The Moons of Troponin

Splash awakened from his fitful sleep, his head twisted awkwardly between the window and the vehicle door. "Base to 2999."

"Crap! Really?" It had been a non-stop double shift, the thirty-three hour days on the off-world were beginning to catch up to him; he could never remember to set his bio-clock to compensate for the difference in this world's orbit around it's massive star. Four more hours until his shift was over. "Ninety-nine, go." he muttered into the mic.

"Respond to the mines, entrance sixty-two, reference to a machinery accident, see the commandant; enforcers on scene."

"Fricking dumbassess." he mumbled to himself. "Leadfoot, wake up, let's go, got a possible turbine accident." The kid looked lost as he took his head off the steering mechanism of their jumbo Roverlance. He wished he could sleep as soundly as his young apprentice; youth, what an invention!

"What moon boss?" The kid queeried.

"Frick, I think N-STEMI, I'm not sure, they said entrance sixty-two." Damn mining stations, too many to remember, sucks getting old.

"No, I think it's STEMI, boss." The kid was probably right.

"Then punch it kid." The massive craft lifted off the ground with a deafening rumble, debris scattered in every direction. "Hit your sirens kid, you know protocol."

"Oh, oh yeah, sorry boss." Splash stared at him with his crooked mouth and shook his head.

"If we get another complaint from the association, I'm not taking the blame again." The kid shook his head in agreement.

The Roverlance lifted over the crowded neighborhood that housed the miners who worked this quadrant; Splash respected these hearty bunch of idiots who did all the dirty work in harvesting the precious metals that lay under the twin moons of this desolate world. The sky turned from it's ever-lucent purple haze to a pale pink as they rose higher into the weak atmosphere that the agency claimed was breathable. Yeah right! Let those yahoos stay here for a month or two, they'd change their tune in a heartbeat.

"Kid, put your breather on, and check the settings, I don't want you getting delierious like last time." They both grabbed the clear tubing that dropped from the ceiling that had nasal prongs protruding out of the ends and breathed deeply. The gas was a mixture of oxygen at twenty-one percent, with an additional boost of nitrogen oxide to combat the unusually high g-forces encountered during flight to the moons; it acted as an analgesic, but also had mild anesthetic properties allowing them to forget the terrible ordeal of hurtling through these alien worlds. Their last emergency call to the moons had resulted in the kid becoming loopy, his regulator setting was primed for STEMI when it should have been set for N-STEMI; he had to treat the kid for space-shakes and call for another unit to take the original call. The agency was not thrilled.

"We're entering the primus route boss, kinda bumpy." Sure enough, the Rover shook and rattled, they were tossed like ragdolls in the mouth of an unruly hell-hound.

"I'll compensate." Splash grabbed the joy-stick and pushed forward; thrusters ignited and the huge craft moaned and creaked, it's momentum slowed as the ship righted itself into a vertical position.

"Just a sec more boss." The two-story vessel inched closer to the landing pad then crashed with an enormous thud. "We're down boss." You think? He reached for his lower back, getting too damned old for this crap. They checked the onboard instrumentation and placed the Rover in idle, unbuckled, and set about gathering their emergency back packs.

"Is the mini charged?"

"I think so."

"You think so?" He gave the kid a menacing glance.

"I mean, yes boss."

"Go get it ready to roll while I make sure the packs that you are supposed to make sure are ready, are ready!"

"Yes boss." The kid whispered dejectedly as he ventured off; Splash smiled, if the kid only knew how easy he had it, he remembered his own lieutenant and the torment he was put through, wonder whatever happened to that old geezer, jerk.

They gathered their equipment and loaded it onto the mini, strapped themselves inside, closed the enclosure and waited for the bay door to open, it creaked as the pressure of the poisonous moon drifted inside the bay which housed all their emergency equipment. The mini glided down the heavy ramp that dropped to the surface of the foreboding moon, the bay door closed behind them.

