‘What would you suggest, Bill?’ he asked.
‘Me? Hmm... well, I don’t see how you can find an answer without going and looking for it. But then, I think like a pilot.’
‘Maybe that’s not a bad way to think,’ Koenig smiled. ‘Let’s you and I take a ride in an Eagle.’
Helena studied the pumping valves of the artificial heart with frantic concentration. The test fluid moved through its plastic tube arteries with bubbling alacrity. In spite of that she could tell from the computer test that simulated Michelle Osgood’s life functions... that the heart was just not functioning with enough precise efficiency to keep her alive. The computer indicated that she was ‘dying’ from the man-made heart’s malfunctioning. If Helena took out Michelle’s own ailing heart and replaced it with this one, she really would die.
Helena turned away from the test rig and looked back at her written analysis. She knew that there had to be a simple answer from applied science. Tapping the keyboard of her console she called up a visual image of Victor Bergman’s artificial heart. The film clip of the X-ray showed it beating normally inside Victor’s heart... such a long time ago since he died. She thought he might have lived forever if not for a fateful accident.
The slide changed to a thermographic photograph of Bergman’s heart... the heart pattern making a healthy display of colours. She asked for it to be replaced with her own latest attempt, the tenth, and could clearly see the contrast where the heart valves appeared lifelessly pale. The one main weakness... the one specific advantage Bergman’s heart had over any she could devise. Victor’s heart had a coat of Tiranium over the valves. Unfortunately all the Tiranium presently in stock on Alpha was needed to keep the life support systems of the Moon Base going for as long as possible.
The only way was to find an acceptable substitute. She looked at the test tube that Dr Vincent had brought in for her. It contained a silicone derivative that just might be the answer they had been looking for. She decided to apply it to the heart valves and get a computer opinion right away. There was no point in wasting time on a blood flow test until the more crucial doubt was settled.
She looked around sharply as Dr Vincent came into the room, followed by the massive form of Patrick Osgood. He looked around the laboratory from under his shaggy brows with obvious disdain.
Helena tried to ignore his presence, handing Dr Vincent the check list for the test. Meanwhile she dealt with applying the silicone to the valves as Osgood watched from a certain distance... as if he thought he might be infected by too close a contact with the heresies of science.
‘We’re ready to test,’ Dr Vincent said.
Osgood snorted. ‘Ah, I’ve come at the right time to witness your success.’
Helena tried to ignore the sarcasm. ‘We are trying.’
‘Obviously. It’s just that I have a different faith than yours.’ Osgood’s face and voice grew dark like gathering storm clouds. ‘I have a more certain knowledge of what is to be. And what is not to be.’
A chill of premonition passed through Helena. She shrugged it off and returned to preparing for the test. The dials flickered to life as the mechanical circulatory system began to pulse. The silvery heart began to beat with a regular and strong rhythm. The monitor beeped a steady electronic echo and after a moment Helena’s hopes began to rise.
This time the computer feedback on the heart function was to simulate life, so that when the system failure came, the entire mechanism sputtered to a halt. Helena’s hope evaporated as the heart ‘died’ in its case... another failure.
‘Hmmmph!’ sneered Osgood. ‘So much for blasphemy. Did you think that scientists could give the gift of life?’
‘We’re Michelle’s only hope!’ Helena shouted. She turned away to calm herself, trying to bear in mind that Osgood would be feeling the strain of his wife’s illness more than she would.
‘All right, Ben,’ she said to Dr Vincent, ‘back to the drawing board.’
‘Again?’
‘Again! And again... until we succeed!’
Koenig and Frazer took the Eagle on a long sweeping zig-zag across the path of the Moon, searching... seeking... any answer at all. They could see or detect nothing except the steady flow of heat which swept past them and on down to the face of luna. At least the Eagle’s air conditioning was designed to keep the craft’s occupants comfortable in higher temperatures than Moon Base... plus an extra insulation against atmospheric re-entry temperatures.
It was a reasonably comfortable Commander Koenig that radioed back to the Command Centre for the latest information. ‘...any new facts, new readings... new anything, Maya?’
