Imperium: Contact

Chapter 37

Anna followed Andrew through a corridor that lead to the Twilight's engine room. A thin haze of smoke still hung in the air, accompanied by the smell of ozone. As they approached the engine room door, Anna noticed it was partially open. Beyond, the engine room was pitch black.

The door didn't budge as they approached it.

"Hang on," Andrew told her, grasping the door with both hands.

There was a grinding sound as he slid it aside, light from the corridor spilled into the engine room. It looked mostly intact, with the reactor sitting in the center. The walls were covered in control panels and instrument readouts, except they were all dark. Anna looked around, she didn't see John or Chief Nolan anywhere. Stepping into the room, she called.

"John, you there?"

"John," she repeated.

Anna took a few steps further in, Andrew following her. A low moan made both of them turn. It had come from the far side of the reactor housing. They both hurried around the large square block. On the far side, they spotted John and Chief Nolan stirring feebly.

"John!" Exclaimed Anna, running to his side and kneeling down beside him.

John's eyes popped open.

"Ugh, what happened?" He asked.

"I take it we landed?" Asked Nolan, now slowly sitting up.

"Yes," Andrew told him.

"Although 'landing', implies a controlled decent."

"Remind me to thank Aziz," said John, now also sitting up.

Anna and Andrew helped both of them to their feet.

"Either of you hurt?" Anna asked.

They both shook their heads.

The four of them made their way back to the bridge. They arrived to find Graham, Saskill and Major Clark hunched over a med kit, with Aziz sitting at his station in front of them. Dolohov was sitting at her station as well, fiddling with the controls. The young woman was standing in a corner, apparently deep in thought. Saskill looked up as they entered.

"John," he said with relief and hurried over to him.

"I'm fine, we both are," John assured him.

"How's Aziz?" Asked Andrew.

"I'll be fine," Aziz assured him.

"We've given him an injection of healing nanites," said Major Clark.

"They should be able to repair the damage, provided we can keep his arm still."

"Hang on," said Graham, rooting through the kit.

"I thought I saw one in here. Aha, there we go," he said, pulling out a small box.

Graham opened the box and took out two small rectangular strips that had an odd glint to them.

"Major Clark," he said.

"Could you roll up his sleeve?"

Aziz held out his broken arm and Major Clark gently rolled back the sleeve of his uniform. Graham placed the two strips on the Ensign's arm, one below the elbow and the other just above the wrist. He then took a tiny control pad out of the box and tapped in a command.

Instantly, the two rectangles elongated to form bands around the Ensign's arm. The bands started to grow wider, stretching over Aziz's arm towards one another, until they finally met and formed into one solid piece. It looked like his lower arm had been encased in a thin, shimmering tube. The tube contracted and turned rigid, effectively covering the arm in a cast.