Programming
By Shelly Greene
Like every Ship’s Assistant android, Simone had basic medical programming, but with the med bay destroyed by the fuel battery explosion, there was little she could do. Once the fire was extinguished, she had cleaned and bandaged Dr. Zhong’s injuries, but infection had quickly worsened into septicemia. Simone could not even slow it down.
There was no one to call for help. Earth was only now recovering enough from radiation to be resettled, and the crew of the Curie, sent ahead as prep team for the first colony ship, were the only human beings within many lightyears. Simone had sole responsibility for protecting her crew.
On the fourth day after the explosion, Simone found the makeshift med bay empty, and Dr. Zhong—Lucy, she had asked Simone to call her Lucy—
