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  “You said few corpses before, not many on the way there. How many dead there?” asked Gregor.

  “Not many here, perhaps twenty cops and … well, quite a few in the cells. It looks like they survived a bit longer, but they weren’t better off, if you follow me,” replied Jax.

  “Da, I follow.” said Gregor, his voice flat. “Any sign of looting or anyone left alive after the first day?”

  “Nada,” said Jax. “The weapons lockers are pretty depleted here, so I guess that most of the gear was issued and is somewhere out there in the city. There may have been some looting but not here. I will bring back what there is, but I hope to find more tomorrow. We are going to get some shuteye in one of the side rooms where there were beds. They are pretty musty but softer than the floor. How are Meilin and Lori doing?”

  “My next call. You want me to call back with a status update after I talk to them?” asked Gregor.

  “Not unless they need help. We are pretty beat here and could use the sleep. I am not bothering with a watch. There is no-one here,” said Jax.

  “Yes, this place is dead. Nothing on radio, nothing anywhere. Sleep good, will check back in at seven hundred, okay?” said Gregor.

  “Roger that. Out,” said Jax.

  Gregor took a moment before calling the second team, rubbing his eyes. It had been more than twenty hours since he had any sleep and his face was grey with fatigue and stubble. He selected the channel for the other team and buzzed their communicator. There was no immediate answer. He waited for a buzz back or a voice answer. After two minutes he repeated the buzz. It was answered by Meilin, her voice shrill.

  “Identify yourself! Who are you? Be aware that we are armed and will meet any threat.” The words were clipped and hard to understand over the comm, but it was definitely the computer tech.

  “Meilin, is Gregor. Who else would it be? Are you okay? Is Lori okay? Report, please,” he replied.

  Her words came in a rush. “Oh, Gregor, of course, I am sorry. Yes, we are okay. Did you buzz before? I thought that I heard the comm and it spooked me.”

  “Da, yes, two minutes ago. Please pick up unless you are in trouble. Not good idea to give me heart attack when you have the doctor. What have you found so far?” asked Gregor.

  “Uh, well, we made it to the hospital, and it was … not good. There are quite a lot of bodies here, skeletons now, just lying on trolleys or in beds. There was one on the table in an OR. Lori says that it looks like they were in the middle of an operation. It is weird though. Some parts of the hospital are nothing but the occasional skeleton and some parts have no-one at all in them, but it looks like they were all in use. What we are seeing doesn’t make a lot of sense yet,” replied Meilin.

  “Any records that you have found?” asked Gregor.

  “Most of the data would have been on their slates, and they are all dead. I might be able to get them back online when I get back to the ship, but there is nothing that I can do here without power. Gregor, it is so cold here. I don’t remember this as a cold world. Are we nearer to the poles or something?” asked Meilin.

  Gregor thought for a second. “No, spaceports tend to be near equator due to orbital spin. Should be about as warm as Erste and this is late spring. Should not be so bad, but yes, was cold earlier. Is Lori there too?”

  “No,” replied Meilin. “She said that she needed to … needed a comfort break.”

  Gregor smiled. He had known Lori for many years and very much doubted that she had used that phrasing. “Yes, but you are both okay, yes?”

  “I am frightened but okay. Lori is fine, nothing seems to bother her. How is the refuelling going? It seems like a long time ago that we left the ship,” said Meilin.

  “Slow but progressing. Will be back at expected time, maybe even a little early since was not sure if I would need to look for cleaner water. Jax and Ivo are in a police station and A-OK. They haven’t found anyone alive either,” said Gregor.

  There was a pause, a slight hiss indicating that the channel was still open. “Lori has been quite some time now, Greg. I am getting worried,” said Meilin.

  “How long is quite long?” asked Gregor.

  “I am not wearing a watch,” she replied.

  Gregor nodded. There was not much point in wearing a watch when any display on the ship would tell you the time. “Have you tried calling her name? You sound like you are trying to be quiet but is no-one to hear, I think.”

