by Eric Vall
“I can do a great many things,” Omni said, and now his mechanical voice was definitely smug.
“Sixty percent is not good.” Neka frowned, and her orange ears pulled close to her head in anguish.
“It is not,” Sef’sla agreed, and I could see the concern in her navy colored eyes as she looked at the Gelm in front of us.
There were not many people in the streets of the village, in fact, the place looked desolate and almost abandoned. It was almost as if the atmosphere had changed when we entered the place, too, since it seemed colder, darker, and gloomier than our journey here. The Gelm who were on the street coughed as they walked, and one of them struggled to pull the rope that brought up the water from the well.
I quickly rushed over to assist, but I’d gotten ahead of myself and forgot to introduce my crew and me. The poor Gelm who had a hold of the rope dropped it immediately as I approached, and he fell to the ground in an attempt to back away from me.
“It’s okay,” I said quickly, and I held my hands up. “I just wanted to help you get water.”
“This is CT,” Lorn added as he ran to my side and helped the small Gelm male up. “He wishes to help us with the plague.”
The other Gelm regarded his leader, then myself with skeptical eyes.
“Do you see how I breathe better?” Lorn asked, and he drew in a deep breath as the other Gelm’s eyes widened. “It is CT’s doing. They are miracle healers who came from the sky.”
I opened my mouth to explain, but thought better of it. Instead, I filled the water bucket and pulled it up out of the well to set before the two Gelm in front of me.
The smaller one looked at me with large yellow eyes, and then he dipped his head and picked up the water. It seemed we were not totally accepted by the villagers yet, but Lorn’s word had taken away their fear, so that was a good start.
“We need to assess some of the sick,” I told Lorn. “Would you talk to your villagers and find some who will allow us to examine them?”
“I will try my hardest,” the small, gray skinned male replied, and he set off further into the village.
The other Gelm who had walked back with us dispersed, and I assumed they’d gone back to their homes. Hopefully, they would tell others about us, so we could get some blood and tissue samples. We’d offered Lorn and the others the inhaler, but if we wanted a proper diagnostic, then it would be best to get it from someone who had yet to be treated. We would allow them all the inhaler afterward, of course, but we didn’t want to skew the findings.
“Lorn went to see if he could find some villagers willing to give us some samples,” I told the girls when I walked over to them.
“This town looks desolate,” Akela muttered as she looked past me into the town square.
I knew it reminded her of her own home, Theron, because it reminded me of my home as well.
“We’ll fix that.” I smiled softly at the mechanic and planted a kiss on her forehead.
Neka wrapped her tail around my wrist, and I pulled the cat-girl into me and kissed her on top of the head as well.
Sef’sla, on the other hand, was busy with her portable screen. Her eyes were fixed on the thing, and I could see the swirls of her native language in the reflection of her eyes.
“What are you doing?” I asked the Almort princess.
“I remembered I had read about an illness similar to this on the way here,” she clicked, and her eyes scanned the screen for a moment more before she broke into a smile and turned the device toward us. “Tuberculosis!”
The innocent doctor didn’t realize the screen was in her native language, and neither Neka, Akela, nor I could read it. I did recall the name, though.
“Is that an old Earth disease?” I asked, and I narrowed my eyes in thought.
“Yes,” Sef’sla responded, and she brushed her finger on the screen so it flipped through images of different diagrams and pictures of the afflicted. “This infection killed many people in early Earth civilizations, and they too would cough up blood.”
“How did they cure it?” Akela asked as she furrowed her brow in concentration.
“They used something called antimicrobial drugs,” the princess said with a frown, “but this ailment was caused by bacteria, so it was not considered a virus. If Omni is correct that the Gray Cough is a virus, then we cannot treat it in the same way.”
“Maybe not,” I said, “but we’ll know more once we run some tests. Similar symptoms could at least give you insight into how the illness attacks the body.”
“I suppose you are correct,” Sef’sla sighed. “I’d hoped the ailment was more similar so we could study it further, but it seems my memory has failed me.”
“You have not failed,” I told the beautiful Almort woman before me as I reached out to cup her cheek. “You are working to help these people, that’s all that matters.”
“Thank you, CT,” Sef’sla clicked, and she moved her hand up to rest against mine.
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at the princess. She was a smart, cunning, and incredibly fierce individual. Her knowledge of the world outside of her planet was limited, but she pushed herself every day since we left her home world to try and rectify that. I knew she wanted to do good for people, and I never wanted her to feel as though she wasn’t doing enough.
“CT,” Lorn said as he approached us once more, and his small body came to stand before mine so I had to look down at him. “I have found Gelm who will provide you with samples.”
The male gestured behind him to several thin and sickly-looking individuals. I realized then the way to tell the difference between the male and females of the species was to look at the horns. The male horns were a deep charcoal color, and much larger than the females, which were a softer gray. The females were also smaller in stature, which was almost unbelievable considering how small the males were already.
There were two females and three males behind Lorn. They each had bags under their yellow eyes, and they took turns coughing into their palms.
“Hello,” I murmured as I took in the sight of the pitiful creatures. “I’m CT. My crew and I are here to help you.”
