Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance Page 4

  As she talked, Emily pulled back the covers, exposing Sted’s stumps with some kind of device what looked very much like the cupule, or base, of an acorn covering the bottom of each one. As Sted watched, Emily slid a locking mechanism in a counterclockwise direction on his right leg preserver and then slid it off of the stump. She submerged the preserver into a tank of liquid on the cart beside the bed and then held a mirror below Sted’s leg to show him the bottom of the stump.

  “As you can see, the leg preserver has left a clear film across the stump so that you do not bleed out in bed while it refreshes itself in the mineral bath. If you look closely, you can also see that all of your leg tissue under the film is healthy and functional.”

  With that, Emily pulled the leg preserver out of the tank and then re-attached it to his right stump. “These leg preservers were designed to keep the tissue in perfect condition for the attachment of the prosthetic leg when it arrives. Every twenty-four hours, the leg preserver must be recharged. I don’t know all the details of what goes on in the recharge tank, but I know it uses blood cells from your legs to manufacture compatible cellular material to maintain a fresh and healthy cross-sectional surface on the stump.”

  When Emily repeated the procedure on Sted’s left leg, she pulled the bedcovers back over his lower body and then fluffed the pillows behind his head and back so that he would be as comfortable as possible for his visit with the admiral.

  “Let me replace this pillow and pillow cover. I’m afraid you soaked it again. Is there anything else you need before the admiral arrives?”

  “If you could refill my water bottle, I should be fine,” Sted replied.

  Just then, Vice Admiral Bunting appeared in the doorway and sent a questioning look to Emily that Sted did not catch.

  “Captain Richardson went down to the lab yesterday for a productive session with Larry Phillips,” Emily said. “Larry tells me that the captain is up to speed on the recovery plan, that he understands how to review and update all of the information in the plan, and that they reviewed how the new prosthetic legs will be attached and how they will integrate with his body. Captain Richardson is already eating solid foods, and he has had a decent nap this morning. I have just refreshed his leg preservers and am filling his water bottle. Is there anything I can get for you before I take my leave?”

  “I’m fine, Ms. Fry,” Bunting said as he pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down. “We have quite a bit to discuss, so if you will excuse us, we can get started.”

  “Certainly, sir,” Emily said as she placed Sted’s refilled water bottle on the bed tray and then exited the room.

  Bunting smiled at Sted. “Good afternoon, Captain Richardson. Are you comfortable and focused enough that we can get started?”

  “I am comfortable and focused enough to contribute to the discussion, although I can’t say how long it will last.”

  “Good. Good,” Bunting replied, sounding somewhat distracted. Then he perked up and appeared to regain his focus. “Let me give you just a brief introduction to what we will be talking about this afternoon. As I’m sure you are aware, you are not eligible to command one of our ships after rehab. You may not be aware that there are many other positions available to you once you are up and about. I have made it my job to evaluate your recovery process, to work with you on choosing your next assignment, and then to direct the training necessary for that assignment.

  “You also may not know that you are eligible, as a former Navy ship captain, to pursue other careers outside of the Navy once you complete your rehabilitation. If you choose this avenue, I am at your disposal to ease the transition back into civilian life and to connect you with the appropriate people in the many space industries where your skills as a captain will be in great demand. This choice is entirely up to you.

  “Today, I want to focus on positions within the Navy that the Admiralty would like you to consider. I have forwarded a complete list to your tablet as part of your recovery plan. If you will open that plan on your tablet under the ‘Goals’ tab, we can begin the review. . . . ”

  Chapter 12 – The Esss Problem – One Billion Years Ago

  The Esss were coming to a standstill, and that was a big problem. They had not run into any further opposition in their galaxy since they wiped out the Nu, and that was so long ago that only the master chroniclers were even aware of the conflict.

  Actually, those chronicles were very careful to avoid claiming that the Nu were extinct. The master chronicler on the battleship that chased the last remaining Nu scout recorded that the Nu ship was headed out of the galaxy toward their nearest galactic neighbor. The master chronicler speculated that the Nu ship was not likely to make the passage successfully. It was too long of a jump.

  Now the Esss were faced with that same jump.

  The Esss’ drive to procreate infused their every thought and action. They had been on a never-ending path of conquering every life-sustaining planetary system they encountered from time beyond memory. Their planet of origin was unknown even to the wisest chroniclers.

  Expansion was their only option. Every suitable world they encountered was transformed into a nursery. Each nursery, when fully prepared, became a hive of procreative activity. With no natural predators, the planet’s resources were soon expended. Then the Esss moved on to the next world.

  This pattern repeated itself until the galactic island of their origin could no longer support their numbers. There was nowhere else to go.