  Meilin chuckled weakly. “It just seems wrong to make a noise, but you are right, it is silly. Wait. LORI! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” The loudness of the words overwhelmed the small mic on the comm and Gregor heard them distorted. He missed the reply, but the relief in Meilin’s voice as she said something in Mandarin was obvious. Lori came on the comm a few seconds later.

  “Gregor, how goes? Did you find fuel?” asked Lori.

  “Yes, refuelling fine. Report, please. What have you found?” Gregor’s voice was hard now with an edge of anxiety.

  “We haven’t seen anyone alive and very few dead until we got to the hospital and there are still not many here. It is … strange doesn’t seem a strong enough word. There are a few skeletons in bed, but they don’t look to have been shot or anything. They seem to have just died where they were. I found an operating theatre with a body on the table, chest open as if he was in the middle of open-heart surgery. There were instruments on trays but no people. The team must have left in the middle of an operation. There are no signs of violence at all.” Lori paused as if trying to find words.

  “You find any records? Anything? Jax and Ivo found evidence of a fight in a police station and a few written notes but nothing that makes much sense,” said Gregor.

  Lori sighed. “Patient records on the ends of beds and some scribbled notes but most of the information would have been on the computer systems. We will try to recover the main computer core in the morning and any of the kit that could be useful to us. It is older equipment but good quality. If I can find anything that could help Fumi, I would be happy. Any change in her?”

  Gregor cursed. “I haven’t checked recently. Been busy with ship but will check and call you back if any change. Are you expecting change? Thought that she was as stable as she could be.”

  “She is,” replied Lori, “but not as stable as I would like. I want to get her to a specialist facility, but I don’t have any hope of finding one here. I will gather whatever I can find that might help.”

  “Will go check and let you know if any change,” said Gregor.

  “Thanks,” said Lori. “Stay safe, Gregor, and hang in there.”

  “You do the same,” replied Gregor.

  “We are fine. I found blankets so we can warm up and we will check in if anything happens or in the morning if it doesn’t. Remember to eat!” said Lori.

  “Da, will do. Going to check on Fumi now. Dobroy nochi!”. Gregor closed the channel.

  Chapter 7

  Gregor was woken by a beeping noise from the console. He had fallen asleep in the pilot’s chair again but at least he had remembered to recline it this time. He fumbled for the lever and brought it up to normal position. The screen was flashing “Coldsleep 4”. He remembered that he had set up a macro to alert him if anything changed on Fumi’s capsule. He would have asked the AI to keep an eye on it, but it was still down. Meilin had got the basic logic working again without any of the learning. It was the electronic analogue of a brilliant baby’s brain at the moment, so all that he had were crude programming commands. He would have to go to the medbay where he had the capsule rigged. He headed out of the cockpit.

  The capsule was showing an additional red light and two new ambers. Gregor cursed in New Russian and started working through the diagnostic screens. He didn’t like what he saw. Lori would know what to do, but she was out in the city. He would try to raise her on the comm.

  It was four hours later when he finally managed to raise Lori. “Lori, what the hell? Have been trying to raise you for hours. Why have yo
u not responded? You hit trouble?”

  “Sorry,” said Lori, “I turned the comm off to save power. It is not like we can recharge it out here. Hours? Did we miss check-in?”

  “No,” replied Gregor, “but have trouble. Fumi’s capsule is warning of cell death. Am worried. Please advise.”

  “Mierda! Can you give me the diagnostics from the capsule? We may be able to stabilise her,” said Lori.

  “Da,” said Gregor, “already tried that but here goes. I have you on relay to medbay. Overall status ‘Compromised, seek medical attention.’ Secondary status, ‘Cell morbidity delta unacceptable. Warning, rate of cell loss accelerating. First page diagnostics … ” Gregor relayed the details displayed on the small screen.

  Lori broke in after several minutes. “The stuff that you are reading now would only change if there were massive trauma and there isn’t any. You say that you have already tried to stabilise her. What did you do?”

