“Oh, that is not from the cancer,” Sigan said. “It is doubtful she has yet to feel any symptoms from it other than perhaps some discomfort in her back and a mild cough.”
He turned the female’s head until her ear faced upward and brushed back her hair before folding her ear forward. “She is dying because of this.”
“What is that?” Sabrina leaned in, both of us staring at the small lump behind the female’s ear.
“A translator,” Sigan said.
Sabrina touched behind her own ear. “Why can you see it like that? Mine isn’t visible at all.”
“It is an older model, not installed properly, and it is leaking flux fluid into the human. It is why she is dying.”
“Jesus. Can you get that thing out of her?” Sabrina said.
Sigan nodded. “I can, but I must speak with the king first. He may not wish to save the life of someone who stole from him.”
My tail thwacked against the floor. “Take it out of the human immediately, Sigan.”
“I cannot do so without the king’s permission, Galan.”
My hands clenched into fists. “She is dying.”
“I am aware,” he said. “But until the king says I am allowed to do so, I cannot -”
“I’m telling you to do it.” Sabrina’s hand rested on my back. “Your queen commands you, Sigan.”
“As you wish, my queen.” Sigan bowed and returned to the counter. He scrubbed his hands at the sink as Sabrina rubbed my back.
“Galan, are you all right?” she said.
“I am fine,” I said.
I wasn’t, and I had no doubt that our queen knew that, but she didn’t question me on my deception as Sigan returned. He set down a syringe of pink coloured liquid and placed a white cloth over the human’s head, arranging the hole in the center of it so that it exposed her ear.
“What is that pen thing?” Sabrina pointed to the device in Sigan’s hand.
“It is a turing carver,” Sigan said.
“Carver?” Sabrina made a face. “That doesn’t sound… pleasant.”
I frowned at him when he bent over the human. “Should you not give her more serum for the pain?”
“There is enough serum in her system to help with the pain. Besides, just removing the translator may kill her so I will not waste more gallberry serum on her. She is weak and severely malnourished,” Sigan said.
I glared at him and Sabrina squeezed my arm. Sigan bent over the female. We watched as a small blue beam of light at the tip of the carver sliced open the female’s skin behind her ear. Even unconscious, she groaned with pain and I placed my hand on her slender thigh, rubbing back and forth as Sigan took a pair of forceps and removed the translator. It was coated in a black liquid and I could see the same black liquid oozing out of the human’s flesh.
“Gross.” Sabrina covered her nose with her hand. “It smells terrible.”
“It does,” Sigan said. He syringed the pink liquid into the open wound in the human’s head, flushing out the black liquid.
“Is that gallberry juice?” Sabrina asked.
“Serum,” Sigan said. “It will help heal the infection faster if it is applied directly to the area. I will leave the wound open for now to allow more of the flux fluid to empty out. Do I have your permission to remove her voice translator as well? No doubt it is just as old as the ear translator.”
“Yes,” Sabrina said. “Get it out before it does the same thing.”
Working quickly, Sigan removed the translator from her throat. No black liquid coated this one and he flipped a switch on the carver. The light went from blue to violet and Sabrina watched in fascination as Sigan ran the carver along the cut he’d made, and the human’s flesh fused together.
“Okay, that’s cool. Did we get this technology from the Vokine?” Sabrina asked.
The Vokine were one of our trading partners whose technology was far more advanced than ours.
“Yes,” Sigan said. “The gallberry serum would eventually close up the wound, but this is a very handy device to have. I enjoy using it.”
Sabrina laughed. “I doubt you have to use it very much what with you guys drinking gallberry juice every day.”
“True,” Sigan said. “But with the addition of the fragile humans who now live in the castle, perhaps I will have more use for it.”
His face brightened with hope as Sabrina laughed again. “Maybe. Our skin isn’t as thick or tough as yours.”
She glanced at my hand that was still resting against the female’s thigh and, feeling oddly embarrassed, I pulled my hand away.
