Scerior

by Jilly Bowling

  After her massage Jo fell asleep and slept for a few hours. When she woke up, she was alone, so tried to sit and read a book. Inevitably, her mind refused to concentrate on the book, as she had a lot to think about, space flight, wormholes, the Xenorii and the girls they had come to get. Would she be able to make things better for them. It would be so much easier if they were volunteers, not forced. But how could that happen?”

  Worrying that her negative thoughts about abduction could ruin things between her and Acorus, stupidly she felt tears running down her cheeks and brushed them away angrily. Telling herself to pull herself together she got off the bed and paced up and down the bedroom.

  Hearing a knock on the door she called, “Come in”.

  The door opened and a soldier entered saying “Lady, General Acorus is injured. I have been sent to take you to him!”

  “What injured? How? Wait, I’ll put my armour on” and Jo rushed into the bathroom, fling her kaftan off and stepped into her armour. Pulling her helmet on as she hurried through the bedroom she asked “Where is he? Is he hurt badly?”

  As he led her along the corridor the soldier told her that he was in the hospital and he didn’t know how he was injured. Walking as quickly as possible she took deep breaths to calm herself. When they reached the hospital, all was hustle and bustle. There seemed to be a few casualties not just Acorus. Jo pushed her way through the Escorii and Sceriae doctors trying to find Acorus. Stopping a doctor she asked where he was, and when the doctor tried to ignore her Jo lost her temper.

  “I am Lady Jo-Anna, where is my Lord Acorus. Tell me now or you will be sorry!”

  The doctor looked her up and down and said “Sorry, I did not recognise you, in armour; the General is over here”.

  She led Jo to a cubicle and pushed aside the curtain. Acorus was laid on a trolley with his helmet off and a mask over his face. Jo assumed that it was oxygen. She went to his side and was horrified at what she saw. His eyes were covered with damp pads, but the skin under and around his eyes looked burnt.

  “What happened?” she demanded of the doctor.

  “I don’t know Lady” he replied.

  “Then find someone who does”, she snapped “I want your top doctor here now”.

  When the doctor stood looking at her, she shouted at him “Move you imbecile, do as you’re told”.

  As he scurried away she turned back to Acorus. “Acorus, my love can you speak?”

  He turned his face towards her and whispered, “Jo, Belain will take care of the fleet, but you must supervise the girls we take. He is too quick tempered to have the responsibility of them”.

  “Don’t worry about anything other than getting better. I couldn’t live without you, so don’t you dare leave me” Jo told him fiercely.

  He started to chuckle and it turned into a cough, so Jo took his hand and told him to stay quiet. At that moment a female doctor came into the cubicle “Lady Jo-Anna, you should not be here in your condition”.

  “Never mind my condition, what has happened to Lord Acorus, and what are you doing about it?”

  “Let us talk outside” the doctor asked.

  “No, I’m not leaving him” Jo snapped.

  The doctor sighed and told Jo what had happened. Because the Xenorii were so difficult to restrain, having so many different appendages, what the Sceriae called whips they kept them in clear boxes like cubes. The interrogators, all male Escorii, were standing round one cube, subduing the Xenorii with their minds. Three soldiers were also with the Escorii and all their attention was on the Xenorii being interrogated. Acorus and two senior officers were behind them. The cube holding the other prisoner was behind Acorus. None of the Sceriae’s face masks were closed. While their attention was distracted the second Xenorii had been attacking the corner of his box. Suddenly it hit the box with one hard spike on the end of a ‘whip’, and for the first time ever the box shattered. With one quick jump it was free swinging all its ‘whips’ at Acorus and his officers. A ‘whip’ managed to get inside the masks of the two officers and they fell screaming in agony.

  Acorus had leapt back and drawn his weapon, but the very tip of a ‘whip’ had slashed across his eyes just as his mask closed. He fired his weapon and killed the Xenorii, but the very tip of a ‘whip’ was caught inside his face mask, with its poison seeping out onto Acorus’s eyes and surrounding skin. The soldiers and the Escorii rushed to help the officers and Acorus. The officers were beyond help, the ‘whips’ that got them had slashed through their eyes and noses to their brains.