  “Da. Lowered temperature. Figured things happen slower when colder. Increased oxygen and glucose five percent each, but capsule reports no increase in uptake so dropped them back to normal. No change in cell death rate.” said Gregor.

  Lori paused. “At that temperature, she is not going to have enough metabolism to use the oxygen or glucose. You could warm her up, and that would enable the cells to use the nutrients, but it could make whatever is killing the cells faster. I think that we leave her cold.” Lori paused again. “How long until refuelling is complete?”

  “Fourteen hours minimum, but I can lift with partial tanks,” said Gregor.

  “Enough for a jump?” asked Lori.

  “Maybe. Single jump if I am careful, I think,” replied Gregor.

  “No. Risking all of us for maybe a better chance for one of us makes no sense. I can scavenge for things that could help here, and that will take us until after local dawn. We couldn’t make the trip safely at night anyway with the roads as they are. Take the fourteen hours and play it safe. I will meet you at the spaceport,” said Lori.

  “Da, no, wait. When I took off, I saw big square in city centre, big enough for vertical landing. Is that closer?” asked Gregor.

  “Ya, much. We passed it on the way here. It looks a tight fit for the Sarafina,” she replied.

  “No problem for number one pilot. Is a plan! I will send Jax a recall for that time and have him head there. I will try to be early,” said Gregor, relieved to have something to do.

  “Me too. I will wake Meilin, and we will start searching,” replied Lori.

  “Roger that, Gregor out.”

  #

  The Sarafina was a tight fit, but the square was free of cars making a landing possible. Gregor was surprised how empty the streets had been as he came in low over the city. Even allowing for grav vehicles being popular, there would still have been ground traffic. Perhaps it was due to whatever happened striking at night, he thought. He left the engines in idle rather than shutting them down since he had plenty of fuel and reaction mass. The isotope filters separated the deuterium from the rest of the water and the “light” water and surplus oxygen were both useful. He felt that he should go and stare at the cold sleep capsule, but there was nothing that he could do, and he would be glad to see the returning crew from the cockpit. He turned on the outside speakers and piped his morning playlist to it. There was no-one here to mind and it would help the others to find him. “Кorobushka” started to echo from the buildings surrounding the square. The one to the north looked to Gregor like it might have been the town hall.

  The radio came to life a few minutes after. “Hey, big guy,” said Jax. “Saw you come over me a few minutes ago. Are you going to shut that shit up before I get there or at least change to some Bangra?”

  Gregor smiled. “You want it changed, you come here and change it, okay? You need loading ramp down, you old pack rat?”

  “That is an affirmative. I got some goodies,” replied Jax.

  “Roger that,” said Gregor, prodding the button to open the cargo area. The vibration could be felt, but “Bella Ciao” covered the noise. “Come on home.”

  Lori and Meilin struggled to push the lashed together medical trolleys straight. It would have been a lot easier if the two women had been similar heights, but Meilin didn’t come up to the doctor’s shoulder. They were pleased when Ivo came to help them at the entrance to the square. The load was top heavy and had nearly toppled several times. Together they got it up the ramp. Gregor clambered down the ladder from the upper airlock, hurrying to meet them. Lori waited at the bottom, barely letting him off the ladder before heading up the ramp. “Bring the box!” she called over her shoulder.

  Lori had the cold sleep capsule in diagnostic mode by the time the others got the large box that had been riding on top of the gurneys into the medical bay. She looked up briefly. “Set it next to the second bed. It will be easier if you empty it first.” Gregor grunted, wishing that he had known it could be emptied before trying to manoeuvre it through the corridors. He lifted the lid and started pulling hundreds of small boxes from the interior. It looked like she had spilt the pharmacy into it. The box had a panel similar to the cold sleep capsules but with many more controls, and it was considerably larger with waldo arms in the lid. He reasoned that he didn’t need to know what it did at this point. Meilin pulled up a chair and started hooking various cables between the box and the ship. At least one of those would be power. At that point, the control unit beeped and fans whirred into life. Gregor grabbed more boxes, piling them beside the machine.

