, with what we have here.’
‘Never mind the complaints. What’s her medical status?’
Clemens was well aware that every eye in the room was suddenly focused on him, but he didn’t acknowledge them, keeping his attention on the superintendent. ‘She doesn’t seem too badly damaged. Mostly just bruised and banged up. One of her ribs may be broken. If so it’s only a stress fracture. What is potentially more dangerous is that she came out of deep sleep too abruptly.’ He paused to collect his thoughts.
‘Look, I’m just a general tech and even I can see that she’s going to need specialist attention. Somebody gets whacked out of deep sleep early, without the appropriate biophysical prep, and there can be all kinds of problems. Unpredictable side effects,
latent respiratory and circulatory complications,
cellular disruptions that sometimes don’t manifest themselves for days or weeks — stuff I wouldn’t begin to know how to diagnose, much less properly treat. For her sake I hope that rescue ship carries full medical facilities.’
‘Will she live?’ Andrews asked him.
The tech shook his head in quiet wonder. The superintendent was good at hearing only what he wanted to hear.
‘Assuming nothing shows up later, I think she’ll be fine. But don’t quote me on that. Especially to a registered physician.’
‘What’re you afraid of?’ Someone sniggered behind him.
‘Bein’ accused of malpractice?’Inclement laughter rose from some in the group.
Andrews stepped on it quickly, before Clemens or anyone else could reply. ‘Look, none of us here is naive. It’s in everybody’s best interests if the woman doesn’t come out of the infirmary until the rescue team arrives. And certainly not without an escort. Out of sight, out of mind, right?’ No one chose to comment one way or the other. ‘So we should all stick to our set routines and not get unduly agitated. Correct? All right.’ He rose. ‘Thank you, gentlemen.’
No one moved. Dillon turned and spoke softly. ‘Okay.’
The assemblage began to break up, the men to return to their daily tasks. Andrews was not miffed by the slight. It was a small gesture by the prisoners, and he was willing to allow small gestures. It let some of the pressure off, mitigated their need to attempt big ones.
The meeting had gone as well as could have been expected.
He felt he’d dealt with the situation properly, putting a stop to rumour and speculation before it could get out of hand. Aaron at his side, he headed back to his office.
A more informative response from the Company would have been helpful, however.
Clemens found his exit blocked by Dillon. ‘Something on your mind?’
The big man looked concerned. ‘Pill pusher. You should be careful of this woman.’
Clemens smiled. ‘She’s not in any condition to cause much trouble. Don’t we owe all God’s children a fighting chance?’
‘We don’t know whose child she is.’ The two men stared at each other a moment longer. Then Dillon moved aside to let the tech pass. His gaze followed Clemens until he stepped through the portal leading to tunnel D.
The woman lay motionless on the bed, for a change not moaning, not dreaming. Clemens checked the IV pack taped to her arm. Without knowing the specifics of her condition he’d been forced to treat her for general debilitation. In addition to glucose and sucrose the pack contained a broad range of tolerant antibiotics in solution, REM-sleep modifiers, and painkillers. The tough ID tag she’d been wearing had been damaged in the crash, so he’d been forced to treat her without the crucial information it contained. He’d monitored her carefully for any signs of rejection and was relieved when none manifested themselves. At least she wasn’t allergic to anything he’d pumped into her system so far.
He was gratified to see that the armpack was nearly empty.
That meant her body was making good use of the rehab solution. The readouts on the VS checker as he passed it over her chest and skull stayed green. Thus encouraged, he slipped a capsule into the injector and turned her arm slightly to expose more of the tricep.
Her eyes snapped open as if she’d only been faking sleep.
Startled by the speed of her reaction, he hesitated. She indicated the device in his hand.
‘What’s that?’
‘General site injector.’
‘I can see that. You know what I mean.’
He smiled slightly. ‘A light cocktail of my own devising. Sort of an eye-opener.
Adrenaline,
some selected designer endorphins, a couple of mystery proteins. For flavour. I think your body’s recovered sufficiently to metabolize them. Five minutes after they’ve dispersed through your system you’ll feel a lot better than you do now.?
She continued to eye him warily. ‘Are you a doctor?’
He shrugged and looked away momentarily, as if the question made him uncomfortable. ‘General med tech. I’ve only got a 3-C rating. But I’m the best you’re going to find around here.’ He leaned forward, eyes narrowing as he inspected her hair appraisingly. ‘I really ought to shave your head. Should’ve done it right away but I was busy with more important things.’
This admission caused Ripley to sit bolt upright in the bed, clutching the sheet protectively to her neck.
‘Take it easy. I’m no murderer. Though you’ll find them here.?
‘Why do you have to shave my head?’
‘Microscopic parasites. Carnivorous arthropods. They’re endemic to Fiorina. Fortunately they don’t find humans particularly tasty. . except for the keratin in our hair. For some reason they don’t have the same appetite for fingernails.
Wrong consistency, maybe. We just call ‘em lice, and to hell with scientific nomenclature.?
‘Can’t you use some kind of spray, or prophylactic shampoo, something?’ Her eyes remained fixed on the razor.
‘Oh, the Company tried that when they were starting up the mine, but these little suckers are tough. Anything’d have to be to make a success of it on this world. Turned out that anything strong enough to dent the parasites raised blisters on the skin.
Bad enough on the scalp. Damn sight worse lower down.