Chapter 34: BAM!

Daria stood by the electrical and network blocks for the Library. As soon as main power went out she would pull the network block. Then she would pull the electrical. It was just a few minutes ago that she had finished the complete archiving and backup processing she did every two weeks. Now all data was backed up and protected against everything from power loss to EMP. Still this all made her nervous. She had to concentrate and be ready. The backup power system would kick in three seconds after losing main power. That was how long she had to get this job done. Three seconds. Waiting.

At precisely 11:03 am main power was cut. Daria had each of her hands on a block. With her right hand she pulled the data block. With her left she pulled the electrical block. She was in a blackness that was total. There was no light at all. 'At least in space there are stars," she thought. The gentle white noise of the air circulation system was absent for the first time since she entered the main habitat. Again her mind wandered, 'This must be what it is like in a closed tomb.'

Forcing herself back to reality, Daria pulled her phone from her pocket. Without power and network the communication features of the phone were dead. She activated the light. Now at least she could see something. She took the five steps over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer. In the back she kept her emergency headlamp. She turned it on and placed the circular band over her head. 'Well,' she thought. 'This will certainly lead to a bad hair day! Maybe it won't last too long. I hope the others can get done what needs to be done quickly.'

Daria sat down at her desk and put her phone on top off it. The virtual display came up and she started reading a book she had saved on her phone. Just as she started she reflected how far technology had come in her life. She had started out reading paper books and that had progressed to reading books and other materials on a small flat screen. Now that same sized device created a hologram of a paper book in front of her that she could read at any angle. It looked like a paper book. She could even turn the pages!

While reading could help alleviate stress, this was a difficult and stressful time. Before diving into her book, Daria said a little prayer for her friends, Tom, and herself.

34.2

Tom watched from the driver's seat in the rover as all the lights went out in the colony. He also saw the data link to the colony disappear. He had been out of range before, but never this close without any communication. He manually shut off the rover's data systems as soon as the colony lights went out.

Looking out the windshield he could see Darren across from him. They had parked the rovers nearly nose-to-nose so that they could use hand signals with each other as needed. Tom got up and checked the starboard side window. From his position on top of a slight rise he could see the crew working on the electrical systems adjacent to the main reactor. Immediately after cutting the power they had shifted the reactor to manual operation. Heat was now being dissipated to the atmosphere. Tom could see the waves of heat even in the thin atmosphere of Mars.

As he was watching there was a bright flash! Three of the men working on the job jumped on the fourth man, The fifth man started running toward the rovers waving his arms.

Tom jumped into the driver's seat and signaled to Darren that there was an emergency and he was going to move. Tom cranked the wheels of the rover and started driving the two hundred meters (220 yards) to the worksite. While driving he depressurized the airlock so that the men could get into the rover. Upon arriving Tom put on the helmet of his surface suit as a precaution.

Tom could hear the clanking on the bulkhead as the men were getting into the airlock. He assumed there was an injury, so he jumped out of the driver's seat and pulled down the emergency medical bed.

It seemed like forever, but it was about 90 seconds before the inside door of the airlock opened and four of the five men working on the electrical system came in and laid a fifth man on the bed. Tom recognized Luigi the chief electrical technician and first Italian on Mars.

Thomas, one of the four who carried Luigi, said, "Where are the scissors? We need to cut off the bottom of this suit if we are going to save him. Tom, get his helmet off now. Give him a dose of pain killer and start him on some oxygen." Thomas turned and grabbed a tool box and stuck it under Luigi's ankles to elevate his legs. One of the other men found a blanket and carefully placed it over Luigi in the areas Thomas wasn't working. Another handed him the scissors.

"Aye," was Tom's response. He quickly got Luigi's helmet off. The man was screaming in pain underneath. Tom gave him a pre-measured dose of pain killer from the first-aid kit directly into his neck. He placed a mask over Luigi's nose and mouth, which started oxygen flowing as well. It Just took a few moments, maybe a minute, for the pain killer to take effect. Once that happened Luigi appeared less prone to go into shock.

Still working on cutting away the lower portion of the surface suit, Thomas ordered Tom, "Get the burn kit out. We are looking at least at second degree and perhaps some third degree burns here." Thomas was not only cutting away the suit material, but the strips of pressure patch that the team had tried to apply to Luigi's surface suit as soon as they realized there was a major breach.

Tom reached into one of the overhead storage cupboards and pulled out the burn kit. He handed it to Thomas. Thomas took it without saying anything and continued to work on the wound. Tom could smell burnt hair, flesh, and fabric. Tom could see the wound. There was blackend skin, blistering, and what looked like surface suit material melted into Luigi's flesh. On top of that there was evidence of decompression injuries on his leg as well. In Tom's non-medical opinion Luigi would be lucky if his leg could be saved.

It was just 7 minutes after they had entered the rover when Thomas stood up and announced, "Well, that is the best I can do for him here. We need to get him back to Medical as quickly as possible. The doctor will need to treat this. At least I think he is stable. That wound reminds me of some of the horrific stuff I saw in the War."

