by Marie Dry
She never hesitated to demand to see him about her insistence on remaining a doctor. He should refuse to see her but her arguments to try and change his mind fascinated him.
Chapter 5
“Miss Johnson, a moment please.”
Madison closed her eyes, said a prayer for patience, and then turned to face Jacobson. She worked double shifts, never complained about anything she had to do. She was a damn good doctor. She knew that without being boastful. Why couldn’t he just forget that it took her brother’s threats to get him to assign her a position without taking a bribe?
She smiled, a patently false smile. “Mr. Jacobson, something the matter?”
“I will need your personnel report in an hour.”
“An hour? It’s not due for another month.” He constantly harassed her with petty administrative rules. Maybe she should sic her brother on him. Grief gripped her by the throat, as if Viglar had a choke hold on her. She didn’t know where in the world Rory was. If he was even alive. Deep in her heart, she knew he was dead. He wouldn’t stay away this long without contacting his family. And she knew the aliens killed him at No Name Town Battle. She suppressed that thought, afraid just thinking about it would make it true, and glared at Jacobson.
“I now require it within an hour, or you will not receive any increase.” He couldn’t hide the sick enjoyment he got from harassing her.
Madison stared at him. She never got any increase. Neither did anyone else. What was wrong with the man? Everyone knew there was no money and, unless the aliens started paying them, they’d be lucky if they managed to get any kind of pay rise in the next ten years. Madison didn’t care. She had a job, which was more than what millions of her countrymen had. And she hadn’t become a doctor for the money. “Are you serious?”
An ugly look crossed his thin face. He’d been looking for someone to bully from the moment Frankenstein kicked him out of his office. “Ms. Johnson, I don’t appreciate your tone. You will hand in your report, or I will instigate disciplinary procedures.”
“What?” Madison was so angry she could barely articulate. “For what exactly, working like a slave without being paid most months?”
This would be just the excuse he needed to get her fired.
Something large and green loomed over them, casting a shadow over the startled Jacobson. “You do not threaten the spotted human.”
Madison frowned up at Frankenstein. Very few people stood up to Jacobsen, as he had the habit of ensuring problems occurred with their salaries. Madison had endured quite a few months of having to wait for some glitch with her salary to be solved before she could be paid. She almost appreciated the alien sticking up for--Wait, what? Spotted human? She clenched her fist around the handle of her medical bag. Oh, he didn’t just call her freckles spots?
“I don’t have spots,” she told him.
He ignored her and focused on Jacobson, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “You will cease terrorizing the humans. I have not seen you help with the building.”
“I--I’m a manager,” Jacobson stammered.
Madison could almost forgive Viglar the spotted human comment just for this moment. It was worth a lot to see Jacobson stammering. Even knowing she was sure to have problems with getting her paycheck again. She couldn’t wait to tell Rachel.
“You will do eight-hour shifts helping with the building on the east side.” Viglar turned to Madison. “Return to work, human. You will not waste time doing reports.” He grabbed Jacobson, who’d tried to sneak away, by the back of his shirt. “You will monitor your humans and write the reports about their performance. Unjust behavior from you will be punished in the future.”
He shook Jacobson like a dog and Madison almost felt sorry for him. She thought Jacobson might wet himself. Since the alien scared the living daylights out of her as well, she couldn’t crow too hard.
Viglar turned to her and she wished she’d walked away while he’d had a go at Jacobson. “Human, come with me.”
“You said I should return to work,” she tried. She should’ve gone while the going was good.
“Come with me, human,” he said again and walked away.
He turned, pointedly waiting for her to follow him and she was tempted to show him a rude sign rather than follow meekly in his wake. She ran up to him and walked next to him. He glanced down at her, but didn’t say anything. Why did he want her in his office? She lived in fear and a curious expectation that he would grab her against him again. And it wasn’t excitement she felt at the thought of his warm muscled body against hers. She wasn’t that big a freak, no matter what her brothers said.
“Why do you want to see me in your office?” Maybe she could outrun him if he had funny ideas in his head.
“I am hungry and a human would taste good and fill my stomach,” he said and took hold of her arm.
Her step faltered. The recordings they showed of the aliens eating humans flashed in front of her eyes while her whole life flashed by even faster. She tried to jerk lose, but he held her in an unbreakable grip. Oh God, would her family even get her bones back to bury. This would destroy her mother. She couldn’t lose three children. “You’re joking, right?” He’d just stuck up for her with Jacobson, surely he wouldn’t turn around and make a meal of her. She laughed, a nervous unconvincing sound. Her legs turned squishy under her, as if her bones were replaced with swamp mud.
“No.”
“Let me go, I’ll scream.”
“You may scream. I enjoy my food to give a worthy fight,” he said with such menace, she just knew she was going to be alien food today.
“I’m too skinny to eat.” She couldn’t believe she was seriously saying that to someone who meant to eat her. Eat her.
“You will be the first course,” he said, licking his lips.
