Stranded in Space

by Rinelle Grey

  “KaGeeGee?”

  Amelie looked up, tears streaking down her face.

  Kugah showed her what he had written on the tablet. “They are not dead yet.”

  Amelie stared at the words, then up at him. Then she nodded, wiped the tears the back of her hand. “You’re right,” she said, her voice shaky.

  “Amelie? We need you. Nerris has brought the information you requested.” Tyris stood in the doorway. Perfect timing.

  Nodding, Amelie walked away from Kugah, towards Tyris. “Let’s go,” she said.

  Tyris nodded to Kugah, before following her back to the cargo bay.

  Kugah took one more look out at the stars. The universe was a vast place. One’s mistakes seemed small in comparison. He’d only killed one man, an alien who had pushed him too far, who had triggered the aggression they had engineered into him. But that was no excuse.

  Was there anything he could do to make up for what he had done? Could helping these people absolve him of some of the guilt?

  It couldn’t hurt.

  Chapter 20

  Amelie stared at the tablet in Imyne’s lap as the chemist flicked through the information about the exotic particle radiation Nerris had brought.

  The information that had finally answered one question for sure—the radiation had been present in both Folly and Kerit’s original jump and their original blood samples. It was a product of wormhole travel. One they would have to deal with before they could use the technology again.

  If any of them survived that long.

  No, Amelie wasn’t going to give up. As Kugah had said, these people weren’t dead yet. There was still a chance she could save them.

  “I need something to bind to the particles,” Amelie said to Imyne. “We need to remove them from people’s bodies as soon as possible.”

  “You have to understand,” Imyne said, “this isn’t like normal radiation. These particles don’t even exist on the periodic table. They don’t interact with normal matter in any predictable way.”

  “They must react with something,” Amelie insisted. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be causing all these problems.”

  Imyne nodded. “I’ll see what I can find, but it’s going to take a while.”

  Everything they tried was going to take a while. Except the one thing that was supposed to—ageing.

  Amelie left Imyne to study the data. If she sat and watched, she knew she’d want to keep asking if she’d found anything.

  Finding a way to deal with the radiation was only one part of the solution anyway. Even if they managed to remove the radiation, that wouldn’t lengthen the telomere’s again. The damage would still be there. Fixing it would be a separate issue.

  She pulled up the information on possible treatments again, but she couldn’t concentrate. Besides, she’d been over it countless times. There was no answer there.

  A yawn stretched her jaw, her brain apparently having decided that since she’d stopped moving for a while, then now was the perfect time to remind her that she hadn’t had more than a brief nap in the last day cycle. Not that she had any more time for one now.

  She stood up and stretched, then did a walk of the room, checking each patient’s charts, pulse, and vitals. She wasn’t going to miss another illness. Who knew what had killed Junie. She’d shown no symptoms other than the dementia. Then again, it was hard to see anything alongside that.

  As she checked a woman’s chart a few beds away, she caught a baby’s crotchety cry, followed by a voice, tired and desperate. “Just wait a minute, Camali. I can’t juggle both of you at once.”

  Amelie felt guilty. She’d handed Junie’s baby, little Camali, over to Marlee, and hadn’t thought about her since. Poor Marlee must struggling with two babies on top of everything else. Especially now that she had her own medical problems to deal with.

  But she had Tyris to help her, right?

  She stepped around the machine to see Marlee was sitting alone, Isala attached to one breast, trying to position a red faced and squalling Camali on the other.

  The angle was awkward, made even more so by little Camali’s rigid body. Amelie could see Marlee’s patience slipping away.

  “Here, let me help.”

  Marlee gave her a look of relief, tears filling her eyes. “Thanks, Amelie. I just can’t reach while Isala is attached.” She slumped back as Amelie picked up the tiny baby and helped Marlee position her correctly.

  As the second baby began to suck noisily, Amelie took a moment to look at Marlee as she lay back on the pillows, her eyes closed and her face drawn.

