company, each locked in separate miseries. Somehow it had escaped her that grief was a frequent visitor in the universe, that her inability to aid Jennan was scarcely unique. Her sister ships had all had such experiences and were still at their jobs.
âNone of them ever loved their brawns as I did Jennan,â she soliloquized sullenly, perfectly conscious of how ill her sentiment befitted her steel, yet unable to extricate her thoughts from their unconscious return to misery.
âRequest permission to board,â came a rough voice at the lift bottom.
âIdentification?â
âSenior Medical Officer Onro, Detached Regulus Base. I need to use your tight beam.â
âPermission granted,â replied Helva after a rapid check of the name in the MedOff roster on file.
Med Off Onro plunged into her lock and, with the briefest of salutes at her central shaft, lunged into the pilotâs chair and slapped home the call button on the beam.
âHave you any honest-to-god coffee?â he grated out, swiveling the chair to launch himself from it toward the galley.
âBe my guest,â murmured Helva, unprepared for such vigor after several days of Theoda.
Onroâs shoulder took a bruising as he careered off the threshold of the galley, wrenched open the cupboards, knocking containers about.
âCoffee may still be in its accustomed place on the third shelf of the righthand locker,â Helva remarked drily. âExcuse me; a container just rolled onto the floor.â
Onro retrieved it but cracked his head smartly on the corner of the cupboard door he had left open. The stream of invective Helva expected did not come. The man carefully closed the cupboard with the controlled patience of the much-put-upon and, breaking the heat seal, immediately stalked back to the central cabinand resumed his seat, watching the dial on the tight beam as it warmed slowly to peak, never blinking as he gulped the now steaming hot coffee. Even as he swallowed, the springs in his taut frame began to unwind.
âCreatures of habit, arenât we, XH? Iâve been dreaming of coffee for 18 mortal days and nights. The stuff they use in its place on this lousy lump of ill-assorted metals makes ME sleepy. Coffee is not as potent as benzedrine nor half as rough to the system. Ah, there they are. I swear these beams take longer every time I have to fool with the damned things.â
âCentral Base Regulus.â
âXH-834 reporting,â announced Onro.
âWho?â gasped an unofficial voice.
âOnro talking.â
âYes, sir, didnât recognize your voice.â
âDid you think Helva had a cold?â
âNo, sir, that wasnât what I thought.â
âWell, never mind the chitchat. Put this on the computers and let it do a little brainstorming. Iâm too tired. You better check the computerese, too. I havenât been asleep much lately.â He turned to Helva, âHow dâya like the luck? First home leave in three galactic years and I have to time my arrival with the plagueâs. I wonder if I can get a rebate on vacation time.â He turned back to the beam. âHereâs the garbage,â and he rapidly dictated the material. âNow hereâs a verbal to check it.
âDisease unidentifiable on the Orson scaleas a known virus or variation thereof. Patients thoroughly tested and apparently perfectly healthy can develop clinical symptoms in 10 hours; complete deterioration of muscle control, presence of high fever, excessive spinal pain follow in 3 days. Death caused by 1) brain hemorrhage, 2) heart failure, 3) lung collapse, 4) strangulation or in case where medical help has been late in arriving 5) starvation. All survivors unable to make muscular coordinations of any kind. Extent of brain damage negative. But they might as well be dead.â
âImpairment to intellect?â asked Central Control.
âImpossible to ascertain
Lawrence Anthony, Graham Spence