by HR Ringer
Xiùlán held her gaze, refusing to look away even for a second. “I can see it in your expression, Sammy. You couldn’t do it, could you? What changed your mind, Ai?” [愛 – Love (Xiùlán’s meaning is ‘luv’)]
“You did, my love… or rather, your sense of morality. You didn’t teach me to be a butcher. But I didn’t give him a mercy shot either… I used an omni-blade, straight up in ‘is gut, so ‘e died of suffocation. I had to end ‘im, Xiùlán, you see that, don’t you? He knew where we were holed up, would have directed others to find us.” Traynor was openly weeping now – voice hitching, she cried, “I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to be with me again.”
Xiùlán drew Sammy towards her until she could wrap her arms around her in a loving embrace. “Sammy, you did what had to be done to keep me… and Buchanan… alive, until we could get off that miserable station. It was necessary, okay? There’s nothing to forgive. You make me so proud, I could burst.”
Bent over her Inamorata and barely able to believe that Xiùlán was not unhappy with how she’d dealt with her assailant, Sam carefully wrapped her arms around her and kissed her in a fervent display of the depth of her feelings for this beautiful Chinese woman; best of all, Xiùlán returned the kiss with just as much passion, assuring Sammy that she was still loved and cherished.
Her emotions barely in check, Sam whispered in Yuan’s ear, “Xièxiè. Nǐ shǐ wǒ de shēngmìng biàn de wánzhěng.” [謝謝.你使我的生命變得完整 – Thank you. You make my life complete]
* * *
After her surgery, Yuán Xiùlán was sleeping soundly, dreaming she was safe in her own bed, in her parent’s home in the city of Shanghai. She felt an occasional twinge, a little pinprick of pain, in various places of her left thigh, but never enough to truly disturb her slumbers. She smiled inwardly as a hand grasped one of hers and gave a gentle squeeze. There was someone in her room with her. Odd, that. She had never had anyone visit her in her bedroom, particularly when she was asleep. ‘Perhaps it is time to wake up. No. Sleep is the answer.’ Xiùlán murmured a complaint… “Qǐng líkāi. [請離開 - please leave]
The hand holding hers shifted its grip… it was now positioned to softly stroke the back of her hand, wrist-to-knuckles and back, over and over. Uhmmmm. Felt good, unlike the twinges and pinpricks of pain in her thigh, which seemed to be growing in number and intensity.
Slanted eyelids parted slightly, just enough to make out a blurry face… squinting, she was able to make out a pair of eyes, brown like hers, but different… honey brown instead of her own sable brown. ‘Sà mǐ. Oh Ancestors!’ “Sà mǐ! You’re here…”
“Ssshhh, darling. Of course I’m here. Don’t try to talk… don’t try to sit up. You’re just out of surgery to fix your leg.” Traynor placed a little kiss on Xiùlán’s forehead. “You’ve been out for about eleven hours, and if your level of pain rises, the monitor will increase your sedatives to put you under again.”
Xiùlán closed her eyes against the bright lights, but could sense they were being dimmed, so slid them open again to look at Sammy. “How…?
“Ssshhh. You’re doing fine, darling. Doctor Shakia will be here in a few minutes… she seemed to be pleased with the results of your surgery.”
The hand holding Xiùlán’s continued its gentle massage, bringing a tiny smile to her lips. “Hhhmm… Gǎnjué hěn hǎom, Sà mǐ.” [感覺很好 - Feels good, Sammy.] The gentle touch relaxed her as perhaps nothing else could, helping her to return to sleep… to dream she was being held by Sammy in their bed on Arcturus Station.
Sammy continued to gently massage the back of Xiùlán’s hand for several minutes after it was obvious she was sleeping… the smile on her lips indicative of a pleasant dream.
“Ms Traynor?” The soft voice behind her interrupted her thoughts; turning around, she quickly recognized Doctor Luria Shakia. “My apologies. I did not mean to intrude. Your presence is obviously of great benefit for Ms Yuán… she seems to be totally at peace.”