The sickly Gelm barely looked at me, and they seemed like they were about to collapse. Concern filled me as I glanced back to Lorn, since he had begun to cough once more, but Neka quickly handed him the inhaler.
After the small male used the medicine, he attempted to pass it to another of the injured, but I held my hand out to stop him.
“We must take samples first,” I said. “They cannot have medicine until we take samples, but we will make sure they get it right away after we are done.”
Lorn looked to his fellow Gelm, who still hacked and wheezed, and his eyes filled with sadness. Then he turned back to me and handed me the inhaler.
“I understand,” he intoned.
“Thank you,” I told him sincerely before I turned back to my crew. “Let’s get these samples quickly, I don’t want them to have to go without medicine for long.”
“Right,” Akela agreed, and she pulled open her duffle bag.
Sef’sla did the same to retrieve her own equipment, but Neka stood and bounced on the balls of her feet.
“What can I do?” the cat-girl asked.
“How about we find somewhere to make everyone more comfortable?” I suggested.
“Okay!” Neka agreed with a grin, and she reached up to paw at her shiny necklace when the light from the sun gleamed off it.
“Lorn.” I turned to the Gelm leader. “Do you have a place we can take these people? One where they can sit and be comfortable?”
“My hut is just this way,” the short, gray male said, and he led us a few huts down and stepped inside the small building.
The home was built for the Gelm, so it was much too small for me to get into comfortably, but Neka and Akela crouched down and went in just fine.
Sef’sla, though, had the same problem I did, since she was basically as tall as me.
I
n the end, the princess and I decided to get on our knees to enter the dwelling. The exterior was definitely mud and brick, and the inside was not much else. The floor was no floor at all, simply the ground beneath our knees, and where I would think they would have couches or beds, there were only leaves from the plants we’d walked by on our way to the village. A small fire pit sat in the middle of the round home, with a metal pot balanced above it on a makeshift spit.
The Gelm volunteers sat on the bed of leaves and allowed Sef’sla and Akela to work, while Neka waited to hand each of them the inhaler once their samples had been taken.
Akela’s gaze was intent as she used our advanced tools to collect small bits of blood and tissue from each Gelm.
Meanwhile, Sef’sla inspected the patients for other symptoms: fever, rash, etc. I heard her ask Omni what the temperature of the Gelm should be, and then she made notes about each individual’s symptoms and shook her head as she reviewed them.
I suspected Neka had the most fun as she watched each of the Gelm suck on the inhaler and instantly breathe a bit easier. It was a nice sight to see, and though I watched it multiple times in a row, it never got old to witness someone feel better.
“Do you have everything you need?” I asked the women after a few moments.
“I think we’re good,” Akela said, and then she turned to Sef’sla. “You good?”
“I am finished, yes.” The Almort woman nodded.
“Do we know anything yet?” I asked as I looked over to the Gelm, who smiled for the first time since Lorn introduced us. They chatted among themselves and seemed happy with their newfound ability to breathe properly again.
“Not quite yet.” Akela frowned. “O needs a minute to process the samples. We should go back to the ship so we can help out first hand.”
“I agree,” I said, and then I turned to Lorn and the other Gelm. “Thank you all for allowing us to take samples from you.”
The Gelm looked at me with wide eyes, and I could tell they were still in awe of the inhaler we’d provided them with. It seemed they would listen to anything I said at the moment.
“We must return to our ship to process these samples,” I continued. “We will be back soon with more medicine. In the meantime, please keep this inhaler and give it to anybody who needs it.”
“We thank you for your gift, Miracle Healer,” Lorn intoned and bowed, so everyone else did, too.
“We will be back soon,” I repeated. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“We will await your return,” Lorn promised with a serious nod, and it was then that I realized this species was kind of cute.
I had the urge to reach out and stroke his soft, velvet horns, but I resisted and stood up to leave instead.
We quickly made our way back to the ship, and once we were on the Lacuna Noctis, I waited on the bridge with Neka as Akela and Sef’sla worked with Omni to process the samples.
Neka was curled half asleep in her chair next to mine, and her yellow eyes flickered behind her eyelids as she let out low purrs.
While we waited, I scanned through the old data Terra Nebula had on the Gelm. I wanted to see if there was anything useful about their physiology or their planet that could tell us where this plague had come from. As I looked through the data, though, it became increasingly clear Terra Nebula didn’t care about the people of the world whatsoever. There was barely anything regarding their physiology besides their outward appearance and what a few initial scans had come up with about their temperature and organs. Most of the data was based around the mior that sat below the planet’s surface, which was the real treasure Terra Nebula and any other Corporation would be after.
I sighed as I continued to flick through the data on the screen.
“Why don’t you just go ask them to help?” Neka suddenly questioned with a stretch.
“Because the last time I went in there, Akela nearly threw a chair at me,” I chuckled.
“That was over an hour ago,” the cat-girl giggled. “I’m sure things are better now. Besides, Sef’sla is there.”
“I think Sef’sla is more scared of Akela than I am,” I snickered.
“I’ll go with you!” Neka bounded to her feet and grabbed my arm to try and pull me out of my chair.
