Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Roots

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Friday, September 26, 2008

The Better Man

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Explosive Decompression

by Danny H

The Beginning

Sam Harrison had been in the program now for over 3 years. $10 billion in development across three continents involving 30 different countries and now the first test flight for the prototype ground launch low orbit delivery craft was going ahead.

Four crew would be involved in the first flight: the lead pilot, Commander Scott Fellows, long experienced as a US Naval fighter pilot and a previous shuttle pilot instructor, Dr Gillian Robinson, the program medical officer, Lieutenant Dawn Williams the second in command, and lastly Sam, the program associate chief engineer.

The last 6 months had involved simulator training for what would be the first low orbit test flight with a planned flight path taking the experimental craft, the ‘Intrepid’, to the very edge of the Earths atmosphere and then back to the launch site. The whole flight would only last three hours but would test all the aircrafts vital systems and protection devices. The last few days had been the agonizing wait for the right weather conditions to launch. And today was that perfect clear sky day.

Standing on the launch deck, the craft was like a wider version of the old shuttle design but with a revolutionary double delta wing shape. The three engine systems were designed to lift the craft like a conventional airliner into the upper atmosphere then a series of jet propulsion systems would take the craft into space. Highly specialized modulated heat shielding enabled the craft to withstand the enormous pressures of return to the atmosphere, one of the main engineering challenges to be surmounted. That was the reason for Sam’s presence, not usually an astronautics-trained post, he had undergone selection and training from the engineering team to join the flight to ensure the new systems were working properly and to ensure any problems could be rectified mid-flight. He was a little nervous but excited to be part of a historic event such as this, that could be the first step to regular ‘taxi’ trips into space at a fraction of the previous cost and with larger payloads.

The countdown completed the jets roared into life and the craft lifted gracefully into the clear night sky. The pilots efficiently brought the craft up to the second stage ignition altitude and Sam’s job began.

“Control, approaching second stage altitude”, Scott spoke into his radio.

“Acknowledged Intrepid, you are good to go second stage ignition.”

“Control Roger”

“Ok guys, everything good to do?”, Scott asked the team.

“Yep, all readings are within limits” replied Sam.

“Check your electrode connection please Scott,” said Gillian, “you’ve got a loose connection”

All the team were dressed in full pressure suits. Although the craft was compressed to atmospheric conditions the test flight was set up to prevent any serious injury if there was a problem. Any loss of pressure would not be harmful to the crew in their suits. The medical officer was monitoring all the vital signs to ensure there were no surprises. Scott adjusted his electrode connection, it had wobbled clear a little in the vibration from lift off. He clicked it back into place.

“That’s better thanks”, said Gillian, “all signs are fine, Sam, breathe more slowly you’re resp rate is a bit quick. You feel ok?”

“I’m fine thanks, just a bit excited I guess” replied Sam.

“Ok guys, were doing well, lets run it by the book we’ve done this a thousand times in the sim”, said Dawn.

Everyone breathed deeply, even though their suits were perfectly acclimatized they all felt a little shudder of excitement. In Scott and Dawns hands they were as safe as possible. No pilot pairing had done more hours in the sim ever before. Sam breathed more easily and prepared the ignition sequence.

“5…4…3…2…1…ignition go.” Sam calmly spoke into the intercom.

With a roar the second stage engines kicked into life, the perceptible increase in thrust pushed everyone back into their seats. The first stage engines whined to a halt as the craft accelerated and lifted higher into the sky.

All the necessary checks completed it was time to lift into low Earth orbit, skirting on the edge of the atmosphere involved some tricky manipulations to the shielding and delaying the third stage procedure would test the shielding very effectively to its operational limits. The pressure outside the craft was now near space-like in this zone and the relative stability of the inner orbit zone would be much safer. However, this was the system that needed testing very carefully and the future of the program depended on success at this stage. To do so would mean moving into the rear section of the craft.

“Preparing to leave control cabin to payload area and engineering station.” said Sam.

“Roger that Sam, careful how you go” replied Scott.

