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11.
The Medical center was located in an annex off of the administrative center. Unlike most buildings on the Moon, the medical annex was not dome-shaped, instead being elongated like a giant hotdog, tube, or hoagie. It contained an assortment of medical equipment, two coffin-like silver cryogenic freezers (these wouldn’t put you to sleep, but they would flash freeze you causing instant death), a locker filled with Dava Newman form-fitting type spacesuits. There were twenty-seven beds each with black nano-material foam bedding making them either soft or ridged as needed.
Sarah sat on one of these looking distastefully down at the plaster cast now firmly affixed to her arm.
“Can’t you laser it together or something?” she asked Dr. Atsuko, who was busy typing up something on a holographic display he held in his hand.
Atsuko, a stooped man with what looked like a thousand cricks in his spin, shook his shoulder length white hair in negation.
“Oh,” he said, typing through his own words, “I suppose I could ‘laser’ it together, but I find that natural healing both is better and more instructive. Teaches you not to stand on tables.”
Sarah’s good arm snaked up to her dark hair and began to twine it. A blush appeared on her cheeks.
“I was trying to give a speech.”
“Ah. Okay,” the doctor said, walking around her bed without once looking up. “That certainly makes it better.”
“Can I go back to work?” she asked. "I'm supposed to be talking with an American ambassador right now."
“Yes, yes,” the doctor waved vaguely at her with his free hand.
She clumsily lowered her legs to the floor.
Pausing, she glanced down the row of beds to where one of the cryo-freezers was closed. A black blanket had been draped over it.
“Is that…..?” Sarah asked, pointing.
The doctor looked up from his display and following the direction of her finger.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s Mr. Hamp.”
Sarah hesitated and then took a cautious step toward the freezer. Sweat beaded in her hair. She took two more steps before Atsuko waved away his holographic display and said in a very commanding, very authoritative voice:
“Where do you think you are going Ms. Yelm?”
“To the… can I….?”
“No,” Atsuko said. “I don’t think you should. We need our PR girl bright and happy for the Americans, right?”
Sarah frown and said, “Surely a Counsel member can view the body.”
The doctor stepped around her completely blocking the way. She side stepped. He side stepped. She shrugged.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll just be curious all day.”
“That is fine,” Atsuko said making shooing motions. “Back to work now.”
Sarah didn’t look happy, but she did leave.
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