Page 3 of Sky Song
Cricket took pity on him. “Were there fourteen delegates?”
Terrance brightened. “Fifteen. And you know I’m observant like that, Emma.”
Cricket smiled and went back to work. Her mind, against her will, stayed on the alien members of the intergalactic consortium that arrived to spend a couple of weeks at the hospital’s medical research facility.
A Rix alien.
This was one species she’d never met in real life, but boy, had she heard a lot from mama. A Rix named Simon had been imprisoned at a facility on Earth where mama used to work. He had come to them tortured and sick, and everyone thought he was going to die, but Gemma, mama’s friend who also worked at the prison, fought for him. Simon and Gemma fell in love, and he took Gemma away, and it would all have been terribly romantic if Simon hadn’t made an attempt to kill mama. He hadn’t, but only because Gemma had interfered.
Regardless, mama held Simon in high esteem. She felt indebted to him because Cricket was able to go to Meeus on an illegal passage Simon had procured by means of killing its original owner. And Cricket figured she should feel indebted to Simon as well, but try as she might, she never did.
Gemma was another matter. Cricket owed it big to Gemma for staying Simion’s hand and sparing mama’s life. And for giving the Meeus passage to Cricket. And for guiltingher former fiancé, Dr. Zeke Ragberg, into helping Cricket get established on Meeus.
Likewise, Cricket was eternally grateful to Dr. Ragberg for setting her up with a legal status here. It was Dr. Ragberg who gave her this lab job. And it was Dr. Ragberg who treated Cricket for a lung condition that plagued her since she was six.
Cricket would never be able to pay Gemma and Dr. Ragberg back for their kindness. She would do anything for either of them. But her feelings toward Simon the Rix ran in a different direction.
Two trays of urine samples processed, Cricket logged the results and sent them off. Terrance had by now run out of excitement about the aliens, but Kim took over and spouted her usual conspiracy theories about how this group was a Trojan horse of all delegations, and that they would do an inside job of messing with Meeus’ medical infrastructure, and how aliens wanted nothing more than to replace humans, and those who fraternized with aliens would be the first to perish.
The door opened with a bang, interrupting Kim’s stream of dire predictions, and Yanet appeared, her hair askew. As obsessed as Yanet was with being meticulously put together, it was strange to see Dr. Ragberg’s nurse assistant with her hair out of order.
Yanet’s wide eyes swept over the lab, landing square on Cricket. “Emma,” she said breathlessly. “Dr. Ragberg needs you. Come quick.” She motioned for Cricket to follow but abruptly stopped and frowned. “Take this off.”
Cricket took off her protective gear, revealing blue pants and a plain beige sweater underneath.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Yanet’s perfect bioengineered face briefly registered dissatisfaction, but she waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. Come with me.”
Cricket followed Yanet down a familiar route, up the elevator and through the hospital corridors to Dr. Ragberg’s office.
It was unoccupied.
“Wait here.” Before she left, Yanet found her reflection in a glass cabinet door and smoothed her hair.
Cricket lowered into a chair that she’d long come to caustically call her own. Dr. Ragberg still saw her once a week to monitor her condition, but it was more of a routine check-up now. She’d come a long way since six years ago when she had sat in this chair almost every day, gasping and wheezing. Back then, every night she felt like drowning, and despite his unshakable optimism, the look in Dr. Ragberg’s eyes had been… uncertain.
“Emma! Thank you.” He walked in, young but appearing older with his conservatively styled clothes and an old-fashioned haircut. Cricket suspected it was intentional on his part.
“Of course, Dr. Ragberg. What happened?”
“Nothing, precisely.” He sat down across from her. “Our alien guests are here, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“The folks at the lab talk of nothing else.”
Dr. Ragberg smiled his crooked smile. “It’s the same on every floor. Well, the aliens have asked us to share human experiences with them. They’re curious about what we like, what we think, and how we react to outside stimuli.” He trailed off as if carefully weighing what he was going to say next.
“That’s why they came, isn’t it?” Cricket prompted.
“Yes, yes. That’s expected. But right now they’re asking to hear about humans who lived on Earth, to better understand how we’re different. If we’re different.” Dr. Ragberg shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Of course, I can always say we don’t have anyone with such a background, but I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor, Emma…”
Cricket understood. Like her, Dr. Ragberg was born and raised on Earth, and like her, he had come to Meeus if not exactly illegally, but certainly as an uninvited guest. But that’s where their situations diverged. While Cricket, a non-entity, could get away with her Earth roots, Dr. Ragberg went to great lengths to bury his. The stigma could tank his brilliant medical career. And he was brilliant. It would be a shame if he lost his position over the lack of proper pedigree.
“I’ll talk to them.” Cricket would do anything he asked. And in this case, it was nothing, really. “I’d be happy to.”
He rose, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I’m much obliged, Emma. I wish I could change how things are…”
“No worries, Dr. Ragberg. You know I will never mention you and Earth in the same sentence.”
“Yes, well.” He cleared his throat. “I appreciate it.”
