Assessing Survival Read Online Free Page A

Lukai, he is in surgery, but let me check on it.”
    Nikolai was suddenly tense. “Is there a problem?”
    “Let me find out.”
    She eased away from him and headed for the operating theatre. The door was sealed, but she was able to check the vid of the surgery. It was way outside of her paygrade, but she saw the surgeries and implants of the skeletal frameworks that would soon be his silver limbs.
    The surgical team moved smoothly, and when Stitch had cut off the vid display, they came out with Keenan on the gurney, moving him to the recovery unit. The skeletal bases of his legs and his arm were visible, but the extra nanites were already moving through his system and grafting skin over the metalwork.
    Three days and he would be up and running again.
    She walked behind the gurney, and when she looked into Nikolai’s eyes, she darted a quick look toward Keenan. Damn. Brothers. It was bad enough for one member of a family to be out on the front lines, let alone two.
    “Nikolai, he needs to rest. His readings are stable, and the grafts have taken. He will be up and running soon.”
    She walked over and put her hand on Nikolai’s arm, feeling the metal and tissue flex under her touch.
    “I promised him I would look out for him.”
    “You did. He is alive.”
    Nikolai looked at his brother, lying still and silent under the sheet with the metal limbs extending. “Is alive enough?”
    She patted him with her silver hand. “It is for me.”
    With nothing left to say, she turned and left him to stare at his brother. She had to order some mods to her own body so that she could move comfortably. With the men waiting for active implants, she would have to get in line, but it was better that she did it now. Who knew what tomorrow was going to bring?
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    After she finished the paperwork for the parts she had ordered for the repairs on the men, her own requisitions needed the commanding officer’s authorization.
    She gathered the documents in her reader; she smiled at the use of the word paperwork. Paper hadn’t been used for one hundred seventy-three years, and yet, it was still a reference for the tools of bureaucracy.
    Stitch headed to the commanding officer’s office and knocked on the door.
    “Come in.”
    She stepped inside and was struck by the familiarity of the face that greeted her. “Nikolai?”
    “Come in, Stitch.”
    She scowled. “How are you the base commander if you are a captain?”
    “Scarcity. Alpha Base is on the front lines. When the satellites warn us, it is all hands to the ships. This place is a ghost town with the exception of the medical staff. They don’t need an officer if there is no one to work on.”
    He waved for her to come in and sit. “Technically, you outrank me, so you can have command if you want it.”
    She scowled. “Give me a week.”
    He laughed.
    She moved to the chair opposite the desk, and she sat. “I have the reports for the recent repairs and the new implants on your brother.”
    She opened her reader and flicked the report onto his desk.
    He sighed. “I hate paperwork.”
    She laughed. “Right. Well, here is the requisition for some alterations to me.”
    When she flicked the information over, he stared at it. “What?”
    “I need some ballast in my left arm; I have put in a requisition for reinforcement coils around my lower skeletal structure.”
    He frowned. “You want to go in again?”
    “In?”
    “To surgery.”
    “No, not particularly, but I wasn’t assessing me when the parts were put in. The few ounces of unbalanced weight in my arms throw me off when I walk. The new organs have changed the structural integrity of my body, and my legs require reinforcement to compensate for the less efficient mineralization offered by the new organs.”
    He blinked. “So, what do you need?”
    “You are the commander. You have to authorize my non-emergent alterations.”
    He looked down at the forms, including the outline of the female body with