Chapter 18: One Last Good Thing

It had been the following morning. Javier was returning to his stateroom. In his hand was a canteen filled with coffee. Steam rose from the nearly closed lip. A fellow crewmember waved and smiled to the officer as he continued his trek down the centripetal ring passageway. Javier lifted his canteen as a gesture of hello.

Javier was halfway to his destination since the galley was on the side of the spinning ring. A familiar face was quickly approaching in front of him, somebody that he didn’t feel too comfortable seeing.

It was Girsha’lar again. The towering Shal’rein always seemed to be bumping into this officer. She looked like she was dressed out to work in the ship’s gym. She was wearing a sports bra and stretch shorts, leaving her midriff exposed. The officer tried to remain professional and let the event occur. The two would pass each other, and that would be that.

“Javier,” Girsha’lar said nonchalantly.

“Girsha’lar,” he replied in a similar tone.

The two passed each other, but Girsha’lar’s walking posture began to tense up. Javier tried to ignore her, but the towering Shal’rein came to a halt as Javier kept walking.

“Javier, stop,” Girsha’lar said.

“Girsha’lar, I’m not to be directed that way,” he replied to her. He came to a halt and looked at her.

“Just listen to me for a second...” Her voice cracked some as she turned around to face him. “Look ... I’m sorry for what happened on the Garja.”

Javier sighed. He was more worried that she would say something too private for the wayward crewmember to overhear.

“Are you?” He asked her. He walked toward her. “Or are you just saying that because you’re going to serve with me?”

He could see the frustration on her face as she gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry...,” she said. “I’m sorry for hurting you.” She closed her eyes. “Forgive me.”

Javier could see that she was trying. It did cause him to relent a little bit.

“Why now?” he asked her. “You’ve had all this time and never spoke to me about it.”

“I ... didn’t know how to ... what to say...,” she fumbled her words.

For a little while, Javier felt some gratitude to see her in this state, but it reminded him to relax his aggressive stance against her. The towering woman was regretful for attacking and assaulting him in the past.

“Why did you attack me?” he asked her, already knowing the answer.

“Because...,” she tried to say. “You were my enemy ... but ... I saw the error of my ways. Please ... forgive me.”

Javier relaxed a little bit and thought about it. His eyes looked down. “I saw some of your fights,” he said. “Before they fully released you ... when Bransen hit your ear. I knew he got you good.”

She cringed a little bit as she rubbed her fin-like ear. “He ... hit harder than I thought,” she confessed. She closed her eyes in shame.

“I can’t be ... too angry at you. I don’t remember much that day ... I try not to think too much about it.”

“I remind you of it...”

“It’s hard to ignore it.”

She put her hand to her temples. She grimaced a little bit as if she was flustered with herself.

“Are you really pregnant with his child?” he asked her.

“Yes, another ten months away,” she confessed.

Javier nodded. “I see ... Shira’s going to be a mother as well. Looks like we got one thing in common.”

“And ... what is that?”

“We moved forward with our lives. My relationship with Shira only grew that day to what it is now. I imagine it was the same with you and Bransen.”

She did her quick nods. “Yes ... it was.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good ... good,” he told her. “I heard you got a new toy from the pirates.”

Girsha’lar smiled. “Yes, my own railgun.”

“You two did pretty good in the fight. Stone seemed pretty impressed ... ehmm, in his own way. Looks like he doesn’t mind you flinging it around with his marines.”

“I just can’t wait to take it to the enemy with it.”

“Well ... it might be a while. Just make sure not to poke holes in our ship with it.”

“I won’t.”

Javier was in the process of turning around. However, Girsha’lar tensed up again. The man looked back at her.

“I ... need your forgiveness,” she told him.

“Why does it bother you so much?”

Girsha’lar cringed. “How does it feel to be removed from your home?” She asked him. She grew intense with her voice. “That everything your people told you were lies? I wouldn’t have believed that male Itreans could be born again ... ever again ... until I saw it with my own eyes. Shira made the choice to leave her people behind ... I didn’t. You came back home ... had it all ... become a hero. Me? ... I’ll never see my family back home ever again. They think that I’m dead ... and I want them to keep thinking that way. My child will never meet my mother because of it. Do you know how difficult that is for me?” She pointed to the deck. “So ... for Itrea’s sake, will you accept my apology or not? Should I beg on my knees for you? I fucked up, ok? I hurt you, and I’m sorry ... for all of it!”

