I awoke to the by now familiar sensation of a bottle bonking me over the head. The still small Wampus Cat had once again taken his place in my hair. And his bottle was once again empty.

Everything still hurt, but somewhat less than I expected. The last thing I remembered was purging nanites and then white hot agony racing through my bones. A pinching sensation in my left arm drew my attention to a needle taped to it and stabbed into my veins.

I did not remember setting up the IV. But it was a good idea.

The Wampus Cat made a tiny “Gnarm, gnarm” noise as it bonked the bottle against my head again. I could also feel six sets of tiny claws kneading into my scalp.

“One bottle to one furry miniature black hole. Got it.”

I got up from the bed that I did not remember laying down in and took the IV bag that I didn’t remember administering with me to check and see if another bottle was ready. It was.

“So you’re not dead. About time you got up, then.”

“I see you made it here as well. The other fellow with you, Sam I think it was-”

“Is around here somewhere. Probably geeking out over the combat suit again. Even though he is supposed to be on watch.”

Up close I could see the faint laugh lines around her eyes and mouth and the gray hidden in her silver hair. She looked cleaner as well, away from the grime and gore that was everywhere on the docks.

“I’ll need to talk to him soon. There’s a ship-”

“Hold on a moment there, Doctor. Now that you’re awake I have some questions for you myself.”

She motioned me forcefully back out of the vestibule where I’d already grabbed a bottle for the increasingly annoyed fuzzball in my hair. We returned to the room I’d awoken in. Once there she indicated for me to stand inside a ringed enclosure as she grabbed various tools that looked vaguely unsettling.

“I beg your pardon miss, but there’s a ship out there in distress-”

“This will only take a moment. I’m Doctor Delilah Delveccio, but Doctor Del will do. Left arm please.”

I reflexively raised my hand as indicated. The woman then snatched my arm and twisted my wrist upward, then pressed the tool in her left hand against it. After a moment, it beeped softly and she released me.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance Doctor. I am Doctor Zolnikov. About that ship, though-”

“I know, Doctor. I read your logs on the system net here. Look up please. And scoot, little monster.”

Surprisingly, the Wampus Cat shifted in response to either her words or her hand motions. Another device was then pressed over my face. She only held it there for a brief second before putting that one away.

“Would you by any chance be a medical doctor, Doctor Delveccio? There are a number of patients in stasis in the Hospital that are all in dire need of medical care. But as I was saying-”

“Your nanite colony is extremely territorial, Doctor Zolnikov. Do you mind if I call you Doctor Z? Zolnikov doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Hold still.”

The next device she placed on my neck. For a moment it felt warm. Then it felt like it tore an entire layer of skin off in an instant. I couldn’t help but hiss with the pain. The Wampus Cat chose that moment to shift back to its normal position, blissfully drinking down the formula.

That reminded me that I hadn’t eaten yet. My stomach growled loudly.

“It’s not often a patient responds with hunger when that test is administered,” she commented wryly while putting the latest device into a machine behind her.

“And I do indeed hold a medical degree. Just not in humans. I’m more of a veterinarian for exotic species, but life is life. There is quite a bit of overlap.”

Her tail flicked to the side as her ears flicked back. She shook her head at the machine. Whatever readout it was giving here was apparently not to her liking.

“Anything you’d need a specialist for people though, that I can’t do. I’d do better operating on your little furry friend there than doing brain surgery on you. From what I can tell though, you have a mild case of starvation going on, several healing wounds that somehow are sticking together on their own without the sort of tissue bonding that I’d expect.

“When I found you collapsed inside the purge tank you were extremely dehydrated and had several blood clots that nearly killed you. I wasn’t sure whether or not you’d even be able to talk once you woke up, but it looks like whatever happened, you’ve suffered relatively mild effects. Somehow.”

Her brow furrowed slightly and her ears flicked as she worked, humming as she fetched another tool to examine me with.

“It was touch and go for a bit with the fluid buildup in your skull though. I was even able to save your eye. Whatever had partially blocked the blood flow there would have left you blind in that eye if it had taken any longer.

“So now you’re back among the living and I should thank you for saving our lives. Though it seems I have already returned the favor.”

I tried to interrupt her several times as she poked and prodded me with various other instruments, occasionally frowning the entire time. Nothing stopped her though.

“Now about that ship you were talking about. Best we get Sam so it doesn’t have to be told twice, then.”

Beside the entryway was a discrete panel about chest high that I had somehow missed in all the time I’d been here. More than likely it had been covered by a pile of loot. And I had no one else to talk to at the time.

Also, there hadn’t been much talking to up to the this point. I had been the one talked to. Which normally wasn’t a great problem.

“Sam! Quit playing around with your shiny new toys and get back here. Our boy’s awake, and talking!”

Doctor Delveccio released the intercom and bounced back into another uncovered area that I hadn’t noticed. Inside were several small storage units and a medium sized stasis box along with the ubiquitous coffee urn and food prep unit.

“I heard that stomach growl so I expect you are hungry for real food, no matter you’ve had two units of IV fluid through you already. Any food allergies? Preferances?”

“Meal bars will be fine. I just need calories.”

The crates of meal bars were stacked in the corner, but I was blocked before I could grab one.

“Nothing doing, Doctor Z. You are going to be eating real food today. And you are going to like it. Now sit our ass down.”

A firm hand pointed in the direction of the chairs. I sat, hooking a foot around the chair leg to keep from floating away.

“Omlettes, that will do. Options, hrm. No food allergies, right?”

“Not as far as I am aware.”

“That will be a no for now. Onions, cheese, bell peppers, and sausage. No toast, toast crumbs in microgravity would be bad. Add some rice instead? Omlette wrap. That will do fine. And orange juice, a bit of vitamin C is always good.”

