A small fire created by yours truly lit the cave that was providing us a temporary hiding place from our captors. I was feeling a little ill, from the lodestone in my port, but Lise was in terrible shape and only getting worse. She was unconscious mostly, but even when she did wake up for a few minutes, she wasn't all there. She called me Honey Bear and kept insisting that we get to some jumbled up place that sounded something like 'Addacktry'.
I hadn't slept or rested at all in what felt like days. I was just about to give in and take a little nap when I heard scuffling near the cave entrance. 'Oh crap! They've found us!' I thought frantically, trying to think of a place to hide. I grabbed Lise, sack she was in and all, and tied her to my back. I crawled to the corner of the cave and pushed myself against several flatter rocks.
Instead of seeing our captors, this huge beast crawls in. I'm not talking about something the size of Tyr. This thing was the size of a small shuttle craft. Its scraggly fur is dark, and even in the dim light, I can see its long, pointed claws. The thought of what this thing could do to me scared me enough to send me flying towards the cave's only entrance once the beast was a couple of feet into the cave.
A loud thumping and growling followed me. Its claws even grazed my shoulder, which sent me moving even faster. It was broad daylight outside, but I didn't care if anyone saw me. I ran like I'd never ran before in my life. I knew the beast had stopped following me, but I continued running until my head started to spin. I looked behind me and saw nothing following me, so I dropped to my knees. I waited for my breathing to return to normal. I needed to exercise more. A lot more.
"Who are you?" I heard a voice ask from behind me.
I grabbed a wrench out of my pocket and turned around. "Hey, I'm armed. You better keep back."
"You're going to hurt me with that thing?" An attractive woman with a light complexion and dark hair wearing a long dark dress laughed warmly before becoming serious again. "You're both hurt. Let me take you to my village."
Who am I to turn a pretty girl down? "Yeah, I think we could both use a little doctoring."
"It's not far from here." She helped me to my feet, and we started walking. "We have the best doctor around."
"Do you have any couriers?" We had to get Lise back to Andromeda. Trance could help her more than anyone else.
"Couriers?" She seemed very confused.
"Yeah, you know the ships that take messages from point A to point B in three hours or it's free."
"Oh...no, we don't. Technology beyond the basics is not permitted."
"Is it punishable by death or anything like that?"
"No, we just choose to live a simpler life."
"Well, I need to contact my ship."
"Orian has a courier ship come once a week."
"When does it come next?"
"In six days."
"So we're basically screwed."
"What do you mean?"
"She's gonna die, and I'm gonna end up where I was before. Isn't life just great?"
"A courier landed over in that direction, probably near Marion's Landing, an hour or so ago."
"I have to get there now!"
"It's a two hour trip on foot. You wouldn't make it."
"You wanna bet? I'm a lot more capable than I look, thank you very much." I turned around and started heading in the opposite direction.
"I guess that means you want to be eaten by Ghuari? It looks like you've already seen him."
I stopped in mid-step and swung my leg around to face her. "How do you know I've seen that beast?"
"Your shoulder. It's bleeding, and your clothing is torn."
I glanced down at my shoulder. It had a large gash in it, and blood soaked through my torn shirt. I hadn't noticed it before. I wanted to go back and kick that animal's colossal ass for ruining my favorite shirt. I dug my boots into the dirt and cursed under my breath instead. Getting back to Andromeda was most important. I could always go back and shoot it with a large laser rifle later.
"I could have someone take the message to Marion's Landing for you," she suggested.
"Thanks. Is that your village?"
We approached twenty or thirty cottages surrounding a large center cottage. There were men and women dressed in similar dark clothing working and walking through the village. There were no signs of technology whatsoever. They glanced at me strangely. My colorful blue shirt and bright orange pants didn't really fit in. I just hoped they wouldn't go hostile on me. I pulled my shirt collar up into an uncomfortable position to cover my port.
