Operation Exodus

4:8 Cadence

Admiral Stryker finished his speech and moved out from the podium, exiting the building with his entourage of guards and other officials that went with him. He entered the Capitol building when he suddenly slowed, staggering slightly. He began to feel a shortage of breath and his vision blurred. Admiral Thorn and President Roslin who were behind him realized that something was wrong as they looked at the staggered Fleet Admiral. Thorn quickly came closer and asked him if he was he okay.

"I'm fine," Stryker said shortly, slightly breathless, and straightened beginning to move slowly away, but a few steps later he collapsed to the ground. Thorn immediately called medics but he himself checked for a pulse and was relieved that Stryker's pulse was strong and steady. Stryker was only unconscious.

"Get the Fleet Admiral to the Asclepius medical wing pronto," Admiral Thorn yelled loudly.

Asclepius, the only colonial hospital ship that survived, was built on Mercury frame. Now this ship was docked on Invictus and acted as the medical wing of the station, no matter that the station already have medical bay; this was the most advanced hospital in the fleet.

In less than twenty minutes Stryker was on board the Asclepius. Medical staff rushed all around doing their job. For the next few days doctors tried their best to figure out why the Admiral collapsed and why he was still unconscious. Admiral Thorn was with him almost the whole time but as second in command he was also forced to take over Stryker's duties as Fleet Admiral until he recovered.

"How is he?" Admiral Thorn asked as he entered the medical section where Stryker was located.

Doctor Halsey who was in command of the Asclepius medical unit responded quickly.

"Admiral Stryker is unconscious, there have been no changes, and preliminary checks do not show anything wrong with him. His body works normally, a little overstretched and tired, but other than that he's fine, just unconscious," Doctor Halsey said.

"Can you wake him up?" Admiral Thorn asked confused now that he was hearing Stryker was fine.

"Admiral, we can try, but I would not recommend it. As hard as this may sound, I do not believe that Admiral Stryker's collapse and his falling unconscious have any physical relation. It may be psychologically related," Doctor Halsey said.

"What are you saying doctor?" Admiral Thorn asked.

"Admiral Stryker is exhausted. Physically he's fine though more rest is a good idea. However, he's clearly been psychologically exhausted. His mind was too stretched, and latest developments were crucial in triggering this. His mind was strong, but he took too much burden on his own shoulders. Truly it was not really surprising that sooner or later it would take effect on him. This would also answer the questions that I had after I received findings on his brain wave patterns," Doctor Halsey said.

"I am not a doctor, I don't understand what you are saying. Please explain this to me doctor," Admiral Thorn said, visibly nervous.

"Admiral Stryker appears to be like people in a deep coma, with exception that those people have very little to no brain activity – depending on the brain trauma that they received. However, Admiral Stryker's brain is full of activity, like he is dreaming, and yet he is in a state of a half coma, which is a medical term we use for people who fall unconscious but couldn't be woken up. Usually when people collapse and fall unconscious they recover within seconds, minutes or a few hours, sometimes even days. However in each unconscious person, there is brain activity, much more than those who had some serious head injuries, but not as much activity as Admiral Stryker has. His brain works like he is awake and yet he isn't. Don't ask me why, I don't know myself and this is the first time I've seen something like it. The most important thing is that all his vital signs are normal," Doctor Halsey said and turned his head in the direction of Admiral Stryker, "we now only need to wait for the Admiral to awaken on his own."