Page 66 of Into Orbit
There was no sign at all that he could hear.
‘You’d feel better if Willow was here,’ I whispered. ‘He should be here. He should be the one caring for you. You’d recover for him. He wouldn’t let you do any differently.’
I looked blankly around the room. Spore moss grew on the walls, and there was a single window looking out into the Forest. As sick rooms went, it wasn’t a bad one, lined with calming green. But this wasAshton, who was larger than life by every definition. He shouldn’t have looked smaller, diminished by his wounds.
I slumped down and let my forehead rest on the side of the bed, tears dripping from my chin onto the floor.
‘He had this with him.’
I started, looking up at Cedar. ‘He what?’
‘He had this with him,’ Cedar repeated, holding up something in their arms. Something vaguely rectangular, with wiring hanging out the bottom, covered in buttons that would usually be lit but were dull without power. ‘It was in the back seat of the Pod. His prints are all over it.’
‘A control panel,’ I said stupidly.
‘Mmm. The tech team said it’s from a Roth dignitary ship.’
My mouth dropped open. ‘Is that what he was doing? Boarding a Roth ship?Without backup?’
Cedar shrugged with difficulty, balancing the torn-out control panel in their arms. ‘We’ll hear from the reconnaissance team any moment now.’ They made a slight face. ‘This is heavy. Do you want it? It’s already been through decontamination.’
I stared at the piece of the Roth ship. The piece of a Rothdignitaryship. ‘Yes,’ I said immediately. ‘If Ashton thought it was important enough to bring back, then I want it.’
Cedar set it down on the other chair with a relieved sigh.
‘How long will he need to stay here?’
The Second Doctor shrugged. ‘It depends on how he improves over the next few days. If he gets worse, he stays here. If he gets better, he stays here.’ Cedar paused. ‘If there’s no change, he can be moved and placed somewhere he can be monitored remotely.’ They gave me a searching look. ‘He couldn’t go to his own room.’
I swallowed. ‘So, if his condition doesn’t change in the next few days …’
‘It’s likely it never will.’ Cedar gave me a sad, knowing smile. ‘We’re a funny species like that. We heal so swiftly – except when we don’t. Head wounds are particularly fraught, and he sustained a blow that should have killed him outright. I rebuilt his skull and relieved the pressure on his brain and drained the blood that had pooled in the wound. I put his collarbone and his shoulder back together, and realigned his spines, but I can’t wake him up until he’s ready to wake. And Lady, I don’t mean to be cruel – but he mightneverbe ready.’
I nodded, then took up Ashton’s hand. His fingers didn’t give even a tiny twitch in response.
Cedar gave me a kind pat on the shoulder, then left me alone with Ashton. I dipped my head so I could rest my cheek against his hand, then looked across at the butchered control panel.
‘You have to wake up, Ashton,’ I told him. ‘If only to explain what in the green gods’ name you broughtthatback for.’
Wewereleftalonefor several hours, though I couldn’t tell how many. Anna went back to sleep, a deep slumber that would do more for her healing than any painkiller would. Vesper gave me an unreadable smile and thenpretendedto sleep – starlingsdidsleep, I was sure, but his breathing was too even for true rest – which meant I was left to my own devices. I cleaned my equipment as best I could, using a bowl of water from the washroom and the travel spores I’d brought with me, then restored order to my bag, then spent the rest of the time counting the stars I could see out the tiny window.
I didn’t mean to, but after a while, I heaved a bored sigh.
Anna gave a soft chuckle, surprising me. ‘What would you be doing if you weren’t here?’
I turned to her and smiled. ‘I’d be in my lab. It’s time to give the younglings on the ship their yearly vaccinations. They get annual shots for standard viruses, but I need to tweak it each time for the environments we’re most likely to visit in the upcoming year. These ones need to be adjusted for the marine viruses common to Natare. It’s a fair amount of prep work, not to mention getting through the shots themselves. Once the younglings are done, I move onto the adults.’
‘What is your ship like?’ she said, her voice wistful.
I told her what I could. Anna didn’t seem like a threat, but caution had been drilled into me for years.
‘Aforest?’ she said incredulously. ‘There’s a forestonyour ship? Your ship must be enormous!’
Vesper gave a very awake snort. ‘Doubt it,’ he muttered under his breath.
I coughed. ‘What’s this ship like?’ I asked, half expecting her not to answer.
‘I haven’t seen that much of it,’ she said. ‘Just the corridors when I was brought on board, and the Doctor’s lab.’ Her lips thinned. ‘And the Prince’s chambers outside this cell. I don’t know why I’ve been kept in here.’