“I’ll continue monitoring you from here” said Gillian.

“Ok Sam, take care” said Dawn.

Sam unbuckled from his seat and stepped cautiously in his bulky suit to the airlock door between the pressurized cabin and the rear section. The design allowed the pilots to move around in a zero-G environment without suits in the cabin but the safety procedures called for suits in the rear section as it would be used for payload delivery. Usually the team would change in the large airlock section between the two.

As he stepped through to the airlock and closed the door behind him, Sam thought of the last few months of training and how he and Dawn had found in each other a kind of companionship that he had warmly welcomed and they had luckily taken forwards. Sam was in his early thirties and Dawn was slighter younger, and an ambitious pilot with a great future. They had talked long about the program and the likelihood of being separated for long periods of time but had decided they would keep seeing each other. The rest of the team didn’t know, in case it created tensions, so they had kept seeing each other. Quite apart from their friendship, the sex was fantastic. Sam smiled to himself. He had been a kind of geeky loner through school and university but had had a few lovers. Nothing like Dawn though - ambitious, fit and exceptionally highly sexually driven she had really shown him how to enjoy sex for the first time. An in-joke between them had been the size of his penis. She had laughed when she first saw it, asking if all the engineers had to have big rockets to work for NASA. He was surprised, as he had received the occasional flattering comment about it but was by no means huge, just under 9 inches when erect, and had found her passion for his larger than average cock very much a turn-on. Either way, they both enjoyed a very good life together and he was glad he had made the team for that reason.

He tried to put such thoughts away as he proceeded to move into the rear section, trying to concentrate on the job in hand. Now he was locked into the rear section he began the slow process of testing each of the shielding systems one by one. Painstaking as it would be, the process was vital to ensure the craft could be repeatedly moved between orbit and atmosphere without endangering the crew or payload.

About an hour later he had almost finished the tests. So far everything had gone to plan perfectly. Bouncing along the atmospheric edge had been successful and now it was almost time to take the third stage to the low orbital point and then return to Earth according to the planned flight path.

“All shielding tests read AOK, Intrepid” ground reported, “The results have been run through the computers here and look great. Well done Sam.”

“Thanks, I’m ready to return to the cabin.” Sam said.

“OK Sam, come on through”, said Scott.

In the cabin, Scott began to make the final preparations to adjust the angle of ascent and trigger the third stage rockets for the move into the orbital zone. Without any useful oxygen at this altitude, this would utilize a new rocket system that would push them higher into a stable orbit by a complex interaction of organic chemicals and a low-radiation photon engine. Completely revolutionary but prone to creating difficult electrical interference during its firing. No matter how it was set up the engine would cut off communications with control while it was firing.

“Preparing to logoff comms until third stage complete”, he spoke into his radio.

“Roger Intrepid, we’ll continue to monitor from the ground. See you on the other side.”, replied control. The procedure would take them across half of the world to ascend the final stage into stable orbit.

“How are you doing Sam?” asked Gillian.

“Fine, just making my way to the airlock.” Sam replied.

Scott peered up through the forward panel window and squinted between the shielding. A flash in the blackness of space in front of them had caught his attention. Could have been a satellite catching the last few rays of the sun as it dipped below the horizon. He checked his radar images.

“Control, do you read anything in our path?” he asked

“Radar image clear from here”, said Dawn.

“Negative Intrepid, accessing orbital charts for known satellites. We have nothing on our records here”.

“What is it?” said Scott. The flash in the sky ahead appeared again, this time much larger and could now be seen to be moving towards them. Suddenly Dawn realized what it was.

“Emergency! Emergency! Brace for impact! Incoming meteor!” cried Dawn.

“Shit… oh Fuck!” Scott spoke and activated the emergency avoidance systems that could scan the radar image ahead and move the craft far more accurately than human responses could manage.

“What’s going on?” cried Sam as he fell backwards as the ship suddenly jolted as the engines lurched and control jets burnt into life, attempting to move the ship out of the path of the blazing meteor.

