AMERICA ONE - Return To Earth (Book 4)

by T I WADE

  “Nancy, defibrillator please, low charge. Martha, how are you doing with cutting the suit off around the chest area?”

  “Not good, the suit is too tough. I think you must try using the defibrillator through the suit material. I am sure it will just send the charge through the material to the chest.

  “Hands away. Everybody please leave the body alone. Defibrillating now!” The body jumped. “Heartbeat, Nancy?”

  “Affirmative, there is a heartbeat,” Nancy replied.

  “I saw the eyes twitching before, Doc. I think the body had a heartbeat before you hit it,” VIN interjected.

  VIN looked at the face and the hairs on the back of his neck bounced around as he watched both large eyes open. Two big, brown, extremely bloodshot eyes stared up at him, vacant for a second, and then the forehead creased, and the eyes changed, questioning who the person was that he was seeing.

  “He’s alive.” VIN confirmed what everybody already knew. He was unnerved by what he had seen. The boy’s eyes never wavered from his face, searching for some recognition, without finding any.

  “I’m going to give the patient an injection to calm him down, and make him sleep, in case we are shocking him by our presence,” said Nancy. She injected him in the side of his neck, as the suit couldn’t be penetrated. Within seconds the little brown boy’s eyes clouded over and closed and the 10,000 year old boy went back to sleep while the two doctors set up the heart monitors and other ICU equipment they had brought.

  They all helped VIN lift the boy vertically through the shaft to the warmer temperatures above ground and covered the cold body in blankets to get the patient warm and stabilized.

  “Intravenous feed and a hydration bag, Martin. Make that two hydration bags,” Nancy ordered.

  The patient seemed to be stable, and it was time to see what the third drawer held.

  The same series of events ensued, except this body was six inches taller, looked female and was also vibrating like Jell-O three hours after they pressed the green light. VIN was again in position to watch the staring eyes, but Martin Rogers decided not to use the defibrillator this time; the heart beat was stronger than with the first patient. After injecting her with the same sedative mixture, the crew wrapped the second person in blankets, lifted her up the shaft, and then added the drips. The second alien, or person, now appeared to be warm and asleep.

  VIN organized the lifts up the shaft. He carefully wrapped a blanket around each body and then secured it with cord, making sure that the body remained in a vertical position with no bad pressure points. This Homo whatever, a name VIN couldn’t remember or pronounce, was a small race of people which made it easier to pull them up with the cords, while somebody held their bodies to prevent them from touching the shaft walls.

  The group was speechless; they had all worked hard for the six hours it had taken to stabilize the two patients.

  “I wonder what language they speak,” Fritz mused aloud once everybody sat down to take a breather. “I hate to see how these squiggles correspond to words.”

  “The two look like family. The dead body, I believe, is a grown male, maybe the father, so maybe this is his son and wife or mate,” suggested Dr. Nancy. “I would be surprised if they are just crew members. They will be out for several hours during which time their bodies are being intravenously fed and hydrated. I’m sure that is the most important thing we can do. Ryan, we need to get them up to America One and into proper medical facilities immediately.”

  Ryan told them that one of the shuttles was only three hours out from landing.

  Within hours, the ship rose off the surface, through the shield and was away towards the orbiting mother ship with the patients. The two doctors, Ryan and Fritz accompanied the two patients, and left VIN, Igor and Boris to clean up and ponder the new and exciting discoveries.

  Chapter 16

  Roo, Tow and Put.

  Not counting his wedding day and the day Mars Noble was born, the day VIN found Roo was the most memorable day of his life. At least, that was what the boy’s name sounded like when the Earth aliens were able to communicate many days later.

  VIN helped transport the cabinet holding the still frozen third body to the shuttle, but remained on DX2017 for the next ten days.

  When their spacesuits were discarded and replaced with hospital gowns, the doctors found they had correctly identified their genders. Isolated under oxygen tents, the two sedated patients were continually monitored as the two doctors hydrated and fed them. Dozens of bags of food and liquids nourished them as they gradually regained normal body conditions. Because they had been sustained under cryonic conditions for such an extremely long time, Dr. Nancy suggested it would take time for them to regain healthy, toned skin.

