Season 3 Episode 03: Casualties
Commodore Griswald and Mayor Stafford assess the aftermath.
ESF Raymond – Earth Space Force Heavy Cruiser, near the Goultaran wormhole.
The chime on Griswald’s desk beeped, and he hit the button.
“Griswald.”
“Sir, the last hyper-capable Eridani warship just left the system. Admiral Stonid’s cruiser has approached, and he’s asking to speak to you.”
“Put him on my screen in here.”
“Hello, Admiral Stonid,” Griswald said to the Goultaran face that appeared on the screen. “I see you got your crippled destroyer back. Those Eridani boarding shuttles returned to their cruiser just before it left orbit.”
“They took as many of their wounded as they could find,” said Stonid. “But it’s a mess over there. Most of the fighting on the destroyer occurred in its landing bay, with many casualties from all three races.”
“Is Ambassador Trucketh among them?”
“I’m fine, Commodore,” said Elizabeth as Stonid stepped aside to let her in front of the camera. She had scratches on her face and wore a sling on one arm. “Thank you for all you did here, by the way.”
“It’s my job, Ambassador,” Griswald replied with a smile. “I’ll send a shuttle over to pick you up.”
“That won’t be necessary, Commodore,” said Trunketh, shaking her head. “I intend to return to the planet.”
“Why?”
“The Feleg colonists and my marines all fought bravely to keep me from being captured by the Eridani, and they took heavy losses. Stonid is taking our injured to hospitals on Goultara. With so many humans on the planet, my place is at my post.”
“Well, I have no orders to force you to leave,” said Griswald. “I’ll inform Admiral Pace of your status and have him send over some personnel to help you. Do you need any other support?”
Her face showed sadness.
“There is still fighting on the planet, Commodore, and my Marine guards are no longer a viable fighting unit.”
“I’ll send you some. What is the status of the two Seed Ships that the colonists sent to rescue you? Were they damaged in the fighting?”
“No,” said the ambassador. “I was about to let the Goultarans use them to help evacuate wounded.”
“Absolutely not. Do not allow the Goultarans anywhere near them, understood? Return them to Feleg 3 immediately. Do you have human pilots who can fly them?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Truthfully, those ships practically fly themselves.”
“Good, then load them up with transportable human wounded and send them to Feleg 3.”
“Understood.”
“Good, put Stonid back on.”
“Yes, Commodore?” Said Admiral Stonid.
“Do I need to tell you why we came here in the first place?” said Griswald, pointing a finger at him. “It wasn’t to fight the Eridani. We fought with them to defend ourselves, not you.”
“I know,” said Stonid.
“When your reinforcements arrive, make sure they know who the winner of this fight was. Also, you don’t get to capture the starships that the Eridani had to leave behind. I’ll be towing those home through the wormhole and keeping them. Your forces need to hear that from you. That’s my price for the human blood that we spilled here today and for us to continue bullying the Eridani to stay away until this mess gets cleaned up and you rearm your defenses.”
“Understood,” said Stonid.
“Also,” added Griswald. “You and your Director Zenad are on notice that if I ever get my hands on either of you, you’ll be arrested and taken to Earth to answer directly to my government for abducting our ambassador.”
“Understood,” said Stonid.
****
Bakaar Hospital, Goultaran Home Space Port on the Goultaran Homeworld.
Mayor Ron Stafford saw another green tag on the door of a hospital room. Green meant Human, Blue meant Goultaran, and Yellow (and guards outside) meant Eridani. He found the door open a crack but knocked anyway.
“Come in,” came a raspy voice from inside.
He pushed through the doorway with his wheelchair, glancing up to avoid snagging his IV hanger on the doorframe.
As he rolled in, he saw four beds and looked around for the person who’d replied to his knock.
“Over here, Mayor,” said the voice.
He turned and saw Steven Holbrook sitting in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast and elevated in front of him.
“It’s good to see you, Steve,” said Ron. He looked over at where his friend, Carol Holbrook, struggled for life in her hospital bed. The alien design of the breathing mask on her face was not all that different from the ones used on Earth.
“Yes,” said Steve. “It took me a while hospital-hunting before I finally found her. The Goultarans…”
“I know,” Ron interrupted. “They don’t know our names, and we don’t wear dog tags like our Space Force casualties do. How is she?”
“She’s still in a coma,” said Steve. “But they tell me she’s stable. “
He paused for a moment to compose himself.
“She was shot as soon as she stepped out of her shuttle,” he continued. “What about you? Where are your scars going to be?”
“Leg injury like yours, only I was hit in the thigh,” Stafford replied. He wondered whether he needed to inform the Space Force that he’d found Carol, then pushed away the thought. “Unlike yours, though, mine missed the bone.”
Steve chuckled.
“I wasn’t shot,” he said, shaking his head. “I fell off the ramp and broke my leg.”
He nodded at Ron’s wheelchair.
“It’s a good thing that Goultarans are built similarly to us,” said Steve with a grin. “They even have fat people like me, so they could find a plus-sized wheelchair to slide my plus-sized backside into.”
“I’m making a list of Feleg 3 casualties and their locations in the hospital,” said Ron, changing the subject. “I want to let the Goultarans know their names so that they can report to our embassy.”
“I was doing that too while I looked for Carol,” said Steve. “You’ve just been doing it here at Bakaar Hospital?”
“Yes,” said Ron. “You said that you’ve searched other hospitals. Can we compare lists?”
“You can just take mine,” said Steve. He pulled a folded sheet of paper from a pocket somewhere. “Also, the Goultarans assigned me a driver to help me hospital-hop, but I won’t need it anymore. They can drive you around instead, if you’d like. I’ve arranged for lodging adjacent to the hospital. I have nowhere else to be now that I’ve found Carol.”
