by David Adams
*****
Infirmary
TFR Beijing
One day later
LIGHT.
THE FIRST THING SHE could see was only light, the bright haze of fluorescent globes flooding her eyes. She squinted to try to keep the glare out, tears coming as the eye’s instinctive response to the bright light kicked in. Rather than fight the sting, Liao surrendered and let her eyes close completely.
Groggily trying to remember how she got here, Liao wondered if she was drugged. She could feel that her head was heavily bandaged, along with her shoulder. She had woken up like this right after arriving in Canberra, after the attacks on Earth. For a moment, she had to fight down a wave of panic as old memories spoke to her, piercing the sleep-haze she found herself in. With a conscious effort, Liao reminded herself that she was not back under the rubble of the building in Sydney. There was far too much light for that, and the smell of hospital was too strong for it to be a false memory.
Her shoulder was full of pain, and her head throbbed. Forcing her eyes open, Liao saw with blurry vision the brightly lit infirmary of her ship, surrounded by various machines displaying all manner of incomprehensible information. Among the mess of information, she saw a heart rate monitor and noticed her heart rate was higher than anticipated. A moment later, a wave of pain washed over her whole body, so strong she was forced to clench her teeth shut; she wondered why she had not been given morphine, as she had when her hip had been sliced open during the attacks.
Perhaps it was just coming up on another medication period and the pain had woken her up. Determined to find both the answer and something to quell the agony, she tried to sit up, but the sharp, stinging burn deep in her shoulder was far too powerful for that. She fell back against the bed, emitting a soft yelp of pain, which attracted the attention of the nearby doctor.
“Ah, Captain Liao. I’m glad you’re awake.”
Liao rubbed her heavily bandaged shoulder, giving the Persian man her best smile. “Doctor Saeed, am I glad to see you. Now, drugs. Gimme.”
The doctor regarded her, raising an eyebrow. “Isn’t a little suffering good for the soul?”
Liao groaned. “What happened? All I remember is Summer shooting some Toralii, and I told her, if she discharges a weapon on my ship again I’d kill her… so she’s due for a… killing.”
Saeed didn’t answer the question right away. When he did, he took a deep breath, a sign that someone was about to deliver some bad news.
“The Sydney did a very complete search and, I’m sorry… there’s no sign of the Tehran, nor the Toralii ship, aside from some wreckage… but not nearly enough to account for the mass of both ships.”
Liao’s eyes widened. “Did… did they jump away? How? We had the gravity mines active.”
“To be perfectly honest, we’re not sure what happened, but we’re looking into it. I recommend you hope for the best but expect the worst.” He gave a tired, sad chuckle. “Not every hero lives to fight another day. I’m sorry.”
She closed her eyes again, sucking in her breath, trying to steady herself. The news was far too much for her to process at the moment, and she filed the potential loss of James away for later. “Okay. What’s the good news?”
Saeed gave a sad smile. “I don’t recall saying there was any, Captain.”
Liao stared at him for a moment. “I guess not.” She closed her eyes and took a breath. “What happened to the Sydney after I blacked out? How are they faring? What can you—”
Saeed raised a hand to placate her. “The Sydney is just fine; don’t you worry. They’re currently guiding us back to the lunar drydock. We’ll be there for some time. Basically, every major system is damaged or completely out of action, and there’s a lot of work to do to make us spaceworthy again. We’re running Rowe off her feet, but… to be honest, I think she’s happy for the distraction. The battle shook her up pretty badly. Alex is helping her, emotionally, now that he’s out of surgery. These things, things like combat stress reaction, they take time to heal. That’s what she needs right now… just time. That and counselling, which I believe she’s attending.”
The mention of Rowe got Liao’s attention. She wanted to ask about the casualty count… about the rest of the operations crew whom she had led into a catastrophic battle. Liao tried to sit up again, but the pain won out; instead, she settled for propping herself up on her elbows. “What happened to Jiang, Ling, Dao… Saara?”
Saeed patted her healthy shoulder. “I’ll fill you in later. There’s no need to trouble you for the moment. Just rest.”
“No. They’re my crew. I need to know.”
Saeed shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Captain. There’s a long list of wounded and deceased. To go through them would take more time than I have right now, so I have to insist—”
“I’ll pull rank.”
Saeed smiled wryly. “Doctor-patient confidentiality. Sorry, I win.”
The man put a small injection into her IV, and Liao closed her eyes, expecting the soothing flood of painkillers to come and take her pain away… and was fairly chagrined when it did not.
“That’s just an antibiotic,” Saeed explained. “I’m afraid we can’t give you heavy drugs in your condition.”
Liao stared at him curiously. She instinctively reached up for her shoulder with her good hand, rubbing it slightly. “What do you mean?”
Saeed frowned, cocking his head. “I… I merely assumed you already knew. You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
“Perhaps it’s just the concussion, but… no. I have no idea.” A surge of panic ran through her. “It’s my shoulder, isn’t it? I’m going to get invalided out. You’re going to recommend me for discharge.”
Whatever wound she had obtained, she knew if Saeed was making a fuss, it might be serious enough to end her career. Military fitness tests could be particularly brutal; if she couldn’t do a certain amount of push-ups, it wouldn’t matter how good she was at being a commanding officer. She would be out. An honourable discharge, yes, and one where they would pin your chest with dozens of medals and honour your name but still kick you out to go die on a farm somewhere.
That was no life for her. She would do whatever it took to get herself fit enough to serve again. This ship was her home, and the crew was her family. They had come through so much together, so much pain and agony and loss, that to leave them alone was entirely inconceivable.
Liao’s mind whirled. She would try experimental surgery, perhaps seek a special exception. Was it muscle or ligament damage? There might be a way to repair it if she was prepared to go through the physiotherapy required. It would be painful, yes, extraordinarily so, but she was prepared to do it.
Doctor Saeed smiled warmly, reaching down and patting her on her heavily bandaged shoulder. Liao thought for a moment that it might hurt, but the bandages were thick enough to prevent pain.
“No, it’s not your shoulder.”
There was a pause as Saeed regarded her, the corners of his mouth curling up in a friendly, warm smile.
“You’re pregnant.”
To Be Continued in Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi…
The Lacunaverse
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