Transplant Read Online Free PDF

obligingly opened at their approach and they all crowded in, the door hissed to and Glyn automatically shuffled around to reach the control buttons.
    ‘I don’t see anything marked decontamination, so what do we do now?’ he asked.
    ‘You will be taken to decontamination.’ The voice of the Captain boomed in the confined space of the lift cubicle. ‘It is completely automatic.’ And the lift began to move.
    The door opened into a larger cubicle into which they all trooped, glad of a bit more space to move around in.
    ‘What happens to us now?’ whimpered Brendon, looking around anxiously at a cage like structure against the far wall.
    ‘Be patient, the Captain will tell us.’ replied Glyn, placing a hand on Brendon’s shoulder, which made him jump.
    ‘Please enter the cage in front of you. Place your equipment evenly over the floor of the cage. You will be submerged in a decontamination fluid. It is quite safe. You have your own air supply contained within the structure of your suits. When the fluid is over your heads, please rotate on the spot, raising your arms above your head.’ The command level of the Captain’s voice had gone up a couple of notches, and they all trooped obediently forward, doing as instructed.
    The cage door slid to behind them with a clank, and a sudden jerk indicated that they were on their way down into the darkness below.
    As the cage descended, a milky white fluid surged up around their feet, foaming as it raced around any obstacles in its path. Brendon had now gone a very pale shade of grey as the light disappeared to be replaced with the seething decontamination fluid.
    As it closed over their heads they could feel the fluid being pulsed in a series of powerful jets pushing against their bodies, making it difficult to retain their positions without bumping into each other in the confined space.
    Raising their arms above their heads and rotating as instructed, proved even more difficult as their feet kept tripping over the equipment on the floor of the cage.
    Without warning the fluid level dropped, light returned and they stood looking at each other, their vision distorted by the milky fluid still clinging to their face plates.
    ‘Thank goodness that’s over.’ Glyn said over his radio link, but no sooner had the words been uttered when a fresh surge of clear fluid foamed up around their feet, and they were soon submerged again.
    The pulsing jets began again, and they obediently raised their arms and rotated. Glyn wondered what they must have looked like to an observer, concluding that the word must have been ridiculous.
    When the pulsing stopped, it was replaced by a low frequency vibration which seemed to penetrate their very bodies, making them feel sick, and that caused a considerable amount of concern as they could well choke within the confines of their helmets.
    The fluid drained away again, the cage rose up to the level above and the door slid back, inviting them to leave the cage, not that any encouragement was really needed.
    Somewhere a fan started up, the whine of the blades rising to a crescendo as a blast of hot air buffeted them about, and they rotated once more with their arms vertical.
    When whatever it was had decided they were sufficiently dry, the fan was cut off and all was quiet again.
    ‘When the tone sounds, please close your eyes tightly. Do not look at the light source, it will damage your retinas beyond repair.’ In a way, it was comforting to hear the voice of the Captain again, Glyn thought.
    The ‘ping’ sounded, and they screwed their eyes as tightly shut as it was humanly possible to do as a searing blast of blue white light hit them with what seemed like almost physical force.
    The light switched off, and they were left in what seemed to be total darkness, but slowly their vision returned and a sigh of relief echoed around the radio links.
    ‘You are now decontaminated. Please return your apparatus to the equipment room. Your exit from this