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  The med-lab had been prepared by one of the ship's medics, and the healing bath was opened and fully operational. Setting Joe down on an examination table near the healing bath, Ranix left the room and dashed to his quarters to retrieve his translation device. The moment he returned to the med-lab, he tossed the orb into the air to communicate with the still shocked human.

  "Doctor Stokes." Rhea watched as the doctor and his aide striped Joe down to his undergarments, and then placed his body into the greenish liquid inside the clear healing bath, before the top was closed, almost like the hood of a car.

  "Won't he drown?" she asked, wondering how Joe was going to receive oxygen underwater.

  Prure hit a large, very prominent, blue button on the top of the tank, initiating a ballet of moving components and hoses and other medical instruments towards Joe's body. "Just watch." the Prothean instructed.

  Very quickly, a paper-thin mask covered Joe's mouth and nose, while a large clasp wrapped around Joe's left forearm. "He is being supplied oxygen now, but most importantly, the shot I gave him at the airport was intended to prevent any decay of his brain tissue, which is the most critical part of the body to preserve. I am not that worried about his heart; it is expendable."

  Rhea brought her hand to her mouth in horror. "Expendable? We very much need our hearts." She said dryly.

  "Very true, Doctor. But your culture has already developed artificial hearts, so there is no need to worry about a possible defect in his heart."

  "What will happen now?" The worried look on Doctor Stokes's face had yet to dissipate.

  "Please look over here." The Doctor directed Stokes to a black screen that was fixed to the wall just next to the healing bath. The Doctor tapped the screen, which sprung to life, immediately showing a status report, which was shown in Universal and English, making Rhea wonder if the visitors had expected the need to use the healing baths on a human.

  Healing Bath II: Status- On-Line

  Subject: Human Male

  Injury/Aliment/Illness: Cardiac Arrest

  Solution: Replace with Raks Industries Model J7 Universal Pump

  Probability of Subject Rejecting Pump: 40%

  Time to Complete: 48 Hours

  Note: Will also Address Left Knee Injury, Small Scar on Right side of Face, and Remove Foreign Body Fragments from Right Shoulder

  Rhea scanned the eight-lined report before looking back down at Joe in the green liquid that he was floating in. She couldn't believe that this machine could detect all of the ailments Joe had within seconds. She had always known about the scar on his face, and the heart problem had just reared its ugly head, but to learn that the machine was going to repair two other medical issues at the same time was too much to believe.

  "I never knew Joe had any of these other issues." She commented looking at Doctor Prure.

  "The healing bath was developed to treat a wide variety of ailments. We took hair, skin and other samples from the team that tried to reach us on the day we first arrived. With that information, plus access to your databases, we were able to have a complete understanding of human physiology. While I am still learning about it, our machines, with their complex programming can learn how to treat any medical issues that your species may have quickly and efficiently."

  Rhea took another look at the list. "Foreign Body Fragments. What does that mean? Shrapnel?"

  "I can show you." Tapping the screen again, a three-dimensional hologram of Joe's body rose up from above the lid of the healing bath. The hologram was rotated 90 degrees so that Joe's front was facing the two Doctors. "As you can see here, this is Major Hunt." The image was incredibly life-like, and except a pair of tastefully placed undergarments, completely nude and in high definition resolution.

  Rhea watched as Prure tapped a few more buttons on the screen. "If we ask the computer to show us the Foreign Body Fragments, you'll see the results of your inquiry."

  As Stokes looked on, the full-sized image of Joe was instantly replaced by a close-up image of his left shoulder, which then slowly moved in, and then under the skin to show a very accurate picture of three small fragments that were lodged in the shoulder.

  "It might be easier to see in this manner."

  The full body image reappeared, but this time, instead of a flesh and blood image of the Major, an image of an outline of his body was present, with the shape highlighted in a bright neon green light, clearly showing every curve on the soldier's body with startling accuracy. In the right shoulder region, the three fragments were replaced by three bright red representations of the pieces. A red glow also came from his left knee, his right cheek, and most obviously, his heart.

