Bright rainbow lights flashed on the facade of what must be shops. The pictures from his books did not mention the delicious aromas of sweet and spicy food floating on the air. It made him hungry.
The cat sniffed the air. “Sheba smell rabbit.”
“Rabbit? Really?” Acielon could not believe these people slaughtered innocent animals for food. And they cooked their meals. He saw no familiar fruit on display and wondered whether he might starve for lack of proper nourishment.
Loud laughter and conversations mixed with blasts of rhythmic music. Musical slogans and flimsy holograms invited people inside and stated the superior quality of products Acielon would never use. He sensed the stare of strangers drilling into the back of his head. Malevolent thoughts stabbed him like poisoned arrows. Envy. Jealousy. Why? He did not even know these people.
He extended his mind reading ability, but too many jumbled thoughts threatened to overwhelm his senses. He flinched under the assaults of greed, revenge... worse, most of these thoughts aimed to thwart, control, or overcome the free will of others.
Acielon turned off his mind-reading gift. This strange world truly was the den of iniquity the Archons mentioned in their public tirades. How could anyone find happiness here? Yet, curiosity pushed him to explore.
Most of the people in the Forum looked human, like him and Fianna, some pale some dark, some purple, blue, or green. Few stood as tall as him, many without hair. Others exhibited strange shapes, with elongated heads, extra arms or legs, tentacles, or scaly skin.
A green man shoved and pushed through the crowd. He had gills and webbed hands and feet. Others yet had fur covering their entire body and did not need clothes to keep warm. Azurans came in a variety of races, but none as strange as some of these aliens. Seeing them in the flesh awed him and filled him with a sense of wonder.
Some garishly clothed tourists held small animals on a leash or carried them in cages. It seemed cruel to deprive them of their freedom.
He turned to Sheba. “Are you free to do as you please?”
The cat loosened her stride, rolling her shoulders. “Sheba protect.”
“That is a duty, a purpose. What would you do for fun?”
The feline sniffed the air. “Hunt rabbit.”
“Is it enough for you to roam free and hunt only once in a while?”
The cat snorted, more like a sneeze. “Sheba like rabbit.”
Acielon smiled. A strong sense of duty and a taste for simple pleasures. Very much like the people of Azura. Although they could fly, they could never leave their planet and did not have free will. What was true freedom?
He scanned the crowd around him. These people had free will. And what did they choose to do with it? They aimed to take it from each other. Were selfishness, greed, and lies the price of total freedom? Were good and evil two sides of the same coin? No wonder the Archons struggled to keep balance in the universe. Good seemed in short supply here.
Yet a few humans managed to remain pure of heart in the midst of villainy. Fianna was indeed different from most of her people. Like an angel among the depraved. Her smiling face filled his mind. He missed her warmth, the softness of her skin against his.
How long would it take to process Tarkan? Acielon hoped the treacherous man, who seduced and degraded Fianna long ago, would remain in prison for the rest of his life.
Acielon longed to be alone with Fianna, surrounded by peace and quiet, far from this maddening human spectacle of hate and corruption. He could only face this kind of humanity in small doses. Even his Azuran abilities could not shield him from the assaults of so many selfish minds with dark, gnarly thoughts.
In the midst of this iniquity, Acielon heard an angelic string of music. It emanated from the far side of the forum, and the notes seem to counteract the surrounding villainy and elevate the thoughts of those who listened... so he followed the ethereal harmonies to their source.
* * *
Fianna stepped lightly out of the elevator onto the Forum. Tarkan now stewed in a maximum security cell, and the reward credits had been transferred. The hospital accepted payment for her brother’s surgery, and the surgical robots now scanned him to operate on his spine. In a few hours, Maksou would walk again.
The aroma of cooking food made Fianna’s stomach growl. She spotted Acielon’s tall silhouette in front of an art gallery, among the tourists watching a harpist performing on a small stage. Fianna pushed and shoved her way toward Acielon in the crowded square. Most made way at the sight of her hip blaster and badges.
