15
The Cryo level of the station was freezing cold. Mona looked inside the pod at the frozen crew member. "Is he dead?" She asked.
"According to the logs." Aleph said, "He suffered a large wound to the abdomen, and the medical staff wasnt sufficiently trained to help him. So, right before he would have expired, they placed him in cryogenic stasis."
"So, he's almost dead."
"From what I can tell." Aleph said, "The minute you wake him up, he'll flop around and bleed out, then die."
"Sounds horrible."
"And, for my plan, thats exactly what we need him to do."
"What!" Mona looked angry. "Whats your plan?"
Aleph held up a mass of wires. "This is a retinal scanner, I've rewired from the bridge. It will provide us with access to all the stations functions- including, hopefully, the military ship docked nearby. Which gives us a way home, and a massive weapon for the Colony. All we need this guy to do is look inside it, and were all set."
"And then he'll die."
"Thats right."
"We cant do that."
"Why not?"
"Its murder."
Aleph sighed deeply. "Mona, can you fix this mans wound?"
"No."
"And neither can I, and neither can Arril. That makes three people, the last three people left alive on this station. None of us have the needed medical training. This man would have died hundred of years ago, if not for this cryo-tube. The fact that he survived at all is nothing short of miraculous."
"So, we shouldnt just use him for out benefit."
"This is the best plan I've come up with." Aleph said. "It will almost certainly get us home. Remember that sythesizer? Think about all the people it could help back on the Colony, if only we could bring the schematics. This could be a real breakthrough."
Mona looked through the foggy glass. The man had a thick neck and bald head. Underneath the green medical gown he was sleeping in his skin looked pale with frost. "What was his name?" She asked softly.
"David Akerson, according to the records." Aleph said. "First officer aboard this station."
Mona stood silently for a moment. Then she nodded reluctantly.
The procedure was a complex one. Mona stood by the bank of controls for the Cryo-pods, while Aleph hovered directly over the frozen crew member. "You need to let him up slowly." Aleph said. "He needs to live long enough so that I can establish a good read on the retinal scanner. Ready?"
"Lets do this." Mona said.
Underneath her fingertips, she began the rescucitation program on the computer. Lights began to hum in the pod. A heart rate showed on the monitor followed by a stark red warning banner, for low vital signs. "He's destabilizing!" She said.
"Open the pod!" Aleph said. "Do it now!"
She hit the control. The pod door flipped open. The near-corpse awakened to gruesome life, life some malevolent Frankenstein. Blood spurted in his mid-section, across the pod and the front of Alephs uniform. "First Officer Akerson!" Aleph shouted, as he keyed the device in his hand. "Look into the retinal scanner! Do it now!"
The man screamed and thrashed around violently. Finally he began to shudder, in the action of dying. Through it all Sgt. Aleph held the retinal scanner to his eyeball, even drenched with the mans gore. There was a small beep at the end of it, not quite inaudible.
"Thats it." Aleph said. "We got what we needed. Full access throughout the station." He stood up. "I need a clean uniform. Lets get out of here."
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