She had a point that Javier couldn’t ignore. The man was beginning to understand more and more. However, he decided to keep it cool with her.

“How about this?” Javier asked. “1700 today. Make sure your famous cook can make a plate of Ceviche. If you don’t know it, ask him. That cevan will work just fine for him.” He kept a content look on his face. “I wouldn’t mind getting a chance to talk more to the famous UWAF champion with you and Nir’vina beside him. If you can do that, I’ll call it even.”

Girsha’lar showed a hint of relief on her face. “Lomo Saltado...,” she remarked.

“What?”

She almost gave a boastful look. “You’re not the only one to know a few human cuisines, especially when you have a mate that cooks and never shuts up about it. He received a shipment of some sort of meat from Itrea ... Earth, whatever you call it. Apparently, they’re trying to clone something they call ... beef ... a stupid name since it means ‘dirty foot’ in Itrean. My mate is wanting to use it for some sort of dish. When you’re around him long enough, you start to pick up these things...”

Javier tried to hold back a hint of laughter and bit his tongue. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he replied with a nod. “See you then, Girsha’lar.” He gave a hopeful nod to her.

The towering Shal’rein also gave him a hopeful smile in turn. With that, the two departed from each other. It would take some time, but a part of their minds felt a little more at ease with their pasts, and that was what mattered the most...

The Lifen’s medical facility was tranquil, replaced with only the sounds of faint heart beep blips and air supplying life support equipment. Standing by a medical table was Doctor English. He wore his signature white coat, with the exception of his white hat. It had been replaced with a white cap to cover his hair. A surgical mask lay below his black glasses.

On the other side of the table were Chief Caeytano and Doctor Folar’sha, both wearing their own scrubs. A table of tools lay beside both sets of individuals. Their focus was the single Itrean body of Ioren, who was asleep.

Not much could be seen. The medical bed had various tubes, providing air to Ioren. Measuring devices were providing her heart status to the team. Her lower stomach had been surgically cut open. Signs of blood could be seen from Folar’sha and English’s gloved hands. Caeytano’s attention had been mostly on the status display while overlooking the entire event.

On the other side of the room was Empusa. The dog was lying down, but her eyes seemed to observe the spectacle that was taking place.

“She’s still losing blood,” Caeytano said.

“It isn’t much,” English calmly replied. “Her body can handle it. Tubes have been pinched. I’m going to install the artificial womb unit into her.”

English turned to the table. He turned to a flat, spherical container. He tapped a button on top, causing it to slide open. A blue and black artificial organ was exposed. It was almost rubbery and flexible in appearance. A hint of dry smoke filtered into the air as the smell of latex and other polymers flooded into the air. The doctor’s hands neatly grabbed the device and pulled it out before turning to the body.

“Folar’sha,” English informed her. “You know the order the veins have to be sealed, correct?”

“Yes,” the Shal’rein replied with a hint of concern. “I know the order, but be warned that even if I do it, her body may still go into Yiy’jinx.”

“The Itrean version of Anaphylactic Shock. I know.”

“But worse, Doctor,” Folar’sha added. “Please be careful.”

English slowly lowered the organ into place. The warm and bloody tissue was not used to a foreign object being placed into her, but the moment that it was, English began his work. He began to grab each tube as Folar’sha started using her suturing tools. She unpinched each vein protrusion to link into the organ.

Caeytano had little knowledge of what was happening in the surgery except to witness the event. The Itreans were used to having living organ transplants. Their bodies had been more than adjusted for this sort of thing, but the artificial aspect was unknown. Human bodies have been slowly adapted to handling artificial organs and implants, even more so than the natural ones. This was a new realm of surgery that was rarely done.

“Heartbeat is dropping,” Caeytano added. “Another minus five bpm. Blood count is still in the lower norms.”

“Check,” English acknowledged.

“Iz’tre is on standby to donate her blood,” Folar’sha said. “Blood loss is acceptable.”

The large Shal’rein hands were somewhat cumbersome in the smaller Itrean body. Folar’sha had to be extremely careful with her longer tools so as not to damage the other organs. However, her precision was perfect.

