******
" Wait a minute. If you're doing what I think you're doing, than you're contradicting yourself. Didn't you say that she couldn't take Chem N in liquid form? That it would eat up her flesh the way any acid would? So what's to stop it from melting her skin as a gas? Sarie?"
" Neonicanide has different properties in gas form." She explained along the way," For it to become a gas, it has to combine with a molecule of the oxygen in the air. This is caused by a complicated combustion process..."
" Okay, I'm a doctor, not a chemist. In English please. Just to speed things up."
" Sufficed to say, when Chemical N is combined with the oxygen in our air, it becomes neutralized. Don't ask. I can't explain it. I just know this from studies."
" Oh. So she's just supposed to snort it like snuff? Good grief, it's like giving a patient with lung cancer a cigarette!"
" Not exactly. See I think Chem N, as you call it, isn't just like breathing air is to you and me. It could be closer related to fish breathing in water. Some fish can actually get nutrients from the water around them, and I think that's what she needs."
" You think?" Paul said skeptically, stopping the stretcher.
" That's my theory, Paul." She added sardonically," In case you haven't noticed, her situation wasn't exactly in the med. school trainee's handbook."
Paul gave Sarie a long hard look, turning his gaze to the girl breathing through the respirator. Finally, he spoke without turning back to look at her.
" Well, you've never gone wrong before. Let's try it."
" Try what?"
Paul looked up. Standing in a small hospital gown, a little blond boy looked at the doctor. In his hand he clutched a very large teddy bear, obviously new - the price tag with {6 credits} was still hanging from its hand.
" Oh, don't worry, Harrey." Paul moved to push the boy gently back into his room, " It's nothing you need to worry about."
" Who's that?" The kid peeked gingerly around Paul's arm at the body beneath the sheet. " Is that person dead."
" No, Harrey, she's not dead. We're just going to perform a little experiment..."
" Are you going to look at her...inside stuff?" Harrey looked pale.
" No, Harrey. We're not going to do surgery. Now you go back to your room, and don't worry about her. She'll be fine."
" What's her name?"
" Harrey, please move aside."
" You should tell him who's under the sheet, doc. Or he'll never let you go."
Paul glared at the newcomer, a slightly taller boy, dressed in normal civilian clothes. He frowned.
" Talen, you should know by now why we can't do that."
" Enlighten me."
Paul growled beneath his breath.
" Tell you what, Talen. Why don't you come along, see what we're doing. And come back and tell Harrey. That way, Harrey can still find out, and not have to get out of bed."
" Wonderful idea." Talen followed solemnly.
Talen shooed his little brother back into hs room, and followed after Paul. Harrey peeked out once more, before going back inside, shutting a door. The sign wobbled slightly with the impact, but the papers stayed clipped to the board.
Harrey Aisth - Lung Surgery
______
" Who is she?" Talen looked at her.
" Her name is Sayakuri. She's around the same age as you."
" No she's not. See? It says here she's ten. I'm eighteen."
" My mistake." Paul murmured, though Sarie could detect just a hint of wickeness.
" There's a mistake on the charter." Sarie mumbled," From my guess, I'd say she's about 12? Harrey's what?"
" Younger than me." Talen mumbled.
" How old is Harrey, Talen?"
"...Thirteen in a few months..."
He moved a strand of hair from his eyes, than watched as they loaded the hospital gown, bandage swathed, patient into the room. She was tied to a contraption, which lifted her up, her head lolling down to her chest like a rag doll, black hair scattered. Suddenly, Sarie began to lower the oxygen in the room. Talen acted on instinct.
" What are you doing? You're going to suffocate her. Or shrivel her at least. And she's not exactly pretty now, imagine what no oxygen is going to do."
" Talen, don't be mean. And there's something we need to share with you. She doesn't breath oxygen. Well, not entirely anyway."
" Shh. Sarie. Look. I'm releasing Chem N."
Slowly the room inside began to fill with a purplish colored gas. Talen watched. She was going to suffocate in that air! He was wrong of course. Slowly, Sayakuri roused. She mumbled something, and looked around.
