Page 162 of Return of the Nine

Dr. Meevin cut her suit free and started working on her during takeoff. Ianka was strapped down so that she wouldn’t hit the floor.

“I am sorry you have to be awake, but we need to keep you alert to test for the progression of the nerve damage.”

Ianka gritted her teeth as the area was cleaned of scorched flesh and a numbness crept up her left arm.

She mentally kicked herself for not being a second faster with her throw. She knew what damage a Tokkel blaster could do. Numbness was the least of her worries.

Dr. Meevin worked on her for hours while others who had been injured were treated and released. Finally, she couldn’t do any more. Frustration was written on her features.

“I am sorry. I can’t seem to stop the damage. I don’t have the right treatments for a Gaian.”

With half her face paralyzed, she smiled weakly. “S’okay. You tried. I tried. Vida has my parents again. It will all be good.”

Dr. Meevin drew a privacy screen around her and said, “We will be on the mother ship in a few hours. Perhaps we can figure something out there.”

With her moving right hand, Ianka gave her a thumbs up. She had done what she set out to do.

Her cubicle was dark and quiet, but she heard someone moving. A hulking figure took a blood sample, and she heard a small hiss. She dozed, thinking that one of the medics had come in to do some checks.

The figure returned, and this time, the hypo was pressed to her wound. The hiss preceded the warm input of the injector and was withdrawn in complete silence.

Her eyes had both been taken over by the paralysis, so all she could make out was a dark figure that stroked her hair back and she could see the hand touch her cheek, even though she couldn’t feel it.

Fire burned through her limbs and she started to thrash her arms and legs. The monitors went berserk, and Dr. Meevin knocked the screen down as she came in to check on the seizure.

Ianka was still strapped to the bed but only for a moment as she was transferred to a gliding gurney and escorted out of the ship with a mask giving her an inhalation of sedative with every motion of her lungs.

Dr. Meevin began to run tests the moment that she was back in her regular facility. When the results curled upward on the monitors, she stared at them without comprehension.

The paralysis was reversing. That much Ianka could feel for herself. She could see clearly now that her eyes could focus and her face was once again under her control. “What is it, Doc?”

“Did you mate while you were lying strapped down and paralyzed?” Dr. Meevin turned to her with raised eyebrows.

She shifted as much as she was able. “Not that I recall. I had a peculiar hallucination but there wasn’t any mating involved.”

Vida came in with their parents behind her. “Not that kind of mating, Eek. Did you swap blood with anyone?”

“Someone came in the night to take a blood sample, and an hour later, I was given a shot. Does that count?”

Meevin frowned. “It could.”

North came to Ianka’s side and carefully found her hand. “It was Derion. He asked us if we would give you up to save your life. I didn’t understand so he explained.”

Beeda came up as well, wearing a fetching gown in black and red. “Every parent with a daughter will lose her, but I would rather have you in orbit than underground, Eek.”

“So, that was it? We swap blood and I heal?”

Meevin shrugged. “Members of the Nine are not damaged the same way by the Tokkel blasts. We are merely burned, not paralyzed, and the Fury aren’t damaged at all, so he gave you his immunity.”

“What were all those guys in medical?”

“Those were cuts. Easy fixes.” Meevin patted her knee. “I will register the mating since you two didn’t make it to the garden for the formal recording. Your blood samples are already in. He just needs to finalise it.”

Vida took her hand. “You did it, Eek. You got them home.”

Surrounded by her family, she blinked back tears.

North must have sensed her mood, because he piped in, “Ularica has an idea for an artificial sight mechanism. She is looking for volunteers, and you know how your mother and I enjoy that sort of thing, and the chemists have asked us to come in and contribute to their work. We might not be leaving for the surface right away. After all, everything we love is up here.”

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