“I’m on the Cio’dre Click, the last vein,” English added. “Folar’sha, get ready to link in the fallopian tubes.”

“Strange,” Folar’sha remarked. Her shark-like eyes spotted something. “I see scaring on her left ovary.”

English spotted it as well. “I see it.” He grabbed a pair of metal tweezers and reached in. He gently grabbed a tiny white and red shard before pulling it out. The three briefly looked at it.

“A bone splinter?” Caeytano asked.

“Most likely from the wound she took months ago,” Folar’sha added. “The round that hit her shattered part of her rib cage. One of the pieces perforated and impeded into her left ovary. It was a good thing we found it, too. It could have further cut into her body and caused more damage as she got older. I wonder why our equipment didn’t pick it up?”

“Because ours is more meant for the human variety, unfortunately. Not only that but with this being natural, it would make it even harder to detect. But that also brings in the question. Ioren was at the Itrean hospital in Oshun. They did have the better equipment when they patched her up. Why did they leave that in there?”

“Because she’s a Golarren,” English simply answered.

Caeytano shook his head. “Son of a bitch ... Stone held their Doctors at gunpoint to save her, but they still found a way to try to screw the two in the process ... Folar’sha ... we need to inform Shira of improving our medical equipment for treating Itreans. I don’t want any more repeats of this bullshit.”

“Of course,” Folar’sha replied.

“I don’t see any more pieces of bone from my vision,” English said.

English went to a metal tray and let the shard fall into it. Folar’shar continued to seal up the fallopian tubes. It was delicate work, but English was meticulous.

“Getting close to finishing this,” English remarked. “Folar’sha, use the Mark 3 suturing tool when sealing up the vaginal walls with the cervix.”

“Just had a spike in heartbeat drop,” Caeytano said. “But the blood loss is still small. Picking up neural spikes as well.”

“Doctor English,” Folar’sha told him. “Her body is trying to reject the implant. She’s going to go into shock.”

Caeytano could only watch as the Ioren’s heartbeat started to edge toward being erratic. While he remained composed, the fact remained that it was becoming a similar incident to a prior surgery. This time, however, it was more severe.

“Prepare five ccs of Lorapilen,” English told Folar’sha. “Be ready with the cardiac stimulator in case her heart stops.”

The Shal’rein took two small devices and planted them on Ioren’s upper chest. A small probe had already been placed on Ioren’s chest. English took out a laser tool and began to work on what Folar’sha stopped. His gloved fingers worked diligently.

“Alright,” English said. “That’s the last one. We’re all set. I’m going to begin stitching up the body.”

“It’s still dropping...,” Caeytano’s voice picked up. “She’s going into cardiac dysrhythmia.”

Ioren’s body began to tense up before it shook a little bit in bed. English pointed at Folar’sha.

“Inject the Lorapilen into her,” English told her. “Mark...”

Folar’sha took the hyposyringe and injected it into Ioren’s neck. She then pressed a button on her tilon, causing a small shock to administer into Ioren’s heart.

“Cardiac stimulator isn’t working,” Folar’sha said. “Brainwave activity is stable, though.”

What started as a small problem grew worse. Ioren’s heart became more and more irregular. Ultimately, it was nearing flatlining. Folar’sha focused on her tilon, while she monitored the readings.

“We’re losing her,” Caeytano said.

“Focus on the cardiac stimulator,” English calmly directed. “Alter its frequency by minus 10% ... more...”

There was a light whine that came from Empusa. The dog’s head was up, but she didn’t bark. It was a minor distraction for the chief. But, it was here that Caeytano saw something. While the doctor was pointing and directing toward Folar’sha, the chief noted that English pulled out a small object. It was kept tightly in his gloved hand so that nobody could see it. At the same time, English pulled out a small tool. A tiny laser could be seen as it was touching one of the nerves.

“More...,” English said.

The chief saw it. Something was glowing from English’s hand. It was small but noticeable. Caeytano looked back at the status monitor.

“Wait...,” Folar’sha said. There was a pause. Ioren’s body was starting to relax.

“Vitals ... are starting to normalize,” Caeytano said.