  Then the chroniclers turned their attention to neighboring galaxies. The gaps were daunting. The time required to cross the gaps was enormous. How would the Esss be able to survive long enough to reach the nearest galaxy? Interstellar ships used to cross between the stars in their galaxy were not sufficient. Even their largest transports could not hold enough consumables to allow a small contingent of the various classes to survive.

  The answer would come only by thinking on a grander scale.

  Chapter 13 – Emotional Trauma Therapy Begins

  “Let’s get started,” Emily said from the chair she had placed next to Sted’s bed. “The vice admiral has taken up quite a bit of your time over the last two days, so we have not even started to gauge the amount of emotional trauma you have suffered from the accident, let alone begun to work on healing the emotional scars. I know it will be very difficult to talk about the loss of your two crewmates in the airlock, so I want to start on something a little less sensitive. Can you give me some background on how and why you joined the Space Navy? I want to understand your motivations. I need more insight into your basic personality, including details that don’t show up in your fitness report. Can you share any of that with me today?”

  “Do we really need to do this today?” Sted asked in a somber tone. “I’m really tired, and I don’t see how this will benefit me.”

  “Yes, we do have to start today,” Emily replied. “If you aren’t up to filling in some of your background on your own, then why don’t I just ask you a series of questions that require simple answers? Then maybe along the way you will be able to expand on some of your responses without me asking additional questions. Are you up to trying this approach?”

  Sted sighed in resignation. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Let’s start with when and why you joined the United Space Navy.”

  “I joined the Navy immediately after graduating from SMU in Dallas, Texas. That was almost twelve years ago, but it seems like another lifetime now.”

  “That is half the answer,” Emily said. “Now why did you join?”

  “Ever since I was a young boy growing up in Plano, Texas, I was fascinated with everything related to space. My father was an account executive at Texas Instruments, and he always tried to discourage me from pursuing a career in space. As far as Dad was concerned, that was a dream for little boys, something to be forgotten about when it came to real world opportunities. After all, how was I going to settle down and get married and have children for grandpa and grandma t
o spoil?”

  “What first got you interested and eventually hooked on a career in space?”

  “The answer to that is really quite simple,” Sted replied. “When I was just ten years old, I found an ancient copy of the book Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt. The book was originally published in the 1950s, but the copy I found was the later 2008 reprint. Even so, the pages of the book were yellowed with age and ready to fall off the spine. This was my little secret treasure. I don’t think I had a single friend at school who had read a paperback novel. There was something magical in those pages.

  “After that, I began searching out more of the classical science fiction stories from the middle of the last century. I discovered Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov classics that I could not put down until I finished each story. My parents were always looking for me to help out around the house, but I was always off somewhere reading.”

  Sted settled himself back into the bed, obviously a bit more relaxed as he related part of his early life and thought about the many times he read through the entire night.

  “Reading all of those larger than life stories really expanded my imagination, and I knew that I had to pursue something grander than anything offered on Earth. I had to be out among the stars. I knew what I wanted, and I studied all of the various options for getting into space. There were several different paths I could have chosen, but to me, the way to go was to join the Space Navy.”

  “So, how did you go about making your dreams a reality?”

  “I worked harder at my classes than anyone else I knew, and when I wasn’t studying for a class, I spent time studying the history of the formation of the Council of Eight and how and why they established the United Space Navy. I knew if I wanted to achieve my goal, I had to learn everything I could about all of the steps in between where I was and where I wanted to go.”

  “And where did you want to go?” Emily asked in a conversational tone. She really wanted an honest answer to this question, but she did not want to seem overly anxious.

  “I wanted to escape our solar system and visit the stars, of course,” Sted replied. “In fact, I wanted to lead the first mission to the stars.”

  Sted paused and looked down at his legs, or what was left of them. The animation in his attitude and voice changed instantly. That dream was obviously not going to happen now. How could he lead such a mission when he was no longer eligible to be the captain of a Navy ship, let alone the first ship to head for the stars?

  “I can see by the change in your body language that you still haven’t truly internalized your losses,” Emily said. “You were animated and almost happy when you described your goals but then became deflated when you realized once again the impact of the loss of your lower limbs on your goals. So, what are you going to do about it?”

  “Nothing.” Sted rolled onto his side so that he faced away from Emily and her uncomfortable questions.

  “So you are that easily defeated?” Emily asked in a quiet voice. “That does not seem anything like the man I’ve read about in your fitness reports.”

  “Go away,” Sted intoned to the wall in front of him. “This session is over.”