Her stomach turned. This wasn’t happening. Trying to jerk lose, she screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to kick him. He dragged her into his office kicking and screaming. She’d show him a worthy fight. He’d regret trying to eat her to his dying day. “Help, someone please help me, the alien wants to eat me, oh please help.”
“Quiet, human.” He put her down surprisingly softly and she ran for the door, but this time it didn’t open for her.
“No.” Moaning, she sank down against the door and through her tears looked at the alien that was going to eat her and probably use her bones to clean his teeth. “I hope you choke on every bite,” she said through her tears. She couldn’t see anything that she could use to defend herself.
He took up his usual stance legs spread apart, arms crossed over his chest. “I make a good joke.”
It took a moment for his words to penetrate. She wiped her eyes on her sleeves and stared up at the alien. “Joke?” Using the door against her back, she slowly pushed herself upright.
He threw back his head and the most awful unearthly sound escaped his lips. It sounded like animals snarling, snakes hissing, and pots and pans banging all at the same time.
Madison stared at him, her tears drying up. “Joke?” she said again.
He stopped that God awful sound as abruptly as he started and looked at her with his expressionless face and blazing red eyes. “Yes, it was a superior joke.”
“Joke!” she said faintly and the world turned red and then pitch black. She came back to herself and wondered why her fists hurt. She blinked and the alien came into focus. Her legs were still kicking at him, but he held her wrists in a firm grip and held her back from him.
She forced herself to stay still, to stare into the merciless eyes of the bat-shit-crazy alien. “What’s wrong with you? How can you joke about something like that? I was really scared.” It hurt to talk, she’d screamed so loud, and while she was out of it she must’ve continued.
“You believed we eat humans,” he said as if that was a good reason for what he’d done.
“Let me go and open the door,” she said. In her mind, she was still screaming, Joke, you think that’s
a joke?
“No, you will tell me what this is.” He grunted and a scene sprang up, one of the clips the resistance regularly posted on the TC.
Large lumbering green warriors with red eyes that shot lasers at fleeing terrified humans moved in the image playing on the wall. They drooled from long elongated teeth and rendered screaming humans limb from limb.
“Is this why you thought I will eat you?” Viglar asked very politely. Her skin burned with pleasure where he held her.
“No, I thought you were going to eat me because you said you were going to and dragged me in here.” She felt foolish, as if she’d over reacted, but his teeth had grown larger. She was sure that wasn’t her imagination, even though his incisors looked normal now. Or as normal as an alien’s could be. She really wanted to hit him. If she could just get in a few good punches, she’d die a happy woman. She settled for glaring at him. “Let me go.”
He kept hold of her wrists. “Is that supposed to be us?” he asked her.
On the hologram, another green creature lumbered into view, clutching a human in one humongous hand and shooting fleeing humans with the lasers from his eyes. It made harsh animal-like grunts, as if it wasn’t capable of speech.
“Uhm.” She couldn’t think of one intelligent thing to say to him. She’d believed these films were true, had nightmares about them eating Rory. Now that she’d interacted with Viglar, she’d never confuse the badly made images with a real Zyrgin. Though they didn’t need to kill humans with laser eyes. Their laugh could kill anyone with sheer fright.
“Uh.”
“I was unaware that we walked like Eduki.”
She didn’t know what an Eduki was and wasn’t going to ask. She was too embarrassed by her own gullibility in believing the films were true. By her hysterics when she thought he was going to eat her. Though he should be embarrassed for doing something like that.
“Apparently, we now are desperate enough to eat humans and have grown twice our size,” he continued.
Who knew he had it in him to be this sarcastic?
“Well...uhm.”
“And we can build space ships to come here, but couldn’t master the power of speech,” Viglar said. “And we don’t wear clothes, we go naked like Eduki’s.”
This was the second time he mentioned it. “What’s an Eduki?”
Viglar glared at the scene playing out on the probe. “Any intelligent person would know this was false.”
The green apparition in the broadcast opened its mouth wide, bit off a human child’s head, and chewed with grotesque satisfaction while the body of the child kept moving and struggling. And apparently, the head being eaten was still able to scream for help. “Only stupid humans would think this scene reality.”
“Stop calling us stupid.”
He stopped the recording. “Typical human behavior. Spreading false rumors.”
Who did he think he was, coming to their planet and her hospital and taking over, thinking humans wouldn’t fight back? “We are fighting back with everything within our means.” If she knew how to make the propaganda films, she’d do it too.
“We?” He looked at her with sharpened attention. His hands around her wrists tightened fractionally.
“The human race. Did you think we’d roll over and play dead? Allow you to squat on our planet without fighting back?”
“We do not squat,” he said with supreme disdain.
She was about to tell him a few more home truths, when she remembered she’d wanted to see him anyway. Antagonizing him wouldn’t get her what she wanted. Though it would be a very long time before she forgot him dragging her in here and scaring the hot burning tar out of her. “Please let me go.”