A billion to one chance, a piece of space rock no bigger than a training shoe sped at many thousands of miles per hour towards the craft. In its wake tiny particles to bigger than sand grains were carried along as it broke up and burnt in the thin atmosphere.

“Intrepid, radar tracks the meteor on collision course”, shouted control.

“Yes, evasive action in progress. Avoidance systems activated.”, replied Scott. With almost no warning the meteor had appeared and was almost upon them. Gillian, noticed as, one by one, heart rates rose, blood pressure increased, including herself.

“Sam how are you doing, get in here now!” Dawn shouted.

Sam was buffeted around the rear section as the craft lurched and accelerated to avoid the meteor. He was thrown to the ground, legs spread eagled just as the meteor flashed past with a pressure wave. Sparks flew in the chamber as the lighting systems shorted out and emergency lighting came on. Suddenly in darkness he realized the meteor had missed by a tiny fraction.

Scott, Dawn and Gillian breathed a sigh of relief. But not for long. In the wake of the meteor, that had missed by a hairs breadth in astronomical terms, followed thousands of tiny particles burning off from the main meteor bulk as it bounced against the upper atmosphere. The smallest of these impacted harmlessly with the main shields but larger pieces, travelling so fast could still damage the hull. Within seconds the alarms sounded as the craft was buffeted by a few of these. Tiny holes burnt through the cabin as these flashed through in milliseconds. Leaving no trace other than their track through armor plating, hull, electrical systems and sometimes human flesh…

Scott bucked in his chair as he took the brunt of two or three larger fragments, tearing through his torso and helmet, killing him instantly. Gillian and Dawn were missed by centimeters but the craft had lost vital systems and was now in great danger. Emergency power systems came on and the computer back up systems kicked in, overriding pilot controls to return the craft to a safe altitude for an emergency landing.

“Scott!...Scott?... oh no, oh no” cried Gillian as the vital signs ebbed to nil on his monitor.

“Control, do you read us?” cried Dawn, trying to remain calm.

“Control here Intrepid, we read you. What is your status?”

“We have lost main pilot to meteor fragment impact, main systems are down and backups have responded. Initiating computer controlled emergency landing flight path.”

“Roger that Intrepid, we will monitor and clear your flight path down. Computer systems in control. Understood.”

“Sam… Sam, are you ok?” Dawn asked.

Sam looked around him and wondered if he had been injured. No pain anywhere. He faintly heard his radio intercom and the confusion and sounds from the cabin. His head was dizzy and the cabin spun around him. What was that sound? A hissing maybe? Was it the radio interference?

“Hello? Hello, Dawn? Scott? Gillian? Can you hear me?” he asked.

“Sam! Oh I’m so glad to hear your voice! Are you ok?”, Dawn asked.

“I think so, I think so” he replied.

“Check your suit Sam, there is a slight abnormality with the pressure sensors. Is there any suit
damage?” Gillian asked, checking her monitors.

“Say again. I’m sorry, my intercom keeps breaking up” said Sam.

“Check your suit, Sam, something’s wrong.”

“Gillian, what is it?” asked Dawn.

“I’m not sure, the pressure sensors are misreading maybe, the seal in the rear section must have been damaged looks like there is a pressure leak.”

“Activating emergency seal systems” said Dawn, pressing buttons on the console.
“Sam, see if you can get to the airlock.”, she said.

Sam looked about him and tried to get to his feet. Pain in his groin prevented him and he let out a sudden cough at the sensation, like someone had punched him in the stomach. He looked down and saw a small rent in his suit, just between the legs, in the low pressure atmosphere steam appeared from the hole, as the moist air of his suit leaked into the cabin. The pressure sensors on the wall showed the room was at 80% and falling slowly. Several holes seemed to be burnt through the hull wall by the impacting meteor fragment and he could tell the pressure control systems were failing.

“Er, Hi Gillian, there seems to be some suit damage and I’m losing pressure slowly.”, explained Sam,

“The environment control is failing in here too. I’m not sure how long the air will last to maintain the atmosphere”.