“Doctor Shakia.” Quickly glancing back at Xiùlán, she returned her gaze to the doctor’s eyes as she replied, “She woke up for a minute, just long enough to realize I’m here with her.”
“Have you eaten?… or slept since you arrived?” Samantha’s embarrassed expression was all the confirmation Dr Shakia needed. “It is as I thought. Come, you must remain healthy… for her sake. There’s a lounge just down the hall. I’ll have a meal brought up for you; you can eat and then sleep for a bit. Your friend’s condition is being continuously monitored… I will ensure you are alerted the instant she begins to rouse from her slumbers.”
Traynor looked longingly at Xiùlán, total relaxation showing on her face, tiny smile on her lips. She placed a gentle kiss on those lips, whispering, “Wǒ ài nǐ, Xiùlán.” Returning her attention to the doctor, she acquiesced, saying with a smile, “Okay, Doctor. Lead the way.”
* * *
It had been four days since the surgery on Yuán Xiùlán’s leg had been completed by a team of the finest orthopedic doctors in all of Thessia; her left thighbone, with the exception of the ‘head’ and lower extremity, had been replaced with a specially designed shaft of titanium strands reinforced with carbon fibers; the surgeons had fused the shaft to the head and lower extremity, ensuring the new addition to her leg would in all ways be as good as or better than the bone it was replacing. The part of the operation that proved to be most tedious involved reattaching all the muscles and tendons to the new ‘bone’. They had also discovered and extracted another fragment of the bullet that had originally shattered her leg; the last bit of polonium coated metal that was still making her sick.
Xiùlán could raise the top third of her bed about twenty degrees, making it easier to visit with Sammy; her leg was in a cast from hip-to-foot, bent slightly at the knee and resting on a specially formed block. Buchanan, virtually healed from his torture on Cartagena Station, had been visiting as well.
On the morning of the fifth day, Dr Shakia had gently knocked on the door and entered Xiùlán’s room. Saying, “Good morning, Ms Yuán. How did you sleep?” she activated her omnitool and began scanning the length of Xiùlán’s thigh.
“Not well,” came the reply. “I’m not used to sleeping alone, and not being able to sleep on my side with…” Xiùlán paused, a hint of color creeping up her neck. She continued as Sammy picked that moment to come in for her morning visit. “… on my side with Sammy snuggled up beside me.”
It was Sammy’s turn to blush as Xiùlán completed her sentence – Dr Shakia split her attention between Sammy and Xiùlán. “So you two are in a relationship. Why should that embarrass either of you?” Having completed her scan, the doctor transferred the data to the hospital’s servers, then shut her omnitool off and waited expectantly.
Traynor spoke up first. “I’ve been in love with this woman since the first day we met. We trained together, on Earth’s moon, on Mars, couple of missions to areas not totally under Alliance control. I would do anything for her.”
Xiùlán blinked and nodded her head as she attempted to swallow past the lump that had suddenly seized her throat. It didn’t help that Sammy moved to stand beside her, leaned in and gently kissed her cheek.
Dr Shakia smiled at the pair as she observed, “Just like a pair of young maidens.” She continued to smile as she brought out a datapad, thumbed it on and read from its screen. “It seems you have gained favor with the Asari Minister of Antiquities. Matriarch Elesia will be here…” she checked the datapad’s built-in chrono, “… in seventeen minutes. It doesn’t say why – that is something you will discover when she arrives.”
Placing the datapad back in a pocket on her lab coat, she looked at Xiùlán and said, “Ms Yuán, your leg appears to be healing well. Another two days, maybe three… I’m going to have you get out of that bed, hand you a pair of crutches and send you to bring me a cup of Kaffe.” Upon seeing the shocked expressions of both Yuán and Traynor, she chuckled and finished with, “Okay
. Maybe we’ll just see if you can take a few steps across the room and back.”
* * *
Sammy and Xiùlán had been joined by Buchanan and were chatting about their adventure in the Abyss when a knock at the door interrupted them… Dr Shakia entered the room, followed by an asari matriarch, elegant looking in a nearly floor-length gown in a deep shade of shimmery purple, over which she had a floor-length cape fastened at her neck.
