Read Online Captain Cosette by R. Bruce Sundrud - Free Book Online

make a grunt.  It was like being in a nightmare, the sort of nightmare where she could not make herself move, could not struggle against the restraints, could not make herself heard, and the unnamed horror kept growing.
    She spat out the grounding disk and tried to scream.
    The falling packets became a blizzard, unrestrained.  An avalanche engulfed her mind and her senses failed.  She could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing.  Her body was lost.  There was nothing left of her but a tenuous candle of consciousness as a snowstorm of information softly and gently obliterated her.
    And then she flickered out.
     
    *
     
    She was moving.
    Or she was being moved. 
    “ ….the door while I ….”
    Silence.
    What was that ?
    Movement again, and dull sounds without meaning.
    “…be permanent or she might be able to….”
    “ …can’t you …”
    “ …find her way out by herself….”
    Long stretches of quiet that seemed endless, and then again the sounds.
    “…can’t swallow, so this tube…”
    “ …use a ventilator until she…”
    One sound, one word, reverberated.  She could make no sense of it, but it matched the edge of one packet of knowledge among the many that smothered her.
    Ventilator .
    Snap .
    “ Positive - end expiratory pressure is maintained during a breath …”  Floating in her mind were the parts of different ventilators and how they worked.
    “ …seems to be trying to breathe on her own.”
    “ …can see by the oxygen analyzer that she’s…
    Oxygen Analyzer .
    Snap .
    “ Two dissimilar electrodes immersed in an electrolyte solution ….”  Dials, sensors, cables, an array of analyzers lay before her.  They settled into the context of her mind.
    “ …making some progress.”
    “ Can she hear me?”
    “ Rasora, we can’t tell if….
    Silence.
    “…sugar may be low.  Check her blood chemistry….”
    Chemistry .
    Snap .
    A parade of elements swam before her, combining and recombining in an orderly fashion.  The knowledge slid into place in her mind, reducing by a fraction the weight that buried her.
    Light appeared.
    A tiny circle of light, far in the distance and very dim, but it was light.  Shadows moved.
    “See there?  Her pupils dilated.  I told you her brain wasn’t fried.”
    “ But what if she stays like this?”
    “ She’s fighting back.  Just give her time.”
    Silence.
    “No progress?”
    “ Not today.  I asked them to send down a specialist with the next shuttle, but they…”
    Shuttle .
    Snap . 
    Snap . 
    Snap .
    Schematics roared through her brain, wiring diagrams snarled, engine specifications detonated.  A riot of knowledge about shuttles and other space craft bullied its way into her mind like shrapnel and took up residence.
    She cried out with the pain.
    “ She moved!  Look at her arm!”
    “ Calm down, Rasora.  It was just a twitch.”
    Something gripped her hand and she clung to it like a mast in a hurricane.  The circle of light grew larger, and she could see a face.
    “Can you hear me, Cosette?  Squeeze my hand if you can.”
    The words had no meaning.
    She closed her eyes, blocked out the light, and slept.
     
    *
     
    She drank from the glass being held to her lips, but spilled much of it.  Someone wiped the water from her face and neck.
    Other pieces of knowledge had slipped into place as she woke and slept, and with each piece she saw and heard more clearly.  She still could not speak, though.  Everything was dim and language made little sense.  People kept talking to her, but unless they happened to say something that triggered another piece of information to seat in her brain, it was all a meaningless jumble.
    A tall man sat by her, talking to her, holding her hand.  He said his name was Rasora, but she forgot it after he said it.  She knew she ought to say something to him, but no words ever formed. 
    The circle of her vision had enlarged yet again, and she was able to move her eyes and look around the room.