Free The Begining (The Navigator Book 1) by Ben Winston

Hyperspace Research lab was one that had stayed, but expanded into multiple departments.
    Doctor Lenard Symms was the head of Navigator Health and Safety. It was his responsibility to continue to try to improve the working conditions for Navigators and the effect Hyperspace had on them and the surrounding areas.
    “Dr. Symms, shouldn't he be awake by now?” Becka asked with concern.
    “I don't know for certain what, or how much, damage was done to him Rebecka. The nano's are reporting that he's doing fine, but they are keeping him in a coma until they can finish repairs to the blood vessels in his head,” Symms replied. "They do tell us that they are almost finished, so I should imagine that they'll let him awaken sometime after that.”
    “I guess I don't understand why they need to fix things in there. I mean how much damage did he take? Is it going to affect his navigation ability?” Becka asked.
    “I don't believe so, Becka. The only thing I'm worried about is his vision; they did report damage to his visual cortex,” Symms replied.
    “If he's blind, then he won't be able to navigate! He has to see the terminal to perform the equations!” Becka said.
    “Relax Becka; we have made sure he will have the ability to see, it just won’t be the way he’s used to," Symms replied.
    “Huh? What does that mean?” Becka asked.
    Symms frowned. “One of the things the nano's were originally designed to overcome was the loss of one of the senses. Even if the eyes themselves are severely damaged, they can still build a form of prosthetic. I'm told it isn't exactly like normal vision, but in a lot of ways it is somewhat superior,” Symms explained.
    She put her hands on her hips. “You people aren't doing this to him on purpose are you?” The thought made her angry.
    “No! That would be very unethical and criminal to boot. No one is going to use anyone as a guinea pig while under my care!” Symms replied somewhat frostily.
    Becka was a little surprised at the amount of revulsion the doctor felt. She knew he was telling the absolute truth.
    “I'm sorry, Doc. It's just that, the last time Joe put himself at the mercy of black-ops doctors, they messed with him a lot,” Becka said, apologizing. “In fact, I'm really surprised he actually agreed to undergo the nanite treatment to begin with. You do know they had to mess with his genetics too don't you?”
    “Yes, I got his medical brief from Dr. Ortegon at Darkwater when we brought him in,” Symms paused, “I think I should amend my earlier statement about guinea pigs; I intend to install a magnetic shield device in him, to keep this from happening again, but I won't do it without his full knowledge and consent.”
    “What will that do to his own bio-magnetics?” Becka asked.
    “If the device is installed correctly, it will be using the naturally produced field to generate the shield. I'm actually pretty confident he'll have full control of the field, so he can attenuate it to perform his duties, then ramp it back up so he can shut out the noise of others.” He looked around conspiratorially before taking her arm and stepping away from Joe's bed. 
    “This is just between you and me, Okay?” He asked in a subdued voice.
    Becka simply nodded, but looked a little worried.
    “No, it's not bad. In fact, it's probably very good if my theory proves true. You see, I think your beloved over there is probably the strongest Navigator we've ever seen. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he goes farther than just navigating," Symms said quietly.
    “What do you mean? What's your theory?” Becka asked.
    “I caution you, it is just a theory and it sounds crazy as hell. However, when you told me how Joe described feeling hyperspace, I got to thinking about the nature of Navigators. You see, I was on the team that did the original Navigator research.
    “Cassandra told us that she could 'feel' hyperspace and that was how she always knew where she was and were