Swamped

You hear clucking.

For a moment, you wonder if it's the same thing that made you hear quacking before. But then you see the swamphen fly out of the infirmary.

As you step in, you see about a dozen of them, running around and perching on whatever's available.

You also see the warden, holding a knife to Donnie's throat, and standing near the breather mask. Another swamphen suddenly pops into existence in front of her.

"Don't come any closer," she says. "I'm taking this mask, and if you do anything to stop me, the ship's only medic dies."

You're not sure how she's doing it, but she seems to be refocusing the unstable ether so it summons swamphens instead of anything more dangerous. On the whole, she's probably doing you a favor.

But you don't think it would be good to let an object out-of-time fall into her hands. You don't know how much she could learn from it, but it's a chance that doesn't seem worth taking if you can help it.

You may not be able to, though. Not with a life at stake - more than one, considering there are patients that only he knows how to deal with. So you'll need to be very careful about what you do next.