The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell [143]
"No one goes back to the lander!" D.W. called out. He was in misery but he was neither comatose nor deaf, and he had heard at least some of what they’d said. "We ain’t been back for weeks and the runway is prolly all overgrown. I don’t want anybody killed just ’cause I got a damn bellyache."
Sofia went back inside and knelt by his bed. "I can land in the rough. We have to go back sometime. The longer we wait, the worse the runway will get. If you need saline and antibiotics, I’m going tonight."
It was public now, and everyone had an opinion. D.W. struggled to sit up and prove to Sofia he wasn’t that sick. Jimmy and George got involved in the argument, with Marc wading in as well. They should have thought of this before, but the time had gone by quickly and besides, they had hesitated to introduce the notion of manned flight to the Runa. They were making things up as they went along; there were no guidelines except the negative example of their predecessors’ disastrous interactions with technologically simple cultures on Earth. They had no wish to be taken for gods or to begin a cargo cult here. Even so, they had to go back for supplies eventually and they needed to reestablish the runway soon, so why not tonight?
Manuzhai, distressed by the dispute and swaying, took Askama by the hand and left the apartment to sit on the terrace. Emilio quietly apologized to her as she passed him, and then he went inside.
"Enough," he said softly, and silence fell. "D.W., lie down and be quiet. The rest of you, stop arguing. You are offending our hosts and the discussion is pointless. The Ultra-Light won’t fly in darkness anyway, will it?" There was a burst of chagrined laughter. In the press of crisis, no one else had thought of that. Emilio ran his hands through his hair. "All right. Tomorrow is soon enough for a reconnaissance flight, which we will undertake even if D.W. is fine. I can explain the plane somehow. Anne, I’ll take the night shift. The rest of you, get some sleep."
Nobody moved at first. Direct orders, issued from the mouth of Emilio Sandoz, Sofia Mendes was thinking, astonished. Evidently, the same observation had occurred to D. W. Yarbrough, who fell back laughing weakly and said, "And I thought you weren’t management material." Emilio said something rude in Spanish, and the small knot of anxious people arrayed around Yarbrough’s bed dispersed, leaving Emilio and D.W. alone finally, with Anne’s repeated instructions—to force liquids and call her if there was any vomiting in addition to the diarrhea—ringing in their ears.
THAT NIGHT, THEY all were awakened over and over by the unavoidable disturbance caused when D.W. was forced to get up suddenly, and he became sicker by the hour. Then just before dawn, they woke again, this time to an unmistakable smell and D.W.’s groan of "Oh, my God," and lay awake, pretending to be unaware, listening to Emilio’s soft Spanish reassurances and Yarbrough’s humiliated weeping.
Askama slept on but Manuzhai abruptly rose and left the apartment. Anne lay rigid next to George, listening carefully and weighing the choices as Emilio cleaned up the mess, efficient as a night nurse and as unflappable. D.W. was already mortified. A thirty-year taboo against touch had already been broken. A woman’s involvement would only make it worse, she decided. Anne heard Emilio insist that Yarbrough drink some more water, boiled and spiked with sugar and salt. The stuff tasted awful and D.W. gagged on it, but Emilio reminded him that dehydration could kill, and so with a practiced ease born of internship, Anne went back to sleep, trusting Emilio’s judgment, if not God’s will.
Moments later, Manuzhai returned with a stack of simple woven mats used for infants’ beds. Emilio helped D.W. raise his hips and slipped one under him, before covering him again. Manuzhai, who had