Chapter 19 - Hospitals and Ice Cream
While a good number of Amazons once considered immortal had crossed over to the next world after they had been hit by disintegrators or pulse cannons, others survived the Shakanar onslaught with injuries that would take months to heal. Aysha Napolipolita-Daitokuji and Deesha Dakina were among them; luckily, Hippolyta had put both of them up in what remained of her palace. Unfortunately, there were many thousands lying in the fields of Paradise Island, being tended by the few Amazon physicians who had been trained in battle injuries.
The battlefield-turned-outdoor hospital was oddly silent, as wounded Cygnans and Amazons were quiet in their suffering. Dr. Stellamaris and numerous Amazon acolytes of Hygieia circulated among the battered soldiers, trying to bring comfort and healing to their many charges. Conventional Cygnan and Amazon medicine was all they had. With the purple healing ray gone forever, there was little else they could do.
Dr. Almah Stellamaris - once the chief physician of Her Majesty's Egota Pallas Athena – prayed as she worked. She prayed not only for her charges, but also for help to arrive. She was strong in her own way but she had been awake for two days and nights now, and felt herself reaching the end of her reserve of energy.
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It may have been the Shotosarikan, the Pathfollower All-Highest Being who answered Almah's prayers, or it may have been the grit and common sense possessed by the Cygnan queen herself that brought help on the way.
"But Your Majesty – " sputtered the Leptonian Minister of Defense. "This is all too sudden – "
"We'll brook no tish-tosh," said Zazen'lda, rubbing her hands in front of a portable telescreen within the Amazon Queen's shattered palace. "When We say we need an emergency medical fleet with transports on the double, WE MEAN IT!"
She pointed at the screen. "Scrape up what you have within the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies and get them here. Add enough transports to get these cursed Shakanar off-world, dead and alive. Mobile surgical hospitals camps must be set up here on Themiscyra on the double. Enough to heal a division of fifty thousand at bare minimum! Foodstuffs and medicine they can handle are also a priority here."
She got up close to the screen, the tip of her nose almost touching it. "And under no circumstances will you feed them intuvasa and gack-urk. You may nourish the Shakanar with those military rations, but I am sure our Amazon Sisters can live full and happy lives without ever tasting such nastiness. They've suffered enough already. We've promised their queen restitution, and We keep our word."
She shook a clenched fist in front of her. "We need doctors and medassists here, not bureaucrats. You may tell the rest of the Cabinet and the Parliament that We intend to stay here on Earth with our daughters C-ko and E-ko and the Revenger until this gets done."
"Your Majesty, I assure you – "
"The Scepter hath proclaimed it!" she cried, her fist now trembling.
The minister's jaw dropped, recognizing the ancient form of a Royal Command. She dropped to one knee, crossed her arms before her.
"Behold the Queen speaks," she said. "And the people shall obey."
"Make sure they do, young lady. The All-Holy be praised, I'll be watching you! Signing off." The telescreen shut down as Zazen'lda let out a huge sigh. "It's time to bandage the wounds, not pour salt into them," she murmured.
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The Napolipolita-Daitokuji girls sat outside the room where their mother and Dee rested. They had been there for a good long time and were itching to find something to distract them from the misery and pain that surrounded them.
"I don't know what to do with myself," Shiiko groused to her younger sister Mitsuko. "I am so bored. The war is over but since Ma is in the hospital, we can't go anywhere."
Aki snorted. "As if any of these Amazons are in any mood to entertain you dumb rug rats! Go take a walk, or practice your sword fighting. Go –"
And then they heard a scream from the next room. It was the unmistakable voice of their mother.
"MA!" the girls cried, getting up so fast that they nearly stumbled and fell. "Oh Great Mother!" Akana cried as she ran. "Let her be all right!"
They nearly tripped over each other in their haste to enter the hospital room. The first thing they saw was Dee's smiling face. Then they saw their mother in their father's arms.
"Daddy!" Aki shrieked, racing to him and slamming into his back. "I am so glad to see you!" The other two Napolipolita-Daitokuji girls piled into the back of her.
"Slow down, girls!" Hikaru Daitokuji said. "You're going to tip this bed over!" Within seconds the billionaire was enfolded in arms and slid laughing to the floor. He hugged all three with all his might.
"I understand that Akana is an Amazon hero, and that my two little princesses are fierce warriors! Thank you for saving your little brother's life, Aki. Oh, God is good." After many hugs and kisses for the three girls, he stood and embraced his wife and son once again. Both were crying with happiness.
The former captain sobbed. "I thought that I would never see you again," she whispered. "We came for an Amazon ceremony and a banquet! I brought a dress uniform and a gown. A lot of good it did me! None of us knew that the Shakanar would blast this island with multiple particle beam disintegrators and turn loose thirty-thousand maniacs to kill and maim our friends. I had to fight to protect my Amazon Sisters – and our little ones – "
"And some of us who aren't so little," said Biko quietly, coming into the room. Her father turned and hugged her tightly, shaking with sobs.