And on she went, talking softly to herself as she plucked ingredients from the stasis unit and deftly mixing them together in a bowl with a small gravity generator affixed to its base. By the time the man I’d last seen entering a combat suit entered the smell of cooking was beginning to permeate the air.

“That thing is amazing! Where in the hell did you find it?”

Sam was a shorter man, but broad shouldered arms and thighs thick with muscle. His hair was cut extremely short, more like fuzz along his skull. His face bore a massive smile.

“Sit, Sam. Breakfast is almost ready.”

The man kicked over to a chair with what looked like practiced ease, settling in quickly before opening his mouth to speak. The silver haired catgirl beat him to the punch as easily as she had me.

“And no badgering Doctor Z until you’ve both eaten. He has something to tell us, I gather. After we’ve all finished our breakfast.”

She glanced back at me as she rolled the omlettes into foil wrappers. I hadn’t spoken this time, catching on to her desire to control the conversation.

Moments later we all received our rolled egg and vegetable wraps along with foil pouches of juice. Doctor Delveccio held her wrap in silence for a minute, her eyes closed and lips murmering a quiet prayer. Sam devoured his wrap in big bites, humming a pleased tone all the while.

I ate mine quickly as well. The texture was a mixture of near-liquid cheese and soft egg with crunchy vegetables. It took a bit longer to make sure I did not make a mess. Longer than meal bars, that is. Then I waited for the Doctor to finish, as she was the slowest of us, taking dainty little bites but chewing quickly.

All in all, I preferred meal bars. They were quicker and less messy to eat.

“Okay! So Doc Z, about that combat suit. So freakin’ cool! Did you know it has over a dozen weapon hardpoints? And those auxiliary sockets, that extra ammunition storage, not to mention the extra armor- that slows it down almost three percent, but the additional lethality is more than worth it, don’t you think?”

“I did have to keep reminding him not to shoot anything on our way out.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Sam blushed slightly, looking abashed at the interruption.

“So anyway, did you modify it to work that way? Or was it a custom build? None of the suits on my old ship, the Atwalior had anything like it. Was it some top secret project?”

“It was like that when I found it.” I paused. That wasn’t quite correct. I shook my head.

“That’s not quite right. Actually it appeared to be a standard Security combat suit when I found it. The armor glass had been shattered and the man inside it died. I brought it back to the Armory here. It fixed it up.

“When I needed to use it I managed to unlock the military experimental profile. Then I just selected everything.”

“You- huh. So you’re not military?”

“I told you he wasn’t Sam. Like I told you about the log files he left in the system net. That you didn’t read because you were playing around with that suit.”

Sam rubbed the back of his head, looking rather sheepish.

“That isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about. My apologies to you both, but there are a few things that you may not be aware of that you need to know. And there is something that I would like to ask your help with.”

I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. This time, I wasn’t interrupted.

“Several things, actually. First, the space station Walker’s power is starting to fail. I managed to extend the auxiliary solar panels. However I do not know for certain if they are helping, and if so how much. Walker’s power will fail at some point, but I cannot say precisely when. I do not have the knowledge or training to answer that.

“There are people in the Hospital pods that are gravely ill or injured. That, I am hoping that you, Doctor Delveccio can help in some way with. There are also a number of refugees on at least one of the ships in the dock.

“That ship has only one functioning airlock and it is connected to Walker, making approaching it difficult as I only managed to escape the horde by as much luck as anything there. While on that ship I received a distress call from another ship that will be passing by soon.”

This time it was Sam that broke in.

“How soon? And what assets do we have that can reach them in time?”

“They will be in range in- how long was I out, Doctor Delveccio?”

“Call me Del. Doctor Del if you must. And as far as I can tell, just about twelve hours.”

I hadn’t fixed my HUD yet, and resolved to do that as soon as the conversation ended, one way or the other. But that meant that I probably had another day, maybe two. At best. It could even be less, considering I didn’t know how long I spent lost in the tunnels, or blacked out in space.

“Then the ship, it’s called the Maggie’s Pride, will probably come into range in another day or so. My HUD got fried by nanite bloat so I am unable to give a better estimate at this time. According to the woman I spoke to, it will remain in range for two to five days. The variance is due to a lack of knowledge as to the capabilities of whichever rescue ship we arrive in.”

“About that. What ships do we have available?”

“And are they going to be full of zombies? Just how did you survive the horde where you found us, anyway? And how are you even still human? I saw the bite marks.”

Doctor Delveccio had a complicated look on her face as she said this. Her ears were half flattened and her tail twitched randomly behind her.

“As to the first question, it is related to the second. When I was first bitten, I forced my nanites into the zombie that bit me. At the time, it was a desperation move. I wanted to know more about the virus, as I have some theories about it and have learned a few things while trying to survive.

“When I force my nanites into the zombies, I can somehow eradicate their abnormal nanites. This kills them and my colony expands, bringing a sort of energy back to me once the process is complete. As to the biological virus, I do not know. I felt sick for a few days after the initial bite, but I am not aware if the virus is simply slowed down, or if it is gone.”

“You’re not sick now,” the catgirl veterinarian responded. “Well, let me clarify that. You’re not especially sick now. I can tell your body has fought off a new illness recently. Without being able to examine your immune response directly, I cannot say whether you have developed immunity or not.”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re not a zombie,” Sam said with a grin.

“Thank you, Sam. I do not particularly feel like a zombie.”

“So, ships. Probably full of zombies. What do you know about is available?”

“Very little. I am a nanite researcher, not an engineer.”

“That’s okay. I am! Big ships and big engines is where it’s at. Though that combat suit is wicked cool, man.”

“The manager’s terminal in the executive suite above can mirror the dockmaster’s terminal. It may have the information that is needed.”