Ep.#8 - "Celestia: CV-02" by Ryk Brown Read Free Book Online

planning on quitting on me,” Nathan told him.
    “No, sir, not me. Not Josh either, once they wake him up, that is.”
    “Good, because we’re going to need a lot of recon flights, far more than one crew can handle—maybe even more than two crews can handle.”
    “I’ll miss working on the bridge, though,” Loki said.
    “Oh, you’re still going to be working on the bridge, Mister Sheehan. I only have one other flight team, remember?”
    “Yes, sir,” Loki answered, smiling.
    “Get some rest, Mister Sheehan,” Nathan instructed as he rose. “I’ve got to find the doctor and ask her for something to knock my ass out for a few hours.”
    “Thank you, sir.” Loki watched his captain walk across the treatment room, disappearing through the doorway at the far end. He looked at his friend, Josh, lying unconscious in the bed next to him, his breathing controlled by an artificial respiration device connected to him by tubes and wires. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the pressurized air being pumped intermittently through the tubes to cause his friend to breathe. Loki let the rhythmic hisses lull him back to sleep.

    * * *

    Nathan left medical with a small container of med-tabs that Doctor Chen promised would help him sleep without leaving him groggy. He had never liked taking medications, something that he had picked up from his mother. She had always told him stories about how her grandmother could cure just about anything with a root, a paste, or a special blend of herbal teas. Many ailments of his youth had been cured by such recipes, all handed down over a hundred generations who had to learn how to treat themselves in the absence of modern medicine. He put the container into his pants pocket and continued down the corridor.
    It took less than a minute to reach Mister Percival’s quarters, as he had been assigned to one of the rooms that had been converted into an extended care room due to its close proximity to the ship’s medical department. As he approached Mister Percival’s quarters, he tapped his comm-set. “Nash, Captain,” he announced in a hushed tone.
    “ Go for Nash, ” Jessica’s voice answered over his comm-set.
    “Are you ready?” Nathan asked as he played with the volume on his comm-set, setting it as low as possible while still being audible to him.
    “ Yes, sir. ”
    Nathan pressed the buzzer next to the doorway and waited. For days, he had thought about what to say to the man, and for days, he had wondered what that man would say when confronted. A hundred different ways to ask him why he had pretended to be someone else had run through Nathan’s mind. He had discussed it with Jessica more than once, but now he was going to have to choose one.
    The door finally opened, and Mister Percival stood on the other side. His gray hair was neatly trimmed and styled, and his whiskers were trimmed and stately in their appearance. He was dressed in medical scrub pants and a loose fitting T-shirt, and he appeared ready for a good night’s sleep.
    “Captain, I wasn’t expecting you,” Mister Percival said.
    “I didn’t wake you, did I?” Nathan asked politely.
    “Of course not. I was just reading.”
    “May I speak with you a moment?”
    “Of course. Please come in,” Mister Percival said, stepping to one side to allow Nathan to pass.
    Nathan stepped into the small room as Mister Percival closed the door and followed him in. The main lights were off, and the room was lit by the bedside lamp and the glow of the view screen mounted in the bulkhead over the desk at the foot of the bed. “What were you reading?” Nathan asked.
    “Just browsing some of the files in your database about your early post-plague Earth history. How your ancestors managed to survive the total collapse of industrialized society is fascinating. It makes me feel quite proud, actually, that human beings could be so resilient. Quite surprising really, considering the state of humanity at the time the