"Thank you for protecting the children," he whispered through his tears, "and for keeping an eye on your mother. What would I have done without you here?"
Biko pulled back and looked right into Daitokuji's blue eyes. "It almost sounds like you might possibly love me, Father."
"I always have," he said, pulling her back into a warm embrace. "God forgive me and I hope you will as well for not showing you. I'm a lousy father and I hope to – "
At that, Biko also began to cry. "Of course I forgive you," she whispered. "And the best thing you ever did was marry that dirty old soldier of the realm lying in the bed there. Don't let her try to snow you. She has three deep stab wounds; Stellamaris has covered them over with that derma-whatever but they will take months to heal. And knowing Ma, she will allow herself to stay in bed for about half an hour."
"She and Dee are going right to my hospital's trauma unit when we get home," Hikaru Daitokuji answered. "I plan to call in specialists from the United States to take care of them."
"Biko, you do love to exaggerate," Aysha replied. "Hicky, don't be a cheesebrain. I'm better off than many of our Amazon Sisters, who – by the way – are lying in the fields, dying for all I know. I need to help them, in fact." Aysha tried to sit up, but her grimace of pain caused Daitokuji to urge her to lie back down. He plumped her pillow and straightened her blankets.
Little Kir, who had been resting next to his mother when his father arrived, put his arms up for his daddy.
"My poor little man," Hikaru said, picking up the child. "Wounded in battle. I am so sorry that happened." He kissed the child's arm cast. "I understand that you saved the life of Princess C-ko, and your fourth birthday isn't until next month! Fine work, son – Daddy is so proud of you." The little boy beamed. He was his father's eye-apple and knew it. "I want you to think really hard about what you want for your birthday!"
Aki, eyes still leaking considerably, located a chair for her father and placed it next to her mother's bed. "And Ma was a hero, too," Akana said gravely, urging him to sit. "She had Shakanar coming at her from all sides and only a double-bladed ax with which to defend herself and Auntie Dee. She never gave up and she never ran, not even when those maniacs stabbed her in revenge for Chitai's death. She is a brave soldier who did us all proud, and I expect that the Great Xramcrusher is proud of her as well."
"Can you imagine, Hikaru?" the ex-captain murmured, growing tired from all the welcome excitement. "I haven't been in combat for years and years and all of a sudden – "
"It all came back to you, I'll wager," her husband replied, taking her hands as little Kir was picked up by his half-sister Biko. "Rest now, my star wanderer. As soon as you are able, we can take our leave of the Queen, who – by the way – was more than hospitable in allowing me to come to the Island." The Japanese businessman smirked. "She also called me a handsome fellow, but you already knew that." He grinned as Aysha nodded.
"We can all go home in the ENDY and everyone can get a good rest," he said as he turned to the children, "safe and sound in your own beds!" Daitokuji stood. "Come on, kids; let's let your mother rest for now."
A sudden thought occurred to him. "Who wants ice cream?"
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As it happened, there was plenty of ice cream to eat and share. A-ko and her parents came to each enjoy a small dish. Daitokuji pointed to the Man of Steel with his spoon and spoke to Diana. "Very grateful to your husband here for coming to get me. Nobody on Earth even knew there was an attack from space here – "
"Because 'here' is hidden from the eyes of the residents of Man's World," Wonder Woman replied. "It's just as well, really. Can you imagine the Earth Defense Force trying to shell a Shakanar warship several miles long? It would have been twice the mess and fifty times the casualties."
With a painful memory of how he had shot down his own Aysha's ship and wrecked half of downtown Graviton City in the process, Daitokuji winced. "I thank you all again for taking care of my family through this. And if there is anything any of you ever need from me or my companies, do not hesitate to ask."
"I wonder if that includes some of that ice confection for an Amazon warrior," said Artemis, coming up behind him. Of course, A-ko performed a flawless eye-roll.
Hikaru turned. Artemis had a smirk on her face. "You must be the old man who owns the Ambassador."
"Talk to me like that, and no ice cream for you," Daitokuji only half-joked. "Please, have a seat and pick up a bowl. It is all the way from Japan and perhaps you will enjoy it more than my company."
She sniffed and sat down, picking up a bowl and gazing into it as if it was a slew of innards.
"This is Artemis," Diana said. "You know Zoey, of course. Well, Artemis is Zoey's mother and one of the finest warriors on Paradise Island – when she's not trying to spread more discord than the Goddess Eris!"
"We all know Zoey, of course," Hikaru replied. "She is always welcome at the Mansion. As is her mother, if you ever care to visit. I appreciate your courage and – well, Aki told me only a few minutes ago that you personally held off the Shakanar from getting to my kids and took quite a beating yourself. For that, I'll give you a houseful of ice cream!"
