Shuttle prelude chapter 31: Recovering

Discovery lay there, her head spinning for a few minutes before everything came back into focus. Carefully, she rolled back onto her belly and sat up. Her flank was hurting and her skin was stinging from several scratches she had gotten from sliding on the rough concrete of the flame trench, but other than that she was okay.

“Disco!” Her ears perked up when she heard Eileen’s voice and she raised her head to see Eileen at the top of the flame trench. “Are you alright girl?” Discovery nodded slowly as she got to her landing gear. “Yeah… just a little shaken that’s all…” She slowly rolled forward, her body still aching but with encouragement from the people at top, she was able to get out of the flame trench.

There were already a few police cars and ambulances in the KSC area. The director had been informed of the situation on the launch pad, and he had called the police ahead of time. A few paramedics were already going into the flame trench to get Gordon, who was terribly battered, but conscious. He was blinking his eyes as the paramedics lifted him out on a stretcher. “Hmmm… Tried to blow up a shuttle I see?” The chief said as he glared at Gordon. “Something tells me that you’ll be severely punished when you get out of the hospital!” His words were punctuated by a harsh growl from Discovery.

The crawler with Endeavour on it was already headed back to the VAB to detach her from the suspect tank. As Discovery made her way to the medical hangar with Eileen, Atlantis and Columbia came out of Columbia’s hangar. Columbia was still dealing with her illness from accidentally consuming bad fuel a few days later and Atlantis had been caring for her. They’d been asleep and thus missed out the action. “Disco what h-happened?” Columbia asked, still partially covered by the blanket. “Gordon…” Discovery answered. “He wanted to kill me with a tank bomb… But the swap meant Endeavour had the rigged tank… We fought… Don’t worry, he’s under strict probation now.” Columbia growled softly. “He NEVER gives up trying to keep us down does he?” Atlantis added. Discovery rolled her eyes as she wheeled into the medical hangar for inspection. “The day he gives up will be the day he dies…” She answered. “But he’s going to be fired for sure… So we won’t have to deal with him anytime soon!”

Once in the medical hangar, the doctors got to work on Discovery. As they were working, Eileen was sitting in a chair with Pat at her side and the wound from Gordon’s bullet was being tended to. Luckily the bullet had just grazed her and it wasn’t that deep, so there were no stitches needed. Bandages and antiseptic would do the trick.

Discovery winced a little as Mrs. Smith inspected her flank. “Easy now, girl! I’ll try to be as gentle as possible!” She said. Pat gently stroked Discovery’s nose. “You’ll be ok, Disco.” He said gently as the scratches were tended to. So far, none of them appeared to pose a danger that could potentially prevent her from flying another mission. “I’m ok. And… Eileen are you okay?” Discovery asked as she looked at Eileen. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me!” She said as her free arm gently patted her stomach. Discovery purred lightly as she rubbed Eileen’s belly with her nose, hearing both Eileen’s heartbeat and the baby’s heartbeat before both she and Pat gave a stern look. “Eileen don’t go out there like that again ok? Especially not with this little one still inside you!” Eileen nodded firmly. “Got that from now on.” All three of them smiled and Discovery nuzzled both Eileen and Pat.

As Stephanie walked in, Discovery looked up. “Hey… Ms. Stilson?” Stephanie looked up abrubtly, but quickly dropped her gaze from Discovery’s eyes. “Yes…?” She said quietly. “Well… I just wanted to say thanks for telling us about Gordon’s plans… It was really helpful in exposing him and defeating him…” Stephanie managed a small smile when she heard this. Even though she’d just lost her job, in a way it made her feel satisfied. After all this time of having to keep her mouth shut, she was finally free from Gordon. “You’re welcome, Discovery.” She replied.

Eileen winked from her seat. “And Stephanie, now that Gordon is fired I think that a lot of things are going to change around here and… You might have the opportunity to find a new job that you’re going to like even better…”