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She could not recall what had happened, and it was some time before she realized she was not awake - but rather dreaming.
From the dream state, waking was slow and immediately filled with discomfort.
As she forced her eyes to open, the light of the space she was in was almost unbearable. All she could see was swimming images, nothing clear. As she blinked, slowly, she came to realize that part of the distortion was from the mask covering her face.
Where was she? What was happening? Then, another question - who was she?
She tried to take a deep breath, and it ached, it burned, it hurt. She was so weak, she could not cry out - she could only moan.
“Ah, you are awake,” a voice said, muffled as though it was not from someone near. “We did not know if you would return to us. Give it time.”
Her head was now beginning to pound, and her mouth was so very, very dry. Why did she feel so completely spent; why was she feeling so worked over?
Slowly, too slowly, awareness was starting to come to her. The first thing with any real clarity to come to her was her name.
She was Mek Muv Meq.
Something had happened, but what? She had been through a traumatic experience, but what had it been? What had happened to her?
Mek Muv Meq felt truly awful. What had she experienced?
She felt the mask change, and though it was not removed, the amount of air passing through to her had shifted. She felt lighter, and some of the pain eased. Her lungs didn’t burn anymore.
Now she was starting to remember. Her gunner’s nest. She’d ejected from her starship. She had gotten clear and floated among the debris.
Then she saw the attackers obliterating everything. They left nothing behind, vaporizing it all.
She had seen the ship coming. She knew it was a terrible choice, but at the last possible second, she’d ejected from the nest.
Mek Muv Meq had not been in a full vacuum suit. Zathru skin was tough, though, and so time in the cold of the vacuum would trigger hibernation.
Given how little oxygen Mek Muv Meq had, hibernation was her best option for survival.
It must have worked. They must not have noticed her ejection - because she was alive.
It did not feel good at all to be alive. She was clearly hurt.
“What?” she tried to say, but her voice was barely a raspy whisper, and it really hurt to try to talk.
“We estimate you were exposed for about thirty hours,” the person attending her stated. The voice still sounded too faint, too far away, but he continued. “It’s a wonder you are alive at all, given how badly injured you are.”
Mek Muv Meq did not recall being physically hurt when she’d ejected from her gunner’s nest, but after firing the bolts to eject her seat from the nest she had no memory.
“This is probably going to be a shock, but, again, we did not expect you to wake,” the person attending her said. “You suffered severe oxygen deprivation, which is why breathing hurts. But you also have severe frostbite over a large portion of your body. And I am sorry to say that’s not the worst of it.”
Mek Muv Meq was starting to worry. How much worse could it be?
“Your legs are gone from mid-thigh down,” the speaker said with no further preamble. “Whatever the weapon was that hit you, it cauterized the wound instantly, which sealed your torso, and probably helped spare your life. Still...I’m sorry.”
Mek Muv Meq could not react. She could not cry, she could only lie there, trying to catch her breath. She really had cut her ejection close.
“Please don’t be offended, but we are going to sedate you,” the speaker said. “I promise you will awaken again.”
Mek Muv Meq didn’t resist. After those shocks, she looked forward to returning to a dream state.
<—>
When Mek Muv Meq next awoke, the full-face mask was gone, and her lungs didn’t burn anymore. Her body was completely numb, which she suspected may have been done to her on the part of her healers. She still felt positively awful, but she was less disoriented.
A Zathru physician appeared before her. Her vision was still not quite right, but she could see him.
“I am Dok Duv Deq,” he told her. His voice was still not at the volume she would expect from someone directly before her, but it was better than last time. “Try, softly, to speak. What is your name?”
“Mek Muv Meq,” she replied. Her voice was horridly weak, but while it was still uncomfortable to speak, it no longer hurt.
The physician made a note on a datapad. “Very good. How are you feeling?”
“Awful,” she replied honestly.
Dok Duv Deq shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mek Muv Meq. We are doing all we can to make you comfortable. Can you remember what happened?”
“Attack,” Mek Muv Meq replied. “Unknown forces. Disintegration rays.”
Dok Duv Deq was making notes. “Very good. Thank you, Mek Muv Meq. We’re going to leave you awake for a little while longer, but then we want to sedate you again. We don’t want to overtax your system, but we want you better so you can tell us more about what happened.”
“Yes,” Mek Muv Meq replied. She didn’t want to speak further. Now her throat was raw again and speaking was starting to hurt. She tried to lift her head to look at herself, but the effort completely exhausted her, and she again drifted into unconsciousness.
<—>
When she came around again, Mek Muv Meq noticed immediately that her vision seemed more normal. Her skin was not numb this time. It felt scaly and uncomfortable, unusual, and a bit disturbing. The oxygen was no longer being continuously pumped into her.