  Meilen started putting the machine through its setup while Lori worried away at the cold sleep capsule containing Fumi. Gregor sealed the lid and started putting away the boxes. He saw that they were pharmaceuticals, all many years old. He wondered how many would still be usable. He tagged each batch with a red Post-it as a reminder to check it. The ship had been running on minimal medical supplies. The new unit periodically reported, “Unit not at acceptable temperature. Please wait,” followed by an estimate of when it would be ready. Gregor finished up and went to fix a meal for Lori and to see what Jax and Ivo had come back with.

  The others were already in the galley heating up frozen ration packs. They had been carrying minimal supplies when they had left the ship. Gregor found a spicy rice dish that he knew Lori enjoyed and started it cycling.

  “So, what did you get? Any more information or supplies?” asked Gregor.

  “Some.” Jax pulled open the foil lid and stuck his spork in. “Weapons and jewellery, mostly. The cash was all local scrip, but I figure that we can trade rare metals even if only for scrap.” His words were muffled as he tried to eat his curry while speaking.

  “I also pulled a couple of solid state drives from systems. Some of them will be encrypted or unreadable, but we might get something,” added Ivo.

  Gregor grunted. “Trade with who? This place is dead, no?”

  Jax shook his head and swallowed. “I didn’t see a lot of corpses. The population of this place would have been in the millions at least. Maybe a couple of billion. I saw maybe fifty deaders in the whole place and we went into homes. They were not there either. They had to have gone somewhere, right?”

  Gregor nodded and Jax continued, “And vehicles, there should be a lot of them and there just aren’t. Imagine a core world and everyone drops dead one day. You would find crashed grav and ground vehicles, bones, hospitals full of corpses … did the girls find that?”

  Gregor winced. He knew how Lori felt about being called that. “No, only a few. One on operating table and a few in beds, she said. Maybe. Crap, I have no idea.”

  Ivo stirred his food and spooned up a mouthful, waiting for it to cool. “I think, you find the people and you find the answer maybe.”

  Gregor shrugged. “Maybe. We see. Stow the weapons secure, please. I will go and take this to Lori, see if I can help.”

  “How is Fumi doing?” asked Jax with a forced off-handedness.

  “Not good. Lori will do what she can. I
s good doctor, we all know.” Gregor took the meal pack from the heater and a spork. “Will let you know if you can help.”

  Chapter 8

  Lori was sitting back, watching the screen of the terminal nearest the cold sleep capsule when Gregor came into the sickbay. She smiled without it reaching her eyes.

  “If you brought coffee as well, then you might be my favourite pilot,” she said.

  “The only coffee that you like is in here because no-one else will drink it. I will make you some. How strong do you want it?” asked Gregor.

  “Rocket fuel. It is going to be a long night, I think,” she replied.

  Gregor passed her the tray and started filling the coffee maker. “Not good then?” he asked.

  Lori knew him well enough to know what he wasn’t asking. “Better than she would have been without your help, but no, not good. Did you know that she had a neural?”

  Gregor hesitated. “No, I don’t think … a neural implant? I might have expected Meilin to have one but… Anyway, is that a problem in cold sleep?”

  Lori sighed. “Normally, no. Implants are designed to survive cryosleep and they will shut down when the temperature drops. They have batteries, enough to last for a few days, and they can take the cold normally. Fumi’s couldn’t, apparently. It is leaking, and the electrolyte is toxic. That is what is causing the cell death.”

  “Shit,” cursed Gregor. He thought for a second. “Could battery have failed when the jump went bad?”

  Lori paused. “Yes, that would make sense. She was fine when I put her down, and she has been in cryo many times before. That could well be it. It doesn’t help, but it does explain it.”

  “So, what can we do? Remove battery?” asked Gregor.

  Lori nodded. “I may as well replace it since I will be in there anyway and her body is used to the implant. That doesn’t help with the toxin that has already leaked, but we can reduce the rate that she is getting worse. I am waiting for the cold sleep surgical unit to chill down enough.” She gestured towards the box that they had set up earlier.