The Quality of Mercy by Etain Antrim

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The Quality of Mercy, Part 3
Etain Antrim

Alonzo paused and rubbed his temples. He had set out the groundsheet and spread the tent, and unpacked the sleeping bags and cots, the stove and the food. Now he had to raise the tent, and he honestly didn't know if he could. The cold and his exhaustion had joined, leaving him sapped and suffering from a terrible headache that felt remarkably like two drills boring straight into his temples. He panted slightly at his recent exertion and his hands had a noticeable tremor. Suddenly, from above him on the hillside he heard a yell. "Walman, are you okay?" he shouted up the hill.

"I think I did something to my leg. It hurts." Walman's voice came floating down to the pilot. "I don't think I can get back down the hill."

"Wait there! I'll come up." Alonzo started up the hill, wading into the knee deep snow.

"Careful, I tripped over a log under the snow. Watch your footing."

"Okay. Don't move. I'll be right there." Alonzo repeated.

By the time he got to Walman, he was panting heavily, and his legs felt like the bones had somehow dissolved away. He collapsed next to the injured man, and tried to catch his breath. "Okay," he paused to pant some more, "Where . . . does . . . it hurt?"

"My knee. I think I twisted it when I tripped. It hurts to move it." Alonzo could hear a catch in Walman's voice; the man was in pain.

"Okay. I'll help . . . you down. Just let me . . . rest a second." Alonzo was still gasping from his trip up the hill. He leaned against a log that was exposed above the snow, and lay there panting. "Damn, what a pair we are!"

"You're telling me! I'm shanking freezing now too. Let me know when you're ready." Walman looked at the pilot, realizing how much just getting up the hill had taken out of him. His anger, which had already eased after a full day in Solace's calm company, was buried beneath the pain in his knee and the fact that he needed Solace's help now. He was ashamed to note that the pilot didn't show any reluctance to come to his aid.

Alonzo took a few minutes to catch his breath and let his heart return to it's normal pace. "Okay. I'm ready now. Here lean on me," Alonzo pulled Walman's arm around his shoulder as they both straightened, "Let's go. Careful. We don't want to trip over anything else."

It took them a long time to get back down to the 'Rail, and occasional flakes of snow began to fall before they were even half way down. Walman grunted in pain at each step as his twisted knee was forced to support his weight. At one point, they lost their footing in the deep snow and flailed back as they slipped downhill feet first until they were able to stop themselves by grabbing trees. Sweat covered both men by the time they were back at the 'Rail and they were completely caked with snow, which melted from their body heat and soaked through their clothes.

"We need to get the tent up. This snow is getting thick." Alonzo gasped, leaning over the vehicle. He paused to catch his breath. "We don't have any wood. Let's give up on the fire. Walman, rest your leg in the 'Rail, and I'll get the tent up. Be thinking about how to get some dinner, okay?"

"Sure 'Lonz, but you're not looking too good yourself. Can you set up the tent by yourself?" Walman hopped down the length of the vehicle, his left leg held stiffly and a little in front of him, until he reached the front seat. He wriggled backward up into the seat and sat there, his head resting on his arms on the back of the seat. Walman's knee was throbbing and his face was creased with pain.

"I'll rest here a second first. Did you bring dry clothes?"

"Yeah. You?"

Alonzo nodded his reply, too tired to say more than was necessary. He wasn't sure that he could get the tent up, but he had no real choice. The dusk was moving in on them and the sky had darkened considerably as they had made their way down the hillside. Whether the 'Rail was recharged or not was irrelevant; they were in no shape to drive a rough trail back to camp in thick snow in the dark. They didn't have the visibility they needed to drive it safely.

Walman called the camp to let them know what had happened, then watched as Alonzo dragged himself to raise the tent. The pilot's whole body was shivering from the exertion and cold, and his hands shook badly. After he watched Alonzo try and fail three times to tie the knots to secure the tent, Walman spoke up, "Here 'Lonz, let me try. I wasn't a boy scout for nothing. I think it's the only thing I learned, but I did get good at knots." He pulled himself off the 'Rail seat and hopped toward the tent.

