welfare of her shipmates.’
‘That is exceptionally good news,’ replied the Captain looking much relieved. ‘Ashton, would you like to head over now, and I’ll try and join you both a little later on this afternoon?’
It was a genuine piece of good news, the first it seemed we’d had since our arrival, so I jumped at the chance to go and see her.
As I excused myself from the meeting, and headed outside to hop in a car over to the Staten Island sanatorium, I realised with a slight twinge that I’d actually been responsible for shooting Ariel on at least two occasions, not to mention chasing after her in a bloodthirsty rage across the rooftops of several warehouses. All of which sobered my mood slightly, as I considered how easily things could have gone differently.
CHAPTER 28 - REUNION
The trip over to the Staten Island Sanatorium took almost no time, though I did pop up to the ship first to pick up some of Ariel’s own clothes, which I’d imagined would just be a spare uniform until I actually entered her quarters and realised she also had a small number of dresses and skirts, casual trousers, blouses, jumpers and of course other altogether more feminine items.
I’d seen Ariel wear clothes that weren’t uniform from time to time before we went into the Expanse while we were on our shakedown flight, but the Expanse had been the equivalent of a battlefield environment, and as such we’d practically lived in uniform.
Pulling myself together, I fished out one of Ariel’s suitcases from under her bunk, and simply filled it with a selection of items of all types, including a dressing-gown a spare uniform, as well as few other items I thought she might like, depending on how mobile she was.
I noticed she also had a spare lensing rig on her desk, which looked like she’d been making a few adjustments to, so I also pocketed that and her tools on the off chance she wanted them.
I briefly thought about picking some flowers up on the way, but decided against it on this occasion, as I still didn’t know what condition she might be in.
As I entered the sanatorium I was feeling distinctly nervous. The ordeal she’d been through could not have been easy, and I had no idea how that might affect her psychologically, but there was also all the other news, the dead and missing members of the crew, not to mention those still seriously injured, the fact we were on a world that wasn’t our home, and countless other pieces of news that would all add yet further strain.
As always the reception staff were prepped and waiting for me, and as soon as I arrived they had me escorted straight through to the area of the hospital where Ariel was recuperating, but instead of being shown straight in to see Ariel, I was first taken to see Dr Bach.
‘I’m sorry to delay you on your way to visit your friend Mr Hall,’ he began. ‘This won’t take long I assure you.
‘We thought it would be best if some of the more difficult news were to come from a friendly face,’ he continued sombrely. ‘So we haven’t explained anything explicitly to Ms Shilling yet about the circumstances she now finds herself in.
‘Firstly, we need you to explain that she appears to have gone through some kind of physical and biological change that we don’t yet understand, and while she still looks relatively normal, even on our x-rays, we know her blood chemistry has been radically altered, and that’s likely to impact on several of her other systems.
‘For example - We don’t know what she can safely eat, or whether her sense of taste and smell will have been affected. We know her vision appears to have been affected as she’s currently demonstrating acute sensitivity to light, but her sense of hearing seems normal, her skin and sense of touch seem extremely delicate, though that might change now her skin is exposed to the open air again.
‘I could go on, but the point that it’s imperative
‘That is exceptionally good news,’ replied the Captain looking much relieved. ‘Ashton, would you like to head over now, and I’ll try and join you both a little later on this afternoon?’
It was a genuine piece of good news, the first it seemed we’d had since our arrival, so I jumped at the chance to go and see her.
As I excused myself from the meeting, and headed outside to hop in a car over to the Staten Island sanatorium, I realised with a slight twinge that I’d actually been responsible for shooting Ariel on at least two occasions, not to mention chasing after her in a bloodthirsty rage across the rooftops of several warehouses. All of which sobered my mood slightly, as I considered how easily things could have gone differently.
CHAPTER 28 - REUNION
The trip over to the Staten Island Sanatorium took almost no time, though I did pop up to the ship first to pick up some of Ariel’s own clothes, which I’d imagined would just be a spare uniform until I actually entered her quarters and realised she also had a small number of dresses and skirts, casual trousers, blouses, jumpers and of course other altogether more feminine items.
I’d seen Ariel wear clothes that weren’t uniform from time to time before we went into the Expanse while we were on our shakedown flight, but the Expanse had been the equivalent of a battlefield environment, and as such we’d practically lived in uniform.
Pulling myself together, I fished out one of Ariel’s suitcases from under her bunk, and simply filled it with a selection of items of all types, including a dressing-gown a spare uniform, as well as few other items I thought she might like, depending on how mobile she was.
I noticed she also had a spare lensing rig on her desk, which looked like she’d been making a few adjustments to, so I also pocketed that and her tools on the off chance she wanted them.
I briefly thought about picking some flowers up on the way, but decided against it on this occasion, as I still didn’t know what condition she might be in.
As I entered the sanatorium I was feeling distinctly nervous. The ordeal she’d been through could not have been easy, and I had no idea how that might affect her psychologically, but there was also all the other news, the dead and missing members of the crew, not to mention those still seriously injured, the fact we were on a world that wasn’t our home, and countless other pieces of news that would all add yet further strain.
As always the reception staff were prepped and waiting for me, and as soon as I arrived they had me escorted straight through to the area of the hospital where Ariel was recuperating, but instead of being shown straight in to see Ariel, I was first taken to see Dr Bach.
‘I’m sorry to delay you on your way to visit your friend Mr Hall,’ he began. ‘This won’t take long I assure you.
‘We thought it would be best if some of the more difficult news were to come from a friendly face,’ he continued sombrely. ‘So we haven’t explained anything explicitly to Ms Shilling yet about the circumstances she now finds herself in.
‘Firstly, we need you to explain that she appears to have gone through some kind of physical and biological change that we don’t yet understand, and while she still looks relatively normal, even on our x-rays, we know her blood chemistry has been radically altered, and that’s likely to impact on several of her other systems.
‘For example - We don’t know what she can safely eat, or whether her sense of taste and smell will have been affected. We know her vision appears to have been affected as she’s currently demonstrating acute sensitivity to light, but her sense of hearing seems normal, her skin and sense of touch seem extremely delicate, though that might change now her skin is exposed to the open air again.
‘I could go on, but the point that it’s imperative
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