Nikhil (Kaliszian Book 1) (23 page)

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"The others..." Luol's gaze traveled to the others in the room. "They will be leaving on the ship so they can return to their families and homes while you..."

"While we will be remaining here," she finished for him.

"Yes, for now at least."

"What do you mean for now?"

"I only meant until we discover where your home world is. Your concern for your people is admirable, Mackenzie, and I support it, but there are also others that have suffered."

Mac found she couldn't argue with that. They weren't the only ones that had suffered, but at least the others knew and understood what was happening to them, then and now, while her friends didn't.

"Then at least start letting them use the educator," she argued back. "There is so much they don't know or understand. You have no idea what it feels like to not understand what is being said to you. To not know how this world works and why. They can't even understand what I am saying to you right now."

Looking behind her, Luol saw she was right. All her people were standing there staring at them with a combination of confusion and fear. How would he feel if he suddenly found himself in their world and couldn't communicate?

"I can not properly attend to two beings in the deep-repair units, and also monitor another using the educator."

"Then I'll help you," Mac told him.

"What?" Luol's eyes widened in shock.

"I said. I. Will. Help. You. Let me go find out who wants to go first."

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

"What's going on, Mac?" Craig asked as soon as she returned.

"The Kaliszians have brought down another deep-repair unit so they can start treating you guys the way they have me. It's a bed that closes around you." She saw their confusion. "The only thing I can compare it to is an MRI bed. It scans you then fixes whatever needs repaired while replenishing whatever has been depleted from your system. It will take some time."

"How much time?" Craig demanded.

"I was in it two times totaling almost twelve hours."

"Why two times?" Paul asked.

"Luol wasn't sure how my system would react to the unit so he erred on the side of caution."

"But you didn't have any problems. Right?" Jen asked concerned.

"I didn't," she reassured her. "Luol is also going to start applying their educator to you, one at a time, so you can know what I know."

"How long does that take?" Craig asked.

"A couple hours. So who wants to go first?" she asked looking at each one of them expectantly then frowned when no one immediately volunteered. "Guys?" she prompted.

"I'll go," Craig and Paul said at the same time.

"Great, then let’s go," Mac said

"Paul..." Eric grabbed his hand.

"Someone needs to do this, Eric. It will be fine," Paul squeezed his hand reassuringly then looked at Mac. "Let’s go I'm ready to understand all this shit!"

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Luol was still slightly shocked as he sealed the door of the medical unit. Onp had vigorously tried to deter Mackenzie from accompanying him, but when it came to the battle of wills, Mackenzie was the surprising victor. He found himself smiling as he remembered how flustered Onp had become when Mackenzie had told him that the only way he could stop her from leaving the area was if he physically restrained her and she was
sure
that wouldn't upset Nikhil at all.

Turning, he found Mackenzie talking quietly not to the two males she'd introduced as Paul and Craig, but to the Nekeok that was going to be treated by the other repair unit. Moving closer, he was surprised to find she was comforting the male.

"Is there a problem, Mackenzie?" he asked moving to her side. Nekeok's were a somewhat short-tempered species that could strike out when irritated. While they were small by Kaliszian standards, they were still larger and stronger than humans.

"No. I was just reassuring Blag that he had heard correctly. The supply ship will be here in four days. He's anxious to get back to his wife. They have been notified that he's alive, right?"

"I... I do not know," Luol admitted.

"Well, we need to find out," she told him. "Blag's wife was with offspring when he was taken, and he is very concerned about her."

"I will contact the General after they are in the repair unit. I am sorry, Blag," Luol turned to the Nekeok whose name he hadn't even known, "that I never thought to inquire."

"It is to be expected," the Nekeok replied, and it had Luol frowning.

"What do you mean?" Luol demanded.

"Kaliszians are only ever concerned with themselves. It is what caused the Great Infection," Blag said moving toward one of the repair units. "If it weren't that the Zaludians were stealing a resource you might need, you never would have even bothered freeing us."