"Yes, this is Highland. Our doctor is in that cottage over there." She pointed towards a cottage on the far side of the village. "We should hurry. Your friend is looking worse."
Lise was paler than before. Her breathing was ragged as cold sweat trickled down her forehead. I walked quickly through the people that had gathered to watch me. The cottages were so perfectly uniform it was creepy. I couldn't point out a single difference between them. The doctor's cottage had a single difference from the others, a blue banner over the door. The woman knocked on the door.
A moment later, a short middle aged man answered the door. "You're both hurt. Come in." The doctor ushered the three of us inside.
The interior was mostly undecorated, except for a few paintings on the walls, and the furniture was spartan. The entry room had two doorways in it, both having a curtain hanging over them instead of a door. The floor was wooden and creaked when I followed the doctor into one of the other rooms. The woman seated herself in one of the chairs in the entry room. I glanced back at her before I parted the curtain and walked into the next room.
"Lay her on the table." A long wooden table was in the center of the room. I carefully untied the sack from my waist and slid Lise out of it. I lifted her and gently placed her on the table. She softly groaned. I noticed the area around her cerebral port had begun bleeding again.
"She's probably got an infection in her cerebrum," I said.
"Do you know that technology such as this is forbidden in our village?" He became foreboding.
"I didn't intend to end up here in your village. I've been through hell like you wouldn't believe the past day. And I don't care if it's forbidden. You've gotta help her!"
"I came here to avoid technology, and I don't have to help her. And I won't."
I grabbed him by his collar and slammed his back into the nearest wall. "You're going to help her. You took the damned Hippocratic oath at one point, and I won't let you defy it now!"
The fear was latent in his eyes. "There isn't anything I can do. My medical tools aren't capable of helping her."
"Then get some that are." I glared at him.
"I can go down to Orian and get something that might help." He was shaking in fear now.
"Go now. And don't come back until you have it."
He ran out of the room, and I heard the door slam. Lise was still unconscious. I was glad she didn't see that. There was a side of me I couldn't let her see. She needed the Harper that made wise cracks all the time and that didn't seem capable of hurting anyone. She didn't need to know that I agreed with Machiavelli. If the end justified the means, I would do almost anything. Losing Lise wasn't an option.
I hadn't slept or rested at all in what felt like days. I was just about to give in and take a little nap when I heard scuffling near the cave entrance. 'Oh crap! They've found us!' I thought frantically, trying to think of a place to hide. I grabbed Lise, sack she was in and all, and tied her to my back. I crawled to the corner of the cave and pushed myself against several flatter rocks.
Instead of seeing our captors, this huge beast crawls in. I'm not talking about something the size of Tyr. This thing was the size of a small shuttle craft. Its scraggly fur is dark, and even in the dim light, I can see its long, pointed claws. The thought of what this thing could do to me scared me enough to send me flying towards the cave's only entrance once the beast was a couple of feet into the cave.
A loud thumping and growling followed me. Its claws even grazed my shoulder, which sent me moving even faster. It was broad daylight outside, but I didn't care if anyone saw me. I ran like I'd never ran before in my life. I knew the beast had stopped following me, but I continued running until my head started to spin. I looked behind me and saw nothing following me, so I dropped to my knees. I waited for my breathing to return to normal. I needed to exercise more. A lot more.
"Who are you?" I heard a voice ask from behind me.
I grabbed a wrench out of my pocket and turned around. "Hey, I'm armed. You better keep back."
"You're going to hurt me with that thing?" An attractive woman with a light complexion and dark hair wearing a long dark dress laughed warmly before becoming serious again. "You're both hurt. Let me take you to my village."
Who am I to turn a pretty girl down? "Yeah, I think we could both use a little doctoring."
"It's not far from here." She helped me to my feet, and we started walking. "We have the best doctor around."
"Do you have any couriers?" We had to get Lise back to Andromeda. Trance could help her more than anyone else.
"Couriers?" She seemed very confused.
"Yeah, you know the ships that take messages from point A to point B in three hours or it's free."