"It'll take us about three minutes to reach the gate boss."

"Copy." The mini rumbled over the rocky terrain, now littered with debris from all the worthless tailings and residue spit out from the gigantic ore diggers that were raping this forbidden moon. They arrived at the massive gate that sealed the inside world of the mine shaft from the poisonous fumes that tumbled over the barren hills.

"Mini twenty-nine ninety-nine to gate sixty-two." The kid's voice crackled from the continuous mixture of nitrous oxide that they were inhaling. Splash couldn't help but laugh out loud and soon they were both laughing.

"Keep it together Leadfoot." More laughter ensued, they had better get out of the mini and into the controlled conditions of the mine shaft soon or he was going to pee his pants. The gigantic structure parted as the enormous pulleys strained from the weight of the doors; the mini strolled through the opening. "We're in." More laughter, the doors slowly retreated back together making a seamless, single gate.

"Stand-by, twenty-nine ninety-nine, we'll advise when you can depart."

"Copy." More laughter. The rush of wind could be heard as the poisonous air of the moon was ushered out through the countless vents that lined the walls of the vast cavern that laid open before them.

"All clear." came the booming voice over the loud speakers. Splash was about to soil himself, the bubble shield enclosure opened, he unbuckled himself and sauntered over to the nearest wall and emptied himself, he glanced over and saw the kid pissing against the wall as well, they both laughed. An elevator descended down the outside wall of the large control tower that oversaw the cavern, the elevator careened to a stop as the metal gates opened, four men deposited out of the elevator and headed toward them; the commandant of the facility was a pudgy, grumpy sort; balding, he styled his hair in a retro comb-over. The kid started laughing, he felt the urge to join him, "Have to keep it together." He told himself. The commandant's right-hand man walked in unison, two steps behind and to his left, he was a short uglier version of the commandant. More chuckling, the kid had turned away and had his hands coupled over his mouth. Two enforcers walked on either side, menacing, hulking, side-arms holstered.

"This way gentlemen, don't worry, the space-fits will subside quickly." The commandant motioned them to another elevator that appeared to disappear into utter darkness.

"Excuse me, sir, but the mini will never fit into this elevator, it's not big enough." The elevator was approximately three by two meters with a height of five meters, large enough for all of them to fit, but not for the mini, which acted as their stretcher.

"There is an emergency basket stretcher that secures to the cage, you will use that, we can't have anything down in the shaft that might ignite an explosion." Just what in hell was down in that hole? He and the kid peeked at each other. "Don't worry gentlemen, you are completely safe." As though the commandant knew what they were thinking; safe huh, then why in blazes was he entering into a rattling, clunking, elevator cage that reminded him of those old Earth documentaries showing shark attacks. They grabbed their back packs and followed the four men into the unknown.

It seemed like an eternity of darkness, the only remnant of life came from the breathing he heard from the men surrounding him; he felt his pulse quicken, a heightened sense of awareness; he squinted as best he could in an attempt to see anything, blackness engulfing black. Finally, a glimmer of light in the distance, he heard himself exhale, he could hear snickering.

"Gentlemen, brace yourselves, we have arrived." Arrived? Arrived where? The elevator cage came to an abrupt halt, the dim lighting seemed to be swallowed up by the grotesque, jutting walls, as though they were alive, feeding off the light. His senses became heightened again, the cage doors crashed opened, the two enforcers emptied out first, he noticed they had their hands on their side-arms though still holstered; crouching, they entered into the openness of the pit, one motioned for everyone else to come out of the cage. He didn't like the idea; he felt an arm in his back pushing him forward.

"Gentlemen." The commandant motioned with his hand for them to move, reluctantly, they obliged.

"Just what the hell is going on down here, sir?" The commandant ignored his request and continued his brisk pace, the stoolie pressed him and the kid from behind.

