by Stone, Layla
The captain was going to stay with her? Was that because he already knew about the illumia?
Her heart didn’t warm, it felt constrictive.
“I’ll get the room prepped. You can escort Yelena in when she’s ready,” Ansel said softly before walking out of the entryway. Once he was gone, Yelena heard Rannn’s voice.
“You ready?”
“No,” she answered honestly.
Vivra walked up, slipped her arm in Yelena’s and curled it up. “Let’s go and get your light balls back.”
“My what?” Yelena couldn’t help it, she chuckled.
“You said it was little balls of light.”
“Illumia bursts,” she corrected.
“Same thing.”
“No, it’s not.” But she said those words with a smile as she walked past Rannn into the back medical rooms. Specifically, the one Vivra had stayed in while she was operated on.
It was clean inside, and the bed looked big. Vivra helped her up onto the mattress, which wasn’t necessary because she wasn’t hurt. Rannn walked in after and sat down on a chair nearby. “I’m actually interested to see these light balls, too. I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never seen them.”
“I vote that we let you test them to see how well they work,” Vivra said.
“That would knock him out for hours,” Yelena said from the bed.
“Exactly,” Vivra added with a sly smile.
“I’ll do it if you do it,” Rannn countered. “I could use a good night’s rest.”
Vivra and Yelena chuckled while Rannn smirked. But that frivolity ended when the door opened and Ansel walked in with a kit of items and objects Yelena had never seen before.
Ansel put down the kit at the end of the bed where a hovering platform was. Then he pointed at her feet. “I will need you to remove your boots.”
“Why?” Vivra asked.
Yelena didn’t wait to see what Ansel said, she was already pulling up her feet to remove her boots. When she was done, Ansel pulled out a glass tube with a ball of fluff that was tinted yellow. “This is a solution that will help you calm down and paralyze you.” Then he put down that tube and lifted another. “And this will numb the area that I will be operating on. At no time will you be unconscious. Unless you want to be.”
“No, I don’t,” she said.
“I didn’t think so. When you’re ready, turn over and lay on your stomach. Also, you will need to remove your shirt,” Ansel said.
With Rannn and Vivra in the room, she hesitated. Everyone turned his or her head, giving Yelena some privacy. When she finished, Ansel opened a part in the bed for her face to fit in.
Something cold touched the pad of her right foot and made her shiver. “Oh, cold.” Then she tasted something awful in her mouth, but she was unable to speak. She knew what she wanted to say but nothing moved. Yelena tried to move her hand. Nothing happened.
She could feel herself freaking out.
“Yelena,” Ansel said calmly but firmly. “I’ve contacted Sci, the resident telepath. If you don’t want to continue, think it in your mind, and I will stop right now.”
Yelena didn’t like not being able to move, but after Ansel had spoken, a lot of her fears evaporated. She had forgotten about the telepath.
Please tell Ansel to continue and that I’m sorry for freaking out.
A heartbeat later, she heard Ansel say, “Sci told me I can continue.”
And that I’m sorry. Please tell him that.
“…I think Sci is saying you feel bad. I’m not upset, I just want to make sure I do this correctly. Please let Sci know if you have any issues along the way.”
Okay.
“Okay. Now, I’m going to start by opening up the eccra-sack and taking a look.”
Yelena’s fear was a thousand times removed. She felt in control because she had a connection to Ansel through the telepath. She had never met him, but after this, she was going to make sure she did. He was the reason she was able to get her sanity back.
When she didn’t feel anything, she wondered if Ansel had begun.
Did he start?
Immediately, she saw a downward view of her body, and the back of her neck was open. The hole was being stretched with a few clear bars. Blood was being sucked up and to the side, flowing into a tube.
Yelena saw a pair of hands moving inside the cut, it looked like…she was seeing exactly what Ansel was.
“Sci, I don’t think this is appropriate. Shut off her view of the surgery.” She heard the words in her ears, and they echoed in her mind. It was amazing…until the image was removed, and she was back to seeing the floor.
Time passed, but she didn’t have a good concept of how much. A few times, she debated if she should try to sleep. But then she heard Vivra say, “Wait, did you see that?”
“No. What did you see?” Rannn said.
“Yes. I saw it,” Ansel said, but his voice was sharp. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
“Oooooh, Seth, that’s gross,” Vivra said in a tone Yelena didn’t like. “Can you fix that?”
“Vivra, no offense, but you need to be quiet while I do this. Or you’re going to leave. Got it? Rannn, back me up.”
“What he said. Shut up or get out,” Rannn ordered.
Yelena wanted to know what was going on. She wanted the image back from Ansel’s mind.
“Seth of Stars, is that…?” Vivra gasped.
Rannn cursed.
Ansel hissed. “Damn it!” Then, all of a sudden, Yelena’s vision clouded, and her world went dark.
12
Where is Yelena?
Yon sent his last message of his shift and powered off his Minky. He had responded to so many complaints over the past twelve hours, he was ready to fire half the ship for being a bunch of babies. He stood up, then stretched his neck to one side and then the other. As he did so, he mentally ran down the things he wanted to do before he retired for the night. First was to work out in the training room.
