Page 7 of LeX

“Iam going to have to start keeping notes so thatIcan compare them at a later point in my life for just how many times mysons have said those words to me.Asa father,Iam proud that you hold your position and all your oaths as honorably as you do,LeX.Butas a male with a demanding mate of his own,Iunderstand more than you realize.Doyou know how oftenIpushed my responsibilities off onto another so thatIcould spend more time with myKira?Iam sure if it had been truly necessary you would have done what needed to be done.”

“Thankyou,Father,Ihave felt torn.”

“AsKirawould say, ‘Itjust provesIraised you right.’Ido not understand the specifics as to why your female is not responsive, butIam smart enough not to waste time asking you about things you have already done, andIam going to assume she has been like this from the beginning.”

“Yes, she almost drowned in the pod before we forcefully got her out.”

Father’scomm unit goes off and he glances down. “Ineed to go but beforeIdoLeX, if anyone can figure out what is wrong with her it is you.Ihave complete faith in your knowledge and your skills.Inthe next few risings,Iwill contact you to see how things are progressing.”

Hepats me on the back before turning. “Father, theDestroyer, mentioned something about heading into dry dock.Arewe not accompanying the humans to their new colony?”

“Aftermany conversations betweenZoDandI, we decided that we need to keep the location of their new planet a secret as long as possible.TheDestroyeris a large vessel and not easily hidden.Ifshe was spotted sitting stationary in one area for too long, it wouldn’t take long for the wrong eyes to notice.That’swhyIam here withANDI.Withhis hyperdrive system, he canjump from one location to another, and because of his size, he can remain in orbit without much cause for questions.Especiallynow thatSCOUThas found a way to fully cloak his hull.Wehope to get them all loaded and settled quickly ontoANDI, then head toward the new planetIbelieve they are callingEthraso that we can start rebuilding their society.MeKis having several cargo ships loaded with new dwellings as we speak, and he’s supposed to meet us there shortly after our arrival.Fornow,Iwould preferEvO’screw to remain intact on theDestroyer.Oncethings calm down, we can look at reassignments if any wish to relocate.”

Grabbingme in a quick hug,Fatherturns to leave andIwatch as he walks out of the med bay.Iam grateful and torn, becauseIknowIshould have been one of the crewmembers accompanying the humans to their new world.Fathernever does anything without thinking it through, so hopefully he has other plans, or at least a replacement for me.Becausedisappointing him with my refusal to leave would have been hard to live with.

Ihave just turned back to view the screens above her bed whenSCOUTappears out of nowhere.Startled,Ijerk back, … “FrackSCOUT!”

Idon’t know what is more shocking, his sudden appearance, or his laughter.

“PardonmeMedicLeX,Ishould have announced myself.Iforget this colossal form of mine tends to get that same reaction out of many.SinceANDI’ssuccessful attachment to theDestroyer,Iam able to link up successfully and have the spare time to help you assess this issue further.Ihave gone through all the references to these types of cases on her previous world and one thing was constant; comas were never the same.Seemslikeeach individual reacted differently, as some awakened quickly while others would be in this state for years.”

“Years?”

“Orbitalrotations.”

IdoubtIam able to hide the horror on my face as his words sink in.Pullinga chair over,Icollapse into it bonelessly, leaning forward with my head in my hands, his words rolling over in my mind,ROTATIONS!

“FretnotMedicLeX,Ido not believe your human will remain in this state for long, as already there is more movement from her form than originally recorded.”

Jumpingto my feet,Ibegin looking her over. “Where, what have you seen?”

“Asyou well know, the hover bed is extremely sensitive as it needs to be in order to safely elevate the being upon it.Ifyou look back from the time you brought her in until now, you will see she is slowly waking.Themovement behind her eyes and the twitching of her fingers show active brain activity.Therewere huge studies on whether a person in a coma could hear sounds, and it was proven that they responded to voices.Maybeyou should talk or read to her?”

“Thatis so simple, why didInot think of this sooner?Ihave studied stimulation and did multiple experiments on the subject.”

“Thiscurrent scan shows her blood has improved.Didyou find a suitable and reliable source for the transfusion?”

“Iam giving her my bloodSCOUT.Itested all on board and none were suitable.However, you were right about the test and themate bond.Myblood would kill another, but her body accepted it greedily.”

Heblinks for a second. “Yes,Isee the results now.IbelieveIwould have chosen the same path.Iunderstand that you are impatient, but make sure you do not weaken yourself to the point you cannot care for her properly.”

“Themachine is set up to alert me once a safe amount has been transferred.Ihave witnessed firsthand the consequences of a rushed procedure on patients in training, so even thoughIwould love to rush this,Iknow better.Witha blood transfusion,Ihope to buy time to reverse the pancreatic damage.”

“Ihave done allIcan here at the moment,MedicLeX.Nowthat theDestroyeris returning to the main shipping lanes,Iwill be able to help if you need me.Frommy understanding, she is going to dock withFalcorfor a short time while being repaired and restocked.Thecrew is to be given a short-term leave before new orders are issued.”

“SCOUT,Iwas unaware that was our new course.Ihave no one to blame but myself for that though, asIhave been absent for most of the meetings.”

“Ifmy sensors are reading correctly, there are only a few remaining humans left to boardANDI.ThentheDestroyerwill turn and head back into the main shipping lanes whileANDIheads in the other direction with his new cargo.Itwill take several rotations to reachFalcorfrom this position as theDestroyeris not equipped with the new hyperdrive system yet.Thisis something that will be remedied when she dry docks.”

“Iappreciate your councilSCOUT.Iknow you are usually stretched thin.”

“SAGEwill be available to your females when you get a few rotations closer.Rightnow, she is tending to the cargo ships being loaded fromTargresFourandDarveriusfor the new human settlement.”

“SCOUT, before you go, do you have any recommendations on human reading material?Idon’t believe my medical journals are engaging enough.”

Myholo pad promptly appears before me. “Thereis an extensive list loaded on there now.However,Ihave heard several of the females speak about one book in particular.Iwould start with that andIhave it highlighted it for you.”

“Thankyou.”SCOUTnods his head, and then beforeIcan blink, he is gone.Iopen the book, scrolling through the first few sentences, andI’mswiftly intrigued at the mystery unfolding from the pages.Readingmore thanIplanned,Iset the holo unit down soIcan double check her warming pad and start another transfusion.Hookingboth of us up,Iattach the other scanner that will record her brain activity and sit down, opening the human book back up to whereI’dleft off.

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