Read Online Through Glass Darkly: Episode Two by Peter Knyte - Free Book Online

and the puffiness or inflammation which her skin had after the shell was removed had completely subsided, making her look as though she were merely asleep.
     
    ‘She does look a lot better without all that gelatinous material covering her, doesn’t she,’ commented Dr Payne after seeing my expression.
    When I nodded my agreement, he went on to explain the nature of the procedure that was planned, both to me and his support team. He also pointed out a drip that had been attached to Ariel’s arm.
    ‘As you can see we’ve also analysed the patients’ blood chemistry, and while there’s a lot we still don’t understand we have been able to create a basic isotonic crystalloid solution that matches the levels we found in her blood, which we hope will be enough to keep her hydrated. You all know this patient has a unique blood condition which means no transfusions are possible, so in the event of significant blood loss we will terminate the surgery and then re-evaluate.
    ‘Having said that,’ continued Payne. ‘The area around the spine where we will be working is not close to any major arterial blood vessels, so blood loss should be minimal.’
    With that Dr Payne deferred to Dr Bach who was once again acting as the lead surgeon.
    ‘Mr Hall, if you’d be good enough to tell us how the patient appears through your various lenses?’ He asked.
    Without further ado I dropped my first sequence of lenses into place and described the results as I observed them.
     
    ‘I’ll begin with the Infrared, there are no unusual energy signatures coming from the patient, body temperature appears slightly above normal, but only marginally, and is consistent across the entire body. Moving through the EM field I’m still not seeing anything unusual, electrical conductivity of the exposed skin especially around the neck and head still seems reduced in a manner consistent with lower brain activity or unconsciousness.’
    After thanking me, the surgeons then proceeded to turn the patient over and expose the eight bony remnants of the creatures limbs that protruded from the area around Ariel’s upper spine.
    I again lowered my lenses and ran through the same combinations to see if there was anything unusual across both the visible and invisible areas of the spectrum, though again there was nothing out of the ordinary.
    I continued monitoring as the operation began, but as soon as the surgeons began work on the remnants of the Lamphrey limbs I could see they were triggering some kind of electrical response that was sending strong pulsing signals both up the spine and to the limbs.
     
    ‘Wait,’ I blurted. ‘Your incisions are causing what looks like a strong pain response up the patients spine. I can see it as heightened electrical activity whenever you tools touch her.’
    ‘Is it the incisions or the contact with the metal tools,’ Bach asked patiently.
    ‘I’m not sure,’ I had to reply. ‘The metal that’s just in contact with her skin doesn’t seem to be causing a reaction. Do you have any non-metallic tools you could try.’
    ‘We do have some obsidian bladed scalpels in the research lab,’ Payne commented, I know they use them because of their improved edge for preparing slides.’
    ‘It’s worth a try,’ Bach commented, before asking one of the theatre assistants to step outside and call through to the research lab for several of their scalpels.
    ‘It might also be worthwhile asking for a length of fine wire while you’re at it,’ I commented.
    Bach nodded his approval to the assistant before turning back to me for an explanation.
    ‘It’s a long shot,’ I conceded, before going on. ‘But we know the electrical properties of the creatures from the Expanse are quite highly developed. We’ve discovered with some of them that even after their death their cells can still alter their structure if a small electrical current is passed through them, or even if they’re just adequately earthed.’
    A few moments