Chapter 10 Chapter nine

Nick continued on to Albania, the asteroid that was home to the CT lab, beyond the Liberty Star's minefield and meteor stream.Nick had fallen in love with Liberty Star long before he started working there. For a time in history, the asteroid was free.When uranium ore was first discovered here, engineers placed anti-gravity equipment here, and Albania became a prosperous mining area and trading center before Star Wars.Later, it became the base of O'Baliang's uprising organization.In the months after the war, it was the temporary capital of the high-level space alliance.After the asteroid's freedom was betrayed, life here fell into a hopeless depression.

Now, Brian's new company is giving it another hint of prosperity.The only street, populated by the families of the workers of the Material Machine Factory and the workers of the Star of Freedom, has been revived.Even after several years of boring life, O'Baliang became busy again and became the warehouse manager of CT Company. CT brings not only prosperity, but also hope.This, Nick can feel from O'Balian's rekindled eyes and the children's laughter. The endless energy generated by CT will bring back the lost freedom to the asteroid. An hour passed, and Nick began to call the high-level Space Guard base on Albania: "The tugboat Goodbye Jane requested an emergency landing. The hull is contaminated by radiation. All twenty-one people on board are in a comatose state and also exposed to radiation."

"Don't get close to the public landing site." The other side replied immediately, "We will immediately notify the Urego Clinic to prepare and land in the safety pit of the clinic." In fact, the damage that CT may cause had already been expected, so Brian donated money to build this radiation clinic in Albania, and invited the well-known expert Urego to work here. Jenkins is ready to land.Even though his body was stiff from sitting at the scope for four hours, he felt no discomfort at all.He couldn't believe that he was going to die, he still took chances, maybe the Geiger failed?

The clinic is a neat white building, standing alone in the valley between the V-shaped cliffs.Since it is expected that most of the patients will come in contaminated spaceships like the Goodbye Short, a safety pit is specially set up next to the clinic, and the walls of the pit are covered with anti-radiation lead plates. Guided by the red light of the clinic's beam phone, Jenkins carefully lowered the tugboat into the narrow pit, naturally not as skilled as Mackey.As soon as the valve was opened, the paramedics in white coats followed the alarm bell of the Geiger device on their wrists, hurriedly boarded the spaceship, and lifted all the unconscious people out of the cabin.

Dr. Urego is waiting anxiously in the emergency room.He was tall, with a black beard, and eyes that always looked angry. He glared at a row of patients wrapped in blankets on a long white hospital bed: "Could it be that they were studying CT, and the spaceship broke into a cloud of CT dust? Another bastard opened the amidine cartridge in a panic? " Jenkins nodded slowly, not mentioning La Gerina, the nameless intruder, and the CT missile.He knew that once the truth got out, it would destroy the already unstable truce in the entrustment area; he also didn't want to destroy his uncle and CT company.

He identified the unconscious people one by one, helped the nurse write down everyone's names, and then stood aside as Dr. Urego poked impatiently with his fingers and examined them through the ophthalmoscope. Their eyes wide open.Nurses quietly swabbed their arms, prepared to test tissue, draw blood samples, and prepare IVs. Jenkins walked up to the doctor and asked worriedly, "Are they going to be okay?" "We'll know when the experiment report comes out," Urigo stared at him suddenly, "How is your situation?" "The Geiger pointer is in the black zone," Jenkins licked his lips, and there was a hint of hope in his voice. "It's probably broken. I was just a little nauseous at first, but I'm all right now."

"That doesn't mean anything," said the doctor. "Everyone who's been exposed to fifty degrees of radiation feels fine until the radioactive material degenerates in the body. Take off your clothes and come and check." Jenkins had no time to worry about his illness, much less to think about death.The traitor La Gerina and the factions supporting him are preparing to wage a deadly CT war in the Mandate and on the planets.Jenkins thought of the unbuilt transmitter on Liberty Star, the only hope for mankind now. He stood and glanced at the people lying motionless on the hospital bed.He hoped that when he found the eighty tons of expensive conductive alloy, Dr. Yarigo could revive them and continue to complete the work.

If Vorregor fails... "Undress!" Uurigo repeated sharply, impatiently. "I want to examine your throat." He had no choice but to take off his clothes obediently, lay down on the hard plank bed, covered with a thin layer of sheets, his body couldn't help shaking.The doctor pressed his muscles, listened to his heartbeat, and examined his eyes with a blinding light. At the same time, a nurse drew a tube full of dark red blood, another nurse wiped his chest with a sponge dipped in antibacterial agent, and then dipped a little liquid medicine from the test smear on it. The colored liquid slowly changed color on his skin.

When they were all about to leave, he sat up all of a sudden and called anxiously, "Have you finished the examination, doctor?" "Lie down!" Urrigo yelled at him. "You'll have to wait for the test results! The smears show you've had enough radiation. I'm going to give you an IV too, which sometimes relieves it." , but don't expect too much." Jenkins lay back reluctantly.He felt a needle prick his arm, and then lay there for an hour, watching the pale yellow liquid slowly pour into his blood.He feels cold and a little sick.Finally the nurse pulled out the needle and asked him to get dressed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

After getting dressed, he started walking up and down his friends' beds, trying to figure out how to break the news to Rick and Anders' wives and Drake and Mackey's friends.He was almost frightened. Still waiting to see Vorego, he sat down heavily again.After the intravenous injection, he always felt a little uncomfortable, coupled with the long-term fatigue, he couldn't cheer up.He wanted to figure out what to do before Vorego woke up his companions, but his dull brain went blank. "Mr. Jenkins." The nurse was shaking his arm gently, and he realized suddenly that he must have fallen asleep. "The doctor wants to see you."

