The Grey Chronicles Part One: New Declaration of An Old War

Chapter 11: How Bad is It?

Medbay, the Anarchist, March of 163 AL.

"What's the situation here?"

"Massive trauma to the lower abdomen, as well as shrapnel embedded in his stomach, liver, and both intestines," the nurse ran alongside the gurney, squeezing the bubble on Salem's breathing apparatus. "No skeletal damage that I can tell, but between the ruptured everything and the absurd amount of preexisting scar tissue, his abdomen is just one giant laceration held together by medifoam."

"What the hell did he do?" The surgeon asked, pulling on his face mask as he walked with his patient.

"He jumped on a land mine," the nurse replied, earning a sigh from the Stonehaaryn surgeon.

"Of course he did," the doctor rolled his eyes, "These gearheads and their fucking heroics. Take him into the OR, I need to scrub up then I'll be right in."

"Yes sir," the nurse nodded as the others pushed the gurney into a private operating room.

The doctor was exceedingly cranky, having been woken in the middle of the night for emergency surgery. Not that he could really complain; being chosen to work on such an important patient only reinforced his certainty that he was, in fact, the best surgeon in ten galaxies. The nurse, Jessica, had recognized the Master General the moment he'd wheeled off the Phantom; she wasn't surprised he'd received this sort of special treatment, though she was surprised they'd allow a Stonehaaryn doctor to work on him. After the glassings, she'd have been wary of giving a Stonie that much sway over the High King's life. Though, she supposed it was likely just a vain worry; the doctor may have been Stonehaaryn, but he'd been specially selected to serve on the Anarchist. That alone spoke volumes of his loyalty to the Empire.

"Oh, and Ms. Ward?" The surgeon called after her, "Do try to keep him alive until I'm ready; I won't have the High King dying on my table, tonight or any other night."

Salem was connected to multiple life support systems while the nurses prepared for surgery under Ms. Ward's direction. She was head of the nursing department on the Anarchist, and as such she was well aware of the level of secrecy required for surgery on the Master General.

"Alright, where are my body scans?" Doctor Palani demanded as he marched into the operating room. Jessica looked up as he entered, a file folder in her hands.

"You understand that everything that happens inside this room is considered classified to the highest degree, and that divulging any of what you see here to anyone for any reason will be considered an act of treason punishable by death?" Jessica asked the doctor tentatively, but he waved off her warnings.

"Yes, yes, I've heard the spiel before," Palani groaned, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "Just show me the scans so I know where to begin."

"Yes sir," Jessica said obediently, then she opened the folder and hung several pictures up on a light-board.

"No, that can't be right," Palani frowned as he examined the scans, "What's this between his heart and left lung? That can't be natural, it must be a foreign object."

"We...don't know, doctor," Jessica admitted, "I asked his family about it, but they informed me there's nothing there."

"Well, whatever 'nothing' is, it appears to be moving," Palani looked more closely; there was a small, slender object coiling around his patient's heart, nestled up next to the beating organ. In several pictures it changed position; whatever it was, it was alive. "I hate these top secret jobs, they always turn out weird. Is he prepped for surgery?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright then, remove the bandages and open him up," Palani turned away from the scans and examined his patient, "There's a lot of shrapnel in there, the sooner we get it out the sooner we stitch him up and call it a night."