The Second Wave Read Online Free PDF Page A

bag with the clear liquid, Emily, would you.”
    Together, Dr Paige and Captain Eleven hooked
the woman to the IV. All the while, Sophie took photos of the
patient’s face and scanned her fingerprints. Since the stranger
wasn’t going to talk anytime soon, this way they could at least
find out who she was.
    When Dr Paige was finished with her initial
examination, she drew blood from everyone else, then set up her own
mobile office, to run the samples for contamination.
    “All clear,” she announced as the sun was
beginning to set. “No contamination whatsoever. We are all clear to
go back to Earth. However,” she looked at Eleven seriously, “I want
my patient to stay here. There is something in her bloodstream I
can’t quite put my finger on. Her PCV, for instance, is almost
eighty percent.”
    When Eleven merely cocked an eyebrow,
indicating how little medical abbreviations meant to her, Paige
explained, “The percentage of red blood cells is very high,
especially for an adult. Newborns have a PVC of about sixty
percent, but it decreases as they develop. The normal PCV for an
adult human female ranges from forty-one to forty-three. It may be
elevated when a person is dehydrated but not to this extent. I want
to come back and run more tests.”
    Eleven nodded. “Then I’ll come back with you.
So will three of my team.”
    When Eleven, Dr. Paige, Mandy, Gavin and
Sophie came back to Earth, though, they were greeted by an array of
workmen, who were shouldering building materials, looking set to go
through the wormhole. Eleven sent the remains of her team with Dr.
Paige and to Doctors deLuca respectively. She herself paid General
Fatique a visit.
    The General sat in the conference room with
Elizabeth Burke and Annabella Guarini, crouched over something that
looked like the food plan for the cafeteria. Without so much as
greeting anyone, Eleven burst into the room, and demanded to know
what was going on down there.
    Fatique looked at her, but Burke spoke first,
“We’re going ahead with the plan.”
    “The second wave is scheduled to leave in two
months,” Fatique elaborated.
    “Don’t you think this is premature?” Eleven
asked.
    Again it was Burke who answered first. “On
the contrary. We’re already behind schedule.”
    Eleven drew a deep breath, “This is not what
I meant, Elizabeth. We haven’t found the first settlers. There is
no colony. The planet looks altogether different, and I’m not
talking four months later different. Something happened on
Alternearth that we have to figure out first. Sending more settlers
now is too risky, General.”
    “No, Emily,” interrupted Dr Guarini. “Too
risky would be us not acting now. The atmospheric storms are
getting worse every time. We don’t have the energy anymore to set
up shields for all the cities. Last week we lost Port Said—the
energy simply didn’t suffice. We need more resources.”
    “People’s lives are at stake!” Eleven tried
to point out.
    But Fatique, sensing the impending rise in
excitement, calmly stepped in, “People’s lives are already at
stake. We need the other Earth as Alpha Site. If the storms worsen
and the energy runs out, we have to evacuate.”
    “Sir, it’s not safe—” but Eleven was
interrupted by his raised hand. He hadn’t finished speaking,
yet.
    “We’re aware of the risks, Captain. But we’re
going through with this. The second wave tickets have already been
activated. The new settlers should be preparing to leave right now.
What am I supposed to do, Emily, hm?” He looked at her with serious
eyes. “The budget commission is breathing fire down my neck, so is
the Energy Crisis Circle, and, frankly, I can’t blame them. We need
to do something, and we need to do it now. I know you understand
that.”
    Eleven did understand. The reasons were good,
it was just not the right time, yet. But she also understood there
was no more discussion. Everything was set now; she couldn’t stop
or slow them down