by Rebel West
I examine document after document on the holo screen, peering at 3D renderings of Maxxon’s brain, brainstem, spine, and blood, asking questions. It’s more difficult than discussing a human patient. For one thing, the Luminarian brain has a different amygdala than the human; it is larger with an additional lobe. There are additional nerves in the skull and spine, nerves that don’t exist in humans, and the axonal/dendrite connections have a different morphology. In addition to serotonin and the usual neurotransmitters, they have a chemical they called durontin, which controls various physiological responses. Although I learned all of this on Earth during my studies, discussing it is new and strange to me.
I can’t see a single thing wrong with Maxxon, crown prince, based on the data… except for his debilitating symptoms. The cause is still a mystery.
After a few hours, I begin to get a headache from the soft glow of the holo screen. It is progressively easier to use, but it also stimulates me in a way that feels odd and new.
I rub my eyes. “I need a bio break.”
The two aliens regard me blankly, then look at each other.
“I need the bathroom, and something to drink.”
“Oh!” Dr. Jayya smiles. “Bio, short for biological.” She uses the English word. “The translator will need that to be updated.”
“Yes, I suppose it will.” I stretch. “I feel like I have a good basic understanding of what you’ve done so far, but I have much to read on my own.”
Dr. Jayya leads me to a small anteroom with a MFD and accesses a cup of steaming liquid. “If you want to try this, order Karra’Li,” she suggests. “It’s a drink we make from crushed-up beans of the Karra’Li plant. It contains a stimulant called Karra, which helps beings focus and awaken.”
I lean over to smell it, hoping it won’t be offensive. The drink is a deep purple color and smells meaty, like a broth of mushrooms. It isn’t revolting, but neither does it seem delicious.
“Any chance your machine can make coffee?” I ask, peering at the screen. “I heard that some of the MFDs are programmed to provide human food.”
Dr. Jayya crosses her arms. “Most humans are interested in trying our culture.”
“I am. But they said on the EVTS pod, that sometimes hosts go out of their way to, ah, never mind.” I break off at Dr. Jayya’s pointed frown. This alien woman probably doesn’t care that my welcome video said, “We are so excited to welcome you to Luminar! Please know that the MFDs can be programmed to create human foods if they receive the right driver upgrades, so please talk to your delegation host about this!”
“What else is available to drink?” I stand in front of the MFD, scanning the alien squiggles on the front.
“Water.” Dr. Jayya shrugs. “Paali juice, perhaps. It’s sweet. Children like it.” Her condescending smile makes my headache pulse harder and I take a deep breath. Then I order the juice, because I want to try everything.
To my relief, it is drinkable, if not anything I’d rave about. Sweet and mild, it’s like coconut water with extra sugar and a hint of ginger. Then I panic—it’s my first taste of alien foodstuff. What if I have a bad reaction?
I’m comforted remembering something else from the video: “All Luminarian food is safe for humans to eat! There have been zero adverse reactions in humans to any Luminarian foods or beverages.” Besides, I was tested for allergies as part of the pre-hypersleep setup.
I don’t love the juice, so I go back to the MFD and ordered a plain water. To my surprise, it comes out in a hovering globe.
“What?” I laugh in delight, bouncing the orb on my palms. “This is incredible! What do I do with it?”
“It’s a water pod.” Dr. Jayya points. “Oh, you don’t have those. Just hold it to your mouth and drink. The container is a sublimating polymer and will dissolve into the air after you drink the water. Children love playing with it at first, when they are young.”
Dr. Amakka laughs, and I look at him, expectant. He ducks his head, then flushes. He seems surprisingly shy for an alien male; most of them are very alpha. He clears his throat. “Just remembering when my son Marek was a baby, he liked to play with those.”
I laugh. “I’m sure. Did he break some of them? Make a mess? I probably would have.” I need to connect with him, because I can already tell that Dr. Jayya isn’t my number one fan. It’s important that I work well with these doctors.