When Maya came on the screen Koenig was surprised to see that she was attractively attired in a revealing halter-style top. ‘Nothing, Commander. The temperature just keeps rising.’
‘How about tempers?’ He remembered with discomfort his own irritable outburst.
‘No tantrums yet. Have you discovered any new information?’
Koenig shook his head as Verdeschi cut into the communication. ‘Commander, I think we had better prepare to move all the non-essential personnel to the lower tunnels if the temperature doesn’t level off in the next few hours. At its present rate of rise we should just about be starting to cook in here by then.’
‘Agreed, Tony. Arrange it as you see fit in my absence...’
Seeing that Koenig was about to sign off, Helena quickly cut into the communication from her desk in the Medical Centre where she had been listening.
‘John,’ she said imploringly. ‘I have a special request. We’ve got a life and death medical problem and I need your authorization.’
Koenig frowned in bafflement.
‘It’s Michelle Osgood,’ Helena continued. ‘I need your approval to release some Tiranium... just a few grains. It is absolutely essential if I’m going to perfect an artificial heart for her.’
Everyone who was listening in to the exchange started at the request. It was only too evident the difficulty of the decision that Koenig faced.
‘A few grains are absolutely essential for our life support system on Alpha, Helena. We’re using up an extra quantity during this emergency... and so far it seems that our stocks are irreplaceable!’
Sadly, Helena replied, ‘So is Michelle Osgood’s life.’
There was a long silence, a hissing of white sound as Koenig debated his decision with himself. ‘In normal conditions I would take the risk.., but... I’m sorry. It’s one life against hundreds. I can’t jeopardize all of Alpha. If there’s any other way, I know you’ll find it.’
Helena couldn’t hide her disappointment. She understood perfectly the logic of Koenig’s decision, but saving Michelle’s life had come to mean such a great deal to her.
‘I wish you luck, Helena,’ Koenig said at last. ‘Eagle One, out.’
Verdeschi had called together several of the leaders of the Moon Base’s mining teams. They stood attentively in the corridor as Tony held up in front of him an eye-dropper full of clear liquid. From the end of the dropper a small glistening bubble expanded as he gently depressed the rubber bulb. When the weight of the tiny tear was sufficient, it came free of the dropper’s end and fell to the floor. There was a nerve-shattering bang and a searing flash of light.
Tony retained his calmness very steadfastly as he laid the eye-dropper down on a cushioned table. Then he turned back to the anxious miners.
‘As you all know, gentlemen... as it is your professional interest to know... Hypernitro becomes unstable at around fifty degrees centigrade. As you have just seen from the demonstration, the temperature inside Alpha is rapidly approaching that point.’
One of the miners, a grizzled old hand, completed the line of thought for all of them. ‘And we’ve got a ton of the stuff in our storeroom.’
Tony nodded. ‘We’ve got to get the lot of it out of storage and take it down to the deep levels. And we’ve got less than an hour to do it.’
They all moved off together to a travel tube
and found Maya waiting there for them. She opened the door for them with her commlock and also showed Tony that she had brought with her the safety sensor he had requested. Its very mild sonar effect would enable them to evaluate just how molecularly torpid each container of Hypernitro was before they tried to move it.
The storage area in the Engineer’s Section was garishly sign-posted for danger for several hundred yards before they arrived at the actual Explosives Storeroom. The built-in warning system over the door was already flashing a yellow alert before they arrived. Tony tried to reassure himself with the knowledge that it was triggered by a much higher safety margin than was really necessary.
‘All right... everybody,’ he said in almost a whisper as the executive authority of his commlock opened the maximum security door, ‘breathe easy and walk lightly. Bring the trolleys out slowly and one at a time.’
Maya slid gracefully into the room. Holding the accurately keyed sensor she had brought in front of her.
‘How is it?’ Tony asked as the crew got carefully to work.
‘It’s fine,’ she said, ‘just as long as nobody sneezes.’