  The young mother shouldn’t be dealing with this. Not when she wasn’t well herself, and certainly not on her own. Feeding two babies was too much of a drain on her.

  “Where’s Tyris?” she asked, cringing at the abrupt sound in her voice.

  Marlee opened her eyes and gave a tired smile. “He went to check on our supply levels. He’s really worried we’re going to deplete them while we’re sitting here. And he also wanted to set up a roster of people to check in with those who are remaining in their quarters alone, just in case any of them fall ill.”

  Any annoyance Amelie had at Tyris’s absence faded away. He was captain of the ship, and had endless responsibilities, just as she did.

  But that didn’t help Marlee.

  Amelie tried to think of someone else who could take the now orphaned baby, but just about every person she thought of was in the same state or worse. No one here had been unaffected by this affliction.

  No one except her.

  It was her fault the tiny baby’s mother was dead. She should be the one taking the responsibility. She should be the one to care for her.

  At least until she found someone else well enough to care for her.

  She stroked the baby’s downy head, tenderness welling up in her. The least she could do was offer the infant some consistency. “Here, I’ll take Camali for a while, you need to rest, Marlee.”

  Marlee looked up at her, a frown creasing her brow. “No, I’m fine. I’m not doing anything except sitting here. You’re the one who needs to rest.”

  “I’m the only one here on this ship who doesn’t,” Amelie said roughly. “For some reason, I haven’t been affected by the radiation.”

  Marlee stared at her, and Amelie realised she hadn’t told her or Tyris that information yet.

  “You’re not affected, why?” Marlee asked. Her voice didn’t sound accusatory, just curious.

  Unfortunately, Amelie had no more idea than she did. She shrugged. “I wish I knew.”

  “Well, you need to figure out why,” Marlee said. “That could be our answer.”

  Amelie hesitated, torn. She looked around the room at all the patients she needed to care for. If she didn’t keep a close eye on them, they could die, as Junie had.

  On the other hand, she would be working non-stop just to deal with all their ailments, and that wasn’t going to solve the real problem. If she didn’t find a cure, they all would die.

  Imyne finding a way to remove the radiation only solved part of the puzzle, if she even could. What if there was a solution hiding in her own blood? There had to be something there. Something must be processing the radiation and removing it from her body. There was no other explanation.

  “Here, pass Camali to me, and I’ll get on it.”

  “You can’t care for a baby and do all that,” Marlee insisted.

  “Sure I can. Your people did all sorts of things while carrying their babies,” Amelie reminded her. “Besides, I’m just going to be looking at data on the computer. But can I borrow your sling since you’re not using it?”

  Marlee still hesitated, so Amelie said, “Doctor’s orders. You can’t argue with that.”

  For a moment, Marlee looked like she was going to try, but then Isala detached from the breast and set up a wail. She reached to pick up her own daughter, and the movement pulled her other breast from Camali’s mouth. The orphan baby joined Isala in crying, and Marlee coul
dn’t pick up both of them at once.

  Marlee heaved a sigh, and picked up Camali and handed her to Amelie. “Just for an hour or so,” she warned. “I just need a short break. Then you’ll bring her back, right?”

  “I’ll bring her back once you’re rested and more able to cope,” Amelie promised, not mentioning that she was pretty sure that wouldn’t be in an hour. She rocked the tiny baby. “Shh, little one. It’s all going to be okay. I’ll look after you, I promise.”

  Her reassurances didn’t seem to do much to calm the hungry baby, so she gave her a finger to suck instead. That did the trick. It wouldn’t last though. Camali would soon realise that she wasn’t getting anything, and cry again. She needed to get something into the baby’s tummy. Poor Marlee had been struggling to feed two. She should have seen it earlier.

  Marlee helped adjust the sling for Amelie, who’d never used one before, and then lay back down on the bed to feed Isala. Already the pair looked much more relaxed.

