Afterburn

by S. L. Viehl

  The aquatic treatment center, designed by the best ’Zangian engineers on the planet, adjoined the FreeClinic facility but was kept separated by an air-and-water lock. Because there was only one aquatic physician on staff, the center also provided transparent viewing and treatment cubicles, built into the patient tanks to accommodate the needs of non-water-breathers.

  The three ’Zangians stripped out of their uniforms and dove into the visitors’ tank, while Ana entered one of the viewing cubicles. Special underwater audio allowed everyone to communicate clearly with each other.

  Onkar remained at Jadaira’s side as Ana introduced Miglan, the ambassador’s personal assistant. The small aquatic came forward, swishing the water with mincing sweeps of his fins. He was smaller than the other Ylydii, Onkar noted, and not as brightly colored. He seemed to compensate for his diminutive size by speaking with his chest plate puffed out.

  Administrator Hansen, Ambassador Carada of Ylydii was not harmed during the hostile takeover of her ship. However, my lady wishes to express her displeasure with the manner in which rescue efforts were made.

  Her displeasure? Dair exchanged a look with Onkar. She did not wish to be saved?

  I will speak to these persons now, Miglan.

  Ambassador Carada emerged from her shrouded patient tank and entered the visitors’ area, filling up half of the available space with her bulk. Liquid jewel tubes circled her head, fin bases, and waist, from which artificial veiling fluttered.

  Onkar had never seen a female aquatic of Carada’s dimensions. She was easily as large as he and Burn. It was not her size that bothered him as much as something else about her—something not so easily defined. Whatever it was, it had his teeth set on edge.

  Her Grace Lady Carada, Ambassador of the Ylydii. Miglan quickly scooted behind the ambassador.

  An aquatic nurse came out of the patient tank, but Carada turned and said, I told you, I do not wish to be examined by any physician, and certainly not some male. She circled around and gave Ana a baleful look. Nor do I wish to be coddled by a lowly mouth-breather. Who is the aquatic in authority here?

  Onkar saw Ana nod to his mate.

  I am. Jadaira came forward and finned gestures of respect suitable for an Elder of the pod. Welcome to Kevarzangia Two, Ambassador. We are so pleased you were not harmed during the raid on your ship.

  Indeed. From the manner in which you carried out your rescue, I gained the impression that you wanted me and mine dead, Carada said. Why else would you send that maniac to spread chaos and destruction as he did?

  Maniac?

  She means Burn, Onkar told Dair.

  Burn. I am not surprised that is his name. He all but burned up our vessel. Carada pulled her head up and her tale under, taking a vertical, commanding position in the water. Her flukes caught the hovering Miglan, who was knocked into a small spin before she plucked him out of it and tucked him under her fin like a podling. That male savaged my daughter and nearly killed her several times. Our water is filthy with the blood of those he wantonly slaughtered.

  Onkar caught Burn by the fin, keeping him from surging forward, and then clikked a reminder for him to keep silent.

  Ambassador, Sublieutenant mu Znora boarded your ship alone and at great personal risk, Jadaira said carefully. He only acted in self-defense, and to protect you and the other survivors.

  His actions were reckless and ill-conceived. He killed these males when they might have been captured and held for interrogation. I should not have to point out that, had he failed, we all might have been murdered. Carada tightened her hold on Miglan, who squeaked. You will imprison him and have him neutered at once.

  Jadaira was visibly fighting to control her temper. With respect, Ambassador, we do not reprimand our officers in such a manner.

  Males should not be given rank, Carada snapped. As for troublesome males like this one, they have to be gelded. If you do not, they will pass their violent traits on to the young. The ambassador drew back, bumping into Miglan again. Do not tell me you allow ones like him to freely breed among your kind.

  Onkar saw Ana shaking her head at Jadaira, who was already at a loss for words. He moved forward and addressed the ambassador’s pet male. Miglan, is it permitted that I speak to you?

  If the ambassador has no objections. The small male looked up at Carada, who was inspecting Onkar’s bicolored augmentations.