"Thanks. I guess I'm just too cold. My fingers don't seem to be cooperating." Alonzo reached to help support the injured man, then circled the tent with him as he finished each tie. He was relieved that Walman wasn't letting his anger imperil them.

They put the sleeping bags and cots inside the tent, then threw themselves down to rest after changing into their dry clothes. After 15 minutes or so, Walman raised his head. "You want dinner?"

"Not if it means I can't go to sleep right now. I'm too tired to eat. And I've finally started to warm up in here. You?"

"No, it doesn't sound worth the effort right now. Everything's out of the 'Rail, right?" At Alonzo's nod, he continued, "Okay. Let's just turn in for the night. We can eat tomorrow."

"Okay. Is there anything we can do for your knee right now? What did Julia tell you to do?"

"Just to keep it raised. She suggested a cold compress too, but it's too shanking cold for that now. I've got all the extra clothes under it already; it's as raised as it's gonna get."

"I think you should put an ice bag on it anyway. Better to treat it well now." Alonzo climbed out of his cot and disappeared out the flap. He came in a few minutes later with a storage bag filled with snow. "Here. Put that on your knee. It'll help, I swear." He climbed back into his cot. "Good night." Alonzo switched off the lumalight, and complete darkness descended over the tent.

***

That night, Morgan pulled Bess aside after dinner, and, her hand in his, pulled her toward their tent.

"Morgan? It's a little early to go to bed isn't it? I promised Denner I'd help with the dishes . . ." Bess objected, although a small smile indicated that she was happy to be abducted.

"Bess, you said you wanted me to explain what I'm doing. You do, don't you?" Morgan stopped and looked at his wife in confusion, then relaxed when she smiled up at him.

"Yeah, I do. And after that, maybe--" She ran her fingers lightly down his cheek, smiling.

Morgan smiled back slowly, starting to realize that he had been ignoring the most beautiful woman in the world all day. "Okay, sweetie. I think I can explain it real fast. In fact. I should start now--"

They turned and walked toward their tent, Morgan's arm draped over Bess' shoulders. "What we are doing has two purposes. First, we need to try out some power cable to see if it will work for a communications network. We've never found the cargo pods with the communications cable . . . Probably some Grendler found it long ago. So we are going to string the cable up the mountain behind us to see if we can reach the dish in New Pacifica, and that way we can see how well the cable works in different weather conditions." He paused to hold the tent flap up for her, then waited for Bess to turn on the light. He walked in after her once it was light enough to not run into her, and sat on the side of the cot, happy for the solar powered heater she turned on after the light. Between the extra insulation they had built onto the tents and the heaters Danziger had built using spare parts and lots of ingenuity, their tents were quite comfortable this winter.

Bess sat on the cot next to him and smiled her warm smile. "And what's the second reason?"

Morgan pulled himself from his appreciation of her beauty and focused on the explanation. "Well, there's a standard protocol that we should be able to use when we contact the dish, but we don't know that the dish is still working like it was when we dropped it. It has been a year and a half, with no communication. Its database may have gotten corrupted. Baines can get started on that while we are still here . . ." He stopped when he noticed that Bess was beginning to shed her sweater. "That way, we don't have to wait until we get to New . . ." Bess leaned over and started to dot his face with tender little kisses. "Uh, is that what you wanted to know?"

Bess didn't answer verbally, but Morgan took her capture of his mouth as a "Yes". He reached over and pulled her closer, returning her kisses. A couple of minutes later, he dimmed the lamp.

***

Julia lay awake late into the night. She was worried about Alonzo and Walman having to camp out in this weather. She could tell that Alonzo was very tired, and Walman's knee injury meant that Alonzo would have to take up the slack on what Walman couldn't do. The fact that they hadn't been able to return to camp that night meant that they might be stuck in their makeshift camp for a couple of days, depending on the snowfall the storm brought. Her mind spun unproductively, yielding only a litany of her concerns and no good ideas about how to solve them. She finally fell asleep, but slept fitfully and woke tired.

The next morning, she was surprised to find close to a foot of new snow outside the Medtent and the snow was still falling. She went into the common room, only to find that the communications group had once more taken over the whole room. Danziger had been pulled in to advise how to build the antenna they had designed, and models made of small pieces of wood from the kindling pile were spread over a couple of the tables. *The whole camp is going to be pulled into this thing before they finish*, she thought irritably. She walked over to Devon, "Any word this morning from the scout team?" Danziger quit talking and listened to the two women.

