Page 19 of Alien Healer's Touch

She examined me with that penetrating medical attention that left me feeling transparent. "Your back—how does it feel?"

"Nearly healed." I rolled my shoulders in demonstration. "Your methods complemented the natural healing of my lifelines. The integration created something new."

Discovery brightened her face. "The hybrid approach accelerated the process beyond what either of our traditions could achieve alone."

"Yes." I found myself drawn to the light in her eyes. The medical discovery excited us professionally, but I couldn't ignore how her care had required physical proximity that stirred something more primal within me. The memory of her hands on my skin lingered.

"We should move. Hammond's camp lies that way," I indicated, pushing aside these distracting thoughts. "The tremor has altered our path considerably."

Selene nodded, her focus returning to our mission. As we navigated the transformed landscape, I pointed out signs of unstable ground she would need to recognize.

"These plants with the blue-tipped leaves avoid areas where the crust is thin," I explained. "Their roots sense heat and instability. Where they grow thickly, the ground holds more strength."

"And these?" She indicated a patch of orange fungi pushing through cracked stone.

"The opposite warning. They thrive on gases released in unstable regions. Their presence means the ground may shift again soon."

She absorbed the knowledge with a healer's precision. "What about shelter? If we're caught in the open during a full storm?"

I gestured toward a ridgeline. "Rock formations with these striations have weathered previous seasons. The natural caverns beneath often protect from both tremors and acid rains."

"And the predators?" Her concern remained practical rather than fearful.

"Some wake hungry from dormancy as the vibrations disturb them. The tremors disorient them initially, making them more aggressive."

A sound caught my attention—voices carrying from beyond the ridge. I pulled Selene behind a fallen tree, focusing on the distant conversation.

"—Commander's orders. Grid search pattern. Anyone found outside authorized perimeters is to be detained."

"The markings the Commander described?—"

"You'll know them when you see them. Silver patterns that glow. Anyone with them is to be brought in immediately."

I turned to Selene, who had gone rigid beside me. The patrol would intersect with our path within minutes. From our position, four humans advanced through the broken terrain, weapons ready.

"Martinez," she whispered, recognizing the lead figure. "Hammond's second-in-command."

I studied their approach, calculating. "We cannot avoid detection."

"We need to reach the camp with the medicine," Selene said, her hand touching the pack containing our hard-won remedies.

"Then we engage." I removed my healer's satchel, setting it carefully aside. The transition came too easily—the shift from healer to warrior that I'd spent years trying to suppress.

"Non-lethal," she urged, as if sensing my internal conflict.

I nodded once. "Stay behind me."

We waited until they drew closer, within range where retreat became impossible. I stepped forward deliberately, positioning myself directly in their path.

"Halt!" Martinez raised his weapon. Recognition flickered across his face when he spotted Selene behind me. "Carter! By order of Commander Hammond, you're to return to the settlement immediately."

"I'm bringing medicine for the sick," Selene responded evenly. "People will die without it."

"Stand aside, alien," Martinez ordered, ignoring her explanation and focusing on me.

The warrior long dormant in my blood rose to full awareness. I moved with speed that once earned respect among the hunting bands, ducking under the weapon and redirecting its aim skyward before the human could fire.

All my training urged lethal efficiency, but my healer's restraint held firm. I needed only to disable, not destroy. The dissonance of these opposing instincts created strange clarity as I knocked the weapon from Martinez's grip, then swept his legs with my tail.

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