“Shit.”, said Gillian.

“What is it?”, asked Dawn.

“Sam’s got damage to his pressure suit. He losing air and the cabin is also depressurizing” she replied.

“Oh no, can we do anything from here?”

“No, how long before we get back into useful atmosphere?”

“About ten minutes, final calculations are in place for the automated landing systems, we could be on the ground by 20 minutes”

“I hope that’s long enough.”, said Gillian, “His air might run out before that”.

“Sam, try to conserve air, don’t move and slow down your breathing. The leak is only slow we should be down into higher pressure atmosphere in 10 to 15 minutes.”

“Ok. I’ll try. But I have a pain in my groin now.”, Sam replied.

“In your groin? Have you been hit by a fragment? Is there any blood visible?” Gillian asked.

Sam looked down. By now blood should have been appearing if he was injured but he could see none. "No, looks OK. Guess I must have just hurt myself when I fell.”

“You’ll be ok Sam, we’re heading back. We’ll make sure you’re ok Sam”, said Dawn.

“Thanks honey.” said Sam, without thinking, “I appreciate it.”

Gillian and Dawn looked at each other, neither saying anything. A quite moment of understanding.

“He’ll be ok Dawn.”, reassured Gillian.

“Lets just get back safely.”, said Dawn.

Sam watched as the pressure gauge hovered at about 75%, the pressurizing system just about holding its own. The air in his suit was only slowly dropping and he investigated the damage to his suit more closely. A small tear had ripped through the groin just were the bottom of a fly would be on a pair of trousers. It was about 5cm long with burnt edges where a meteor fragment must have grazed him as it passed through the cabin. Wow, he thought, that was close! Suddenly alarms blazed and one of the walls of the cabin burst into short-lived flame before extinguishing, the flames appearing to be sucked through a small rent in the hull. Explosive decompression.

Alarms rang out in the main cabin as the decompression was registered.

“Pressure systems failing in the rear section” shouted Gillian, watching as the vital sign sensors alarmed on her console for Sam’s readings.

“Damn, only another 5 minutes and we will be in useful atmosphere”, said Dawn.

“Sam, are you still ok?” asked Gillian.

“Ahh, no, pain is worse now… Arghh… suit must be leaking more quickly as the pressure gradient increased. I’m going to try and seal the suit, but the tear looks like its getting bigger.

“Keep going Sam, we’ll be into atmosphere soon! Don’t give up yet!”, cried Dawn.

Sam struggled with his suit, clumsy thick gloves were no use in trying to help seal the hole in his suit. The pressure gauge on the wall read 10%, much too low for survival if he tried to put on a new suit. Any movement was excruciatingly painful but he stilled tried to slide himself across to the airlock. The pain in his groin had got worse and he wondered what was causing it. Soon, the answer became apparent. As the pressure dropped his suit had opened up more and the hole in his groin must have torn through to his under-suit and the thermal layers of his clothing that covered his skin. The groin unit was a special pouch that covered his genitals and allowed him to pass water during the mission without de-suiting. The pouch led to a chamber than could be emptied from a leg valve. He now realized the pouch had come free and was sitting at the edge of the hole in his suit, almost exposed. No wonder it was painful.

He moved his hands over his groin to try and replace the pouch but suddenly it came free and flew across the room. Sam looked down and, if it hadn’t have been so serious he may have laughed… his penis was now sticking out of the hole in his suit and plugging the hole in his inner suit. He watched as the low outside pressure caused the veins to stand out and his cock head to swell bigger and bigger. As the pressure dropped the room acted like an enormous penis pump, just the shaft of his penis plugging the hole in his suit, preventing further loss of air and maybe saving his life… but at the expense of his cock?

