being hurt while
defending her.
Above the glowing lid hovered several
images that could have come from her biology class, one of the only
science requirements for her degree. It must have been some sort of
scanner that showed his insides without invasive
procedures.
But she hated blood and guts and
everything that was a part of it. The outsides of creatures she
could deal with, but the insides nauseated her. She tried not to
watch the changing images, but a red flash of one briefly made her
look to see it change to highlight the white of bones.
"Fractures." Korr's fingers tapped on
a panel on the opposite side of Torik.
"Will he…be well?" She clasped her
hands to keep from fidgeting. Torik was her only ally on that ship,
and, despite her frustrations of him not answering all her
questions, she didn't want to see him suffer.
"He will recover." Korr spoke without
looking up from his work.
His words were hardly
reassuring.
"He must," she said.
Although his face was contorted in
pain, Torik's mouth briefly formed a smile that broke that agony.
Too soon, he was wincing again.
Theen twisted from his work on Torik
with a frown to her.
"What can I do? This was my
fault."
"Stay back," he said while entering
something into the controls on the covering over Torik.
That she could do, but she wanted to
be there for him, to have the reassurance that he would be all
right.
They know their own kind. He'll be fine. Just
breathe. She
inhaled deeply and let it out slowly to calm the anxiety inside
her. Torik would be all right.
What about Karik?
She shouldn't have thought of him. Her
breath quickened with her heart, the fresh fear lurking
inside.
In that instant, she wondered that she
had a heart, but she supposed some sort of circulatory system was a
requirement for life. Of course, she had a heart, and lungs, and
digestive system…
She wasn't human.
What was she?
Why were they afraid of
her?
All the questions of her life flooded
back to antagonize her in their relentless fury.
Krissa stared at Torik, who lay with his eyes closed while
the other two worked. He couldn't tell her. Because he was that
afraid? It didn't make sense if he was so kind. I would never hurt you, or
maybe you knew that.
She pursed her lips and caught the
glance from him with a distinctly unsettled feeling.
Memories of her life on Earth passed
through her mind in the quiet wait, taking her back to events she
would rather forget and the many assurances of her adoptive parents
that she was special. Had they known?
In what seemed seconds later, the lid
clicked and popped up from Torik. She blinked away the ponderings
to focus on him. His attempt to sit up resulting in much wincing
tugged at her sympathies to bring her to his side to assist
him.
The other two removed equipment from
his vicinity.
"Easy," she said while bearing some of
his weight. "You are injured."
"I know." His somber voice ended with
a grunt, despite the clamped jaw, and he finally sat still, not yet
dropped from the exam bed.
"What is this?" she asked in curiosity
of the lid hanging aside from the bed.
"Scanner and regenerator."
Such technology that she hadn't
thought possible. No wonder he could heal a twisted ankle in a day,
and her head in the next.
"Should you be up?" she
asked.
"No." He caught a look from one of the
others. "But there is work."
"No." She pushed his shoulders down
towards the bed. "If you need rest, you rest. Let the others
work."
"But you—"
"Can take care of myself." She hoped
and forced a smile to hide the grimace that sought to escape at the
thought of Karik.
He fought only briefly, amid a face
contorted in pain, and laid down with her insistence to rest on the
narrow bed. Only then did he relax and breathe deeply.
Krissa stood near his chest and held
his hand. "I will watch."
"You cannot defend
yourself."
No. That's not what she had meant, but
she understood too well what he meant. The Lereni were far bigger
and stronger; she couldn't even
defending her.
Above the glowing lid hovered several
images that could have come from her biology class, one of the only
science requirements for her degree. It must have been some sort of
scanner that showed his insides without invasive
procedures.
But she hated blood and guts and
everything that was a part of it. The outsides of creatures she
could deal with, but the insides nauseated her. She tried not to
watch the changing images, but a red flash of one briefly made her
look to see it change to highlight the white of bones.
"Fractures." Korr's fingers tapped on
a panel on the opposite side of Torik.
"Will he…be well?" She clasped her
hands to keep from fidgeting. Torik was her only ally on that ship,
and, despite her frustrations of him not answering all her
questions, she didn't want to see him suffer.
"He will recover." Korr spoke without
looking up from his work.
His words were hardly
reassuring.
"He must," she said.
Although his face was contorted in
pain, Torik's mouth briefly formed a smile that broke that agony.
Too soon, he was wincing again.
Theen twisted from his work on Torik
with a frown to her.
"What can I do? This was my
fault."
"Stay back," he said while entering
something into the controls on the covering over Torik.
That she could do, but she wanted to
be there for him, to have the reassurance that he would be all
right.
They know their own kind. He'll be fine. Just
breathe. She
inhaled deeply and let it out slowly to calm the anxiety inside
her. Torik would be all right.
What about Karik?
She shouldn't have thought of him. Her
breath quickened with her heart, the fresh fear lurking
inside.
In that instant, she wondered that she
had a heart, but she supposed some sort of circulatory system was a
requirement for life. Of course, she had a heart, and lungs, and
digestive system…
She wasn't human.
What was she?
Why were they afraid of
her?
All the questions of her life flooded
back to antagonize her in their relentless fury.
Krissa stared at Torik, who lay with his eyes closed while
the other two worked. He couldn't tell her. Because he was that
afraid? It didn't make sense if he was so kind. I would never hurt you, or
maybe you knew that.
She pursed her lips and caught the
glance from him with a distinctly unsettled feeling.
Memories of her life on Earth passed
through her mind in the quiet wait, taking her back to events she
would rather forget and the many assurances of her adoptive parents
that she was special. Had they known?
In what seemed seconds later, the lid
clicked and popped up from Torik. She blinked away the ponderings
to focus on him. His attempt to sit up resulting in much wincing
tugged at her sympathies to bring her to his side to assist
him.
The other two removed equipment from
his vicinity.
"Easy," she said while bearing some of
his weight. "You are injured."
"I know." His somber voice ended with
a grunt, despite the clamped jaw, and he finally sat still, not yet
dropped from the exam bed.
"What is this?" she asked in curiosity
of the lid hanging aside from the bed.
"Scanner and regenerator."
Such technology that she hadn't
thought possible. No wonder he could heal a twisted ankle in a day,
and her head in the next.
"Should you be up?" she
asked.
"No." He caught a look from one of the
others. "But there is work."
"No." She pushed his shoulders down
towards the bed. "If you need rest, you rest. Let the others
work."
"But you—"
"Can take care of myself." She hoped
and forced a smile to hide the grimace that sought to escape at the
thought of Karik.
He fought only briefly, amid a face
contorted in pain, and laid down with her insistence to rest on the
narrow bed. Only then did he relax and breathe deeply.
Krissa stood near his chest and held
his hand. "I will watch."
"You cannot defend
yourself."
No. That's not what she had meant, but
she understood too well what he meant. The Lereni were far bigger
and stronger; she couldn't even
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