In the Blink of an Eye - Part 2

Posted on 29 Jul 2023 @ 10:05am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde

1,688 words; about a 8 minute read

:: 2366 - 26 years prior to current time
The morning after Part 1
Capital City of Sol, Vaeron ::


"Wylde? Wylde, wake up..."

Alexion groaned with the headache he could already feel before even opening his eyes. The gambling the night before had been pleasant, as had his midnight walk, but now he was paying for the alcohol and intoxicating smoke. He just grumbled as he turned onto his side, closing his eyes with more determination.

"Wylde, now!" the voice insisted before he was grabbed by a hand that shook him urgently.

"Smoke and Ash! Get off!" Alexion smacked the hand away, hard, pulling his cover higher. "Touch me again and I'll break your nose. And what the hell are you doing in my home?" he didn't even bother to look at who it was. He didn't care. He kept his eyes closed to try and sleep.

"You gave me access so I could get you if you're late for work. *When* you're late for work," the stress in the hospital manager's voice was winding tighter by the moment. "Wylde, get up, now! Can't you hear the sirens?"

"No..." Alexion frowned though, and as he came to and blinked his eyes open, he could finally hear the persistent wail of sirens outside, but at some distance away. "What the hell is that noise?" he asked, never having heard it before.

"Sirens," Hanri shook his head with a sigh, half dragging Alexion up to a slumped sitting position.

"Never heard them before in my life," Alexion said gruffly. "What the hell do they mean?"

"Emergency," Hanri met his eyes, shaking his head urgently. The hospital manager was usually a calm and capable man...but in that moment, there was no denying the dread in his eyes. "Alexion, we're under attack."

"What? That's impossible," Alexion rubbed the back of his pounding head, half convinced it was a prank. Or even a smoke induced dream. "The Ikirus group were trampled."

"It's not us, it's from space," Hanri half whispered, searching his eyes with real fear. "They've been firing for hours, and now smaller raiding ships are coming down and they're attacking on the ground. People are pouring into the hospital."

Alexion watched him with uncertainty before grabbing the side of the man's face for skin to skin contact, using his Talent to transfer the man's memories to his own mind. He pulled back with shock when he saw it was true. He was caught in a moment of stunned, horrified silence. "Is it just the capital city?"

"No, they're everywhere," Hanri whispered to him, shaking his head with a pained frown. "The whole planet is under attack, our defences are broken and half of our comms have been disrupted."

Alexion's eyes darkened at the words and he pushed his cover aside. "I've got to get to Laeon."

"No, you've got to get to the hospital," Hanri stood, pulling clothes out for him.

"Hanri, my son is out there in that war zone!" Alexion said sharply. "I am not doing anything until I know where he is."

"Alexion, we have civilians pouring in, dead, injured, burned," Hanri turned to watch him, his features ashen. "You're one of the only surgeons we can locate, the others haven't reported in. They're either dead, dying or fleeing. We need you at the hospital. Civilians need you."

Alexion stood motionless for a long moment, caught between loyalties. In truth, he'd never wanted to be a doctor. He'd been forced into it when his Talent emerged, as all Vaerons were with their careers. He was irresponsible, often showed up only when it pleased him, and usually hung over. He'd been a playboy, a man of leisure at heart, living on his family's money for a good time, gambling, drinking and breathing the smoke.

The hospital had put up with it because he was good at what he did, and his Talent was strong in transferring energy to allow him to heal patients. Since he'd had a son though, well, he'd become more serious. Tried to be more of a suitable role model. Now...he couldn't quite so easily turn his back on his duty as a doctor as he might have done a few years back.

"I tell you what, you get to the hospital and I'll find Laeon," Hanri promised, throwing the clothes at him. "You have my word, I'll get straight on the comms to try and find a line still working. He's probably with your father anyway."