  Emily sat there for a few more minutes entering notes into Sted’s records. She typed “Loss of life goal due to the accident appears to be the surface cause of Captain Richardson’s emotional distress, but the loss of his two crew members is probably the driving force behind his serious depression. We will need to tackle that loss in the near future if we are going to make any real progress.”

  After she finished entering her notes, Emily shut down her tablet and started for the door. She stopped in the doorway and addressed Sted’s back one more time. “We’ll pick up again tomorrow. I’m afraid you are a captive audience for now, and I am going to take advantage of that fact for as long as I can.”

  Chapter 14 – Fire in the Belly

  “What happened to that true grit you demonstrated in the academy?” Emily asked. She had been trying for the last twenty minutes to provoke Sted into some kind of angry response to jump-start his psyche out of the doldrums of self-pity.

  “In the academy, I was a whole person. My life and its goals were all in front of me. Now that life is over,” Sted replied.

  “So, you’re allowing yourself to be defeated by a random event in the universe?”

  Sted’s face contorted with anger. “Stop pushing my buttons! You’ve been badgering me now for the last two days. All I want to do is curl up and sleep! Can’t you see that?”

  “Yes I can,” Emily replied. She kept her tone calm in response to the reaction she had been trying so hard to provoke. “Captain Richardson, you are not a quitter. We both know that. What you are experiencing now is grief in its rawest and most natural form. You are only human, and if you did not feel lost and depressed after what you’ve been through, I would question your humanity. What I’ve been trying to do for the last two days is to get some fire back in that belly. I have been provoking you to get the reaction you just exposed. That reaction gives me hope. The old Captain Richardson really is alive somewhere inside of you, and with time and therapy like this, I’m sure we can bring him back to the surface.”

  “Just let the old me rest for a while,” Sted replied weakly as he rolled away from Emily, effectively bringing the day’s therapy session to a close.

  Emily stood up. “Certainly. You should rest for a while before your next physical therapy session this afternoon. See if you can put a little of that fire into your workout.”

  Chapter 15 – New Legs

  When the prosthetic legs arrived, Emily scheduled Sted for surgery. The latest prosthetic devices were attached surgically. Gone were the days of the simple mechanical devices that simulated the missing limb.

  Above the biomechanical knee joint was the latest in medical technology. A 3D-printed carbon matrix hollow shaft was designed to slip over the severed femur bone. Then a calcium-based paste containing osteoblast cells from Sted’s original surgery was layered over the matrix to stimulate bone growth. The body, in effect, created its own glue by building bone tissue around the carbon matrix shaft. Once the prosthetic was joined to the bone, it sealed itself in a bond as strong as the original bone.

  That was only the first step in the procedure. Next, the severed muscle and nerve tissue in the preserved stump was married, via stem cells, with the specially prepared ligament and electronic fibers in the prosthetic. The electronic fibers were connected to the processor embedded in the lower portion of the prosthetic. This allowed the actions of the lower leg and foot to be programmed to react to the stimuli from the brain through the nerve/fiber interface.

  Just two days after the surgery, Sted was working with his physical therapist, Alice Wheeler, in programming the new legs.

  Alice could be very intimidating when she wanted. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun to keep it out of the way of her work, and her eyes appeared to be almost too big for her face. This may have been due to the startling amount of mascara she wore and her long eyelashes. Regardless of the reason, Sted knew those eyes missed nothing. Now he knew what people meant when they said they felt like they were under a microscope.

  They started with simple movements.

  “Okay, Captain,” Alice said. “I need you to imagine each simple movement in your head, and then I need you to direct your body to execute that movement. Let’s start with the left foot. I want you to imagine you’re pointing the toe of your left foot toward me. I have initialized the processor in the left leg to read the electronic signal coming through the nerve/fiber interface in your thigh and to react by pointing the toe. Now, point your left toe at me.”

  Sted obeyed just because he had nothing better to do with his life right now. He was sitting on a cushioned table in the PT suite dressed in a light blue form-fitting top and shorts. When he imagined pushing his toes forward and pulling his heel back, the muscles in the thigh reacted ever so slightly to accommodate that motion, and the nerve/fibe
r interface was stimulated by his brain. The fuzzy electronic signal the processor received was recorded and associated with pointing the toes.

  “Works,” Sted reported laconically as his new foot pointed in a delayed reaction.

  Alice nodded as she typed something on the keyboard that was connected to wires leading in to the heel of his left leg. “Now, imagine relaxing the foot. I have programed it to return to its normal position.”

  Sted let off on the pushing motion in his mind, and his thigh muscles and nerves reacted again. The movement of the foot back to its normal position was delayed slightly once again as the processor made the association between the fuzzy electronic signal and the desired reaction.