“Ant arithmetic, Commander?”
“In ant arithmetic there are only two numbers, Chief: Zero, which means anything less than a million, and Some.”
Beth grinned. “Very good, Bobby. Neal Stephenson if I recall.”
“Right, from The Diamond Age. So using ant arithmetic we killed zero of her warriors.”
“And there are zero of us,” Beth Finished. Then, turning serious, the First Officer looked down at the immobile suit of heavy armor laying on the throne platform. “I guess we better get him to the shuttle.”
“Right, Ma'am. I'll fetch a hover sled,” the Chief said. He turned and headed back to the small shuttle parked outside.
“Doc says she wants Mizuki to come back to the ship as well. She's concerned with possible contamination by alien life forms. If you want, you can fly the pinnace back to the ship and I can take over here.”
“No, thanks. I brought them down here I'll see it through.”
That was the answer Beth had expected—an officer stayed with his men until they all went home. Still, she had to ask. “OK, you help the Chief with Mal and I'll go tear Mizuki away from her new BFF.”
“Good luck with that,” he said with a smirk and turned to get the fallen Marine ready for transport.
Well, that's a good sign, Beth said to herself. Bobby is back to making obscure jokes based on science fiction books. Hopefully Mizuki is in good spirits as well.
The First Officer's tall armored figure headed toward the cloud of brightly colored butterflies, knowing that Mizuki would be somewhere beneath their happy display.
Chapter 32
Sick Bay, Peggy Sue
Half of Sick Bay had been sealed off as a clean room and isolation ward. Mal's armor encased body was brought into the room by four crewmembers, where he was decanted by a technician and several medical personnel. The armor was resealed and taken away to have its interior sterilized.
Dr. White and her team, all clad in air tight pressure suits with clear bubble helmets, gathered around their patient who now resided on an instrumented operating table. An endotracheal breathing tube was inserted into Mal's mouth, with a mask sealing off his mouth and nose. He was connected to a heart lung machine so his respiration and heartbeat could be stilled during the surgery to come. Betty examined the wounded Marine with her hand tablet, peering beneath his skin to evaluate the tissue damage inflicted by the Fakkaa RPG.
“Looks like the ileum and part of the jejunum are ruined as well as most of the descending colon and the upper end of the sigmoid colon,” Betty informed her physician's assistant and surgical nurse. “We are going to need all of the replacement intestine I've got growing in the lab and then some.”
“Should I start more in the growth tank?” asked the PA, who would be assisting Betty during the reconstructive surgery.
“Yes, but let's get the wound opening and the abdominal cavity cleaned out first. We need to remove any burned or necrotic tissue. Then we can plan out the reconstruction in detail while the nanites finish the cleanup. Thank goodness neither the ileocecal valve nor the rectum were damaged, and the spleen and liver are intact.”
Betty tapped the screen on her tablet, initiating the surgical procedure. From above the surgical table, slim robotic arms descended and began the process of cleaning Mal's wounded abdomen.
* * * * *
In a separate room within the isolation ward, Mizuki stripped off the skintight space suit she had donned during the trip to the Peggy Sue. The suit was to keep her from contaminating the ship, not for her protection. Still, she was happier than she had been in weeks, safe back on the ship and among friends. Bobby had come for her as she knew he would. Even though he was cleaning up loose ends on the surface, all was right with Mizuki's world.
Though not wounded like the unfortunate Marine in the other room, she, too, had to be decontaminated inside and out. Much of the decontamination was unpleasant, but part of that process was a long hot shower that reminded her of how fantastic modern technology really was.
Shuttle One, Formicidae
While the Marines contained the few remaining Fakkaa commandos, Bobby supervised the tiltroter troop carriers that ferried them back to the Fakkaa landing site. Surveillance drones scanned the area for heat signatures, ensuring that none of the invaders remained behind. Only two score of the spiny aliens survived, but they had to load their dead as well.