The work went smoothly enough that half the trolleys were soon out and on their way down below in the lift. Tony kept a watch on the upwards creeping mercury in the thermometer on the wall. It was only at 47 degrees centigrade but the room’s own automatic warning had moved into red alert and was flashing like an hysteric lighthouse.
It was a heart-jerking surprise when Patrick Osgood suddenly strode into the storeroom and grasped Tony by the arm in a vice-like grip.
‘Patrick!’
Osgood growled, ‘I want a word with you, Tony.’
Several of the miners in the room had frozen at what they were doing, feeling even the rough voice of the big man setting the delicate explosive to shaking. Verdeschi smiled with casual friendliness.
‘Sure, Pat,’ he said, ‘only take it easy. It’s a little touch-and-go around here right now. What do you say we go for a little walk and be private?’
‘Right here... right now!’ Osgood thundered.
Feeling the painful bands of Osgood’s fingers closing on his arm, Tony still managed to keep on smiling. ‘Listen,’ he said gently, ‘I’m sorry about Michelle. If only we’d found some more Tiranium...’
‘But we didn’t find it,’ Osgood was curt.
‘Don’t give up hope.’
‘I haven’t. I’m just not going to waste any more time waiting for the misguided fools who call themselves “scientists” and “doctors”. I have had good news. There will be salvation for my wife.’
‘How?’ Tony asked carefully.
‘I am her salvation. I have supreme knowledge. Only faith can triumph over death... only faith can give life.’
‘Yeah, that’s interesting, Pat,’ Tony felt too aware that valuable seconds were ticking past and they still had a lot of Hyper-nitro to move, ‘but if you can just excuse me right now...’
Osgood shook Tony forcibly, so that his teeth chattered together. ‘Go ahead, mock me, Tony. Just because you haven’t the power of faith that I have...’
Suddenly Tony felt genuinely upset, and looked it. Even in the midst of his duty and serious responsibility he could recall that Patrick Osgood was one of his oldest friends.
‘Mock you? C’mon, Pat, I was the best man at your wedding, remember?’
‘Yes, I remember. And it saddens me to know that I will see you die. But at least you will die honourably with the rest. and not flee in disgrace like the Commander.’
Verdeschi shook his head, feeling that Osgood’s ravings were getting progressively more bizarre. ‘Pat, I know what you’re going through over Michelle. I know how much it hurts, but believe me, no one is running away. The Commander just went out on a long-range reconnaissance to find out what’s causing the temperature build up.’
‘I already have the answer. I had a true vision... I’ve seen the holocaust. Moon Base Alpha will be consumed by flames.’
Tony knew he had to get Osgood out of the room. He laid his free arm over the wide shoulders and edged towards the door.
‘There are all sorts of visions, Pat,’ Tony said with persuasive kindness. ‘Why don’t we go see Dr Russell and see...’
Osgood shrugged off the arm violently. ‘You think I’m going strange... you think I’m mad just because I can see the future... because I say Alpha will be destroyed. Well, it will... but not Michelle. I’m getting her and taking her with me!’
Verdeschi reached for Osgood again, and this time the big man lifted him up and flung him backwards. Tony crashed into a trolley loaded with Hypernitro and just managed to steady it from falling over while two more crewmen threw themselves at Osgood.
With a mighty roar he smashed one of them down with a punch to the face. The other man slung his arms around the bull-like neck and was lifted off his feet.
Tony leapt back to the fray, striving to pin Osgood’s arms before he knocked against the carefully balanced canisters of explosive. Osgood bellowed again and slung him away. The third man followed, flying head first into a storage rack.
Maya stifled a scream as the warning tone on her sensor shrilled stridently; a warning that the fluid was on the verge of detonation. Tony scrambled desperately towards Osgood, but he was stunned by the handling he had received so far and found himself trapped in a bear hug.
The strength in the circling arms doubled with insanity and the force cut grimly across his ribs and spine. He looked up to Patrick’s face to appeal to him to stop... but the eyes were vacant... the brain behind them seeing only its own apocalyptic visions. Tony couldn’t breathe and red stars began to flare in his brain as the grip tightened even more.
