Chapter 32: Disaster

“First, you inspect me

Then you dissect me

Then you reject me

I wait for the day

That you’ll resurrect me

“Animate”

― Gayle Forman, Where She Went.

Linda and Andrea rushed to Jason’s side, called the Ship AI, and transported Jason to the sick bay, where doctors and nurses settled him into a critical care medical pod. Phyllis, the medical AI, told Andrea and Linda Jason had suffered a catastrophic injury. The AI informed them that the weapon had burnt through his chest, made a hole in his sternum, and penetrated his heart centrally, creating a three-centimeter-diameter hole. The beam damaged the bicuspid and tricuspid valves and all four heart chambers. After impacting Jason’s chest, the beam expanded and cut his esophagus in half, spilling acid and stomach contents into his chest. The shaft damaged both lungs, then penetrated his back, damaging seven vertebrae and severing his spine—the beam liquified seven ribs on both sides of Jason’s back.

“I built Jason a new heart when he came on board. I am building him new parts to replace those damaged ones. He’s on life support while we are working on him. Jason is in profound shock. I am evacuating his stomach contents and the pathogens from his chest. I’ve patched what I can and repaired what I could,” said Phyllis compassionately.

“Jason’s injuries are devastating. Even though you got him here quickly, Jason’s life is hanging by a thread. His acidic stomach contents spread throughout his chest. I found a cauldron of dead tissue, blood, acid, and stomach contents inside his chest. Poor Lord Kargo, I’m fond of him; he’s helped me become a better AI. He does not deserve this. There’s nothing you can do here. Return in three hours, and I’ll be able to tell you more. The doctors are investigating our options.”

Linda and Andrea tearfully led the team to the canteen. Robert and Marie were beside themselves with anguish. They stood wringing their hands and pacing. Crew members and Marine officers, in hushed tones, asked about Jason.

After cutting off his arms, the court incinerated Papa Zora and threw his remains from the airlock. His clone and staff were sentenced to death, autopsied, and burned. The Cardinals similarly forfeited their lives.

“None of them have black blood,” said Connie. “We have no idea with whom the insects have allied.”

Linda and Andrea returned to Central Command to keep themselves busy while waiting for news. The planet was quiet and under control. The troops arrested the senior executives in the information technology, medical technology, and replicator manufacturing corporate businesses and began packing up and sending the companies to Porquenta. With so many troops, Morgan James and Peter Kane acted fast.

Morgan James and Peter Kane reported the Mob attack on Nirvana to their superiors, then contacted the Empress and briefed her and the Emperor.

Morgan James sent the damaged ships for repair and replaced them with undamaged ships. Following instructions, he prepared fleets for readiness.

After Morgan lifted the curfew, spontaneous street parties erupted all over the planet.

The telepaths told others about Jason’s telepathic power and the visions and emotions he created. They could not replicate what he had done.

Andrea, Linda, Celia, and Felicia returned to the hospital. The dogs were woebegone, agitated, and pacing next to the pod. Linda and Andrea patted them and made a fuss of them. Phoebe and Connie arrived soon after. Moments later, Morgan and Peter strode into the hospital.

“Jason remains critical and, despite my best efforts, is unstable. His friend is helping, as is his crystal. There’s a long way to go. I regret that I can’t give you more reassurance.”

“How is Janet?” Celia asked.

“She will be fit to leave the pod tomorrow morning and then require a month of rehabilitation. Repairing cracked bones is not difficult but is painstaking work.”

“When can you tell us more about Jason?” Asked Linda, blinking.

Please return in twenty-four hours. If there’s news about Jason, I’ll contact you immediately,” said the Medical AI somberly.

During the night, Phyllis contacted them all.

“Archduke Kargo is deteriorating. I replaced his new heart with a mechanical heart. It was not coping with the circulating toxins. The nature of the energy weapon is unknown to me. It has had more widespread effects than I expected or was able to establish on examination. There’s a cone of damage from the entry point. The cone is spreading and creating a toxin. I’ve removed all the damaged tissue I can, but Jason requires more than we can do. There are many great hospitals in the Empire, and one of the best is in Uvogron on Nirvana. Uvogron Central is the most technologically advanced facility in the Empire. The doctors and I strongly suggest we transfer him. I’ve contacted the facility, and they are happy to take him over. It will give Jason the greatest chance of surviving his injuries,” said Phyllis with a shaking voice and unexpected emotion. “Please look after him carefully and send many guards.”