"That's an untruth, Blag," Luol denied.

"Is it?" Blag challenged. "Then tell me why were you on the other side of the empire for so long fighting the Ratak, when you should have been defending us from the Ganglians? The planets the Ratak were trying to claim hold vast mineral resources that you can trade with the Tornians for food. It is the only reason you care about them. They have no indigenous life, no people, just minerals."

Luol opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it shut, finding that in this, Blag was not wrong. Then he watched Blag jump up on the unit. "Yet you are trusting me to treat you?"

"You may be a selfish species, but you have honor. You would never harm one in your care." With that, Blag laid down and closed his eyes.

Mac's eyes widened as she listened to the exchange and wasn't sure what surprised her more, Blag's accusation, or that Luol didn't deny it. She was also glad that Paul and Craig couldn't understand what was being said. She didn't need them questioning what she didn't understand herself yet.

"Mac, what's going on?" Paul's question had her pulling her gaze from Blag and Luol.

"Luol and Blag were just talking about Luol contacting his family." While she didn't lie, she didn't tell them everything that was being said. She needed them to trust what she was telling them. She just hoped she was right. "Watch and you'll see what Luol is going to do, and then you can decide which one of you wants to use the repair unit and which one will use the educator."

"I'll do the repair unit," Craig immediately spoke, moving closer to watch what Luol was doing.

Mac wasn't surprised that Craig had chosen the repair unit. It wasn't because he was fearless in the face of the unknown, because he wasn't, he just didn't like not being first. She looked to Paul, who just rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine with the educator. It would be nice to know what everyone else is saying," he leaned in close to Mac so only she could hear his next words. "Then I will also know what else they just said."

"Paul..." her eyes searched his.

"It’s okay, Mac. I trust you. Craig might not, but then he's been trying to get close to you since you met, and you've kept shooting him down even when things were really bad."

"I wasn't interested in him then and I'm not now."

"That was pretty obvious from the way you were kissing that Nikhil," Paul gave her an understanding smile.

"Mackenzie?"

Luol's voice saved her from having to reply, and she turned to him. "Would you explain to your male that I need him to lie down on the bed?"

"He's not my male," she denied in Kaliszian, causing Luol to raise an eyebrow at her but she moved toward him.

"Craig, you need to get on the bed and lie down just like Blag did," she told him in English. "The unit will start to scan you once it closes." She watched Craig's eyes widen as the cover began to close and she knew he was beginning to panic. "It's okay, Craig, just relax and breathe. It's not going to hurt or be painful. You can even move around if you want."

"It doesn't knock you out?" Craig asked.

"No, but you can sleep if you want." She looked up and saw Luol had finished working the control panel of the unit.

"Is there a problem?" Luol asked her in Kaliszian.

"No, I think Craig just thought the unit would knock him out."

"Knock him out?" Luol frowned at her not understanding the word.

"Make him sleep," she clarified.

"Oh, well I can, if you think he would be more comfortable that way."

Mac looked to Craig and could see he was struggling with being in the closed unit. She understood. She hadn't liked it either, not after the cramped conditions of the mine. "It might be best if you did. I don't think he'll be able to stay in the unit otherwise."

Moments after saying the words, she watched Craig's body relax and his eyes close.

"Well that was quick," Mac said.

"It helps when severely injured warriors are brought in."

"I thought your portable repair unit was able to treat severe injuries in the field," Mac said.

"That unit can only fully repair non-life threatening injuries. The most severe must be treated with this unit. The portable unit makes it possible for most to make it to one."

"That's why you didn't want to bring the second one down." She now understood.

"Yes, but the Defender isn't going to be leaving orbit so if something were to happen, the injured would just be brought here. Do not worry, Mackenzie. All will be fine." Luol checked the readings on both units then looked to Paul. "Is he ready for the educator?"

"Paul?" Mac turned to look at him. "Ready?"