  "This shows all the areas that have been nominated for surgery, which will address each issue by the level of importance, probably ending with the scar on his face." He quickly looked at Stokes, "Do you think he'll mind us removing that scar? Sometimes people take pride in those sorts of things."

  "My understanding is that he received that scar by accident, so no, I don't think that he'll be too worried by the loss. Thank you for asking Doctor."

  Prure nodded. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Ranix leaning against the window of the Doctor's office. Leaving Doctor Stokes with her colleague, he approached the young Comms-Off.

  "What do you think?"

  "You give him only a 60 percent chance of surviving?"

  "I don't give him any chance. If the healing bath thinks he has a 60 percent chance, then that is the chance he has."

  15

  The first thing Joe felt when started to regain consciousness was groggy. His eyelids were heavy, his mouth dry, and his throat sore. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling which looked cold and metallic, very similar to parts of the visitor's spacecraft that he had seen. The room was dark, and there was a low level of light coming from his right. Turning his head slowly, he caught sight of someone bent forward, sleeping with their head on a desk while sitting in a chair.

  Blinking again, he recognised the reddish-brown hair that only Doctor Stokes had. "Rhea." The words barely escaped his lips. He put his hands on the surface he was laying on, which was warm and soothing to the touch. He called out again, but with no luck.

  Turning back he looked at the ceiling wondering how long he had been lying here. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember the last thing that happened. He remembered driving to the airport to meet the water shipment, but nothing after that. Just as he contemplated trying to move, the door to the compartment opened with a near silent swoosh. Turning his head, he caught a glimpse of a figure in a blue uniform come into the room, preceded by a small object that appeared to be floating and emanating blue light. Joe's vision might not have been back to normal, but his hearing was just fine.

  "Awake at last." The voice of the translation device was impossible to mistake.

  Joe attempted to reply, but only managed a slight groan. The individual slid past the sleeping Stokes, bent over Joe's body, and waved some wand over him, and without saying anything, gave him an injection in his left thigh, sending him back into a deep slumber.

  16

  When Joe's eyes opened for the second time, he felt completely different. He shot up in bed and looked around the room, which was the same room he had been in before. Doctor Stokes was absent from her previous resting place and had been replaced by Joe's clothes, which were neatly folded on the table, with his red Converse on the floor.

  Swinging his legs off the bed, Joe was shocked by how good he felt. In fact, he felt strong and powerful. Standing, Joe immediately noticed that the tightness that had always been present in his left knee was gone. Wearing just a pair of black, rubbery underwear he rotated his torso and cracked his back, and ran his hands through his hair, and then over his face, and he noticed another anomaly.

  The scar that had run along the right side of his face was missing. He shook his head to gain his composure, and double checked for the injury, this time with both hands. Nothing.
It was gone.

  "Nice tune-up." He said to himself and proceeded to get dressed. All his items were present, his Suunto and a fresh pair of Raybans since he noticed the tags were still on this pair. Shrugging it off, he completed his dressing and went to the door of the room, intent on leaving, only to find that the door wouldn't open on his approach. He looked at a small panel to the right of the door, which contained a little red button with a glass cover, probably not what he was after and a blue and purple button. He gave the blue button a tap, and the door slowly opened.

  Stepping out onto the corridor, he immediately recognised where he was, the officers' quarters, on the top deck of the alien vessel. Trying to remember how to get to the hangar bay, since he had only visited this section of the ship once, on his first tour by Ranix over a month ago. Joe decided to walk to his left, which he thought should lead him to the ship's front stairwell, which he should be able to take down one flight to a point close to the ship's bridge.

