In an instant, everything and everyone in front of Maddy disappeared. Almost simultaneously, she witnessed an intensely bright, blue-green flash in all directions. Instinctively, she shut her eyes, but somehow the light remained. Within seconds, or at least what felt like seconds, she began to experience a sharp pain that was building in her lower abdomen. As the light surrounding her slowly began to fade, Maddy decided to open her eyes. There were no sounds to be heard, but she started to make out what looked like the blurry outline of someone directly in front of her. She could also sense that she was now reclining in a padded chair. Her mind and body were coming back online but where was she? ...on Arcturus? ...back on the ship? ....dead and heading into the afterlife? One thing was for certain, she would never give Stanley Dial shit again!

Maddy heard a distant voice calling out to her. "Doctor? Dr. Wilheim, can you hear me?"

With zero warning, Maddy snapped back to full-on reality. She could suddenly see, hear, and feel everything in great detail. However, given the unexpected imagery directly in front of her, Maddy quickly realized that the timing of her sensory reboot was suboptimal.

"JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!" she blasted out at full pitch.

There was no way she could have been prepared for what her retinas just locked on to. Staring directly at her, a mere 6 inches away from her face, was a being that wasn't Human but also wasn't ET, or at least any ET Maddy had ever seen. The visual was too much for her to handle all at once.

"My apologies, madam. The stress of your transit combined with the shock...well, of seeing me was probably not an optimal setting for your emergency arrival. Unfortunately, with very little time to adequately prepare, summoning a Terran lead physician was not an option."

"But...you are..."

"Yes, I am part Human. I am also part Arcturian, and my name is Chelle." responded the Hybrid physician.

While Maddy remained in a state of shock, the doctor called over several assistants to help her address Maddy's medical condition. Chelle opened the note that Dr. Rayleigh had affixed to Maddy's hair prior to departure.

"You can read English?" Maddy said weakly. "Our doctor was worried-"

"Dr. Wilheim, please save your energy. You and your son are in critical condition. Please relax and remain still. I am going to prepare you for emergency surgery."

Dr. Chelle didn't wait for a reply. After visually (or perhaps mentally) communicating with one of her medical assistants, a sedative was administered. Within less than a minute, Maddy was unconscious and quickly removed from the Time Chair and relocated to an external facility.

The Chancellor watched all of this unfold from an adjacent viewing room. He was concerned for the Chancellor's well-being. Quintavius was also genuinely surprised. The last person he would have expected to appear in that chair was Madeleine Wilheim. Adding to his disbelief was that she was with child. Still, he fully realized that the situation could have been far worse. Their last "medical experience" twenty-two Earth years earlier caught them off-guard. It was an unfortunate group oversight that they failed to anticipate. Early, emergency arrival...

At that time, and even after accounting for the three-minute advanced warning, Quintavius only had two and a half hours to prepare for an unknown emergency of unknown magnitude. Given that unfortunate reality, he summoned as many physicians as he could find. Thankfully, and luckily, his people were able to medically diagnose the situation quickly and with no loss of life. Today, the Terran male who's cardiac event precipitated the two premature Jumps is alive and well and unlikely to experience any future pulmonary disorders. Good fortune notwithstanding, the group's failure to account for unforeseen (early) medical care was an inexcusable critical mistake. It was a lapse that Quintavius made sure would never happen again. In the 22 Earth years that followed the initial incident, a state of the art emergency medical complex was constructed, quite literally, around the Chair itself. Given that moving the device was never an option (since its precise location was required for the returning crew), Quintavius did the next best thing. The facility, which was known as Xendus (which means 'harmony' in Arcturian), was built in record time using both ET and Terran resources. During the 19+ Earth years that it's been up and running, countless lives have been saved and/or improved. And now, as a fitting bonus, Xendus was fulfilling its intended original purpose of providing a medical safety net for the 300+ brave souls circling Sagittarius A star.

Meanwhile, back in critical care, the Chancellor had yet to regain consciousness two hours after surgery. While this development was disconcerting, Dr. Chelle had informed Quintavius that the operation was a success and that no major complications were encountered. Also, her baby, a Terran male, was in perfect health. Still, Quintavius remained concerned. In her current state, he wasn't sure if he could reach Maddy's conscious or subconscious mind. However, that wouldn't stop him from trying telepathically.

"My dear, we are so pleased to have you with us again. Your son is doing well. I can bring him by your side if you wish. Show me a sign, mental or otherwise and I will make it so."

Quintavius patiently stood by her side for several minutes waiting, hoping for a reply. His apprehension remained, however, as he realized that there would be nothing for him to see, feel, hear, or sense at this time...