"No, not yet. Actually, I thought you'd want to be here for the call. Walman's knee may need some more treatment." Julia carefully kept her expression neutral, but internally she had begun to seethe. *What the hell did Devon think she was doing? Two men were stuck out there in the cold, while the snow was threatening to bury them, and Devon hadn't even thought it was important to call?* At Julia's non-committal nod of agreement, Devon continued, "With this new dump of snow, they may need to stay there for a few days. What have we gotten, a foot already? And it's still coming down."

Julia tried to keep a professional tone, but was not surprised to hear an edge to her reply. "I know. They should have the supplies they need to get through a stay of a few days, but I'm concerned about the cold that came in with the storm. They don't have the cold weather improvements we've made here."

"Julia, they'll be fine. Solace and Walman are both sensible men, and they know this weather. It's not like last winter, when all this was new to us." Danziger calmly interjected.

"I know John, but neither of them is in ideal physical condition. Alonzo hasn't recovered completely from his illness, and Walman is out of action with his knee." Julia tried to keep her voice level, but she knew that she was fooling no one. They were all looking at her with concern and pity on their faces. "I just wish there was some way we could go and get them. It's only a few miles."

"I know Julia, and if it sounds like they're in trouble, we may be able to get there in the 'Rover, but the track isn't really wide enough. We'd have to cut trees to get there, and that would eat a lot of time. Let's call first, and then make a decision."

Danziger's statement was sensible, although every fiber of Julia's being wanted action. But she knew that the mechanic was right and reluctantly she agreed. "Okay, let's see how they are. But no matter how they are, we should consider going now, before the snow gets any deeper."

Danziger, Julia and Devon walked over to the communications area. Devon picked up the gear, "Walman, Alonzo, do you read us?"

"Walman here." His voice was strained and his face was creased with pain.

"How are you guys doing? How's your knee?"

"Not so good. It hurts like the dickens, and over night it really swelled up. It looks like one of those growths we've been seeing on the trees. What did Yale call them? Goiters?"

"I'm putting Julia on. She may be able to help."

"Thanks Dev."

Julia took the mike, making herself use her professional tone. "Walman. What sort of movement hurts? Does it hurt when you keep your leg absolutely straight and bend your knee? No. Okay, that's good. How about sideways motion?" A gasp came over the speaker. "Okay, that obviously hurt. Did you keep the knee raised last night?" Julia took a big breath while Walman said he had. "You're going to have to splint the knee. Some of these injuries can be aggravated by continued movement. Alonzo should be able to help you, he knows what the splint should look like. Could you put him on, please?"

"Solace here." He looked tired and his voice was weak and tinny. She felt her heart thud in anxiety, and wished they had some privacy so she could ask him the really important questions.

"'Lonzo, you're going to have to splint Walman's knee so that he can't bend it at all. He should also continue to keep it up, as much as possible. And he should keep an ice pack on it. I know that sounds cruel, but it really will help."

Alonzo smiled wearily, "Okay Doc. I'll make sure he does, although an ice pack sounds a little extreme. He did put one on it last night. Hey, the splint should reach from the ankle to well above the knee, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. How are you doing?"

"Okay. I'm pretty tired, and it is shanking cold here, but we'll be all right. Don't worry. We'll be back before you know it." She could hear the energy he was trying to inject into his tone, but he wasn't very successful.

"And your supplies are okay? You have enough food and fuel?"

"Yeah, especially since we were too tired to eat last night." he realized his mistake when her face fell, and tried to reassure her, "Listen Doc, we know what we're doing, and we'll let you know if we need a rescue, all right?"

"Okay. Well, I guess that's it. Let me know if the swelling doesn't start to go down by late this afternoon, okay?"

"You got it. Solace out." And the line went dead.

Julia turned back to Devon and Danziger after taking a few seconds to regain control of herself. "It sounds marginal to me. If Walman's knee doesn't start to respond, we may need to get out there anyway. He could have permanent damage otherwise. Let me know if you hear anything. Now, are we having breakfast this morning?"

End of Part 3.

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