Alexion swallowed hard before finally nodding. "You have until we get to the hospital to find out where he is and get him on the way to me," he warned, stalking to the bathroom.


~~~~~


Alexion had never seen anything like it before.

The hospital was crammed full. Every last inch of ground taken up by something or someone. The smell of blood and scorched flesh was thick in the air and the sound of pained voices and cries was overwhelming.

For a moment, he could only stare, horrified at the truth of what was happening. This wasn't some little skirmish. This was a full on attack. And nothing they had at the hospital was going to be enough to save everyone.

"Doctor?" a nurse moved to him, touching his arm to try and get his attention. "Doctor, I have a man over here with one heart that's stopped beating."

Alexion didn't reply, only looked over the sea of moving and unmoving injured surrounding him. It was too immense. How did you start with such an immense crowd? A city full of injured flowing through the gates? With the few staff they had that could be located and a city of wounded pouring in through their doors? If he worked all night, he wouldn't make a dent in it. How could he even know what to do first with such a multitude of suffering in front of him?

"Doctor?" the young male nurse, Ion, watched him with wide eyes, frowning with worry as he tried to get his attention. Ion was tired, and clearly out of his depth.

Alexion remained silent, his violet-blue eyes cold. He could hear, above the collective sound of pain, a new air assault starting outside. They'd soon have more pouring in. But for how long? If they were being invaded, would they bomb the hospital? Or seize it for hostages?

"Doctor!" Ion shook his arm hard. "Doctor, my patient needs you, I don't know what to do to help him, this is beyond my training!"

"Not anymore," Alexion finally replied, turning his head to watch him with steely eyes. "You're going to have to learn. Quickly. Hanri can't find many of the other surgeons," he shook his head sharply at the havoc around them. "What kind of chaos is this..."

"Doctor, my patient down here needs you," Ion tried again to pull him to the man he'd been treating. "One heart's just given way..."

"His second heart is still beating though?" Alexion remained still, planted to the spot and refusing to be dragged along by him.

"Yes..."

"Then he is alive for now," Alexion walked away, pulling his jacket off and rolling his sleeves up. "Where the hell is the triage system? No one's tagged."

"Alexion, we've been trying to keep up with patching wounds as they come in, we don't have time to tag anymore," Ion shook his head with a frown, physically catching his breath.

"Bollocks," Alexion moved his hand sharply in front of him. "We need it more than ever now. Just because there's more of them and fewer of us, it doesn't mean we throw our systems away. It's now we bloody need them. Get the tags...now! I need to know who can't be saved, who can be saved only by Transfer Talent, who can be saved by medicine and surgery and who can wait. Otherwise I'm just walking through a valley of smoke."

Ion watched, already tired, but he finally nodded. He was clearly worried he wasn't up for the task, that he'd make the wrong call about someone somewhere along the line. A young nurse, not yet trained for something this intense.

Alexion gave a firm nod, reaching up to slap his cheek comradely, using his Talent to transfer just a little of his own energy into Ion through the touch without telling him. "Go."

Ion gave a brisk nod, not realising where the sudden spring of energy and resolve he felt came from, moving away with intent.

"Alexion!" a man pushed through the crowd, wearing the medical protective coat of a doctor. "Thank the Brothers, a Transferer. The suites are already full. We can't take any more patients into the wards or into the surgery suites. This place is gridlocked. Treatment is going to have to be given wherever the patient is; hallway or otherwise."

Alexion stifled a curse as he glanced around at the mess. "Infection's going to kill as many as the wounds, Fransis."

"It's all we can do," Fransis shook his head with a frown. He was strained, but hyper, running on adrenaline even if his clothes were already covered in blood. "We're running sterilisation sweeps every 15 minutes, but we daren't do more, in case we need the power later."

"You mean, if the bastards attacking knock out the power supplies," Alexion nodded with understanding. "Who the hell are they?"

"No one knows yet. Not here anyway. Comms are down and all we have are a hundred different rumours with each new person who comes through the door," the doctor shook his head with a shaky sigh.

Alexion could only nod, unable to change it. Besides, for the moment, it didn't matter who was doing it, only that the fallout needed clearing up. "See you on the other side," he shook his head with a grim frown, moving through to where a patient had been tagged with a yellow card. He crouched to the woman, dragging the medical kit with him. He ripped the side of her shirt half open with a firm tug of his hands to get to the large, bleeding wound underneath.

[TBC]

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