by Gary Moreau
“Top of the morning to you, Doctor. Heard you were out brawling again last night. Looks like you came up a bit short,” he said, laughing.
Glancy took a firm hold on Casey and without hesitation pulled him to a sitting position, causing Casey to gasp in pain. A reddish tint passed across Casey’s vision.
“Sorry about that,” Glancy said in an airy way.
When Casey’s vision cleared, he responded, mumbling through thick lips. “Glancy, I have no doubt you’ll become a doctor of considerable skill, but you lack an important attribute and I doubt that I can teach it to you.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Glancy asked without real concern.
Casey thought about himself and the young man standing over him. Perhaps even Glancy’s attitude will add to his proficiency. He’d known a few doctors who lacked the ability to feel for others and, in ways, they were superior; they were able to act with aggressive precision, unencumbered by compassion. In the end it was results that people valued, not attitudes. It was a disquieting thought.
“Get me the molecular synthesizer,” Casey ordered in a flat voice.
Glancy looked at him blankly.
“The cube on the counter by the portal,” Casey elaborated with exasperation.
Glancy leisurely walked over, picked it up, inspected it, and finally placed it on the deck next to Casey’s pallet.
“You asshole,” Casey muttered under his breath. He entered the code for an analgesic disk. At this rate, he thought, it would make sense for him to carry a batch of them in his pouch, ready at a moment’s notice for his next beating. The blackness of the thought struck him as humorous and he smiled. Shortly, his pain began to wane and, although still stiff, he was able to move.
Glancy watched Casey with curiosity as he struggled to his feet, without attempting to help the aging physician, and then spoke. “When are you going to teach me the real secrets, or are you afraid once I learn the instrumentation, you’ll no longer be of value?”
Casey studied the young man, who for once was not smiling and apparently earnest.
“I’m not afraid of that,” Casey said. “The truth is it’ll be a relief to have someone else take on the responsibility of being the colony’s doctor. I don’t belong here and I’m more ready with each passing day to accept whatever fate is in store for me. But, know this; if you’re to be the embodiment of my profession, you can damn well be sure you’ll be the best I can make you. I will withhold nothing. You’ll become a first class physician, or nothing. Is that understood?”
The brightness and smile returned to Glancy’s face. The moment had passed. “Sure, Doctor Conklin, sure. I was just wondering. That’s all.”
Casey sighed and hobbled into the personal room to inspect his latest damage in the mirrored bulkhead. His lower lip was worse than his upper. It looked like a tight, purple sausage, but at least it hadn’t burst. He gingerly pulled his lip down and noted a number of small lacerations on the inside. He decided that his injuries appeared worse than they actually were.
While Casey was inspecting his wounds, he heard Glancy talking with someone in the outer room. It sounded like a woman’s voice. Although Casey realized it was simple vanity and ridiculous, he didn’t want another person to see his distorted and discolored face.
Glancy called out, “Conklin, you’ve got a visitor.”
There was little Casey could do. He couldn’t hide in the personal room. He held his foam-gloved hand in front of his mouth and bent his head forward when he entered the main cubicle. It was Lisa Bouviet, of all people.
She was wearing a forest-green scarf, which lifted her hair off her shoulders, fully exposing her naked neck. Despite his self-discipline, Casey was aroused to see the smooth whiteness of her brazenly exposed flesh. It seemed indecent for her not to be wearing a collar. In his experience, about the only time a person took off their collar was when they made love. His face flushed and he averted his eyes.
“Casey,” she said, “I heard what happened. I’m so sorry. Aleksandr and I left when the commotion started. Did you get hurt badly?”
“No,” Casey mumbled through his hand. “I’m okay.”
“That’s good,” she said. “If you’re feeling okay, then maybe you could help me out with a small favor, if you have the time.”
Casey was amazed at the unabashed gall of the woman. How could she possibly even use those words with him?
Glancy interrupted Casey’s as yet unexpressed outrage. “I can see you two have a lot to talk about, so I’ll be going now.” He saluted Casey and bowed deeply to Lisa.
