Kristine Williams - In The Time Of Dying.pdf - ebooks [ENG] - renee2010

Chapter One

Kristine Williams

Chapter One

"We've got another one, doctor."

"I'll be right there. Nurse, please check on number 714, would you? He's

having trouble getting to his feet."

"Yes, doctor."

Ethan turned his head, trying to tune in to the voices penetrating the

darkness. He licked dry lips, then felt ﬁngers pressing into the corners of his

eyes. A moment later he realized they were his ﬁngers, then remembered

he'd been trying to make parts of himself move for what seemed like hours

now, but it must have been a dream.

Slowly, he pushed open both eyes and blinked the stark, white cryo room into

focus. There were voices everywhere now, doctors and nurses, mixed with

tired moans and varied complaints.

Ethan forced himself up, swinging his bare legs over the edge of the hard bed

as he pulled leads and sensors off his chest.

"Welcome back to the land of the conscious."

Unable to look up at the moment, Ethan nodded to the white shoes now

standing beside him. Two hands came into view, holding a scanner.

"Name, rank, call sign and serial number please, if you don't mind." A voice

requested from somewhere above his head.

"Griff, Ethan J., Major, call sign Ghost," Ethan replied. He had to clear his

throat to continue. "Serial number A19 dash 58 point 3." He rubbed the back

of his neck then forced his head up a bit, ﬁnally able to see more of the doctor

taking his readings.

"Excellent, Major Griff" he replied, tapping data into the screen. "You are

ofﬁcially awake." The doctor glanced at him and smiled, then accepted a pan

from a passing nurse and handed it to him.

"What's--"

Ethan suddenly retched into the pan.

"You Marines are all the same. Is it some sort of ritual with you?"

He nodded once, then had to spit several times into the pan. "You mean get

slamming drunk the night before a sleep jump?"

"It's tradition, doc!" Someone called from the next bed over.

Ethan would have looked up to see who it was, but his stomach had his full

attention again.

"Well, simper-ﬁ," the doctor huffed. "You report for duty in four hours, Major. I

suggest a hot shower and meal, when you feel you can hold one."

Oh God. He retched again, but it was mostly just spit now. The rules were,

you went into cryosleep on an empty stomach, but well hydrated. To the

civilians, that meant loading up on water and restorative drinks to maintain

the body's chemical and nutrient balance. It didn't matter all that much during

the long, cold nap, but it made waking up much kinder on the body.

To a Marine, it meant a full night of as much rum, whisky or vodka you could

handle and still manage to walk to the cryocenter. It made the sleeping easier

to handle, the dreams much more interesting, but the waking up, not so

much.

Finally, Ethan convinced his stomach muscles he was eternally repentant for

the abuse, and they calmed down long enough for him to get to his feet and

leave the pan behind. He started down the line of beds toward the showers

and glanced around to see who was up.

All of the Navy beds were empty, and the Science contingent were mostly

sitting up or shifting around now. He estimated about half of his squad were

still lying down.

"Is the Colonel up yet?" he asked a passing nurse.

She checked her scanner and nodded. "Yes, he was one of the ﬁrst, along

with Captain Marshall and his Naval ofﬁcers."

Ethan sighed and continued on to the showers. There were soldiers milling

about, still trying to shake off the effects and clear the cobwebs. The towel

dispenser offered him a toothbrush and paste, which he took to the row of

sinks.

As he was spitting out the last hint of old rum and bad ideas, Lieutenant

Wilson came out of the showers, wrapped in a towel.

"Major, good to see you awake, sir."

Ethan nodded and pushed the toothbrush through the incinerator. "Wilson, is

the whole squad up?"

"Just about," she replied. "The squids were ﬁrst to go, but our guys are

catching up."

"Well, it's their ship, Lieutenant. They don't need us till we touch dirt and

things get dangerous."

She laughed. "That's for damn sure, Major."

Ethan took his towel and found an empty space along the shower wall. With

the spray on heavy, he stood directly underneath the water and let the

pounding heat work its magic.

He hated sleep jumps. Drunk or sober, he'd always had trouble waking up.

Some people took to it, some didn't, and he hated the fact that he was one of

the latter. Colonel Patterson would already be on duty, taking charge of the

situation -- or in this case, arguing with Captain Marshall about when their

commands would exchange priority. Patterson wouldn't jump into action

before his second-in-command was at his side, but knowing he was

potentially holding everyone up never really set right.

"Last jump," Ethan muttered.

Everyone knew this was their last sleep jump assignment, but no one really

wanted to talk about it. Earth was in dire straits, and this new world was their

last chance. "

Did you hear?"

Ethan started, then blinked at a soldier standing under the spray of the next

shower over. "What?"

"The rumors," the corporal replied. "We're not at 581c. The computers landed

us somewhere uncharted."

Ethan blinked again and ran a hand over his face, pushing the water away.

"Who said that?"

The corporal shrugged. "It's just what I'm hearing in the hallways, nothing

ofﬁcial yet."

Shit. Ethan cleaned off quickly, then grabbed his towel and headed for the

lockers.

Getting dressed didn't take long, since the lockers only held their ship clothes,

no combat gear or dress uniforms. Marines were only allowed a sidearm

onboard the Navy vessels, unless otherwise ordered by the Captain or

Commander in charge.

The Solaria was Navy territory. Ethan didn't mind that one bit. He was a

Marine, after all, but the rivalry kept things interesting.

As he made his way through the corridors Ethan noticed amber lights ﬂashing

at every intersection. There were no ship wide alarms going off, but every

crewman he passed seemed to be on a mission, and the few members of the

science team he saw awake looked grim-faced and somber. Not exactly the

attitude he expected to wake up to.

He found the lift that would shoot straight to the bridge deck without stops

and got on, along with an Ensign who tapped her stylus nervously against the

screen she was holding.

"Major," she nodded.

Kristine Williams - In The Time Of Dying.pdf

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