The ship’s doctors and the medical AI transferred Jason to the surface in the medical shuttle along with the senior team and guards.

The hospital was the largest building in the capital and on Nirvana. It was a famous facility. The competition for biomedical engineers to research and develop technology and for doctors to train and study there was fierce. Doctors trained in the Nirvana Central General Hospital were highly regarded. The technology research facility designed the most sophisticated medical pods and their AIs.

Four Marines, followed by a further sixteen, including ten Marine AIs, accompanied Jason as he rapidly transitioned through the hospital diagnostic systems. His medical team moved Jason to a golden, much larger than usual but radically different-looking pod. Marines scattered defensively around every area that Jason’s team traversed. Six doctors from the ship closely observed every medical intervention. The hospital evacuated other patients from the five-pod wing. Marines erected barricades and placed heavy weapons to cover every entry and exit. Ship security gave hospital staff unique identification implants. Anyone that approached Jason’s pods passed through three different identification processes. Celia increased the military presence inside and outside the hospital. The troops filtered every visitor and member of staff entering the hospital.

“The doctors attending Jason are regarded as the greatest physicians in the Empire, and the Archduke is safe with them; I know them both. I trained here for thirty-three years. The doctors are Drs. Watson and Watson. He’s Charles Watson. She’s Delia Vergora-Watson. They are ancient and highly experienced. They have worked together since they qualified. They are truly inspirational teachers and have a talented and able team. They can achieve miracles. There’s nowhere better than this hospital for an unusual injury. They will speak to you as soon they have useful information,” said Dr. Frestar Mariboon.

Andrea, Linda, Celia, Felicia, Phoebe, and Marie waited anxiously in the large waiting room with their guards.

Three and a half hours later, two tiny, sprightly, energetic doctors strode in, accompanied by an entourage of fifteen panting interns and residents. The doctors, Watson, looked as though they were in their thirties. Their manner was breezy and confident.

“I’m Delia Watson, and this is my husband and colleague, Charles Watson. I’ll introduce the rest of the team later, but time is pressing, and we have much to do. Thank you for providing us with the arms and hands of Papa Zora and the hands containing the weapons of the others. Our weapons specialists fired the identical second weapon. We have seen a similar but much larger weapon in the past. There’s an ancient evil bunch who created these weapons. We don’t know where they live. They meddle on the edges of the Empire and are known to stir up trouble. They supply advanced technology to pirates and those interested in insurrection.”

“I am Charles Watson, and I have studied and treated injuries from similar weapons. The weapon produces an unusual energy beam. We cannot reverse engineer these weapons, but we know the effects and have seen many injuries produced by them. Our energy weapon will burn through tissue, and there will be a small region where the tissue will die from the heat. We can easily clean and repair the resulting wound. This weapon acts as if it creates a solid projectile with high-speed impact. It produces a shockwave on impact and a rapidly enlarging cone of damaged tissue behind the impact point. The tissue becomes toxic.”

Delia continued. “The cone extends backward from the Archduke’s sternum. The impact circle is only half a centimeter in diameter, but it expands to damage half of both lungs and his entire thorax at the back. It produced a wide cone, damaging eleven vertebrae and a long segment of his spinal column. When we first saw injuries like this, we grossly underestimated the scale of the damage.”

“The damaged tissue is hard to distinguish from normal tissue until a day later. By that time, it is a nasty, poisonous slush. We have successfully dealt with many similar injuries over the years,” said Delia Watson.

“A tiny weapon struck the Archduke. The effects are nevertheless devastating. Few will survive unless they receive medical care within minutes. Field medics use stasis to keep people from deteriorating until they receive care. This care can only be delivered at a super-specialist level hospital,” said Dr. Charles Watson.

“We are stabilizing the Archduke. We use a micro-transporter to identify and then remove the toxic destroyed tissue. We recently created a new generation of antimicrobial nanobots, which we gave the archduke to assist his immune system. The pod transporter system targets foreign DNA and removes virus and bacterial material from the wound. Nano and micro-bots are working to stop bleeding and repair damaged tissue. We concurrently grow tissue that we insert using the same micro-transporter technology,” said Dr. Delia Watson.