“Neka,” I groaned, “I’m sure they’ll come tell us when they’ve figured something out.”
“Oh, come on,” she pouted. “I’ll do the talking. Come on, CT, please!”
“Fineeee,” I chuckled and stood up. I loved and hated when Neka used her pouts against me. On the one hand, they were absolutely adorable, but on the other, I could never say no when she directed one my way.
I reluctantly allowed the cat-girl to pull me down the hallway toward the room we’d recently transformed into Sef’sla’s medical workspace. The hydrofarm was next door, but there was also a full medical lab and treatment facility, since Akela had gone all out when it came to making the Almort princess feel at home.
We approached the door, and I hesitantly reached my palm out to open it.
“Hurry up, CT!” Neka yowled as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
I sighed and reached my palm up to activate the door mechanism. Then it slid open with a whoosh to reveal Akela and Sef’sla bent over a table with a large screen in front of them. The Almort princess also had a few potted plants along the farm wall, and the pop of green was a sharp contrast to the otherwise gray room.
“Hi!” Neka chirped as she bounced over to her friends. “Have you figured it out yet?”
“I think so,” Akela chuckled.
I’d hung back to see how good of spirits the mechanic was in, but with that sentence, I instantly rushed forward to look at the data.
“Really?” I asked as I came up behind the three women.
“Your machine healer is very talented,” Sef’sla said with a wide grin that revealed her opalescent teeth.
“Psh.” Akela rolled her eyes. “We have the medicine because of you, I only figured out a way to administer it.”
“We have a cure?” I asked, and my eyes went wide with astonishment.
“Not exactly.” Akela winced.
“We don’t have a cure?” I clarified, and I felt my eyebrows pull together in confusion. “Then what do we have?”
“It is not a cure,” Sef’sla said with a frown. “Not a true cure, but it will help significantly.”
“The medicine Sef’sla has created will drop the mortality rate to less than five percent,” Omni said through the ship’s speakers.
“That’s great!” I grinned, and I watched Akela and Sef’sla smile in return. “So, how does it work?”
“Omni and I were able to use some of the Gelm DNA to modify one of the healing plants we had on board,” Sef’sla explained, and she gestured to the several plants along the wall.
I had to smile at her reference to the AI. When the Almort princess first came on board, she didn’t understand him well and often referred to him as my “machine.”
“It basically acts like an antibiotic,” Akela elaborated, “but we put it in the form of a liquid, and I was able to reverse one of the blood samples so we can inject the medicine right into their bloodstreams.”
“That way they will become healed faster,” Sef’sla said with a wide, opalescent grin. “This is an antibiotic from my home planet. After some research, we realized we could use it to stop the virus, and Omni helped me to use the Gelm DNA to modify the properties so the antibiotic will be appropriate for them.”
The Almort princess walked over to her small plants, but it seemed she and Omni had used one of the fast grow lights to cultivate more of one in particular. It stood much taller than the rest, with beautiful red flowers that came from the center, and it was surrounded by deep blue leaves. The plant smelled like the ocean and tides, and as I breathed it in, I missed Proxima V and all the beauty it had to offer.
“Excellent,” I congratulated the amazing women in front of me. “Will the antibiotic stop the spread of the vi
rus?”
“Unfortunately not,” Sef’sla hissed and frowned.
“This contagion is really something,” Akela added with a shake of her head. “It’s extremely difficult to kill, I was surprised we were able to create what we did. Sef’sla really came through with the herbs.”
“I’m not surprised one bit.” I smiled. “You two are incredibly brilliant.”
Akela and Sef’sla blushed at the same time. The mechanic’s cheeks turned a deep red while Sef’sla’s turned a deep blue, and they both looked down.
“If the medicine won’t stop the spread of the disease, then will we have to give the medicine to all of the Gelm?” Neka asked as she looked over the small plants.
“We could,” Akela said, and she pursed her lips. “That’s probably what we’ll have to do.”
I thought for a moment while I looked over their data on the translucent screen in front of me. I trusted my mechanic when she said this thing was hard to kill, but still, there had to be a way to stop this disease.
“How is the virus spread?” I asked as I studied the data.
“We believe it is airborne,” Sef’sla said.
So, that was why it was so difficult to stop. Anybody who came into contact with an infected individual was at risk. Was there a mask that could prevent the spread? Or …
“What about a vaccine?” I gasped as the idea popped into my head.
“What is a vaccine?” Sef’sla asked, and her head tilted in confusion.
“A vaccine!” Akela exclaimed as her jaw hung slightly open. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“What is this vaccine you speak of?” Sef’sla repeated with a frown.
“It’s like the medicine you created,” I explained, “but instead of treating the virus already in someone, we put a weaker strain in first so their body can fight off the virus. That way, they form a natural immunity and won’t have to get sick at all.”
Sef’sla stared at me in awe, and her large eyes were wide with wonder.
“Is it possible?” I asked Akela.
Before the silver haired mechanic could answer, Omni cut in.
“I believe, with a few modifications, we could have a vaccine produced in a few hours,” the AI announced.
