Discovery (Hybrid Book 1) (3 page)

The crew was already aware of her unusual appearance, her deep green eyes with vertical pupils, and the dark spotting down the sides of her face, neck and arms. It had always caused people to stare, especially as the marks contrasted with her golden skin, but getting to the casualty was far more important.

The ensign had waited for her, and together they ran to the transport tube to make the journey to the med bay two levels down from the VIP quarters. Putting on her professional hat, Chesara asked for details of the case as they waited in the transport tube. The pretty blonde ensign fidgeted and looked close to tears. Chesara gently held her shoulders, turning her so she could look into her eyes, she might not have time to coddle this woman. Besides, she didn’t like her.

“Don’t worry, you know I can fix almost anything, just tell me what the injuries are, so I can begin immediately.”

Ensign Took looked about as guilty as she deserved to be. She’d gone out of her way to be unhelpful when they’d both been working in the med bay, plus she’d bitched about ‘that cat’ with her friends, whenever Chesara walked past. It was a good job that Connor was always hovering otherwise Chesara would have probably decked her.

“Plasma burns, Miss Chesara. Really bad plasma burns all across his right side, you can see his ribs, the actual bone. It’s all black and bloody, he... he...”

Seeing that the girl was going into shock, Chesara guessed that the injured man was more than just another patient to the normally bitchy nurse. Trying to sound confident and calm, Chesara tried to reassure her. The last thing she needed in an emergency situation was a hysterical girlfriend or relative. Chesara told herself off sternly for feeling a wicked sense of satisfaction at the nose dive her pride must have taken for to call on her usual ‘victim’ for help. Connor would certainly give her a lecture if he knew.

Turning her attention back to Took, she gritted her teeth, told herself to be professional, and tried the reassurance thing again.

“Remember your training; you’ll be a lot more help to him if you’re calm. I need you to talk to him, keep him relaxed. Take a few deep breaths, and do your job ensign.” As she finished the pep talk, the door of the transport tube whooshed open, and they ran to the med bay.

The usual calm atmosphere was currently a hive of activity, centred in a room at the back of the reception area. The Federation Cruiser Apollo had a crew complement of around eight hundred and the med bay dealt with both routine medical and dental care. It was also equipped with surgical, hospitalization and isolation facilities, and could quickly be adapted for multiple casualties.

Chesara quickly forgot about Ensign Took when she entered the trauma room. The smell of seared human flesh and the animalistic sounds of severe pain filled the recycled air. Hopefully, the filters would at least remove the distracting smell sooner rather than later, and she could certainly help with his pain.

Going into ‘healer mode’ she  immediately shut the sounds and smells of the injured man out of her mind as she pushed through the throng surrounding the table as they rushed to get the monitoring equipment hooked up to the patient.

The thrashing, blackened body on the table had very little resemblance to the suave ladies’ man Chesara had seen countless times as she went about her business on board. That Lieutenant Dagus had been tall, good looking, with a cheeky smile, and had women falling at his feet to get his attention. This wasn’t Dagus anymore. This was a body in pain and shock, and it was one she could help.

The medical team noticed her arrival, and moved quickly aside. Chesara placed a hand on his forehead as he twisted and groaned in pain. She closed her eyes to shut out the world around her. Taking a deep breath to centre herself, she focused down through her hand to find the pain centre in the brain. Swiftly dampening down the receptors, she gave herself a window to work without shock killing her patient before she had a chance to help him. As his body relaxed, his eyes opened. He gazed at her in amazement, and she smiled gently at him.

“Hi. The things people do to get my attention. Don’t worry, I’ll have you back entertaining the ladies soon as possible. We can’t have the morale of half the crew taking a dive, can we lieutenant?”

As he managed a faint answering smile, she continued, “Dagus listen closely, this might feel a little odd, but it won’t hurt, not one bit, but I need you to stay still. Do you understand?”  He nodded slightly, eyes fixed on her face.

“All I’ll be doing is speeding up your body’s natural healing processes, but the Doc will be putting up a couple of saline and glucose drips just to make sure your body has enough energy to heal itself, okay?”