Fianna walked faster. She now heard the harmonies as the musician’s agile fingers plucked the cords, making the notes cascade like swift water falling and splashing around rocks.
Overhead, the flood lights mimicked the trajectory of an imaginary sun. It would be mid afternoon on an earth-like planet. Byzantium-5 followed a twenty standard hour Circadian rhythm of night and day, waking and sleeping hours, at least in the public zones and commercial areas. The core of the station itself never slept and remained brightly lit. Robots, maintenance crews, and security teams worked in shifts around the clock.
Before she could call him, Acielon glanced back at her. How did he do that? She waved at him and could not repress a joyous smile. In a few more steps, she was in his arms, relishing his warm embrace.
Sheba rubbed her big head against their thighs. “Sheba hungry.”
Fianna chuckled. “So are we, big girl.” She gently disengaged from Acielon’s hug. “Any food preference?”
Acielon grimaced. “I do not eat flesh.”
“Sheba and I do. So I suggest the Tropical Hut.” She pointed to a structure with an awning made of palm fronds.
She hooked his arm and led him toward the eatery. “All you can eat buffet. You can have the fruit you crave.”
“They have fresh fruit here?” He sounded unconvinced. “Are they any good?”
“Of course.” Fianna enjoyed the contact of his strong arm under the sky-blue jacket. “We have hydroponic groves and chemically grown crops of all kinds. Even the meat is grown in labs. We do not raise or kill animals... we only replicate the most edible parts.”
“Truly?” His face remained guarded. “And what will you eat?”
“It’s been a while since I had a pineapple burger and sweet fries.” The very thought made her mouth water. “And Sheba will want her favorite shredded rabbit, luau style. Right girl?”
Sheba licked her black lips with a long pink tongue. “Good rabbit.”
Acielon raised a dark eyebrow. “They have wild rabbits in this place?”
Fianna chuckled. “For Sheba, any kind of meat is rabbit, whether it’s wild, raised on a farm, or grown in a lab.”
“I see...” Acielon frowned at the store front. “Why are the palms so green? They usually turn brown after they are cut. And they seem lifeless.”
Fianna smiled. “They are artificial... just for decoration.”
Acielon shook his head. “What a strange place. I have a lot to learn about your world.”
Fianna took his arm as they walked inside the eatery. “And after lunch, we’ll go see my brother in the hospital. He should be awake by then.”
Acielon smiled and patted her hand. “I cannot wait to meet him.”
Chapter Fourteen
The hospital corridor crawled with robots on wheels and floating carts. Acielon shuddered, reminded of the maintenance robots that almost jettisoned him out of the Silver Angel. Large screens on the walls of each room lit up with portraits, names, graphics, and red pulsing lines. Empty benches lined the walls.
As he walked behind Fianna and Sheba, Acielon extended his gifts but sensed no pain, no joy, no vibrant dreams, just a faint whisper of mere survival, numbed by potent drugs. He saw no other live beings, except for a glimpse of a patient through a room door left ajar. No one seemed to care, not even the sick themselves. How did they expect the patients to heal and recover in such a dismal environment?
Fianna walked to a screen w
earing the name Maksou Grosvenor. “Update on this patient, please.”
A human-looking robot appeared on the screen. “Welcome Officer Grosvenor. I am the operating surgeon for this patient. How can I help you?”
Fianna took a slow breath. “How did my brother’s surgery go?”
“The operation itself went without incident.” The synthetic voice paused. “Unfortunately, the procedure did not bring the expected results.”
“What do you mean?” Fianna turned pale.
Acielon encircled her shoulders, ready to support her.
Sheba rubbed her head against Fianna’s hip.
“The patient’s nerves were too badly damaged. Although I re-attached them correctly in every way, it seems the procedure failed to restore lower body function.”
Tears welled in Fianna’s eyes. “Does Maksou know?”
“Not yet. The patient is still asleep.”
“Is he in any pain?” Fianna’s voice caught.
