Category: fiction

Triage bays are intentionally uncomplicated. A big red line in the floor marks where med techs bring their patient-loaded liters—up to ten of them. If they have a green triage tag, the med techs leave them and go back for more. They’ll get a bed when and if they are free. If they have yellow tags, they get moved up immediately to stabilization beds or the medics stay with them if all five of the beds are full. If they have a red tag, they pass straight through triage to critical intake. 

UEFS Aconcagua – Menkent Star System

17 November 2725 – 06:33

The distinct two-tone klaxon of the all-hands alarm was more than enough to wake Addie Forrester up from her normally light sleep. It was not, however the gentle chime and warm dim light of her normal wake-up alarm. It was also an hour early. 

Her berth in the junior officer’s quarters was one of three conjoined by a small common area and sharing a single washroom. While she was sleeping or just wanted privacy, a pressure door would slide down over the opening to the larger room, leaving her in a space the footprint of her one by two meter mattress with a little over a meter of headroom. In an emergency, her berth would be sealed off against vacuum and—conveniently—noise. At her height of 173cm, it was slightly claustrophobic for Addie, but not so small as to feel like a coffin. 

The lights in her berth and all the sleeping quarters were lit in a relatively dim red color in an emergency, just enough light to completely make out her surroundings, but the right color and brightness to preserve her night vision if she needed it. She could see the display panel to her left ringed with the slowly pulsing red emergency frame and displaying some basic ship information.