Repeating the reassuring smile, she turned to the Chief Medical Officer who’d taken over from the junior Doctor who had been on duty when the accident occurred. Perhaps it should faze her that she was ordering one of the highest-ranking people on the vessel around, but she knew what needed doing and in this respect they deferred to her.

“Doctor, can we have saline and glucose set up ASAP, and a screen, so Ensign Took can gaze at Dagus lovingly without being distracted by how she’s going to get his uniform clean?”

As her instructions were carried out, she turned her attention to the wounds. The entire right ride of his torso was terribly burned. Took had been right, there were ribs visible in one area, but she didn’t see any organs. Although hideous, the wounds weren’t beyond her abilities to heal, as long as the patient was sufficiently hydrated. After her visual inspection, she turned to a nurse who disinfected her hands with a small device.

“Right then people; let’s get these clothes to the laundry. I promise I won’t look Dagus.” She closed her eyes, running through the stages in the healing process, whilst the patient was prepared. She could hear Took and Dagus talking quietly, so she was confident she’d successfully dealt with his pain. Placing her cleaned hands over the deepest wound, near where his right nipple had been, she concentrated, narrowing her perceptions down to the minute level of human tissue, before starting the long process of repair and infection control.

She moved quickly, scar tissue formation wasn’t an issue at this stage, she just wanted the wounds sealed. Dehydration and poisoning from the toxins released into the blood stream by the damaged tissue were the biggest killers in burns. Once the wounds were sealed, she helped his liver deal with the poisons. The liver took a lot of her own energy, as his body didn’t have enough of its own to use. Beautifying him again could happen when she had time.

A hand on her arm broke her concentration, and she briefly struggled to refocus her attention from deep within his liver, to the man standing next to her. As it was, she felt her neck crack as she craned upwards to see his face. Why the hell did he have to be so bloody tall? It wasn’t natural.

“What d’you want Connor? I’m a little busy in case you haven’t noticed.”

The handsome face of her long-term friend and official bodyguard/assistant swam into focus. He wore his normal concerned look and that strand of dark hair was threatening to dangle into his brown eyes again.

“You need to rest, he’s stable now.” Connor’s quick glance at the Doctor had him nodding his agreement. “Plus you need to get ready for your assignment; we’re expected to leave for the surface in a few hours.”

Chesara checked her patient, who was now peacefully sleeping. She didn’t care what he said, her attention was always on the person she was treating, and she’d never leave anyone whose life was still in danger. Although the wounds were still raw, as she hadn’t had time to regenerate the upper skin levels thoroughly, it looked healthy.

A glance up at the clock showed that several hours had passed when she at the clock. She’d missed both breakfast and lunch, and her head decided that moment was the right time to start throbbing.

“Ok, ok, I’m coming; I’ll have to do more on him in the next few days to prevent scarring. I wouldn’t want to deprive Ensign Took of that magnificent torso.”

She sent a weary smile in the direction of a pathetically grateful Ensign Took who was still tightly holding onto Dagus’ hand.

“Miss Chesara? I’m so sorry for everything I’ve said, I...”

Chesara held up a hand, stopping her apology in mid flow. “Don’t worry about it. I’m the same person I was yesterday and the day before. I’ve still got funny eyes and weird skin, and I really don’t care what...”

Connor towed her swiftly out of the med bay by the hand before she could say anything else. “That was a little bitchy, even for you Kittycat.”

She huffed. “Well that empty headed blonde has been whispering behind my back since I got on board. She thinks I can’t hear her, but I can, and it’s time she got some back.”

“Dagus nearly dying was not the time Chesara.”

Connor kept his face resolutely on the monotonous beige corridor ahead of them. She felt like sticking her tongue out at the chiselled jaw and the ‘oh so moral’ expression on his handsome face, but as she was small enough that she could tuck her head under his armpit, the effect would be less than satisfactory. Neither of them seemed to notice that they were still holding hands.

“He wasn’t dying,” she grumbled.

Connor just raised his eyebrow slightly, as he carried on walking.

“Well, yeah, maybe he was, but I was there, so nothing for anyone to get their knickers in a knot about.”

He didn’t reply, so she decided to say something that’d get him talking. His ‘strong, silent’ routine was so boring.

“How long is this one going to be?” she asked, referring to the upcoming assignment.