“No.” The artificial face lacked empathy. “His nerves are not connecting. He feels nothing from the waist down.”
“It’s my fault. I was too late.” Fianna buried her face in his shoulder.
Acielon could not stand seeing her so distraught. He inhaled the sweet fragrance of her short blond hair and kissed the top of her head. He must ease her distress. “These machines do not know everything.”
Fianna straightened and wiped a tear. “I should have killed Tarkan when I had a chance and brought back his head. Or I should have returned earlier and sold the crystal to pay for the surgery. Going to Azura was all for nothing.”
“Not quite.” Acielon squeezed her shoulder gently. “Tarkan is back in prison.”
She looked up at him and flashed an apologetic smile then leaned her body against his. “And more importantly, I met you.”
“I am glad you remember that.” Acielon forgave her on account of her pain. “If Maksou is still asleep, how do they know the procedure did not work?”
The robotic surgeon on the screen raised one hand. “Our constant monitoring of the patient tells us what is and what is not functioning in his body.”
Acielon could not accept such a final verdict. He discreetly floated Fianna’s crystal pendant from under her clothes into his hand.
Sheba caught the movement and blinked at Acielon.
He winked at the cat. “Stay with Fianna and keep secret.”
The cat shook her head but remained at Fianna’s side.
“Thank you, kitten.” Acielon kissed Fianna’s cheek and whispered. “Let me try something.”
Fianna nodded and returned her attention to the screen. “What is the next step? Are there other options?”
Acielon slipped into the room behind the wall and closed the door.
Maksou lay in the white bed, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling with each peaceful breath. Acielon could see the family resemblance in his handsome regular features. He looked younger, but not as innocent and pure as Fianna. He did not trust authority and had no regard for the law. Still, the young man could tell right from wrong and had a good heart.
The wall above the bed pulsed with lights. Scrolling text updated his physical status every few seconds. No physical or neurological response to lower body stimuli... procedure result: fail... patient otherwise healthy.
Acielon sat on a chair next to the bed and focused his mind on Maksou, searching for the exact point where his spinal cord had been severed. Behind closed eyes, he could see the reattached nerves but sensed no life in them, no flow of energy whatsoever. Maksou was truly crippled. What a shame, for such a young man to be deprived of his legs.
Acielon felt as if someone was watching him, so he hid the pendant between his joined hands, then focused all his energy upon it and let the crystal enhance his healing gift. Blue brilliance filled the room. He laid the crystal on Maksou’s abdomen over the white sheet and covered the gem with both hands. Then Acielon closed his eyes and willed the healing energy to mend the young man’s damaged nerves.
He pored all his life force into the healing. For Fianna’s happiness, for the young man’s redemption, for the forces of good and for a brighter future. His entire body tingled with the outflow of healing energy. His limbs felt heavy. He could barely move. But Acielon would not stop until he succeeded... even if it cost him dearly.
He kept his eyes closed, even as the room whirled around him. He struggled to remain straight in his chair. Then a chime on the monitoring wall announced a status change. Acielon opened his eyes.
Faint positive response to lower body stimuli... returned minimal nerve activity... increasing nerve activity... nerve activity climbing steadily... expected to continue climbing... procedure result: success... patient expected to improve all the way to normal lower body function.
Acielon removed his hands and the crystal from Maksou’s belly and leaned back in his chair. He could barely hold up his head, so depleted by the energy drain. He also realized he’d lost his Azuran abilities... all of them... possibly forever... but it was for a good cause... for Fianna’s happiness.
* * *
In the Blood Eagles’ lair, far below the civilized levels of Byzantium-5, Ragnar scratched his newest neck tattoo as he watched the illegal security feed monitoring Kid Hacker’s hospital room.
“Wow!” Ragnar yelled above the noisy air scrubber releasing foul smells between fluttering black ribbons. “You guys need to see this!”
“What?” Valkyrie rose nonchalantly from the mattress in a corner of the dank room.
