ENCOUNTER by Hep Aldridge (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

When we got there, the others were standing, staring in the direction of the canyon and crevasse, which were gone. Before us lay a cityscape like none I had ever seen before. The cloak had been lifted, and a vast sprawling silver metropolis lay before us, glistening in the sunlight like a silver beacon—large buildings with jutting spires reaching skyward. Buildings of all shapes randomly mixed together, which somehow created a beautiful symmetry. Our reverie was broken by Jeannie’s urgent words, “Hurry, Dimitri is not doing well.”

We immediately began carefully scrambling down the steps that we now knew were there to the top of the platform that was clearly visible in its entirety. As we got to the bottom, we were once again struck by the size, beauty, and majesty of what lay before us. As we hurried down the street, Reggie said, “Is he going to be alright?”

Doc said, “It looked very serious; I only hope Jeannie’s medical advancements are as good as everything else we have seen.”

We approached the building, and the strange lettering above the door was flashing the blue color. As we entered the outer room, Jeannie’s thoughts came to us, saying, “back here,” and we rushed into the next room.

Dimitri was lying on a table much like one you would find in our hospitals, but above him was a holographic display, I guessed, of his body with readouts in that strange writing appearing around his different organs. Jeannie was standing next to the table, referring to a large console next to it covered with a digital display and colored buttons, some blinking and flashing, and some staying lit while graphs measured vital signs.

Jeannie reached into the hologram above Dimitri’s body and actually manipulated some settings and buttons there, and a beam of yellow light came down and encircled the bullet wound in his stomach. Immediately, another image appeared overhead, and we could clearly see the bullet still in place next to his liver.

Doc had moved forward to stand next to Jeannie and asked, “What can I do to help?”

Without looking at him, she said, “I can remove the bullet, but he has lost a lot of blood, and I don’t have time to synthesize more.”

I quickly stepped forward, “No problem. I’m O+, a universal donor; take mine,” and began taking off my tactical gear and removing my shirt.

I saw Jeannie smile slightly, and she said, “Doc, sit him in that chair, and of course, one appeared as if by magic that he rolled next to the table. I’ve definitely got to learn more about this phase-shifting stuff, I thought. It was almost like one of those chairs in the bloodmobiles but more comfortable. Doc got me situated, and another console appeared on that side of the table. There were two cuffs with a small square box attached to each and a tube running between them.

“Place the cuffs on their forearms with their palms up,” Jeannie told Doc. They went in place easily and comfortably. “Now, just relax, Colt; the device in the cuff automatically finds the right vein and will connect to it and begin the transfer. Are you ready?” she asked. I nodded, and she reached overhead into the display over Dimitri and manipulated a couple of things. I felt a tingling in my arm, and blood began to flow through the tube.

I asked, “Do I get a glass of orange juice when we’re done?” trying hard to lighten the intense atmosphere in the room. Maybe it worked a little on the team, but I think the attempt at humor was wasted on Jeannie, who was intently going about the business of saving my best friend’s life, I hoped.

As I sat there, reclined, I watched her long fingers dance among the images floating in space, changing this, adjusting that, and concentrating intently on the task at hand. I just then realized that the hood of her robe had been pulled back, uncovering her full face and hair, which hung in beautiful long silver and blue waves past her shoulders. As I stared, I thought she was quite beautiful.

A moment later, a warm and comforting thought entered my head, “Thank you, Colt, now relax. Things are going well.”

Oh, crap, I momentarily forgot she could see our thoughts and immediately wiped out where I knew my next observation was heading.

No one had said a word, and Doc finally said, “How is it going? Anything else I can do?”

“Yes,” Jeannie replied, “come around here and stand next to me.”

When he moved into place in front of the console, she said, “When I tell you, touch the large green square on your right.”

He pointed to a lit-up green square, and she said, “Yes, and when I tell you, push the red one next to it.”

“Got it,” Doc replied.

“I am going to remove the bullet and then repair the tissue around the wound.”

Everyone was staring at the image over Dimitri’s body as Jeannie manipulated something within the display. A blue beam of light appeared the size of a pencil and went straight into the wound on Dimitri’s body. It showed up in the display overhead, moving to the visible bullet. When it touched it, the blue beam became purple, and you could see in the display the bullet fragment getting smaller and smaller until it was gone entirely, and the beam turned blue again.

“There,” she said, “it has been removed.” She manipulated something overhead, and the beam decreased to half its original size, still in place in the wound. “Alright, Doc, the green, please,” she said.

He pressed the green square, and the beam narrowed even more and began moving ever so slightly back and forth. As we watched, we could see that as it moved, it slowly began retracting from the interior of the wound until it was entirely out. It hovered over the hole in Dimitri’s stomach for a few seconds as the skin closed up and sealed itself. Everyone was amazed at what they were seeing.

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