“A few times.” Dr. Amakka smiles, but then his face turns colder and he moves away. Was it something I said? I need to reread the info on Luminarian social interactions.
I turn my attention the pod in my fingers, worried I’ll spill, but it’s easy to use, and I drink all the water. And as Dr. Jayya promised, the fine gossamer sac begins to dry up, feels gooey on my fingers, then completely dissipates. Like magic. Fascinating. “What if you don’t drink all the water?”
“Then the polymer reseals and you can save the pod for later. Or dispose of it into the waste section of the MDF for recycle.” Dr. Jayya organizes a few items on the shelf. “Now we will go examine Prince Maxxon, and you will accompany us.”
Chapter Ten
We find Maxxon sitting in his office, a large room overlooking a scenic vista with a waterfall and a Huilli-lined grotto. Like Lock, he’s tall and muscular, and his face—very similar to Lock’s—is handsome. He doesn’t give me butterflies like Lock does, but I bet he’s the fantasy of a million single Luminarian women. His face is solemn, and the twitch in his hands makes it clear why.
Still, he is pleasant and courteous, giving me the hand lift and bow, and I respond in kind.
“Thank you for allowing me the privilege of assisting you.” I bow. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness.”
He nods. “I greatly appreciate that you have come, and I hope my brother was welcoming to you. He will not be able to join us, and he asked me to pass on a message to you—he will meet with you later.”
“Ah, yes. He was… extraordinarily welcoming.” Well, it wasn’t ordinary.
“I hope you will have some information to help,” Maxxon said, and the note of hope in his voice almost slays me. “Do you?” he asks bluntly. “Have you seen anything so far that can shed light on… this?” He holds up his hands, and all four of us look at his twitching fingers in silence.
I swallow, failure ricocheting off the sides of my skull. “So far I have not. I will do my best to analyze everything and help your team reach a conclusion.”
He looks down and frowns before meeting my eyes. “I understand. It’s only been a single sun. Thank you for coming.”
He settles onto the couch. “Well, have at me, then.” He sighs, then sits taller and leans forward, his eyes on Dr. Jayya and Dr. Amakka. “I am ready.”
Dr. Amakka extracts a silver band from his case and affixes it to Maxxon’s arm, clicking it together like a bracelet. He then attaches an electrode to Maxxon’s body and deftly inserts wires that lead back to the band. When he pushes a button, the band glows. While the band beeps, he takes a syringe and presses it to Maxxon’s upper arm. “Muscle tissue sample,” he says, and none of us comment at Maxxon’s slight grunt. “I will upload the STEM images to the system once I get back to my lab,” Dr. Amakka adds. “For now, we will examine the nerve conduction data from the electrodes.”
Dr. Jayya frowns and stands close, as if trying to read Dr. Amakka’s holo screen over his shoulder. I wonder if, from the right angle, you can see it.
Dr. Amakka blinks at his holo screen, and a second screen pops up, a shared screen that all of us can see. “The newest point from this current test is flashing in red.” Amakka wrinkles his nose and points. Alien symbols flash, and then a graph with a negative slope appears, the latest point lower than the rest.
“Well?” Maxxon leans forward. “Tell me.”
“I would need to analyze the numbers first to give you a completely accurate assessment, so—”
“I said tell me.” The tension in the prince’s voice bounces off the walls.
Dr. Jayya points at the share screen and speaks in a smooth voice. “There is a reduction in nerve conduction of two percent from your last test. The decline rate has accelerated.”
Maxxon rips the electrodes from his body. “I’ve been doing everything I can. Eating the best foods, the ones that are supposed to be good for the nervous system. Exercising. It’s not—nothing is helping.”
“We will figure this out.” But the doctor’s voice is hollow.
“I...” Maxxon’s face twists into a grimace, and his next words are garbled, with the translator patching in only a few phrases: “Extracurricular adipose grandly to the staircase and up the meaty exterior! The house, the house… Burning with the grand wheel of justice and star in the… sky.”
He rasps and stumbles.