  He has the look of one of our males, the ambassador told her assistant, and released him from her hold. Very well, you may speak to him. Perhaps he has some influence with these rock-headed females.

  Miglan came forward. What is it you wish to tell me?

  Our societies are very different. ’Zangian pods are matriarchal, but our relationships are reciprocal in respect and deference. We do not elevate females above males, or males over females.

  Males over females. Miglan squealed with mirth. That is a good one, ’Zangian.

  Your people must know this is how we live from the contact they have made with us in the past. Onkar glanced at Carada, and wondered why she chose to ignore what she already knew about his kind. I would respectfully remind the ambassador that tolerance and understanding are two of the greatest tools of peace. They are also the most welcome gifts a visiting species can bring.

  Miglan swam back to Carada’s side and repeated everything Onkar had said to him. It was rather ludicrous, since the ambassador had clearly heard every word as he had spoken to Miglan, but the pretense obviously gave her some satisfaction. He waited as Carada made a show of pondering the request, and then she withdrew from the tank, leaving Miglan behind.

  You will be honored and privileged to know that my lady will think on your words, ’Zangian, the little male told him. He had grown the lashes around his eyes very long, and peeked through them as he spoke. For the interim, this male—he gestured toward Burn—will not trespass on the ambassador’s kindness or good will again. He will not approach my lady’s daughter, the lady Liana, and he will not be permitted to board our ship at any time in the future. Is this understood?

  Onkar’s attention moved to a new group entering the treatment ward.

  Who is that, Miglan? Carada demanded. I did not give permission for any others to be admitted here.

  Ana Hansen glanced back and hurried to meet the two males, one Skartesh, the other cloaked but clearly Ninrana. “Ambassador Urloy-ka, Representative Bataran, welcome. If you will come with me—”

  The Ninrana pulled back his hood, revealing the narrow-eyed, deeply tanned face of a desert-dweller humanoid. “Is this the male who brought the fish people back?” He gestured toward Burn with the bone staff he carried.

  “Yes,” Ana said. “Now if I may take you to a reception room, we can—”

  Urloy-ka moved around the administrator and came to the transparent wall between him and the aquatics. “You are to be commended, ’Zangian. Never have I seen kills as clean as those you made. None of the bones or tissues were spoiled or wasted. I would know how you did it.”

  Burn’s hide paled several shades.

  “It was an unnecessary and barbaric solution,” Bataran said, and glared at Burn. “For what he did, this one should be severely punished, not praised.”

  Onkar winced, and heard Ana smother a groan. Burn didn’t respond. He was busy watching Carada.

  A smaller Ylydii female appeared in the tank and pushed past the ambassador. She looked at no one but Burn. I thank you for my life, Pilot.

  Silence, Liana. The Ylydii ambassador grabbed the small female by the dorsal fin and dragged her back. He has earned no gratitude from us.

  He has from me. Liana struggled free and swam forward to press her snout against the divider. I will say what needs be said. I thank you, Pilot.

  Onkar watched as the ambassador drove the smaller female from the tank before returning alone.

  Tell all of these males to get out, Carada ordered Jadaira. Then you will explain to me why this Bio Rescue operation is peddled as a medical treatment and ev
acuation effort when it is so clearly a military operation.

  “Liam.”

  William Mayer looked up to see Ana standing in front of the assessment desk. She looked agitated and unhappy.

  “Check on him in thirty minutes, and make sure his chest tube is clear,” he told his charge nurse, and handed the patient’s chart to her. “Ask Dr. Tixys to cover for me.” He came out from behind the desk and joined Ana. “My next surgery is scheduled in an hour. I’m yours until then.”

  She gave him an unconvincing smile. “I hope this doesn’t take that long.”

  As they walked to the aquatic treatment center, Ana briefed him on the situation, and the events up to that morning.

  “I asked Urloy-ka and Bataran to leave, and Jadaira is placating the ambassador until the ’Zangian Elder arrives.” Ana checked her wristcom. “Which should be in ten minutes. We’ve got that long to figure out how to keep Carada and the Ylydii delegation from withdrawing from the Peace Summit.”