The Earthlings wished to minimize contamination of the planet's environment by outside organisms, but that ship had probably already sailed. More than a hundred Fakkaa corpses littered the palace grounds, some more intact than others. Indeed, Mizuki had spent more than a week trekking across the planet during which time she had to answer nature's call. For better or for worse, Formicidae was irreversibly tainted with alien lifeforms.
“That should be the last flight of them, Commander,” the Gunny called from the ground as the alien tiltroters lifted off. The Marines were all ready to leave Formicidae behind now that the fighting was over. They consoled themselves with the thought that things could be worse, at least they didn't have to load dead bodies onto the alien transports.
“Roger that, Gunny, we'll be right down to pick you up,” Bobby replied. He was even more anxious than the Marines to be headed back to the ship. Nothing had been reported regarding Mal's condition or Mizuki's since they returned to the orbiting Peggy Sue, but he and the rescue party couldn't head for home until the porcupines were headed back to what was left of their invasion fleet.
“Aye, aye, Sir,” came the head Marine's reply, boredom apparent in her voice as well. “We are ready for pickup.”
* * * * *
An hour later and eight hundred kilometers away from the queen's palace, the Earthlings' shuttle orbited a large opening in the forest canopy. In the clear space below sat a half dozen landing shuttles, preparing for their return to orbit. In a few minutes, the failed interplanetary invasion launched by the Fakkaa would come to an end.
“You know, those porcupines had a lot of balls,” commented Steve Hitch. “Building a fleet of spaceships and flying across their star system to invade another planet.”
“Sort of like the old time Vikings in their longships,” Matt Jacobs agreed with his friend. “Heading out into the unknown to raid and pillage.”
“They were stooges for the Dark Lords,” said Kato. “Nothing admirable about that.”
“They were suckered by the chillies, man,” Vinny said, coming to the defense of their defeated foe. “Could happen to anyone.”
Umky chuckled. “Maybe to you, Vinny. I don't know about the rest of us.”
“Give it a rest, you bozos.” The Gunny had seen more than enough of this world and the spiny invaders. All she wanted was to get back to the ship, grab a shower and some grub, and then get some serious rack time. “Just be thankful that the opposition was not armed with advanced weapons—we can't expect a turkey shoot every time we have to deploy.”
“Or porcupine shoot,” said a grinning Bosco. “Hey look! There they go!”
“Good riddance,” Zeke spat. He had mixed emotions about letting any of the alien invaders go home alive. All he could think about was the sight of his brother getting hit by the RPG, flying backwards through the air, ending up with a smoking hole in his stomach. If it were up to him he'd kill them all.
The alien landing craft lifted off on tongues of flame, carrying more dead than living. Back to the ships that had brought them so far to die at the hands of creatures they had never met—dark monsters that would haunt their dreams and be used to frighten Fakkaa children for generations to come.
Peggy Sue, Four Hours Later
After a final sweep of the area, Shuttle One returned to orbit and rendezvoused with the Peggy Sue. Bobby elected to use the crew showers on 1st deck along with the rest of the human Marines, rather than go all the way forward to his quarters in a sweat soaked and fragrant pressure suit. Coming out of the shower he was accosted by Zeke, Shadi, and Dorri.
&
nbsp; “Commander Danner, they won't let us in to see Mal up in Sick Bay!” complained Shadi. “He's been in there for hours and nobody has told us anything!”
Ah yes, the pleasures of being in command, he thought. “Please calm down. If no one is available to give you an update on Mal's condition it is probably because they are busy working on him. I'm sure Dr. White will let you know as soon as she has something to tell you.”
“But we haven't even seen him or anything!” the young woman persisted. Zeke looked on silently with a worried expression on his face while Dorri showed a combination of concern and embarrassment.
“Fine, follow me. We'll go to Sick Bay and see what we can find out. I was going to go check on Mizuki anyway.”
* * * * *
Ten minutes later the four of them were in Sick Bay, standing outside the isolation ward. Shortly after they arrived, Dr. White emerged. Stripping off her gloves and removing her helmet, she examined the party of visitors.
