Chapter 29: Saving a life, Slavers

Ken caught the young mother before she could fall to the floor. He looked over at Molly.

"Get in there and do what you can to help her."

Molly looked in the window and her heart started to break at the sight of the little girl. Tubes running in and out of her, an oxygen mask over her face to help her breath.

"Yes, Sir!"

Molly went into the room and set her bag down on the bed.

Nurse Gretchen Hilliard looked down at the little girl suffering from the cancer. Turning to get her pen, she started writing in her chart when she heard the door open. She looked up as the stranger came into the room.

"Hey, you can't come in here! You're not wearing a mask. Get out before you make her sicker!"

Molly looked at the nurse and dismissed her. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a hypo, and loaded the device with a canister of nanobots.

"I am a doctor. Please let me work or I will have you removed."

Reaching over, she started to press the hypo against the patient's arm when the nurse grabbed her hand.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not this girl's doctor, nor are you a doctor from this ward. I must insist..."

Molly looked at the hand, reached over, and twisted the finger of the offending hand, forcing it off her wrist.

She said, "I am, now. Now please don't interfere with my treatment of this patient."

Sergeant Major Anderson watched the confrontation take place in the room. Seeing the nurse go towards the phone, he said to his men, "You three stay here and watch the Captain."

He quietly went into the room.

Gretchen pulled her hand free and went to the wall. Pulling the phone down, she started to call security, when she was gently picked up. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a huge Hispanic man wearing strange uniform looking at her. "Let me go, now!"

"Sorry, Miss. I cannot allow you to interfere with Doctor O'Neil, as she treats her patient. She is trying to save her life."

From the bed, they hear the hiss of the hypo, as it injected nanobots into the girl's system.

Gretchen yanked her head around saying, "No, you mustn't give her anything. She is on powerful pain medication."

She watched as the young woman stood back and put the device back into her bag.

"What did you do to her?"

She tried to fight her way free, but the Marine was too strong for her. Looking at the monitoring machines, she saw the read-outs level, as the girl's breathing became more normal.

Molly watched the monitors, as the first round of nanobots went to work on the cancer. Reaching over, she started shutting them down. Looking out the glass-viewing window, she summoned Ken and the woman into the room. She now recognized the woman as their waitress from the diner where they'd had breakfast, several weeks ago.

Susan looked at her daughter, and saw the woman removing the monitoring devices from her.

"Ken, what's going on?"

Ken watched Molly work on the little girl and the argument with the nurse. Hearing the Sergeant Major give orders to his men, Ken saw him enter the room and pick up the nurse. He pulled her from the phone, pulling the cord out of the base of the unit, as he stepped away from the wall.

"Molly has introduced the cure into your daughter. She should start getting better, now, but she will need more treatment. For her to get that treatment, we will take her, and you, with us. Molly is now removing all the data feeds so we can transport her to our base. We can go in, now."

Guiding Susan into the room, they went over to her daughter.

Donna slowly opened her eyes and saw a new doctor looking down on her. In a weak voice, she asked, "Who are you?"

Molly looked down as the girl opened her eyes, and said to her, "Hi, little one. I am Molly, and I am going to make you all better."

Donna looked at the woman and replied, "That's what they all say. I know there isn't a cure, or I would have been better by now. I heard the other doctors talking. I know I am dying. I don't want to die, because it will leave my momma alone."

Suddenly Susan was there, holding her baby's hand in hers, tears running down her face as she heard her words, "Hi, sweetie, how are you feeling? You're not going to die, I won't let you."

Donna looked at her mother and squeezed her hand with the little strength she had.

"My tummy doesn't hurt anymore, and I am breathing a little better."

Molly looked down at Donna, and said, "Donna, are you ready to get out of here and go for a ride?"

Donna looked back at her new doctor and replied, "I would like to get out of here. I don't like hospitals. Can I have some ice cream?"

Ken smiled and answered her question, "Honey, you can have all the ice cream you want."

Donna looked at the man in the uniform and asked, "Who are you?"

Ken smiled at the little girl, and said, "I am Ken, and I am a friend of your mother." Reaching down he picked her up as one of his men rolled a gurney into the room. "Let's get you out of here, and get you better. Okay?"

Laying the little girl down, he covered her with some of the blankets that his men had brought along as well.

Donna smiled up at the man and said, "Okay, but don't forget Teddy."

"Teddy?" Ken looked around the room, and saw the large teddy bear leaning against one of the walls.

"Never! We couldn't forget Teddy. I think he will love the trip you're going on."

Walking over, Ken picked up the big four-foot tall brown teddy bear. Carrying it over, he set it on the end of the gurney where it could watch over Donna.

Gretchen watched, as Donna seemed to be getting stronger.

"What did you do to her? She was in a drug induced coma." Looking over her shoulder, she said to the Marine. "DAMN IT! PUT ME DOWN! NOW!"

Sergeant Anderson looked over to Doctor O'Neil for permission and when he saw her nod her head at him, he set the woman down on her feet.

"Sorry about that, Ma'am, but we had to let Doctor O'Neil do her work. The little girl is going to be cured in a few days and then running around and playing."

Gretchen turned and looked at the big Marine and said, "There is no cure for leukemia, just remission. Everyone knows that."

The big Marine looked at the young nurse and responded, "There is, now. Soon it will be released world-wide, so things like this never happen to children ever again."

Gretchen started to say something and then turned back to Donna.

Walking over to Donna she said, "Donna how you doing? Do you remember me at all? If not, I'll understand, you were in a lot of pain."

Donna looked up from clutching her bear and smiled. "Hi, Gretchen. I remember you. You gave me Teddy. I feel a lot better now. I don't know what Doctor Molly gave me, but I feel a whole lot better, I don't feel sick to my tummy anymore, and I am really hungry."

Gretchen smiled down at the little girl and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

Looking at the doctor, she asked, "What did you give her?"

Molly smiled at the change in the nurse and saw what it took to be a caring nurse.

"I gave her the first dose of the treatment that will cure her cancer. Now we need to get her to our base, so she can be fully cured. So, if there are no more questions, we really must be leaving now."

The Marines pushed the cart out the door and the rest of them followed. As they head down the hallway, Gretchen followed behind them, her mind racing at what she had seen. As they reached the door, it dawned on her that they were taking her out of the hospital without being signed out.

"Hey, you can't take her out of here! She hasn't been signed out by her doctor."

The main doors opened, and they went out. Running after them, she saw them heading across the parking lot to where a Chinook helicopter sat with its blades slowly spinning. Picking up speed, she yelled again for them to stop. The four Marines picked up the gurney and carried it up the ramp. Behind the nurse, three security guards had followed her out of the building. Seeing Ken and his party boarding the large helicopter, they started running after the nurse, to help her out.

Deep in space, the Crytherian light cruiser Starburst was accompanied by the destroyer Dancer, and the freighter Bounty's Harvest. They dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Sol system, and headed inwards, towards the third planet. Captain Kran watched his screen, as the two ships tucked in close to her one million two hundred-thousand ton hull. His sensors searched for anything out of the ordinary. Six hours later, as they cruised past the planet Jupiter and proceeded deeper into the system, the sensors detect a faint ion trace.

"Captain Kran, I have a Tralcan ion trail heading out system. What are your orders?"