"It's only a few more meters." He felt and unearthly presence beginning to surround him, he scolded himself for his palpable fear. "There." The commandant was pointing forward, Splash grimaced, trying to acclimate himself in this oppressive darkness. He and the kid slowly ambled forward, he noticed one enforcer standing over something, he couldn't make it out; the other enforcer had his weapon at ready, surveying the area. He heard a scream, it was the kid, eyes wide-open, his hand covering his mouth, attempting to keep down whatever it was he had had for dinner. The enforcer glanced at him, waiting to see his expression, obviously, the enforcer had already witnessed the grotesque, mangled body that laid at his feet. What was he supposed to do with this? From what he could ascertain, this was once a man, he knelt down at the head and checked for a carotid pulse; yeah, right! The body was folded in on itself, broken in half at the waist, not in a forward rotation, but backwards. The man's head was resting upon the soles of his feet, whatever had caused this had been created by an intense amount of force, snapping the man's spine like a twig.

"Where's the blood?" Splash stared at the enforcer whose countenance never changed. He walked around the mangled body, there should have been an insane amount of blood, pools of it; he had been on enough trauma calls to know they were always bloody, yet, the ground was dry. He could make out where the spine had been severed, it was clean, no bone fragments. The man's intestines should have been spilt on the ground. "I'll be..." His abdominal cavity was hollow, like an empty sack. "What the frick is going on here?" The commandant came up beside him.

"The other one is over here."

"The other one?" The enforcer motioned for them to follow, his weapon drawn, at the ready. "Leadfoot, let's go!" He didn't mean to sound insensitive to the kid's shattered psyche, but they had a job to do, the kid saddled up beside him, as the enforcer led them on. There in the flickering pale light of flashlights, he noticed a figure squatting on the ground, a young man, naked, he appeared to be in his early twenties. On either side of the man stood enforcers, hands at their side, at the ready. What was that that glistened on the man's bare skin? He knelt in front of the man, who lifted his head and reluctantly stared at him for a brief second before looking away. There was no doubt, the man was caked in dried blood, though ti didn't appear to be his own; the young man whimpered softly, like a frightened dog.

"I'm Lieutenant Martinez of the Confederated Emergency Forces, this is Leadfoot." He motioned to his partner who was still visibly shaken for the whole ordeal. "Are you hurt?" The young man glanced at his foot, it appeared to be malshaped, Splash examined the man's left foot and noted that it took and unnatural ninety-degree turn; it was an obvious compound fracture, the man's fibula protruded through his skin. Splash felt for a distal pulse, weak.

"Son, I'm going to splint that fracture, I'm going to start an IV and give you something for pain, do you have any allergies to Morphine or Fentanyl?" The young man whimpering nodded his head no. "Leadfoot, set up an IV, make it quick." The kid knelt next to him and opened his medpac, proceeded to take out a liter bag of saline, attached the tubing and flushed the line.

"All set boss."

"I know you have been through a lot, this is going to pinch for a second, then I'll help you with the pain." The young man nodded, Splash applied a tourniquet to the man's upper arm, palpated for a good vein, inserted the angiocatheter, pulled the tourniquet away and watched as fluid entered the man's arm. He pulled a vial of Morphine from the pouch on his belt, popped the lid, took a syringe and pulled out ten milliliters of the good stuff; he generously gave the man half of it. "You might feel a little groggy, but it will help with the pain. He wanted desperately to ask him what happened down here, but thought better of it, leering eyes watched their every move. "Kid, grab the SAM splint and let's stabilize this ankle." His partner began fidgeting around in the medpac until he produced a moldable splint, which the two of them applied to the fractured ankle, the kid wrapped an ACE bandage around the splint and secured it with tape.

"We're gonna need that basket stretcher to move him." The commandant motioned and two of the enforcers traced off into the darkness only to reappear with the basket. "Okay, now gently, we need to lift him and place him on the stretcher." They took positions around the man, two lifting him by his shoulders, and two lifting him by his legs. "Okay, let's move." Two more enforcers arrived as the six of them lifted the stretcher and carried it across the desolate cavern that reminded him of a frozen pond. They placed the stretcher inside the cage.

