Children Of Gaia

Chapter 11

Maddison sat staring out the Behemoth window as rain fell and the puddles swelled. The sky had started to clear and she was growing more anxious by the minute. "It's been three and a half weeks, why aren't you sending someone out to find them?" she demanded furiously.

"Please try to relax, I told him four was the deadline and I'm sticking to it. There's no point worrying about something we can't control," reasoned Niezen. Their conversation was cut short by wailing coming from the edge of the village.

Argus had returned, alone, and missing his left arm.

"Medic!" called the first Trooper to sight the injury. Drusai blood as it turned out, was reliant on iron for haemoglobin just as most life from Earth. Those nearby, both human and Drusai descended into panic at the sight of the disfigured Drusai. There in the centre stood Maddison, her gaze fixed on Argus, her face seemingly absent. She dropped to her knees still unable to manifest sound, her hands trembling. Niezen noticed her but decided to address it later as he rushed to aid Argus. Amidst all the chaos Argus seemed to be the least disturbed. He had already bound his remaining stump back to the shoulder to contain bleeding but his body was riddled with dozens of smaller wounds.

The Medic had Argus lay down as he assessed the wounds, "Sir start to unwrap as I prepare to insert the sealant," he instructed Niezen.

"Got it!" replied Niezen as he removed the safety catch from the wound sealant applicator and handed it to the Medic, "but are we sure this won't cause more damage to them?"

"Of course we aren't, but he's going to bleed out without us doing something to stop the bleeding. We have to treat his injuries as best we can with what we've got," the Medic reasoned as he inspected the would being unveiled. "Get ready, and, now," said the Medic as Niezen carefully peeled back the layers of blood soaked bandages and Argus' wound started to pour like a slow tap. Only guessing as to the anatomy of the Drusai, the Medic wedged the nozzle into the source of the bleed and depressed the trigger. The medical sealant overflowed, spewing out from the site and within seconds the bleeding had almost completely ceased. Having gone through two additional canisters the wound was stable and the Medic wrapped it with fresh bandages. Satisfied with Argus' arm, he then turned his attention to the minor wounds that riddled Argus' body.

"These look like case-less wounds, there's so many, I can't believe he's still alive," Niezen muttered in disbelief.

The Medic pulled out his portable scanner putting it to work, "actually Sir, it appears he was caught in some sort of blast. These are all shrapnel wounds and I can only assume that's how he lost the arm. I have to remove the fragments immediately, some of the openings are already beginning to close," he stressed.

Ronai and Argai joined them to check on Argus and to see if they could help. Despite his son's condition, Argai was well composed.

"Our medic has to remove the metal inside," Niezen explained to Ronai and Argai as he pointed to the smaller wounds. Argai rubbed his son's head then sat down silently to observe.

Ronai looked at Niezen and nodded. He then placed his hand on Argus' forehead. Instantly Argus slipped out of consciousness and Ronai pointed at the Medic, "sleep, you remove now."

The Medic was completely out of his depth and looked to Niezen for confirmation that came in the form of a nod.

After almost two hours of surgery, all forty seven pieces of shrapnel were removed and the wounds sealed. Argus was bandaged and left to rest in a quiet hut as Niezen went to speak with Ronai. He found Ronai alone in his hunt, "did he tell you what happened?" Niezen asked slowly.

"Big boom!" Ronai exclaimed whilst throwing up his arms.

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that. What about the others, did he say what happened to them?" pleaded Niezen. Just as he had finished his question Maddison entered Ronai's hut, "Maddison please just wait-"