by Lea Kirk
“Well, they just let anyone in here, don’t they?” Nick grumbled.
She glanced up at him, then followed his gaze to the Anferthian man sitting cross-legged on the floor of their living room.
Storo grinned. “Come now, little man. I’m only here to make sure you do not need anything before you retire.”
“Are we going to have any privacy here at all?” Nick looked as irritated as he sounded.
“Of course,” Storo replied. “During the daylight times this is our medical facility, and the citizens of our villages will have access to you. Once dark falls, the ID reader is programed to allow only you and Disipula Yamata to enter unimpeded. The rest of us will have to knock. Now, is there anything more you require this night?”
Sakura gathered her legs under her and stood. “We should be fine. We were fed at peoples’ homes today, but, is there any food here for breakfast tomorrow?”
“There is, but it will be my honor to bring you breakfast in the morning,” Storo said. “It would be an inconvenience and a struggle to cook in a kitchen you have yet to explore.”
“That is very nice of you, Storo-san.” She bent in a respectful bow.
The Anferthian man tilted his head to one side. “What is this ‘san’ you say after my name?”
“It is a title of honor where I come from. Almost like Mr. or Mrs. is in Healer Bock’s culture. We do not use it all the time, but right now it allows me to express my gratitude to you.”
Something that looked like relief flashed in his eyes. “It is well.” Then he rose, towering over them. “I will go now. Sleep well, healers. Until tomorrow.”
“Until tomorrow.” She stepped back to allow him to pass.
Once the door closed behind him, Sakura glanced at Nick. “What was that all about?”
“Anferthians add ‘iad’ to the names of their lovers.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He may have been checking to be sure you didn’t have designs on him.”
Sakura gave him a wide-eyed stare as heat surged up her neck. “Me?”
“Well, if you have a track record….”
“A track record?” What did he mean by that?
“Your relationship with Jasan,” Nick said, his tone one a parent would use with a child.
Her mouth opened and closed several times before one word surfaced. “What?”
“Just sayin’.”
“You can go to hell, Nicholaus Bock, because it is none of your damn business!” How dare he? If she did not get out of here now, she would throw something at his head. Clenching her hands into fists, she spun around and marched through the living areas and kitchen. If only this place was not so huge. It was like trying to make a dramatic exit while crossing a baseball field.
~*~
Nick winced when Sakura slammed her bedroom door. Too bad there were none of those handy invisible wall doors inside the cube. This probably wouldn’t be the last time he’d piss her off enough to slam a door.
The faint whir of the lock engaging reached his ears. Jesus, why hadn’t he kept his big mouth shut? Yes, he was as curious as hell what her relationship with High Linguist Dryas Jasan had been, but she was one-hundred percent right. It was none of his damn business.
Or maybe he was just jealous. He gave himself a mental shake. That was ridiculous. He’d never been the jealous type before. Then again, he’d never had such a Jekyll and Hyde relationship with a woman either. One moment they were fine, or at least civil, the next they were at each other’s throats. Granted, it was usually after he’d said something snide, like he had a few minutes ago. Not that he had the corner on the rudeness market. She was the one who’d challenged him when they first met. It almost seemed like she was determined to keep him at arm’s length.
He glanced at the Hello Kitty bag left next to his shoes. Looked like he would be putting away the samples alone tonight. He picked up the bag and headed toward the lab.
~*~
The next morning, Nick sat on a stool leaning his forearms against the top of the lab table. He stared at the images projected there by his data device, studying the microscopic details of the blood samples from ten different Anferthians who’d died of the mystery disease. He frowned. The device must be malfunctioning, otherwise why else would all the images show up as normal?
The lab door opened and closed. The lingering scent of Storo’s flavorful, and somewhat spicy, breakfast wafted to his nose as Sakura’s light footsteps approached. “Have you found anything yet?”
He glanced up at her across the lab table. Straight, silky, dark hair fanned over her shoulders. Since he’d met her, Sakura had kept her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Focus, Nick. “Not a single thing. They all look perfectly normal.”
“Normal? How can that be?”
“I don’t know, but this batch is from the dead patients, and these are from the healthy control group.” He pointed to each group projected on the tabletop. “Take a look.”
As she leaned forward to examine the images, her hair fell forward and caught the light filtering through the cube’s skylights. How had he never seen the reddish tint of some of those strands before? His fingers twitched and he fought the desire to sweep her hair back over her ear. Not an action she would welcome. He had to snap out of it, quick.
She looked up from the samples. “You are right, they do look normal. How many have you looked at?”
He gave his head a shake, which cleared away some of the mysterious fog that had invaded his thoughts. “This is the fourth batch of ten samples. It’s like none of them were sick.” He ran his finger over the counter, whisking away the current batch of images and replacing it with the previous one. “See?”
She nodded. “Could someone have tampered with the samples? Or replaced them?”
“A’paz had them sealed, frozen, and under lock and key. Only he, Storo, and K’rona knew where he hid them and how to access them.” He sat back and braced his hands on the edge of the table. “Are we missing something? I can’t imagine any of them trying to sabotage the whole operation. It’s not to their advantage.”