  Liam tugged her to a stop. “What does Carada want?”

  “I don’t know. She talks like a paranoid pacifist but acts like a general on amphetamines. She makes one demand and then changes it to something else. When I left, she was working up a theory on how Bio Rescue was nothing but a military operation disguised as a medical rescue effort.”

  “It sounds like she has a slight case of PMS.”

  Ana gave him an ironic look. “I don’t think this is hormonal, Liam.”

  “Prisoner Maladjustment Syndrome. Some beings don’t take too well to being captured and detained, particularly those who occupy an elevated position in their culture. We’ve seen it lately among the military, usually after a POW center is liberated. High-ranking officers who were steady as stone during their detainment become inordinately demanding, irrational, and sometimes violent.”

  “How can you tell if she’s got this version of PMS?” Ana asked.

  “Erratic synaptic pulses in the frontal lobe. However, my nurse over at the ATC already informed me that Carada refuses to be examined.” He thought for a minute. “The patient tanks have built-in proximity scanners; I could perform a remote scan and check her brainwaves. I’ve treated enough aquatics with PMS that I’d recognize the pattern.”

  Ana gnawed at her lower lip. “If the ambassador discovers that we’ve scanned her without her permission, she’ll be furious. It would also violate the diplomatic code, and she’d have every justification for leaving K-2 and never coming back.”

  “The alternative is canceling the summit until she gets over it,” Liam advised her. “Untreated, the condition only gets worse. She could present a danger to herself and others.”

  “What is the treatment for this syndrome?”

  “A low-grade stim to the nerve centers to restore synaptic balance. It sometimes causes short-term memory loss, but not among aquatics. She won’t be aware of it. The sensation is like that of a mild tingle that lasts only a split second.”

  “Officially I’m supposed to tell you ‘no way in hell’ now. Unofficially . . .” It was Ana’s turn to think. “Do the remote scan while I speak with Carada’s daughter, Liana. As next of kin, she can give you permission to treat.”

  Liam took Ana’s hand before she could hurry off. “Carada’s behavior isn’t the only problem, is it?”

  “When did you become empathically gifted?” Ana tried to joke.

  “I don’t know. Maybe the day you seduced me.” He caressed her cheek. “You taught me to pay attention to feelings as well as the physical condition.”

  “It’s not Carada. It’s her daughter.” Ana lowered her voice. “I have an inkling that there’s something terribly wrong with her. She has a regimented mind that’s very hard to read. Beneath all that iron self-discipline, I sense that she’s manipulating her own thoughts; thinking only what is acceptable or necessary and feeling nothing.”

  “What is the harm in that?” It described his own mental discipline perfectly.

  “You can’t impose that kind of restraint on yourself for very long without some psychic backlash.” Ana sighed. “Her control isn’t perfect, either. It’s like seeing a lid clamped down over something boiling—or toxic—and knowing it could blow at any minute.”

  “All that from an inkling.”

  She frowned. “I’m serious, Liam. I’ve never felt a mind like hers, and I’m deeply concerned.”

  William rarely thought much about Ana’s latent psychic talent. The scientist in him tended to doubt the reliability of her perceptions, but he’d seen her summon deadly accurate impressions too often to dismiss it. “This mental control Liana has—would it affect her ability to make an informed decision about her mother’s treatment?”

  “No, it shouldn’t.”

  “Then we should address Carada’s PMS first,” William said. “Once we have her stabilized, we can talk to Liana about treatment for her problem. Let me clear my slate.” He signaled the pre-op ward and asked Dr. Tixys to take his afternoon procedure.

  As soon as he was done rearranging his shift schedule, Ana put her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

  William returned the embrace before lifting her chin so he could see her face. “What’s this all about?”

  “I love you. I love that you’re a doctor and you help so many people. I love your mind, which is beautiful and disciplined and brilliant.” She grimaced. “I can’t talk about your body until we have some privacy.”

