Bloodlines

Chapter Five: When it Rains...

The power returned as they were carrying George to the medical bay. The sudden burst of light hurt their eyes.
"We're almost there George. Hang on buddy." Varley said to the numb looking George.
He had not said anything, not even a moan or groan, as they lugged him down the halls.
"Oh God..." Gina said, staring at George. "Oh my God, he's...he's all torn up. Its not just his face."
"Don't look!" Joann hissed, "Just keep going. We'll find out how bad it is when the Doc sees him."
They entered the medical bay to find it empty. Everyone's face blanched as they put George on an exam table and saw his wounds in light and up close.
Gina was right. His torso was shredded, particularly his right upper chest and shoulder.
"Get the doc in here!" Lorna snapped at Joann, "Come on Jo, you are the ranking officer here. A...and...we need you." She added in a softer tone.
Joann looked at her, mildly surprised, then nodded. She looked over at Jung, who was still in his coma. Then she looked back at George, who was looking back at her with his one good eye. He was focusing on her, but seemed to be still in shock.
Vincent came rushing in, followed by the Captain. He took one look at George and ordered everyone out. His voice said he'd brook no dissention.
They all stood in the corridor, not talking. Finally, Jerome looked at her and she knew what he was going to ask.
"What the hell happened?" He demanded.
"We were being chased by...something." Joann said, knowing how it sounded. "It caused the blackout to get George alone. I know it sounds ridiculous. I do. But it came after us and got George, but the others showed up and it ran off."
Captain Jerome looked around at the others who stood around, not sure what to say. The hadn't seen the creature, but they saw the torn bulkhead and what happened to George...it was proof enough for them. They were terrified.
Before the Captain could ask anything else, the medical bay doors slid open and Vincent came out. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"He's in bad shape. He has several deep lacerations, some going to the bone." He looked pointedly at the Captain, "I need my team, Jerome. All I can do for George at the moment is keep him comfortable."
Jerome took a moment to think it over. Finally he sighed in resignation and nodded.
"Good. He's in a state of profound shock. That will actually do him some good. That combined with the medication I gave him will keep the pain numbed. But the shock will wear off before my team is even close to ready to help. He's going to be in a lot of pain."
Varley started to leave, but the Captain grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"To start the waking procedure." He replied.
The Captain shook his head, "Not by yourself. This thing is now targeting us."
Joann took this moment and moved closer to the doctor to tell him about the smell of the thing. The Captain's head snapped around.
"What was that?"
She repeated what she said and the Captain and doctor exchanged looks.
"What is it?" Gina asked.
"That smell," Vincent said, "Could it be?"
"Spit it out!" Lorna demanded, her voice almost shrill.
The Captain gave her a withering look and she looked down chastened.
"Look, I know you are scared, confused and stressed. But now is not the time to fall apart." He told everyone, then nodded to Vincent.
"That smell you described...it could be caused by extreme cryoserum damage." the doctor said.
They all stood there looking at him. Expecting more. He shook his head.
"As you know, prolonged use of cryoserum can damage our DNA. Its why our contracts have limits. We can't go passed those limits because cryoserum will cause the damaged DNA to replicate, overwriting healthy DNA. Extreme cases have been noted to cause the patient to give off this smell you described. There have only been seven cases of such advanced damage so far. But anyone suffering such a severe anount of damage would have periods of confused, incoherent thoughts. They'd be clinically insane during these bouts."
He looked at Jerome, then at Joann, "There are some who predate the discovery of this damage. Who were already afflicted by cryosickness. They were 'grandfathered' in. Given the choice to ignore the limits of new contracts."
"Does that mean we can find out who it is?" Varley asked.
Vincent shook his head, "Afraid not. Those patient files are sealed. Part of the deal. I can try to get them unsealed...but that will take some time. I'm not sure its time we have."
The Captain looked at Varley a moment, then hooked a thumb at Gina, "You two with me. We're waking up the med team." He scratched his head a moment, thinking. "Doc...can we speed up the waking process?"
"You can. Its not recommended. But heat up their blood as per usual, but also inject some paladrine in with it, the computer can do that for you. It's a mild stimulant. It'll help. Also AFTER you get their blood back in, wait a full ten minutes and administer 5CCs of hydroxadone. It'll give them all pretty severe side effects, like feeling dehydrated, possibly severe migraines, but it'll help flush the cryserum out."
Jerome nodded and the three headed for crew cryobay #2.
After they were gone, Vincent waved them inside. Joanne went to George and found him bandaged and still crying. His eyes locked onto her and she saw a flicker, but then he was gone again.
"Is he ok? He seems so..." She trailed off and was surprised when Lorna put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. She laid a hand on the other woman's and smiled thankfully.
"Well, I have to treat the shock. He can die from it alone. But I have him stable for now. The shock is bad. I won't lie. He's lost a lot of blood and is oxygen deprived. I've given him inhaled oxygen." Vincent sat down in his chair.
"Earlier you said the shock is helping numb him to the pain." Lorna said.
"Yes, it is. Both the oxygen shock and the emotional shock are doing that. The emotional is going to wear off at its own pace. The other...he needs surgery. Surgery I can't do alone. His left eye is gone. He'll have a severe scar the rest of his life. There is not much I can do for that." He thought a moment, "If we get this business settled, maybe one of the colonist doctors will have the equipment to help him."
"Doc," Joann began, then faltered.
He looked at her sympathetically, "I'm sure he'll be fine."
She smiled weakly, but it faded quickly, "That wasn't what I was going to ask. Its about this cryosickness..."
He simply nodded.
"How many trips would you need to take to get that bad? That...deformed?"
His brow furrowed, "That does puzzle me, because other than maybe a pallor to the skin, or cataracts, there are no true visible indicators of this damage. You just slowly succumb to it. To get to the point where the smell would be as bad as you say..." He paused and shrugged, "Maybe above seventy-five cruises? Roughly one hundred and fifty years worth."
Lorna gave a low whistle, "That's insane!"
"This person is falling apart on a genetic level. They should be completely bed ridden at this stage." He added.
All three jumped as the intercom beeped. Joann hurried to answer it.
"Joann here." She said.
"Hey, Jo, Gina here. These people are in a badway. But they'll live. Let Doc know they are not too happy with him." Joann saw Vinc flip off the intercom and shook her head.
"Ok, great. Get their asses up here, or I'll personally kick them here myself."
"Gotcha." Next was some sort of exchange, then Gina's voice came back, "Dr Grange says you 'are no longer his favorite.'"
"I'll live."
She slumped into the nearest chair and felt her energy wane.
"I didn't realize you and George were that close." Lorna whispered.
Joann shrugged, "We're not, really, but we've done a lot of cruises together, and I like the guy. I feel bad I didn't understand that thing's plan sooner."
"Nonsense!" Lorna snapped. "He owes his life to you."
Joann shrugged again, hearing it, understanding it...but not feeling it. Poor George.
There was a sudden blaring of an alarm and Anita's voice came over the intercom:

Priority override initiated.
Emergency cryo-awakening commencing.
All command crew prepare for emergency protocols.
Automated awakening protocols are active.

"Son of a bitch!" Vincent cried. "Every single person is about to be dumped out of cryosleep at the same time. All FIFTEEN HUNDRED of them!"
Joann looked at George, then the doctor and Lorna.
"What do we do?"
"Its on auto. We don't do a damn thing." Lorna said. "We can't stop an emergency awakening."