“Get him on the other side.” Dr. Jayya grabs his arm, and Dr. Amakka takes the other. “It’s a temporal seizure again. Watch his tongue.”
“His muscles are fasciculating rapidly,” comments Dr. Amakka.
My first urge is to help, but I stand back; if they need me, they’ll ask. Even so, my fingers itch, wishing I knew what to do.
“If he doesn’t snap out of it, we’ll have to sedate him.” A note of desperation rings in Dr. Jayya’s voice, but a second later, Maxxon takes a deep breath, his whole chest shudders, and his body relaxes into the couch.
When his eyes open, they are red and bloodshot. “It’s happening more often. We can’t carry on like this.” He presses his hands together. “It’s impossible.”
Dr. Jayya swallows hard, and I sense desperation under her calm exterior.
“We still have time.” Dr. Amakka touches his chin. “The seizures are still temporary and are not doing permanent damage.” But when I glance at his face, he has tears in his eyes and his breathing is rapid.
“We are out of time.” Maxxon’s voice is hard. “Tomorrow I must work with my advisors on a transition plan and then Lock will help me organize the best way to notify the public. This remains confidential until then. In the meantime, please continue working to identify a cause and cure. I won’t give up hope. Dr. Taylor, maybe you will be the key to unlocking this.”
Everyone nods.
“You may go.” Maxxon waves a hand. “I would like to be alone.”
“If you need any assistance…” Dr. Jayya’s voice trails off at his expression.
“I have only to summon you with a blink of the eye.” He nods. “I know. Thank you.” His aides step up, silent, hovering. “Roy will see you out.”
The assistant ushers us to the door, deferent and polite.
Back in the hallway, I follow Dr. Jayya’s long-legged pace, trying to keep up, while Dr. Amakka trails behind, his expression serious. I have to jog to keep up and pant as I speak. “So he’s been having those seizures for how long now?”
“The past twenty suns,” Dr. Jayya responds, glancing over at my labored breathing, but not slowing down. “At first, one seizure every three to four suns. But now it’s been many times each sun, sometimes up to five times.” She shakes her head. “And we are worried about his overall ability to make decisions and lead. As is he.”
“Are there no treatments you can try to alleviate the symptoms?” I think of Earth medicines. “On Earth, we have various palliatives. For example, a person with MS sometimes responds to steroids and interferon. I know you tried several treatments, but are you willing to try more?”
“We have tried such treatments.” There is no hesitation in her voice, and she walks faster. “Many of them, as we discussed today. You may read more about our efforts in the documentation. There is much we did not get to cover this afternoon. To summarize, they did not provide lasting relief. It will probably take a human several suns to read it all.”
“You read faster than humans?”
Dr. Jayya shrugs. “We do everything faster. Of course, processing what you read could take many cycles.”
My eyelid twitches. “I will read as fast as I can and will see if there are any recommendations I can make.”
“What would you possibly recommend?” The alien stops walking, and I stop short, too, still panting. “Dr. Taylor, I mean you no disrespect, but surely you can see that there is nothing you can do.” She shakes her head. “I understand His Highness Lock’s desire to have every possible option explored. But you can’t do anything here. I personally recommend that you tell him you have nothing to offer. Go back to Earth, Dr. Taylor. While you are here, you are simply a drain on our resources, as well as offering false hope. Go home and leave us to our work. Dr. Amakka and I are in agreement on this.”
With that, she nods at Dr. Amakka, and the two of them walk away swiftly without a goodbye. My stomach lurches, and I glance around, then realize I’m at the door of my chambers. I blink up the holo and command the door to open, then go inside and stand at the window, pondering the events of the day.
* * *
The day goes by with no further communication. I try to message Dr. Jayya, but the alien doctor doesn’t answer. No surprise there, since she basically just told me to fuck off.
I need to do more learning, so I pull up multiple documents about Maxxon and alien neurological systems, reading for hours until my eyes swim, and then walk to the window.
I crane my neck—oh, God, there are some zebb, right there, by a smaller animal lab building. Do they have an electronic barrier, or are they free to roam?
