Tunnels 03, Freefall

the antibiotics -- have already been used up by the crew, or even taken by Martha when she came here before? She did say she lost a load of stuff on the way back to Nathaniel." He thought for a second. "And you do know that antibiotics go off if they get too warm, don't you? When I had some pills for an ear infection, my mum kept them in the fridge."
    Will was undeterred. "Look, there's got to be something here... anything... that can help Elliott. We can't have come all this way for nothing."
    With all the medicines they could find spread out on the examination table, Chester began the arduous process of trying to decipher the labels as Will held the lantern. They became increasingly despondent; either the words were way beyond Chester's limited knowledge of the Russian language, or even if they were in English, they didn't mean anything to either of the boys.
    Fretting to himself, Chester was checking through all the bottles for a second time as Will scoured every inch of the cabin to see if they had missed anything. As he began to pull the chairs from the corner, he spotted something.
    "Wahay!" he exclaimed, quickly hoisting it out and putting it on the table.
    It was an orange plastic case. He undid the catches and raised the lid. There were quite a few medicines piled inside, which he and Chester immediately began to scrutinize.
    "Amoxicillin!" Chester exclaimed, holding up a bottle of pills. "I recognize this! The GP gave it to me when I got a cut in my knee and it went pusy."
    "Amoxicillin? Are you sure?" Will asked him.
    "One hundred percent. And the use by date probably isn't even that long ago. I bet it's still safe to use it," Chester said. He suddenly grabbed Will's arm. "Christ almighty, Will! Rebecca! We left Elliott with her!"
    Will tried to calm him down. "Cool it -- we're going back there right now. I'm sure everything's just fine."
    "I don't care what you think! She's alone with Elliott! And I left my flipping rifle there, too!" Chester cried, launching himself through the doorway. Out in the gangway, he was moving so fast that he walloped his forehead against an oil lantern hanging from one of the overhead pipes, but still he didn't slow.
    With Will close behind him, they burst on to the submarine's bridge. Chester went straight to his rifle and snatched it up. Elliott was lying on the stretcher where he had left her, but the bindings and the blanket had been removed from around her.
    "What have you done to her?" Chester demanded furiously, pointing at Elliott.
    Rebecca backed away in alarm at Chester's outburst. The fact that he had his rifle in his hands made him all the more threatening.
    Kneeling beside Elliott, Chester put his ear to her face. Then he took hold of her wrist. "She's still got a pulse," he told Will.
    "I cleaned her up. That's all. I found a tank of water up front. And a bottle of iodine to sterilize it," Rebecca explained. "You shouldn't drink it, but it's okay for washing."
    "I think Elliott's all right," Chester said to Will, as if he hadn't heard a word Rebecca had been saying.
    "Chester," Will said, "She's wearing fresh clothes. Her face has been washed. Look at her!"
    "I haven't done anything to her," Rebecca insisted, almost in tears. "I was just trying to help."
    Chester caught sight of a small fire burning in the corner of the bridge. "Then what the hell's that? What's your game?"
    "I'm heating up some broth for Elliott," Rebecca replied quietly. "Thought you might like some too."
    Chester caught his breath, looking rather sheepish as he realized that Rebecca hadn't been up to anything sinister. "Right... good," he said, adding a gruff, "Thanks," as he rose to his feet.
    "Pleasure," Rebecca said, as she noticed the bottle in Chester's hand. "You found something!" She turned to Will. "Can I see it?" she asked him eagerly.
    "No, you can't," Chester replied automatically.
    "Oh, come on. Let her," Will said. "I mean, what harm can it do?"
    Chester reluctantly held the bottle out to Rebecca, who took it and studied the label. "Amoxicillin... yes, it's an excellent general antibiotic. These are 250 milligram pills, so give her a larger dose to begin with... say three or even four a day. That should do the trick if the fever's caused by a bacterial infection, but of course they won't make any difference if it's viral."
    "How do you know all that?" Chester asked in astonishment.
    "Shaking his head, Will gave a dry laugh. "If you're going to kill a few hundred million