  The ‘whip’ caught in Acorus’s mask had not managed to cut him, but the poison had burnt him. His mask had been taken off and they had poured water onto his eyes and face, as they rushed him to the hospital. The doctors gave him an anti venom injection and put pads on his eyes covered in the anti venom in gel form. He shouldn’t lose his sight as he had closed his eyes as the tip of the ‘whip’ caught in his face mask. Unfortunately the eyelids and under his eyes had been burnt by the poison. If he lost his eyelids, they would be able to give him new ones, but only back on Scerior.

  All Jo could think of were his beautiful blue twinkling eyes, and handsome face, and for the first time since she had been abducted, she prayed.

  “Is there anything else you can do?” she asked.

  “We will change the pads hourly and put cooling cloths on his face, but other than pain relief there is really nothing else we can do” said the doctor.

  “Right then we will move him to his own quarters. My Escorii and I will take care of him” Jo ordered.

  “No he must stay here” the doctor argued.

  “If you can do nothing more constructive here, he will be more comfortable in his own quarters”, and Jo held up her hand “No arguments. Call some guards to carry him”.

  Organising the transfer from the hospital to their quarters, Jo issued orders as if she were a general. Surprisingly no one argued, just did as she told them. Once in their bedroom she got the soldiers to take off his armour, waving aside their suggestion that she leave the room, “Saying don’t be stupid. I know his body as well as my own” and tutted at their embarrassed laughs.

  Once Acorus was in bed she got Tchu and Tjai to fetch bowls of cold water and she sat all night soothing the skin on his face and changing the gel pads on his eyes, every hour. Tchu tried to get her to rest but she refused, sitting by Acorus’s side, giving him sips of fluid regularly, and even using the injection gun to deliver pain relief. Towards dawn he stopped twisting and turning and seemed to sleep deeply. Jo continued to bathe his face and change the pads. Tchu insisted that she eat and drink, saying that when Acorus was better he would be angry if Jo became ill.

  Belain came to see his brother and leading Jo away from the bed said “We continue on to Earth. The plans are all made; each star ship will take a different area. I know Acorus wants you to supervise the girls and I will follow your instructions about them. Because we are taking so many, we cannot be as careful as we normally are, but even if the humans think something strange is happening, we will be on our way back to Scerior before they can react”.

  “Thank you Belain. I’m hopeful that Acorus will be recovering when we get to Earth. I know that you are perfectly capable of doing whatever has to be done and I will follow your orders as I follow Acorus’s”.

  “Jo-Anna, my brother thinks very highly of you. We didn’t get off to a very good start, but I think that even if you don’t like me, we can respect each other” Belain said putting his head on one side as Acorus sometimes did.

  Jo shook her head and said “I don’t dislike you, Belain. Actually I hated you all when I first came to Scerior. Try and understand, abducted, raped, forced to become a broodmare, totally against all I had planned for my life. How would you have felt? I’m torn in half. I love Acorus, admire the Sceriae, and understand your need to save your rac
e. But I still don’t like the thought of girls like me being abducted from their homes. That is why I am here, to try and stop their experience being as dreadful as it was for girls in the past. Please understand, if I appear to dislike you, it’s because I hate the situation we are all in”.

  He nodded “I understand Jo-Anna, but for me the survival of my race is paramount. I cannot think of another specie in terms of pity or sympathy”.

  “I know, and maybe if my race were in the same position I would be the same. So you see, I do understand you, and I don’t dislike you” Jo said, “Now I must go back to Acorus”.

  Eventually Acorus seemed to be sleeping normally and Tchu managed to persuade Jo to have a shower and massage.

  Putting on a clean kaftan Jo hurried back to Acorus’s side. Tchu insisted on fetching her some food, and after first picking at it she discovered that even though her brain wasn’t hungry, her body was. When she had finished eating she continued to cool Acorus’s face and was about to change the gel pads when his eyes suddenly opened.