  Amelie smile distractedly at both of them, her mind already moving on to the tasks that the baby added to her day. She’d need the formula from med bay. But who could she send to get it? Everyone here was either caring for their partners or children, or seeing to those who were sick.

  Her eyes searched the room, and fell on Kugah changing the sheets on a bed, and her heart skipped a beat. He’d come back here after their conversation.

  Apparently he’d meant it, all that stuff about wanting to do better. He was determined to help her people, even after all they’d done to him.

  It was in that moment that she knew she had to push aside any guilt about Junie, and especially about the fact that she was holding the woman’s baby. What she needed to do was just what Kugah was doing. Do the very best she could from this moment. Regretting the past just got in the way of fixing the future.

  To do that, she needed Kugah’s help. The fact that he didn’t age meant that the radiation had no effect on him. He was the only other person on this ship who wasn’t dying. The only one she could rely on, and the only one who she could lean on when she needed to.

  “Kugah?”

  Her voice wasn’t loud, she didn’t want to wake anyone who was managing to sleep, but he heard it anyway. His head turned, and his eyes immediately found her.

  He nodded, finished tucking in the last corner of the bed, then crossed the room to where she stood. “KaGeeGee?”

  “I need some formula from med bay, to feed the baby,” she explained. “There’s a big can in the cupboard on the left. Can you get it for me?”

  Kugah simply nodded, and left the room.

  Amelie headed back to her terminal. She had data to go over.

  Chapter 21

  Kugah watched Amelie for a few moments when he re-entered the cargo bay with the food she had requested for the infant. Her face was intent, staring at the computer, but she couldn’t have been completely oblivious, because her arms were around the tiny baby in the sling, and she rocked side to side, humming a song under her breath.

  She was good at this.

  The knowledge tore at his heart a little, but he pushed it away. He’d already resolved to be her friend, and that meant helping her get what she wanted, even if he wasn’t part of it.

  With that thought in mind, he crossed the room and put the food down next to her without a word.

  Amelie turned to him, and a smile lit up her face. “Thanks, Kugah.”

  The smile eased the constriction around his heart a little. “KaGeeGee, gind?” The words didn’t come out right, and he bit back a sigh. He’d never be able to speak like the humans did.

  Amelie though, seemed to understand. A frown of frustration creased her brow. “No, I haven’t found anything yet.” She began to mix some of the powdered baby food with water as she spoke. “I’ve just been going over my test results, to see if I can find anything, but nothing stands out. I don’t know why I haven’t been affected when everyone else has.”

  She heaved a sigh, and was about to say something more when a voice said, “Dr Benton?” Folly looking nervous and uncertain, hovered at her elbow.

  Amelie looked over immediately. “What’s wrong, Folly?”

  Kugah felt a little sad that her first thought when someone spoke to her was to look for something to be wrong. But that was reality right now.

  Amelie put the end of the bottle of baby food into the child’s mouth, and the low level noise the child had been making ceased abruptly.

  Folly reached into her pocket and pulled out the little white creature that seemed to follow her everywhere. “I know it’s probably not very important right now, seeing as you have so many people who are ill, but… well… do you think Chicken is going to be affected?”

  A frown crossed Amelie’s face, and for a moment, Kugah thought she was going to tell Folly that she didn’t have time to worry about an animal when so many people were sick and dying. He wouldn’t have blamed her.

  But she took one look up at the worried expression on Folly’s face, and her own expression softened. “I would guess so,” she said gently. “Animal’s telomeres are affected just as ours would be, and their lifespans are so much shorted, I’d expect to see an effect even more quickly.”

  She frowned, staring at the little creature. “Actually, I’d expect her to be showing symptoms already. What is the lifespan of… what sort of creature is she?”

  “A skuttle,” Folly explained. “They’re native to Semala. They’re pretty shy, so we don’t know a lot about then, but I’d guess about five years, give or take.”

  “How old is Chicken?” Amelie asked sharply.

  “Two.”