Something about the zebb tugs at my mind. The twitch in the animal’s leg—it reminds me of what is happening to Maxxon. Is there some connection? I try to call Lock, hoping he can escort me out to see the animals, but he doesn’t respond.
As I watch, humans approach the zebb, and one of them resembles the woman from the pod—Meryke. An animal scientist! Maybe Meryke has some information about the zebb that could prove useful to me.
My fingers tremble and I tap my foot as I try to call Lock again, then Dr. Jayya, then Dr. Amakka, with no results. Shit. I just need a minute to talk to my human peer, and I don’t want to waste time—the prince is running out of it.
The humans have Luminarian guards with them. It would take me no more than a minute to make my way out of the main entrance and to that group. Their guards can protect me when I get there, and walking through the palace itself, full of watchful eyes, can’t possibly be bad. After all, I’ve walked down corridors with the doctors and Lock.
This time, walking down the hall alone, I’m nervous but eager to see the outside world. My holo system allows me to dissolve the door leading into the general hall from the personal quarters, and I’m surprised to see so many Luminarians walking around, talking, busy in conversation, dictating into their holo screens. A few of them give me curious looks, double takes, but nobody stops me, although there are some whispered conversations that make my stomach flip.
I hurry outside and then to the left, following the path that leads to the field where I saw the zebb and the humans, and it’s mere seconds before I’m there.
Chapter Eleven
“Meryke!” My step quickens and I smile, so excited to see another human.
“Cali? Cali Taylor? Oh, my God! It’s you.”
Meryke gives me a clinging hug. “It’s so crazy and awesome to see you here! How are you doing?” Without waiting for a reply, she continues, “I’m freaking out a little bit. I mean, not gonna lie. This world is fantastic but strange. I love the ocean and the city, but everyone stares so much that it’s uncomfortable. There are so few humans here, full humans, anyway. You know?”
“You got to see the city? I didn’t. And the ocean? Wow.” I bite my lip. “I’d love to see that, too.”
The woman’s guard stands to the side, arms crossed, impassive.
Meryke smiled and tilts her head at her guard. “Well, Bassti—Commander Bassti, that is—he’s been so kind. Taking me around. He’s, um. So... how’s your project?”
“Oh, good, great. Just, um, researching data analysis stuff. But I can’t go into too much detail. My N
DA and all.” I wave my hand. “How about you? It’s so perfect that I saw you out here from my window, because I’d really like to ask you some questions about the zebb. You’re working with them, I guess?”
At this moment, one of the zebb approaches, and comes right up to me.
Meryke’s eyes widen and her voice rises. “If she’s approaching you, that’s a great sign. They’ve very social. Just talk to her gently and she’ll let you touch her.” I know this from my trip with Lock but I nod.
“Hi, girl…” I use my softest voice. The zebb lifts its head and looks at me, so I reach out to let the animal sniff me, although it didn’t seem to make use of my odor. It regards me with its deep, beautiful eye, then turns to look at me with the other eye.
“I like you,” I say, reaching to its side. The zebb allows me to touch it, and then steps closer, as if it approves. It pushes into me a few times, so I scratch behind its ears, and the animal makes a little snuffling noise that sounds an awful lot like happiness.
Then it looks at me again and tosses its head and, to my surprise, pushes its horn toward my hand.
“I can touch it? Really?” I whisper. The horn is smooth and warm, and I get a little tingle when I touch the surface. A rush of love and joy floods me for no reason at all.
The zebb makes a little noise again, as if it’s feeling it, too.
“I wish I could keep you.” Right now I could stand here all day, petting this amazing creature, something from my dreams.
Beside me, Meryke sucks in a breath. “I can’t believe she let you touch her horn. They say it usually takes them a few weeks to warm up to newcomers. She must really think you’re special.” She frowns and coughs.
Giddy joy suffuses me. Maybe Dr. Jayya feels I’m useless here, and perhaps I worry about the same, but fuck it all, the zebb at least likes me.