She tried to move, and that sent lancing pain across her body. Mek Muv Meq was certainly still not well.
“I should have warned you about that,” Dok Duv Deq said, stepping into her vision. He still sounded too far away. “The frostbite destroyed a lot of the nerve endings. Further, you may be experiencing neuro-muscular pain from prolonged vacuum exposure. Do I sound muffled or otherwise far away?”
“Yes,” Mek Muv Meq said. Her voice was a bit stronger, and there was no pain when she spoke.
Dok Duv Deq nodded. “Yes, that is also a side-effect of prolonged vacuum exposure.”
“You don’t sugar-coat these things, do you?” Mek Muv Meq questioned.
Dok Duv Deq chuckled. “I’m sorry. I have long believed the straight truth is best. Are you in much pain?”
“No, just...discomfort,” Mek Muv Meq replied. She attempted to lift an arm, and though it felt like it weighed a ton, it arose.
“We have you on a maximum dosage of neuropathic inhibitor,” Dok Duv Deq informed her. “But nerve regeneration is tricky. We are still uncertain just how much we will be able to restore you.”
“Still waiting for my prognosis to improve?” Mek Muv Meq asked.
“Yes,” Dok Duv Deq replied honestly. “You are still quite severely injured, Gunner First Class. You are extremely lucky to still be alive.”
Mek Muv Meq wondered how lucky she was. “Were there...were there any other survivors?”
“No, there were not,” a new, female voice said, as someone stepped into her view.
Mek Muv Meq recognized immediately the Armada High Commander Qak Quv Qeq. Mek Muv Meq wanted to salute, but lifting her arm was just too hard. “Ma’am,” she said.
“Gunner First Class,” the third-in-command of the Zathru Marine Corp addressed her. “You are the sole survivor, in every meaning of that.”
“I don’t understand,” Mek Muv Meq replied, confused.
“Nobody but you remains from that battle,” Qak Quv Qeq informed her. “Not a single data recorder was recovered. It is as if the entire battle group was simply erased. All but you.”
Mek Muv Meq was shocked. “I...I saw them destroying everything, but...but I didn’t realize that was absolutely everything.”
“Explain,” Qak Quv Qeq commanded.
“High Commander,” Dok Duv Deq interrupted. “My patient is still very weak, I would really prefer-”
“I will not risk losing her,” Qak Quv Qeq interjected. She turned to Mek Muv Meq. “Gunner First Class, will you do your duty?”
“Yes ma’am,” Mek Muv Meq replied. Her voice was not weakening, which was a good change. “Ma’am, they appeared out of hyperspace, I guess. I did not see. Division Commander Sak Suv Seq ordered us to battle stations. I took my place in the forward upper gun pod and listened as the observers said that the unknown ships were not responding to communications. Further, someone said no signals were getting out.”
“Go on,” Qak Quv Qeq ordered, but gently.
“The Division Commander ordered an attack, but they struck at that moment. The weapons they used...I didn’t know any such weapons existed.”
“Can you clarify that?” Qak Quv Qeq requested.
“They were beams of energy, and they...well, they vaporized whatever they hit.” Mek Muv Meq winced at the memory. “My ship was hit twice, and the second shot took out the bridge tower. I destroyed one attacker before ejecting my nest.”
“Why did you eject?” questioned Qak Quv Qeq.
“The starship was out of control, listing to one side, and it was clear all external electrical contact was already severed,” Mek Muv Meq said. “I wasn’t going to just sit there and die, so...I took my chances and ejected the pod. I recall that I saw them ‘mopping up’, vaporizing everything they came across, and one of their smaller craft headed right for me and the debris I was floating amongst. The rest...well, I am unsure.”
The High Commander looked to the physician. “Traumatic memory loss?”
“Likely,” Dok Duv Deq responded. “We presume that Gunner First Class Mek Muv Meq ejected from her pod at the last moment she could...but not soon enough, hence the loss of her legs. The shock of that injury probably threw her body into instant hibernation, thus hiding her life signs from the attackers. We speculate that is how she survived at all.”
Mek Muv Meq did not recall doing that, but she vaguely thought that was what she’d planned to do. “Yes, I think I had considered that my only option - and a slim one.”
“If we bring an artist to you, can you describe the ships and the weapons they employed?” asked Qak Quv Qeq.
“I think so, ma’am,” Mek Muv Meq replied.
The High Commander turned to the physician. “I authorize whatever expense is involved. Get this soldier healed because she is our only point of information, and hereby she is deemed a High Priority Asset. Whatever it takes, I want her alive and well enough to give us more information.”
“Yes ma’am!” snapped Dok Duv Deq with a salute.
The High Commander leaned towards Mek Muv Meq. “Gunner First Class...you are the only intelligence asset we have on this incident. Everything in our power to restore you will be employed.”