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THE ULTIMATE EXPERIMENT: HARD SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY, PART I

June 5, 2024 at 12:30 pm Leave a comment

                                       An unpublished short story.

                                      THE ULTIMATE EXPERIMENT

George Stewart, age 94, with his mane of white hair and flowing beard, looked the part he had chosen in life, that of a distinguished scientist.  His mind wandered as he waited in his study for Virginia to arrive. He always anticipated her visits.  Twice a week she came.  Finally, the door to his study opened and she entered.

“Virginia, how are you doing?” he said.

Virginia was thirty-five of medium build and quite attractive.  But it was the nurturing she gave her patients that revealed her inner beauty.  She put down her nursing bag and replied, “How are you doing, Dr. Stewart?” although she knew the answer.

Virginia had been an oncology and hospice nurse for four years.  The work was demanding and emotionally draining, but she derived comfort in knowing she helped the people she cared for to make their last days as comfortable as possible.

“I’m maintaining, Virginia.  I’m so very glad to see you my dear.”

Virginia smiled as Stewart adjusted his body in his hospital bed.  She enjoyed spending time with Stewart, easily the most famous patient she had ever had.  In 1975, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics.  His breakthrough theories and research led to the proposal of string theory.  At his advanced age, his brain was still nimble.  But his body was riddled with colon cancer and its malignant fingers of death had spread to other organs.

Entry filed under: free science fiction and horror stories, free stories, READER'S OPPORTUNITIES, UNPUBLISHED WORKS, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories. Tags: fiction, hard science fiction, science, science fiction, Walt Trizna.