Bastion Saturn by C. Chase Harwood Read Free Book Online

cooling off the brain fast enough. The best method would be to direct the coolant through the sinuses. Via some sort of tube perhaps.”
    “Wow and wow,” said Monty. “Piece of cake.”
    “Hardly,” said Saanvi, apparently tone deaf to the sarcasm. “As I stated, the chances of survival are really quite slim—which means better odds than the guaranteed death we are facing. Best news is that this ship has a compact med center so the drugs we need should be plentiful.”
    David, who had been listening quietly, sat at a monitor deep in calculations. He called over his shoulder. “The suits are coiled throughout to move coolant. Shouldn’t take much to pull out an end loop up by the neck and run it like a catheter through a nostril and back out through the mouth. That would sure give you brain freeze, eh, Saanvi?”
    The doctor nodded with a polite smile. “The trick will be to avoid frostbite where the tube touches the soft tissue.”
    Caleb volunteered to be the guinea pig. Monty wasn’t going to do it. Saanvi and David were critical for the procedure, and Jennifer was still allergic to the sedatives that were necessary to keep the patient at ease. That automatically volunteered her to stay awake and revive them all when they got there—a circumstance which, despite Jennifer’s seeming smarts, left all of them with grave doubts. They considered trying it on Rob first (who Jennifer and Monty both agreed was pretty much a useless stoner), but it didn’t seem right to use one of the other sedated passengers without his permission, at least not until the technique had been tested. Of course there was no knowing if it truly worked until they were revived. For all intents and purposes, Caleb was choosing to die by freezing. If it went according to plan, his body would be quickly cooled to a point at which his metabolic rate would slow down enough as to be undetectable, the same for activity in his brain, which would cease to function in a conscious or unconscious state. Long-term hibernation was a standard late-twenty-first-century practice, just not half-assed with a jury-rigged exosuit. It was David, who noted off-handedly, that none of this would be necessary if they were saturated with nanos. They could simply tell the bots to painlessly reduce the body’s metabolic rate, prioritize calorie use for brain and major organ functions and more or less hibernate as effectively as a bear. The choice to remain fully an original human, devoid of any nano enhancements had its drawbacks.
    His own suit outside the shuttle in the exosuit compartment, Caleb was forced to wear Jennifer’s suit, which though designed to fit multiple body types, was definitely stretched to its limits. To minimize the risk of injury, Caleb needed to be awake and cooperative while the nose catheter was inserted. Thankfully, the tube had a small diameter and was made from flexible silicon. A dab of petroleum jelly, and up it went. He went into a spastic coughing fit as the tube passed into his throat before Saanvi deftly pulled it out. “Worst is over,” she said with a comforting smile. She held up a small lipstick-size device. This one is to keep you at ease during the rewarming process. It only needs to be placed inside the nostril to deliver a mild sedative. It will keep you from shivering to death while you warm up and your heart rate increases.”
    Caleb offered her a skeptical smile as she and Jennifer helped him put on the helmet. An inhaled sedative came next, which Saanvi held at the ready. “Any last words?” she asked with the same easygoing bedside manner.
    “Shit,” he said with a nasal inflection forced by the catheter. “I was only in a full-blown panic before you asked me that.”
    “Nothing is nothing, officer. If you don’t return from this, nothing can’t hurt you. If there is something, then good journey to you.”
    “Thanks. And for the last time, don’t call me officer. Just another short-term occupation I can check