  The patients were still sedated ten days after their airlift when VIN arrived on the mid-level to check up on them. Not only was it VIN’s tenacity and determination to open the final door that led to their discovery, but it was also VIN who had the first visual contact with the brown eyes staring into his. Ryan wanted him to be there when they were allowed to waken.

  “How are they?” VIN asked as they entered the sick bay, or “small area” as it was called by everyone on the ship.

  Nurse Martha Rogers looked up from the notes she was studying on the other side of the counter and smiled at the two.

  “As good as can be expected,” she replied. “The tough time is when they come around and realize that we could be the aliens; that could give them heart attacks. Other than that both patients have had complete checkups, and we had both of them inside the MRI for several minutes for a brief internal exam. There are a few differences, but they are much the same as what we Homo sapiens have inside us. The boy even mumbled a few words, so we know there is cognitive activity. We are hoping that there is no brain damage, or memory loss. You never know, they could be blank patients with no brains at all, but we did see normal, although minimal brain activity from both patients in the MRI, the same as if one of us was sedated.”

  “Not by the way those eyes looked at me with questions,” replied VIN. “Those eyes, even though they had been asleep for 10,000 years, were very quick to question my face. It was nearly instantaneous.”

  “Just remember, they have been asleep, or as near to dead as anybody could ever be,” replied Martha, “but it could feel the same as a normal night of sleep to them, or even shorter, or longer. It’s possible the boy saw his doctor’s face or father’s face before going under, and suddenly saw yours, a completely different color, a second or two later. Anyway, the doctors have them off their medication drips, and they should peacefully awaken in the next hour. VIN, you can go in.”

  VIN remembered that day so well. He walked into the hospital ward which had been closed off from the rest of the ship for the last ten days. Both Nancy and Martin Rogers looked up as he entered. The doctors were monitoring heart rates, and looked tired. VIN was sure that the patients hadn’t been left alone for a second. The doctors removed the oxygen tents as VIN arrived.

  “Since Ryan said that yours was the first face the boy saw,” began Nancy, “Dr. Rogers, Martha and I agreed that your handsome face should be the first face he sees when he wakes up. He is coming to, but it will still take fifteen to twenty minutes for him to surface. The boy will be coming around about ten minutes before his mother.”

  “We know for sure that they are mother and son,” added Dr. Rogers. “A very interesting blood type, Rhesus Negative, and we can say for sure that they are related. We believe the mother is about 25 to 30 years old, and we want an older woman to be the first face she sees; we hope it will be more comforting to her.”

  “How old is the boy?” VIN asked. “And what is wrong with Rhesus Negative?”

  “We believe the boy is 12 to 15 years old,” continued Nancy. “Once we have done an autopsy on the male, we can determine if he is the father.”

  “I think the third person might resolve more of our questions on body structure,” Dr. Rogers sa
id. “We could have learned so much more from his brain. If their family structure is the same as ours, he the astronaut and she the housewife, the mother’s knowledge of flight, technology, and space travel could be very limited. As to your question about blood type, Rhesus Negative is an older European blood group, even though it is now found world-wide and is not that rare. In Homo sapiens, Rh Negative usually indicates red hair, blue or green eyes, a soft non-aggressive disposition, and high foot arches. These two have the high arches, but certainly not red hair or blue or green eyes.”

  “Other traits, which have been reported but not necessarily verified, include a predisposition towards compassion and empathy, high intelligence, and an ability to disrupt electricity,” Dr. Nancy added. “I think we should quiet down. VIN, you sit on the bar stool and look at the boy’s face. Smile or something, and think kind thoughts. One other thing, Rh Negs, like you Mr. Noble—and there are three of us on board—are supposed to have telepathic tendencies. Martha Von Zimmer is the third Rh Negative, and is arriving soon for the boy’s mother.”

  As VIN got into position, Martha Rogers increased the soft music, which could just be heard from the speakers inside the ward. The hospital and the church were the only areas aboard ship where the intercom system could be turned off.

