Steve’s shorts: Dr. Carlos and the Cruise Ship Doctor…
Dr. Carlos and the Cruise Ship Doctor
Copyright 2019, Steven M. Moore
Carlos Obregon hadn’t been on a passenger liner for years. He was bit bored with the whole trip—no shipboard duties, no obnoxious crewmembers to bother him, and no captain he could badger. The food was okay, and at least some passengers offered interesting conversation.
The Chief Medical Officer of the survey starship Brendan was going to a conference. He did that every decade or so, either on the Brendan’s layovers, or by taking some of the extensive leave he rarely used. He didn’t do it to present research results, though; he just posted those whenever Brendan made port somewhere in the ITUIP, the near-Earth trade union that financed the starship’s survey voyages.
The cruise ship’s doctor was a bit annoying at first. Nice enough guy but lacking experience. Obregon ran into Brodsky the first day out, even before they left the solar system.
“Arlamati anatomy,” the young man said, peering over Obregon’s shoulder at the tablet’s screen. “Complex reading for a tourist.”
Obregon turned and looked up at him. “Complex enough that I don’t need the interruption. Say, maybe you can tell me how to keep their second heart from shutting down when working on the first. They’re synched.”
Brodsky hesitated. “I’ve never attended to an Arlamati patient. They’re rather reclusive. Never seen one on a cruise ship before either. I guess I’d electrically trick the second heart so that it seemed the first heart was still beating.”
“Hmm. Could be.” Obregon closed his tablet and stood. “See you around.”
***
When Brodsky returned to his quarters later on, the first thing he did was to call up Obregon’s bio. The man’s a legend! Why isn’t he a professor at one of ITUIP’s major medical schools?
He now recalled reading some seminal reports by Carlos Obregon when he was a medical student. The physician was an expert at treating ailments of Humans exposed to ET pathogens and an expert on treating ETs’ medical ailments.
He next looked up Arlamati anatomy, soon finding what he was looking for. He smiled. The old man tricked me! The Arlamati male had three hearts, not two, that beat out a waltz as they pumped blood around the body. The smaller males didn’t need all that plumbing, but evolution had created the three-heart system for the massive females, each one the sole figurehead of an Arlamati colony.
Brodsky smiled. He’d have to get to know the famous man a bit better.
***
“Don’t devalue experience,” Obregon told Brodsky, eyeing the young doctor over the brim of his tea cup.
“Yes, I understand that. I know I won’t get much experience in this cushy job, but it’s a start at least.”
“Use it to find your space legs, but keep studying. Learning is a life-long pursuit, and our lives are super-long now.” Obregon chuckled. “I’m sounding like an old man, right?”
“The voice of experience,” said Brodsky. “I have to get back. We have two possible cases of food poisoning.”
“Where did that come from? And maybe it’s something else?”
“Food poisoning is the tentative diagnosis. A pair of Tali. I grew up among Tali. They’ll eat anything.”
“Even Humans at one time. I came onboard at Brown’s Planet. So did many others. It’s a major tourist attraction. I never left the space station though, transferring directly from Brendan. Is it possible one of those sun-loving tourists brought an ET bug onboard?”
“We’re still running tests. We also brought some local delicacies onboard in addition to tourists. Local treats for our rich passengers.” He frowned. “The possibilities are endless, but our diagnostic units are cutting edge.”
“Hopefully just food poisoning then. Let me know if you need an extra medic. I’m a bit bored. Conferences are great. Getting to and from them, not so much.”
***
Soon many tourists and crewmembers had succumbed to the “food poisoning.” The medical ward filled up, and Brodsky and his team started visiting passengers in their staterooms and crewmembers in their quarters. Brodsky drafted Obregon to help them in the lab, tasking Carlos and two others to figure out the source and a cure for the pathogen. The first death, one of the original Tali pair, gave new impetus to the work.
“Whatever it is, it affects Humans and Tali,” Brodsky said in a status meeting of bleary-eyed Humans, exhausted Tali, and dragging Rangers, worn out from either caring for patients or the search for the contagion.
“That’s the only clue we have so far,” Obregon said in a raspy voice. “Perhaps we need to dock at the nearest ITUIP planet.”
“They’ll just quarantine us,” said a Ranger. “And we can’t blame them for that.”
“But we could get more help,” said a Tali.
“We might not have time for that anyway. With some medical personnel starting to succumb, time is short.” Obregon looked around the group. :”But I have an idea.”
“Yes?” Brodsky eyed him. “Don’t hold back.”
“Ever hear of Rain World?” Everyone conferred with their tablets. “Don’t bother. It’s ancient history with probably only a paragraph devoted to it if you find it. A well-meaning scientist decimated the indigenous population engineering a virus that had unintended consequences.”
“And that’s important why?” said Brodsky.
“ Brown’s Planet is only two solar systems away from Rain World. I’d check to see if anyone onboard was there recently. That virus might have mutated to a form that can infect bipeds.”
“That indigenous population consisted of intelligent bird-like creatures,” said a Tali who had read his tablet screen.
“Ah, another bit of history. In Earth’s past, before the Tali invasion, there was something called avian flu AKA H5N1. It was deadly to Humans who caught it too. There was also ebola, which could transfer from one species to another. I have tests going on now. It’s a long shot, but I don’t have any more suggestions.”
“Knowing what it is gets us 90% toward a solution,” Brodsky said. “Pursue that idea. We need to know if there’s any chance it’s the origin of the plague.”
***
On the cruise ship, there were two scientists heading for the same conference as Obregon. They’d been to Rain World; they were carriers of the original virus that had mutated. The ship’s passengers and crew were soon on the mend.
“To experience,” Brodsky said, raising his wine glass toward Obregon two weeks later.
“And luck,” said Obregon. “You need both in this business.”
***
Comments are always welcome.
Want more stories bout the survey ship Brendan’s Chief Medical Officer? See the new, free PDF download Dr. Carlos, Starship Brendan’s Medical Officer—you’ll find it listed on my “Free Stuff & Contests” web page along with other free downloads. Just follow the directions there. The story “Rain World” is found in Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape, Volume One, available on Amazon. Other volumes in the latter series are also free downloads.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
