"Normal human temperature is '98.6 degrees Fahrenheit' in their measurements of heat. It's about 207.45 microunits. I don't know how to determine his current temperature nor do I know how to bring it down," Tech admitted. "We looked through several information databases and found tools called 'thermometers' but they are on Earth."
"It also appears that there are several Earth sicknesses that have the same symptoms of 'high fever', 'coughing', 'delirium', and 'dizziness', some of the sicknesses have different reasons for different symptoms," Impulse finished.
Red sighed. "In other words, you have no idea what to do."
Tech and Impulse shrugged sadly, "Sorry," they said together.
Red shook his head and glanced down at Ben. The child was fast asleep on the bed and looking a bit more peaceful now that he was fully asleep. He sounded stuffy and his breathing seemed almost painful, but he didn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort and that was good enough for the large alien.
Finally, Tech spoke up. "Think he'll be okay?"
Red leaned back in his chair and nodded. "I hope so. I hope he'll be okay, that is," Red corrected himself.
The other two aliens weren't sure how to respond to that, and so they didn't.
Hoverboard sighed as he put the call through to Max with a heavy hand. The last thing he wanted to do was call Ben's grandfather and tell him that his grandson was practically unconscious due to an illness that they didn't know how to treat.
Max picked up the other end of the phone after about a minute of waiting. "Yes?" he asked, sounding a little hopeful. Hoverboard guessed that he was waiting for Ben to call.
"Hello Mr. Tennyson," Hoverboard said gruffly, then paused. "Um…"
Max watched the assertive alien fail and jumped into the conversation. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Hoverboard sighed, and rubbed his forehead. The crystals that made up his body grated together in a painful sound but Ben didn't press it as Hoverboard got ready to talk. "Ben is… sick," he said finally. "Really sick. We don't know what to do or how to take care of it, and so…" he trailed off, not sure how to end.
"You want my help," Max said softly, letting it sink in. "Oh boy," he murmured and rubbed his chin with his hand. "Is there any possible way to get Ben down to Earth? I'm no doctor, I don't know how to diagnose and treat human sicknesses."
Hoverboard looked upset. "I don't know," he said finally. "It would be difficult, but doable. It may take a day or two though."
"How bad is he?" Max asked.
"High temperature, coughing, he called for his mother," Hoverboard listed the problems grimly. "I think he's asleep now, though."
Max bit his lower lip and frowned. "Do what you can to get Ben down here. He needs a doctor."
Hoverboard nodded. "I'll do my best. Do you have any suggestions to help before then?"
"Cold compressions for the fever," Max said slowly. "I don't suppose any of you knows how to make chicken soup?"
"Excuse me?" Hoverboard asked, clearly puzzled.
Max shook his head. "Never mind," he dismissed. "Make sure he gets lots of liquids and soft foods. When he wakes up ask him about it, he'll tell you what he feels like eating. He's 10 but he knows better."
"All right," Hoverboard said, mentally taking notes of the list. "Anything else?"
Max shook his head. "No, just make sure he's comfortable and try and get him back on Earth as soon as you possibly can. If it's a bacteria then he needs medication and that you can't get up in space. He also needs a diagnosis, and for that you need a doctor."
Hoverboard nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best."
Max sighed and looked at the screen intently. "I'm going to call his mother," he said finally. "It's her son. She needs to know when he's sick enough to take to the hospital."
"But Mr. Tennyson, we can't let him stay on Earth. What will you do when we go back into space?" Hoverboard asked, alarmed that Max would even consider such a thing.
"We'll worry about that when it comes. But there's nothing worse then not knowing about your family," Max said softly. "Don't worry. I'll think of something when the time comes."
Hoverboard had a small stare down with the human before realizing that he was dead serious and not budging on the issue. Finally the large crystalline alien nodded. "Very well," he growled.
Max nodded seriously as well and bided Hoverboard goodbye with a promise to call back later.
Hoverboard shook his head and prepared to call the council. Intergalactic war or not, Ben needed help and he had every intention of doing everything in his power to give it.
