Seabourne

[Jonathan Seabourne]

"Is he ok?"

"Define 'ok' "

"Will he live?"

"Of that, I'm confident. We were lucky the injuries were burns, I can handle that kind of reconstructive surgery in-house. I had to bump some clandestine plastic surgeries, but we can regrow and culture what he lost. Besides, we've had an uptick in cancellations from Socialites to Curacao, can't imagine why."

"How bad was it?"

"The cancellations?"

"The man."

"Burns over 50% of the body, a lot of them third degree. He was concussed and knocked out by an explosion. Someone threw him in a pod while he was still on fire. My guess is had they waited to put him out, he wouldn't have made it."

"Seems about right, I don't think he would have left the Breezewood had he still been conscious. Speaking of which..."

"Medically induced coma. For his own sanity. I'm not a trauma surgeon, but we had to cut out the pieces of his uniform that had burned to what remained of his flesh. The med-stasis band put him under and I saw no reason to override it until I can get new skin in place. Wake him now and he'll be screaming and begging for death."

"So he's pain free at the moment?"

"If ours is a merciful god, then yes. Otherwise he has no mouth but he must scream."

"So... will he be ok? Interspace wants to know for insurance purposes."

"Your concern is touching."

"They need to investigate the matter, but he was a face of the company, a good source of publicity."

"That face... should be fine. I am good at hiding my scars, especially once he gets some sun and evens out the tan. He'll still have his smile, but as to whether he'll have something to smile about, well, I'm a plastic surgeon, not a psychiatrist."

"He lost his ship, I imagine that weighs heavy on any captain."

"I wouldn't know. I'll keep monitoring him."

"Let me know of any developments, the board wants to stay informed. Speaking of which, the other officer?"

"Much worse shape, critical but stable. I think we'll have to send off for Cambridge for that one."

"And any sign of anything... unusual? In either of them?"

"I'm not a xenobiologist. And after seeing what happened, I'm happy giving the purple bastards their space. I didn't notice anything in him that wasn't supposed to be there, but I was busy with the dermal layers compared to exploring around his organs."

"Understood, keep me posted."

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