All That Glitters Ch. 37

With the morning rush over, Urano began her routine, checking on the children and the childcare workers in her control. Children of different age groups and species were running around playing with each other or swimming in the large salt pool or smaller wading pool.

Smaller children were being read stories or being helped to play games with brightly coloured toys or napping. All-in-all, it was happy little place and Urano was content.

Until she saw the woman...

Urano knew all of her workers, and this woman was not one of them. She should not be here.

Urano made her way over to where the woman stood, watching the children. The look on her face was not one that Urano wanted to see. Something about this woman smelled of trouble. Worse, she was on the wrong side of the fencing around the day care, inside instead of outside.

"May I help you, madame?" Urano asked as she approached her.

"How could you do this?" the woman demanded, vehemently. "How could you let these demons, these animals, play with human children?"

"Madame, these are not demons nor animals. They are the children of sentient races. They have every right to be here in this day care, in a safe environment," Urano informed her.

"Safe? No, I don't think so," the woman stated, pulling what looked like a large kitchen knife from behind her and moving to her right.

Urano immediately stepped in front of her and shouted, "Goldsmith, Goldsmith!"

At once, the children were swiftly picked up and rushed into the day care, the workers reacting to the training that Urano, the UCD, and the IPPF had instilled in them, instantly aware that the woman Urano was confronting was not part of the day care. The day care went into immediate lockdown, leaving Urano outside in the play area facing an enraged woman with a knife.

Urano had been taught the basics of martial arts as a teenager but had not really kept it up. She now wished she had. This woman was obviously deranged and she had a weapon. She tried to remember everything she had been taught about confronting, unarmed, a person with a weapon. The one thing that stuck in her mind was to run away, an option that she did not currently have, not with the children in the day care building and this woman on the inside.

"Put the knife down, Madame," Urano ordered.

"Or what, fool," the woman snarled. "Do you think you can do something to stop me, without a weapon of your own?"

No, probably not, Urano admitted to herself, but I have to protect the children.

The woman lunged at her but did not come close to her, so Urano didn't react to her movement, surprising the woman somewhat. She sneered at Urano and took a step forward lunging once again, this time with the obvious intent of actually making contact with the knife.

Urano sidestepped the new lunge, moving to her right, and batted away the hand with the knife in it with her left hand, striking the woman in the head with her right, trying to put her down as quickly as she could. It didn't work. The woman was obviously hyped up on something, drugs or adrenaline, it didn't matter, she would have to be taken down with more brute force rather than the 'soft' tap that Urano had just applied, though that blow would normally have put down most women.

The woman turned the knife in her hand, the point sticking out parallel to the ground, and swung her arm in an arc, catching Urano unawares. The knife slipped along her forearm, leaving a shallow cut along most of it's length.

Urano cursed and jumped away from her attacker, feeling the sting of the wound. She moved a little more cautiously as the woman smiled at the blood she now saw on Urano's arm.

The woman switched hands and lunged once again, trying to put the point into Urano's chest. Urano shifted her body so that the blade hit her in the left arm instead of into her chest, the point entering six centimeters into her arm.

Shit!! That hurts, Urano thought, jumping back once again.

This time, when the woman came forward, she swiped the blade in a long arc in front of her, attempting to inflict more damage to Urano.

Urano jumped back once again but, as the blade swung through its arc, she stepped into the woman and hit her hard in the face, pushing her back several steps. The woman blinked and then snarled at her opponent.

Shit! Urano thought, that was the best strike I have and it only angered her.

Urano was worried now, not for herself, but for her charges. The main building was locked down, so that people on the outside wouldn't be able to get in, normally, however, the inner door to the playground could not be locked to this side of the day care to allow those in the playground to get to safety as required. In effect, the woman could get into the building from here. Urano had to find some way to stop her.

The two danced around each other for a minute while Urano tried to find another way to take down the woman. The stranger finally tired of dealing with Urano and began to swing the knife wildly in front of her as she stepped forward, one swing, one step forward, another swing, another step forward, pushing Urano back toward the day care building.

Not being able to look back, Urano stepped on a child's toy and stumbled. The woman didn't hesitate and lunged, once again aiming for Urano's chest. As before, Urano turned her body, this time letting her right arm take the blow.

The knife went half-way down its length into the meaty part of her upper arm and nicked the brachial artery. Urano knew she was in trouble, but strong arms pulled her back, the knife still embedded in her arm, while a blur she recognized as a Pod-Drran swiftly stepped in front of her and clubbed the attacker senseless with her fists.

When the woman went down, they secured her arms and her feet as people pulled Urano back out of the way and started to tend to her wounds.

************

Hanalei, Junelliya, Fayad, were sitting on lounge chairs on the beach with all their friends and family around them, chatting merrily away when Hanalei got the call from Sylvie.

"Hanalei, the day care has just gone into lockdown, there is a woman with a knife inside the playground!" came the frantic call from Sylvie.

The Trine was up and running immediately, rushing as fast as the could to the day care. Hanalei noted many other people, humans and delegates alike, heading in the same direction. Someone had gotten the word out.

