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Alternity - Chapter 6
From...
Time: CY 10088 - AD Feb 5165Location: Zoran Drift
"I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Your crew member has myeloitic viral leukaemic syndrome."
Six months had passed since Harper had been treated at Erewhon. It had been shortly after that he had started complaining of constant fatigue and suffered several severe nosebleeds. Trance had also noticed that he seemed to bruise more easily and that the bruises were healing more slowly than she expected they would. Eventually she had convinced Harper to accompany her to a medical clinic for a blood test. She and Beka were now sitting in the clinic's office talking to one of the staff doctors about the results of the test.
Beka stared at the doctor in total bewilderment, while Trance first looked puzzled, then abruptly turned as pale as her purple skin color allowed her to. "Are you sure you didn't make some sort of mistake?" She didn't really believe it but she needed to ask.
"Quite sure. We tested his blood ourselves, then when it came up positive we had a second lab test the blood, with the same results. I'm sorry; I wish we had made a mistake."
"Can someone clue me in on just what's wrong with Harper? You've got the medical training, Trance, not me. Just what is myeloitic whatever syndrome and how bad is it?"
"Very bad, I'm afraid," said the doctor. "The virus attacks the victim's bone marrow, creating symptoms very much like leukemia. Without proper treatment death from blood poisoning and organ failure is inevitable."
"Ok then, how do we treat him, and what's it going to cost us?" asked Beka mentally running budgets through her head trying to calculate where they could cut costs to pay for medicines.
The doctor looked down at the floor, then over Beka's head. He looked everywhere but at her, and Beka knew that the news was not going to be good.
"I'm afraid we don't have the capability to cure him, Captain Valentine. The virus invades not just its victims bone marrow, but their nervous system as well. Any treatment that would kill the virus in his nervous system would kill him as well. There are a few, very few, clinics that have retained enough of the pre fall technology to cure him, but they are very very expensive and even more exclusive."
"So Harper's going to die," said Beka. She wasn't feeling anger or outrage, just numb. "How much time does he have? Do you have any idea how he contracted the disease, and is it contagious?"
"MVLS is really quite difficult to catch. It requires a considerable exposure to infected blood, and most individuals with a decent immune system still won't catch it. Has he had a blood transfusion recently? That's how it's usually spread these days, through improperly screened blood transfusions. As to how long he will live, while there is no cure, viral inhibitors can keep the disease dormant for years. Unfortunately the virus will eventually adapt to the medicines, and the disease will reassert itself, but I expect he could easily live another six to ten years before the virus adapts. And who knows, by then we may have developed something else."
"Erewhon," said Beka quietly. "He fell from a catwalk and suffered a compound fracture of his leg. We couldn't treat him aboard, so I took him to the nearest planet, Erewhon. He received two units of blood while he was there."
"That could explain it." said the doctor. "Would you like to bring him in to so that we can explain the situation to him, and explain the treatment options?"
"We'll bring him in later, Doctor," said Beka. "But I think we should be the ones to break the news to him."
The two women left the clinic and began walking back towards the spaceport and the Maru. As she walked Trance was wondering how she was going to tell the man who shared her bed that he was going to die soon.
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