Courage (22 page)

Nexus focused all his will on his voice and forced one word to come out. “Mother?” He flinched and his voice echoed and sounded as big and loud as thunder. The echoes broke whatever sound barrier that had disconnected from the rest of the realm, along with the magnetic gaze between his parents. Kara turned to him with sadness and love in her eyes. The sadness was most certainly from looking at her poor excuse for a husband, but was the love for him as well? She smiled softly, killing Nexus’ latest worries. “Isn’t this charming? The whole family’s together again for the first time in eighteen mortal years. I’m pleased to be the reason we’ve reunited. And Father, I must admit I’m happy you’ve donated an army to my war.”

“You left me no choice,” he said with narrowed eyes.

“On the contrary. I gave you two options: participate or lose everything.

“Did you form this prophecy just so you could have worlds of your own?” Baku’s voice was heavy with bitterness.

“That’s the main reason, yes.” Nexus drew closer to his mother but resisted the urge to protectively wrap his arms around her.

“You’re still fixated on obtaining the powers of a Creator,” his father said in disbelief.

“Just as fixated as you are on
not
giving me them,” he said coolly.

“You don’t deserve them. You don’t know how to nurture; only destroy.”

That comment deflated Nexus’ smugness. Rage bubbled up once again. “Give me that power right now and I’ll call the war off immediately.” The storm flashed, then let out a long, low rumble of thunder.

His father considered his words. Nexus considered them as well. Would he really do that, or would he see the war through just to see what would happen? Yes, so many deities wanted this prophecy to be the pebble that started an avalanche of change, but Nexus didn’t care what they wanted, so long as he got what he wanted. However, if he followed through with the war, he had to subject himself to the power of the Voice of Prophecy, something he’d rather never do again if given the option.

“I don’t believe you.”

Nexus felt cold fear grip his stomach, but didn’t let it show. The hard way it was. “Pity. No faith in your own son. Kabiroas!” The sooner the war started and got what he wanted, the sooner he could get a solid hold of his mother’s affection and see her genuine smile again. And maybe then she’d finally let him court her.

The Elf approached him with the silent grace of an assassin. He stopped before him and Kara and bowed.

“There are two weak, defenseless Aigis left. Go kill them.”

“Gladly,” Kabiroas said, bowing once more. He stepped back, then world-hopped off the realm and the air foiled where he’d been standing.

Nexus soaked in his father’s despair. That look was worth finishing his prophecy. “Vancor, I believe you have a mortal you wish to introduce me to.” His father vanished from the realm.

Chapter 16

Jenna returned to ER 102 with a personal hologram unit called a gellikin slung over one shoulder, some headphones tucked away in the gellikin case, and best friend and coworker Arryk. Arryk would be Donia’s relief in the next hour, who was still with Skitt in the archives. He was also probably the tallest doctor in the hospital, and most certainly taller than Aerigo. The top of Jenna’s head barely reached Arryk’s shoulders. Despite all that height, he was wafer thin like a distance runner, had long silvery straight hair that actually looked good with his gorgeous, youthful face and pointy ears. He wasn’t originally from Kismet, but he’d made this sorry world his home somewhere around a hundred years ago. He would also never look Jenna’s way. Sadly, all the good ones were either taken or gay.

Jenna stopped just inside the ER’s doorway. Her--their--two patients were not how she’d left them.

“What’s the holdup?” Arryk asked, then bent slightly so he could see under the doorframe. “Oh. Oh my goodness, how cute! Who allowed them to rest like that?” He slipped past Jenna as he took out his sorius, a device that took photos, video, and acted as a phone. Arryk squeezed the sorius, then opened his hand and a trio of extensions popped, splayed like extra fingers. He positioned himself near the foot of Roxie’s gurney and swiped one of the extensions over his eyes, creating glasses, and snapped a picture of the cuddling Aigis by miming holding a camera and pressing a button.

“Arryk, you’re not supposed to take pictures of patients with personal devices!” She drifted towards the two gurneys.

“Patients aren’t supposed to share an ER or gurneys either. Care to brief me now, instead when my shift starts? And is there a vent leaking in here?” Arryk removed the lenses and tucked away his sorius as he studied the ceiling.

“There’s no leak. It’s Aerigo.”

Arryk raised a thin eyebrow at Jenna. “They’re aliens then?”

Jenna nodded, then told him everything that had happened from the moment she, Donai and Skitt had begun treating the two Aigis. The whole story sounded bizarre, but what was often bizarre to Kismet was normal on other worlds. Still, it seemed impossible to grow numb to all the new things aliens brought to Kismet over her lifetime. Arryk took in everything Jenna said with a serious gaze, like he was engraving every last word she said into his memory.

“Well this sounds like it’s going to be an extra exciting shift,” Arryk said, then studied their two patients. “That man looks so handsome. Too bad he’s already with the young lady he’s holding. I bet she’s real pretty without all the swelling and bruising. She has a nice figure to go with Aerigo’s mountain of muscles.”