  Putting his hand up, he took hold of hers so that she couldn’t put fresh pads on his eyes.

  His eyelids were still swollen, with blisters up to his eyebrows, but his eyes were still bright blue and thankfully clear.

  “How long have I been unconscious?” he asked.

  “Only a night and a morning. How do you feel and can you see clearly?” Jo asked, then turning to Tchu she ordered, “Go and fetch the senior doctor. Take no arguments; tell them it is an order from Lady Jo-Anna”.

  “When did you get so bossy?” Acorus laughed, and Jo flung herself onto his chest, with tears of relief running down her cheeks.

  “When you were stupid enough to get injured. Someone had to take charge of you or you wouldn’t have done as you were told” she sobbed.

  “Don’t cry Jo, I’m alright. At least I will be, when I get rid of this headache” and he tried to sit up.

  “Don’t you dare move. I haven’t sat up all night for you to undo everything by being stupid!” Jo pushed him down onto his pillows.

  He sagged back down like a baby, and realised how weak he was “Can I have a drink, please sir” he chuckled, mocking her.

  “I don’t know if I preferred you unconscious. Mine to do with, as I want” Jo said fetching him a tumbler with a straw in it. He tried to protest at the straw but quickly realised that he couldn’t hold his head up long enough to drink out of the tumbler. Drinking deeply he closed his eyes and lay back exhausted.

  “Let me put these new pads on your eyes. They are doing a good job” Jo insisted.

  At that the female doctor came into the room. Looking at Jo she said “Lady I have other patients you know”.

  To which Jo snapped “But none as important as your future king. Don’t think you can bully me, ‘cos I know who’d come off worst!”

  Hearing Acorus chuckle, which turned into a hacking cough, the doctor went to him.

  “Good, General you are conscious” then she spoke in Sceria which Jo couldn’t understand fully.

  Lifting his hands to his face Acorus took the pads off his eyes and frowning said “Doctor

  Bezra, speak in English, and remember, if you insult my lady, you insult me!”

  Bezra’s lips quivered but pursing them she said “You seem to have been lucky. Your Escorii have done a good job, looking after you. Your eyes are not damaged and the blisters aren’t as bad as we thought they would be” and turning to Tchu she told her to continue with the treatment until she visited again in the evening.

  Tchu drew herself up to her full height and said “It is not me who saved the General’s eyelids, but my Lady, she has been by his side constantly since he was injured. Doing everything for him herself, unlike a Sceriae female who would not demean herself to do Escorii work”.

  Acorus had had enough of Bezra “I will speak with you, when I am more recovered. Send one of your junior doctors to see me this evening. Your attitude leaves a lot to be desired”.

  Without another word she turned and left the room.

  Tchu was shaking, with her hands over her face; Jo went to her and hugged her saying

  “Don’t be upset, thank you for standing up for me. If you don’t mind I’m going to call you Mummy Tchu from now on”.

  Taking her hands from her face Tchu smiled and said “I can think of nothing I’d like better. But at my age I think I am more Granny than Mummy”.

  Hugging her again Jo told her that she loved her to bits. “Ahem” Acorus cleared his throat” Have you forgotten me. I’m ill, I need some care!”

  Jo went to him and putting new pads on his eyes said “Stop being such a baby. Men honestly, they get nearly killed by a raging beast and expect us to run after them for days”.

  “I’m hungry, starving actually. I need food and pain relief, in that order. Jump to it, females”.

  Tchu tutted at him but went to get him a plate of food and a long drink. Leaning over him, Jo kissed his chin, the only place on his face that wasn’t sore, and said “Joking aside, if you ever give me a fright like that again, I will kill you myself! Come let’s help you sit up”.

  Tchu helped Jo ease him up the bed, piling more pillows around him and once he was comfortable, Jo fed him and told him what she knew about the Xenorii attack. The second Xenorii had gone berserk when his companion attacked Acorus, and fearful that he too might escape the remaining soldiers had killed him.

