Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (105 page)

Jeff returned the smile. “That
sounds typical of Chrissie’s work.”

Susan nodded. “Yes it does.”

“Okay, so what else can we do to
try and stay ahead of things?”

Susan shrugged. “If I had to guess,
back on Earth they’ll be thinking about patching this together with a plate and
screws. We didn’t anticipate this and don’t have anything like that with us,
but we may need to come up with something. For a plate, I don’t know, maybe
something like a twelve inch ruler, stainless or titanium. And screws, probably
an inch to an inch and a half, also stainless or titanium. See what you can
come up with.”

“Got it. Gabe, send a message to
Newport and get somebody to go over every damn schematic we have – everything –
looking for anything that might be suitable. Who knows, some support structure
off one of the descent modules, I dunno, anything.”

Gabe nodded. “On my way.”

Jeff bent over the table, gently
hugged Abby, and whispered, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to let you down.”

“Sue,” said Gabe, rushing back into
the lab, “here’s a list of additional x-rays they’d like. Sounds like there are
about a dozen orthopedic surgeons working on this.”

Susan chuckled and patted Abby’s
hand. “Seems everybody wants a piece of you.”

Gabe frowned. “Vultures.”

“No, it’s good. The more eyes the
better.”

“Yeah, I guess so. There’s a lot of
concern about sterile procedures and the possibility of infection.”

Susan nodded. “Yeah, I understand.
Tell them like it is. Everything up here except us was baked and sterilized
before launch. The only germs here are those that the four of us brought, and
that’s probably not many. And if we need to sterilize anything, all we have to
do is set it outside for a couple minutes. Between the atmosphere, the
temperature, and the ultraviolet radiation, nothing will live out there for
more than about fifteen seconds, including microorganisms.”

“Got it.”

“Any word on procedures yet? This
is taking too long.”

“Nothing yet, but I’m pretty sure
they understand the urgency.”

“Alright. Look, can you transfer
the comm console in here?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, why don’t you do that. Save
you from running around, and when we operate, if I get stuck we’ll have to
phone home for instructions, and I’ll want you right here.”

Gabe gaped at Susan. “You’re going
to have to operate?”

“Yeah, of course. That leg is a
train wreck. It’s a jigsaw puzzle, and I’m going to have to put it back
together.”

Gabe stepped over to the table and
took Abby’s hand. “How is she?”

Susan shrugged. “She’s asleep.”
Then she glanced at Abby and chuckled. “And from the looks of her boobs,
probably dreaming of sex. Which, under the circumstances, would be for the
best.”

Gabe smiled, nodded, leaned over
and kissed Abby’s forehead.

“Relax Gabe, I’m not gonna let her
die. She may be a bit gimpy for a while, and more than a bit grumpy, but I’m
gonna fix this.”

Gabe turned around and engulfed
Susan in her arms. “I know you will.”

Gabe turned around from the
computer. “Jeff, take a look at this.”

He left Abby’s side and walked over
to her. “What?”

“There’s a titanium support bracket
on the MSL descent stage that should work. Chrissie sent photos to Mayo, and
they agree. But it will need some shaping.”

Jeff looked at the screen. “Okay,
yeah, I know the piece. And we’ve got a couple descent stages out back in the
junk yard.”

“Also, there are titanium screws in
the MSL aeroshells that are about right.”

“Oh crap, I’m gonna have to go find
one.”

“Already ahead of you. Here are the
approximate coordinates of the nearest three.”

“Good girl.”

“They’re drafting a schematic for
the plate with exact dimensions based on Sue’s x-rays, and will send it as soon
as they have it.”

“Okay, good. When you get it, print
it out to scale. I’m gonna suit up and go find some parts.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, stay here. Help Sue and stay
online.”

“But you said nobody goes out
alone.”

“We’re gonna make an exception.”

“Be careful.”

He kissed her. “I will.”

Two hours later Gabe helped Jeff
out of his suit. “How’d it go?”

“I got ‘em. The screws were a
bitch. They were epoxied in, but I finally got enough out… I hope. How’s Abby?”

“She came to about a half hour ago.
She’s alright, hanging in there.”

“Did you get the schematic?”

“Yes, it’s right here.” She handed
him a couple sheets of paper.

“Alright, I’ll get to work on it
right away. How’s Sue doing?”