“Arryk!”

Arryk innocently held up his arms. “What? Like you don’t think he’s handsome too!”

“He is, but the scruffy look really isn’t my thing.” Aerigo had a heavy five o’clock shadow. Jenna couldn’t help but openly admire her coworker’s pale hair. Arryk gave her a knowing smile. She’d confessed her crush on him years ago, even though she knew he was into men. Arryk, at least, was flattered and did his best to balm her feelings. They became great friends to the point where they joked about getting married and such, and even checked out men together.

Arryk flicked his hair like a supermodel, then reverted back to work mode. “So should we wake him, or would that be dangerous?”

“Let me take a look.” Jenna opened her Sensor eye to the energies surrounding the two Aigis. The girl finally looked well on her way to recovery. She just needed time, along with a blood transfusion, according to the sickly colors writhing along her affected arm. Aerigo had undergone a change of his own, much to Jenna’s surprise. The funneling energy was still yellow, strong, and dangerous, but now there were ribbons of pink in it, giving her the sensation of a fluttering chest, the same feeling from when she had a big crush on Arryk, the moments when just seeing or thinking of him used to send her pulse racing. The pink ribbons bent towards Roxie near the bottom of the funnel, almost protectively, before pouring into Aerigo’s abdomen. Jenna found herself wanting to stand there and bask in that beautiful feeling, but forced her Sensor eye closed as she opened her eyes. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Wow, he really loves her. I wish you could see what I just saw.”

“Care to take a stab at describing it?”

Jenna studied Aerigo. “Love in the form of energy. It’s... beautiful. There’s no better word for it. It’s one thing to feel your own emotions. It’s another to feel another’s through my Sensor abilities. All I can say is now I’m really glad we never separated them. Keeping them together is helping Aerigo recuperate.”

“That’s the power of love, baby!” Arryk said with a cheesy grin.

“Emotions
are
powerful things, Arryk.”

“Oh, I agree. I didn’t mean to sound mocking. I just couldn’t help it. You left yourself open for that one.”

Sporting a smile, Jenna shook her head, then went to Aerigo’s side. “If we can wake him, we need to get both of them to the ICU. They’re stable enough.” She tentatively held a hand near his shoulder and slowly drew closer. Once she was within an inch of his skin, she got a static shock. She flinched and withdrew her hand with a yelp.

“You alright?”

“Yeah. It didn’t hurt; just startled me.” Jenna looked at her fingertips and saw no marks. She reached out again, more cautious than before, and got zapped again.

“Care to have me try?”

“Go right ahead, but I bet you’ll get zapped as well. I think being a Sensor just makes me too sensitive to touch him.” Jenna stepped back and watched from around one of Arryk’s coat sleeves as he placed a hand on Aerigo’s broad shoulder. He received a shock, too, but managed to hold on. He shook Aerigo’s shoulder and called his name like a mother trying to wake her child. After several attempts, Aerigo stirred and blearily opened his eyes.

“Why hello there, Aerigo. Sorry for disturbing your much-needed rest, but you need to get on your own gurney now, so we can move the both of you into ICU. Okay?”

Aerigo looked at the doctor a moment, then at himself and Roxie. He glanced around the room as if he’d never seen it before, then let out a tired groan. With great slowness, he slid backwards onto his gurney, then hugged Roxie to him, wires, sheet, and all coming with her. Aerigo settled his forehead against Roxie’s head and fell back asleep.

“That’s not what I had in mind,” Arryk said, “but... that’ll work for now.”

“Yes it will,” Jenna agreed, laughing from behind a hand. The two doctors rearranged their patients’ medical equipment so nothing got tangled and everything was attached to Aerigo’s gurney. The head of the gurney looked uncomfortably crowded with two EKGs and whatnot, but at least it was temporary. When they fixed the sheet covering Roxie, along with the placement of her legs so her feet weren’t hanging over the edge, they both learned that the girl was quite heavy, like Aerigo, but Jenna guessed she weighed maybe half as much. Jenna was able to lift one of Roxie’s legs with much effort. She also grabbed some more hyper oxide medicine and antivenin, just in case, and tucked the bottled water. And with all that taken care of, they headed over to ICU with two patients on one gurney, and the empty one in tow.

Many staffers stared and asked the same questions Arryk had, even the vent leak one. The swirling air went wherever Aerigo was. Jenna answered most with, “They’re an interesting pair of aliens” which satisfied them, and she told the truth about the swirling air, but without mentioning the link between Aerigo and the brief blackout. She’d told Arryk out of respect and because he was taking over for Donai. A few exceptionally curious staffers temporarily changed their path to get a few more answers out of her, and Jenna informed them of the Aigis’ immense strength and weight, but left matters of Aerigo’s heart private.