  Amelie looked even more interested. “I would definitely expect her to be showing signs by now. Maybe she has some sort of natural immunity. Do you think she will let me take a blood sample?”

  Folly laughed at that. “I doubt she’ll be too keen, but we can give it a try.”

  Folly held the little creature still on the table while Amelie prepared a syringe. Chicken seemed quiet enough—until the needle pricked her skin. Then the little ball of white fluff exploded into a spitting, scratching fireball.

  “Oww,” Folly cried, and let go of the creature, who immediately scurried up her arm onto her shoulder, and then chittered at them both angrily.

  Kugah gave a half laugh. Brave little thing, despite her size.

  “That didn’t go so well,” Folly said ruefully, inspecting a scratch on her hand.

  Amelie frowned. “How are we going to hold her still to get a sample?”

  “Kugah gelp?” Kugah offered.

  Folly looked at him doubtfully. “I don’t think that’s going to calm her any.”

  “But Chicken’s going to find it pretty hard to scratch Kugah,” Amelie pointed out.

  “We can give it a go.” Folly shrugged. She pulled the skuttle off her shoulder and as she held her out towards Kugah, the little creature tried to shrink away.

  Kugah slipped his hands around her as gently as he could, careful not to hurt her. She tried to scratch at his fingers, but he couldn’t even feel her tiny claws.

  His biggest challenge was not squashing her. After a few moments, he found that if he made a kind of cage made out of his fingers, he could hold her immobile without squashing her.

  Amelie was quick with the needle, drawing a tiny drop of Chicken’s blood, then Kugah released her.

  She didn’t even bother scolding this time, just ran up the sleeve of Folly’s jacket and disappeared.

  Both Kugah and Folly were silent as Amelie ran the tests on the blood.

  “No radiation,” she exclaimed, her voice high and excited. “If she has some sort of natural immunity, that might be something we can use.”

  Another thought occurred to Kugah, as Amelie stared at the screen, that led him to an obvious question. “Kugah?”

  Amelie’s eyes didn’t move from the computer screen “Kugah, what?” she asked absently.

  “Kugah, gagiation.”

&
nbsp; “Radiation? What about it? Oh, did it affect you. Let me see.”

  Amelie turned back to the computer, and pressed a few buttons. Information came up on the screen. “No, looks like you weren’t affected either. That makes three of us. How strange. I wonder what the three of us could have in common.”

  The furrow in her brow deepened as she stared at the computer screen, as though the answer was written there. Which in a way, maybe it was.

  “KaGeeGee wit Kugah.”

  Amelie’s blank stare indicated her lack of understanding. Kugah couldn’t be bothered trying to explain. Typing was too slow. Instead, he stepped forwards and wrapped his arms and wings around Amelie, just as he’d held her the whole time the Resolution had been inside the wormhole.

  He’d been protecting her from the tossing of the ship. Had he protected her from the radiation as well?

  A small gasp escaped Amelie’s lips as he did so, her breath warm and light on his armour. But she didn’t pull back. All she did was put one hand on his chest as though to steady herself.

  He wanted to hold her like that for longer. To savour her closeness and drink in her scent. But he didn’t dare. He was afraid his closeness would scare her. Not scare her in a threatening way—he didn’t think she was afraid of him like that—but in a wanting too much way.

  He allowed himself only a few seconds past what he felt was necessary to get his point across, then reluctantly, he pulled back.

  Amelie’s eyes were wide, and her breathing low and excited.

  For a minute, Kugah dared hope that she might be feeling the same way he was.

  “That’s it. Your armour must have protected me from the radiation,” Amelie exclaimed. Her eyes shone with scientific curiosity, not ardour.

  Kugah swallowed, disappointment making it hard to talk. No matter how many times he reminded himself that Amelie would never see him as anything more than a friend, he kept hoping. He needed to stop doing that.

  He made himself nod. “Kugah armour protect KaGeeGee.”

  “But what about Chicken?” Amelie demanded.