DAR
I get Pina's call just as I'm getting ready to leave the planet. "Go ahead, Pina."
"Are you still on the planet?"
"Yes, why?"
"I need you to get some things for me and then get back as quickly as you can." She relays a short list. "Time is of the essence, Dar."
"Understood." I hurry back out of the ship and back to the store. I hope that her call means that she's found out what's made Zedd so ill. I acquire what she needs and head back for the ship. As I load up, I'm on high alert. The last thing we need right now is for someone to get the drop on me as well.
I'm barely finished loading the ship when I see Pina's informant across the square. I beckon her closer, as she seems a little timid. Though given she typically only ever deals with Pina I suppose that's understandable. "I'm not going to harm you child, I have something to give you for your help earlier."
Still looking leery at not seeing Pina, she however does cross over to me. "Your friend's okay?" Hopefully he will be.
"Not okay yet, but at least he's safe. Thanks to you." Once she's close enough, I slip her two cards - the one from Pina and one from my own personal stash. I was saving it for something special, but that'll keep. Still, I repeat Pina's words. "It's a down payment on what we owe you."
She nods and I continue. "One of them has fifteen hundred on it." She looks up at me, eyes shining. I have no doubt to her that's a small fortune. "The other one has fifty thousand." As her mouth falls open in shock, I say, "Pina will bring you the rest next month."
Before she can say any more, I hurry away. As quickly as I can, I get the ship moving. I may not be able to land a ship as precisely or gently as Pina can, but I'm fairly skilled at fighter type flying. In spite of the size of Zedd's ship, I'm going to put my skills to good use and shave off some time on the return trip.
An hour and a half later, I'm landing the ship in the hangar. I've managed to cut the time by half an hour, but I guarantee if Zedd ever saw what I did to do it, he'd have a heart attack. I'll worry about the other supplies in a little while. I snatch up the things that Pina needed and hurry to the infirmary.
Tommy's perched on the edge of the bed, still trying to keep his mate cool as Pina paces the floor. "I'm back."
They look up, surprised. "You made good time" Tommy comments as Pina takes the packages from me.
"I might have cut a corner or two."
Zedd's voice is weak. "Goldar."
"Don't worry, Zedd. Your ship doesn't have a scratch on it."
Reaching for me but not seeming to be able to truly see me, he shakes his head against the table. "Need to distract the Rangers. Have to hurry, send Scorpina."
"What?" What in all the hells is he talking about? Looking at the other two in confusion, I definitely do not like Pina's worried look of avoidance.
"He…he's not himself right now, Dar" Pina explains absently, already working to concoct what is hopefully something to help him.
I look at Tommy, whose mouth is set in a tight line. "It's his fever, Dar. He's hallucinating." And even I know that's not good.
Moving to the table and feeling his head, I'm amazed he's still conscious with how fevered he is. "It's fine, my lord, I'll take care of the Rangers, just rest. You were injured, you need to rest now."
"But have to stop them." Moving as if trying to sit up, I now see why Tommy is perched as he is, as he's quick to urge him back down.
Helping Tommy get him resituated, I do my best to soothe whatever fantasy situation is playing out for him right now. "We will, everything's under control. Rest. You need to rest."
Ten minutes later, Pina's administering the medication. "Now we wait. If we made it in time, he'll start improving in the next few hours."
"So what is it?"
"Vesirokko."
Vesirokko? Where the hell have I heard that before? Wait… "Isn't that a children's disease?"
She nods slowly. "It is, but if not contracted as a child it's often times fatal if caught as an adult. It's what Annwyl had him injected with, I would assume not knowing he'd never had it before…for his sake I assume." She snarls as the pen in her hand snaps suddenly under the pressure she's applied to it.
"How did you find out?"
"The tests I did weren't showing anything, so Tommy suggested that he try. He took a few things to his lab and when he came back, he suggested that that's what it might be. I did some different tests and it turned out he was right."
"That - makes no sense. How would he even have heard of it, much less think to suggest that's what's affecting Zedd?" We haven't even gotten half of the supplies he needs for his lab. And I'm starting to have my suspicions about what was in that bundle he brought with him…
"I don't know and, if this works, I don't really care."
"If this works?"
Her face is sober. "As I said the same disease that's only a nuisance in children can be fatal in adults, especially if not treated quickly, and for all our effort we weren't exactly as quick as I would have liked."
Tommy speaks quietly. "How does it spread? What is it like?"
"Airborne" Pina answers. "At this point, we've all been exposed, but I know that I've had it. Dar?"
I nod. "The brat, on the other hand-"
"Oh hell" Pina sighs. "Maybe the Phadosian/human genetics will protect him."