She rewarded him with an appreciative giggle, and then he departed. Casey sighed as he soaked in her beauty and his anger ebbed.
“That’s a pretty scarf,” he said. “Did you bring it as part of your personal allotment?”
She smiled. “No, it’s a gift, just a gift. Aleksandr gave it to me. I’ll sure be glad when the mech-techs finish their repairs on the manufacturing units so we can get some decent clothes, and furniture, and all those other things that make life worth living. Don’t you agree?”
Casey didn’t respond, but Lisa continued as if he had. “We would have those things already if it hadn't been for the comp-wipe.” She stopped, realizing what she had said, the pause plainly placing the blame on Casey.
Instead of trying to defend himself, he changed the subject.
“So, Lisa, what can I do for you?”
“Well, you see, I brought an antique camera from Earth and it seems to work just fine inside the domes, but when I take pictures outside they turn out dark and hazy. I tried to take a picture of our beautiful mountains and the picture came out black. It was the oddest thing. When I first saw the pictures of Aleksandr and me inside the dome, we looked like a couple of ragamuffins. It was hilarious. But, when I looked closer, we looked like I expected us to. The outside pictures were just black. I didn’t even try to make out anything.”
Casey stood a little straighter, his curiosity pricked. “Do you have the same problems with the electronic videos?”
“No, of course not, silly, but I think the old-fashioned camera somehow allows a better expression of a person’s inner feelings. I find it a more creative medium. At any rate, the comp-techs are so busy trying to restructure the computer memories and assisting the other guilds in maintaining their hardware, that well...I know you have a great deal of experience with instrumentation and I thought maybe, in your spare time, you might take a look at my camera.”
That seemed like a safe enough favor. “Sure, I’d be happy to, but are you sure it isn’t just a problem with the film block?”
“I’m sure. I had them transported in my preservation locker and besides, if it works indoors, there is no reason it shouldn’t work outdoors. It’s got to be the camera.”
She handed the small rectangular box to Casey, black on all sides except for a gray front. She showed him how to load the film blocks. When she leaned close to him, he could smell the sweetness of her. He stole a glance at her exposed neck and, in his distraction, his hand drifted away from in front of his mouth. A crease appeared between her eyebrows and she drew back. He immediately covered his swollen lips and tried to draw her attention away from himself.
“You sure look full of health and energy today,” he said, when he really wanted to tell her how incredibly beautiful she was.
Her smile returned and the crease vanished. Her cheeks flushed a light pink, making her even more appealing.
“I haven’t told anyone yet, except of course Aleksandr, but I’m pregnant.”
Casey sat heavily onto his console chair and his hand fell into his lap. This time he let it lay there. “Pregnant? Do you want me to confirm it?”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure. Isn’t it wonderful?”
Casey’s voice was devoid of emotion. “Yes, wonderful,” and then he added, “Congratulations.” Inside he felt a secret, impossible fantasy die. The door of time was shut and could not be opened.
/> “Thank you. I’m so excited! Well, I still have much to do to get the next issue of the ‘Gazette’ ready. I must be off.” She turned to leave.
“Lisa.”
She turned back to face him.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” he said.
“Oh?”
“I’ve discovered important information about ship’s failure. I have definite proof that over two thousand years have passed since we left Earth.”
“Amazing,” she said lightly.
“I’m serious. I had the skull of Grace N’duforchu, you know the guardian found dead on the bridge, dated by the geo-techs and I studied micrograph slides of the stasis crystals. There was a molecular drift consistent with great age.”
“Have you told Commander Slater?” she asked.
“I can’t get him to listen to me.”
“I see.” She paused. “Sounds like an interesting story. Believe me, I truly would like to help, but I really think you should discuss this with Commander Slater first.”
“Lisa, please listen to me. This is vitally important information for the welfare of the colony. Vital! Something really bad has happened.”
She looked uncomfortably at Casey’s com-collar. It was so much a part of him, he had forgotten all about it.