Sigan removed the cloth from her face and covered her thin body with a blanket. He hooked up a fresh bag of the gallberry serum to the female. “We will leave her for now. The serum will help keep her alive until she can be returned to Earth.”
“Will there be permanent damage from the translator?” Sabrina said.
Sigan shrugged. “There may be. The flux fluid is toxic, and I have no idea how long it was leaking into the human.”
“But the serum should heal it, right?” Sabrina said.
“Maybe, maybe not. It heals but it does have limitations. If a human were to lose a limb, they could drink an unlimited amount of juice but the limb would not grow back,” Sigan said. “It may be the same with the damage done to the human’s brain. She may never wake from her sleep or she may wake and be unable to talk or walk.”
“Jesus, that’s awful,” Sabrina said.
“We have done everything we can for her,” Sigan said. “Now, are you ready for your scan, my queen?”
“I am.” Sabrina rubbed her belly before grinning at me. “I feel like I’ve been pregnant for about a year and a half.”
“That is biologically impossible,” Sigan said.
The door swung open and both Sigan and I bowed when our king, Quillan, walked into the room. He nodded to us before nuzzling the cheek of the toddler he held in his arms. “You see, my little queen, I told you your mama was here.”
The toddler’s tail flicked back and forth, and her purple skin darkened with excitement as she stared at Sabrina. The young girl clinging to Quill’s hand said, “Quill, can we go swimming again?”
“The next time you visit, Bella,” Quill said.
“But Mama says you are too busy now that it’s the warm season and we can’t visit as much,” the little girl said. Her skin was the same shade of purple as Quill and Sabrina’s daughter. “I won’t see you again for at least a moon.”
“Then you will enjoy the pool that much more, meena,” Quill said with a grin.
Bella pouted a little but brightened when she saw me. “Hello, Galan!”
She ran forward and when she jumped at me, I caught her and set her in the crook of my arm before kissing her soft cheek. “Hello, Bella. You are looking well today.”
“Quill said you weren’t here. He said you were on Earth with Krey.”
“I was,” I said. “We have only just returned.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” Her smile was shy, and I kissed her cheek again. While I had no desire for children of my own, I enjoyed spending time with them, and Bella was a sweet girl. She’d developed a small crush on me over the last few moons and whenever she visited, sought me out.
“Will you go swimming with me, Galan?” Her tail flicked out and wrapped around my forearm, squeezing tightly.
“Not this time, Bella. But when you visit next, I will join you in your swim.”
Her tail squeezed again. “All right. Guess what?”
“What?” I said.
“I am skipping a grade in school. Papa says it’s because I’m very smart.”
I smiled at her. “Good for you.”
“Uda is worried that the older children will be cruel to me because I talk like Mama and I’m small, but I’m not worried. If they’re mean to me, I will punch them right in their face.”
“Bella, we spoke with you about proper behaviour, my love.”
The human fem
ale entering the infirmary looked remarkably like our queen. Her long dark hair and curvy body were similar to Sabrina’s and her skin was the same pale shade. The woman standing next to her was curvy as well, but her hair was a striking shade of pink and her skin a warm brown.
“Sorry, Mama,” Bella said, although she didn’t sound sorry at all. “I wouldn’t actually punch them in the face.”
The woman smiled at her before turning to me. “Hello, Galan. I didn’t expect to see you on this visit. Sabrina said you and Krey were on Earth.”
“We just returned now. It is good to see you, Evelyn. You look well. How are your mates?”
“Busy now that the warm season has begun. The crops are starting to come in and they spend most of their days in the field,” Evelyn said. “Have you met my friend Candala?”
“Not formally,” I said. I’d seen her in the training room, she was one of the females employed to clean it and she was impossible to miss with her pink hair, but I hadn’t spoken to her. “Hello, Candala.”
“Hi there.” The woman shook my hand in the traditional Earth greeting. “You can call me Candy.”
“I prefer Candala,” I said.
