✅ Project SETI Trilogy

Chapter One - Part II: Going Under

Dr. Ali led Nova to a door that slid open when she waved her hand in front of it. Inside was a decontamination chamber that was airtight when the door closed behind them again. Along the floor and ceiling, several tiny tubes jutted out, the ends of which resembled an aerosol nozzle.

"When I press this button," Dr. Ali hovered her finger over a circular green button on a small interface mounted on the wall, "there will be a beep, and you'll need to hold your breath for a few seconds while we're decontaminated with a chemical aerosol. You won't die or fall terribly ill if you breathe it in, but it's not ideal, either."

"Alright."

"Ready? Stand like this, with your arms and legs out," she explained further as she widened her stance and held her arms out to be in-line with her shoulders.

Nova mirrored her. "I'm ready."

Both of them took a deep bracing breath as the button was pressed. A pleasant note sounded off, and then, there was a hissing noise that immediately began to crescendo. Three more soft boops followed, and then a genderless robotic voice spoke:

"Decontamination complete. Please stand by."

"It's going to do a super quick scan here-" she paused to allow the unit to beep affirmatively again, "that assures there's no unwanted substances left."

Nova nodded with an idle grin that he didn't realize was there.

"Scan complete. No further sterilization required. Proceed to the surgical suite."

The metal door on the opposite side of the small chamber slid open sideways into the wall. Beyond it was a large, brightly-lit surgical suite that held all kinds of sleek-looking equipment. There were a few highly organized carts that appeared to float several inches off the ground from the way they were suspended from the ceiling. As his gaze trailed over them, he recognized the defibrillator positioned on top of one of the carts and couldn't help a slight blushing of his cheeks when he imagined it being used on him. Another had three shelves that held neatly laid out surgical tools on trays, and the third one looked more like something out of a dentist's office: a handful of small cabled tools with various end-pieces hung off the edge in their respective sockets. Impossibly thin but large-sized monitors had been mounted into the pristine white walls, which were supplemented by a few smaller ones hanging from braces in the ceiling. They were powered on, ready to display all types of vital information and imagery.

"I know you've only met Dr. Nguyen in passing," Gabriel said as he turned to face Nova. Dr. Ali had already left his side to make her own preparations for the procedure. "But she'll be stepping in as my surgical assistant today."

"Oh please, Gabe," the bespectacled Vietnamese woman spat at her coworker and friend, offended that he'd dare engage in such formalities with her, even in the presence of a patient. "Call me Julia, or Jules, sweetheart."

Nova blushed. The only other time he'd seen the head doctor was as he was leaving the restricted area beyond the office after the initial appointment. She'd been rushing in to prepare for an emergency surgery, and had only offered a quick hey! I'm sorry, I'll meet ya another time, okay? before she disappeared into a decontamination chamber. But she had been wearing full-body coveralls and a large respirator that covered everything but her eyes, so he hadn't gotten a good look at her before.

She stood at barely 5'4 in all black surgical scrubs, which included the long gloves she had just finished pulling onto her forearms, the disposable mask over her mouth and nose, and the cap she'd just begun to tie to her head. She had a pleasantly round face, which was framed by cropped, short brown hair and accented with dark brown eyes that appeared slightly larger than they really were, due to her thick glasses. Her frames had lighted magnifying glasses wired onto the edges that could be flipped down when needed.