***
“He is dying,” the para-sentient medical hologram said, its translucent blue face scrunched in a remarkable approximation of frustration. “Regrettably, there is nothing I can do.”
“What do you mean there’s nothing you can do?” Selaris snapped. “It’s a gunshot wound, not multifractal laser surgery. You’re specifically programmed for this.”
“My knowledge database is not the problem, Your Highness,” the hologram replied almost haughtily. “This facility lacks sufficient quantities of Kali blood plasma.”
“So synthesize some!”
“Unfortunately, Kali blood plasma is too complex to be synthesized with available equipment. I recommend the acquisition of a Triyon-Dahex Mark X omni-fabrica—”
“How about a donor, would that work?” Selaris asked. “I could try and get ahold of the other Kali on the station.”
“A compatible donor would be sufficient. However, there are presently nearly a hundred separate Kali blood types, and no current resident on New Keledon is a match.”
“You have to be kidding,” Thomas groaned. “So there’s really nothing you can do?”
“I am afraid not,” the hologram said. “I apologize.”
Selaris gripped onto the med-table and squeezed so hard it hurt. All this time spent pouring over every medical database she could find, and her first real test was going to be a dismal failure. Worse, if Varm were still here, he might have been able to do something to save Thexyl. How many more times was she going to say that in the future? How many lives had she really taken when she threw him against his desk?
“You’re absolutely certain you can’t link with him?” Thomas asked, his hand pressing comfortingly against her back.
“He’s a Kali, what do you think?” she replied more harshly than she intended. “There’s nothing I can do, either.”
For once, he didn’t flinch. “But have you tried? You never know. Maybe when they’re this weak you can get through. It’s worth a shot, right?”
Selaris sighed. “I suppose so.”
“I do not recommend the use of alternative medicine or homeopathic remedies, even in extreme circumstances,” the hologram said, and this time the haughtiness was unmistakable. “If proper medical techniques haven proven ineffective, the—”
“Shut up or I’ll slap your brain inside a sanitation mech,” Thomas growled. “Let’s give it a try. I’m not sure how much I can help, but…”
Selaris nodded and reached out to grab Thexyl’s arm. His scales were cold, and she winced even though the temperature was perfectly normal for his species. Somehow it made her feel like she’d already failed…
“We can figure this out,” Thomas told her, sliding his hand into hers. “Just, uh, tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
She closed her eyes and stretched out her mind. With other psychics, the linking process was as simple as plugging a holopad into a network terminal. Here, however, it was like she was reaching blindly behind a desk trying to find an outlet that might not have actually been there at all.
“It’s not working,” she whispered. “I can’t find anything to link with.”
“What about this?” Thomas asked.
Selaris opened her eyes and looked over to him. His brow was creased in concentration, and his nose was twitching frantically like a rodent. Only he could manage to look so ridiculous doing something this important.
“What about what?”
“It’s…I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. But I think I found something.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand instead. His mind opened up to her, and she followed his curiosity to its source…
“You have to treat it differently than a normal body,” Thomas said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I always thought the Kali were one step away from being computers, and I guess I was right. Do you see?”
She nodded distantly. Linking with a human mind was like solving a biological puzzle; a psychic merely needed to find the right chemical trigger and she could convince the body she belonged. But with a Kali, everything was so regimented, so precise, that it was more analogous to slicing a computer terminal.
Licking at her lips, Selaris mentally followed Thomas as he finally managed to convince Thexyl’s body to accept their presence. The link wasn’t nearly as strong as one she could make with a human, but with a little luck she could still trigger and amplify his body’s natural healing capabilities…
“I think it’s working,” Thomas coughed out. “You, AI, check his vitals.”
“My proper designation is Asheon Mark V para-sentient—”
“That’s wonderful, now check his damn vitals, would you?”
“Yes, of course,” the hologram replied with a huff. “Though I find it highly unlikely that…curious.”
“Curious what?”
“The patient’s plasma production has increased by nearly ten percent, and his internal hemorrhaging appears to have ceased.”
“That’s a start,” Selaris breathed, smiling despite herself. It was working; it was actually working, even on a Kali. But they still had a long way to go, and she had a feeling they’d only just scratched the surface.
Squeezing Thomas’s hand, she pressed on.
The Spider and the Fly Page 55
