Chain Letter 17

Ken was at Stacey’s side as soon as he could get there. The paramedics said that she was banged up and bruised a bit, and might have a concussion, but she was going to be just fine. They would need to take her to the hospital for a few tests and to observer her. Ken was relieved, but only partially. His twin brother had obviously not fared as well.
As advanced as things had become on the moon, they didn’t have a good trauma center hospital, so Keith would have to be taken via ambulance back to earth. It was a long and dangerous journey for someone in as bad a condition as Keith now was. They had quickly determined that there was some head trauma, and several broken bones, but perhaps the most significant for Keith – his throat had been partially crushed. They had to perform an emergency tracheotomy just so he could breathe. Even if he did survive, he may never sing, again. Stacey, Ken and the boys all traveled along back to earth just behind the ambulance, getting updates as the journey progressed. The used the high def video connection equipment from Cisco to talk with Keith’s wife back in Australia, so she was aware, and heading to meet the ambulance. One of the best trauma centers in the world was in, of all places, Baghdad, Iraq. Still an unstable place after almost 2 decades of democracy, they had developed excellent trauma skills in their main hospital from all the casualties. They would have to chance the landing there, despite the dangers.
It was almost midnight in Baghdad as they arrived at the international space station, Terminal A. The medi-vac helicopter was waiting to take them, when suddenly; out of the sky to the west, a surface to air missile was launched in their direction…