English moved his laser tool while keeping it on. “I have to make adjustments to the augmented womb,” he said. “There’s a defect in the design. It’s administering a pulse into her nervous system. It’s coming from the backup carrier. I’m going to shut it down...”

Folar’sha continued to monitor the heart stimulator. Caeytano still noticed the faint glow coming from English’s hand. However, he remained focused on the overall status monitor.

“It’s working,” Caeytano said. “Heartbeat is returning to normal status.”

“There...,” English said. “I burned out the backup unit. It’s all set. Folar’sha begin stitching the body. You start from the top. I start from the bottom.”

Folar’sha pulled out a suturing tool. She began to neatly press the tissue together while using her energy laser to seal it. English began to do the same. He still held the odd item, but his gloved fingers were in the way.

The medical tools proved adequate. The chief was looking at Ioren as her body was closing up more and more. It took less than a minute before the body was sealed up. A fine, faint scar was all that was left.

Caeytano couldn’t believe it. Ioren’s body functions had returned to normal relatively quickly. It didn’t take long before English pulled his surgical gloves off and placed them into a small trash receptacle unit. The others followed suit, taking their gloves off and surgical masks. Besides the laser tool, whatever was in English’s other hand had disappeared.

“So...,” Caeytano remarked as he crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”

“She’ll live,” English explained. “It’ll be easier if we wait a couple of minutes. Then we can wake her up.”

“Folar’sha?” the chief looked at her.

“She should be alright to wake up right now,” she said as she brought her tilon to Ioren’s body. “I don’t see any internal scaring tissue ... at least what I’m picking up with my tilon.”

“She’ll be alright,” English said.

“Doctor English,” Folar’sha asked out of curiosity. “How did you get so well with working on Itreans?”

“I studied on Mars,” he told her. “New Olympia also has a few Itreans that willingly volunteered themselves for study.”

“Still...,” Caeytano gave a confused look. “For a second there, ... we almost lost her.”

“The risks of a procedure like this. This is a womb designed to work in humans, not Itreans.”

“But it’ll still work, right?” Folar’sha asked.

English nodded. “It will. Maybe not now, but it’s all she has for now. Trying to grow one would risk rejection.”

“Yeah, that was our problem with her vocal cords. We just don’t have one attuned to her hybrid physiology.”

“Augmented implants are going to be her only hope for the future, as far as I see it. Until the Itreans learn to put aside their ... discriminatory ways, no offense, Folar’sha, then Ioren will have to look toward human ingenuity to make up for it.”

“It’s so shameful,” Folar’sha said as she shook her shark-like head. “She deserves the same treatment as any other Itrean.”

“And that’s what we’re doing,” Caeytano said. “Don’t forget that. English ... thank you.” He looked at the monitor as Folar’sha began to take off all the probes and equipment that were on Ioren’s body. She also closed up the surgical gown that exposed Ioren’s chest and stomach.

“Are you sure she’s going to be alright?” the chief asked.

“I am 100% sure,” English replied. Those glasses made it hard for any person to see into the man’s soul. But it seemed that the man was telling the truth.

“Alright...,” Caeytano replied.

“Go ahead and wake her up,” English directed.

Folar’sha went and pulled out a hyposyringe. She injected a clear blue fluid into her neck. English had turned his head to look at Empusa. The dog seemed content, even if she never moved from her spot.

It took a minute, but the Itrean woman began to stir from her bed. Eventually, her reptilian eyes opened. She could see Folar’sha looking down at her.

“Looks like someone had a good sleep,” Folar’sha said with a smile.

Ioren turned her head to look down. She tried to get up, but Caeytano put her hand to her chest to stop her.

“Whoa ... whoa,” the chief said. “Slow down. Let your body adjust to the medications before you start moving.”

Ioren relaxed as she looked at English, who was looking away. She lifted her hands and tried to use her sign language, even if they didn’t understand her.

“The operation was successful,” Folar’sha told her.

There was relief in Ioren’s face. She breathed a sigh of relief as the Shal’rein smiled. Caeytano reached over and picked up Ioren’s tilons from a nearby table before handing them to her. Folar’sha pressed a switch to slowly incline the top portion of the bed to give Ioren some leverage to communicate with English. The Itrean woman opened her tilon, activated her word program, and began typing.

“Am I alright?” her tilon translated.

