And Silent Were The Stars

- 4 -

Rebecca finished her rounds. It didn't take long. Except for a couple of twisted ankles and minor injuries, Medbay had only one other patient admitted. A tech from EVA team was in the tissue regeneration pod after one of the panels had burst open, crippling him. The deep wound in his thigh would leave a scar but he was luckier than his colleague who's spacesuit helmet got shattered by the impact with the debris, leaving him in the morgue till the return trip. Things like that were not common but accidents did happen.

Rebecca put the palm of her hand onto the scanner by the door. It slid open and she walked into the empty room. Arthur or Doctor Dawson should have been in the diagnostic's, keeping an eye on the condition of the quarantine patient.

The light grew brighter as she walked in, illuminating the sterile environment. The only live thing, a large ficus on the floor in the corner of the room, created a sharp contrast with the white color of the walls, floor, and ceiling. Rebecca came up to her desk and took the jacket off, leaving it hanging on the back of the chair. She put the palm onto the scanner on the surface of the desk and a holoscreen lit up.

"Welcome, Doctor Porter," a woman's voice said softly.

Rebecca sat down and reached into the drawer of the desk, taking out a small container labeled Aspex. She opened it and let two pills fall onto her palm, popped them into the mouth and swallowed. She closed her eyes for a second and drew in a deep breath. Then she turned the pill container around and for a couple of seconds stared at the label. To be used for relief of anxiety and sleep disturbances. May cause side effects - nausea, drowsiness, rash, joint pain, hallucinations. Do not use when pregnant. Contact your doctor if you have any unusual problems while taking the medication.

She hid the pill container back inside the drawer and as she closed it, the small light on the lock turned from green to red. Then her fingers touched the controls on the holoscreen and opened the medical history of the survivor from the colony. She scrolled down to the last entry.

Patient briefly regained consciousness. Demonstrates signs of a severe emotional shock. Blood and tissue sample analysis showed no abnormalities. Medication: Ephemerin 500cc every four hours for the next twelve hours.

Rebecca closed the report and switched to the view of the camera in the quarantine area. The man lay still on the cot, the same way he did when she'd left him during the previous shift. She switched to another camera and the diagnostic's room appeared on the screen at an angle. There were two people there, Doctor Dawson and Captain Richards. The captain, a large black man, was pacing back and forth. It took him only a couple of strides to cross the small room. Rebecca could see the doctor's lips moving. Then, all of a sudden the captain flung both of his hands up into the air and spun round on his heels, turning his back to the camera located in the upper corner of the room.

Rebecca slid her fingers over the sound controls and zoomed in the image.

"...those goddamn crazy fanatics! I will not risk my own men! I will not, Frank!" the captain's voice boomed, his index finger of the right hand was pointing at the window behind which the man from the colony lay unconscious.

"I understand, Leonard. But we were the ones who intercepted the signal. You know yourself that we are the only ones for God knows how many light years away. The Corporation laws clearly state that any distress signal must be dealt with by the ship..." Captain Richards did not let the doctor finish.

"By the ship, that has its own men to tend to. We do not even know what happened down there," he roared, one hand on his side, the other one flying up and down as he spoke. "For all I know, they might have all suffocated, popping open a gas pocket with all their digging in the dirt. Or worse. And we are not equipped to perform large-scale rescue operations."

"We can't just leave those people down there! And you know it!" Doctor's voice also grew in strength.

A heavy silence filled the room. Doctor Dawson looked at the glass pane. The room on the other side was dim, the lights on the screen of the medibot shining brightly.

"You know yourself that every hour, every minute we spend arguing may mean people's lives."

The captain turned away from him and now was staring at the door.

"Back on Thalos..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he spoke, his voice low and bitter.

"Back on Thalos, we had no choice." Dawson seemed to have regained his composure, his voice deep and calm as the sea after a storm.

"Mistakes were made. All those people... Now is our chance to make it up for it." The doctor put his hand on the captain's shoulder but the large man shook it off. For a moment, they stood motionless. Rebecca felt the tension tingling on her skin. She could barely breathe, the silence buzzing in her ears.

Finally, the captain spoke. "I put this entirely under your responsibility. You have forty-eight hours. I do not care if you find anyone down there or not, Syracusae is leaving with or without you." He stormed out of the small room, not even shedding a glance at the man standing behind him.