by Celeste Raye
She rather liked the dress. One of the beings, a gentle and shy creature named Willow, of indeterminate race and species, had begun to make them for the women there on the planet. Willow spun the fabric out of simple things and dyed it with berries and grasses. Jenny had never owned a dress before, and now she had three. She preferred it to the stark tunic and trousers that were given out to every citizen of Old Earth.
Marik stood in a room, conversing with several others. His dark eyes lifted from the thing he was looking at and he stilled.
Again that feeling came back. His eyes were probing deep into her heart and mind and soul, searching out things that she didn’t even know herself yet. Jenny looked away quickly.
Marik’s voice was soft and calm. “Jenny, I’m glad you are here. Come in. Today we have no patients, so we are just discussing ways to treat things.”
Her bare feet whispered across the floor, and she came to where the rest of them stood. On the long table that had been set up there in the room sat a variety of small bowls. Many of the ships had carried in furnishings and other supplies, and even now Talon brought a great deal of things to them that they had much need of.
Her head tilted to one side as she regarded the bowls. “What is this?”
Marik said, “We are trying to figure out a way to stretch the medications that we have here. There’s never enough, and even though the supply ships will probably bring us more at some point, we're going to have to begin supplying those who would create colonies further away from this one.”
Jenny lifted her eyes to his. “And you do not want to rely too heavily on having it brought into a supply ship.”
Marik’s lips lifted his cheekbones. His face lit up. Her heart gave a hard and heavy pound in her chest, and she looked away quickly.
The image of Ben came back up in her mind.
Ben was not much taller than she was, and very slender due to the diet that those who lived in the Below were allowed. His hair had turned gray while he was still in his teens, and they were slight but there were wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His skin, like the skin of all of those who live there, was incredibly pale and slightly gray.
He was kind, considerate, and funny. After her parents died, he had hidden her for weeks just in case the Capo decided to come back and take her and execute her due to her familial connections.
That had not happened, but what had happened was even worse. She had been put on a ship and sent away.
Her eyes went back to the bowls. A frown creased her high brow. She asked, “What is this?”
Marik said, “It is the bark of a tree. It’s known to reduce coughs and other things.”
Jenny’s heart began to pound. There was a secret about her family that she had never told anyone. It was not so much the herbs growing in the small pots that had gotten her parents killed. It was the way that they had gotten the seeds that had begun those things that had done it. And it was not just the seeds either; it was her mother’s vast trove of knowledge, the knowledge of growing and green things that could only be found above ground in the cities massive parks. The parks that were only to be used by those who lived above ground.
She shook her head. “It’s the wrong tree.”
Marik looked at her, one eyebrow tilting up. “It looks like the tree that I found in the database book.”
She nodded. “They do look alike, but it’s not the same tree. See the bark? See how the lines in it go in a sort of waving pattern? That pattern is the wrong pattern. It should look more like this.” She used her fingers, and traced along the bark to show them what she meant. She added, “Not only that, there should be a white powder here below the outer layer of the bark, but there isn’t any. If there’s none of that there, then you can’t use the bark for what you want.”
Marik asked, “How can you be sure?”
Jenny’s head lowered. Fear started up, and she had reminded herself that she was no longer on the planet of her birth. That here the knowledge that she held, the knowledge that she had grown up learning at her mother’s knee was not just valuable but needed.
Jenny said, “I don’t know if there’s a difference because we're no longer on a planet that I know, but I do know that without that inner layer, that white powdery stuff, this bark is maybe not useless, but not the bark that you’re looking for.”
Marik leaned back against the wall. His eyes glowed with interest, and she had to look away again. He always did funny things to her heart and emotions. That was wrong. No matter what, Ben was still the man that she loved and was engaged to.
Fear shot through her like a bolt of lightning. Had he died in the rebellion that Talon and Jessica had created? Was he down on Old Earth right now suffering and hurt, injured by weapon fire or even dead? Would she ever know?
Marik said, “Tell me, Jenny, have you seen any plants and the like that you thought might have medicinal purposes?”
She didn’t dare meet his eyes. “I haven’t looked. I don’t know why I didn’t think to.” She had not thought to because she had not considered that she would be sent to this particular building for the task ahead of her.
She had no idea why she had not considered it anyway though.
Part of her knew that it was an ingrained thing, that she had been taught to hide her knowledge for so long, that the idea of admitting it or showing it had never entered her mind.
Marik said, “Well, we have no patients today, so I think we should go look. The rest of you stay here in case a patient comes. If it is a serious emergency, then shout as loud as you can before you ring the bell in the center of town. I don’t think we will go too far but if you can’t shout us back, then ring the bell.”
The others nodded their agreement. Jenny’s heart sank. The last thing on earth she wanted to do was go wandering around with Marik!