“As Folar’sha said,” English explained. “The surgery was successful. We had a number of issues that arose. The biggest one was that there was a defect in the artificial womb. The system carries a backup power regulator in case you were killed; the fetus’ life support would be kept alive for a little while longer. That way, they can still try to save the fetus. Unfortunately, that system had to be burned out. It was threatening to stop your heart. It shouldn’t be an issue to you.”

“It’s the best we could do,” Folar’sha added. “You carry a brand-new womb in you.”

“We also removed a piece of shrapnel in you. Your doctors back in Oshun decided to leave this embedded in you,” English gestured to the bone splinter on the table. “Unfortunately, it means one of your ovaries is damaged. However, your other one will work just fine.”

“So, I can now have kids?” Ioren typed.

“It should. Bear in mind this is a new procedure. It may take a month or two for your body to adjust to this as well. If you were an artificial unit or human, it would be a lot easier, but with your Itrean physiology, it may become a little more challenging. The worst-case scenario is that it doesn’t work at all. Another possibility is to use an egg transfer. The artificial unit might not accept a developing Itrean fetus. But we can transfer a human egg into you and allow normal fertilization to occur, although I doubt you will ever have to worry about that. Regardless, you will be able to conceive.”

“If it does completely fail,” Folar’sha remarked. “Technology is advancing between our people. It’ll be a matter of time before some human will create something more attuned for you.”

Caeytano was debating if he was going to say more but held back. Instead, he watched as Ioren continued to type.

“When can I resume my duties?” Her tilon stated.

“I would probably say a few days,” Caeytano said.

“Today, if you wish,” English corrected.

“ ... Umm ... come again?”

“The procedure was a complete success. She can resume when she pleases.”

The chief gave a confused look. “This was an invasive procedure that we did,” he countered back.

“Don’t worry, Chief,” Folar’sha replied back to her mate. “She’s an Itrean. She can handle this.”

“Fine...,” the chief shrugged his shoulders. “I still want you here for a few hours so we can monitor you.”

“When can I resume sex with my mate?” Ioren typed.

“Today,” English answered.

“What?” Caeytano asked in surprise. He was quick to recompose himself. He looked at Folar’sha, who had little to say. The look of confusion only grew on his face.

“I can assure you that she’ll be alright.”

The chief seemed ready to protest this. Any physician would advise some portion of recovery time. He turned to Ioren.

“Any pain or discomfort that you feel?” Caeytano asked.

Iorem shook her head. Even under the fading ends of pain relievers, the Itrean woman should be starting to feel some sensitivity. However, it appeared that she was completely fine. It didn’t make sense to him, but he relented.

“Ehmm...,” the chief cleared his throat. “Alright ... where am I to argue?”

He said nothing more. Meanwhile, there was a genuine look of happiness on Ioren’s face. If her tail would wag, she would have done it. After a few seconds, the chief tapped his waist. He needed to make up an excuse. He began to step away from the table.

“Well...,” Caeytano remarked. “Now that we finished up everything ... I need to use the restroom.”

English nodded and said nothing more. The chief watched as he walked over to his familiar station, the lab telescope. Caeytano looked at Empusa, who lowered her head back to the deck to sleep.

The chief headed out of medical. When he exited the door, and it closed behind him, the look of stern confusion remained. Instead of heading toward his quarters in the passageway, he walked up to the nearby panel. He was quick to tap a few buttons to open a communication link to the CO and XO’s room.

“Medical lab to CO’s stateroom,” Caeytano said. “Anyone, please respond.”

“Yes, Caeytano?” Shira replied at the other end.

“Captain ... you have a few minutes? I need to have a word with you...”

“You wanted me to report any observations, Captain,” the chief explained. “Well ... you’re about to get one.”

The CO and XO’s stateroom was the same as before. A few minutes had passed. Shira was smoking her cigarette while sitting down on her chair. Her tilon was open and resting near the table display unit. She was apparently looking at ship schematics but stopped to listen to the chief medical officer, who had something important to say to her. Javier was standing at his familiar spot.

“Your information is always welcome, Caeytano,” Shira calmly said to him. “What is it?”

Caeytano lightly paced by the table as he shook his head. His hands were pressed to his hips.