Urrigo sat behind a desk in the consulting room.He nodded toward a chair, put the ophthalmoscope aside, and stretched wearily, looking at Jenkins with deep sympathy in his black eyes. "Are they dying?" Jenkins asked anxiously. "All of them?" The doctor had put on a pair of wide-rimmed glasses by this time, and he glared at Jenkins through the glasses: "All skin and serum tests show that the degree of radiation burn is fifty degrees, and the prognosis is eight to twelve days. It depends on each person's resistance and treatment effect." Jenkins gripped the chair handle tightly. "Aren't you healing them?" he almost cried. "Isn't the cure working?" "It's far from being cured." Urego frowned habitually again, "Without treatment, none of you can survive a week." Jenkins choked up suddenly: "I-how is my situation?" "Geiger devices rarely go wrong, Mr. Jenkins, and your assays show the same level of radiation." Uurigo looked at him angrily, then said seriously, "Anyway, you're a little luckier than them. After treatment , your chances of recovery are one in ten." Jenkins leaned forward, listening carefully. "Mr. Jenkins, there is nothing certain about the result." Vorego shook his head impatiently. "I have been researching a radical treatment for radiation protection, using a certain high-frequency current to stimulate a large area of ​​​​the patient. Occasionally, Injured tissues can also be fully regenerated by stimulation, but most of the time, it just speeds up the overall transformation of radiation substances. The curative effect is still unpredictable.” He said challengingly, “However, most patients with 50-degree radiation Happy to take the bet." Jenkins licked his chapped lips again. "I can't. I just need a few days." Urego could barely hold back his anger. "Don't be a fool, Jenkins. You're betting it's only a week, and if you're lucky, you'll have a normal lifespan. It's a possibility worth considering." Jenkins straightened up, and whispered, "I need this week. You know, we haven't done the work that should have been done on the Liberty Star. I have to hold on until someone comes to replace me." Urego frowned: "Mr. Jenkins, is work that important?" He nodded silently.He couldn't tell Vorego how important it was, but he had to find the eighty tons of alloy, and once the men woke up, the Bryan Transmitter might be operational before the war broke out.He took a deep breath and asked, "Then, according to your estimation, how long can I live?" "Are you going to arrange your affairs?" Urego looked at him and thought for a moment, "Based on the treatment you have received, you can still perform light physical labor for 4 to 6 days." Jenkins slumped back into his chair.That was not enough time, and the desperation made him a little dazed. He knew that at this moment, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in space, someone was arming a secret fleet with those stolen CT missiles.They could be from Venus, Mars, or Jupiter, or even Earth. Lageria is a native of Earth, but that doesn't mean anything.As one of the few top-notch engineers produced on Earth without any contracts with Interstellar, he must have been hired by Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Jenkins absently wiped the cold sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. "...it is recommended that you come back to the clinic at the first signs of deterioration," Orrego looked sad, "that is, when you start to vomit or have small bleeding symptoms. Although I can't save your life, at least I can To make you feel better at the last moment - kinda." "I'll be busy," Jenkins said hoarsely, "and probably won't be back." Urrigo scowled impatiently: "Young man, do you know what radiation is?" "I..." Jenkins swallowed uncomfortably, "I think I know." "Blindness!" Urrigo blinked nervously behind the lens. "Symptoms caused by retinal hemorrhage. Depending on your condition, it will definitely occur in six to eight days." Jenkins felt cold all over his body as he listened. "Tissue necrosis!" Urego's voice was not necessarily so sharp and loud, "The injured cells slowly die, and the bleeding intensifies, ranging from bleeding from small wounds to mouth and nose bleeding, even the slightest rubbing can cause subcutaneous bleeding! And , the hematopoietic cells begin to die!" Jenkins nodded weakly. "Fever!" the doctor snapped again. "Diarrhea! Weakness! Necrotic tissue! Dead tissue will flow out of the mouth. You must die, Mr. Jenkins, unless you make up your mind to stay and treat." "So what if you stay?" "Not much better," Vorego nodded sadly, "but radiation therapy seems to have succeeded in stimulating the recovery of fifty-degree burns in several cases. In milder cases, we can still use some of the old treatments , use Ludin to slow down the blood flow, use intravenous diet, and replace necrotic blood with synthetic plasma. The injection you just injected contains ingredients that enhance resistance and delay metamorphosis. Jenkins, we can at least assure you that the You died painlessly." Uurigo sighed, looking at the clock on the table. "I'm talking about medical findings, the crowning achievement of the centuries since the bombing of Hiroshima. "He cleared his throat," Mr. Jenkins, if you decide to stay, we'll start treatment right away. "Jenkins stood up. His knees were shaking and he tried not to show it. "No, doctor." His voice was so calm that he surprised himself. "I must continue my work on the Liberty Star until someone else takes over. You wake them up quickly, most of them are willing to try." Your Radiation Therapy… Urego snorted angrily, interrupting him: "Don't dream, Mr. Jenkins.These panic-stricken people inhaled ten times the standard amount of amidine, and it took a week to wake up under our best treatment. At that time, it is too late to use radiation protection therapy.Mr. Jenkins, I'm afraid you'll have to do that work alone, or get help from others.Amidine neutralizes the drugs we use to stimulate cells in radiation therapy, and treatment is now impossible.I have nothing to do but make them comfortable at the last moment. " Jenkins slumped heavily into his chair again. "I, I see." He murmured, only feeling that a mass of darkness that kept coming in surrounded him, and then receded gradually, he heard his own calm voice, "If you want, I have a request .” Urrigo stood up impatiently. "Don't tell anyone else that I'm dying." "I won't say it," Uurigo nodded. "It's work ethic." He smiled unexpectedly, and stepped over to shake Nick's hand. "I hope you get enough time to finish the job."