  Moving down the corridor, he felt like a new man. Everything about him felt refreshed. Joe wasn't sure what had happened to him, but he wasn't going to complain unless there was a major shortcoming of his newfound health that he was unaware of. Luckily, the staircase was where he remembered it to be, and he quickly made his way down the metal stairs the one flight to the main deck of the ship, which was as quiet as the top level.

  Looking around him, he was confident that he was near the bridge, but Joe thought that some fresh air might be good, so Joe made his way to the middle of the ship, and the hangar bay, which he reached without any trouble only to find it empty. Stepping into the centre of the large bay, he heard voices coming in from the outside. Moving towards the edge of the hanger, he looked outside to see an entirely different picture from the one he last remembered. The trees that had been closest to the ship were gone, and the sun was shining down onto the ship, as the concealment cover had been finally taken down and a set of steps had been put in place to help people enter and exit the ship.

  Stepping down, Joe noticed that a walkway had been built which followed the well-worn path back to the clearing, and a large cement block had been poured next to the ship. Looking to his right, towards the front of the ship, he spotted two long picnic benches parallel to the ship, with the SETI team, and the ship's crew sitting at them, staring at Joe. Doctor Temple was standing over a large gas-fired grill a few feet away from the table.

  "So, Major, you're alive after all!" He roared.

  Joe smiled. "Seems that way."

  As he started moving towards the group, they stood and began to applaud. They were just as happy to see him as he was to see them.

  Doctor Stokes came running over and gave Joe a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good to see you're finally out of bed."

  "What happened? How long have I been out?" Joe put his arm around the Doctor as they made their way to join the others.

  "You had a heart attack, and you've been sedated for about a week. Master Doctor Prure didn't want to rush your recovery." She replied.

  "Jesus." Joe shook his head. Prure approached Joe and put his hand out for the Major who took the greyish pink hand of the doctor and gave it a firm shake. "Thank you."

  A small translation device raced to a position between the two men. "You are welcome. I hope you don't mind what we've done."

  Joe looked at Rhea, "Done?"

  "Your knee, shoulder, and your scar." The Doctor replied.

  Joe looked at Stokes, who had turned back to the two men, and gave a 'have I missed something?' look to Joe.

  "That's very kind of you, Doctor."

  "Of course." The trio sat down at the end of the closest picnic bench.

  A cold glass of lemonade was sitting on the table in front of Joe, and he downed the refreshing juice in one gulp. "Whose idea was this?" Joe asked.

  "The BBQ was Bobby's idea." Rhea said, smiling at Joe.

  "Very nice." Joe replied before looking towards the sky. It was a gorgeous day, maybe 20 degrees Celsius, and a just the right amount of breeze to make him feel like he could have been enjoying a BBQ back in Maryland by the coast.

  17

  An hour after the BBQ had ended, Joe, Rhea, Ranix, Doctor Prure and Sulvan were the only ones left at the picnic tables. The sun was starting to set, but the day was still warm. A cooler still full of cold American beers was just the right touch to put on a lovely meal.

  "I see you've done some work since my little incident." Joe looked around the ship.

  "Correct. In addition to the pathway to the clearing, we've added two cement blocks on both sides of the ship to act as anchors for the cranes that are coming to lift the ship." Ranix replied.

  "And how are things with the water? Did you receive it?"

  "Yes. Thank you. We've enough fuel for an extended period based on our current consumption levels." Added Sulvan.

  Rhea took a sip of her beer, set the bottle down, then locked eyes with Ranix. "So, Communications Officer, how exactly did you know Joe was having a heart attack?"

  Joe looked at her, "What are you talking about?"

  "Ranix and Prure arrived at the airport about three minutes after your heart attack, and they seemed to be aware of your condition. It's been a week, so I thought this would be a good time to ask."

  "The Doctor is right, Major." Ranix looked at Sulvan, who gave him a disapproving look. "Our ship has a built-in electronics warfare suite that has enabled us to eavesdrop on any transmission within a specified range. We knew that you were ill, and thought it appropriate to respond."