"What is it?" Tommy asks again.
Pina reaches for one of her medical books as she speaks. "The primary symptom is an itchy, blister-like rash plus fever, headache, tiredness and a loss of appetite. Here look."
She shows him a picture in her book. He blinks at it, stunned. "That's what he has?" Pina nods and he starts to laugh. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."
"How?" I demand.
"Unless I'm mistaken, on Earth we call that chicken pox and I've had it."
After a startled moment, Pina rushes over to her desk and begins cross-referencing. A few minutes later, she shakes her head. "I swear, Tommy, you have the devil's own luck. It is essentially the same. Close enough that you shouldn't catch it, at least."
"After all the crap that's gone wrong in my life, it's about time something went a little right" he sighs. "At least this time, there are three of us to take care of Zedd rather than one of us to care for three."
I speak as casually as I can. "So how did you figure it out, brat?"
"I have my sources and ways" he answers evasively. The downside of him getting better is that he's a fast thinker and now he's catching things that he wouldn't have when he first came here. I exchange a look with Pina, fairly certain that we're on the same page on this. Unfortunately, dealing with whatever he has going on will have to wait until we're sure about Zedd's health.
In the meantime, there are supplies to be offloaded. I head out, telling them what I'm doing and to let me know if anything changes. After several trips, I'm nearly finished and decide to take a little side trip on my way back to the hangar. I make my way down to the dungeons. Zedd's and Annwyl's layouts are almost exactly the same and it's not long before I find the only locked door - the same one where Zedd was being held at Annwyl's place.
I grab the nearby keys and open the door. My suspicions are confirmed at the sight of Tommy's prisoner hanging from chains from the ceiling. "Well now, looks like the brat brought himself home a pet."
My voice seeming to rouse him, he raises his head slowly. Realizing that I'm not Tommy however a good bit of life and fight seems to return as he says, "Thank the powers. Get me out of here."
I raise an eyebrow at this demand. "Excuse me?"
"I said get me out of here." Shaking the shackles on his wrists to emphasize his point, he is sadly mistaken if he thinks he's getting away with making any demands on me.
"First of all, who the hell do you think you are to demand I do anything for you? You are not my employer, my family, or my mate, so I will tell you now to watch your tone before I remove your tongue. Second, you aren't my prisoner and I'm not here to free you." Instead, I draw back and hit him. "And you are out of your mind if you think I'd just let you go. Zedd's lying up there, maybe dying and I guarantee you, if he dies and his mate dies with him, I will get revenge for them both."
"I wasn't trying to kill Zedd!"
"I know that." Grabbing stool from across the room I sit down studying him critically. No, Tom was definitely a step up from this one. Perhaps he's a bit younger and more impulsive, but as far as appearances go, the brat has the Eltarian beat. "You think I'm as clueless as your lackeys? I saw the damage you did to my friend, I know systematic torture when I see it. Hell, I mastered in it. The virus, an understandable mistake I suppose, but still a stupid one."
"Then let me go before that damn human comes back here."
"There's that demanding tone again. As for that damn human as you call him, I'll remind you that that's Zedd's mate you're talking about, as well as your very possible executioner."
"But he's just a human!"
"And they bonded just the same. You know what that means to us. Zedd could no more have ignored that as he could just stop breathing."
Heaving a sigh and hanging his head in what one might see as defeat, but I feel is more aggravation, his response is something I should have expected. "A forced bond is easily broken."
I shake my head. "It's not a forced bond. Zedd has been bonded to him for some time now. Really if my understanding of it is correct, since Tom was no more than still a child really."
"Why are you defending this? I know you, you hate that human. If there's one thing I've learned about you in all the time I've done business with you it's that that damn creature is at the top of your hit list!"
"Things change." He opens his mouth to speak again but I cut him off, hitting him again. "That in mind, any business we had is over. You came after my family. If I'd had anything to say about it, you'd have died in your own dungeon for that. However, Zedd's mate is more devious than I gave him credit for. You know that he's perfectly in his rights to do with you as he will and I'll not sway him one way or another. However I say this, you will wish that I'd gotten to end your life when we'd rescued Zedd, because that boy-" Suddenly unable to help the rather evil laughter from escaping me, I shake my head. "-that boy could put even me to shame at times. And right now, I feel certain that this is definitely going to be one of those times."
I head for the door, ignoring his pleas. I close and lock the door behind me before I return the keys to their spot. I finish unloading Zedd's ship, debating whether or not to tell Tommy that I found Annwyl. Maybe I will, just so that I can join in his fun once in a while…
