Page 66 of Crash Landing
She couldn’t say it.
“Innifer mentioned that many women from Earth do not have the ability to conceive.”
“Yes, they encourage women to get sterilized, but I never did. You’re my first, remember? I thought I’d be having virtual sex for the rest of my life.” Pushing me away, she hopped down from the table and winced when her weight hit her injured leg. “How likely do you think it is that I got pregnant?”
“I don’t know, Sam,” I said, regretting my foolishness.
I knew how risky pregnancy was for even valerians in my people’s current state. There was no telling what it would be like for Sam if it was even possible that I could impregnate her.
“Why didn’t you think of getting pregnant, Sam?” she began, talking to herself as she paced the room. “Oh, of course. Because you never thought you’d be having real sex.”
“Sam.”
She turned swiftly in my direction. “Saleuk, what are the odds? I mean, you’ve essentially been shooting blanks until you surged, right? Maybe it takes time for you to shoot… not blanks.”
“I’ll know everything when I get tested.”
It was hard to leave Sam in a room with another doctor while I left to get checked out. I was unharmed, but as Dr. Kel’ri escorted me to the second floor, I knew that Ilisa had already spread the word to at least a few of her colleagues about Sam and me. I sighed with realization as I entered a round, white room with nothing but a couple of metal observation beds and data screens.
“So, Ilisa told you,” I sighed.
Dr. Kel’ri was an older man. I’d dealt with him before in passing. He wasn’t talkative and he never gave his opinions. He did his work quickly and efficiently and then moved on to his next assignment.
“She told me you surged,” he said, gesturing for me to sit down on a round stool near a panel of controls and displays. “I didn’t ask with who and I don’t care. I’ve seen more change than you can imagine, boy. Eventually, it all becomes routine. Remove the top of your thermal layers.”
I circled the dial in the middle of my chest and let my upper suit recede into my harness. Barely looking at me, Dr. Kel’ri manifested a small vial from a compartment in the control panel and slid the top off of it. Underneath was a short needle.
Like I said, he wasn’t talkative. He jabbed the needle into the large vein on the inside of my elbow and extracted a good amount of blood before withdrawing it. Then he took another. And another. Then he took spit samples before taking more blood from the underside of my wrist where the main vein from my paetal was most prominent. He took three additionalsamples before handing me a shorter vial with a greater width. His eyes met mine and I took it. He didn’t have to tell me what that was for.
I retreated to a private stall in the back of a room, taking longer than I should have to gather a sample of my spend. Medical facilities were uncomfortable and I’d endured a hundred tests since the Thinning, but things were different now. I’d surged and it wasn’t in the presence of a valerian woman or a man. It was with Sam. My people said that a surge was not exclusive, but with her, it felt like it was. It felt like my heart started beating for her and only her and I couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was because it had become such a rare thing. Maybe there was a psychological explanation since my people found it so hard to build connections, physical and emotional, after the war tore us apart, but I didn’t care.
When I emerged from the private stall sometime later with all the sample that I could conjure, I saw a woman standing beside Dr. Kel’ri, draped in fine, silver robes. Kaisiri. I supposed she would be the first to catch wind of the news.
Clearing my throat, I walked my sample over to Kel’ri and watched him place it in a silver receptacle before inclining his head and taking his leave.
I was a mess. I was still covered in the filth and sweat I’d accumulated from Phesah and according to Ilisa, that didn’t even cover up Sam’s scent. I fingered the dial on my harness, replacing my thermosuit in a desperate attempt to seem more collected and professional in front of the councilwoman.
“Saleuk Mena’tauv,” she addressed me. I bowed my head at her in respect before straightening my shoulders and standing at attention. “It’s been a while since you’ve stepped foot on Sylos.”
“I was assigned to the human research expedition.”
“Yes, I know. I helped approve that expedition. You can imagine how foolish I felt when they came here a day earlywithout one of their members and the crew without their captain.”
“My crew was following my orders to get the humans off of Phesah. I felt it was best considering the actions of their lead researcher, Michael Hemburg.”
“Yes, Poru told me everything. It’s safe to say that this jeopardizes any future explorations of our territories by the humans.” She paused a moment, taking a deep breath and then wrinkling her nose as if she’d finally caught wind of my disheveled state. “Ilisa also told me what happened between you and the human, Samantha.”
I blinked at the mention of Sam, hesitating a beat to get my thoughts in order.
“Yes. I experienced a surge with the intern.”
“Please,” she said chidingly, clicking her tongue. “She’s not just an intern. There’s no need for you to tip toe, boy. You’re not speaking before the council, you’re speaking to me. Tell me what you’ve been experiencing. What are your thoughts?”
Kaisiri had never been personable on any level before. She’d always been formal and by the book. She’d always consoled her people in all matters. To have her in a room speaking privately to me about my relations with a human—Sam—confused my thoughts. I glanced at the closed door as if to solidify the fact that we were alone and then let out a deep breath that I’d been holding in my lungs.
“My thoughts are that I care about Sam,” I confessed. “Very much. I believe I had some level of affection for her when she was here last, but I never imagined that it could become anything else.”
“You survived in the wilds of Phesah’s great forests for days with her. Could that be influencing your feelings?”