“We’ll talk about it again,” she said softly, with perhaps the first genuine sympathy she had shown, and then turned away and passed through the portal.
Casey sat without moving, until Marta pushed her nose against his hand to get his attention. He picked up the puppy, feeling her fat, warm tummy, and held her in his lap. He scratched her behind her ears and she looked up with big, brown eyes, filled with affection.
Gradually, Casey managed to attain a state of bearable depression and examined Lisa’s photographs. One showed Protonov smiling and leaning back in his console chair, and another showed Protonov with his arms around Lisa’s waist as they stared into each other’s eyes with mutual adoration. So this is art. Casey smiled. It looked more like a family album.
Next he picked up one of the outside photos. It showed a grayish haze with barely discernible figures in the foreground, probably Protonov and Lisa, and behind the figures a blank blackness. Strange. A device that works indoors, but not outdoors. His mind wandered as he thought about the enigma.
He stood and walked over to lean against the work counter. Old memories came unbidden to his mind. The love he’d left behind. Like Lisa, but so different. He could only remember tantalizing morsels, the shape of her face, her smile, her laugh. Why had he ever left her? If only he could’ve seen the future, how empty and lonely it’d be. His heart sagged with grief. Another impossibility. Gone forever. He thought for a moment. She was twenty-six the last time he’d seen her, plus the hundred years of the voyage, would make her one-hundred and twenty-six. A new wave of sadness passed through him. She was dead of old age. Then his thinking took an unexpected leap. Two thousand years. Two thousand years had passed. She had turned to dust and he was the only one in the universe who knew she had ever existed. His legs felt weak. He managed to make it to his pallet and collapsed onto it. He held his face in his good hand and tears dripped from between his fingers.
He sat throughout the rest of the afternoon, finally rousing himself to meet his responsibilities to Klampor. The following day he would begin rescue from the regeneration tank. It would require all of his attention and expertise. He was looking forward to it, a useful task, a valuable service. After seeing to his puppy’s needs and cleaning up her messes, he curled up on the pallet in the lab and, with the analgesic disks disguising his pain, found sleep, with his puppy at his side.
Chapter 23
Casey awakened early. He felt improved. His lips were considerably less swollen and his body less sore in general. He evaporated the firm-foam cast and worked some of the stiffness out of his hand. He would need both his hands today. When Glancy arrived he was ready.
“Good morning, Doctor Liver-Lips,” Glancy said and laughed, always appreciative of himself.
Casey ignored his disrespect. “Contact Slater. For the next week I want all of your time. I want you to be in constant attendance while I perform the rescue of Klampor from the regenerator.”
Glancy slowly shook his head. “I don't know. Commander Slater usually”
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. It’s not a request. It’s an order.”
Glancy shrugged and punched in Slater’s code. After a brief, whispered exchange, he turned back to Casey. “You’ve got it. I’m fully at your disposal, Chief Medical Officer Conklin.”
“Good. Your first duty is to clean up Marta’s mess over there in the corner,” Casey said with a satisfied smile.
“Now just a minute!” Glancy began, but then managed to find the humor in it and chuckled along with Casey. “You are the chief of shit and those of us who serve, salute you.”
After Glancy had carried out his lesser duty, the two of them adjourned to the treatment room. For the next week Tabor Klampor was never alone. Gradually the metabolic boosters, circulatory assist, and extracorporeal respirator, were withdrawn. Meanwhile, in a controlled, step-by-step process, Klampor’s metabolism was returned to the control of his intrinsic autonomic and endocrine systems. It required finesse, but went smoothly. By the end of the week the rescue had been accomplished and Tabor Klampor was once again an individually functioning organism, merely sedated.
The following day, the sedation was reversed. Tabor awakened disoriented and Casey had to restrain him while he screamed and tried to escape the burning current that was his last coherent memory. As his awareness returned to the present, he recognized that he was in a medical unit. The fear began to subside when he recognized the white jumpsuits of the two doctors who were bending over him. He gained a modicum of trust and listened to their words, which began to take on meaning.