Artemis graced him with a smirk and then tasted the strawberry. Her eyes widened. "Perhaps not a houseful, but if you could have some of this ready for a future visit, I wouldn't refuse a taste."
"God, you people will never be rid of her!" A-ko hissed in Biko's ear.
"Quiet," Biko whispered back. "Hush. Do not move. Father is being polite. I've never seen this in my life, unless money or financial transactions were involved."
A-ko shrugged. "Maybe he means what he says – that he at least partially owes his children's safety to that stinker. Well, when she does show up in Graviton City – don't invite me to the reception!"
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Daitokuji knew about Artemis, of course. Aysha loved to complain about her rudeness and had filled his ear numerous times with tales of the rivalry between that particular Amazon and Diana. Aysha had also told him how Artemis had a low opinion of males and that her branch of the Amazon Nation had to reproduce to replace its warriors who died.
Perhaps it was the chilly ice cream treat that improved his mood or his gratitude over the survival of his family, but Daitokuji in fact had an idea. The Daitokujis were trustees of many places in Graviton City and elsewhere, but one in particular they particularly enjoyed were their positions with the Marine Biology Center and Aquarium. One of its resident oceanographers was a solitary fellow who specialized in studying ocean life in the Caribbean; he had been denied the joys of matrimony because he insisted on living on his ship.
"I'll introduce them and they can sit together and trail their feet in the ocean water and talk about topics I don't understand," Hikaru thought. "She won't have to leave her tribe and he won't have to buy a house in the suburbs. Who knows? Maybe Zoey might have sisters some day. After all," Daitokuji thought, looking at his sleeping wife, "whoever thought I would fall head over heels for a starship captain from an alien world?"
Shiiko came up and curled up in his lap, looking into his face. She looked like her mother with her sharp little face and pointy little chin, while resembling Biko at the same time.
"What a lucky man I am to be your daddy," he told her.
"Are you mad that Mitsi and I – "
"Am I thrilled that my two little princesses joined the Amazon army? Not really. But do you know what that tells me?"
"No, Daddy," Shiiko sighed.
"It tells me that I should let my children do what they choose to do and stay out of it. Of course, we will all go home and you will go back to school, but if you want a military career when you get older, your mother and I can certainly provide it. Your sisters Alana, Atina, and Arisa are all members of the Earth Defense Force. Your sister Alia is the commander of the Cygnan Space Navy. You could join them later – or, you could learn about our family business from your other sister Biko and fight those battles instead."
Shiiko relaxed and leaned into her father's embrace. "Right now, all I want is a bubble bath and my fuzzy pink bathrobe. I want to pet Katinky and kiss his little head." The child referred to the family's matinkas, a Cygnan animal that had made its home at the Mansion for years. Suddenly, she burst into tears. "Oh Daddy, I am so scared that Ma will die!"
"Not a chance," Daitokuji replied. "As Princess E-ko once said, your mother is a tough bird. She will come home with us and will be good as new! You wait and see!"
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Some time later, both monarchs - - one Terran, one Cygnan - - met a squadron of small shuttlecraft landing outside the palace. A gaggle of women in flaming orange and lemon yellow-hued uniforms poured out of each vessel, medical backpacks and handbags hanging off their shoulders. Spying their queen, the Cygnan doctors and medassists dropped to one or both knees, bowing their heads.
"Enough of that tish-tosh for now," cried Zazen'lda. "Look yonder at this huge field of wounded! Set up your medical tents and cots and get those women into beds. You've got six thousand of them waiting for you. Which one of you is the highest in rank or senior in status? Stand and be acknowledged."
"Here, Your Majesty," said a now-upright Cygnan in a uniform that had seen better days. Her half white, half orange hairstyle looked as threadbare as her clothes. "Eleos Benedycina of the Fifteenth Combined Arms Division, Seventh Army."
"A-ha. Step forward, Doctor."
"If I know my modern Greek," said Hippolyta, folding her arms. "Her first name means 'mercy'. Well named indeed."
"Doctor, We put you in charge of the whole operation. See to the most gravely injured first. Bind their wounds and ease their pain. Oh by the way, do you have a daughter?"
"Yes, My Queen," she replied, brushing aside some hair from her face. "How did you know?"
"We know the heads of our Royal Cavalry Guard, Doctor. Your daughter Benya is second-in-command of the Guard. You two have been out of touch with each other for a while. We won't have that within our ranks, especially now. The less distraction there, the better you'll concentrate on the wounded. Keep that in mind."
"As Your Majesty commands."
"Next to me is Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. This is her home and they are her people. Have a care for our sisters here. They've lost many a valiant heart to the Shakanar scourge. So like your name says, show mercy to them."
"It shall be done, My Queen."
"Well and good. Keep us both informed when asked." Both monarchs walked away, conversing in low murmurings. Doctor Benedycina spun around, ordering her fellow physicians to their assignments.