The Search For Truth (and other things I was wrong about) --Beta title

Chapter Two

"It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."

-Alan Shepard, NASA Astronaut

Alexiea woke to the sound of rain, which seemed to have continued to pour on the fields of Montana deep into the night. The careful pitter-patter of the rain lulling her almost back to sleep before she swiped away from the channel, forcing herself out of bed. She quickly made herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch in the living space, changing the windows from opaque to clear to brighten the space with the "morning" light.

She spent the next half hour swiping through her hand terminal, checking for messages-- One from Avery at a concerning hour updating her on the encryption (he'd been unable to crack it, they'd have to try the library); one from Letty letting her know there were plenty of leftovers from the party if she wanted them for dinner; and several more stationwide news updates and reminders--and scrolling through various feeds.

There was maintenance happening in Galli, a smaller sector, so the L shuttle would be shut down for the day and residents were advised to take an additional route. This wouldn't affect her much, but it might mean the A shuttle coming home would be a bit more crowded as residents were routed through the city.

A new boutique had just opened up in Bollywood that claimed to sell real antique furniture and home goods imported from Earth, Alexiea doubted this was true. Import costs were extremely high, especially on anything made with precious resources like lumber.

They were most likely fabricated to look and feel the same as real antiques, with a production cost a third of the price of the real thing. Two other boutiques had been shut down in the last month for similar fraudulent claims.

Another mining incident had left 3 dead and several more injured, 2 in critical condition. Alexiea made a mental note to check in with her father, he'd be having a busy day at the hospital. This was the third incident this year and the victim count was getting higher. She wasn't sure why this was happening, ice mining accidents were normal, part of the job, but the frequency that they've been happening lately was starting to cause alarm.

Alexiea remembers a man she treated when working in the clinic during her early university years when she was still planning on pursuing medicine. He'd come in straight from the mines, having lost his entire right arm and a good chunk of his side when his safety harness had malfunctioned. He fell and it nearly tore him in half. Surprisingly, he'd been conscious when he came in, he kept asking to see his wife, she remembers how adamant he was that he speak with her.

The triage nurses were working around her trying to stabilize the arm, hoping to reattach it, and using a new wound vac to seal off his side and stop the bleeding.

They had to get him stable enough to survive the gravity chamber he'd need for surgery. Alexiea was supposed to be assisting by setting up his IVs, but he wouldn't let go of her arm, pleading with her that he get to see his wife. The charge nurse had yelled at her to calm him down before he stroked out or had a heart attack, which was extremely common due to their weakened cardiovascular systems.

She couldn't get him calm and in the end, someone came over and gave him a heavy dose of an anesthetic to knock him out. Eventually, he was stable enough to go into surgery but died on the table. Too much internal bleeding.

She'll never forget the look on his face as he asked for his wife one last time, it was the face of a man who knew he was about to meet death and wanted just one more second to say goodbye. His wasn't the only face she'd seen like that, but he had been the last. She'd turned in her resignation before her shift was over and had changed majors the following day. She knew she'd never be on the front lines, but believed that her work could someday make a difference.