Two Pod-Drran were at the door, Hanalei recognized them as part of the Jurte-Rai/Ro assigned to the Jurte's Brood. The door was locked but Hanalei used her override authority to unbar the door and the Pod-Drran were through in a flash. The people inside directed them to the playground where they could see Urano confronting someone with a knife. Unfortunately, Urano looked the worse for wear, blood trailing from multiple cuts on her left arm.

Just as the Pod-Drran got to her, Urano took another hit with the knife in the other arm. The male Pod-Drran pulled her away from the attacker and female stepped up and hit the assailant hard in the head with her fist. The first blow was telling, stunning the woman, though she did not go down. The Rai did not hesitate, hitting her again and again. The fourth blow sent her to the ground where the pair immediately secured her arms and feet.

Meanwhile, Urano had been pulled back out of the way. Ayesha was there and she immediately put pressure on the brachial artery above the wound, stopping it from bleeding out. Ayesha called out instructions to the medical staff around her, human and Interspecies members alike. She was business like and forceful in taking control of the situation.

"I need a med kit, now!" she shouted.

"Here," said the voice of her husband, Sean, who had the presence of mind to rush to the medical tent and pull one with him as everyone else ran to the day care.

Ayesha had someone take over the pressure on the artery, allowing her to open the med kit and pull out some bandages, which she used to address the wound.

The knife had gone completely through the meaty part of the inner arm, which was why the attacker could not easily pull it back out. The amount of blood told Ayesha immediately that the artery had been nicked, if not cut completely.

"I'm going to have to pull the knife out to assess the wound," she told the woman on whom she was working. I don't have time to administer any pain relief. We need to deal with this cut artery now, or you could bleed out."

"Hands," someone on her left said. Ayesha put her hands out and someone washed them with water and a disinfectant and dried them. Next, gloves were expertly placed on her hands while someone else applied a mask to her face.

Ayesha thanked the persons who had done that and returned to the wounded woman. She delicately pulled the knife then stuck her finger into the wound, looking for the artery. She found it and it didn't feel good.

"The artery has been nicked and looks to be hanging together by the back end of the artery itself. That is good as we don't have to go fishing for it, but it also means that it could tear itself apart if we don't correct the problem," Ayesha commented.

"Local anesthetic," a voice she recognized as belonging to Katanya stated. Ayesha pointed to the places that she wanted the injections to be placed around the wound, Katanya expertly following her lead administering just the right amount of anesthetic into each location.

Ayesha couldn't wait for it to take effect. She had to open the wound a little to get to the damaged artery. She did just that, hearing the woman whimpering as she did so.

"We know it hurts," she heard a voice she didn't recognize say. "But you need to remain still while the doctor is working on your arm, Urano."

"I'll try," Urano replied, tears running down her face.

Meela gently took Urano's other arm and began to clean up the wounds there, distracting Urano from the work Ayesha was doing by deliberately using a cleansing solution she knew would elicit some stinging.

"Sorry, dear," Meela said, as the woman hissed and flinched at the solution on her wounds. "This will sting for a few moments."

Urano nodded absently as someone sat behind her, giving her a body to lean up against. It wasn't a human body, but it was comforting for it's presence all the same. The numbness was starting in the arm that Ayesha was working on, giving relief from the pain that the poking and prodding was causing.

"Can you feel me poking around in your arm?" Ayesha asked of Urano.

"Just a little, it is going numb there now," she replied.

"Good," Ayesha said and promptly cut the skin above the wound and folded it down exposing the cut artery, which was bleeding but much more slowly with the pressure above the cut.

"Clamp," Ayesha ordered, and one was placed in her hand. She clamped the artery down above the cut. It soon stopped bleeding, but she also noted that the arm below the wound was starting to turn blue. She needed to get the blood flowing back into the arm again.

"Rinse," she ordered, and Katanya squirted a saline solution into the wound, instantly cleaning it out so that Ayesha could have a better look. She took the saline bottle in her hands and applied it where she needed to see more of the injury.

"Cauterizing," she ordered, and a hot probe was given to her. Ayesha used that to seal the small blood vessels that had been cut, not worried about the body's ability to get around such small wounds. It was the large artery that worried her the most.

Ayasha pulled the ends of the artery together and it fit smoothly. "Surgical glue," she ordered and a small tube of surgical glue was now in her sight. "I'm going to hold the ends together and rotate the cut artery. Apply drops around the cut as I rotate," she ordered and proceeded to do just that, while Katanya placed drop after drop of glue around the cut, instantly sealing the moving ends together.

"Now, if we have not sealed frontside of the artery to the backside, we should be able to release some pressure and have it reinflate with blood." Ayesha released the clamp above the wound and ordered the person applying pressure on the brachial artery to relieve some of that pressure. The artery quickly inflated as blood began to flow through it again. There were a couple of spots that required another small application of surgical glue, but overall it was good.

Ayesha cleaned up the skin and dabbed some glue at the top of the flap to hold it in place, she then quickly sutured the flap, closing the original entry and exit wounds as well.

The arm below the injury was now becoming pink again, which Ayesha was happy to see.

"Nanites," she ordered, and a syringe was put in her hand. She applied the syringe to different areas around the injuries to put the nanites into the body close to the wounds. Within a couple of days, the wounds would be fully healed.