Griff and Sammy quickly stood as Dr Shakia introduced each of them with a wave of her outstretched hand, saying, “Operations Chief Griffen Buchanan, Service Chief Yuán Xiùlán and Serviceman First Class Samantha Traynor.” Indicating the matriarch with her opposite hand, she said, “This is Matriarch Elesia T’Keeri, Minister of Antiquities. She has traveled here from Armali to share some news for you.”
Dr Shakia turned and left as the matriarch approached Traynor, who raised both hands waist high, palms up, in the traditional asari greeting; the corners of Elesia’s mouth turned up slightly as she gently laid her own hands palms down on Traynor’s. “My pleasure,” came the whispered acknowledgment.
She next approached Buchanan, who had seen Traynor’s use of her hands, so presented his in the same manner. “A pleasure to meet you, Operations Chief.”
Finally, she approached Yuán, who was only able to present Elesia with one hand, as her offside arm still had tubes inserted in her veins. Elesia took Xiùlán’s hand in both of hers and spoke softly, “It is my pleasure to meet you, Yuán Xiùlán. I am so very sorry your work on behalf of the asari brought you so much pain.” Dropping her hands, she turned partway to face Griff and added, “That goes for you as well, Operations Chief. I am given to understand the batarians poked and prodded you rather unmercifully.”
Griff smiled as he replied, “Nothing I haven’t come to expect from them, Ma’am.”
Xiùlán cocked her head slightly as she asked, “What brings you here today, Minister?”
Elesia actually chuckled at this. “Humans… So impatient, always right to the point.” Reaching up to her throat, she undid a clasp, removed her heavy cloak and folding it over the back of one of the chairs. Traynor noticed Griff had the decency (or the common sense, at least) to look at the floor rather than stare at the voluptuous figure revealed by the rather clingy fabric of her gown. “I wanted to personally thank the three of you for your service on behalf of the asari republic. The figurine you retrieved from Cartagena Station has been authenticated as the genuine article.”
Xiùlán asked, “Just how old is that carving, Minister?”
“We’ve established it was carved from a single piece of Bolan wood between 2800 to 3100 years ago, as the turian Septivus Vulpez surmised. Bolan trees are thought to be extinct; none have been seen in over a thousand years.” Pausing to look at the notes on a datapad, she continued with, “The scientific team feels that it was most likely in the possession of Matriarch Dilinaga during a major portion of her travels.”
Traynor huffed a little sigh of relief. At Elesia’s questioning look, she said in a low voice, “I’m happy it has been proved to be authentic, Minister. The shipping manifests I found in the warehouse listed two identical pieces, one each in two different crates. I checked each crate and found only the one carving. I was afraid the genuine article had been substituted with a forgery.”
Elesia chuckled as she responded, “I can assure you, the piece you recovered is the genuine article, Ms Traynor. Would you be so kind as to share with me how you managed to track down and recover this artifact when it appeared no one else could?”
Yuán and Buchanan agreed to let Traynor begin the tale, with the pair adding details to the main story when necessary. When a suddenly modest Traynor began telling of her final fight with the batarian dock workers, Griff took over, sparing no detail concerning the amazing way she had left fifteen or sixteen batarian dock workers dead, dying or unconscious on the floor of the warehouse, all with only her hands, feet and blades, all within the space of about two minutes. Even Xiùlán expressed a bit of surprise, as she had been unable to witness Sammy’s amazing performance.
The minister looked at Traynor, respect for her abilities plain in her expression. “It sounds as if you were trained by the best asari infiltrator class commandos.”
Traynor shyly looked at her lover. “Xiùlán trained me, almost from the time we met at the Alliance base on Earth’s moon. I owe her all the credit for my martial arts skills.”
Yuán grinned as she added, “Probably a good thing she didn’t have her nángùn…” Elesia’s puzzled look at the untranslatable term prompted Xiùlán to add, “…that’s a polished, two-meter long wooden staff.” Looking at her lover with a rueful expression, she added, “Sammy has even taught me lessons with her staff!”