“I can guess why you are here,” she said with a weary smile. Bobby, who had known Betty for years, could tell that she was tired, fatigue showing around her normally cheerful eyes. “The answer to your question is yes, Mal is going to be all right.”
Zeke smiled widely and Shadi nearly swooned. Dorri poked her sister in the ribs and said, “See? I told you not to worry so much.”
Recovering her composure Shadi gave her sister a sideways glance and returned her attention to the Doctor. “Thank you, Doctor, that's great! Can we see him? Can I talk to him?”
“I'm afraid that is really not possible right now,” Betty answered. “He was wounded pretty badly and I have him in a medically induced coma to let him heal.”
“How badly, Doc?” Zeke asked.
“I had to reconstruct his lower GI track and restore part of his abdominal musculature and skin. Even with regeneration stimulators it's going to take twenty-four hours for things to heal. Then I need to check and make sure there are no leaks or kinks, and then restore his gut microbiome. After that is done I will think about waking him up.”
“But he will be all right, right?”
“Yes, yes. He's going to be fine. Here, follow Sandy and she'll take you to a viewing room outside the isolation ward where you can see him.” Betty motioned to one of her nurses. “But I can tell you there isn't much to see.”
“Thank you, Doctor, thank you!” the excited Shadi gushed as the trio of young people left, following behind the nurse. As they departed Bobby turned to Betty.
“How bad was it, Betty? I was there and I'm amazed that he lived at all.”
“He's one lucky young man, I can tell you that. Ten centimeters lower and I doubt that I could have fixed the damage—its not like we have those magic healing chambers like on the M'tak Ka'fek. Ten centimeters higher and it would have shredded his heart and left lung, killing him almost instantly. I could grow him a new heart, but nothing his suit could do would have kept him alive to reach the ship.”
“He's lucky his suit stopped most of it.”
“Why didn't it catch all of the round? I thought those heavy suits could stop almost anything.”
“The active armor repulsors did take most of the energy out of the warhead but it must have been a shaped charge with an explosively formed penetrator. Those things can burn a hole through a foot of steel plate. If the repulsors hadn't worked it probably would have blown right through him.”
“That's why I found some small drops of tantalum in his abdominal cavity. He's even luckier than I thought.”
“We don't need to tell his brother or the girls that.”
“No. Indeed we don't. And speaking of lucky people, you can go claim Mizuki from her examination room and take her down to your quarters.”
“Everything check out OK?”
“I gave her a purgative to flush out any foreign microorganisms in her digestive tract and something to help her sleep. It's time release but you shouldn't dawdle on the trip to your quarters or you'll end up carrying her.”
“Did you really have to knock her out, Doc?”
“I want her out for at least eight to ten hours, and knowing her she'd be up and running around otherwise.”
“You're probably right about that. Thanks, Betty.” Bobby smiled at the Doctor and headed off to claim Misuki.
“And take those damned butterflies with you,” Betty called after the retreating Bobby.
Polar Bear Quarters
Pulling his body from the swimming pool, Umky closed his eyes and shook himself like a dog, sending a spray of droplets into the frigid air. As much fun as hunting aliens on the planet below had been, he was glad to be back in the bear habitat with reasonable temperatures and salt water to bath in. Then he noticed Ahnah standing on the ice, flinching from the impromptu shower.
“Sorry, didn't see you there,” he mumbled.
“I see you are in good spirits,” the she-bear said, standing her ground. “The humans are all impressed by your tracking ability—finding Dr. Ogawa amongst all that jungle. I envy you the opportunity to breath unfiltered air for a change.”
“Hey, it was not as great as you think. Breathing the air down below was like sticking your nose into an oven full of garbage. Plus I had to go through decontamination.”
“Still, it was a change, and you did something the humans couldn't on their own.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Why is she being so... complimentary?
“You also made quick work of those spiny beaver creatures. Don't tell me that wasn't fun.”