All three of the women laughed, and I glanced at Quill who just shrugged. Despite being mated to Sabrina for three years now, there were times he understood the human females no better than I did.
“I thought Court was picking you up at three,” Sabrina said to Evelyn.
“He’s on his way,” Evelyn said. The baby in her arms made a short cry and she swayed back and forth. “He messaged me to say he was running a bit late.”
“Well, in that case, hand that baby over for one last snuggle,” Sabrina said. She held out her arms and Evelyn gave her the baby.
I moved closer, shifting Bella to my other arm so I could see the baby.
“Bella, come stand with me and Candy,” Evelyn said. “You’re too heavy to be held for so long.”
“Nu-uh.” Bella flung her arm around my neck in case I decided to listen to her mama. “Galan is really strong. He can hold me. Right, Galan?”
I smiled at her. “Yes, Bella. What is your brother’s name again?”
“Naceth,” Bella said. “It is a name from Uda’s family. I forget from where though.”
She glanced at Evelyn, who said, “It is Uda’s grandfather’s name, meena.”
“Right.”
We studied the baby as Sabrina propped him above her round belly and cooed to him. “He looks so much like Court,” she said. “Seriously, he’s a mini Court.”
Evelyn laughed. “I know. And even though he’s only a month old, his personality is already fully Court too. He’s such a laid-back baby. I swear he only cries when he’s hungry or needs his diaper changed.”
“He smells really bad sometimes,” Bella said. “It makes me wanna barf, but Papa says that I smelled just as bad when I was a baby.”
“What does barf mean?” I said.
Bella mimicked throwing up complete with retching noises and hand gestures. Quill laughed so hard that his daughter stared at him with wide eyes.
“Sorry, Jovie,” Quill said to her, “I did not mean to startle you.”
He kissed his daughter’s cheek and she patted his face before holding her arms out to Sabrina. “Mama, hold.”
Sabrina handed Naceth back to Evelyn before cuddling Jovie. “Did you have fun with your daddy, sweet girl?”
Jovie rested her head on Sabrina’s breast, her thumb inching toward her mouth. “Yes, Mama.”
“My king, your meeting with King Raynor of the northern province will be starting in less than an hour. Have you read over the briefing I sent you?” The old Draax entered the infirmary, his tail waving agitatedly behind him, and his grey hair sticking up like he’d been running his hands through it.
He bowed to Sabrina. “My queen. You are looking well this morning.”
“Hello, Teo,” Sabrina said.
The king’s advisor studied the people standing in the room before turning to Quill. “Have you read it? I swear if you have not, I will leave you to fend for yourself in the meeting.”
Only Teo dared speak to Quill so disrespectfully. Although, as the oldest Draax in the castle, and king’s advisor to not only Quill but to Quill’s brother and father before him, I supposed he had earned the right to be a bit impatient from time to time.
“Relax, old friend.” Quill clapped him on the back. “I read it over last night. I am well prepared.”
“Good,” Teo said.
Another Draax entered the infirmary – the room was starting to feel a bit stuffy and overcrowded despite its large size – and Bella squealed in delight before wiggling in my arms. “Uda!”
I set her down and she skipped toward the large Draax who picked her up and kissed her cheek. “Hello, meena.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss against Evelyn’s mouth. “Hello, Evie.”
“Hi, Court.” Evelyn took his hand.
“Uda, guess what I did today?” Bella said. “I went swimming and I played in the garden with Roden and the other children, and I won three rounds of Jorken.” She paused. “But I only won Jorken because Roden’s not very good at it yet. He still doesn’t understand all the cards.”
“Speaking of which,” Candy said, “I should head to the garden and find Roden. He has homework to finish.”
“Bye, sweetie. It was good to see you. I’ll hologram you tomorrow with that recipe,” Evelyn said.
“We must go as well,” Court said. “Bran was planning to have supper ready by six thirty.”
Evelyn kissed Sabrina’s cheek. “Message me if you go into labour, all right?”
Sabrina laughed. “Bite your tongue, Evie. I’m not due for another month, remember?”
