Hero's Return by Fred Hughes

Author:Fred Hughes [Hughes, Fred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2025-07-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11: Instructions

Sol System

United Federation Space

Empire Date: Mar 1049

“How is he?” Julie asked Doctor Solinger.

The Federation president had snuck aboard Constellation with no fanfare, no pomp. She’d wanted to see her friend one last time before he returned home.

Deities know when, or even if, I’ll ever get to see him again, Julie thought.

“Better than I hoped for. There’s no way for us to tell for certain, but I believe the medical repair bots Princess Allison had in her bloodstream were a newer version than the ones the emperor had. The repairs seem to be progressing at a far more significant rate than originally expected. At the current rate, the emperor will be well enough for me to begin surgical procedures well before we reach Imperial space.”

“That’s important?”

“Oh, yes, Madame President. Surgically, I can repair many of the injuries faster than the nanites can. But until the bugs repair the worst of the injuries, I don’t dare take him out of stasis. He wouldn’t survive long enough for me to even begin working.”

“Based on your original explanation, Doctor, I know his body will use up the nanites as they repair the injuries. Do you have a sufficient quantity on hand to replenish them?”

“The fabricator produced ten doses before it ran out of certain materials. I believe that will be sufficient.”

“Ran out of materials? Can’t we refill it?”

Doctor Solinger laughed. “No one out here even knows how the damn machine works. Oh, we have manuals and documentation, and could likely fix it if it broke, but how some of the subsystems work is beyond everyone on my staff. Some of the materials we need, we can’t even identify. We just know the machine used them up.”

“Like you said at the beginning, Doctor Brougham can finish what you can’t do when you get him home.” Julie stuck out her hand. “Thank you for everything you did.”

Julie thought she actually saw the doctor blush.

“I’d like to think I was just doing my job,” Keefer finally said, “but it was more than that. I helped heal Emperor Hazard. Years from now, when I tell my grandchildren that, I wonder if they’ll appreciate it as much as I do.”

“I promise you this, Doctor. When I tell my grandchildren about it, they will.”

Keefer grinned and gave Julie a curt nod.

Julie headed for the door, then stopped, remembering something.

“Will you be coming back? I mean, you’re Constellation’s CMO, and she’s staying in the Empire.”

“Admiral Evers and I have already talked about that. I’ll be riding back on one of the supply dreadnoughts.”

“Good, because we’ll need you.”

Julie didn’t wait for a response. She turned and headed out of the medical center.

* * *

Rear Admiral Dorothy Evers sat at her desk in her flag officer’s quarters aboard Constellation. She felt somewhat out of place in the roomy office. Like most flag officers and ship captains, she normally worked out of the much smaller cabin adjacent to the bridge. The space was small and cramped but placed her steps away from her command chair.

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