Reaching the top of the ramp, each of us was quickly scanned by a person with a portable computer on his wrist. Every time someone walked past, the screen turned green, and the person would flick the name to the left. When I passed by, to my surprise, the screen still turned green, except the person flicked my name to the right but otherwise didn't even glance at me. Is sneaking onto a spaceship really so easy?

Walking inside the shuttle, it is designed like a warehouse with isles of shelving nearly filled to the ceiling with crates, much like the one Marian and I are holding. Still following the line, we come up to a woman who scans our crate and says. "Isle four-unit three-twenty-five." Then she waves us on and scans the next person in line.

Following Marian, I see the isle number is twenty-three. Turning us to the right, we begin the long trek to isle four. However, halfway there, my arms begin to tremble, and just as I'm about to ask Marian if we can take a short break, A familiar voice to my right asks. "Do you ladies need a hand?"

Confused, Marian turns around and notices my pale, sweating face and trembling arms. "Hey! why didn't you say anything? You look like your going to pass out."

"I'm fine. We only have a couple more isles to go." I say in a wheezing voice, trying to catch my breath.

"No, I don't think so, Felix. Can you take this to isle four, unit three-twenty-five? I am taking --- wait, I never asked your name."

"I'm Anastasia, but nice people call me little Anne. -- I don't feel so good." That was all I got out before my surroundings turned black.

A crash brought everyone's attention nearby, and soon, a crowd was gathered around the unconscious Anne. Felix was the quickest to come to his senses and grabbed the crate laying partially on top of her. At the same time, Marian ran forward and pulled Anne's head on her lap, wiping her sweat sodden hair from her face.

"Felix, why is Anne so thin? This doesn't make sense. There is no way a dorm mother would neglect a child to this extent." Marian exclaimed after feeling how light Anne is. She began pulling the sleeves up on Anne's arms showing the ghastly stick-thin figure, making everyone gathered around gasp in shock.

While Felix handed off the crate to another young man explaining where it goes, another woman bent down, putting her hands on Anne's forehead, then pulling out a device and running it up and down her body. "Hmm, extreme malnourishment fatigue, among other problems. Take her to the medical ward and let the on-duty nurse put her on a drip."

"Thank you, Dr.Sherry. I'll take little Anne right away. Felix, can you carry her for me? I don't think I can do it myself."

Felix shook his head. "Sorry, Marian, I was taking Dr.Sherry to check on a mech pilot who got hurt over near the main cargo hatch."

"Nonsense, I can make my own way. Help your Marian take Anne to the medical ward and then go check in with Benson. I think he may need you to sub in as a pilot later."

Felix nodded his head gently picked up Anne frowning at her weight. "Let's go, Marian." Staring at the child's arms, he had a flash of recognition, and he mumbled under his breath. "I know where I saw this child. she was in the alley, so how did she get through the gene scan?" Shrugging off the mystery, for now, he hurried away, careful not to jostle little Anne too much.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Dr. Sherry, I think this is Anne's bag. They left it behind." Said a worried girl holding the pack in question. "This is heavy too."

With a raised eyebrow, Sherry grabbed the pack and frowned. "Hmm, it is rather heavy." Opening the top, she looked inside to see a pile of nutrient bars. Taking one that was already opened and bitten off of she almost gagged at the smell. Turning it over, her face became rather ugly. "This expired five years ago. Why does this child have this?" Sifting through the bag, she found that all of them were expired anywhere from two months to five years ago. Handing the bag to a boy hovering nearby, she said. "Take this to the incinerator. They might contaminate the air system. -- Alright, everyone, it's almost time to depart. Go finish your business."

Taking her phone from her pocket, she made a call. " Benson, is that injury an emergency or can someone bring him to the medical bay?"

A gruff voice replied. "The injury isn't too bad. The problem is he is our pilot, so I need him at least healthy enough to watch his backup in case of an emergency. And I heard you sent Felix on an errand when I need him to start the preparations for takeoff. If we miss our scheduled window, we will have to pay a hefty fine."

"Okay, I understand. I'll call him and tell him to head to the bridge immediately. I can rush back and help with Little Anne." Said Shelly hanging up and asking the operator to patch her through to Marian. "Marian, tell Felix to hand Anne over and head to the bridge. The pilot is down, and he needs to start the checklist to hit our departure window. You wait there. I am running back to help with Anne."

Marian replied. "Dr. Sherry Felix already got his orders a couple of minutes ago and took off. I'm worried little Anne still hasn't woke up, and she was vomiting a little while ago. Now she is sweating a lot and shivering."It sounded like Marian was starting to cry. "Dr. Sherry, I was scared when Felix had to leave, so I called the medical ward already, and the Nurse said she would be right over with a stretcher."

Sherry listened to Marian ramble on with a small smile on her face. "You are doing great, Marian. How about when we get Anne taken care of, we sit down and have a chat? I could always use nurses who can take the initiative during a crisis like you."

"Re..really I'd like that I want to be a doctor. I plan to take some courses when I have finished my intermediate exams." Said Marian sounding far calmer now. "The nurse is almost here. Do you want me to stay on the phone?"

Thinking a moment, she said. "No, Nancy may need your help with something, better to have both hands free just in case."

A minute later, she passed a man mopping a foul-smelling puddle. Giving him a nod as I dashed past, I reached my destination quickly. Stopping only long enough outside the door to straighten my shirt, I walked inside, finding Marian and Nancy hovering over the only medical pod.

"Oh, Dr. Sherry, your here. I can't access her medical file, so I placed her in the pod for a full diagnosis." Said Nancy glancing up from the screen she was studying.

That's strange you should have access to everyone on this shuttle. Sherry said with a perplexed look while reading the screen over Nancy's shoulder. By the way, something reeks.

Turning around, Marian looked embarrassed. " Sorry, Anne puked on me when we were lifting her onto the stretcher."

Smiling at the girl, Sherry says. There is a shower through the door on the right in my office. Also, feel free to take a set of clothes from the closet. I keep spares in there in case of emergencies."

After the door closes, Sherry turns back to Nancy. "Its food poisoning. Have the computer continue scanning and come up with a diet solution. It will probably be a while before she can eat normal food."

Nancy turned around, surprised. "How do you know it was food poisoning? The pod barely started the diagnosis? By looking at things so far, I am unsure whether this child has ever eaten normal food. Honestly, if it weren't for the genetic scan, I would think she is an imposter or stowaway."

Sherry stared at the readings for a while longer and hen turned to another screen. Need her medical file. Every family member has one stored in their DNA clicking on the file icon blinking in the corner, and a restricted notice pops up. "What the heck" Scowling at the screen, Sherry types in her security clearance password. Another Insufficient security clearance message appeared.

"Nancy, I need to go to the communications room. Tell Marian to take a nap in my office when she finishes in the shower. I want to talk to her later."