Marik began walking, and she followed him. The sun struck her again, warm and pleasant. She paused for a moment, letting it soak into her skin down into the bones below. Marik paused, and she glanced over at him a trifle guilty.
She began walking, and he fell into step beside her. He said, “You seem to enjoy the sun.”
Her fingers twisted together. She had always been shy and quiet. She was very timid as well. Speaking up like she had inside the med-bay building was not something that she was used to doing, and she wasn’t used to talking a lot either.
“I’ve never really seen it before. I’d never really seen the sky until we were on the ship and space is a lot different.”
She glanced over at him expecting to see disbelief there. Instead, there was a kindness written across his face that startled her. Below that kindness was something else. Understanding. He said, “I remember when I first came out of the mines. I hadn’t seen sunlight in so very long. Not that you could look at the sun there; the entire surface was so scorching that it would burn you alive if you try to cross it. We were on the ship for quite some time after that and the first time that we set down on the planet that had a sun, I stayed out underneath its rays for so long that I burned my skin.”
She had known that he had been in the mines of course, but she had not realized that he had been trapped there and had not been out to see the sun. She said, “I’m sorry.”
She was. She knew exactly what that felt like, to be kept away from the things that all beings craved. Light and fresh air and the smell and scent of things growing in a natural fashion were those things.
Her heart hurt for him a little bit as she spoke the words, and her heart hurt even more when he said to her, “I’m sorry that you didn’t get to see it before now.”
Confused and not sure what to say to him, especially given how often she had had those little daydreams about him, she pointed to the hills up ahead. “Maybe we should try up there.”
Marik said, “That sounds like a good idea.”
Jenny struggled for words. She had never felt the things that she felt whenever she was around Marik, and those things often left her tongue- tied and c
onfused. He made her heart race and her pulse as well. He made funny little flushes of heat start in her belly and go writhing up along her chest as well. It was nothing that she had ever known, and she wasn’t sure if perhaps she had some sort of allergy to him or if it was those daydreams that she had about him kissing her that caused it.
Either way, being that close to him was uncomfortable.
They walked in silence, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. Marik stopped occasionally to survey a plant or tree but he always walked on, and she did as well. At the top of the hills, they came to a long flat meadow ringed by a thick growth of various trees. There were plenty of creatures about, little insects that danced through the grass, winged creatures that landed on the branches of the trees and then flew away again, and animals that gathered away from them when they caught sight of the two beings entering the meadow.
Marik said, “That is the tree that we took the bark from.”
She followed the direction of his pointing finger. Her mind went back to the book, and she squinted at the tree. “I think… I think you can boil that bark and use it for coughs but not for pain relief.”
She spotted a slender tree not far away from that one and said, “Can we go look at that one, please? I believe that has the stuff that I am looking for.”
Marik said, “Of course. Here you’re free to walk wherever you want to.”
That understanding was back in his voice again. She flinched away from it. Oh, how she wished she was a bolder person, one who could simply put the past behind her and move forward with real bravery. She nodded and said, “Thank you.”
He followed along behind her as she headed for the tree, discomfiting her even further. When they reached it, she put a hand to it and then used her fingernail to peel away a small section of bark. Excitement hit. She exclaimed, “See? I believe this is it!”
Marik leaned in close. She caught a whiff of the scent: a clean and fresh smell that made her want to lean in closer to him. She backed away instead, her hand curling over the small shred of bark that she held in her palm. Marik’s eyes lifted away from her hand to her face. His eyes fastened on hers and that feeling that she always got around him came racing back in, making her shift a few times from foot to foot.
Marik said, “So what can we use it for?”
She gulped and turned her gaze away from his face to the tree. “It works well for pain and fever. If it’s boiled away from the bark and then left to cool a sort of thick white stuff forms at the top of the liquid. You have to skim it off, and you can dry it and give it out as a powder, or you can allow someone to drink some of the liquid. But it can be strong.”
Marik said, “Good to know.”
He moved away from the tree, and she moved in a direction away from him. Her heart pounded again as she sneaked to glance over her shoulder at him to see him kneeling by a patch of flowers, a look of utter concentration written all over his handsome face.
She was betraying Ben. Or was she? How could she betray a man who was not even there? A man who might be dead? A man who might have already found another?
Realization hit, hard. Jenny’s mouth opened and then closed as she realized that the reason she was so uncomfortable around Marik, the reason she always felt that she was betraying Ben when she was near him, was simply because she had some sort of attraction to him.
That left her feeling dazed and bruised. That was not something that an engaged woman should feel for another being! Especially one who was not even human.
She turned her attention away from him and toward the fields. A bright flash of purple caught her eyes and excitement mounted in her as she raced towards it. She bent to examine the small roots and stems of the plant, and that excitement rang out from her voice when she called out, “Marik! Come here! I think I found something!”