“A day or so, just a quick fertility issue and the expected meet and greet type thing.”

God that sounded boring, she thought, maybe a little whining would get her out of the meet and greet. She hated being on display like some sort of prize pooch. There were always awkward questions she had to fend off.

“I’m really knackered after that healing. Are you sure we’ve got to go on this stupid assignment today? Can’t we just pop down in the morning and sort out the fertility issue, then go? Please?” She turned pleading eyes on him as they got in the transport tube.

He took her other hand in his, but at least he looked genuinely sympathetic. “I’m afraid not, Kittycat. That’s why we’ve been travelling for last three weeks. The Kalzirian Chancellor is already waiting to come up. They’ll be a delay as your patient was meant to be the shuttle pilot, but I can’t stall him forever.”

“I’m tired Connor, and I haven’t eaten or showered today. Why do we always pander to these idiots? I’m crap at the meet and greet stuff anyway. I always muck it up. Can’t the Captain do it? They’ll be impressed by all that shiny gold braid.”

She knew she was behaving like a spoiled brat, but she’d just saved someone’s life. Surely, she deserved a little consideration. As usual, Connor didn’t seem to be at all impressed with her behaviour. The conversation continued as they exited the tube and walked back towards her quarters.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll go and apologize to the stuffy planetary dignitary while you have a few hours rest, get washed, and changed into your ‘officials.’ But we have to go before planetary night falls. I think they’ve got some kind of reception planned.”

He grinned as she let out a heartfelt groan as she leaned into his side. It seemed an appropriate moment to try out some of her newest expletives.

“Klootzak?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Testicles in Dutch,” she replied with a grin.

“I’ll have to have a word with our new crewman Ensign Janssen,” Conner said, but his ‘annoyed’ tone wasn’t convincing in the least.

Her hobby of collecting swear words from anyone and everyone she came across had been a game between them for years. Connor pretended that he didn’t like it, and tried to intercept any possible sources of new expletives before she got to them. He was never particularly successful.

So far, she could swear in several old Terran languages as well as colloquial ones picked up from the various colony planets they’d visited. She wondered how many she’d pick up on Kalzir. Even if Connor watched her closely, which he always did, she always managed it somehow.

“Don’t bother,” she said with satisfaction as Connor rolled his eyes, “he spilled his guts within two days of coming aboard.”

“And where did you meet up with him for that? Seeing as you’re not meant to go anywhere without security?”

She thought briefly about lying, but Connor was something of a bloodhound when it came to her being untruthful. Besides, if she lied, he’d just look at the ship’s security tapes till he found out anyway. And if he did that, he’d get tired and even more grumpy than normal. So she shrugged and told the truth.

“He came in for his physical.” She punched Connor’s arm gently as she grinned up at him. “Don’t worry Dad, the receptionist was there so he didn’t ravish me,” she said as she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

His frown told her that he wasn’t amused, not that she’d expected him to be.

“Don’t make light of it Chesara. We don’t know what you becoming sexually active would do to your ability.”

As always, she couldn’t help needling him. “And we also don’t know if the ability can be inherited. Just think, if we spend the afternoon in my quarters, in nine month’s time, we could have another little ‘healer’ to help out.” She bumped her shoulder into his side playfully. “Come on Connor, what do you say?”

Suddenly she was pushed up against the wall, and Connor’s expression changed from his two customary expressions. He was no longer amused, or stoic, he was damn angry.

“Don’t tease people like that, me or anyone else. You have no idea what the real world is like Chesara.” It looked as if he was about to say more, but he abruptly stepped back, grasped her upper arm and almost frog marched her to her quarters.

He pressed his thumb to the panel, and almost thrust her inside the VIP accommodation section.

“Don’t leave until I get back,” he  barked at her before striding off.

Her status as a ‘Special Envoy’ warranted the accommodation, but she felt out of place amongst the plush, luxurious and colourful furnishings. It was so unlike the utilitarian, functional red, beige, and black decor of the rest of the ship. Being separated from the rest of the crew didn’t endear her to some of them, Ensign Took being a prime example. It wasn’t her choice, but the ‘powers that be’ kept insisting her isolation was necessary for security reasons. It’d been that way her whole life.