Sam cried out in pain as the enormous pressure difference seemed to grasp his penis like a vice, but instead of squeezing it, it seemed to cause it to expand more and more. The dull ache in his belly became agony and he tried to grab his penis to push it back through the hole but it wouldn’t move. Swollen and rigid like a grotesque erection it stood out from his suit, purple and angry. The veins looked like fat tubes the width of pencils. His penis seemed to stretch out from the suit like toothpaste squeezed from a tube; like an Indian rope trick would as it unwound from the basket. Larger and larger his cock swelled, ridiculously big now. Sam cried in agony as it felt his cock would explode with the force of pressure but still it kept swelling, a mind of its own, as if on a mission to fill the whole cabin space.

Gillian watched as Sam’s readings shot off the scale, the oxygen levels stayed ok but his heart rate and blood pressure were dangerously high.

“We are approaching atmospheric conditions to enable us to depressurize”, said Dawn.

“Not a moment too soon, I don’t know whets happening to Sam but his numbers are all over the place.”

“Sam can you hear me?” asked Gillian. No reply.

“Oh God I hope he’s ok.”, said Dawn.

Back in the rear cabin Sam lay on the floor, vainly holding his penis and trying to prevent it being completely sucked off of his body. It now looked like a giant salami sausage, bright purple and with every vein inflated as a network of tubes over it. The cock head had emerged from his bloated foreskin and was shiny and rigid like an over inflated balloon, almost looking like it might pop at any moment. Sam had no idea how big it had grown, it seemed like all his blood was in the organ and it still seemed to throb as the pressure caused it to swell further. His gloved hands barely wrapped around it and it stood out vertically from his body at least the length of his fist and forearm together. Small bruises were starting to appear as the skin stretched too far to hold, and small blood vessels started to rupture. This must be what dying from sudden loss of pressure feels like, thought Sam, agonizingly. His penis shaft now seemed to be fully exposed to the outside and his balls started to get sucked out through the tiny gap in his suit, if it tore anymore his body would completely decompress and he would die horribly in the low pressure air. Slowly, his ball sac emerged through the hole, pulled out by the incredible pressure and tension of the skin of his hugely inflated cock. With a pop, his balls slipped through the gap and also started their slow growth as the pressure within his body inexorably caused his blood and body fluids to flow rapidly into his swollen genitalia. Soon they too were purple and gargantuan, like tense ripe grapefruit wrapped in tight PVC. The pain was almost unbearable and he started to feel a tearing sensation as his cock finally seemed to start to rip apart from the incredible pressure. Oh no, this is it, he thought, I’m going to bleed to death… oh my God… oh my God. He started to pass out…

In the control cabin, Dawn fought to equalize the pressures and help save Sam from near-certain death. Gillian had thought of a plan to override the airlock controls and try to allow some of the cabin pressure into the rear section to boost it until the pressure systems came back online and returned both the 100%. With a rush of air, both airlock doors opened and the overall pressure rose slightly to 40%, perhaps enough to prevent the loss of too much of Sam’s vital oxygen.

The final approach was underway and the craft lined up with the landing strip ahead. Emergency vehicles lined the runway and medical teams had been placed on standby. As the craft touched down they sped onto the tarmac to follow the vehicle to its resting point.

Hatches were jettisoned and Dawn and Gillian unclipped from their seats and rushed from the cabin to get to Sam in the rear section. They found him, slumped against the inner airlock door, turned onto his front. A small puddle of blood surrounded his lower body and they feared the worst, although Gillian thought she could see movement of his thorax, as if he was still breathing. They removed their helmets and thought they could hear a moaning sound from him. "Maybe he is OK!?" thought Dawn.

Gillian leaned down to try to turn Sam over, had removed his helmet but wanted to check his airway was ok and that he was breathing. She needed and hand, and both her and Dawn lifted together to move Sam onto his back…

As they did so, the full extent of his condition became apparent. They both stood back in shock. He was still breathing, his face was pale and clammy, he groaned in pain and seemed barely conscious. In the background a medical emergency team was starting to enter the craft, examine Scott’s prone body and come into the rear section. Dawn and Gillian both looked down at his groin, eyes wide with disbelief…

…“Oh my God!”, they both cried out.




Sam's recovery.




