Marooned on Giri Minor
You are so tired that you are only partly aware of the shuttle ride off of the planet. When next you awake, you are on an anti-grav gurney being whisked off of a large flight deck, where dozens of shuttles, cargo transporters, and work ships are parked. You presume this must be the Orion. A trio of worried-looking medics are rushing you down toward a corridor, although you can't understand why there is all this fuss over you. There is nothing that ails you that a little bed rest and some good food won't cure. Some of the other survivors are in far worse shape.
Just ahead of you, a similar trio of medical technicians is ushering Commander Andrade down a corridor on another gurney.
Then you awake again, this time in a small observation room inside the Orion's Med Bay. It is surprisingly quiet; you seem to be the only patient. What happened to everyone else?
A young doctor comes to check on you when he sees you stirring. His dark-blond wavy hair flairs out just above his ears. "Good to see you're awake," he says. "My name is Dr. Tyam Wildon. You've been sedated so that you could have a chance to rest. But your broken rib is all healed, and if you're ready to leave, I'd be happy to release you to the ship's galley so that you can go get yourself a proper meal."
"Where is everyone?" you say. "The other survivors."
"Most are on a transport shuttle awaiting transfer to Star Base Ishtria as soon as we arrive," Dr. Wildon says. "We set up a medical facility for them down on our flight deck. Everyone is all right. Some had critical missions that couldn't be delayed any longer. You and Commander Andrade are the only ones planning to remain aboard this ship.
"Oh, and Captain Ynthramanni was down here looking for you," he adds.
"The captain?"
"Yeah, while you were still asleep. He didn't say why."
True to his word, Doctor Wildon releases you once you have been sitting up for ten minutes with no signs of dizziness.
The problem is that you're not really sure where to go.
Several days pass. No one assigns you any duties, so you assume you are on some kind of leave status as the Orion returns to Star Base Ishtria and most of the survivors are quickly transported off the ship. You hear that the two Belson children, Yigaro and Easa, were already reunited with their parents while you were still in Med Bay, before you even had a chance to say good-bye. With Ander Dyo's leg now mostly healed, he and Dr. Munro are in a rush to reach Folvan--the "Grass Planet" as they call it--so they can begin their study of the indigenous population.
As Dr. Wildon said, that just leaves you and Lieutenant Commander Andrade as the last two people rescued from Giri Minor still aboard the Orion. Once again, you have the feeling that everyone around you has important things to do and places to go, while your future is a great big unknown.
In the meantime, you are assigned quarters down on J Deck that are about the size of a closet--in accordance with your rank. You realize that you must come to grips with the fact that despite everything that has just happened, you are still what you were before: a starman of no particular significance.
Just ahead of you, a similar trio of medical technicians is ushering Commander Andrade down a corridor on another gurney.
Then you awake again, this time in a small observation room inside the Orion's Med Bay. It is surprisingly quiet; you seem to be the only patient. What happened to everyone else?
A young doctor comes to check on you when he sees you stirring. His dark-blond wavy hair flairs out just above his ears. "Good to see you're awake," he says. "My name is Dr. Tyam Wildon. You've been sedated so that you could have a chance to rest. But your broken rib is all healed, and if you're ready to leave, I'd be happy to release you to the ship's galley so that you can go get yourself a proper meal."
"Where is everyone?" you say. "The other survivors."
"Most are on a transport shuttle awaiting transfer to Star Base Ishtria as soon as we arrive," Dr. Wildon says. "We set up a medical facility for them down on our flight deck. Everyone is all right. Some had critical missions that couldn't be delayed any longer. You and Commander Andrade are the only ones planning to remain aboard this ship.
"Oh, and Captain Ynthramanni was down here looking for you," he adds.
"The captain?"
"Yeah, while you were still asleep. He didn't say why."
True to his word, Doctor Wildon releases you once you have been sitting up for ten minutes with no signs of dizziness.
The problem is that you're not really sure where to go.
Several days pass. No one assigns you any duties, so you assume you are on some kind of leave status as the Orion returns to Star Base Ishtria and most of the survivors are quickly transported off the ship. You hear that the two Belson children, Yigaro and Easa, were already reunited with their parents while you were still in Med Bay, before you even had a chance to say good-bye. With Ander Dyo's leg now mostly healed, he and Dr. Munro are in a rush to reach Folvan--the "Grass Planet" as they call it--so they can begin their study of the indigenous population.
As Dr. Wildon said, that just leaves you and Lieutenant Commander Andrade as the last two people rescued from Giri Minor still aboard the Orion. Once again, you have the feeling that everyone around you has important things to do and places to go, while your future is a great big unknown.
In the meantime, you are assigned quarters down on J Deck that are about the size of a closet--in accordance with your rank. You realize that you must come to grips with the fact that despite everything that has just happened, you are still what you were before: a starman of no particular significance.