Page 68 of Master
"Tarook, what happened?"
"Let me start by telling everyone the immediate danger has passed," Tarook began. He explained the events of the last few days, answered worried questions, and assured the Vaktaire would find the culprit. He gave me total credit for discovering the antidote, and the pride he showed caused my insides to go all warm and squishy.
Everyone milled about, offering thanks and congratulations to Tarook and me. The Peacekeeper needed more details, and he moved with Tarook to a corner for a private conversation, joined by the mayor, whose coughing and hacking proved constant. Mei found me, offering a tight hug, and expressing pride in my endeavors. Bartholomeus stuck close to her side, and I noticed they held hands.
Slowly, the villagers moved back to their lives. Buck and Lula wanted to go home to the farm. I totally understood. I wanted to go home myself, realizing with a jolt of surprise that my definition of home had changed. I no longer thought of Earth as home. Home to me was no longer so much a place as a person.
When did that happen?
Most headed home by way of the town square, clearing away the remnants of the ruined party. We helped clean up, then packed Buck and Lula's truck for their trip to the farm, with Tarook extracting a promise that if anything seemed the least bit strange, they would return to the village with haste. I hugged them tightly, somewhere in the back of my mind, recognizing the oddness of knowing I counted Elvis as a friend. Once we cleared the town square, Bartholomeus and Tarook left for the gym to remove the canisters and return the borrowed equipment to thegeneral store. Mei and I headed to her cottage. She was excited to review my research—a fact that gave me no small sense of pride.
"I'm sorry we raided your storage closet," I offered, noticing Mei's eyes catch the Twinkie wrappers littering the trash as we entered the basement. I hoped she didn’t catch the scent of sex permeating the cot. I definitely needed to wash those sheets for her.
"Don't be," she laughed. "You and Tarook saved our lives. You're welcome to anything I have."
"I can't take all the credit," I insisted. "Your notes on chemical plant defenses gave me the idea."
Mei ran her hand along the edge of a table. I'd been meticulous with clean-up and reorganization of her supplies and used the smallest amount of her research journal to make notes. She read over the pages, a faint smile on her lips.
"We make a good team." Mei studied my expression. "You'd be a great help with my research if you stay on Tau Ceti."
"I think Tarook wants to rejoin the Bardaga when it arrives." I would go with him. My heart decided before my brain had the chance to ponder.
Mei laid a gentle hand on my forearm. "You love him very much, I can tell."
Do I?
Oh my God.
I totally did.
In all my musing about Tarook, I'd never once considered that I loved him, but since Mei said the word, nothing else fit how I felt for him.
Nothing at all.
"I noticed someone holding hands with Bartholomeus," I diverted.
Mei's pale cheeks flushed deep pink. "I knew he liked me, but I thought it was just…you know… physical. Then, when the drug began falling, he tried to protect me. He shielded me, even though it meant harm to himself. I can't stop thinking about it."
"Bartholomeus seems like a good guy," I offered.
"He is." Mei's blush deepened. She explored the remnants of my research, stopping to uncork the small amount of DMNT left in a test tube for further experimentation.
"Oh, dear God," she wheezed when the coughing subsided enough to allow speech.
"I'm sorry." I snagged her a water bottle from the storage closet. "I should have warned you. The DMNT did me the same way." I paused, remembering the quiet way Mei and Bartholomeus came out from under the gas. "You didn't cough at all in the gym."
Mei wiped her face on her sleeve before chugging the water. Another deep breath, and she seemed recovered.
"From what you and Tarook said, I think mumje puts people in a coma-like state—certainly fits with what I remember of the experience. People in a coma have reduced basic reflexes, like coughing and sneezing. Being under the influence of mumje must be close to a comatose state in that aspect.”
"I noticed the mayor coughing when we administered the DMNT," I remembered.
Mei shrugged. "It may have affected him differently. Adkins was always strange."
I would not dispute her assessment based on my experience with the mayor. Still, I wouldn't want anyone to suffer any ill effects from the cure… even him.
"Do you think we should check on him?"