“Tabor,” Casey had been repeating, “you’re all right. You’re safe. You’re with friends.”
Tabor’s eyes became focused. He was beginning to understand.
“Tabor,” Casey continued, “you’ve had a serious accident, but now you’ve fully recovered. You’re on the new planet, Eden.”
“How is Erik?” Tabor asked as he raised himself up on his elbows.
“I’m sorry,” Casey replied, “we weren’t able to save Erik.”
Tabor slumped back onto the recovery table as he digested the shock of his friend’s death. It was some time before he spoke again. “What happened, Doctor?”
“We’re not really sure,” Casey answered. “I know it’s painful for you but, if you’re able, I’d like you to tell us what you remember.”
Tabor closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he relived those moments of terror. Although he kept his eyes shut he began to speak. “Erik and I had just completed the final inspection of the transformer and we were walking back toward the crowd that was watching. I remember I was excited, in a hurry to witness the first dome solidify, and was ahead of Erik when I heard a sputtering and crackling. I turned and saw Erik was already running back toward the transformer, to shut it down. I started running after him.”
Tabor stopped and swallowed. When he began again, his voice was shaky. “Erik was probably twenty meters ahead of me when suddenly he jerked upward, as if he’d run into something, and then fell to the grass. I could smell ozone and singed hair. I ran...and then, I don't know. It was as if my legs were being pierced by red hot wires.” He shook his head. “I can’t remember anything more.” After a few minutes his breathing quieted.
“Did you see an arc?” Casey asked.
Tabor reflected for a moment before answering. “No...there was no arc. It was as if Erik and I had run into a conducting pool, filled with energy leaking out of the transformer, but that’s impossible. We were wearing insulator sandals.” He paused. “It’s as if we were ankle deep, but I distinctly remember the ground was dry.” He looked, questioning and confused at Casey.
Casey just shook his head.
“That’s enough, Tabor. I’ve contacted Mika Ishida and informed her that you would be rejoining them today. He handed Tabor the red suit of a power-tech. “Why don’t you put this on. Mister Glancy and I will try to bring you up to date. You’ve had quite a sleep.”
While Casey spoke, his little dog dutifully sat in Tabor’s lap and allowed herself to be petted and pampered. When Casey judged Tabor had stabilized mentally as well as physically, he asked Tabor if he thought he was ready to rejoin his section.
“Yes,” Tabor answered, hesitantly, “I think so. Will you be coming with me?”
“I think it is better if Mister Glancy accompanies you,” Casey said.
There was a sudden look of recognition on Tabor’s face. “Aren’t you the doctor who murdered Mitch Klaus?”
Although Casey still couldn't remember the events of that day clearly, he was convinced that he had indeed killed an innocent man. He bent his head in shame and in a nearly inaudible voice said, “Yes, that was me.” Then he looked up, straight into Tabor’s eyes, and rushed on, “but you have to understand. I didn’t know what I was doing.” Casey’s gaze drifted back to the deck. Marta jumped down from Tabor’s lap and put her paws on Casey’s legs, looking upward at his downturned face.
Glancy assisted Tabor to his feet. When Casey heard the “swish” of the portal, he sat down on a stool. Tabor had not thanked Casey for saving his life, but Casey hadn’t really expected gratitude. He had merely been fulfilling his function; it was what others expected of him and what he expected of himself.
He slowly straightened out his stiff knees and sore back in order to stand. Holding onto the recovery table edge, he scooped up his little dog and left the medical suite. He went down to his favorite place, the top of the storage bay ramp. While he stood there, Marta jumped at his motionless feet and played with him, even though his attention was directed elsewhere.
It wasn’t long before he spotted Glancy’s white jumpsuit as he walked across the grassy yard toward the ship. There should be dogs running around out there, he thought. But, there were only colonists. The grass was as pristine as the first day he’d seen it. There were no trampled areas or paths between the domes. From appearances, it looked like the domes had sprouted straight from the ground and humanity had yet to arrive and leave the inevitable trail of their daily activities.