The Alpha Centauri Expedition

21. First Touch

That first touch felt like an electric current flowing through and vibrating their entire nerves. That vibration made Rizki feel as if half of himself had been healed. Gayatri held Rizki's hand even tighter. She didn't want to let go anymore.

---------------------------------

The Bimasakti spacecraft was still gliding at full speed towards the location of the GD2910 dimension gate that would provide a shortcut back to Earth. Two days after waking up from a coma, on Thursday, February 6, 2459, Rizki had started to be able to converse. And the person who spoke to him the most was Gayatri. Throughout the day, Gayatri never got tired of accompanying him by the side of AIMED. However, she only engaged him in light conversations. She didn't even ask Rizki why he risked his life to protect her from the superflares. What she wanted then was for Rizki to get out of AIMED as soon as possible. But her hope had to be put aside when she heard the explanation from Dr. Amalia about Rizki's condition.

That morning, Mission Commander and Commander were present at the clinic to listen to Dr. Amalia's explanation. Gayatri, who had been at the clinic since morning, was asked by Mission Commander to also listen to the explanation.

"Mission Commander, even though Rizki is fully conscious again, the damage to his organs has not been fully resolved. Therefore, he still needs to undergo therapy in AIMED for a considerable amount of time. The recovery process is indeed long and requires a substantial amount of time," said Dr. Amalia.

"Approximately how long until Rizki fully recovers, Doctor?" asked Mission Commander. Dr. Amalia appeared to touch the AIMED monitor screen to check some data.

"According to AIMED's estimation, this therapy needs to be carried out for three months. Only after that, Rizki can leave AIMED and continue further treatment in his room," replied Dr. Amalia.

"Is it really going to take that long, Doctor...?" asked Mission Commander with an incredulous expression.

"Yes, Mission Commander. The damage to Rizki's organs is quite severe, so it requires a considerable amount of time to repair," answered Dr. Amalia.

"But in one more month, we will be entering the dimension gate, and everyone has to wear the spacesuit. Is Rizki ready for that, Doctor?" Commander's voice was heard. Dr. Amalia appeared to take a deep breath.

"That's the problem, Commander. In one month, Rizki cannot leave AIMED, as it would disrupt the recovery process being carried out by AIMED," replied dokter Amalia with a sigh. Hearing the answer, everyone fell silent. They all realized the seriousness of the issue. When entering the dimension gate, all the crew had to wear spacesuits due to the cosmic radiation effects inside the dimension gate, which could be dangerous for humans, especially for someone in a physically weak condition like Rizki.

"Doctor, is there no way out of this problem?" asked Mission Commander after a few moments. Dr. Amalia seemed to pause in thought.

"Mission Commander, this indeed poses a dilemma. Rizki's therapy cannot be delayed any longer because it concerns his life's safety. So, I started the therapy program yesterday. Once this program has begun, it cannot be stopped until completed. If the program is halted, we would have to start it all over again, which would disrupt the ongoing recovery process. Therefore, in my opinion, the most viable solution is to wait at the dimension gate location until Rizki's therapy is completed, and only then can we enter the dimension gate," replied Dr. Amalia.

"Does that mean if next month we arrive at the location of the GD2910 dimension gate, we still have to wait another two months there until Rizki's therapy is complete? And only then can we enter the dimension gate?" Mission Commander asked.