It was almost like a hallucination when a savage yowl sounded behind him and a heavy, hot breath passed by his ear. He had never before in his life seen anything like the scaly, long-bodied beast that had locked itself into Osgood’s shoulder muscle with a trap-like set of teeth. Its plates gleamed with blue light and red, multi-faceted eyes waved on the end of furry stalks.
With a bellow of pain and abhorrence, Osgood let Tony drop to the floor and pushed the thing away from him. As it reeled back, he turned and ran out, blood gushing from the deep bite wound.
Tony took a gasping breath and stared at the vile, alien creature. He wondered if he too were having some kind of vision. Then the air around the thing became charged with energy and a translucent field made it disappear from view. Out of the shimmering ripples stepped Maya, re-transformed to her own beautiful self.
She stooped quickly down to Tony, desperate to know how badly Osgood had hurt him. He smiled to show her that he was recovering.
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’m glad you got him off me, but you nearly gave me heart failure. I won’t ask you what it was you turned into... it would only keep me from forgetting it in a hurry.’
Maya kissed him lightly on the cheek and moved over to see how badly hurt the other men were. Tony pulled out his commlock and called through to the Security Section. Osgood had to be found. He was a danger to them all wandering around in his state of mind... especially at a time like this.
CHAPTER TEN
Velma Hill was an excellent secretary and laboratory assistant, but she was also a little highly strung and nervous. She needed a great deal of reassurance from Tony Verdeschi before she could be convinced it was now safe to go over to the Explosives Storeroom. She had been instructed to take an inventory of the other explosives that were in stock... all of which were quite safe unless specifically detonated by mechanical or electrical means.
She stepped out of the travel tube to the very appreciative glances of two junior engineers. For the sake of comfort she was dressed in a bikini and its black shape moulded around her tan skin in delicious harmony. She walked on down the corridor in a pertly pleased stride, her ego glowing. As far as she was concerned the heat wave could last forever.
Only when she came in sight of the Explosives Storeroom door did she s
low down. She just couldn’t get over her phobia of things that made loud noises. She unclipped her commlock from its saucy location on the side elastic of her bikini pants and prepared to unlock the door. Then she noticed that it was already standing ajar.
She hadn’t expected anyone else to be there, but presumed that it must be one of the mining team leaders. They were the only other Alpha staff members who were authorized entry. Intrigued to see who it was... and prepared to receive another homage of interested ogling, she stepped inside.
With a shrill scream she froze just inside the door. Across the room Patrick Osgood faced her, his arm hanging down and coated with blood. His face was pallid and damp with sweat from some great strain.
He tried to shuffle towards her, mumbling inaudibly for her to be quiet, but the effort was too much. He plunged forward and collapsed senselessly on the floor.
‘Security!’ Velma shouted into her commlock, voice fraught with terror. ‘Security, come in please!’
Verdeschi stayed beside the stretcher all the way to the Medical Section. Osgood never quite came fully awake, but tossed restlessly, his head shaking from side to side. He seemed to keep mumbling about fire from the sky and called out his wife’s name.
A Security Guard kept an eye on Osgood in the Emergency Reception while Tony went through to the Research Area. Helena and Dr Vincent were hard at work, as he expected them to be. Diagrams and formulas relating to the construction of artificial organs were scattered everywhere, along with empty coffee cups and sandwich wrappers.
Helena looked up with fatigued eyes and took a moment to focus and recognize who had come.
‘Helena,’ Tony said urgently, ‘we’ve got Osgood. He’s in Emergency.’
Helena and Ben both followed Tony back to the feverish man. His eyes were open when they got there and he watched them with steely hostility whenever they came close.
‘How is he?’ Tony asked after Helena checked Osgood over with the bioscope.
‘He’s lost a lot of blood,’ She turned to Dr Vincent. ‘Ben, wheel the surgical lamp and instrument table closer, please.’
Space 1999 - Mind-Breaks of Space Page 11