Ben groaned and buried his face into his slightly damp pillow. He felt dizzy, hot and in a generally irritable mood as he returned to the land of the living.
Red bent over the grouchy child and smiled for his benefit. "Hello?" he asked.
"Hey," Ben muttered, clearly not in the mood to talk.
Red took in the subtext and cheerfully ignored it as he continued to press Ben for information. "So, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Do I have to answer?" Ben replied darkly.
"It may help in our cross examination of your symptoms in order to find out what is wrong," Tech said.
Ben muttered something into his pillow that was intelligible to the three aliens in the room. Accelerate, Stinky and Sun came into the room just as Ben decided to brave the world and turn over.
"Hey kid," Sun said with a small grin. "You okay?"
Ben made a face and stuck out his tongue. "I feel hot, my chest hurts, everything aches and I want my headache to go away," he grumbled. "No."
Red and Stinky exchanged glances, not sure how to handle the irritable child. It wasn't exactly something they had been trained for as ambassadors.
"You don't have to be so snippy," Stinky said finally.
Ben grumbled and flopped face first back into his pillow. Apparently being nice was too much of an effort for the human. Red looked back at the other aliens and shrugged.
Everyone else decided to leave the room and it's crabby occupant. Red stayed behind to watch over Ben as they went to the eating quarters to ponder what turn their little adventure in human watching was going to take next.
"He's a little ungrateful," Stinky complained. "We're just trying to help."
"He's sick," Impulse noted kindly. "Any child would act the same way. We keep on forgetting he's 10 unless he acts like it."
Sun snorted. "How could you forget?"
Umi rested his arms on the edge of the tank of water he was floating in. "Why are all of you so worried? He is the holder of the Omnitrix, not your little sibling."
"Because unlike some here, a few of us actually have hearts," Accelerate hissed softly. "He is a living creature you know."
"You're taking it to personally," Umi insisted. "The Omnitrix won't come off so easily, what if in the end we have to make a decision based on his life or the fate of the universe. Which would you choose?"
There was a pregnant silence as every alien in the room shifted uncomfortably. "We can't afford to let emotions get in the way of our mission," Umi said finally.
"I think we're all beyond that," Sun muttered. "There's a sick 10 year old kid on board and I think right now that takes some kind of priority."
"You're missing the point," Umi growled.
"No, you are!" Sun shot back. "It's not about the Omnitrix, Umi. It's about the people it's affecting. It's about everyone else in the universe that needs help."
"Exactly," Umi said darkly. "Everyone else. Could you choose to save all those other, unnamed innocents if it meant giving up the life of one child?"
Sun glared fiercely at the sea dwelling alien before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.
Tech blinked slowly and turned back to Umi. "Your logic is correct numerically," he told Umi. "But morality cannot be measured in numbers."
Umi sighed and rubbed his head. "I looked like the bad guy, didn't I?" he asked hoarsely.
"Unfortunately," Specter murmured dryly.
Impulse sunk to the floor in a metal goo and flattened out. "We all have a little bit to think about," he said before disappearing into his own mass.
Hoverboard sighed and turned off the com. He let his hands fall on either side of his chair and glazed up at the ceiling. Just one day, he had to wait one day.
He didn't want to wait one day, he wanted to go at that moment. Get the child better, get Ben better. He knew his view of the mission was being skewed because of his attachment to the hyperactive Ben, but he couldn't help it. It was one thing to protect a lifeless piece of hardware; it was another thing entirely to protect a living, breathing creature. Ben was alive, he had a personality and he had a conscience. It wasn't the same.
Hoverboard didn't know what to do with himself anymore. He knew he was endangering the mission because he, and half his crew, was growing needlessly attached to Ben. It was certainly something to mull over.
After Ben was better, that is.
Bleh, I knooooow I haven't updated in forever, and I'm sorry. School is EVIL and I'm being totally swamped but here's a new chapter for all you wonderfully patient people. I have a solid idea of where this fic is going and how it's going to end, so updates should be faster, but I don't know if they will be.
Enjoy the deep though angst (tm) and hopefully things will get happier soon. The drama stays though, through to the end. Yay.
Hugs to my reviewers!