On his way, he pulled out his Minky pad and selected the ship’s directory. Scrolling down until he found Yelena’s name, he programmed his account to alert him when she returned to her room. When she did, he planned to speak to her about not responding to the test questions he’d sent her. In twelve hours, she didn’t bother to open or finish it.
When he entered the training room this time, there were more bodies. Several males and females using the virtual reality runs. Each unit could recreate twenty-two distinct climates.
He enjoyed the basic run through the ice trails. Today though, he planned to do some weight training.
From start to finish, he had been there for a couple of hours. He didn’t bother showering in the mass cleaners because he had a perfectly good shower in his cabin. In his room, he checked the alert and noticed that Yelena had yet to return to her quarters.
He thought about the other possible places she could be and decided that, after his shower, he’d visit the galley and then the enlisted recreation room.
Thirty minutes later, he had checked both places, and she wasn’t in either. Curious, he checked her work logs and saw that she had stopped working seven hours into her shift. That was ten hours ago. “Where the hell is she?” he mumbled to himself. Then he thought maybe she was in Pax and Vivra’s room. If so, he would wait until she was finished.
While he waited, he planned to visit Ansel. Taking the elevator back up to level six, he stalked into medical. The first person he saw was Rannn. “Where’s Ansel?” Yon asked.
Rannn gestured with his thumb to a closed room. “He’s working on Yelena. Had some complications. He’s still working on it. I don’t know when he’ll be done. If I were you, I’d leave a message for him.”
“What kind of complications?”
Rannn’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t know what the medical term is, but it looked like handfuls of yellow puss coming from her neck.”
The way Rannn reacted made it almost sound like he had been there. Saw it fir
sthand. “Where you watching the procedure?”
“I watched the first part where Ansel found the infection in her neck.”
Yon didn’t understand why Rannn would have been in the room. Yelena wasn’t anyone special to Rannn, unless Ansel had told him about the illumia.
Rannn added, “Vivra’s still in there, and I think she was ready to throw up.”
Yon narrowed his eyes behind Rannn at the door. “Why’s Vivra in there?”
“Because Vivra and Yelena are friends, I guess. They came in together.”
Yon assumed that Rannn would know about the illumia. “Did Ansel tell you he offered to fix Yelena’s illumia? I assume you know what that is.”
“I do, and I know firsthand that it hurts like hell.”
“What? Did Ansel fix it? I thought he was removing it because it’s dangerous to have those electrical bursts on the ship.”
Rannn frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Ansel. Especially since it’s a natural defense mechanism for her race.”
“It’s not safe for the crew if she suddenly freaks out if and when the ship gets into a situation,” Yon clarified.
Rannn shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t talk to him about that. After I got hit with one of the yellow bursts, I woke up on a medical bed out here. I have no idea what Ansel’s intentions are, but before you do something to piss him off, remember that he’s going to do what’s best for Yelena.”
“Removing the illumia would be best.”
“Is it?” Rannn countered.
“Are you arguing this to be a pain in the ass, or are you serious?”
Rannn leaned back and crossed his arms. “Why are you putting your energy into this? It’s not like she’s going to take out the entire ship. We have a Cerebral who can make anyone black out with a single thought. She’s not going to harm anyone. And it’s not like touching a burst will slip you into a coma.”
Rannn had a point. Yon didn’t like it, but honor dictated that he accept it as a valid consideration. But it wasn’t dishonorable to hold to his opinion either. Looking back at the door, he wondered if he could slip in to watch the rest of the surgery and ask Ansel what he was planning.
“Whatever you need Ansel for can wait,” Rannn told Yon firmly.
Yon was determined. “I’ve got time, I’ll wait.”
Rannn looked him over and then asked, “Is there something I should know?”
“No.” Yon wasn’t going to talk about Yelena with Rannn. He wasn’t going to talk to anyone about her because it was no one’s business what they did. Or what they were going to do.
“Do you really want to talk to Ansel? Or is this about Yelena?” Yon didn’t like the question. But he wasn’t going to lie to his friend.
“I plan on talking to both of them when they’re done.”
Yon could tell that Rannn wanted to ask another question, but he didn’t. He gave him a curt nod and said, “All right. Well, don’t keep Ansel long. After the procedure, he’s going with Sci and Sasha on the scouting mission.”
13
What Happened?
Yelena’s body felt like it was under several heavy blankets. Mentally, she was aware of herself, but she couldn’t open her eyes.
“Time to wake up. Up, up, up.” Yelena recognized the voice, but at the same time, she couldn’t remember who it was.
“Open your eyes, or I’m going to start shoving bula pasta into your mouth.”
Yelena didn’t like bula pasta. But she couldn’t get her eyes open, so she wiggled her feet, hoping the voice wouldn’t do that to her.
“I saw that. Does that mean you want me to feed you bula pasta? Because those feet were looking excited.”
Nooooo.
Yelena pushed and pushed against her heavy limbs until her eyelids fluttered open. Once. Then again. She kept going as her body tingled all over. Finally, she could keep her eyes open and saw a green-scaled woman standing by her bed. Her bright green eyes and smug smile brought back memories.
“Vivra.”
