Chapter 17
Governors Island Space Port
New York City
The next morning Spencer slowly woke from the best night's sleep in his life.
But could he really say that? He slept in his mother's bed nearly every night until he left home at thirteen. Not that he ever spoke of it anymore. It had not been abusive in any way, but many considered that it might have been in some obscure fashion, that she might have been making him her replacement partner on an emotional level somehow. He'd thought about that long and hard and did not see any evidence of that being the case, but that was hard to prove. No, it was just a comfort to be there beside her. Even when she had moved in with him after Houston, he slept in a chair beside her bed where he slept remarkably well.
Was this night better than those? He might have to say yes.
It was even better than sleeping on opiates. Those deep, dark sleeps where dreams never followed. Because he felt refreshed and safe, so very, deeply safe, as opposed to hungover and worried about being caught.
It could not have been the sedative, that wore off hours ago and had been fairly mild to boot. It might have been the room, it was entirely conducive to sleeping. Everything from the deep, pillowy mattress to the soft blankets to the thick pillows was designed for it. But past that the air was cool and filtered to somehow feel like the air after a rainstorm, the lighting had been just the right sort of dimness, and there had been this faint, restful music playing that just tugged you off. These people knew how to set you up for rest.
Could all of that combined make such a peaceful, perfect sleep? Maybe he ought to get an air filter, a new mattress, new pillows….
As Spencer was contemplating this something in the room moved.
Spencer froze, instantly wide awake.
Someone else was in the room with him.
He carefully reached out to the shape on his nightstand that was his glasses. A moment later the room snapped into sharp focus. He carefully rolled over to see someone in a Q uniform just getting out of a cot beside his bed. "'morning". They said.
"Um, good morning." He replied. The person in question was blinking sleepily and not making any threatening moves. At least there was that much. "Who are you?"
"Name's Martl. I'm a Companion." They, for it was hard to tell if Martl was male or female, went to the sink on the counter and splashed a little water in their face, likely to wake up.
"Um, I have a Companion." Luke or Penelope would be here somewhere.
"Yeah, a legal one. He slept down the hall last night."
"So you stayed….here?"
"Yeah. Heal faster if you don't sleep alone? Remember?" They sat in a chair to pull on their boots. "There's a bunch of us who volunteer."
That was…interesting. "So you're my new Companion?"
"Nah. If it was meant to be we'd know by now." They headed for the door just as it opened. "Hope you feel better." They smiled and pushed past Luke on the way out.
"Who was that?" Luke asked.
"I have no idea."
Capitol Plaza Apartments
Unit #25
Washington DC
Spencer had just set down his bag on his couch when there was a knock on his door. He let Emily and JJ in. "So what did the doctor say?" JJ asked.
"He said I'll be fine." Spencer replied. "It's like a mild stomach flu, by Monday I should be all right…"
"Oh you are the worst liar." Emily said. "Not only did Penelope already call me but your doctor already sent over the paperwork. You can come back for desk duty in two weeks but you are out of the field for six, and don't even try to pull the second opinion trick again."
"Plus side, we brought Jello." JJ said, holding up a grocery bag.
Spencer spent the first three days at home, in his robe, taking the meds Essa, as he had insisted, had sent him, drinking juice and broth and eating Jello. He spent most of his time getting through his Netflix queue since Essa even forbid reading.
"Why not?" Penelope asked.
"Burns too many calories." Spencer replied.
She was quiet a moment. "You know, that wouldn't make sense for anyone else."
He spent the next five days drinking milkshakes of all kinds, courtesy of of the research of one Penelope Garcia, eating pudding, and sipping at creamy soups. Cream of chicken was not his favorite. At least now he could read again.
After that he got to ease on to the Q diet for six days before he went back to work. "Oh my god!" JJ said when she walked in the door.
"What now?" Matt asked.
"Spence is at his desk without coffee."
"Really? That might be a sign of impending apocalypse. I'll have to check."
"Very funny." Spencer said as he sipped at the thick concoction in his thermal bottle. "You know, caffeine doesn't actually do anything for us. It was the sugar the whole time. Granted I'll probably still have coffee once I'm done with this. "
"What are you drinking?" JJ asked.
"Mexican frozen hot chocolate protein smoothie. Or so the recipe claims."
"Do I want to know how many calories are in that?"
"A lot. Apparently Quadrainian Nobility has a higher caloric requirement than a human. Almost a thousand calories more. Plus he wants me to gain a pound or two a week on top of that. And my stomach is roughly fifteen percent smaller than yours with weaker musculature."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We have fifteen percent larger lungs because the atmosphere on Quadris was thinner. Although it's not outside Terran range, the Sherpa people of Nepal also have somewhat larger lungs and more efficient metabolisms. Not sure why the weaker muscles though. We also don't have the enzymes to break down certain substances in Brassicas and Lactucas. There's nothing like them on Quadris so we never evolved to eat them."
"Yeah, Penelope said something about that. If Henry ever finds out you're going to have to convince him to eat broccoli again. Didn't anyone ever notice?"
"Dr. Kimura did notice I had larger lungs, but she thought it was a normal human variation. I'm not complaining, it likely saved my life. And I never had my digestive system checked, the tests they use are rather invasive and I never thought it was that bad."
"Smaller stomach and more calories, how are you supposed to make that math work?" Matt asked.
"Rich, calorically dense food. Mom said Quadranian food most closely resembles French cuisine. Which explains why we did so well on our trip." Spencer replied. "Lots of butter, cream, that sort of thing."
"Are you supposed to be putting on any of that in muscle?"
"A little, eventually. He said he'd give me an exercise routine once I put on about twenty or so. But he said not to expect much, according to him the Nobility never really formally exercised, they had too much trouble keeping weight on. But that explains why I never made the PT tests, I didn't have enough fuel. He said I could try fencing though. I might."
None of this was quite satisfying Matt though. "You said he was military, yeah?"
"Yeah. Technically he's the equivalent of an O4. Why?"
"Is he one of their Nobility?"
"Yeah. It's Lord Linalter I guess, but he prefers doctor."
"So if he can't work out how did he get through basic?"
"You know I asked him that. He said it's classified."
"Oh, you know DIA is going to be all over that if they find out." JJ said.
Spencer nodded. "When I find out I'll send a memo."