"Ready."

M
ac sat next to Paul holding his hand as Luol explained to him, in Zaludian, what he was doing and why, and what he would feel. After a tense nod from Paul, Luol put the educator on him. For a moment, Paul's grip tightened around Mac's hand, and then it relaxed.

"He is now in a deep sleep," Luol told her. "It will be several hours before he wakes."

"I'll stay with Paul so you can see to Craig and Blag if you tell me what I need to watch for."

"Agitation mostly. It means he is fighting the information the educator is trying to give him."

"Why would that happen?" she asked giving Paul a concerned look.

"We don't know for sure, but believe it is either because the educator has somehow triggered a bad memory, or the chemical composition of the recipient's brain is just unable to absorb what it is receiving. While it's rare, it can cause permanent harm if not corrected."

"Oh, so maybe you should stay here, and I'll sit with Craig and Blag."

"You would not understand the readings the units are giving you and would be unable to adjust them," Luol told her quietly.

"I'm sorry, Luol." She looked up at him, her eyes full of regret.

"For what?"

"For demanding that you treat so many at the same time. I didn't realize the risks..."

"But you were right, Mackenzie," he told her kindly. "Your people need to be able to understand what is happening. If I expected there to be any problems, I would have refused. And it is truth that even General Rayner has no power to sway me when it comes to what is best for those I treat."

"Really? Not even the most feared and powerful General Rayner?" She'd learned that from the educator.

"General Rayner is feared and powerful for a reason, but he is also honorable and would never intentionally harm one under his care."

"You truly believe that?"

"Yes."

Mac was silent for a moment, watching Paul lying there so peacefully. "I need to thank you, Luol."

"For what?" he asked frowning at her.

"Nikhil told me that you asked your Ashe to obtain and send coverings for me on the next supply ship."

Luol gave her a warm smile. "That was no hardship for her. My Maysa loves to go shopping, especially for young females."

"I'm a young female?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him. She knew for a Kaliszian, a young female referred to one under the age of eighteen, who was not yet considered fully mature. "I don't think Nikhil sees me that way."

Luol's cheeks started to flush. "It was the only way I could describe your size to Maysa. I did not mean to infer..."

"I was just teasing you, Luol," she said smiling at him. "I take it your females are larger than me."

"When they reach their maturity, yes, but before that, they come in different sizes."

"One being mine."

"Yes. Maysa and I only have male offspring, so she was very excited to spend my credits on something other than 'boring male coverings', as she refers to them. "

"Still, it was such short notice and..." Mac trailed off. Why hadn't she realized? Nikhil had told her some of their females would offer their friendship to males for extra food or credits. Of course, he would have to pay for her coverings. How much she didn't know. Could he afford them? That was something else she didn't know and then she had gone and asked for more.

"Mackenzie, is something wrong?" Luol asked.

"I... nothing. I just realized there was something I need to talk to Nikhil about. So you think Paul will be okay with me watching him?"

"Yes. Now I need to check on Craig and Blag."

"Alright. Oh, and don't forget to check to see if Blag's family has been contacted."

"I won't."

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Luol frowned at the readings the deep-repair unit was giving him for the human called Craig. While the repair unit was replenishing the same nutrients as it had in Mackenzie, his weren't nearly as depleted as hers, and his weight loss didn't seem as extreme. Why was that, if they had all experienced the same things up until she was discovered? Making a few adjustments, he turned his attention to Blag's unit.

"How much longer?" Blag asked as he watched Luol.

"You are doing well," Luol told him absently.

"That's not what I asked!" Blag fired back.

"Another hour."

"Where is Mackenzie?" Blag demanded.

"She's in the other room sitting with her friend." Luol saw Blag’s gaze searching behind him.

"They are a strange species," Blag finally muttered.

"Did you ever interact with them in the mine?"

"No."

"You never saw them?" Luol found that hard to believe. The mine wasn't that big.