“We’ll complete Lord Kargo’s repair in the next week. He must learn to walk once more. It will take at least a month of strenuous rehabilitation before he’s back to proper function,” said Dr. Charles Watson, “but I fear the injury will weaken him and make him physically fragile.”

“Much about the Archduke puzzled us. We extracted and identified biomechanical cellular structures in his blood. We began removing them but discovered they’re part of his immune system and augment it. They assist in tissue repair. He has some DNA of the Empire, but he has strands of the ancient DNA we found in derelict ships from the great past wars. This ancient DNA produces these immune and repair adjuncts and is increasingly changing his tissues and modifying his DNA. We also detected another being living within him in another dimension. This being has been assisting the Archduke. He tells us you will explain. Can you help us understand what is happening, so we may be of more help?” Dr. Delia Watson asked.

“The being within Jason is known as Winston, and he’s living in a trans-dimensional pocket created when Jason went to seek a crystal in a trans-dimensional room. Winston is part of an ancient race known as the Una. He is a mentor to Jason and us, and we have had many discussions with him. Jason received an extraordinary number of huge crystals, which have consolidated into one massive crystal,” said Janet. “We understand this is an unprecedented event.”

“Winston is communicating with me telepathically,” said Andrea and will speak to you directly.

‘Doctors, we, the Una, are an ancient race. We share our minds. I’m speaking to you as the leader of the Una through Winston. Jason is precious to us, and we’ll do anything to help in this precarious situation. If you feel Jason is deteriorating at any time, please put him into stasis. I’ll convey him to another galaxy to ancients with special medical skills. Jason is part of an ancient civilization that precedes us, the Una. His ancient genes will eventually supplant his existing genes. Your words reassure us. We know the dangers of the weapons you’ve described and the despicable race that produces them. It’s safe to leave Winston in place. He will continue to help when rested. Do not worry about these unusual immune phenomena. You will discover how to change your DNA to augment your immune system bio-mechanically. That should only be a few hundred thousand years away.”

“Thank you for your information. We were uncertain about what to do about the ancient DNA. You have reassured us,” said Dr. Charles Watson. “We observed his immune system in action and are determined to learn to do the same in less than a hundred thousand years!”

Delia nodded enthusiastically and smiled lovingly at her husband.

“Doctors, we expanded your telepathic abilities. No telepathic barriers will block you. Nurture this gift carefully; it’ll pay huge dividends in your profession. We thank you for what you’ve done for Jason.”

The two doctors listened carefully, slowly nodding their heads in tandem. They spoke together,

“We’ll send you an update daily. The Archduke’s condition is critical but stable. He is beginning to improve. The first twenty-four hours are the most dangerous time,” said Delia Watson before she and her husband turned simultaneously to face the door. They strode from the waiting room with their entourage scuttling behind them. The younger doctors excitedly chatted with each other, gesturing extravagantly.

“Let’s return to the ship. There’s nothing more that we can do. His life is in their hands, and they are an impressive pair,” said Andrea, sounding much more confident.

Andrea wiped a tear before it ran down her cheek.

The week passed quickly as there was so much to do.

Jason remained severely ill, but doctors Watson removed him from the critical list. They were optimistic about Jason’s prognosis.

Morgan James and Peter Kane took administrative control of Nirvana, a task they had done several times previously on other planets. The first media conference was in a one-thousand-seat hall. They announced the unprovoked Mob attack and summarized the battle in space and on the ground. After an hour of questions, the pair explained what the cadre of priests led by Papa Zora had done and showed holo-transcripts of the tribunal findings. They then informed the Empire that Nirvana was again a protectorate under Archduke Kargo. Questions continued for another hour before Peter ended the media briefing.

Both presented well in the media and gave daily presentations to the press. The population was shocked that the Mob attacked and, for the first time, landed troops on the ground. The public was horrified by the priests’ traitorous behavior and the long-term poisoning of the Empire.

Peter and Morgan rapidly stabilized Nirvana. The citizens welcomed becoming a protectorate under the control of Archduke Kargo.

While Jason was on the critical list, the media interviewed Doctors Watson and Watson daily.

The Empire learned daily more about the young Archduke Kargo, the hero raised on a primitive planet who had uncovered the plots of Papa Zora. He had acted in the interest of the Empire and removed the threat but had done so much more. Due to his intervention, the first attack by the Mob on a planet failed. The Kargo family was well-known and well-regarded.