“Come in”… Gillian stepped through the doorway into Dr Wetherington’s office. She had been waiting patiently outside the NASA medical departmental heads office for over 30 minutes already and was relieved to finally get the chance to talk to him.

“Ah, Gillian! So glad to see you.”. Dr Wetherington stood up from his desk and walked over to the door, his hand outstretched.

“Michael, thanks for seeing me at short notice”, Gillian replied, taking his hand and shaking.

“Not at all. I’m only sorry it’s been so long since the incident. I read your report with interest.” A moment of silence, perhaps uncomfortable.

“Yes. Well, I wanted to get straight to the point. How is Sam? It’s been over 3 weeks and no one has seen him other than his family and the medical team at the secure unit in Washington.”

“Don’t worry Gillian. Sam is well. He’s stronger every day and will soon be released. It’s just the sensitive nature of his injuries, that’s all. We’ve been locked down from the media point of view and need to limit access.”

“I understand that, but Dawn has been beside herself with worry. Me as well.”

“Dawn? Well, she was piloting the craft, but why should she be more worried than anyone else?” he asked.

“Dawn asked me to come and speak to you. She wanted to see him” she replied.

“I see.”

“Well, it’s difficult. She wanted to keep their relationship quiet for obvious reasons. Now she feels she’s been kept out of the loop.”

“OK. Gillian, I’ll see what I can do but I can’t promise anything”. Dr Wetherington sat back on his luxurious leather desk chair, looking tired and old. “You know I’m retiring soon. Perhaps I can get Mr. Collins’ team to allow access to the both of you later this week.”

Gillian relaxed. She knew she could count on Michael. They had been friends for years. “Thanks Michael. Let me know. You’ve got my number.”

“Yes.”

Gillian turned to leave.

“Gillian.”, he said, “You know people are asking questions about the whole program. Try to keep things to yourself.”

“OK Michael. Thank you again.” With that, she turned and left the room.

In Washington, the secure NASA medical unit was under armed guard 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Part of the MEDSTAR group it had a private wing underground and helicopter pad that served both the local population and accepted transfers from stabilized patients from around the World, via the main airport and occasionally directly from NASA in Florida. Sam had been transferred there directly from the emergency team incident site and all his treatment had been carried out by the specialist teams available there.

Sam opened his eyes again. He hadn’t expected to see what he had seen the first time he had. Two pairs of eyes looked down at him. Blurred but just about able to make out a young female face and an older male one. He had passed out again just afterwards but this was his second attempt at staying conscious. His head was heavy and his senses dulled. For a horrible moment he realized that he couldn’t feel anything below his waist.

“Mr. Harrison. It’s good to see you awake. I’m Dan and I work with Mr. Collins, your surgeon.”, said the male voice. “You need to know a couple of things straight away. Don’t worry, you are numb below the waist for a reason. You have an epidural in keeping you pain free. Secondly, you are alive, well and recovering in Washington.”

Sam closed his eyes. His head was swimming. So many questions. The events of the last few weeks were hazy images in his memory. Paramedical teams treating him in Florida. Being carried on a stretcher to a helicopter. Lurching around as it flew. Oxygen masks being pressed into his face. Needles in his arms. Pain like he had never experienced before. Blessed relief as his lost consciousness. Now this, awake and comfortable, lying in a white sheeted and warm bed in Washington.

“I’ll leave you with Sarah. She’s got to change all your dressings and check your wounds. Everything is going fine. Mr. Collins is coming in to talk to you soon. You’ve been kept sedated for the last few weeks but its time for you to wake up fully and get up and about now.”

Sam shuffled in his bed. “Can you sit me up a little please?”

“Sure.”, said Dan. He reached over to a little switch on the side of the bed. “Just press this for up, this for down. The switch on the bracelet around your right wrist is the epidural control. It can give you a booster injection if you feel pain. Don’t be afraid to use it if you need it.”

Sam sat himself up a little. The bed rose slowly into a more comfortable position. His head swam more, but his eyesight was clearing now. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later. With Mr. Collins.”