She was still kneeling on the ground, her knee pressed into warm dirt and grass when he appeared at her side. She looked up at the length of his body, and her heart did another fast series of pounds in her chest. Her mouth went dry. The sun lit his hair and shone around him in a soft gold nimbus that outlined every inch of his powerful body in a way that made her aware that he was very definitely male.
He knelt down beside her, one long finger stroking the leaves and blossoms of the plant that she had discovered. “What is it?”
Jenny gave him the name and then said, “It works to heal bones that are broken. You can use it as a poultice or as a drink.”
Just then, the sound of ships flying overhead caught their attention. Jenny looked up to see a battered ship circling, and she said, “It looks like Talon and Jessica have returned again.”
Marik nodded. “We will gather some of these plants and some of that bark and then head back. There’s plenty of time to collect more things later.”
Their hands touched as they began to harvest the plant and a slow thrill ran up and down her spine. That that was sexual attraction had never occurred to her before. She had heard of it of course, but she had never felt it, not even with Ben. That she felt it now made her feel even worse.
The plant gathered, they stopped and took a small bit of bark from the tree then headed back down the hills. Marik walked faster than she did due to his long legs and she had to hurry to keep up. The sound of the ship died, and it dropped from view, letting her know that it had landed.
As they approached, they saw the crew, as well as Jessica and Talon, exiting the ship. Renall stood nearby, a frown on his face as he watched the battered group disembark.
Marik said to Jenny, “Go back to the med–bay, if you don’t mind, and put those things away. I need to go see what’s happening.”
She nodded and took the flowers and stems and bark that they had collected and headed for the building, casting one last look over her shoulder. Her heart gave a painful throb and she wasn’t sure if it was because it was breaking over her betrayal of Ben or because she felt something new growing in the place of the emotions that she had for Ben.
Chapter 2
Talon strode angrily around the room, his fist smacking into the palm of his hand, and Marik watched him quietly. The four brothers had all adjourned to this one hut where they could speak in semi-privacy.
Talon said, “It’s a disaster down there. The Federation promised aid to Old Earth, but they haven’t given any yet beyond the scant amount of food and drinkable water that ran out way too fast and is long gone now. There are so many people dying from simple illnesses and injuries from the rebellion and the fight against the enemies. We’ve done all that we can. We need more healers.”
Renall shook his head. “We can’t spare them from here, and you know that, Talon.”
Jeval interjected, “And why would we even want to? Do not say that it is because your mate and Renall’s mate are from there. That’s not reason enough to jeopardize the health of the people here.”
Talon slumped into a chair. His hand found a small pitcher. He lifted it then poured a tall glass of water. He set the pitcher aside and drank the water in long and greedy gulps, his throat working as he swallowed it down. When he set the glass aside, his face wore a solemn and pinched expression.
He said, “I would never offer that up as reason enough. The humans have never been our major concern. They aren’t now either, to be honest. What is my concern is that the Federation has lied once again. That planet is not the only one suffering the weight of the Federation’s lies.”
Jeval said, “All of us know what it is to suffer under the Federation. We can’t extend to them what we do not have.”
Marik looked down at his hands. He was a natural healer, one who could heal by touch. His gift was always needed, but he had to be careful how he dispensed that part of his healing abilities because using it too much could kill him. Other than his natural healing powers, he also possessed a wide and vast knowledge of healing thanks to having been raised by a mother who was also a natural healer, as well as a skilled and taught healer. He had also trained with the science mak
ers when he had been very young, and he had deliberately spent a century studying medicine after his escape from the mines.
His voice was soft. “If we turn our back on those who are suffering, does that not make us just as guilty as the Federation?”
Renall said, “No. It makes us smart. We are too few, and if we want our population to grow, we already have to mix our blood with the blood of others. If we want to keep any part of our race alive, we have to maintain this planet. It’s our last sanctuary. It is the only place left for us. We cannot afford to send those who are needed here to Old Earth.”
That was true. Marik knew it was true. He also knew that he was not willing to leave people to suffer and die if he could help it. Every part of his being rebelled at that. “Some may volunteer.”
Talon faced him. “Would you?”
Marik shifted in the chair he had taken. “I would. I don’t necessarily want to, don’t get me wrong, but there are two other natural healers here on the planet. True, they are young and still untested, but they have the ability. I have taught many. Some are very skilled already. Then there are the old ones who escaped the destruction of our home planet and who were already master healers then.”
Renall threw his long hands up in the air. His silver eyes glinted with anger. “We have given enough to the Federation. Now you would have us do their job?”
Talon spoke. “It’s still a battle zone down there. Humans—I don’t even know what to say. There are still those who would try to re-institute the caste systems all over that planet. Right before we left, we found a band of former Capos destroying the belongings of the ones who came up from below the ground. It’s a disaster. It’s a recipe for an even worse disaster.”
Jeval asked, “How will sending healers do any good at all? If they can’t even stop fighting amongst themselves, what makes you think that they’ll start attending to their own?”