“I’ve always seen my share of surgeries,” the chief explained. “But, today ... today, I don’t know if it would have even been called one.”

“Chief?” Javier questioned.

“Captain, I won’t pretend to beat around the bush. My knowledge of Itrean physiology is limited. It’s why I have a wife that does it for me.”

“Of course,” Shira remarked, blowing smoke from her nostrils. “The two of you have been invaluable for this ship’s operation. One does what the other cannot. It’s a definition of a true partnership that you both provide equally.”

“Well ... with this Doctor English ... one would probably say that he’s above and beyond the both of us.” The chief looked at Javier. “I just got done doing surgery for Ioren. With ... Doctor confidentiality, I’m not going to go into too much detail of what it’s about, but how it was done that perplexes me beyond all question.”

“With matters of ship security, chief, you are free to indulge me with details. I can guarantee that none of this information you tell me will leave this room.”

Caeytano relaxed his bearing a little bit, knowing the CO would be true to her word. “Doctor English knows Itrean physiology ... he knows it very well ... I would even say unbelievably well. He would name off every segment of the body like it was nothing ... words that I never even heard of. He was on par with Folar’sha’s knowledge and expertise, but with him ... he was the one that was in charge of the whole surgery.”

“What type of surgery was this?” Javier asked. “I only know the basics that she was off duty today for medical reasons, but it wasn’t specified why.”

The chief relented. “She’s wanting to conceive a child. I won’t lie. Folar’sha and I just wouldn’t have a solution to this. Ioren being a ... well ... the way the Itreans treat her, let’s just say that help for her situation would be an absolute minimum for a while. Then...” The chief snapped his fingers. “Just like that, here comes Doctor English ... a complete stranger. Studied at the Martian medical universities and New Olympia. It all looks good on the credentials ... too well if you ask me.”

“Explain,” Shira stated. She took a drag of her cigarette.

“Captain, I’ve served in the UHN medical corps for some time. When the Itreans popped in, we’re not going to know how to treat them. We can pretend all we want, but the simple fact is that it isn’t going to happen overnight. The knowledge on the Itrean body is one that’s going to take years to digest by the greatest medical minds that the UWA has to offer, let alone the different subspecies that you all have. Then tell me, how does a person have the knowledge to do what he did just now?”

“Maybe he’s just gifted,” Javier commented.

Caeytano shook his head. “Then, out of the woodwork, he offers a solution to help her situation. Augments ... because it’s what we’ve gotten good at, right? Claims that they were doing mockup surgeries on Mars and that they theorized that it could be done. Easy for the regular medical grunts like me to take in, but...”

“My orders to you took priority,” Shira interjected.

“ ... I had a colleague at the university. Claimed that they were just in the beginning process of it, not to the level that English was claiming. The fact was that the procedure we did just now ... never happened before. This was the first time ever done in UWA medical records, augmented womb transplant into an Itrean. If it weren’t for it being so hushed up, I would even write a paper for it, make me, Folar’sha, and English all famous overnight. The fact is that what English managed to do today was damn near miraculous and ... honestly impossible.”

“Why would you claim so?”

“The impossibility?” Caeytano continued. “For simple reason. We’ve tried giving Ioren a voice, but her body rejected it. Her hybrid physiology made it impossible. Folar’sha and I were debating about augmented vocal cords, but ... they’re meant for humans. It’s incompatible. I would suggest handing one for the T’rintar clan medical to modify, but they’ve practically shunned me and Folar’sha. Hell ... they don’t even classify my wife as a Doctor anymore because she treated a Golarren.”

“They did that?” Javier asked.

“Oh yeah, the prejudice is real. Not that it matters much to Folar’sha. Me, who gives a shit? English already pulled out a nice souvenir the Oshunian Itrean medical did. I’m surprised they didn’t just leave her to die on the fucking floor when Stone hauled her in. Folar’sha is going to be putting a new order for medical equipment, Itrean equipment. Our medical equipment is still missing a few things when it comes to Itrean physiology. Itrean tech ... is just better. Not ... letting that happen again,” he trailed off.

Shira took another drag of her cigarette. “Stone did have to hold their doctor at gunpoint in order to persuade them. No doubt, they did it the way they wanted to. Whatever equipment you need will be obtained to keep this ship and crew functional. Continue...”