Gabatrix: The Pirates of Palora

Chapter 5: The Following Day

"Ahhhh!" A man groaned in pain while he stood by one of the medical beds. One arm was braced against another.

"Hold still, Gavril," Folar'sha told him. Her gentle gray fingers were checking the tendons on the man's arm and wrist.

It was the following day. The medical bay seemed more crowded than it usually was. Cayetano was currently with Captain Shira. She was in uniform, lying down on a bed as the chief had a tablet and scanner in hand.

Gavril was no stranger to the ship. His appearance made him look like a man born in the former Russia of Earth, pale in complexion, with a prominent chin and short brown hair. He was a muscular titan almost similar to Stone, but he wasn't as bright, being more gullible and purposely speaking as if he was in the third person.

On the other side of the room was Doctor English, who had already made himself useful in sickbay. His shade-covered face was staring down at a microscope, looking at a set of tissue samples as if he were studying something intently by the office door. Laying down by the office door was his dog. She was resting on her stomach with her eyes almost closed.

"Gavril," Folar'sha said. "Were you lifting weights again?"

"Gavril must be strong," he replied to her with his Russian accent. "Strong enough to outlift the Master Sergeant."

"Well, you pulled your left ligament again. I told you to avoid lifting weights for a couple of days till it fully recovers."

"Mmmm....Hmph.....Gavril must be strong. Not going to be weak."

"Gavril," Cayetano yelled out, overhearing the conversation. "You've been warned twice about this. We told you to go back and forth between cardio and weightlifting. Third time, and I report this to the Master Sergeant."

"Dah! But, Chief, I wanted to.....umm....." Gavril saw the captain lying on the bed. "Umm....Aye, Chief."

"Now, I'll give you what I gave you before," Folar'sha said as she walked back into the office. She pulled out two hyposyringes from the closet. Meanwhile, Gavril walked up to the animal lying on the floor.

"What a cute doggy!" Gavril remarked with pride.

The German shepherd's eyes opened up to see the tall man ready to kneel down next to her.

"Don't worry, Empusa," English calmly said to the animal without looking at her. "They're just not used to animals."

Folar'sha came out of the office with two syringes. She saw that Gavril was looking down at the dog. She took the man's injured wrist and applied the applicator needle to it, injecting a small amount of fluid.

"You like her?" she asked the man.

"Yeah," he replied. "When Gavril worked at.....umm...," he seemed hesitant in saying it. "Back on Mars, my boss had a dog from Earth. Called a....Golden Fetcher?"

"Golden Retriever," English corrected him.

"Yeah, yeah. My boss had this dog, and I really liked him. He was such a good dog. Rocky was his name. My boss was hoping to intimidate his enemies with it, but I just remember playing with him a lot. Boss tended to get upset because of that."

Shira watched the interaction from a distance as the chief occasionally glanced over at the conversation taking place. Folar'sha pulled out the other vial and began to inject it into Gavril's arm.

"Ah....," the man reacted in relief.

"Feel better?" Folar'sha asked him.

"Dah." He nodded.