“She’s going over the surgical
instructions and marking up Abby’s leg.”

Jeff sighed. “This is gonna be
interesting.”

“Yeah. I get to handle the
anesthetic while you assist her in piecing Abby’s leg back together.”

“Oh great. Alright,” he held up a
metal bar, “I’m gonna go to work on this.”

“Okay. Sue wants to operate as soon
as it’s ready.”

“Got it.”

Gabe headed back for the lab and
Jeff turned to the tool chest. For the next hour and a half he hammered,
ground, drilled and polished, shaping the titanium bar to match – exactly – the
schematic provided by the Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeons. When satisfied, Jeff
took the plate, screws, and schematics to the lab and handed them to Susan.

She carefully scrutinized the plate
and laid it on the schematics to check dimensions. She smiled, clearly
struggling to hold back tears. “Jesus, Jeff, it’s a work of art.”

“Thanks.”

Susan took the plate and screws to
the fume hood and dropped them all in a freshly prepared dish of aqua regia.
“This will remove any remaining surface impurities.” Following that, she
repeatedly rinsed them in distilled water. “Jeff, go get cleaned up and change
into scrubs. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll get started.”

“Alright.” He stopped by Abby,
leaned over and stroked her cheek. “How are you doing?”

“Okay. It doesn’t hurt quite as
much now. But I’m a little scared.”

He smiled. “You’ll be fine.”

She took his hand. “Thanks for
bringing me back.”

“No problem. Your mother would have
had my head on platter if I didn’t.”

Abby grinned and nodded.

“Okay, you just relax. We’ll get
you all fixed up shortly.”

Susan stood at Abby’s head and
glanced around the makeshift operating theater. “Everybody ready?”

Gabe and Jeff nodded.

She glanced at Abby. “How about
you?”

Abby smiled softly. “How long will
it take?”

“Well, the folks at Mayo could
probably do it in two to three hours. I imagine it will take us a bit longer.”

“Then I guess you better get
started.”

“Okay.” Susan injected a milliliter
of 1% lidocaine into Abby’s IV, then started a 4 ml per second Diprivan drip.
“Now, relax and go to sleep. We’ll see you in a bit.”

Abby nodded and closed her eyes.

Thirty seconds later, Susan reduced
the drip to 10 ml per minute, and in another 10 seconds Abby was out cold.
“Alright, she’s asleep.” She inserted an endotracheal tube, taped it down and
connected Abby to the ventilator. “Okay, Gabe, she’s all yours. In 10 minutes
reduce the Diprivan drip to 6 ml per minute, and keep an eye on her vitals.”

Gabe traded places with her and
nodded. “Got it.”

Susan uncovered Abby’s deformed
leg, stared at it, took a deep breath, sighed, and shook her head. “God be
merciful.”

Jeff held out a scalpel.

After five hours of incisions,
manipulations, x-rays, plate insertion, drilling, screw insertions, and
sutures, Susan dropped into a chair, hung her head and sighed. “That’s it.
That’s the best I can do.”

Jeff looked over Abby’s leg and
smiled. “Looks good. Except for some swelling, it looks like it’s supposed to.”

Susan nodded.

He glanced at the video screen and
the most recent x-ray. “God, Sue, it’s beautiful. What a job.”

“Yeah. I just hope it’s right.” She
slowly rose, turned off the Diprivan drip, disconnected the ventilator and
removed the tracheal tube. “Jeff, would you take a couple photos before she
wakes up, and send them off with the final set of x-rays? We’ll see what the
folks at Mayo have to say. If there is anything to be adjusted or corrected
we’ll do it in a couple days after we’ve all had some rest.”

“Alright.”

Sue attached a syringe to Abby’s
IV. “Gabe, slowly squeeze this in over about a minute and a half.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“50 micrograms of Fentanyl.”

“What’s that?”

“A strong pain killer. Diprivan is
just an anesthesia, not an analgesic, so it’s not a painkiller. When Abby comes
to she’ll be in a lot of pain. Fentanyl is strong synthetic opioid analgesic,
and will moderate the pain.”

“Okay.”

Ten minutes later Abby was awake.

Susan hovered over her. “How do you
feel?”

“Woozy.”

“It will pass.”

“Are you done?”

“Uh huh.”

“How did it go?”

“I think it went well. It wasn’t
quite as hard as I thought it would be, it just took a long time.”

