Malcolm shuddered , trying to keep the image of Yellowtooth gnawing at the bars of his cell from creeping back into his mind .
“ You still talk ,” he said . “ And you ’ ve been here longer than forty years .”
The doctor dried his hands carefully . Malcolm chewed on the end of his stylus .
“ That ’ s what you ’ re chasing ?” The doctor moved towards the door , motioning for Malcolm to follow .
“ You think I ’ m going to be your story ?” The doctor opened the door , and flipped the light switch . A corridor of light led away from the now darkened medical room .
Malcolm smiled a thin-lipped smile . “ You ’ d be part of the story , sir ,” he replied at last .
“ I don ’ t get much news from Earth anymore ,” the doctor said as he walked down the hallway . “ The prison warden sends me the budget he has , and I send him back what I need shipped up here . Sometimes I get what I need . Sometimes , I make do with otherwise . Either way , there are always people in need of treatment . Prisoners and guards alike .”
“ Funding shortages ?” Malcolm scribbled another note on his pad .
“ What else ? How many people on Earth want to make sure a bunch of convicts imprisoned on the far side of the moon stay alive ? We ’ re lucky to have a backup generator in case heat and air services fall apart .”
The doctor pulled open the door at the end of the hallway . Inside the small room was a cot and a metal desk . A glowing screen was mounted on the far wall , sending soft light across the worn floor . Malcolm knew the screen was connected to the monitors in the inner medical ward . If any of the patients displayed any untoward behavior , the doctor would be alerted .
The doctor seated himself on the cot . Malcolm sat crosslegged on the floor .
“ I will make a bargain with you , young man ,” the doctor said . “ I will tell you my story — or the parts of my story I am willing to share . And when you write for your fancy newspaper down on Earth below , you will write everything I have said .”
Malcolm blinked . “ Sir , you have to understand —”
“ Those are my terms ,” the doctor interrupted . “ I do not haggle .”
Malcolm ’ s grip tightened on his stylus . “ Fine ,” he said .
The doctor sipped clear liquid from a bottle by his bed . The glowing orb that had replaced his eye in the left side of his face stayed focused on Malcolm . The reporter looked away , unable to meet the mechanical stare . Replacement technology had always made him uncomfortable .
Artificial replacements for body parts were nearly a century old now . They had been improved upon both in function and appearance until now they almost perfectly resembled actual flesh . The doctor ’ s eye was so crude that it must have been an early model . But how had a man who was now a doctor at the prison for Earth ’ s worst criminals been able to afford the eye ?
The doctor replaced the bottle on the floor . Then he began to speak .
" This is where I needed to be ," the doctor said . " It is where I can remember what I was , and where I am now ."
“ There was an accident ,” he said . “ The accident gave me the eye you ’ ve been staring at for the last week . And it gave me these .” He held up his hands , and balled them into fists . Their silvery metal caught the light from the glowing screen and threw it around the room in a bright blur .
“ What sort of accident ?”
The doctor lowered his arms . “ The kind that might have been fatal . Mistakes were made . Some of us died . Some of us lived . They agreed to pay for our surgeries , and our futures . That is how I became a doctor .”
“ W — why did you have only one eye replaced ?”
The doctor turned his head so that all Malcolm could see was the other half of his face , the half that was a mess of metal implants and scar tissue . The eye socket was dark and sightless , a stark contrast to the glowing orb that sat within the other socket . Then the doctor turned his head again , and his artificial eye focused back on Malcolm .
“ Not pretty , is it ?” Malcolm shook his head . “ Back in the day , these were expensive ,” the doctor said . “ There was no need for me to have two eyes when this one —”
17