Traynor blushed at Yuán’s revelation. “Yeah, well, many were the times she taught me lessons…” holding up and displaying the backs of her hands for emphasis, “… painful lessons!… with her nángùn during our sparring sessions,” then added, “I instructed her in electronics intrusion skills while she was teaching me self-defense tactics. We make a good team.”
Elesia was impressed. “It would appear the Alliance Ambassador did the asari an immense favor by recommending the three of you for this undertaking. Before you depart Thessia, it would be my honor to sponsor you as my guests at the Armali Palace Art Gallery so you can see and understand the importance of the piece you have risked life... and limb... to recover for us."
Traynor looked at Griff and Xiùlán before moving to stand in front of the minister. With a small bow, she said, “It would be our honor to attend as your guests, Minister Elesia. Thank you.”
* * *
Chapter 28: Calm Before The Storm
What a grand thing it is to be loved! What a far grander thing it is to love! The heart becomes heroic, by dint of passion. – Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
* * *
Inamorata – A woman with whom one is in love; a female lover (Italian)
Seaside Sunrise – Mango liqueur, Mandarin liqueur, and Strawberry and Lime Cider
* * *
* THESSIA • SERRICE HOSPITAL *
It had been twenty-eight days since Xiùlán’s surgery to repair the damage to her left thigh; according to asari Doctor Shakia, she was making excellent progress towards a full recovery. Her hip-to-ankle cast had been removed in favor of a changeable brace, allowing an asari therapist to assist Xiùlán’s healing through gentle, biotic enhanced massage of her thigh muscles, along with deep, directed biotic stimulation of the carbon fiber reinforced titanium replacement at the top and bottom, where it had been fused to the remaining head and lower extremity of the shattered bone.
Xiùlán had undergone the first of what was to be several skin graft procedures to repair the external damages with extremely small strips of skin taken from her buttocks; these were placed in a ‘grow’ solution to make them larger, after which Dr Shakia had patched the wounds to eliminate as much scar tissue as possible.
She was in a semi-sitting position in her bed, eating dinner with Sammy and Griff. All of Buchanan’s wounds had completely healed – even the scar on his face seemed to be nearly gone. As the three humans conversed over their meals, Griff said to Traynor, “I really love their hospitality, Sam, but I am bored stiff! I need to be out doing… stuff, ya know?”
Traynor had a difficult time keeping the smirk from crawling onto her face. “Have you toured this city, Griff? It’s an architectural marvel, both in design and materials. In addition, it is virtually impossible to tell the old sections from those built more recently. I think you should have one of our escorts take you on a sight-seeing tour.” Buchanan began to protest until Traynor pointed out part of sight-seeing involved sampling the local cuisine. “You’ll be doing a fair bit of walking. Work up an appetite, have a nice lunch, or dinner. Just don’t be surprised at all the attention you receive. Most asari have never encountered humans before, particularly a male, and certainly not a giant.”
Buchanan grinned at that. “Giant, you say? I don’t know – walking around this place, I’ve seen a few commandos nearly as tall as I am.”
Traynor’s smirk was solidly in place as she responded, “I don’t think commandos are shaped like you, Griff. Huge shoulders, massive torso… you definitely fit the definition of a giant, at least to them.”
Buchanan thought about the idea for a few moments before brightening visibly as he looked at Traynor. “Come with me, Sammy. I don’t want to be the only human in a city full of alien blue women. I’d be glad for the company.”
Xiùlán weighed in with her own opinion. “Go with him, Sà mǐ. It’ll do you good to get out of here for a bit, stretch your legs, sample the food. You never know when you’ll travel this way again. Take the opportunity while you can… I’d certainly go if I could walk more than a few steps without falling on my face.”
The reminder of why Xiùlán was in this hospital brought an expression of sadness to Sammy’s face. “Are you sure? I feel like I’d be abandoning you.”
“Nonsense. I’ll be right here when you return,” she replied. “I have physical therapy in the morning and after lunch, so we won’t get to visit much anyway. You can tell me about your adventures tomorrow night. Go! Have some fun!”