  “Sounds more like a funeral,” suggested VIN, knowing exactly what his partner, Jonesy would have said. The others left the ward, and he was alone with the two patients; Nancy stood just outside the open door, peering in.

  As VIN looked into the boy’s face, he recalled being in his position. He had regained consciousness several times after operations on his legs and could vividly remember every face. The most vivid face was the pretty doctor who told him that he was still alive but had lost both legs. She was so pretty, and her face was still vivid to him all these years later as it was that day. He smiled at the memory and looked down at a face staring back at him.

  The boy’s eyes were wide open and he was staring determinedly into VIN’s eyes. Startled, VIN’s upper body convulsed backwards, his eyes revealing his surprise that somebody was staring at him. The young brown eyes registered his reaction, and a tiny smile etched itself into the corner of the boy’s mouth.

  VIN said nothing, but stared back trying to recover from the shock of being spied on. He didn’t know what to do. Should he smile? Should he wink? Hell, what do these guys do? He looked down and saw the boy’s hand, still with a drip in it, on the top of the bed. He slowly moved his hand and put it over the boy’s. Nothing happened, but he did feel the warmth of the much smaller hand under his. He looked into the boy’s eyes and saw again that he was being subjected to intensive scrutiny.

  “Telepathic, hey?” he thought to himself. “Hi kid, my name is VIN. VIN Noble. I’m from Earth. I’m not an alien. You can call me VIN.”

  As expected nothing happened, the boy just stared into his eyes without blinking. “Sign language, these guys must have used sign language,” was his next thought. So he did what most humans do. Wary of moving too fast, he slowly raised his hand to point at his chest, “VIN, VIN, V… I… N, VIN,” he thought as intensely as he could.

  He thought he felt the hand below his move slightly, but their eyes stayed locked. Suddenly, from nowhere, a word entered his quiet mind. “Roo………………… Rooo…………… Rooooo!”

  “Roo?” he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the boy once, except that the hairs on the back of his neck were dancing around again. The boy’s hand moved slightly again and VIN held it, still overwhelmed at what had taken place.

  Then, filled with worry, the boy’s eyes began to search past VIN’s face, trying look around the room. VIN moved his eyes from the boy’s face in the direction of the next bed, where the second patient lay. The boy’s eyes followed his, and slowly the boy turned his head, and VIN could see the pleasure suddenly light up his eyes when the boy saw his mother lying in the next bed. At the same time feelings of excitement and pleasure flowed through VIN.

  VIN was suddenly just as shocked as the boy. The mother had turned her head and was staring at him hard. What happened next was surreal.

  “VIN…… VIN…… V…… I… N,” jumped into his mind, and he knew immediately that the boy hadn’t said it, the mother had.

  “Nancy, the mother is awake, and already knows my name. I have words going through my mind. You had better come over.”

  He heard Nancy enter the room and he felt her presence behind him. The two patients also sensed the movement, and he realized that he had inadvertently told them that there was somebody else in the room. They both looked past him and settled on Nancy’s face. He couldn’t see her but concentrated on her name, “Nancy… Nancy… Nancy.”

  “Nancy…… Nancy… VIN… VIN” went through his mind as Nancy moved closer to the mother and copied what VIN had done; she sat down on a stool and put her hand over the woman’s small hand.

  He continued to move his eyes between both patients, and he was happy to see no fear, or pain, or worry in either set of eyes.

  Nobody moved until Martha Von Zimmer quietly entered the room; as she did, and as quickly as VIN sensed her, the brown eyes looked in her direction.

  “Mar… tha, Mar… tha, Martha,” VIN repeated mentally as Martha glided forward. Again, he couldn’t see her, but he heard her name come back to him twice, “Mar…… ta, Ma… ta, Mata.” The responses were not his, not correct. He smiled. They cannot pronounce “th” he thought to himself. Suddenly there were several words he could understand, and several clicks in the dialogue, not something he would say, so his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.

  He felt the small hand underneath his move to hold his own, and nobody said a word, mentally or aloud for a long time.