“How long?”

“Five hours.”

“Will I be able to walk again?”

“Yes. But don’t rush into it.
You’ve got a lot of healing to do.”

Abby nodded and clutched Susan’s
hand. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Try not to do it
again, it’s a lot of work.”

Abby grinned. “Okay.”

“Alright, I’m going to keep you in
here tonight so I can monitor you. If there aren’t any complications, we’ll move
you into your room tomorrow. Okay?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Right answer. Now, get some rest.”

“Okay.”

Two hours later, Jeff gently shook
a sleeping Susan.

She bolted upright. “What? Is Abby
okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. Sorry to wake
you, but we just received a message from Mayo and I thought you’d want to see
it.”

“Okay.” She slowly pulled herself
out of the chair and stretched, then followed Jeff to the comm terminal, and
read.

From:  Mayo Clinic (Davidson)

To:      Grey Station, Mars
(Lú)

Doctor Lú, we are all standing
around marveling at the photos and x-rays. My compliments on an exquisite piece
of work. I doubt we could have done better here.

When you return to Earth, if
you want a job, look me up.

Leo Davidson, M.D.

Susan turned around, clutched Jeff,
and broke down in tears.

Wednesday, January
18, 2017

MSD 50852.396 (Sol
102)

Jeff stared at Abby lying on the
lab exam table and shook his head. “Okay, how are we going to do this?”

Susan tossed him a blanket. “Same
way we got her in here.”

Jeff handed Gabe one end of the
blanket. “Okay, roll over Rover.”

Abby rolled over as far as she
could. “Woof.”

They tucked the blanket beneath
her. “Alright, and back.”

She rolled onto the blanket. “Maybe
you two can bang my head on the bulkhead a couple more times?”

Jeff grinned. “As you please.”

He and Gabe each grabbed a handful
of blanket and lifted, cradling Abby in a makeshift hammock, and carried her to
her room.

Abby glanced up at Jeff. “You know,
this is actually kind of nice. Before you set me on the bed, maybe you guys
could just, you know, rock me for a little while.”

Jeff grunted. “And maybe we could
just drop you on the floor.”

“Okay, uh, never mind.”

They set her gently on the bed.

Abby sighed aloud. “Ah, that’s much
better. Sue, you need a new exam table, that thing is really hard.”

Susan shook her head. “It wasn’t
designed with your comfort in mind. You’re gonna be a really obnoxious patient,
aren’t you?”

“You bet.”

“Okay, fine, no more pain
medication.”

Abby cringed. “Oh god, please, I
take it all back, I’ll be good.”

Susan cast her a devilish grin.
“You better be.”

Gabe looked down at her. “Can we
get you anything?”

“Thanks, I’m fine.”

She nodded. “Want some company? Or
would you rather rest?”

“I’d like some company.”

They all took seats.

“I have to ask,” said Susan, “What
possessed you to go bungee-jumping… without the bungee?”

Abby chuckled. “That part I
remember. It was a really interesting looking rock. I wish I hadn’t lost it.”

Jeff reached into his coverall leg
pocket and produced the rock. “You mean… this rock?”

Abby gasped. “Oh my god, you found
it!”

“Yeah. I had to pry it out of your
hand. I was going to toss it, but then thought you might want a souvenir.” He
handed her the rock.

She smiled broadly. “Thank you.”

“Eh, you’re welcome.”

She turned the rock over in her
hands. “I have no idea what this is.”

“Jeff showed it to me this
morning,” said Susan. “It had me puzzled at first. Its porosity is rather like
pumice, but it’s the wrong color and a whole lot denser. Then I checked its
hardness. Whoa! I can’t scratch that with anything we have here. Even tried a
tungsten-carbide drill bit. Didn’t faze it. That thing’s as hard as a diamond,
which is why I think that’s what it is.”

Abby gave her a stunned look.
“Huh?”

“I think it’s a carbonado; a black
diamond.”

 “You’re kidding?”

“No. Carbonados are relatively rare
on Earth, particularly that large. So it’s a bit strange that you would be
picking something like that off the ground here. However, the same can be said
of the pallasite that Jeff found. The prevailing theory is that both carbonados
and pallasite originate from meteorites. But, given Mars’ thin atmosphere,
there is a great deal more meteorite activity here, so maybe it’s not all that
odd.”