Chapter Seventeen- Embyrionaic mayri Psalm 145:18-20- "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hers their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him.."

Tielle's suspicions continued to plague her the next day, but she pushed them aside and focused on the matter at hand: falling into the role of Farearian medic.

Over breakfast the next morning, the newly arrived medics were debriefed on what was known about Myll.

"We believe it to be an extremely fast-spreading virus that is possibly air- borne," the head medic, a balding man by the name of Fen Kaat informed them. In his manner, he revealed an arrogance that surpassed even the arrogance that Farearians were known for. Tielle hoped that she would go unnoticed by the man; they might have problems if he ever took it upon himself to criticize or pull rank on her.

Leitana, who had thankfully not noticed a thing out of place that morning after Tielle's nighttime prowling, raised a hand. "Why do you not think it is a bacteria or some other sort of microorganism?"

Tielle certainly hoped it was; there was no completely satisfactory treatment for viruses, and most of those that did exist also killed the cell.

Kaat actually laughed at Leitana and her completely valid question, increasing Tielle's dislike for the man. "Come now. Fareari is on the cutting edge of bacteria research, and we have all the bacteria in this galaxy catalogued and researched in our labs on Fareari. If it was a bacteria, we would recognize the disease."

Ah, that wonderful Farearian pride. Tielle raised her hand. "But there are too many bacteria to ever be able to research, sir. Isn't it possible that it is a bacteria from some small, unimportant planet where scientists have not been to and thus have not researched the bacteria there?"

Kaat didn't like that suggestion, and he fixed a disapproving stare on Tielle. "If that is so, then how did such a bacteria get here on Hidon, doctor?"

How indeed, Tielle wondered, but then understanding hit her.

**

Tielle tried not to reveal anything as the new medics were guided through the medical ward, carefully breathing through air filters as they made their way past the rows and rows of beds in what had once been the Great Hall. Tielle remembered her crowning there and then looked around at what had become of the place.

Sickness was palpable in the air, even if one could not see the patients. But Tielle was unfortunate enough to be able to, and it almost made her sick just looking at the patients.

*Oh God, give me strength. I can't break down here; doctors do not get queasy or sick from observing patients!* she prayed as she walked down the rows. In one bed, a patient was screaming and thrashing about, yelling about spiders as two nurses attempted to pin him down. In another, a young girl, whom Tielle recognized as a maid from the palace, vomited into a pail at the side of her bed.

Still farther down, a man convulsed and writhed in a seizure, on his face an expression of pain. Beside him, a young girl had broken out in hives and boils that covered her face and body.

Tielle was light-headed. These were her people! Suffering like this, without any relief from their varied and unpredictable ailments. She had to do something! She had to save them from the pain and death that awaited them!

*Oh God, please help me to succeed! I can't fail; look at them! They need deliverance, God, please give it to them!*

Her mind rebelliously flew to her father, and she had to fight for composure. How was he doing? Last she had heard, he was in a coma, but had he awoken? Was he now inflicted with some indescribably horrible pain? And how was her mother?

Her questions were answered as the medics were led into a separate room from the Great Hall. There was only one bed in the room, and beside it sat a red-haired woman. *Mom!* Tielle wanted to cry at the look of hopelessness and sorrow on her mother's tired face.

Monitors and wires of all kinds were hooked to her father, lying still in the bed. He looked sallow and thin, and there was an aura of death around him. Shari seemed to know it too, and she ignored the medics and Tielle as she gazed at her husband with sorrow written across her face.

"Here we have the former king of Hidon," Kaat narrated with a sneer, "who fell into a coma and has been monitored ever since. We do not expect him to survive much longer unless a cure can be found, and even if he does survive, there is a great chance that he will be impaired and probably a-" he paused with a snicker, "-vegetable."

A vegetable! No! Not her father, who was so strong and resolute and determined. Reduced to a mindless presence, confined to a useless body? No!

The thought followed Tielle around the entire afternoon, putting her in a sort of mental haze that made her thankful she was merely reviewing scans of Myll's patient's brains and the dark blur that had been identified as the deadly illness. She didn't have to concentrate very much, and she thanked God that she didn't actually have to deal with any patients.

She had fifteen minutes for a short break in the middle of the afternoon, and she pushed all her grievous thoughts aside and slipped away once again into the secret passages. Hurrying because she knew her time was limited, she accessed the system and tapped into her uncle's files.

Because she was next in line to the throne, she had unlimited access to everything but her father's files, while Klane's access was limited and he didn't even know that she could look at them. She smiled wickedly to herself. If she found what she was looking for..

Quickly pulling up records of the Klane's past credit transactions, she slowed down and cleared her mind. What should she be looking for? What would point to her uncle deliberately poisoning her world?

Well, what did her uncle want? Why would he do such a thing?

To kill her father.

Fury slipped to the front of Tielle's emotions. That was it! He wanted the throne for himself! It probably wasn't even the Farearians who had sabotaged her three oldest siblings in that hover-car accident- it had probably been him!

And he had probably assassinated Arilana, too!

As furious as that made Tielle, a peace descended on her. *Focus, now. Focus. What are you here for?*

The small voice made Tielle focus on the matter at hand, and she logically thought, *Well, okay. If Klane wanted to rule Hidon, he obviously wouldn't want to wipe the population out (although he's still doing a good job of it), and so would have a cure ready for after her father died.*

Scrolling down, she searched for any transaction that hinted at such a cure existing.

Bingo. A large sum of money had been transferred to Malaar, to a company by the name of Malaar Pharmaceutical.

The purchase? Sofran, Tielle read, and looked at the note that Klane had made to himself. *Cure for Entinioblueic mayri,* Tielle read, and she almost exploded in excitement. Did she not only have the person responsible for Myll, but a cure *and the name of the disease??*

She exited Klane's files and went to a database where she excitedly wrote "Embyrionaic mayri", thankful for her photographic memory. If this was in fact Myll, she would have the scientific name embedded in her memory, which would be extremely useful.

Her results came up quickly, telling her that Embyrionaic mayri, or Em may, as it was better known, was a bacteria (ha! So it *was* a bacteria!) that caused an extremely fatal tropical disease, if left uncured.

The disease, the short information continued to say, was common on Wren, Faant, and other poor, tropical planets.

Faant! Jenai had worked on Faant!

It was all coming together, and Tielle's head spun as she worked through a plan, discarding the idea of returning to the masquerade of being a Farearian doctor. There was no time for that; she had to get Sofran and get Jenai to Hidon.

She couldn't do both; she needed help. Time was too precious and the numbers of deaths were rising daily. She would have to go to Malaar and pull rank to take Klane's Sofran, but someone else could go get Jenai..

There was only one person who knew how to find Jenai.

She needed Chayden.