  Studying the face, VIN determined it wasn’t ugly, it just wasn’t perfect. It lacked a chin, just sort of ending. The skin was brown, very brown, but not black. The hair on both patients was a bottle-blonde color and stood out from the brown features. Roo’s nose looked small, and the mother’s looked bigger. The boy had bigger ears than the mother, and other than that, they certainly looked human.

  For the next hour nobody really did anything. VIN didn’t hear much. He didn’t know if the others were communicating. But he heard his name once.

  The next day Fritz was allowed to visit with VIN and Nancy, who was in constant attendance. Nancy told him that she hadn’t heard a word in her mind about anything, but had the feeling that there was communication going on around her. She and Martha felt that everyone was just staring at each other.

  On the second day a broth of lukewarm lentils was being brought in as VIN arrived. He showed them how to eat, by having a plate himself. The two patients, still in a weakened state, were hand-fed the lentils. When the plates were gone, VIN said “Roo” aloud; both patients jumped at his voice, but he smiled, and said it again.

  “Roo,” the boy said slowly, then “VIN.” VIN looked over at his mother, and the boy said “Tow” in response.

  Then the mother said “Tow, VIN, and then Roo,” and the group was officially introduced.

  VIN sensed somebody arriving a split second after both sets of eyes turned towards the door. Fritz quietly walked through the door, pen and notebook in hand, and smiled politely at the patients. Seeing who it was, VIN mentally thought, “Fritz.” Nothing. Again he thought, “Fritz,” and again got no response. “Fritz… Fritz… Frit… zzzzzzz.” He smiled when he got a response.

  “Frit… Frit… Fri… ttttt” mentally arrived in his head from both beds.

  “Fritz, come in; this is Roo, and his mother is Tow. They already know you as Frit, but say Roo, and Tow, so they know you know their names.”

  Slowly, a bond of trust was built up between the new friends. Never did VIN see any anger or fright in their eyes. After a few more days, the patients were helped to stand, and like VIN with his new legs, it took time for them to walk again.

  For the first few days Tow frequently said something that halted conversation b
etween her and the boy; VIN realized that they were looking around for the third member, maybe her husband. When VIN realized what Tow was looking for, he relayed the information to Martha, who returned the next day with the dead man’s empty space helmet. Immediately, the mother put her hand to her mouth, and closed her eyes, the message successfully transmitted. VIN was sure that these space travelers knew about the dangers of cryonics.

  The doctors wanted to perform more tests, so during those few hours each day, VIN worked with Fritz, who was trying to transcribe the interesting noises they made. He even gave the boy the pen and paper, so he could begin to decode their language based on their names.

  At first it was hard to communicate in a language nobody understood, but they began with food, basic to life, and because it changed daily. VIN, Fritz and Martha learned how to say apple, tomato, and cucumber, and Suzi was asked to increase the variety of their food.

  At other times the doctors helped the two walk. Their muscles had atrophied and needed to be rebuilt.

  The most interesting visit in the first week was when Suzi walked in with Mars, and Maggie with Saturn. The sight of the children changed the mother into a real person, crooning and stroking the babies. Even Roo enjoyed the children’s company; when Mars was lifted onto his bed, Roo made funny faces. Mars thoroughly enjoyed the antics. Saturn was a little more reserved. When she looked at Roo with questioning eyes, he laughed at her. Saturn was embarrassed, but sensing that, Roo stopped laughing and held out his hand. She hesitated, but touched his fingers. The two slowly became friends.

  Within a week, the two visitors began to walk again. They were short, much shorter than VIN and even Suzi; VIN walked with them very slowly down the corridor. Tow brushed against his legs inadvertently when she stumbled slightly, and she pulled herself away from his legs, questioning him with her mind. He knew immediately that she was asking about his metal legs. They returned to the hospital ward where he sat on the bed and pulled up his flight suit legs. They were as inquisitive as Nancy had been aboard the ISS and prodded and poked his legs and spoke very quickly in their click language to each other. VIN showed them by moving his hand across both legs, like a knife, where the metal ended. He then turned to Fritz who was watching their responses and Fritz showed them his metal arm and leg.