Dan left the room. The door clicked behind him quietly, locking into place. Sam noticed the touchpad circuit on the wall. Must be one of the secure rooms he thought to himself. He looked over to the nurse from earlier. She was busy preparing the tray of swabs and creams for his dressings change and had her back to him for a minute. Tall, shapely and brunette from behind. He tried not to think about it. Then he wondered what dressings needed changing? He assumed it was something with his legs, numb from the waist down he guessed he had been injured there perhaps. His memories of the events of the test flight were sketchy at best. He looked down and saw a square tent of supports under the sheets. Keeping the weight of the sheets off his legs maybe, had he been burnt he wondered.

“Hello Mr. Harrison. I’m Sarah. I’ve been looking after for you for the last few weeks. I’m just going to change your dressings. Is that ok?”

“Yeah, sure. Go ahead.”

Sarah lifted the sheets away from the frame, and dropped the edge down over his knees leaving him exposed from the waist down. A large pile of dressings sat over his groin and thighs, his legs lying wide apart on the bed. As she removed the dressing pads Sam wondered where the hell she was heading until the last few swabs came off and he almost jumped out of the bed.

“Jesus Christ!” he shouted.

Sarah jumped visibly and dropped some of her dressings.

“Sorry did that hurt?” she asked.

Sam lay back again, breathing fast. His head span even faster. He hadn’t believed what he had just seen. “No. No. Its ok.”, he replied. “I just hadn’t seen under my dressings until now.”

“Oh. Right. OK.”, said Sarah. “I’m sorry, it must be a shock. I thought the doctors had told you everything.”

“I don’t remember anything. I guess I’ve been too drugged up most of the time.”

“Well. OK. I’m just going to bathe this area with water and then cover you with this cream before replacing the dressings.”, she said, showing him the tube of cream in her hand.

“What is it?”, Sam asked. The slab of inflamed, swollen tissue between his legs looked like the stump of a limb, mutilated and partially amputated. He couldn’t work it out.

“Well. This is your… erm… penis. I guess.”, she replied. She looked a little uncomfortable, a little embarrassed.

“That? But that thing is ridiculous. It looks like a giant salami sausage.”, replied Sam.

The nurse looked down at his swollen organ and back at Sam. “It’s definitely your penis Mr. Harrison. I’ve been replacing these dressings for three weeks now and it looks a lot better than it did at the start.”

“What? Why? I don’t understand!”, said Sam, laying back in the bed and closing his eyes. He felt frustrated and powerless. Unable to remember what had happened or why he was there.

“Well. They had to operate on you quite a few times”, she said. “They had to do skin grafts and repair a lot of damaged tissue but they managed to save your penis completely.”

Sam looked down. He hadn’t seen anything like it before and doubted he would do again. “But it’s huge. The damn thing looks three times bigger than it was before. Is the swelling going to go away?”.
Sarah paused for a moment and put her things down. “Mr. Harrison. Your penis was badly damaged in the incident on board the test flight. For some reason you suffered a decompression related injury just to your penis and scrotum. You almost lost them completely but the plastic surgeons and urology specialists here were able to operate over the last few weeks to repair the damaged tissue and cover the areas of skin damage with grafts. The swelling has gone away. There is still some healing but you are maybe a few days away from going home. Once you’ve had physical therapy you could be out by this weekend.”

Sam struggled to take it all in. “This weekend?”, he asked, “What day is it today?”

“Its Tuesday.”, Sarah replied.

Sam thought for a moment. “Sarah.”, he said, “Can you do something for me?” he asked.

“What?”

“Can you find out if Dawn or Gillian can come and see me?”

Sarah smiled. “Don’t worry, your friends are coming to see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”, said Sam.

“Maybe it would be better to talk to them about things?”, said Sarah. She carried on with her dressings change. Once all the dressings were off she looked over to Sam.

“See, “, she said, “It’s healing really well.”