______
My first instinct was to panic, but sensibility took over, and I looked around calmly. Was I back? No. The room was too bright. I wasn't back home. I was somewhere that was supposed to mimic home. Somewhere new. I looked at my wrists. They were bound by some kind of rope-like material. Nothing I couldn't handle. With a brief jerk, I snapped the cords and with a shriek, I fell to the floor. Stupid! I should have checked everything before I just let myself go like that. Rubbing sore spots all over me, I looked around. So. The enemy feeds me. What were they planning to do...Fatten me up to eat? I'd heard very little about this race, having only known the intense hate that Mother felt for them. So, really, I had no idea what their culture was like. Come to think of it, Mother had given me little preparation to survive in this environment. What had she been expecting me to do?
Well, for now, I was to observe. That's what she'd said. So, that is what I would do. No sooner had I made up my mind, then the food began to drain away. Taking one last gulp of nourishment (perhaps they intended to starve me...so it would be best to take in as much as possible), I watched as a doorway opened in the wall before me. Two individuals of the enemy walked in, and I could feel a burning rage grow inside me. I was one of these people that had hurt my mother. But, not for long. Soon, I would join the Hive. Soon, mother would make me perfect. Make me like them.
______
" Sickly little thing, isn't she?" Talen murmured.
" Hush, Talen. You would be too if you'd been raised by a smart mothering Fetdor."
" Paul!"
" Well how else can you explain how she survived? Aliens?"
He chuckled. Nobody laughed. Sarie seemed to contemplate this...
" Aw, come on, Sarie." Paul exasperately sighed. " I was trying to be funny..."
" Oh, was that the effect?"
" Shut up, Talen," Paul turned back to Sarie," Come on, you aren't seriously thinking of taking what I said seriously...are you?"
" That was some seriously conplicated bio-engineering..."
" But, aliens! Sarie, if you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly on the best terms with extra-terrestials."
" But, think about it...who else would have the know-how to..."
" Mars to Sarie...hello...THEY DESTROY OUR SHIPS. They take the crew and passengers and do God knows what...What makes you think they'd spare a human child, of all things?"
Sarie went silent.
" Uh, docs," Talen turned," Hate to be a bother, but your patient..."
He pointed at the spot where Sayakuri had been, and the open doorway. She was gone.
" Wait a minute. If you're doing what I think you're doing, than you're contradicting yourself. Didn't you say that she couldn't take Chem N in liquid form? That it would eat up her flesh the way any acid would? So what's to stop it from melting her skin as a gas? Sarie?"
" Neonicanide has different properties in gas form." She explained along the way," For it to become a gas, it has to combine with a molecule of the oxygen in the air. This is caused by a complicated combustion process..."
" Okay, I'm a doctor, not a chemist. In English please. Just to speed things up."
" Sufficed to say, when Chemical N is combined with the oxygen in our air, it becomes neutralized. Don't ask. I can't explain it. I just know this from studies."
" Oh. So she's just supposed to snort it like snuff? Good grief, it's like giving a patient with lung cancer a cigarette!"
" Not exactly. See I think Chem N, as you call it, isn't just like breathing air is to you and me. It could be closer related to fish breathing in water. Some fish can actually get nutrients from the water around them, and I think that's what she needs."
" You think?" Paul said skeptically, stopping the stretcher.
" That's my theory, Paul." She added sardonically," In case you haven't noticed, her situation wasn't exactly in the med. school trainee's handbook."
Paul gave Sarie a long hard look, turning his gaze to the girl breathing through the respirator. Finally, he spoke without turning back to look at her.
" Well, you've never gone wrong before. Let's try it."
" Try what?"
Paul looked up. Standing in a small hospital gown, a little blond boy looked at the doctor. In his hand he clutched a very large teddy bear, obviously new - the price tag with {6 credits} was still hanging from its hand.
" Oh, don't worry, Harrey." Paul moved to push the boy gently back into his room, " It's nothing you need to worry about."
" Who's that?" The kid peeked gingerly around Paul's arm at the body beneath the sheet. " Is that person dead."
" No, Harrey, she's not dead. We're just going to perform a little experiment..."
" Are you going to look at her...inside stuff?" Harrey looked pale.
" No, Harrey. We're not going to do surgery. Now you go back to your room, and don't worry about her. She'll be fine."
" What's her name?"
" Harrey, please move aside."