  “Good idea.” He never tired of her slim, mature figure or the exotic togmot covering nearly every inch of her skin under her garments. The reddish-brown markings, a legacy of Ana’s first marriage, felt like silk to the touch.

  She placed a hand over the left side of his lab coat. “What I really love, though, is your heart. It’s always filled with compassion and generosity. You never run out of them.”

  “That’s because you keep giving me some from yours.” He kissed her the way he would if they’d been alone, and the last few, blurry emotions snapped into sharp focus. “Clear your calendar for the cycle after this Peace Summit is over.”

  She smiled up at him. “Are we finally taking a vacation together?”

  “You’ll see.” William kissed her again.

  CHAPTER 9

  B urn left the aquatic treatment center with Onkar, made the uncomfortable transition from tank water to breathing air, and waited outside the FreeClinic for the females to sort things out with the Ylydii. He didn’t like the big, gaudy female ambassador, but she had the right to be angry with him. Politicians seldom did or said anything that made sense in his view, but he had killed unnecessarily. It was only her suggested punishment that made him fume.

  Have me neutered. “I know why the Ylydii males were so small and timid,” he said out loud to Onkar. “Carada and her kind probably emasculate anyone who isn’t.”

  Onkar didn’t seem amused. “Their customs seem strange to us, but they do work. Teresa told me that the Ylydii species is as old as our own.”

  Burn snorted. “You don’t see ’Zangian vessels being taken over by mercenaries without a fight.”

  “The Ylydii don’t fight as we do. They sing their prey to death.”

  Burn folded his arms. “They sing that badly?”

  “They use their voices and those flowing fins. Once they make a sort of net with their fins’ membranes, the females direct a loud, tightly focused series of tonal pulses toward the center of their feeding grounds. The sound waves have no affect on the Ylydii, as their haffets evert during the song, but the prey is lured into their nets. They eat whatever they catch.”

  Some of the sounds Liana had made had pricked the insides of his haffets, but he had merely thought it more of her offworlder’s strangeness. “Have you ever heard them?”

  “My dam always told me to beware of strange females.” Onkar looked up at the sky. “The Ylyd certainly qualify.”

  Burn eyed him. “Could you swish around a female and let her push you around the way their males do?”

&
nbsp; “No, but I will mate with no one but Jadaira.”

  “I suppose she pushes you around enough.”

  The big male didn’t take offense. “You will understand how it is when you discover a female for whom you care above all others.”

  That reminded him of Liana. Burn hadn’t been able to speak to her, and no one would tell him where she had been taken. He had not been able to tell from her brief appearance if she had suffered any complications from the injuries she had received at the hands of the mercenaries. Carada driving her out and not knowing where Liana was now had him on edge.

  We faced death together, he reasoned. I have the right to speak with her, to know she is well.

  There had also been something strange about her deliberate defiance of her mother and the public announcement of gratitude. He couldn’t quite say why, but he had the feeling she hadn’t done it out of true gratitude or at all for his benefit.

  But what could she accomplish by thanking me?

  Onkar was a good companion. He kept Burn distracted by talking about their mission and how they might improve their response time and patrol formations during the next. He did not speak of the dead, or of the ambassador’s damning remarks. By the time Jadaira rejoined them an hour later, Burn felt much more settled.

  “Dr. Mayer and Elder Nathaka mu Hlana were called in to consult on the problems, and we’ve worked out an agreement with the Ylydii ambassador,” Dair told them. “A detachment of ’Zangian SEALs will be assigned as escort and guard for her and her entourage during the Peace Summit.”

  “I do not think we have an adequate number of females who can serve,” Onkar said.

  Dair shook her head. “The SEALs will be male. They will serve as representatives both of the ’Zangian species and for Bio Rescue. Our presence will demonstrate the basic principals of the effort: to protect and preserve life, not destroy it.” She faced Burn. “You have been chosen to lead the SEAL detachment assigned to the ambassador.”

  Burn cocked his head. “Why me? An hour ago the big glittery female proposed to part me from my penis.”