“No, it is not.” Sakura tapped her fingernail against the table top.
What the hell was this? He couldn’t seem to force his gaze away from how her soft hair caressed and framed her face. Nick gave his head a shake. “Look, Saku…ra, I’m sorry I was such a jackass.”
Her piercing dark gaze met his. “Which time?”
Okay, he might have had that coming. “You aren’t the stereotypical quiet Asian woman, are you?”
She gaped at him. “I cannot believe you just said that.”
“Neither can I.” That was an unbelievably stupid thing to say.
He held her gaze, not blinking. After a moment, he saw it; one corner of her mouth made a barely perceptible twitch. He twisted his mouth into a lopsided look of chagrin.
A flash of mirth sparkled in her eyes. “You are a shithead.”
“I know. And I’m sorry you’re stuck with me, but I’ll try harder.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” He stuck out his hand. Panic flashed in her eyes and she hesitated, then slowly reached across the table. Her palm was soft and warm against his as they shook. An odd sense of relief settled over him as he released her hand. Starting fresh was a good thing, and as much as he wanted to know about her past, he wasn’t going to ask again.
“So,” she said. “What do you think our next step should be?”
“I’d hoped you had a plan.” He glanced back down at the images. “I hate to ask A’paz about this, but I don’t think we have a choice.”
Sakura made a small wincing sound. “It will be hard to give A’paz this news.”
“Yes, it will. For all of us.” He couldn’t agree more. The complete normality of the samples had to be a clue, but they were going to need some serious miracles to figure this out if that were the case.
~*~
As Nick walked into A’paz
’s room, his gaze was drawn immediately to the withered form propped up with bed pillows. The sharp lines of A’paz’s face stood out more and his cheeks seemed to have sunk. In the span of twelve hours their cheerful, eager-to-help patient’s condition had obviously deteriorated. A pang of guilt shot through Nick. Telling him about the samples seemed cruel, but what choice did they have? A’paz was not going to get better, and if they didn’t discuss it now there might not be another opportunity.
“Greetings, healers,” A’paz murmured, a faint smile on his lips as Storo retreated to a chair in the corner. “What news?”
Sakura stopped next to the bed. “Greetings, A’paz. We are sorry to trouble you.”
“Never are you trouble to me, lini.” Little one.
So he said now, but just wait until he heard what Sakura was about to tell him. Being the one to deliver the news was not only part of her learning experience, she was also much better at the whole bedside manner thing than him.
“We have some questions about the samples, if you are able to talk right now.”
“Of course,” A’paz replied. “Please proceed.”
“Thank you.” Sakura took in a fortifying breath. “After examining the samples you took, we have found they all seem to be perfectly normal. There is no trace of the illness.”
Furrows appeared between A’paz’s blond eyebrows and across his forehead. “How is this possible?”
“We brought the images.” Saku held up Nick’s data device. “We are hoping you might be able to see something we are missing.”
A’paz shifted. “Storo, help me sit up.”
Storo rounded the bed and, with a gentleness that belied his size, helped A’paz sit up. Once pillows were arranged, Storo brought a food tray. Sakura placed the device at one corner of the tray and gave it a tap. The images of the first batch of samples appeared on the tray’s surface.
A’paz’s frown deepened as each batch was displayed. “I am at a loss. These are my samples, but….” He shook his head, dismay evident in his eyes. “If only I had had a way to view them myself before your arrival, I could have spared you the time.”
Nick stepped closer. “Sakura and I have no doubt these are your samples, and that you took all the proper precautions when collecting and storing them.”
“And we do not believe they have been tampered with,” Sakura added.
“Which leads us to believe that the disease may be able to camouflage itself.” Nick lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “It’s something neither of us have seen or even heard of before.”
A’paz’s grey-green gaze held his. “Camouflage,” he murmured. “An interesting hypothesis. If this is so, it will complicate the process of finding a cure.”
A sense of foreboding sank like a stone in Nick’s gut. A’paz would not live long enough to see them find the cure.
“Healer Bock,” A’paz said, his demeanor calm and accepting. “I never clung to the illusion that I would survive this. But, I want my sisters and brothers to survive. If they do not, my life is meaningless, as they are fyhen. You know what fyhen means, do you not?”
Nick swallowed hard against the boulder that had lodged in his throat. “My own. They are your family, and you will give your life for them.”
A wistful smile curved A’paz’s wide mouth upward. “I charge you and Healer Yamata to make sure my life serves that purpose.”
Sakura’s lips parted as if she was going to correct him, tell him she wasn’t a healer yet, but then seemed to change her mind. A’paz was right; she was no longer just someone’s disipula. If they were going to beat this disease, she had to be a healer in all ways, including name. Hopefully this was as clear to her as it was to him.
~*~
Sakura dropped onto the thick cushions of the couch. What a relief to be back in the solitude of their cube. She needed time to think and process the meeting with A’paz. Behind her, Nick moved around the kitchen making lunch.
