The Terran Mandate Read Online Free PDF Page B

steam. Sall
closed his eyes when he heard the gurgling of something that wasn't yet a man
struggling to breathe. The hum leveled off and the form coalesced into
something that looked vaguely human. The form wretched and coughed and then a
hand slammed against the the chamber door window. A man screamed from both
somewhere far away and just inside the chamber. A pair of eyes appeared from
behind the steam.
    The steel latches on the chamber door
thumped open and it swung out on screeching hinges. The technicians reached in
to grab the man, dragged his limp body out of the chamber and lay him on the
gurney. Disoriented and swimming in panic, his eyes darted around the room. His
feet flailed and his legs began to spasm as his mind remembered how to work the
muscles of his body. A technician grabbed the I.V. needle and slipped it into
the man's arm while another pushed in the plunger of a syringe fastened to the
I.V. tube. The man stopped flailing almost immediately, but his eyes still
fluttered with panic.
    Dr. Sall inspected the body. A wide
swath of bandage stretched across his torso was soaked in blood. A technician
grabbed another bandage from the resin shelves slung underneath the gurney and
unrolled it over the old one, pulling it tight and tying it underneath his
back.
    "Let's go," Dr. Sall said.
    The withering squeak of the the gurney's
wheels echoed off the concrete walls as one of the technicians pushed the
gurney as fast as she could without losing control. While clear liquid dripped
from the I.V. bag, the man's head lolled as consciousness started to elude him.
    "Hit him," Sall said.
    One of the technicians clutching at the
rails of the gurney reached out with his hand to give the casualty a hard smack
on his cheek. The man grimaced and then wailed in pain as he became aware of
his surroundings again.
    "Stay on point, Marine," Sall
instructed.
    The man gasped, held his breath and then
blurted out, "Sir." He writhed on the gurney and started methodically
punching his leg, lurching in pain each time. Suddenly aware of his
surroundings, he asked, "You can fix this, right?" Dr. Sall didn't
respond as they swung around a corner and down the passageway towards the
recovery bays.
    As they approached the metal door to the
medical bay, Sall eyed the camera above the frame and the door slid open. As
they crossed the threshold, Sall's team yanked the gurney to a halt and backed
it into a recovery bay. One of the technicians pulled a stretched headband from
a metal peg above the casualty's head. Wires snaked from the headband to a
yellow console filled with monitors, dials and switches. The technician lifted
the man's head and carefully slid the band over his forehead. The man's head
had gone limp and he did not react to the movement.
    "Dammit," Sall muttered. He
gave a quick look to the technician, who then turned and hit the casualty
again. The man coughed and gagged, then sucked in a gurgling breath.
    "You still with us Marine?"
the technician asked.
    "four oh" the man grunted
back.
     
    Colonel Dekker walked deliberately down
the passageway that Sall and his team had been running down just moments
before. His field utility blouse was smeared with smoke and blood and the sheen
on his boots, made from a black resin fabric resembling leather, was covered in
scrapes and scratches between patches of gloss from where he had shined them
before the battle. He marched stiffly and carried his cover in his left hand. A
short brush of hair sprung from his scalp, almost as if called to attention. As
he approached the door, he stuck his right arm straight out in front of him. As
the door slid open he slapped his palm against the cool metal frame and the
door receded into the wall behind him. He stopped in the bay, looking right
then left until he found the casualty recovery team that was already checking
the telemetry from their scans of his wounded Marine.
    "Dr. Sall," he said. The
doctor looked up with a flat stare.
    "Colonel."
    Dekker