"Oh...no, we don't. Technology beyond the basics is not permitted."
"Is it punishable by death or anything like that?"
"No, we just choose to live a simpler life."
"Well, I need to contact my ship."
"Orian has a courier ship come once a week."
"When does it come next?"
"In six days."
"So we're basically screwed."
"What do you mean?"
"She's gonna die, and I'm gonna end up where I was before. Isn't life just great?"
"A courier landed over in that direction, probably near Marion's Landing, an hour or so ago."
"I have to get there now!"
"It's a two hour trip on foot. You wouldn't make it."
"You wanna bet? I'm a lot more capable than I look, thank you very much." I turned around and started heading in the opposite direction.
"I guess that means you want to be eaten by Ghuari? It looks like you've already seen him."
I stopped in mid-step and swung my leg around to face her. "How do you know I've seen that beast?"
"Your shoulder. It's bleeding, and your clothing is torn."
I glanced down at my shoulder. It had a large gash in it, and blood soaked through my torn shirt. I hadn't noticed it before. I wanted to go back and kick that animal's colossal ass for ruining my favorite shirt. I dug my boots into the dirt and cursed under my breath instead. Getting back to Andromeda was most important. I could always go back and shoot it with a large laser rifle later.
"I could have someone take the message to Marion's Landing for you," she suggested.
"Thanks. Is that your village?"
We approached twenty or thirty cottages surrounding a large center cottage. There were men and women dressed in similar dark clothing working and walking through the village. There were no signs of technology whatsoever. They glanced at me strangely. My colorful blue shirt and bright orange pants didn't really fit in. I just hoped they wouldn't go hostile on me. I pulled my shirt collar up into an uncomfortable position to cover my port.
"Yes, this is Highland. Our doctor is in that cottage over there." She pointed towards a cottage on the far side of the village. "We should hurry. Your friend is looking worse."
Lise was paler than before. Her breathing was ragged as cold sweat trickled down her forehead. I walked quickly through the people that had gathered to watch me. The cottages were so perfectly uniform it was creepy. I couldn't point out a single difference between them. The doctor's cottage had a single difference from the others, a blue banner over the door. The woman knocked on the door.
A moment later, a short middle aged man answered the door. "You're both hurt. Come in." The doctor ushered the three of us inside.
The interior was mostly undecorated, except for a few paintings on the walls, and the furniture was spartan. The entry room had two doorways in it, both having a curtain hanging over them instead of a door. The floor was wooden and creaked when I followed the doctor into one of the other rooms. The woman seated herself in one of the chairs in the entry room. I glanced back at her before I parted the curtain and walked into the next room.
"Lay her on the table." A long wooden table was in the center of the room. I carefully untied the sack from my waist and slid Lise out of it. I lifted her and gently placed her on the table. She softly groaned. I noticed the area around her cerebral port had begun bleeding again.
"She's probably got an infection in her cerebrum," I said.
"Do you know that technology such as this is forbidden in our village?" He became foreboding.
"I didn't intend to end up here in your village. I've been through hell like you wouldn't believe the past day. And I don't care if it's forbidden. You've gotta help her!"
"I came here to avoid technology, and I don't have to help her. And I won't."
I grabbed him by his collar and slammed his back into the nearest wall. "You're going to help her. You took the damned Hippocratic oath at one point, and I won't let you defy it now!"
The fear was latent in his eyes. "There isn't anything I can do. My medical tools aren't capable of helping her."
"Then get some that are." I glared at him.
"I can go down to Orian and get something that might help." He was shaking in fear now.
"Go now. And don't come back until you have it."
He ran out of the room, and I heard the door slam. Lise was still unconscious. I was glad she didn't see that. There was a side of me I couldn't let her see. She needed the Harper that made wise cracks all the time and that didn't seem capable of hurting anyone. She didn't need to know that I agreed with Machiavelli. If the end justified the means, I would do almost anything. Losing Lise wasn't an option.