Tom was already in the driver's seat. By the time Thomas had finished his comment the rover was moving - headed back toward the colony.

34.3

Kazira walked into the room which housed Marcipor. Marcipor looked up and said, "Are you here to destroy me Kazira?"

"No," she replied. "What makes you think I would come to destroy you?"

"The way the humans are acting. I have been cut off from all communication. The power system is out. I can do nothing of note. I am unable to leave this place. Now you show up."

Kazira stood up to her full height. "Unit 38 Command Sequence Ent.."

Before Kazira could finish her sentence Marcipor was up and hit her hard with an open hand. Kazira hit the wall, bounced off, and now lay facedown and motionless in the room.

Arnison had positioned himself so that he could see Kazira through the doorway. He was out of sight of Marcipor. Arnison saw Kazira take the blow. With that he pressed a button on the EMP emitter. That activated a 30 second timer before detonation. The resulting EMP would not hurt the biological life forms, but Marcipor and any other computers would be fried.

Arnison stepped into the room, "Unit 38, he cried. Command Sequence Enter, 1 alpha, 2 beta, 5 gamma. Comply."

Marcipor turned and then returned to the position on his 'knees' with his torso and head straight up. "Recognized. Arnison, Engineer. Senior grade. Command input on. Ready to receive command."

Arnison took a breath then stated, "Command, reset, system off."

Marcipor resonded, "System shutting down. Use command system when ready to reboot." With that Marcipor fell silent and the Herman body did not move."

Arnison called out to Jaricon and Sazer to come into the room. They had been stationed in the corridor with weapons to take down Marcipor if he managed to escape the room. "Keep Unit 38 covered. I am going to turn off the robot body. If it makes a move to stop me destroy it."

Arnison moved around to the spot where he had been told the switch was located to deactivate the Herman unit. He found it and moved it. Marcipor and Herman were now both shut down. Arnison switched off the EMP device. With his mission accomplished Arnison turned to Kazira.

It was clear to Arnison that Kazira was injured. She was unconscious. The light on her headband was broken. Kneeling down to check her nose he could tell that she was breathing. He gently placed his finger under her right eye. Feeling her pulse reassured him that her heart was still pumping in her chest. He did not like the way her left arm was positioned under her. It might be broken. He desperately hoped that the human doctors could treat his only daughter.

Turning to Jaricon he said, "The humans keep many supplies out here and have a medical facility for incoming travelers. Go and see if you can find something to immobilize Kazira's arm and to carry her." As both Jaricon and Sazer ran off Arnison started checking Kazira's head. As he ran his hand through her hair he could feel a lump and when he pulled his hand away in the light of his headband lamp he could see that there was blood. It appeared to be oozing from the area with the lump.

It only took five minutes but to Arnison it seemed an eternity before Jaricon and Sazer returned with bandages, straps, and a gurney. "Let us do this," Sazer said. "We are properly trained in field medicine. We will get her to the medical facility. Once she is on the gurney I want you to hold her good hand until we get there."

It took a few minutes to gingerly get Kazira onto the gurney. First, Sazer had to examine her arm to determine how best to immobilize it for transport. Jaricon carefully evaluated her head and neck. The bleeding appeared to have stopped, but he was concerned about a concussion. Once she was ready all three lifted Kazira onto the gurney and strapped her down. Then they started for Medical.

Arnison walked next to the gurney holding Kazira's good hand and looking at her face more than watching where he was going. Kazira's eyes opened and she looked at him.

"Papa. I hurt. My head. My arm. They hurt."

"I know," Arnison said while stroking her hand. "The humans are good physicians. We are headed to their medical facility now. I am sure they can help you."

34.4

Thomas was sitting directly behind Tom. He said, "Tom, how are we going to get Luigi to Medical? We can't get in through the garage airlock. There is no power. We can't open the door!"

"There is an older manual airlock over in the corner," Tom replied. "It won't allow us to get a rover into the garage. It is, however, about triple the size of the rover's air lock. Every rover is equipped with two rescue balls. We will put Luigi in one and take him through the airlock that way."

"That is going to hurt like hell," Thomas remarked.

Tom responded, "The alternative is worse."

"True," Thomas admitted.

Driving over a small rise Tom could see the colony, and specifically the garage, ahead of him. It would only be a few minutes before they got there. "Prep Luigi for the move," Tom shouted as he looked for the manual door.

Despite the powerful pain killers Luigi yelped as he was maneuvered into a fetal position and the rescue ball was put around him. Tom couldn't hear him anymore once the ball was closed and pressurized. Tom felt bad for Luigi, but there was simply not an alternative. He parked the rover and made certain that the rover's airlock was pressurized.

Maneuvering Luigi out the rover's airlock was awkward for the crew and painful for Luigi. Having someone inside a rescue ball in a rover airlock meant that there was really only room for one other, though they managed to squeeze two others in as well. The ball was compressed and it touched Luigi's burns. The airlock had to be cycled twice to get everyone through.