“True, but Jovie was two weeks early and you look about ready to pop so…” She kissed Jovie’s forehead. “Bye, Jovie. Una loves you.”
“Bye, Una,” Jovie said.
Court set Bella down and took the baby from Evelyn. Bella waved and blew a kiss to us before taking Evelyn’s hand and following her and Court out of the room.
Teo glanced at the vertex in his hand. “Forty-five minutes, my king. Perhaps you should take one final look at the briefing.”
“I will join you when my mate’s scan is complete.”
Teo groaned, and Quill grinned at him. “You worry too much, Teo,” he turned to Sigan, “you must be more like Sigan who is… what is that?”
He peered at the female lying on the bed. “One of the females we hired is sick?”
“No, my king,” Sigan said. “This female was discovered on our ship as we were returning home. She was attempting to steal gallberry juice and we caught her.”
“Why did you not leave her on Earth?” Quill covered his nose with his hand. “And why does she smell so awful?”
“We were halfway home when we discovered her hiding,” Sigan said. “As for the smell, I believe it’s mostly from her clothing, although,” he prodded at one leg, “she could use a bath. I will get her cleaned up.”
“No,” Sabrina said. “She can have a shower when she wakes up. She won’t want a strange male bathing her while she’s unconscious.”
“I have no sexual interest in her,” Sigan said. “She is much too small and skinny. Even if she was not malnourished, she would be too thin. No Draax will want to mate with her.”
“That’s not the point,” Sabrina said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re attracted to her or not, she won’t want you seeing her naked, even if it’s for medical purposes. Being dirty and smelly won’t kill her. Just leave her until she wakes. Trust me on this.”
“Yes, my queen,” Sigan said. “Although she may not make it through the night. The gallberry plant is working but slowly.”
“What is wrong with her?” Quill asked.
Sigan quickly filled him in. I gritted my teeth but kept quiet when he referred to her repeatedly as the thief. She was a thief, and my weird reaction to the little female didn’t neg
ate that she had stolen juice.
When Sigan was finished, Quill glanced at Teo. Teo was typing into his vertex and he said, “I will alert Earth’s authorities that we have caught a thief and will be returning her for punishment.”
He turned to me. “What section of Earth were you visiting when she boarded the ship?”
I had the oddest urge to refuse to tell him. Which didn’t make sense. Earth had many prisons, and she could be thrown into any of them. I had taken Earth studies throughout my schooling and I was well aware of the fate that waited the little female. Stealing gallberry juice meant imprisonment of at least forty Earth years. She would be an old woman by the time she gained her freedom back.
“The province of Iowa, in a city called Des Moines,” Sigan said when I didn’t answer.
“State of Iowa,” Sabrina said. “We call them states not provinces.”
Teo made a note in his vertex. “When will she be ready for transport, Sigan?”
Sigan shrugged. “Tomorrow. If she does not die in the night.”
“What if she’s not,” Sabrina paused, “normal? Like, what if her abilities are impaired because of the flux fluid? And what if the cancer isn’t completely cured by the gallberry plant by tomorrow?”
“It will not be cured,” Sigan said. “She would need more of the plant than I can give her in a twenty-four period, even by serum. She will be dead in six moons.” He studied her prone body. “More likely three moons with her tiny and fragile body.”
His careless tone grated on my nerves and I had to work very hard not to thump my tail against the floor and betray my annoyance.
“So, she’ll die in prison,” Sabrina said.
“That is not our problem, my queen,” Teo said. “The little female has broken Earth laws. The Planetary Treaty requires she be returned for her punishment regardless of her state.”
Sabrina bit at her bottom lip, her hand stroking Jovie’s hair as she studied the sick female. Our king’s mate was soft-hearted and a part of me hoped she would convince Quill to…
To what? Not return the female to Earth? Don’t be such a froden. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t. It would be a violation of the treaty.
I twitched when Quill thumped me on the back. “Galan, what troubles you?”
Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 3