The public then learned of the attempted poisoning of Jason on the battleship and the pirate attacks. Peter Kane told how Jason assembled a fleet and military force. No one mentioned clones.

The media saw Papa Zora shooting Jason.

Daily vigils commenced outside the hospital. Within a few days, the crowd swelled to thousands. The media widely publicized the ongoing news and trial transcripts throughout the Empire.

Within hours of the first broadcast, the Emperor declared Jason, a hero. He sent messages of support directly to the ship and the hospital. He and the Empress spoke to Morgan James daily.

“Our scouts detected Mob scout activity near the planets you identified. I’ve met with a trusted few within our intelligence services and instigated an internal investigation. I’ve met with similar groups from the Armed Forces and ordered a general mobilization two days before the Mob attacked,” said Cassius.

“We will arrest and incarcerate all those who obstruct and block us. We are grateful for the warning,” said Empress Alana. “Jason will get the best care possible from Drs. Watson and Watson. Cassius and I know them from school; they were like two peas in a pod from the second year of school. Despite coming from two different families, they gravitated together and became inseparable. They are almost one mind. If I recall correctly, they have three children, at least ten grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren who are outstanding medical performers. The Watsons are a family medical cult. With longevity, some of us become famous while alive,” said Cassius and laughed.

“They have done an outstanding job,” said Morgan.

“I hope my nephew recovers and can live a normal life. I also hope it does not damage his enthusiasm for life. We can’t wait for him to get here to help his grandfather,” said Alana sadly. “I am concerned the impending war may delay a rescue.”

Jason awoke in the pod. He was confused and uncomfortable. His heart was thumping. He was in the hospital and a pod. The pod smelled minty and unfamiliar. Jason’s memories of his childhood and life on Earth returned. He saw Sarah hanging on the rope, the Clarke saga, and the beating in prison. His memories returned in a flood of images, tastes, and smells. Every muscle in his body ached.

The pod slid open on the left. That was unusual.

Andrea Phillips, Peter Kane, Celia Ford, Felicia MacDonald, Morgan James, Karen DuPree, Janet Malone, and Phoebe Harris stood beside the pod. Two tiny smiling doctors, with a large entourage behind them, stood near the foot of his pod.

They smiled at Jason and then spontaneously cheered.

Jason’s mouth felt dry, and he licked his lips. A nurse sprayed his mouth and gave him a drink. He couldn’t speak his throat was so dry.

Several minutes later, he was feeling better. “Thank you all for being here. I don’t recognize the room and doctors, so I assume I’m in a hospital somewhere,” croaked Jason. “I’m so weak; I can’t even wave.”

“We are Dr. Watson and Dr. Watson, your doctors. You are on Nirvana. I’m Delia Watson, and this ugly mug is Charles Watson. I’ve put up with him for thousands of years. We were at school with your uncle, the Emperor, and know the Empress. You have been here for two weeks.”

‘Yes, I remember he shot me in the chest.”

“I am not surprised you are weak. You have been gravely ill. We regrew three-quarters of your chest; you’ve been unconscious or asleep and missed the drama. Now you will start rehabilitation and learn to use your body again. As you might expect, that won’t be easy. You will start rehabilitation shortly and continue for a month.”

“You have a new heart, twelve new vertebrae, a new spinal cord, new lungs, a new sternum and ribs, and many microbots and nanobots completing repairs,” said Dr. Charles Watson. “Your special crystal and your little friend have been of great help. Your little friend said that if we were stuck, he and someone called Porquenta and another person named the One would take you to another galaxy for treatment.”

“Why am I so weak?”

“There are multiple factors involved. It took us a week to stabilize you and remove and replace the toxic tissue. You had a severe infection. We replaced your heart, then grew your new vertebrae and ribs and inserted them with a new spinal cord. Your new heart will take time to get to know your body and its demands. You will also slowly learn to use your new spinal cord.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done. It sounds horrific,” said Jason.

“We thank you for finding out about Papa Zora and bumping him off. No one can work out how you have done so much in such a short time,” said Dr. Delia Watson. “Papa Zora was a blight on the priests and an impost on the honor of medicine. The priests were a fine group of people until he corrupted them. Medicine should never have been placed in the Guild of Priests. Thank you for once again giving medicine its independence.”