Another Blood Eagle, Rollo, walked in from the adjacent room, cleaning his fingernails with the sharp tip of a throwing blade. “What’s with all the racket, boss?”
“There was light coming out of his hands!” Ragnar replayed the recording for them and froze the image at the burst of light. “Look at this!”
“Weird.” Valkyrie checked her fingernails.
Rollo seemed more interested. He should, as his second in command. “What did he do?”
“I don’t know, but the monitors now say Kid Hacker is on his way to a complete recovery.”
Rollo frowned. “But the surgery failed.”
Valkyrie adjusted her tight, revealing bodice. “Who is this freak, anyway?”
“Never seen him before.” Ragnar touched the screen. The computer scrolled the ID database for facial matches. “No match. He’s not from this star system.”
“An alien then, and a freaky healer to boot?” Rollo smoothed his shaved head.
Valkyrie rubbed her hips against Ragnar’s shoulder. “This Kid Hacker has strange friends.”
Ragnar searched pictures of the new arrivals, comparing them to the man’s face. One pinged and matched a picture from the Security HQ parking garage. “More like a friend of his sister. Look. He was with her when she delivered Tarkan.”
“Freaking bounty hunter. Disgusting.” Rollo spat at the screen. “I wonder what happened to the rest of the Dragon Squad.”
“Still no sign of them.” But Ragnar had an idea.
Valkyrie sighed. “They could all be dead. Good riddance. We can finally rule the slums without competition.”
“Or, maybe the Dragons found Kid Hacker’s planet and the mother lode...” Ragnar smiled. “And that’s where Fianna found Tarkan. And the freaky healer comes from there, too.”
Rollo grunted. “So, he must know where it is. Let’s bring them in and find out.”
“Not Fianna.” Ragnar grimaced. “As a licensed law enforcer, she is untouchable on Byzantium-5. Questioning her would bring uniforms to the slums and a world of hurt to the Blood Eagles.”
Rollo smoothed his shaved head. “Kid Hacker is healed and conscious. Let’s go and interrogate him.”
Ragnar shook his head. “Not while Fianna is on the station. She protects that kid like a mother hen.”
“The stranger, then. No one will care if he disappears.”
Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “Fianna might get pissed if he’s her specia
l friend.” She smiled suggestively. “You know what I mean.”
Ragnar shrugged. If the Dragons had found the mother lode, he wanted a share of the loot. After all, they were all from the same slums, like lifelong derelict brothers. “Fianna doesn’t need to know who took her friend or why. Outworlders disappear from this place every day.”
Valkyrie laughed. “That, they do.”
Ragnar turned to Rollo. “I’m going to the hospital. Come with me. We need to borrow an ambulance.”
“Yes, boss.”
* * *
Acielon hid his struggle to sit straight when Fianna rushed into the hospital room, followed by Sheba.
“What just happened?” Flushed, she stopped next to him and glanced at the screen above the bed. “Full recovery?” She turned to Acielon. “The surgeon said he would need a chair or an exoskeleton.”
Acielon forced a smile. “I guess the operation succeeded after all.”
Sheba stood and laid her front paws on the bed then licked Maksou’s face.
Fianna narrowed her eyes at Acielon. “What did you do?”
Acielon discreetly dropped her pendant into her hands.
“You did this for me?” She bent over his chair to kiss him.
Their lips touched softly. Acielon relished the contact but was too exhausted to respond with the passion he felt for her.
On the bed, Maksou cleared his throat. He was awake, and rubbed Sheba’s head. The cat purred with pure delight.
Maksou chuckled. “Don’t mind me, you two lovebirds.”
Fianna straightened and squealed. “You are healed!”
“It worked?” Maksou raised his head and stared at the white sheet covering his legs. His toes wiggled underneath. Sheba batted playfully at the wiggling toes. Maksou laughed.
Fianna rushed to the bed and hugged her brother. “I was so scared. But you are healed, although it didn’t seem like it at first.”
Acielon noticed the two siblings had the same green eyes and the same dimpled smile. He was glad to have helped Maksou.
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