Page 49 of Into Orbit
‘Are you a doctor?’
‘Yes,’ I said quietly. ‘Yes. I’m a doctor. Do you need help?’
The being in the suit – male, I suspected, taking in the wide shoulders and defined biceps under the jumpsuit fibres; theybothseemed male, which meant that Rosa was somewhere else entirely, and one of these beings waswearing her suit– gave a deep, grating growl. ‘Not me,’ they said. ‘Someone on my ship. You will come with us.’
It wasn’t a question. I took a deep breath. ‘What kind of injury?’
‘A bite,’ the second being grated out. ‘An infected bite.’
‘I can give you something –’
The silver pressed harder. ‘No. You will come with us. She needs …’ The hand at my temple shook slightly; in the screen reflection, my eyes widened in fear. ‘It’s not just the bite. She’s ill.’
‘And you have no doctor?’
Two vibrating snarls bounced off the lab walls. ‘Not anymore,’ the second suit said.
I dragged in a breath; it was more ragged than I liked. There was a reason I’d never volunteered for guard training; I was made for the clinic, not conflict. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘What kind of life form?’
There was a short silence. ‘We can’t understand her,’ the being with the gun said reluctantly.
I took that to mean they didn’t know. ‘Organic, though? What is her basic structure?’
‘Organic. Warm blooded. Humanoid.’
I blinked. ‘Right. I’m going to gather what I need. I won’t make any sudden movements.’
I kept my visit bag ready-to-go, though it was rarely used; generally, patients came to me. I spent a few moments considering its contents: it was ready forTirianpatients, not an unknown humanoid species. My hand trembled as it rested on the soft bark.
What would Maeve need?
I chewed the inside of my cheek, considering. Maeve would need my hand scanner to check the extent of the damage. The healing wand, for use if the wound was clean; synthetic sutures – rather than vine fibres – if it wasn’t. The blackbark and redleaf resin mix we’d cautiously perfected as a painkiller. Antibiotic spores, both for her skin and an oral dose for her blood. A dose of vitamins for injection, and a month’s worth of wafers for afterwards, just in case.
I stiffened, something crossing my mind. ‘The female. She is not your species. Is she a prisoner?’
The gun went back to my temple so swiftly I didn’t see it move. ‘Not your concern, doctor.’
I made an embarrassing strangled sound and closed my bag – but not before I pressed the emergency button under my lab screen.
I felt oddly vulnerable as I stepped into the hangar. The noise was normal – echoing bustles, chatter, the sweeping sounds as engineers cleaned and checked the moondust-coated Pods – but it fell silent in a handful of heartbeats, as if the ship was holding its breath.
The gun was pressed firmly to the back of my head.
‘Stay back,’ my captor called. ‘We’re taking the doctor, but that’s all we’re doing.’
My eyes darted around the hangar. There wasn’t a guard in sight; they’d come for the landing and left again, probably waiting for the debriefing. There were mechanics working on some of the larger ships – they needed frequent upkeep – along with the engineers cleaning and checking the Pods.
‘Doctor!’
An engineer – the same one who the Captain had demanded find Elswyth and Maeve a family room on Maeve’s first day on the ship – was staring at me, screen in hand, her face a crease of concern and confusion.
‘It’s all right, Juniper,’ I said, as calmly as I could manage.
‘Stay back,’ the male behind me growled.
Juniper’s fingers were sliding over her screen, no doubt communicating what was happening to the entire ship. The male behind me noticed, pushing me forward with a shove that made me stumble.
‘Doctor!’
