Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO
THIRD BLOOD

0622 HOURS GMT
NOVEMBER 6^th 2232
APPROX 1.24 BILLION KM FROM EARTH

CAPTAIN’S LOG
DAY TWO

I was awakened this very early morning not by a hopeful simulated sunrise, but rather by the distressed cries of my crew. At about 0500 HOURS, Hamesh Patel, a highly proficient research scientist—a fresh one—suffered a devastating heart attack. Chief Medical Officer Erin Baker was not present, as she was asleep, however Chaowei Fan, a rather nocturnal nurse, was present during the untimely incident. He performed CPR and other necessary first aid procedures, but had failed to resuscitate Dr. Patel, who died shortly after.

Arriving at only one minute after, I was stunned at the loss. Dr. Patel was not only a brilliant Geologist but a renowned marathon participator. Upon first reading his file, I had taken the assumption that he was remarkably fit, as are most of the crew members aboard the ESV Nightingale. This incident was not only horrifying, but immensely unanticipated for someone of such a physical state.

With this in mind, I instructed Erin Baker to proceed with the necessary protocol of investigating the cause of his cardiac arrest. Her preliminary analysis offered only two possible answers: high-blood pressure and—the most liable, due to the high levels of tobacco found in his system—smoking. The latter had caught me off guard, as we have imposed an absolute no smoking policy; for the safety of the other crew members, the life-support system (for precautionary measures) and most importantly, for the initial person, whose body will be subjected to much physical challenges while travelling in space for prolonged durations of time.

Of course, at first, I hardly believed in the theory of Dr. Patel smoking, as I trust my crew as you would trust the nearest friendly soldier on the frontline. Dr. Baker, however, insisted that I investigate further, for multiple reasons.

I did so, setting out to question many of the crew, most of which were still tenuous of the incident. The case was not resolved until approximately thirty minutes later, when Engineer Dwight Bobblee, an apparently close friend of Dr. Patel, came forward with a confession. Dwight elucidated that Dr. Patel had been recently experiencing rough patches in his life; divorce, deaths of friends and family and the issue of just being so far away from home. Consequently, I assumed these issues generated stress of which was not being dealt with, or treated by one of our doctors who are able to offer trauma or therapy treatment, leading to the problem of recurring high-blood-pressure which, in turn, caused his heart attack. However, Dwight returned later to the Medical Bay and presented to me several packs of cigarettes. He claimed, to my utter incredulity, that he had smuggled them into the ship before launch. Occasionally, he would take a discreet moment to smoke; using the control panels accessible in the Engineering Bay to temporarily veil any detection of smoke in the system. After Dwight had discovered Dr. Patel—who had refused to take therapy for personal reasons—and his problems, he offered a pack of cigarettes. By the time we had arrived near Titan, Dr. Patel, to my sheer shock and disbelief, had smoked over ten packs a day.

I consulted with Erin Baker, who only surmised that the cigarettes must have not helped, and instead only fueled the problem. Knowing this, I seized all cigarettes and disposed of them immediately, offering the crew a stern warning regarding the issue. We have put Dr. Patel’s body to rest, and some, including Josef Arnette, another scientist who had witnessed his death, are now under treatment for trauma.

At 0900 HOURS I will remind the crew of health issues, and conduct a speech that will, with much hope, revive their much needed confidence. I know we will return to Earth.

But I can only hope that Dr. Patel will be our last casualty onboard.

END OF ENTRY

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RECORDED TRANSCRIPT
QUARTERS
0458 HOURS

Chaowei Fan: You alright?

Dr. Hamesh Patel: Yeah…I just…Hold on, do you know if Dwight’s up?

Chaowei Fan: Dwight? Mr. Bobblee from Engineering? I’m not sure, I hardly talk to him.

Dr. Hamesh Patel: I just…I need mor—ah nevermind.

Chaowei Fan: Need more what?

Dr. Hamesh Patel: Nothing, I’m just a little stressed out.

Chaowei Fan: You wanna’ talk about it? I have appropriate training in therapy. I can treat you, if you’d like. It’s my job.

Dr. Hamesh Patel: No. No, it’s fine, thanks. I’ve never believed in thera—Oh god…

Chaowei Fan: What is it? Are you okay?

Dr. Hamesh Patel: I…I can’t breathe…

Chaowei Fan: Oh, my god, lie down, quickly! Do your arms hurt?

Dr. Hamesh Patel: Ye—

Chaowei Fan: Here, lie down and just relax. This is Chaowei Fan to all medical officers, repeat, alert to all medical officer, we have a code red, repeat, code red!

Dr. Hamesh Patel: Urrrghh…

Josef Arnette: What is—Oh my GOD! Is he okay?

Chaowei Fan: He’s having a heart attack. Just relax, Chaowei, you’ll be fine! Stay with me…stay with me! Stay with me!

Dr. Hamesh Patel: …

Josef Arnette: Oh…God….how can I help?

Chaowei Fan: Get over here and keep his legs up for adequate blood flow. Damn it! Just breathe, just try to breathe, okay?

Dr. Hamesh Patel: …

Chaowei Fan: Stay with me! Fan to Dr. Baker, where the hell are you?! Stay with me Dr. Patel, you’ll be fine!

Dr. Hamesh Patel: ……

Chaowei Fan: ……no….

Sarah Watcher: Oh my God! Is he okay? What happened?

Josef Arnette: ….Oh god…he stopped breathing…

Chaowei Fan: Damn it!

Sarah Watcher: I should go call the Commander…

Chaowei Fan: ……………………time of death: 0501 HOURS.