"There's not enough room for all of us, you guys are gonna have to wait." It was obvious the enforcers did not like this proposal, one of them, he assumed the lead, grabbed his radio and barked into it.

"Alright, there are enforcers waiting at the top to assist you." It appeared as though the lead officer was going to squeeze his radio into pieces, his frustration was evident, the officer closed the gate and latched it, Splash pressed the large red button on the side of the cage and it lifted off the ground with a menacing high-pitched sound of metal grinding against metal as the pulley wheels creaked. Now was his chance.

"What the hell happened to you down there?" The man began to sob uncontrollably, Splash noticed Leadfoot was having a hard time as well. "Just try and settle down, if you don't want to talk you don't have to, but, there's a lot of things going on here that don't make sense." The young man glanced at him, as if to assess his worthiness, he squinted and then shook his head.

"Me and Tommy were at the local miner's bar having a drink."

"Tommy, is that the other man who is down there?" He instantly thought of the image of the mangled body that laid severed in half and regretted interupting him, "I'm sorry, go on."

"We had just pulled a sixty-sixer, we were exhausted, but thought, what the hell, let's go have one before we knock off. These two women came up to our table and asked if they could join us; I mean, like, are you serious? They were gorgeous, I mean, like, hot! you know?" Leadfoot nodded in agreement. "They said they were attendants on the shuttle that was bringing in a new batch of miners and had some downtime before they had to go back. Well, one thing led to another, and the next thing i remembered was them asking us if we wanted to go to a more secluded place and have fun, I mean, like, what the...of course we said yes. As I got up i felt strange, like i wasn't myself, but i do remember walking out of the joint, I figured i was just drunk and sleep deprived; the only other thing i remember was getting into a large motorized vehicle and passing out." The young man cried, Splash put his arm around his shoulder.

This still didn't explain how they ended up in the cavern, and how his friend had been split in half. The cage came to a screeching halt as four enforcers encircled the cage and opened the latch door, the six of them lifted the stretcher out of the cage and walked it to the mini, where they moved the young man onto the stretcher attached to the mini and strapped him down. Two of the enforcers jumped onto the mini with Splash and the kid, it was obvious this conversation was over.

"You guys are gonna have to squeeze in if you want to come along." The two bulky enforcers squeezed in as best they could, practically swallowing up the young man on the stretcher in the process. The bubble enclosure swamped over the unit, five men being squished like a rotten pear that had fallen off a barren tree. The mini moved across the desolate cavern and stopped at the giant gate which again creaked and moaned as it opened, the kid maneuvered the mini across the desolate terrain and onto the ramp leading into the Rover.

"I'll need your guys help to get him to the hospiclinic." The bubble enclosure opened and the two enforcers came tumbling onto the floor, Splash chuckled. They lifted the stretcher from the mini, its wheels descending from its base, and rolled it until they reached the med-bay.

"We'll be tagging along with you to the hospital." Splash glanced at the enforcer for a split second and grunted.

"Kid, let's get out of here."

"You got it boss." The Roverlance whirred and sputtered as the enormous craft began to shake. The outer door shut as the med-unit was now isolated. "Fellas, I suggest you buckle yourselves in, it will get bumpy." The enforcers secured themselves in the bucket seats and nodded at each other, Splash thought the look was peculiar, like they were hiding some secret. He pushed the intercom button, "Punch it, and kid, remember to put on your breather."

"It's already done." Came the answer through the speaker, Splash wished he could find the reasons why one man laid dead in the darkness of the pit, and another lay battered and tormented, the answers would have to wait; he stared out the port window into the vastness of black space, the hue of the planet's atmosphere began to invade the short interlude of solitude. This would only be the beginning of this tale.