" You should tell him who's under the sheet, doc. Or he'll never let you go."
Paul glared at the newcomer, a slightly taller boy, dressed in normal civilian clothes. He frowned.
" Talen, you should know by now why we can't do that."
" Enlighten me."
Paul growled beneath his breath.
" Tell you what, Talen. Why don't you come along, see what we're doing. And come back and tell Harrey. That way, Harrey can still find out, and not have to get out of bed."
" Wonderful idea." Talen followed solemnly.
Talen shooed his little brother back into hs room, and followed after Paul. Harrey peeked out once more, before going back inside, shutting a door. The sign wobbled slightly with the impact, but the papers stayed clipped to the board.
Harrey Aisth - Lung Surgery
______
" Who is she?" Talen looked at her.
" Her name is Sayakuri. She's around the same age as you."
" No she's not. See? It says here she's ten. I'm eighteen."
" My mistake." Paul murmured, though Sarie could detect just a hint of wickeness.
" There's a mistake on the charter." Sarie mumbled," From my guess, I'd say she's about 12? Harrey's what?"
" Younger than me." Talen mumbled.
" How old is Harrey, Talen?"
"...Thirteen in a few months..."
He moved a strand of hair from his eyes, than watched as they loaded the hospital gown, bandage swathed, patient into the room. She was tied to a contraption, which lifted her up, her head lolling down to her chest like a rag doll, black hair scattered. Suddenly, Sarie began to lower the oxygen in the room. Talen acted on instinct.
" What are you doing? You're going to suffocate her. Or shrivel her at least. And she's not exactly pretty now, imagine what no oxygen is going to do."
" Talen, don't be mean. And there's something we need to share with you. She doesn't breath oxygen. Well, not entirely anyway."
" Shh. Sarie. Look. I'm releasing Chem N."
Slowly the room inside began to fill with a purplish colored gas. Talen watched. She was going to suffocate in that air! He was wrong of course. Slowly, Sayakuri roused. She mumbled something, and looked around.
______
My first instinct was to panic, but sensibility took over, and I looked around calmly. Was I back? No. The room was too bright. I wasn't back home. I was somewhere that was supposed to mimic home. Somewhere new. I looked at my wrists. They were bound by some kind of rope-like material. Nothing I couldn't handle. With a brief jerk, I snapped the cords and with a shriek, I fell to the floor. Stupid! I should have checked everything before I just let myself go like that. Rubbing sore spots all over me, I looked around. So. The enemy feeds me. What were they planning to do...Fatten me up to eat? I'd heard very little about this race, having only known the intense hate that Mother felt for them. So, really, I had no idea what their culture was like. Come to think of it, Mother had given me little preparation to survive in this environment. What had she been expecting me to do?
Well, for now, I was to observe. That's what she'd said. So, that is what I would do. No sooner had I made up my mind, then the food began to drain away. Taking one last gulp of nourishment (perhaps they intended to starve me...so it would be best to take in as much as possible), I watched as a doorway opened in the wall before me. Two individuals of the enemy walked in, and I could feel a burning rage grow inside me. I was one of these people that had hurt my mother. But, not for long. Soon, I would join the Hive. Soon, mother would make me perfect. Make me like them.
______
" Sickly little thing, isn't she?" Talen murmured.
" Hush, Talen. You would be too if you'd been raised by a smart mothering Fetdor."
" Paul!"
" Well how else can you explain how she survived? Aliens?"
He chuckled. Nobody laughed. Sarie seemed to contemplate this...
" Aw, come on, Sarie." Paul exasperately sighed. " I was trying to be funny..."
" Oh, was that the effect?"
" Shut up, Talen," Paul turned back to Sarie," Come on, you aren't seriously thinking of taking what I said seriously...are you?"
" That was some seriously conplicated bio-engineering..."
" But, aliens! Sarie, if you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly on the best terms with extra-terrestials."
" But, think about it...who else would have the know-how to..."
" Mars to Sarie...hello...THEY DESTROY OUR SHIPS. They take the crew and passengers and do God knows what...What makes you think they'd spare a human child, of all things?"
Sarie went silent.
" Uh, docs," Talen turned," Hate to be a bother, but your patient..."
He pointed at the spot where Sayakuri had been, and the open doorway. She was gone.