Telstar 4

Chapter 9.

Chapter 9.

As soon as Arno received the message the tunnel was unsealed. He and Beth were waiting when Harvey emerged carrying Sia, who was clearly unconscious. One side of her face was swollen and purple.

"Some kind of virulent toxin, I'd say. She's gone into shock. Hit her with the anti-venom now and then we'll get her to Med Bay." Arno pulled back Sia's sleeve and Beth gave the injection straight into the vein on her wrist.

"Harvey, let me take her now." Commander Storr said.

"No, it's okay. I've carried her this far, I can make it to Med Bay."

"How about if I make it an order?"

Harvey started walking, carrying his still unconscious friend. "The answer would be the same, Erik, so please don't make me disobey you."

Once they had Sia settled in a bed and wired up to monitors, Arno turned his attention to the bug. He removed it carefully from the inspection box and placed it onto a glass plate. As he moved the tweezers the bug flickered it's wings.

Harvey moved fast and before anyone could stop him squashed it with his gloved fist. "That's for Sia," he said.

"Well, thanks Harv." Arno held his anger in check. "You've just made my job of inspecting the thing a whole lot harder."

As he was poking and prodding the insect with tiny scalpels Riley and Tony wondered in to the lab.

"What have you got there? It looks like a cross between a hornet and a moth."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it! Vicious though and they seem to be highly poisonous. We've never come across them before but I'd advise you, if you see one, keep well away from it. And of course to let someone know immediately."

"If I saw one of those flying at me you'd know. You would probably hear me yell all the way back on Earth." Tony was only half joking. He hated insects of any kind but especially ones that flew.

"Can I have a closer look?" Riley, on the other hand, was clearly interested. "It looks a bit like a thin winged butterfly doesn't it! Only with a massive great sting on the end of its body."

Arno nodded. "Yeah, and the fact that the sting is still there suggests that these things are more like wasps than bees and can probably sting multiple times. And that just makes them even more dangerous."

"We'll just have to make doubly sure that they can't find a way into the colony then, won't we." Commander Storr smiled.

When Sia woke up in Med Bay she found Susanah sitting next to her. It took her a while to remember what had happened to put her there.

"Are you okay, Sia?" Susanah asked, then called to Beth who was working across the room. "Sia's conscious!"

Beth hurried across to the bed and ran a scanner over Sia. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been trampled by a herd of elephants to be honest."

"Well, you've been really lucky. Harvey got you back just in time. Another few minutes and we probably wouldn't be having this conversation at all."

Sia gingerly put her hand to her face. "But it was only an insect sting!"

"An insect with a sting ten times as venomous as any I have come across before. You were really that close to dying. I hope you've got rid of them all."

"Got rid of, no. There were hundreds of them covering the intake fan. Only a very few made their way inside and I'm sure we got rid of all of those. We made a pretty good job of sealing it up but I should think the venting system in Sector C is as good as dead."

Suddenly Beth and Sia remembered that Susanah was a guest, not personnel. She should not have heard any details of the discovery, Commander Storr would not be happy with either of them.

"Don't worry you two. I won't say a word to anyone. I didn't hear a thing. In fact, Sia, how are you? I do hope that you are feeling better from your fall."

The three women smiled at each other then the Med Bay door opened and Arno, Riley, Tony and Harvey piled in.

"Hey, look. She's awake." Riley and Tony dashed over to Sia. Arno waved then talked quietly with Beth, while Harvey hung back near the door.

"Harvey," Sia called. "Come on over here, would you! I want to give you the biggest life-saving hug ever."