One long hallway and many brief conversations later, they reached the first floor’s ICU. This room was much like the ER in size and layout, but had windows that offered a drab view of Nostrum City. The angle of the sun shining through the sickly green and grey atmosphere suggested it was late afternoon. The sun turned the cream-colored walls a nauseating shade that sat between yellow and green. Despite the vitamin D the sunlight still provided, Jenna had to resist the desire to shut the curtains.

Jenna and Arryk set up the gurneys as per normal protocol, but left both Aigis in one. Jenna had to admit to herself that her two patients looked sweet together like that. She envied it, but only while she organized the wires and checked the status of Roxie’s arm. Envy wouldn’t land her a boyfriend, nor did she wish to be in Roxie’s place health-wise. Jenna tucked the sheet around both Aigis, then took a seat in one of the four generously-cushioned chairs meant for staffers keeping a constant eye on patients, angling her chair so her back was to the window.

Arryk took a seat next to her and turned his chair as well. “So what did Donai want you to look at?”

“I’m not sure.” Jenna pulled the gellikin out of its case and set it on her lap. The gellikin’s casing was made out of a dull black metal, and the device was thinner than her hand. She zipped up the case, also black, and turned it upside down in front of her, then let go. The case stayed afloat at stomach level. Jenna set the gellikin on top of the case, flipped open the screen, and the device awoke from sleep mode. Jenna logged into the hospital’s network via holographic keyboard and opened an email from an AI named Kennin, who’d sent her a message at Donai’s request. The email was titled “Urgent: Regarding Our Two Aigis!” In the body of the email it read:

Jenna-

Watch this video file as soon as you can. We haven’t watched it yet. Kennin recommended it for Sensors. Good luck and let us know what you find. I’ll be sleeping in the dorms tonight since no one really knows anything about Aigis/Nomas, and getting information out of Aerigo is harder than making clean air.

-Donai

“Alright, Donai,” Jenna said to her screen. She clicked on the file and the video popped up. She set it to full screen and pushed the gellikin’s screen flat so it lay parallel to the keyboard. Polygonal flaps popped out on all four side of the screen and unfolded like opening a book. The video turned into a hologram that filled up a domed area in and above the flaps and screen. Once Jenna had the volume turned up, she pushed the case and gellikin to arm’s length, then sat back and tucked her feet on the chair, and Arryk wrapped an arm around her. She leaned against his chest just because it was comfy.

Text floated in the center of the hologram.

20 Moon of Sweating 3085

Aerigo’s arrival was during a time of pivotal changes in the medical field, more specifically the rocky marriage of psychology to “pseudo science.” Nowadays Sensors have taken place of psychics, rendering this bit of video journal less groundbreaking than it truly is. May whomever finds the fortune of stumbling upon this file see its purpose through.

The text faded and the hologram went blank.

“Well that was cryptic,” Arryk said, unamused.

“Apparently somebody saw this day coming six hundred years ago. My guess is that we’ll know what it means by the end of the video.” Jenna didn’t want to think back to the days when Sensors had to fight for respect in the world of medicine. She counted herself lucky for having been born well after that mess. Psychics never really caught on, even though many still fought for the same respect as Sensors. Too many charlatans looking to make a quick chunk of change kept their progress to snail pace. Even Jenna found herself somewhat biased against psychics. What was the point of guessing at the future when the past needed to be understood so present matters could be optimally attended to? Psychics were all about foretelling the future. Sensors were all about reading auras and performing energy healing, and lacked the power of foresight. Sensors gained trust over the years because their powers proved to be real time and time again.

“I hope you’re right, Jenna. I’m not a fan of Kismet’s psychics.”

“Oh, you’ve met better ones on your home world?” She gave him a playful poke in one of his pecs. He flinched and swatted at the hand that had already retreated.

“One or two. Nothing grand.”

The hologram faded in on a scene with Aerigo sitting sideways on a cushiony green chair and staring out a window that spanned the whole room. It was one of the recreation rooms in the psyche ward. The room was lowly populated, according to what the camera could see. Lush green plants hugged every bit of furniture and out-of-the-way space. A giant fish tank full of exotic fish from another world bubbled away behind Aerigo’s plush chair. He wore a plain blue short-sleeved shirt that was baggy on him, even for his bulk, and matching baggy pants. His eyes glowed blue.

A chestnut-haired woman in her late thirties reclined in another cushiony chair opposite Aerigo. If her chair hadn’t been slightly turned towards the camera, her slight frame would have been lost in the mountain of cushioning she sank into. She wore a teal, purple, and gold silk dress that made her look even smaller, a silver band around a wrist, and a large piece of quartz crystal hung from a silver necklace. The purple tint in her ears, lips, hands and feet were paler than contemporary people’s. Evolution in action.

The woman glanced impatiently about the room while tapping a finger on the arm of her chair. Her big brown eyes looked directly into the camera, as if silently willing whatever it is she wanted to hurry up. With an impatient sigh she shifted her gaze to Aerigo. “You must be the man I’ve been called on to read,” she said in a heady voice. “That glow in your eyes is pretty, even though I can tell it means you’re sad as sad gets.”