“That’s me. And it’s way past time for you to be up.”
Yelena scanned the room but didn’t understand where she was. Why were the walls white? Oh…wait. She was in medical. She spoke the first question that came to mind. “What happened?”
“During your surgery?” Vivra asked but then answered herself. “I’ll be honest. I didn’t know when I agreed to stay that I would actually see what was in your neck. I’ll never get those images out of my mind. Once Ansel opened you up and cleaned out the ooze, the room filled with yellow bursts. Almost knocked Ansel out, I got hit. So did Rannn.” This time, Vivra pointed a finger in Yelena’s face. “And you didn’t say that crap stung.”
“I’m sorry.” Yelena didn’t even think about what would happen when the eccra-sack was cleaned. “How long were you out?”
“Ten minutes, according to Ansel.”
Yelena was able to move her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Okay, stop. I only wanted you to know. After that, Ansel had to knock you out to stop the little balls from filling the room.”
Yelena moved her hand from her mouth to behind her neck. She noticed immediately that the little swollen mass was gone. Also, there was no bump for a scar. The second thing she noticed was that she felt good. She sat up too fast, and her vision blurred. When she steadied herself, she looked down at herself on the bed. She wasn’t in the same clothes she’d entered with. Now, she had on a plain white shirt and pants.
“Surprise,” Vivra said with joy.
Surprise was right. “Where are my clothes?”
Vivra immediately stopped smiling. “Wait, did you not…? Look back down at your arms.”
She did…then she really did. The lines of luminescence were gone. Gone. Her breath escaped her. Was she dreaming? If so, she didn’t want to wake up.
Please don’t be dreaming.
The door opened, and Ansel walked in. “Good, you’re awake.”
In awe, she asked, “How did…?”
Ansel answered her unfinished question. “When I cut into the sack, it was clogged with a waxy material. The illumia had started to congeal. I had to remove it so that I could grow it back. While I was cutting out the clogged eccra-sack, your skin flickered on and off. I had inadvertently cut into a microscopic string of fluorescent homner. I removed all the strings from your skin. It took about twenty-eight hours in total to complete the surgery. You’ve been out for almost four days.”
It was a lot to take in, but Yelena was starting to understand the full impact of what had happened. She was no longer a Flourg. She was free. And she was whole. Full of gratitude and happiness, she jumped up and held out her arms, but she didn’t break proximity. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I will never be able to thank you enough or repay you.”
“No need for payment. This is what I do.” Ansel smiled warmly.
“Hey!” Vivra said from behind her. “I’m the one who stayed by your side. I deserve some credit. But, whatever, give it to the surgeon. I don’t like hugs anyways.”
Yelena held her arms out to Vivra.
“No, it’s too late.”
Wrapping her arms around Vivra’s neck, Yelena pulled her in for a hug. Vivra hugged back and then walked with her out of the private room. The medical doors opened, and Rannn walked in. He looked at her and then Ansel. “I read your memo. You already documented the procedure and sent it to the doctors on Marnack and Lotus Adaamas. Do you think they will be able to actually pull off a surgery that long?”
“I sent them medscopes and gave a detailed list for each race. Terrans would need three teams to do it effectively, and Yunkins would need two teams,” Ansel said back.
“And if there was a Numan? One person?” Rannn asked.
Ansel looked thoughtful. “If a Numan was willing to do the surgery, they would need one other person to work with.”
“Wait,” Vivra interjected. “Ho
w come you don’t need any help? I’ve suggested you take on an assistant before and you told me no.”
Ansel looked at her with no arrogance whatsoever. “Because I’m the best, and I don’t need help.”
“Everyone needs help. You just said a Numan would need help.”
“A Numan who is not me,” Ansel corrected.
Yelena couldn’t keep quiet. “Are you saying you’re the best amongst all Numans?”
His soft brown eyes connected with hers. She couldn’t explain what she saw in his expression, but it made her feel like she was not talking to a normal being. “There is no one as skilled or qualified as I am at healing.”
She believed every word.
“It looks like your patient is doing better, which means…” Rannn jerked his thumb behind him. “It’s time to go. I waited until she was up, but I need you to join the scouting mission and check to see if those three planets host Veeda’s labs.”
Yelena didn’t know what gave her the confidence to step up to the captain, but she held up a hand and said, “I know where it is.”
Rannn’s white eyebrows furrowed.
“I know what the planet looks like. I remember arriving, the large, yellow building, the lab inside, and the security she had.”
Rannn was quick to shake his head.
Ansel, on the other hand, said, “She can come with me. She will have intimate knowledge of the lab. It would be smart to bring her.”
In that moment, Yelena didn’t know who was going to give the final word, so she stood still, holding her breath.
Rannn grunted. “It’s a scouting mission only. You go, you look. Hopefully, you guys find the planet. You do not capture or engage.”
Ansel held out his hand towards her. “Come on, you can walk with me to the transporter.”
She was going! Yelena almost jumped up in the air but didn’t because Rannn’s sharp eyes were watching her. She didn’t know if she should thank Rannn for letting her go or thank Ansel for vouching for her. Her gaze fell to the ground and found Ansel’s heels. She walked towards him, and he led the way out.