Sam looked down, seeing his penis fully exposed for the first time. It looked like a large tube curled over his balls and lay on the bed of soft dressing pads over the bed sheets. A patchwork of inflamed skin covered it in places, like a quilt with new sections sewn in. A catheter tube stretched out from the tip and connected to a bag further along the bed. His cock seemed disconnected, like a numb arm when laid on overnight. He tried to shift position but his legs were also heavy and immovable. His balls were looked grotesquely swollen and large as well, like two grapefruit attached to his groin.

“Yeah. I guess so.”, said Sam.

Sarah started massaging the cream into the skin. Carefully covering it with a thick layer before covering it back up with the swabs and dressing pads. Sam noticed her face showed a faint smile as she did so.

“Sarah.”

“Yes, Mr. Harrison?”, she replied, turning to look at him.

“Hold it up for me please.”

“I’m sorry?”, she said, looking a little confused.

“My penis, hold it up. I want to look at it.”, he said.

“Ermm. Ok.”. Sarah put her things down and replaced her gloves. She gently held Sam’s penis at the end and lifted it up, almost to the vertical. “Like this?” she asked.

Sam looked down. The end of his penis filled her hand and the rest hung from her grasp like a thick fleshy hose. It looked huge. “How long is it Sarah?” he asked.

“I…I don’t know.”, she stammered.

“How long is it?”, he asked again.

“I’m not sure. Why?”, she asked, placing it back down on the bed between his legs. She looked uncomfortable and started going red in the face.

“You know don’t you.”, said Sam. He was actually almost enjoying this. He was beginning to feel better, more awake and coming to terms with his new predicament. And what a predicament! “Sarah. Tell me.”, he demanded.

“Well. Some of the girls here wanted to know.”, she replied shyly. “I measured it one day as a dare. We had a kind of sweepstake going. They’ve all heard about you. They’ve all heard what happened.”. She turned to look at his cock again.

“Well? So what were the measurements Sarah?” he asked.

Sarah bit her lower lip a little. “Almost 10 inches long and about 2 inches wide. I put the tape measure around it too and it came to just over 7 and a half around. I can’t believe I just told you that!”, she said, letting out a little giggle. “You won’t tell anyone will you? Please?”.

Sam laughed. For the first time since the faint memory of the last few weeks he was laughing. A laugh of relief and partly a laugh of fear. “No, I won’t tell anyone.”, he said.

Sarah smiled. She finished the dressings and covered him back up. “There, all done!” she said.

“Thank you Sarah. I just don’t know what to do. I feel so frustrated here lying in bed helpless and everything.”. He looked down. At the sheets again, remembering what he had seen there and thinking for a moment... “Sorry, is that 10 inches when it’s soft?”, he asked.

“Ermm, yeah. I guess so. Well, I only measured it a couple of days ago. It hasn’t changed since then and it hasn’t been hard ever. “, she laughed. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like hard although quite a few of the nurses here have wondered!”.

Sam couldn’t believe it. “Have you wondered as well Sarah?”, he asked her.

Sarah paused for a moment. She turned to look behind her, in case anyone else was in the room. She leaned in closer and spoke to him, her eyes on him fiercely, a little fire in her gaze. “Sam, I’ve been treating your wounds and changing your dressings almost every day on my day shift for almost three weeks. Every day I looked at you and wondered what you were like before and stand here amazed at what you have between your legs now. Its got to be the biggest cock I’ve ever seen, hard or otherwise and I sure hope it works properly when you get better.”. She lifted her hand and stroked the side of his face. “Its beautiful and I would love to see it in better circumstances again some time gorgeous.”. She smiled at him sweetly, then turned away and tidied up her things, leaving the room without looking back.

Sam lay there. He guessed she wouldn’t be coming back again today. Numb, in more ways than one he tried to recall the events of the last few weeks but failed. Everything was a complete blur from the time he had been working in the cargo pod of the Intrepid during the test flight. He vaguely remembered the alarms, the sounds of panic over his radio, the pain… He hoped Dawn would come and see him soon. He hoped she could answer more of his questions.

He also couldn’t get the sight of his hugely enlarged penis out of his head either. What the hell had happened?




The author has not continued this story. If he ever does, I'll post it!