  Once Acorus had eaten as much as he wanted, Jo administered pain relief and still propped up on pillows he fell asleep. Tchu insisted that Jo should sleep so she lay on top of the bed next to him and she fell asleep also. Tchu sat and watched over them both, once more an inscrutable Escori.

  Chapter 30

  Jo slept for hours and was only woken by a junior doctor knocking on the bedroom door. As Tchu went to open the door Jo got up off the bed and tidied herself up. The doctor who came in was totally different to Bezra. Going to Jo she bowed and said “Good evening Lady Jo-Anna. I am Jeksa, senior Bezra’s assistant. May I examine the General?”

  “He’s asleep at the moment, but I will wake him gently. Would you like a drink while you wait” Jo went to the table to pour them both a drink.

  “Thank you Lady Jo-Anna, I would be honoured to accept a drink from you” Jeksa said smiling at Jo.

  Jo took a sip of her drink, then taking another tumbler poured some liquid into it and added a straw. Going to the bed, she gently shook Acorus saying “Acorus love, a doctor is here to examine you. Wake up and have a drink before she starts”.

  As he woke up Acorus groaned and put a hand up to his head. Jeksa hurried over and said “Lord Acorus, lie still. I’ll give you something for the pain in your head”.

  With that she picked up the box which she had brought with her and putting it on the bed opened it. Taking out a small phial she poured some liquid into a small cup and held it to Acorus’s lips “Drink” she said.

  He obeyed her and within minutes his headache was gone. “Thank you Jeksa, why wasn’t I given that earlier? Was it because I was having the pain relief injections?”

  “I don’t know General, but that would not have affected the injections”. Jeksa then clamped her lips together and said “Senior doctor Bezra believes that we should fight our own pain.

  She says it is all in the mind”.

  “God” exploded Jo, “I’ll give her all in the mind”.

  “Hush, Jo let Jeksa do her job”.

  So Jo stood back and watched as Jeksa took Acorus’s vital signs with a small machine that she pointed at various points of his body. Then she gently peeled the pads off his eyes and nodded with satisfaction “Good, no damage at all to your eyes, sir, and the blistering has not gone right through your eyelids. It will go by itself, quite quickly, I think. The care taken with you over night has greatly aided
your recovery. I would like to give you an injection, to make sure that the poison does not reach your vital organs. And I will substitute with ointment, then you will be able to see what is going on” and once again she clamped her mouth shut.

  Both Tchu and Jo went “Oh”.

  Tchu put her hands over her mouth and looked down, but Jo stood in front of Jeksa and demanded, “Both Tchu and I read your thoughts. What does Lord Acorus need to see?”

  “It is not my place, I am only doctor Bezra’s assistant” Jeksa said looking worried.

  “Jeksa, tell us what is concerning you, now” Acorus snapped.

  She looked from side to side, shaking her head, obviously very frightened. Jo put her hand on her shoulder and said “You will not get into trouble. Nothing you tell us will leave this room. Get her a drink, please Tchu. There, now sit down and tell us what is worrying you”.

  “I am ashamed that I haven’t spoken out before. But she threatened me and my family. She has such a high position on the council, with allies everywhere. I dare not risk it”.

  “Stop rambling and tell me what is going on” Acorus ordered, trying to control his anger.

  So Jeksa told them that for years, since doctor Bezra took over the care of the humans abducted to the ship, she had been selling the infertile ones to anyone who would buy them.

  “What?” thundered Acorus “Sceriae males have been buying slaves?”

  Jo gasped and put her hand on his arm “Stay calm love, you still have some poison in your system”.

  Breathing deeply he struggled to calm himself and said “Continue”.

  Shaking with fear Jeksa said that no Sceriae had bought the girls, it was other races who took them as slaves.

  Jo couldn’t believe what she was hearing and was shaking with anger herself. When Jeksa gave the names of different species including the Xenorii, Jo jumped up as if to fly out of the room.

  Tchu grabbed her and said “Please child, think of your baby”.