Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

"This isn't an interview, Stick. Stop asking questions."

"Sorry. I haven't seen someone my age in a while. I guess I'm kind of hungry for conversation."

"Well the rest of us are hungry for food. So unless you've got some in that pack of yours, keep your questions to yourself."

"Get used to questions. That's how the device makes a diagnosis and determines what to test. It asks a lot of questions."

Her scowl softened. "Like what?"

"Like how long has your brother been hurting?"

She looked worried again. "Since last night. It started as a stomachache, but now he can't bear it. I stole some pain pills from the med closet, but I wasn't sure how much to give him. Bug said if I gave Niro too much, his heart might stop." She opened the palm of her hand to show him four white tablets. "What do you think?"

"I think we need to hurry and charge this."

Pipo saw that he was serious, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him to the front of the line. She pushed the girl aside who was using the charger and gave it to Bingwen, who immediately started gathering juice into the device. People in line objected, some cursed. A woman threatened to intervene, but Pipo gave her a look that would melt stone and told her that they were charging this for Mama Goshi who needed it immediately and if the woman didn't like it she could go take it up with Mama Goshi herself. Then the Med-Assist was ready, and Pipo and Bingwen were running off.

Back at the cots, the children gathered around when Bingwen booted up the device and placed it over Niro's stomach.

"This isn't going to hurt him, is it?" asked Pipo.

"No," said Bingwen. "Just have him lie still." He tapped through the commands, typed in the symptoms, and listened to the instructions.

"What language is that?" said one of the boys.

"English, bonehead," said Pipo. "What does it say, Bingwen?"

"It says I need to prick his finger and check his blood."

For a moment he thought Pipo would object, but then she gripped her brother's hand and nodded for Bingwen to continue. Bingwen swabbed Niro's fingertip, retracted the disposable needle prick, and stuck the boy's finger. Niro cried out and Bingwen placed a drop of blood on the scanner. "He has an infection," Bingwen said once the results came in. "And now it's telling me to press on his stomach."

"No!" said Niro.

"You said you weren't going to hurt him," said Pipo. "So far that's all you've done."

"This is how the device works," said Bingwen. "I do some tests. The more results it has, the more accurate the diagnosis. This is exactly what a doctor would do."

Pipo hesitated again. Niro clung to her. The other boys looked uneasy. A few adults had gathered to see what the commotion was about.

"I can't advance unless I do this," said Bingwen.

Pipo bit her bottom lip a moment then held Niro tighter. "Do it quickly," she said.

Bingwen set the device aside. "What hurts worse, Niro, when I press down on your belly or when I release?" He didn't need to wait for an answer. Niro cried out when Bingwen released the pressure. Bingwen checked the appropriate box and placed the device over the stomach. "Now hold still. It's going to take a series of images. This part won't hurt at all."

Tears had welled up in the little boy's eyes, and Pipo looked on the verge of crying as well. Several adults had heard Niro cry out, and a crowd was slowly gathering around the bed. When the results came in, the device said it was 97.5 percent confident of the diagnosis.

"His appendix is about to burst," said Bingwen.

Pipo's eyes widened. "Burst? What does that mean?"

"It means we need to find a surgeon immediately. They need to remove it."

Pipo sprinted to retrieve Mama Goshi, and the old woman arrived a moment later, puffing and irritated at being disturbed. She scowled and gestured at the gathered crowd. "What's all this?"

"Niro's stomach is going to burst," said one of the boys.

"His appendix," said Bingwen. He showed Mama Goshi the device. He could tell from her expression that she couldn't read English or understand the scans she was looking at. But she did seem to understand Niro's moaning and the worry on the faces of the gathered adults. Mama Goshi unclipped her communicator from her hip and called the doctor. She tried explaining the issue, but she couldn't answer the doctor's questions or properly pronounce the terms Bingwen keep feeding her. Finally she gave up and thrust the communicator into Bingwen's hands. "You tell her."