Robert Boyczuk - Nexus: Ascension

On the indicator above the elevator doors, a larger red fourteen glowed. Surprised, Sav stood in the corridor, a small carton he'd removed from the dropship cradled in his arms, staring at the number. Liis had somehow managed to get the elevator working. To the right of the door were two buttons in the shape of a large arrows, up and down. Lowering his box to the floor, Sav reached out, intending to push the down button, but at that moment the display above the door changed from fourteen to thirteen. Sav stepped back. Thirteen became twelve then eleven. The numbers tracked the ascent of the car.

When the display read zero, the doors slid open and Liis stepped out. In her right hand she held a small computer tablet. She smiled broadly. Behind her, supporting his weight on a cane, Josua hobbled out of the elevator. The thick stubble Sav had last seen on his face had been transformed into a short, dense beard that crept high on his cheekbones. His complexion was still peaked and he swayed slightly as he moved. But when Liis extended her arm to offer support, he waved her away.

"I'll be fine," he said, the rasp in his voice gone, his eyes clear. He took two more shuffling steps towards Sav, his clothes hanging loosely upon his frame. "How've you been keeping?" he asked. He smiled. Other than the physical ravages left by his illness, Josua seemed perfectly normal.

He tapped the leg of Sav's suit with the end of his cane. "Still hiding inside this?"

"Yeah," Sav replied, Josua's question suddenly heightening his discomfort. The weight of the helmet sat mostly on his collarbone, leaving raw, red half moons impressions on his shoulders. He had tried placing towels and bandages to ease the weight, but nothing seemed to help. In a gesture that had become habitual, he shrugged his shoulders until the weight settled into a marginally less irritating position.

"You'd be much more comfortable out of that suit."

Sav said nothing.

"The incubation period was only a few days. Wouldn't Liis and I have been infected by now if there was any sort of risk?"

"Maybe," Sav answered slowly. "But then again, maybe not. For all we know there could still be reservoirs harboring the disease we might not have encountered yet. And we still don't know anything about the vectors of the plague, or why it appeared to manifest itself spontaneously. It could happen again."

"It's possible." Josua admitted, unconcerned. "Did you know Hebuiza came down to see me yesterday?"

"Hebuiza?" Sav said stupidly.

Josua nodded. "It must have been hard for him. He's still terrified of the plague. It's all he thinks about. The whole time he looked like he could barely keep himself from bolting." Until now Josua had been hunched slightly; he straightened up with a grunt, until he looked directly into Sav's visor. "He came down to make a proposal." Behind Josua, Sav noticed Liis shift her weight from one foot to the other. Crossing her arms over her chest, she regarded Sav warily over the top of Josua's head.

"What kind of proposal?"

"He wants to revive a few of the interees from stasis." Behind him, Liis pressed her lips together tightly. "He says he needs assistance with his research into the plague. Qualified personnel. And I agree. But not for the sake of his research. We'll need all the help we can get, whether we decide to stay here or try for another planet fall."

More people, Sav thought. More rational people.It could only help, couldn't it? Perhaps Josua was fine after all, his plans for vengence nothing more than a febrile dream. Sav had feared far worse. He looked over Josua's shoulder at Liis, wanting to give her a small gesture to indicate his approval, but she looked away. Her jaw began working silently, as if she were absent-mindedly chewing a mouthful of food. What's bothering her? Sav wondered. Is she still angry at me for calling Josua insane? He shrugged it off. Whatever it was, he'd deal with it later.

He turned his gaze back to Josua. "Hebuiza proposed this? I'd have thought he'd be afraid of reviving the plague along with interees."

Josua's raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Yes. I was surprised myself. But he says it will be safe if we set up a quarantine area, keep them isolated for at least forty days. According to what he's dug up, that's eight times the incubation period of the disease. Liis has already identified a potential site on the second sublevel, a suite of interconnected rooms that can be easily isolated. As a precaution, Hebuiza wants to make the rooms as airtight as possible. And he wants security on all the external doors-in case our patients decide they want out prematurely. If they show no signs of the contagion in that period, we'll lift the quarantine."

"How many does he want to revive?"

"Six, to start. More later-if things work out."

"And what's my part in this?"

"We'll need your help in preparing the quarantine area. We need to gather equipment to monitor the patients, clothing and food for them, furniture for their rooms, books and games to keep them occupied, and so forth." Josua paused. "And we'll need to move the cells from their cradles to the quarantine area."

"Which means me and Hebuiza since we're still in our suits."

"Yes. It's only prudent."

"And we'll have to open them too."

"No." Josua waved his hand to dismiss the idea. "You'll only have to transport them to the quarantine area. Hebuiza thinks he can cobble together a servo to perform most of the manual functions by remote. That's what we'll use to open the cells when we're ready." Josua held out his hand to the side; Liis placed the computer tablet in it. The screen came to life under Josua's fingers. He passed the tablet to Sav.

"Here's a list of sites I'd like you to visit. To look for the equipment we'll need. And things we'll need to prepare the Ea for another longhaul-if we decide that's the best course of action."

Glancing down at the screen, Sav saw about twenty locations in a blue script, each followed by its geographic co-ordinates. He recognized half a dozen of them: hospitals, spaceports and shipyards, military installations and research facilities. Scattered across the world. On the bottom of the display was a page icon. In it's centre the digits 1/7 indicated he was only on the first of seven screens. This will take weeks, he thought, pressing the icon. Another screenful of information replaced the first. And it would mean being inside his suit for extended periods, perhaps upwards of forty hours, for the more distant sites. Sav looked up, caught Josua staring intently at him.

"As you can see, it's quite a job. Do you think you can handle it?"

Sav chewed on his lip distractedly. A few moments ago he would have welcomed an excuse to stay away from the stasis facility; now he experienced a strange reluctance to be away. But he could think of no good reason not to do as Josua had asked. It was a sensible course of action and he was the natural candidate. Josua watched him expectantly.

"Well?"

"Okay," Sav said. "Let's do it."

Josua extended his hand.

Sav took it. Josua's grip was surprisingly firm-even through the material of the glove.

He released Sav's hand and patted him on the back. "Let's go tell Hebuiza the good news."

From where he lay on his cot, Sav watched the handle on the inside of his door move up and down, making a tiny rasping noise. It was the noise that had drawn him from a restless sleep.

The handle stilled; there was a knock.

Sav shifted his weight and his cot creaked, but he didn't answer.

"Sav?"

He was surprised to hear Liis' voice. She was back already. How many days had it been? He'd lost track.