“It was good exercise,” he said with a grin. “You should have come along.”
“Maybe next time we have to rescue some crewmates.” Ahnah moved closer to him. “You managed to make us bears look good all by your self, Umky.”
More complements? From Ahnah? Umky was suspicious. Normally their conversations consisted of snide remarks and veiled insults.
“Everyone was watching the video feeds from your suits. You made short work of those aliens, both ants and beavers.”
“It's not like I could have gotten hurt, being inside an armored suit and all.” What the hell is she up to?
“Your being too modest. First you save me from that squid thing and now you help rescue Dr. Ogawa. You are a very heroic bear.” Ahnah nuzzled the side of Umky's neck and whispered, “I had Doc White remove the IUD.”
Umky's eyes went wide as the implication of Ahnah's words dawned on him. If I didn't know better I'd think she wants to have...
Ahnah nipped him on the side of the neck and then cuffed him so hard he almost fell over.
...SEX!
Bobby & Mizuki's Quarters
Bobby managed to get Mizuki to their quarters and dressed for bed before the sedatives fully kicked in. The aoi chō settled about the cabin as Mizuki perched on the edge of the bed, her sheathed katana in hand.
“This sword saved my life,” Mizuki said drowsily.
“And for that I am thankful, Mizuki-chan. Please let me put it back on the mantle so you can get into bed.”
“No, you don't understand,” she insisted. “It saved me and I bent it.”
“What?” Bobby was now thoroughly confused. Mizuki was obviously upset, but he had attributed that to the harrowing experience of surviving the shuttle crash and trekking across the primitive planet—that and the sedative.
“See?” she said, pulling the sword from its scabbard and reinserting it. “I can feel it catch when I put it in the saya.”
“Fine, I'll take it to Arin. I'll bet his artificers can find a way to straighten it back out for you.”
“No! It can only be worked on by a master swordsmith, one who knows the proper rituals. Saito-san will be so disappointed with me.”
“Trust me, sweetheart. Your old sensei will be happy that you survived, bent blade and all... as am I.”
In danger of nodding off, Mizuki let Bobby take the katana from her hands and place it on the mantle. He turned and looked at her, so small and delicate in appearance, yet with a
spirit as strong as the folded steel of her sword.
“Bobby, hold me,” she said in a quiet voice.
Bobby held her.
She fell asleep in his arms as they sat together on the bed. Once he was sure she was out, Bobby carefully slid her between the sheets and tucked her in. In repose she looked innocent, child like—not a fearsome slayer of alien daemons and rescuer of princesses.
Looking thoughtfully at the sword resting on the mantle, he turned out the lights and quietly left the cabin. The flock of alien butterflies remained, keeping watch over their goddess returned from her quest.
Chapter 33
Captain's Sea Cabin
For the first time since before the ill fated survey mission left for planet Formicidae, the four principle members of the expedition met in the Captain's cabin just off the bridge. Recovered after a full night's sleep, Mizuki was both happy to be alive and anxious to resume the search for the T'aafhal artifact still believed to be hiding on the planet.
“Yer looking no worse for wear, Mizuki. I can't tell you how relieved we all are that you survived your unplanned trip to the surface.”
Mizuki averted her eyes. “You were right, Billy Ray, we should have worn armor. The shuttle crew might be alive today if we had.”
At first Bobby had blamed himself for the crash. If only I had piloted the shuttle, he thought, things would have been different. After seeing the wreckage he realized that things would have been different—he would be dead instead of Lt. Lewis.
“Actually, I doubt it would have made any difference for Kate and Nigel. I examined the wreckage and nothing in the front of the shuttle could have lived through the impact.”
“Thank you, Bobby, but I was still wrong—we should have worn suits.”
“If its any consolation, I was in command and I let you go without it. If anyone is to blame it's me.”
“Now, dear, I think some blame can be attributed to the Fakkaa,” Beth chided her husband. “After all, they shot down the shuttle.”
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 25