Once he and the rest of the second group were through the rover's airlock, Tom sprinted over to the garage's manual airlock. This was going to be a challenge, but he was glad this backup system existed! A mechanical gauge showed that the pressure inside the airlock was the same as standard habitat pressure. Looking in the small window Tom could see that the inner door was closed. This allowed him to open a bleed valve next to the outer door to expel the air in the airlock. This took a couple of minutes. He was able to unseal the door, which opened in before opening out, like the door on an airplane. Finally, as the crew moved Luigi into the airlock, Tom closed the bleed valve so that they could pressurize the airlock.

Stepping inside was like entering a living room compared to the rover's airlock. This space was designed to hold at least a dozen people and some equipment. Tom closed the outer door and secured it. Next he looked for the pressurization valve. He found the handle for it right under the internal pressure gauge. He turned the handle and could hear the hissing of air as the chamber pressurized. Looking at the mechanical gauge, Tom allowed the pressure to increase until it reached the point equal to the pressure in the garage. When the needle hit the mark Tom closed the valve - he wondered if it was possible to increase the pressure beyond this point or if there was a safety mechanism to prevent overpressure in the airlock. He would have to ask maintenance to find out. With all of the pressures equalized Tom was able to open the inner door of the airlock, which again opened into the garage before opening into the airlock space. Finally back in the habitat Tom stepped into the garage and stood aside as Thomas and the others carried Luigi over the threshold.

The inky blackness of the garage was disconcerting. This portion was walled off and there was none of the natural sunlight the rest of the garage enjoyed. Inside of the airlock everyone had switched their helmet lights on. Tom swept his around the area where they stood. He spotted a cart, which was usually used for moving equipment or supplies to the rovers. Tom ran over to it, grabbed the handle and wheeled it back to the group. "Here, put Luigi on this. It isn't padded like a gurney, but you can at least get him to Medical faster and without trying to carry him all the way. Maybe you can get him out of the ball as well."

"Thanks Tom," Thomas replied. "Let's try it!"

The crew was not able to completely extract Luigi from the ball. However, they were able to get him stretched out on the cart. One person had to walk along with the cart just to hold excess material and gear from the ball itself. Still, the trip to Medical was much faster and less painful for Luigi than if they had been carrying him in the ball.

34.5

Casualties seemed to arrive at Medical almost simultaneously. When they started arriving Dr. Gupta, the senior physician, ordered the emergency medical power system to be turned on. At least they had some light! First came minor injuries, which were mostly people tripping over things and then falling. Given the age of the people in the colony the doctor was just glad no one seemed to have broken a hip! It looked like the worst injury was just going to need a couple of stitches.

Then Kazira arrived. Sazer and Jarison were pushing the gurney. Arnison nearly shouted, "Kazira is injured. We need help. Where is the doctor?"

"I am right here," Dr. Gupta responded calmly. "Let me have a look at her. Tell me what happened."

As Arnison was telling the doctor about Marcipor causing the injuries, Luigi arrived. Dr. Gupta turned from Arnison and saw Luigi's wounds. Without missing a beat she said, "Nurse, look after Kazira. I want CT and MRI on her stat! Arnison, go tell the Commander that Marcipor is down. We need power and data now." Looking at the other two aliens she asked, "Do either of you have any medical training?"

Jaricon responded, "Both Sazer and I are trained to help the injured in the field and get them to more capable medical help."

"Good. Assist the nurse. We do not know your anatomy and physiology. But we will do everything we can to help." Turning and looking at Luigi it didn't take the doctor more than 30 seconds to say, "Prep the operating room. Make certain there is a major burn kit in there!"

People were at a near run in the medical unit as the doctor continued barking orders. Luigi was quickly extricated from the rescue ball and transferred to a proper medical gurney. His vital signs were taken and an IV started. The doctor administered more pain killer and a mild sedative. This helped further stabilize Luigi and keep him from going into shock. As soon as he was stable they moved him into the operating room. The doctor wanted to get Luigi's burns treated as quickly as possible.

While Luigi was being treated in the operating room the nurse was trying to get vitals on Kazira. Looking at Jaricon she said, "OK, what is a normal temperature for you? What about blood pressure? Heart rate?"

Jaricon answered, "I do not know on your human scales."

"OK, then we are going to do this: Both of you come here." The nurse grabbed a thermometer that measured temperature in the ear. She took temperatures from both aliens and then took Kazira's. "Well, you all appear to be within 0.1 degree of each other, so unless you are all sick I will assume that Kazira's temperature is normal. Next, how do you measure blood pressure and pulse rate for your species?"

Jaricon explained taking both pulse and blood pressure. The nurse again took both the uninjured aliens' blood pressure and then Kazira's. Kazira's was a bit high, but at least in a human that was to be expected. The same was true for pulse. Then she got about the task of getting the imaging.