Just when she thought he’d keep her standing there while he held her wrists forever, he let her go and she moved back a good few steps. Not that this would help her with his speed. They’d all seen him move so fast he became a blur. If he wanted to, he could be on her before she could blink. Not a pleasant thought after her earlier scare.
She moved another few steps back toward the door, his eyes tracking her every move. “I wanted to see you anyway.” She couldn’t help adding, “before you became unhinged and dragged me in here.”
If he had an eyebrow and an expressive face she was sure he’d lift it. “More demands?”
She was going to smile innocently and try for a friendly tone before, now she still felt too shaky to try and charm him. “More a request. I want you to allow the others to return to their doctor duties as well.”
He stared at her so long she had to concentrate not to fidget. “Please, Viglar.” It galled her to plead with him for something that was their right but, if it would get him to agree, she’d go down on her knees.
What was he thinking behind that expressionless face? That the spotted human was becoming more trouble than she was worth, off with her head? She’d planned to say a few things about calling her a spotted human, but now she just wanted to get him to agree and let her get out of there.
“Why? They would not do the same for you.”
“Yes they would, Clarkson fights for all of us.”
“He is an exceptionally brave human when he is sure of distance between us. I may allow him to retrain as a doctor.”
“And the others?
“They are too cowardly to ask to see me and demand fair treatment.”
She straightened and stopped herself just in time from taking a step toward him. Best to stay out of grabbing range. “Aha, so you admit you’ve been unfair, trying to make us not be doctors.”
“No, I do not admit this.” He grunted and the news interview with her appeared on the wall.
“Please, stop showing me this stuff. I’m sorry, okay, I won’t ever again believe those films, and you can be sure I will never again talk to a journalist.”
The image on the wall froze. “Your medical work has been adequate.”
She balled her fists, wanting to punch him the way Rory taught her. “Adequate, why you rude--”
“You need additional training to compensate for your inadequate training.”
“What inadequate training?”
“I will train you,” he said. Sounding as if teaching her anything would be an impossible task.
“What?” That was the last thing she expected. But his offer made her heart beat double time. This was an incredible opportunity. With him teaching her what he knew, with Zyrgin healing techniques, she’d never be unable to help a patient. She’d be so much closer to keeping her promise to Ana.
“I will train you to be a doctor. If you do your painting duties and your medical shifts and study hard, the other humans may work as doctors.”
When was she supposed to be doing all this learning? She painted those endless walls most of the day and then took her medical shift. She shrugged, who needed sleep anyway.
“Why? Why do you want me to study in return for the others getting their jobs back?”
He hadn’t done or said anything that gave the impression he’d want to help a human with anything.
“If you can learn what I teach you, I will assume all the humans are capable of doing it.”
Great, now the all the doctors’ fates were on her shoulders. She squared them. “All right, I’ll do it. What do I do?”
“Every morning at six you report here. You will study here for four hours and then you will go to do your other duties.”
Madison nodded, too scared to speak. If she couldn’t do this, her fellow doctors would pay the price. How was she supposed to live with that? “I really hope the studies come with coffee,” she mumbled, dazed at the prospect of never getting any sleep while the fate of all the doctors in this hospital rested on her shoulders.
“It will come with coffee and breakfast. From now on I will monitor your food intake.”
“Why?”
“Your weight is not sufficient. I will ensure you do not destroy my honor by becoming weak with hunger.”
Madison had no i
dea how her eating habits could destroy his honor, but she wasn’t about to refuse a decent meal.
“Sure, you bring me eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and chocolate and I’ll eat it all. Enough chocolates and I’ll gain weight in no time.”
It was worth a try. If he could produce all that she’d gobble it up.
He took something big and heavy from a shelve against the wall and threw it on the desk. It landed with a dull thud. “You will study that.” He handed her an old-fashioned pen. “Mark everything that you have not learned during your so-called studies.”
Madison stared down at the book in front of her. The Revised Comprehensive Oxford Medical Textbook. “Where did you get this? They don’t print textbooks anymore.”
“I synthesized it.”
“Really, what else can you synthesize?” Visions of standing in front of a machine that could provide anything she could think to ask for.
“Not your concern, human. Study.” With those brusque words, he left her alone.
Madison sat back in her chair, still trembling. When had her life become this crazy? With a sigh, she focused on the thick textbook on the table in front of her. At university, they’d received their textbooks over the TC. Even so she knew after going through a few chapters, that this book was thicker than all the books sent on the TC together.
With grim purpose, she picked up the pen. She could do this. She might be a walking zombie by the time she did it, but she could do this.
He returned exactly four hours later. “What have you learned, human?”
How could someone with no facial expressions manage to look so superior?
Madison got up because she couldn’t bear sitting like a supplicant at his feet. Not now, after four of the worst hours of her life, barring when she realized Rory was gone and thought the alien was going to eat her. Being confronted by what was taught to medical students fifty years ago, versus the very little she was taught, left her feeling strange. As if she hovered above her own body and looked down at her actions.