stiffens,
“Who else is hurt?” I
am right at the edge of explosion.
Bud sighs and says,
“Lily is in coma.”
Fuck! That is exactly
what I am worried about! I know something is wrong. I can feel it.
I take a deep breath
and let it out slowly to recompose myself.
“She is fine, right?”
My voice is still shaking.
“Yea, yea. Don’t
worry. I gotta go to check the antenna. We have some communication problem with
earth.”
Hearing she is fine,
I settle down a little bit.
“I see. I need to go
to the bridge. I will talk to you later.” I say while walking away.
Achilles is like a
spindle but with a fat belly which starts at about one third from the front and
trails off gradually. The bridge locates at the top of the belly. It’s like a
submarine control room, but we have great view thanks to the huge window. There
are ten seats, two pilot seats at the very front and the rest seats along the
wall.
In the bridge, pilot
Bertha is sitting at Lily’s seat. She is a typical German girl with the look of
a young movie star, even though she is over 40. She cares for everyone and as a
result everyone likes her. I wish I could say that for myself. She loves
chatting and can go on and on like forever, if you count dream-talking. Beside
her, Lock is standing near the huge front window, his eyes fixed on Jupiter. He
is the chief engineer, but has a weathered face of a cowboy. He did grow up in
a ranch in Texas and did all cowboy stuff during his adolescence. That is why
we like to call him cowboy from time to time. He always wears his black cowboy
hat everywhere, but not right now. I don’t know why.
I clear my throat.
Both of them look back and nod at me.
“What do we have?” I
ask quickly.
“We went through an
asteroid shower.” Bertha says in a calm voice.
“I see. I remember
the strong shake before I was out. Any damage?”
“We lost contact to
Earth,” says Lock.
“For how long?”
“Seven days,” says
Lock seriously.
“Seven days?” I am
surprised, because it certainly doesn’t feel like seven days. It feels like
seven hours to me.
“Yes, seven days.”
Lock looks at his watch.
“Has Jim taken a look
at the problem?” I ask.
“He is working on it
right now. Oh, by the way, Commander, can you give me the access code to the
mainframe? I want to make sure everything is working there,” says Lock.
“Mainframe? That is
for Zeus' higher function. What do you need that for?” Zeus is the
supercomputer running most daily chores.
“Just checking.” Lock
sounds nervous. That is the first time.
“I will do that.”
“Well, you just woke
up and you have this head pain going. I just want to help.” Lock says
sincerely.
“Well, thank you. But
I am fine. How is Lily?” I don’t have time for this shit. Lily must be waiting
to see me.
“All right. Suit
yourself.” Lock looks unhappy and quickly leaves the bridge.
I turn my attention
to Bertha.
She gives me a kind
smile and says, “Lily is fine. She is still in coma—”
“I see. Well. Who was
in charge for the past seven days?”
“Roy, but we all miss
you.” Her voice is soft as usual.
“OK. I will talk to
him after I see Lily. Let me know when we get in touch with Earth.” I head
directly to the medical bay.
Achilles has eleven
compartments and the medical bay is right below the bridge, but I am running
anyway. When the door slides open, I dash in and almost hit Dr. Akio. He is Japanese
and of course a big fan of Sushi. He even brought some onto Achilles along with
his chopsticks. His sleek figure, small teeth, and deep eyes remind me of Dr.
Hannibal Lecter.
“What is the rush,
Commander?” He sounds like Dr. Lector as well.
“Where is Lily?” My
eyes searching the room, I completely ignore Dr. Akio.
“She is over there.
The second ward. She is still in coma.” Dr. Akio says in a low voice with his
right hand covering half of his mouth.
I run to the second
ward, knocking over a chair.
There she is, on the
bed,
“Who else is hurt?” I
am right at the edge of explosion.
Bud sighs and says,
“Lily is in coma.”
Fuck! That is exactly
what I am worried about! I know something is wrong. I can feel it.
I take a deep breath
and let it out slowly to recompose myself.
“She is fine, right?”
My voice is still shaking.
“Yea, yea. Don’t
worry. I gotta go to check the antenna. We have some communication problem with
earth.”
Hearing she is fine,
I settle down a little bit.
“I see. I need to go
to the bridge. I will talk to you later.” I say while walking away.
Achilles is like a
spindle but with a fat belly which starts at about one third from the front and
trails off gradually. The bridge locates at the top of the belly. It’s like a
submarine control room, but we have great view thanks to the huge window. There
are ten seats, two pilot seats at the very front and the rest seats along the
wall.
In the bridge, pilot
Bertha is sitting at Lily’s seat. She is a typical German girl with the look of
a young movie star, even though she is over 40. She cares for everyone and as a
result everyone likes her. I wish I could say that for myself. She loves
chatting and can go on and on like forever, if you count dream-talking. Beside
her, Lock is standing near the huge front window, his eyes fixed on Jupiter. He
is the chief engineer, but has a weathered face of a cowboy. He did grow up in
a ranch in Texas and did all cowboy stuff during his adolescence. That is why
we like to call him cowboy from time to time. He always wears his black cowboy
hat everywhere, but not right now. I don’t know why.
I clear my throat.
Both of them look back and nod at me.
“What do we have?” I
ask quickly.
“We went through an
asteroid shower.” Bertha says in a calm voice.
“I see. I remember
the strong shake before I was out. Any damage?”
“We lost contact to
Earth,” says Lock.
“For how long?”
“Seven days,” says
Lock seriously.
“Seven days?” I am
surprised, because it certainly doesn’t feel like seven days. It feels like
seven hours to me.
“Yes, seven days.”
Lock looks at his watch.
“Has Jim taken a look
at the problem?” I ask.
“He is working on it
right now. Oh, by the way, Commander, can you give me the access code to the
mainframe? I want to make sure everything is working there,” says Lock.
“Mainframe? That is
for Zeus' higher function. What do you need that for?” Zeus is the
supercomputer running most daily chores.
“Just checking.” Lock
sounds nervous. That is the first time.
“I will do that.”
“Well, you just woke
up and you have this head pain going. I just want to help.” Lock says
sincerely.
“Well, thank you. But
I am fine. How is Lily?” I don’t have time for this shit. Lily must be waiting
to see me.
“All right. Suit
yourself.” Lock looks unhappy and quickly leaves the bridge.
I turn my attention
to Bertha.
She gives me a kind
smile and says, “Lily is fine. She is still in coma—”
“I see. Well. Who was
in charge for the past seven days?”
“Roy, but we all miss
you.” Her voice is soft as usual.
“OK. I will talk to
him after I see Lily. Let me know when we get in touch with Earth.” I head
directly to the medical bay.
Achilles has eleven
compartments and the medical bay is right below the bridge, but I am running
anyway. When the door slides open, I dash in and almost hit Dr. Akio. He is Japanese
and of course a big fan of Sushi. He even brought some onto Achilles along with
his chopsticks. His sleek figure, small teeth, and deep eyes remind me of Dr.
Hannibal Lecter.
“What is the rush,
Commander?” He sounds like Dr. Lector as well.
“Where is Lily?” My
eyes searching the room, I completely ignore Dr. Akio.
“She is over there.
The second ward. She is still in coma.” Dr. Akio says in a low voice with his
right hand covering half of his mouth.
I run to the second
ward, knocking over a chair.
There she is, on the
bed,
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