Нэнси Кресс - Terran Tomorrow

“Well, yes, there is that. We— Come in, Jane.”

The Kindred woman stood uncertainly in the doorway. Marianne saw that to Ryan, Jane still looked alien. Marianne had been around Worlders so long that now they just looked like another group of Terrans, no stranger than people with red hair or brown skin.

She saw something else, too: the way Jane looked at Colin. Unlike Ryan and Jason, Jane was not guarded. Her whole young heart shone in her big eyes.

She said in her musical English, “Will Colin become completely well?”

“We hope so. Dr. Ross says he’s recovering as well as can be expected.”

Jane glanced at Ryan and then at Luke, snoring loudly on the floor.

Marianne said, “This is my son, Ryan Jenner, Colin’s father. And that’s Luke, a friend of Colin’s from the Settlement.”

“I greet you, Ryan Jenner.” Apparently Jane had decided to resume the World greeting; for a while she had dropped it. It must be difficult to decide how much of your culture to keep or shed in such different surroundings.

Ryan said, “Hello.”

Lindy suddenly pushed past Jane. “What are all you doing in here without so much as a face mask? Where’s Amy—why did she let you in? Out, all of you!”

Marianne said, “Don’t blame Amy. She has too many to nurse in the ward. We snuck in, but we’ll go now if you say so.”

“You and Ryan can stay, with masks, but not until after I examine Colin. And get this big sleeping lump out of here, now. You, Jane: don’t come back until I say so, and—Jason? No, you can’t come in, stay out there in the corridor, and the rest of you— out . This is a vulnerable patient, people. I wish you would all remember that!”

Ryan woke Luke and got him out of the room, although only by constant soothing murmurs as he tugged Luke along. Jason and Jane left, followed by Marianne. Jason and Jane stood at the end of the corridor, talking in low voices. Sooner than Marianne expected, Lindy emerged from Colin’s room.

“He’s doing well—everything looks good. Find Amy and get a face mask before you go back in there. Jason, I need to talk to you.”

He said stiffly, “Colonel Jenner, please.”

Before Marianne heard Lindy’s reply, she left to find a face mask. Marianne had no intention of leaving Colin until she could see for herself that he was awake and rational.

Although the more she thought about it, the less rational everything seemed. Why should Colin be any different?

At least her headache had lessened. That was something.

“What did you do with him?” Lindy demanded.

Jason didn’t have to ask whom she meant. Her green eyes, shadowed with fatigue, glared at him. Jane glided discreetly away. Jason didn’t let his gaze follow her.

Just beyond the infirmary corridor, Zack McKay conferred with two other scientists. Boxes of God-knew-what lined the walls and narrowed the hallway; one of the scientists sat on a tall crate. By last count, 203 Settlers had survived the attack by New America, and all of them had been jammed into the base wherever they would fit. Families in two-room apartments were now down to a single room. Storerooms had been emptied to use as quarters, which was why the corridors were now crowded with crates and shelving. All but the main conference room in Lab Dome had been commandeered, and most other such amenities had been eliminated. Sergeant Tasselman, the billeting officer, had done the best he could. Susan McKay, quartermaster, had stretched blankets and cots and kitchenware as far as they could possibly go. Jason was sleeping on a cot in his command post. But, then, he’d often done that since he and Lindy divorced.

Lieutenant Allen had taken the contaminated Return back to orbit, along with Information Technology Specialist Ruby Martin and J Squad soldier Corporal Jeffrey Michaelson. Jason had hesitated over the decision to park the ship upstairs, even though that would keep it safe from attack. Branch Carter had no idea how much fuel was left, or even what fuel the ship used when it wasn’t jumping through time and space. Carter was not aboard. With no immunity to RSA, Carter lay in the infirmary, having his gut microbes adjusted back to Terran.

Also aboard the Return was Monterey Base’s only physicist, Major Thomas Farouk. Jason wasn’t happy about that, either, but Farouk, an RSA survivor, was more eager to investigate the Return than to do research on the ground. During the frantic days after the Collapse, Jason had concentrated on gathering up biologists, virologists, doctors, anyone who could help with R. sporii avivirus . He had not anticipated needing more physicists to reverse-engineer an alien starship. But maybe Farouk would learn something useful about the alien technology.

In addition to the Army personnel, the Return now carried more weapons from the armory, transported to the ship in heavily guarded FiVees.

Lindy folded her arms across her chest. “That prisoner is underground, isn’t he? In your dungeon?”

“This is none of your business, Dr. Ross.”

“It sure the hell is! I’m chief medical officer here and—”

“You aren’t an officer at all.”

“—torture is against your rules of engagement that—”

“For Christ’s sake!” he hissed. Two of the scientists glanced their way and Jason cursed himself. Nobody could make him lose his temper like Lindy. He lowered his voice.

“The rules of engagement no longer apply in a world without rules. But no, I am not going to torture that kid. He won’t know anything valuable. A simple truth drug will be enough in this case, and since you’re here and Captain Holbrook is in surgery performing a cesarean delivery, you’re going to administer it. That’s an order, Dr. Ross.”

She wasn’t an officer, but the base was under military law. Too bad so many civilians forgot that.

Momentarily distracted, she said, “A cesarean? Who’s having a baby?”

“One of the Settlers.” A baby that, because it was born at the base and not at the RSA-exposed Settlement, had a hugely increased chance of living more than a few hours. Would the new parents appreciate that? Would Colin?

Lindy was never distracted for long. “You promise? No torture?”

“Did you not hear me, Dr. Ross?”

“Yes.” She calmed down. “Now?”

Why not? A hundred details clamored for Jason’s attention, but everyone except the signal crew and patrol detail were safe inside the two domes. Private Sendis had been buried in the graveyard beside Enclave’s seldom-used southwest airlock. Specialist Lena Tarrant was recovering from wounds sustained in the firefight at the Settlement. The base was not under attack, and Elizabeth Duncan sat in the command post at the top of Enclave Dome, ready to receive any messages from the outside patrol. His second in command was one of the best soldiers Jason had ever seen, although almost unknowable. Always she sat so straight that her back never touched any chair. Her expression seldom changed: alert and unemotional. Sometimes she seemed like a machine, except that nobody was a machine. Least of all, Jason thought, himself.

Jason said, “All right, now. Get whatever you need.”

After Lindy fetched her supplies, he led the way to the secure door leading underground. Private Garson sprang up. “All quiet, sir.”

“Good.” He opened the door.

She said, “Don’t you need a retinal and digital match?”

“Both off during daytime if a guard is on duty. Too many scientists and lab techs coming and going from the bird lab.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Jason keyed them into the stockade. No one, fortunately, emerged from the bird lab opposite the stockade. Building the bird lab inside the dome, even underground, had troubled Jason, but the scientists had insisted. They needed easy access between the bird lab and the research facilities directly above. Jason also hadn’t liked the scientists’ bringing in live birds infected with RSA, even though the sparrows that had been captured outside were brought through the tunnel airlock sealed in esuits, and then taken directly into the negative-pressure lab. The birds weren’t, of course, exposed to decon, which would have negated the whole point, and only RSA survivors were allowed to work in the bird lab. At first, Jason had argued for killing the birds outside and only transporting tissue to the lab. However, the scientists had all protested so stringently that he’d had to give way. Apparently, living and breeding sparrows were necessary to develop vaccines or gene drives. But if any of the scientists got careless for even a second…