Katanya and Meela worked to clean up the blood on Urano's body and she was then placed on an anti-grav gurney for the trip to the local clinic, where she would be monitored for the next couple of days.

Security had finished there investigation, images in hand, so the place was quickly cleaned up in anticipation of the children's return for fun and games.

************

Junelliya had stopped near the front door and took charge of the situation there, using her power to calm down those who were panicking about their children.

"Please remain calm," she told the assembled parents outside the exterior door. "The children are safe, only one of the day care workers was injured and only because she confronted the assailant," she told them, relaying the information from within the day care.

"Those of you who wish to retrieve your children, please line up on the left side of the door," she ordered, to an immediate scramble of worried parents.

"There are children here who are family to the delegates at the Capital and no one who can take them out of the day care. We will need some of you who are known friends of the respective families to sit with the children in the day care until they calm down or until someone who is registered can come to claim them. Those of you who wish to sit with the children, please be prepared for a long day as the parents are all at the credentials ceremony for this morning and this afternoon," Hanalei explained.

Junelliya called up Juanita on her comp, who was preparing for the return, later in the day, of the delegates from the Presidential compound.

"Hi Junelliya, is there a problem?" Juanita asked.

"Yes, there is no need to panic, however, there has been an attack against the day care by a deranged woman with a knife. None of the children have been hurt, though some have been frightened a little.

"Urano was the only person injured and only because she confronted the woman. They are working on her now. IPPF is here and have taken the woman into custody, they are also looking to see how she got into the day care. Please advise the parents that this has occurred and reassure them that their children are safe.

"We are looking for friends of the families of the delegates to come sit with the children at the day care until the parents can come back to retrieve them. If possible, those families with comps, should contact their children and address their fears, they can go through Hanalei and I if their children do not have comps. Hanalei and I will remain in the day care for the rest of the day. I will use my abilities to calm the children.

"The goal is to get the children playing again to ease their fears. Please advise the Presidents Security Detail for us," Junelliya finished.

"Thank-you, Junelliya, I will pass this along immediately," Juanita stated, signing off.

Juanita immediately turned to one of her aids and told him to advise Minister Ronter of this information, she then turned to signal one of the President's security detail and passed that information on to them.

The President, who had just been involved with the presentation of credentials of the Djinaëte, was informed and came over to Juanita, with several worried looking delegates in tow.

"What can you tell us, Ms. Invierno?" he asked.

"Sir, I was just informed by Junelliya Herlan that the children in the day care are all safe, none of the children have been harmed, though a few were frightened. The day care manager, Takebayashi Urano, was injured by the assailant because she stood in the woman's way.

"Junelliya has requested that those parents with comps, contact their children. If their children do not have comps, you can contact them through Junelliya or through Hanalei, who are both in the day care assisting the workers tending to the children. The goal is get the children playing again in order to relieve their fears," Juanita informed the President and all the delegates listening.

There was a flurry of activity as the delegates started calling their children. Two of the Harradi delegates came forward to address Juanita.

"We do not have comps, but we wish to contact our children," they said. Juanita called up Junelliya.

"Hi, Junelliya, I have a couple of worried Harradi parents who wish to contact their children," she passed on.

Junelliya got the names of the children and called them over to her so that they could speak with their parents. The entire family calmed down immediately after they had spoken with each other. The parents thanked Juanita and Junelliya for their support.

"Juanita, they just brought Urano through. She took a nasty wound to her right arm with required some emergency surgery in the playground. They are cleaning up the area now before they allow the children back out there," Junelliya informed her. The delegates around her heard the news and nodded their heads in respect to Urano.

A few more of the parents requested Juanita's assistance in getting into contact with their children, then everyone calmed down. A few asked to be excused and requested to be returned to the resort, Juanita arranged everything.

The presentation of credentials was a somber affair that afternoon, so it was fortunate that it was the Asocan who were presenting. Dragon Ambassador Alvoie, went through the process and stood for images with the President and the Minister. The remainder of the afternoon was tense for the parents among the delegates, but they got through it, though many left early, soon after the event finished.

************

It was the Byandi children who first ventured back into the playground, mostly because they wanted to be back in the pool to swim. When the others heard the laughter of the Byandi, they soon ventured out to run and play, most having forgotten that they should be frightened, though a few still clung to the day care workers. Junelliya and Vangeliya, were working to calm their fears while many close friends of family were their to help comfort the children.

By lunchtime, the children had all pretty much gotten over the incident and were back to doing what children of any species do; play and learn. The parents soon filtered back out to the beach and other activities, happy that the children were no longer upset. They now had high regard for the day care workers and the care they were giving to the children of all races.

Some of them got together after the delegates returned from the capital and had some serious discussions, then they sought out Fiona.

************

"They want to what?" Hanalei asked, not long after the delegates had spoken with Fiona that evening.

"They want us to open a day care on Liramor-23 so that they can bring their families to the platform," Fiona stated.

"We will have to put out an ad for a day care director and for childcare workers, however, I think that we could probably inquire about the Interspecies workers who are currently working at the day care here," Junelliya said.