How were they going to figure this out? The odds seemed stacked against them. But they had promised A’paz, and letting him down would be nothing short of a betrayal. A groan built in her chest and she pushed it down.
A plate with a sandwich appeared in front of her. “Eat,” Nick ordered.
She released a deep sigh and accepted the plate. He set a cup of green tea on the end table next to her, then sat in one of the chairs and proceeded to inhale his lunch. This caring Nick was much more pleasant to deal with than the “other” Nick.
Once she finished, Nick whisked away her plate and she picked up her tea. He returned a moment later. “Better?”
“A little bit.”
“Yeah, me too.” He rested his head against the back of the chair. “You know we probably won’t be able to save him, right?”
She gazed down at the surface of her tea. “I know.”
“I hate feeling so fucking helpless. What’s the point of having this all mighty power if we can’t save a life?”
It was a fair question, and for once she agreed. She met his brown and bronze gaze. “We have to try. We promised.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I just don’t know how.”
“Neither do I, but there has to be a way.” She pursed her lips. “We need to strip away whatever is camouflaging the disease.”
Nick sat silent, his gaze never wavering from hers. His eyes were so beautiful, so unique. It would be easy to get lost in them.
He blinked and seemed to shake himself. “Yeah, that’s a good place to start.” He stood up and extended his free hand. “Why don’t we get the lab set up in the way that best suits us, then go from there?”
Mixed emotions tumbled around inside her. She did not want to take his hand, but something inside yearned for his acceptance. This was so confusing. His expression turned perplexed and he lowered his hand to his side as he took a step back.
“Are you ready?” He asked as if nothing had happened.
“I am ready.” She pushed herself up and followed him to the lab. If she could kick herself, she would. He had promised to try harder, and he was doing so. She, on the other hand, had just been nothing short of rude toward him.
~*~
Nick stood in the front doorway of the cube. A long, low howl echoed in the forest around him. How odd. No one had ever told him there were wolves on Matir. Another voice joined the ghostly chorus, and another. A shadow slunk just beyond the edge of the light filtering through the doorway around him. It turned its head, eerie yellow eyes looked directly into his….
“No!” His body jerked and he sat bolt upright in his bed. The howling didn’t stop. It wasn’t wolves…it was the Anferthian death keen.
“Shit!” He threw back the covers and scrambled, nearly falling over the edge of his bed. “Lights, goddammit.”
The soft glow filled the room. Where did he leave his jeans? He spied them tossed over the back of one of the chairs. He thrust one foot through a leg opening, then hopped toward where his t-shirt lay on the floor as he shoved his other foot though the second leg opening. He fumbled with the button then grabbed his shirt and bolted out his bedroom door.
“Sakura!”
“Coming.” Her wide-eyed gaze met his as she hurried across the semi-dark living area toward him, tying the belt of her robe.
He grasped the door handle and yanked the door open. K’rona strode toward them in the darkness, her expression one of devastated grief. Numbness washed through him.
“Oh, no,” Sakura whispered.
K’rona nodded. “A’paz has succumbed. His wishes are that none be allowed to see him until after the healers.”
Samples. He would have wanted them to take a final set to compare to his healthy samples, and for that they need…
“I have the bag, Nick,” Sakura said, holding it up.
Once again, she came through one step ahead. Reliable. He gave her a nod. “Let’s go, then.”
Ten minutes later, they had their samples. N
ick cleared his throat. “K’rona, open the door and allow the others in.”
The room filled with mournful Anferthians, and beyond in the rest of the cube. For a moment there was silence, then the Anferthians tipped back their heads and howled their grief to the ceiling. Nick exchanged a glance with Sakura. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and he fought the urge to draw her into his arms to offer comfort. Instead, he threw his head back and howled. A heartbeat later, Sakura’s lilting voice joined the sorrowful lament.
It was loud and heart crushing, but there was comfort too. A community, a family, drawn together to grieve for one of their own.
Chapter Nine
Nick drummed his fingers on the conference table. Today was day fifteen since A’paz’s death and neither he nor Sakura had been able to trace the disease killing the dissenters. All of the samples they took showed the same thing A’paz’s had: no abnormalities at all. It was completely unnatural. Diseases didn’t behave this way, not in his experience. They ravaged and destroyed, leaving clear and undisputable evidence of their existence.
Two more had died yesterday in North, bringing the count to ninety-six deaths. Fuck. What were they missing? He pushed away from the large table and opened the conference room door. Sakura hadn’t moved from her spot on one of the living room sofas, exactly where she’d been when he’d locked himself in the conference room to think uninterrupted, but now K’rona had joined her. Even sitting cross-legged on the floor, the Anferthian woman was still a hand-width—an Anferthian hand-width—taller than Sakura.
“Finally,” Sakura grinned. “You will do the dishes next, yes?”
Rats. The breakfast dishes still sat on the dining room table. Some small part of him had hoped Sakura would have taken care of them while he was meditating. But, in all fairness, she had cooked. And man, could she cook. He’d lay money that the girl could make a seven-course gourmet meal over a candle flame.