  Joe rubbed his chin and gave the matter some thought. "How long have you been able to access our communications?"

  "Since the second day we landed. We were able to hear all the transmissions from the incident with the Russians, which we were very grateful for." Ranix replied.

  Joe picked up his bottle and gave the label a scan. Brewed in Milwaukee. He took another gulp of the beer, letting the last drops of its contents run down his throat. "Okay."

  Sulvan and Prure looked at each other. "You are not angry?" Ranix asked.

  "How can I be? You saved my life." Joe replied.

  The conversation was cut short when Joe's satellite phone rang. "I'd almost forgotten about that damn thing." He pulled the device out of his pocket and looked around the table. "Excuse me."

  Walking away from the table, he answered the call, "Mr President."

  18

  Lieutenant Colonel Rick Henderson ended his call with the American Command Centre at the airport they were approaching and lowered Air Force One's landing gear. The large American plane was minutes from landing at the small, poorly kept airfield and Henderson knew that the runway was just long enough to handle the 747. It would require him to put the plane down as soon as possible, to ensure that they had enough runway to slow to a stop, without having to break too hard.

  Ten minutes later, the aircraft was rolling to a halt near a prepositioned group of Secret Service vehicles that had been flown in the previous night on Air Force transports. Nearby was the SETI team, headed by Major Hunt, and accompanied by the two-star commander of the American Command Centre.

  Perhaps not surprisingly, the only Paraguayan present was Lieutenant Colonel Almada. The rest of the local military authorities knew that they had angered the Americans by giving Tohil the keys to the kingdom, and therefore had chosen to stay away.

  The weather was just as it had been for the last week, warm and sunny, making it the first dry August in two years. When the ladder to Air Force One was finally in place, the President, dressed as if he had watched too many safari documentaries emerged from the plane, and quickly made his way down the stairs towards Joe, who was waiting with a smile on his face.

  Major Hunt gave the President a crisp salute. "Welcome to Paraguay, Mr President."

  The President returned the salute casually and put his hand out for Joe to shake. "Good to be here, Joe."

  Joe stepped to one side so that the President could advance towards t
he SETI team, who were lined up, ready for inspection. "May I introduce the SETI team, Sir?"

  "Of course."

  Joe led the President down the line of the eight other members of the SETI team. The President spent a few minutes speaking with each team member, not wanting to waste the opportunity to thank the men and women who had shepherded the meeting with the visitors in every possible way.

  When the President finally reached Lieutenant Colonel Almada, he gave Joe a slightly perplexed look before extending his hand to the local army officer. "I didn't expect to see any Paraguayan representatives, Colonel."

  "I am not here in an official capacity, Mr President. I am here because Major Hunt thought that it would be appropriate."

  "Sir, Colonel Almada has been a staunch supporter of our efforts since the SETI team splintered, and Tohil arrived." Joe pointed out.

  "Excellent. I'm glad to see we have some local support." The President smiled, then moved off towards the American Command Centre with Major General Paul Fletcher, the local commander, to receive a full briefing from the perspective of the American military authorities.

  As the President started off, Joe brought the SETI team members together and issued orders for the rest of the day. "I need to catch up with the President for this briefing; if you could return to the clearing and start preparing for the President's visit to the crash site, I think that would be best. Doctor Chan, can you please ensure that Jose is ready to film for the live broadcast?"

  "We're already ready, and we've got double the usual number of reporters at the clearing for the President's arrival and news conference." The Chinese media expert had left nothing to chance, and as always, she was on her game.

  "Excellent. Rhea, if you and Bobby could head to the ship and make sure that everything is set with Ranix for this afternoon's meeting with the President." Joe looked over his shoulder, "I think that Agent Sneed will be coming with you to review the security arrangements." Standing a few metres away was a group of several Secret Service agents. All the officers were wearing khaki coloured suits with white dress shirts, and all of them were wearing black sunglasses, except one who was wearing a not so subtle pair of white Wayfarers.