could, exchanging greetings or words of encouragement with them, thanking them for their bravery. It amazed her that so many of them could remain in good spirits despite what they had been through, and it made her immensely proud, and a little ashamed that she should be troubling Dr. Anderton with injuries that seemed to slight in comparison, even if he had ordered her down here.
She found Dr Anderton waiting for her at the back of sickbay. He seemed remarkably composed, all things considered, though his eyes betrayed the horror of some of the things he had had to deal with today. He indicated an empty chair and she sat down heavily. Collins saluted and left to attend to other patients.
‘So,’ said Anderton. ‘We finally managed to drag you down here. I was starting to think I might have to shoot you again myself so that it would sink in that you’d been injured.’
‘Sorry,’ Chen replied. ‘There was so much to do, the rescue operation...’
‘The people under your command know what they’re doing for now. Let them get on with it. Now let’s take a look at that arm. Can you take your jacket off?’
Chen tried to move her arm and found that it had stiffened completely. ‘No.’ She shook her head.
‘Okay, not a problem,’ said Anderton and produced a small pair of scissors which he used to cut the entire sleeve from her uniform jacket and the shirt underneath. ‘Apologies for the uniform,’ he said. ‘But I think the damn thing was ruined anyway.’
‘I can always get another, don’t worry. Look, doctor, couldn’t one of your staff handle this? I’m not the most badly injured person here. Surely you’d be more useful elsewhere?’
‘I decide who I treat,’ said Anderton, concentrating on his work. ‘Besides, you’re this ship’s commanding officer. I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t ensure your wellbeing.’ With infinite care he finished snipping away the fabric of her uniform and then peeled away the temporary dressing, revealing a bloody gouge in her upper arm almost a centimetre deep in places. It was oozing gently.
‘Messy,’ Anderton commented as he started to clean the wound. ‘If he’d used a laser weapon it would have cauterised it. Still, I doubt that was uppermost in his mind.’
‘What’s Haldane’s condition? Did he survive?’ said Chen, suddenly alert.
‘Despite two gunshot wounds to his upper abdomen, yes he did. He had a collapsed lung and I had to pick a lot of bone fragments out of him from a shattered ribcage, but he should pull through.’
‘Is he human?’
‘I could find no evidence to suggest that he isn’t. There’s no sign of parasitic infection anywhere in his body and from what we’ve seen lately, I doubt a couple of bullets would have brought him down if this weren’t the case.’
‘I need to talk to him,’ said Chen and winced as Anderton began to clean the wound with an antiseptic spray which stung as he applied it.
‘You can try,’ said Anderton. ‘He slips in and out of consciousness. Commander Blackman has posted a couple of armed marines outside his room and has tried talking to Commander Haldane a couple of times but he didn’t get very far and I ordered him to stop when it was clear it was becoming too much for my patient. So yes, you can talk to him, but no interrogations.’
‘Doctor, he’s a traitor and he tried to kill me.’
‘True enough, but he’s my patient. Besides, I imagine he’ll be far more use to you alive than dead, so go easy on him. Now, hold still,’ said Anderton and began to close and seal the wound in her arm. ‘You’ve lost quite a bit of blood and this is a nasty hole you’ve got in your arm. A centimetre or so to the left and I doubt you’d have got up again so quickly. You were damn lucky. You need to take it easy, at least for a few hours. Get something to eat and get some rest.’ He began fixing a surgical dressing over
She found Dr Anderton waiting for her at the back of sickbay. He seemed remarkably composed, all things considered, though his eyes betrayed the horror of some of the things he had had to deal with today. He indicated an empty chair and she sat down heavily. Collins saluted and left to attend to other patients.
‘So,’ said Anderton. ‘We finally managed to drag you down here. I was starting to think I might have to shoot you again myself so that it would sink in that you’d been injured.’
‘Sorry,’ Chen replied. ‘There was so much to do, the rescue operation...’
‘The people under your command know what they’re doing for now. Let them get on with it. Now let’s take a look at that arm. Can you take your jacket off?’
Chen tried to move her arm and found that it had stiffened completely. ‘No.’ She shook her head.
‘Okay, not a problem,’ said Anderton and produced a small pair of scissors which he used to cut the entire sleeve from her uniform jacket and the shirt underneath. ‘Apologies for the uniform,’ he said. ‘But I think the damn thing was ruined anyway.’
‘I can always get another, don’t worry. Look, doctor, couldn’t one of your staff handle this? I’m not the most badly injured person here. Surely you’d be more useful elsewhere?’
‘I decide who I treat,’ said Anderton, concentrating on his work. ‘Besides, you’re this ship’s commanding officer. I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t ensure your wellbeing.’ With infinite care he finished snipping away the fabric of her uniform and then peeled away the temporary dressing, revealing a bloody gouge in her upper arm almost a centimetre deep in places. It was oozing gently.
‘Messy,’ Anderton commented as he started to clean the wound. ‘If he’d used a laser weapon it would have cauterised it. Still, I doubt that was uppermost in his mind.’
‘What’s Haldane’s condition? Did he survive?’ said Chen, suddenly alert.
‘Despite two gunshot wounds to his upper abdomen, yes he did. He had a collapsed lung and I had to pick a lot of bone fragments out of him from a shattered ribcage, but he should pull through.’
‘Is he human?’
‘I could find no evidence to suggest that he isn’t. There’s no sign of parasitic infection anywhere in his body and from what we’ve seen lately, I doubt a couple of bullets would have brought him down if this weren’t the case.’
‘I need to talk to him,’ said Chen and winced as Anderton began to clean the wound with an antiseptic spray which stung as he applied it.
‘You can try,’ said Anderton. ‘He slips in and out of consciousness. Commander Blackman has posted a couple of armed marines outside his room and has tried talking to Commander Haldane a couple of times but he didn’t get very far and I ordered him to stop when it was clear it was becoming too much for my patient. So yes, you can talk to him, but no interrogations.’
‘Doctor, he’s a traitor and he tried to kill me.’
‘True enough, but he’s my patient. Besides, I imagine he’ll be far more use to you alive than dead, so go easy on him. Now, hold still,’ said Anderton and began to close and seal the wound in her arm. ‘You’ve lost quite a bit of blood and this is a nasty hole you’ve got in your arm. A centimetre or so to the left and I doubt you’d have got up again so quickly. You were damn lucky. You need to take it easy, at least for a few hours. Get something to eat and get some rest.’ He began fixing a surgical dressing over
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