I cut him off again. ‘I want to see Fian.’
Playdon glanced at Candace, and she stood up. ‘I’ll ask someone, Jarra, but …’
She went out of the room, and Playdon gave me a worried look. ‘Fian will be out of the tank in another day so it would be better to …’
A day? After what had happened with Joth, I was supposed to wait around, sick with terror, for a whole day? I didn’t say a word, I just glared at Playdon and he shut up.
Candace returned with a male doctor.
‘We don’t allow visitors when a patient is in a tank,’ he said. ‘It can be disturbing to see the regeneration process in action.’
I told him it one word at a time, so the most complete nardle could understand. ‘I. Want. To. See. Fian.’
‘Yes, but I’m afraid we don’t allow visitors.’
I got out of bed and flourished my ring under the man’s nose. ‘Fian and I are Twoing. I’m his next of kin. I have a legal right to see him and satisfy myself he’s receiving adequate medical care.’
The doctor took a nervous step backwards. ‘Well, yes you do, but I’d still …’
I headed for the door, and he scampered after me. Left or right, I wondered, as I went into the corridor. I turned left, didn’t recognize the name on the door of the room there, turned back and found the one tagged with the name Fian Eklund. I reached to open it, and the doctor physically jumped in my way.
‘Please let me warn you,’ he said. ‘Fian had internal injuries to liver and kidneys. Successful regrowth of organs involves exposing them to tank fluids. His side is still open while internal organs and ribs complete the regeneration cycle. There are also life support tubes and …’
‘My best friend is on a Medical Foundation course,’ I said. ‘She’s done her three week practical introduction to regrowth and rejuvenation techniques, and babbled to me all about how half the class, including her, fainted the first time they saw someone in a regrowth tank. I accept that what I see may not look nice, and I’m not going to dramatically faint. Now, let me in that room!’
He meekly opened the door, and the view of the clear glass tank hit me. It was against the far wall, and looked smaller than I expected, just large enough to hold the floating body inside it. There weren’t any bubbles either. I’d somehow pictured streams of air bubbles, but that was stupid of me because someone in a tank wouldn’t be breathing.
I walked up to the tank and touched the cool glass with my right hand as I looked at Fian. His eyes were closed and his face seemed relaxed and peaceful with his long hair drifting around it like golden seaweed. There were a lot of tubes, and his side looked like one of the anatomy vids they showed us in school. I should know which bit was a kidney, the ribs were obvious, the …
I’d promised I wouldn’t be a nardle and faint, so I pulled my eyes away from the gory stuff, and concentrated on the fact Fian was alive and would soon be well. I saw they’d taken his ring as well, nuke them, but he’d get it back. We’d wear our rings again. We’d be together again.
I’d had two warnings now. First Joth dying, and now this. I wasn’t stupid enough to need a third one when that alien sphere was hovering above Earth Africa. I didn’t know how much time Fian and I would have, so I mustn’t waste a single precious minute.
I turned around and went back to my own room. Candace and Playdon watched me warily as I got back into bed. There was a long silence before Playdon opened his mouth. He was probably going to ask …
There was a chiming sound from the door, followed by someone actually thumping on it. Candace turned and gave it a startled look. ‘I told everyone the schedule for visiting Jarra. Issette and Keon aren’t supposed to be here yet.’
Playdon stood up, opened the door, developed a shocked expression and stepped rapidly backwards. Two high-ranking Military officers, wearing laurel wreaths and brandishing bunches of grapes, entered the room. Candace slowly got to her feet and stared at them. It was the first time I’d ever seen her habitual poise completely shattered.
The lead figure grinned at me. ‘Jarra, why on earth do you wear something like that in bed? It’s got less sex appeal than an impact suit.’
‘Behave yourself, Drago,’ Marlise reproved him. ‘You know perfectly well that Jarra’s wearing a hospital sleep suit.’
‘Drago, Marlise, it’s good to see you,’ I said, ‘but … why are you crowned with laurels?’
Marlise silently blushed, while Drago handed over the grapes to me and dashed back out into the corridor. He returned with two blatantly stolen chairs, and added them to the ones already at my bedside.
‘I’ll explain, Jarra, but first … please introduce me to this ravishingly beautiful lady.’ He gave Candace a look of deep admiration.
I laughed at her startled face. ‘My ProMum, Candace. Lecturer Playdon. These are my cousin, Commander Drago Tell Dramis, and his deputy, Major Marlise Weldon. Candace, pay no attention to Drago. He likes to tease people by playacting the flirting Betan, but it means absolutely nothing.’
‘I’m pleased to meet you both,’ said Candace. ‘I saw you interviewed on Earth Rolling News, Commander, but I thought you were a Major then.’
‘I was,’ said Drago, taking her hand and kissing it. ‘They forcibly promoted me. Please, call me Drago.’ He gestured at the chairs. ‘Do sit down, Candace. As an officer and a gentleman, I can’t sit down until you do.’
I think I made a choking noise at this point, because Drago laughed. ‘Jarra would claim I’m an officer but not a gentleman. She’s right, but let’s sit down anyway.’
Everyone sat down and I tried repeating my earlier question.
‘Why are you wearing laurel wreaths?’
‘Because we’ve just got married.’ Drago gave me a smile of delighted pride. ‘Jarra, embrace Marlise and welcome her into the Tell clan kindred. I’d be happy for you to embrace me too, but Marlise has laid down very strict rules for my future behaviour.’
‘You’re married!’ I hugged Marlise.
‘I know I’ll regret it,’ said Marlise, ‘but …’
‘Since you two couldn’t come to the wedding, we thought we’d come to you,’ said Drago. ‘Colonel Torrek sends his best wishes for a speedy recovery. He can’t leave the base himself at the moment, but if there’s anything you need then just ask. He sent our Medical team leader over earlier, to check on your care, and she reported you were in very capable hands.’
I was stunned for a moment. How did the Colonel know what had happened to me and Fian, and why was he sending Military …?
I worked out the answer. Colonel Torrek was our commanding officer. He’d be automatically informed of our accident, and was responsible for making sure we had proper treatment by either Military or civilian facilities.
‘The Colonel doesn’t need to worry,’ I said. ‘Earth is known for the triple H. Hospital. History. Handicapped. Medical care is a major specialty of ours.’
‘It’s very kind of Colonel Torrek to take such an interest,’ said Candace, obviously bewildered.
‘Given Colonel Riak Torrek’s personal relationship with Jarra’s grandmother, he takes a deep interest in her Honour Child,’ said Commander Drago Tell Dramis, finest liar in the Military.
‘Oh,’ said Candace. ‘I hadn’t realized.’
I moved the conversation on to a safer subject. ‘You two eloped to Epsilon then?’
‘We couldn’t elope.’ Drago glanced at Candace for a second. ‘We’re fighter pilots, and in the current situation we may be urgently needed.’
She nodded. ‘We appreciate the efforts the Military are making to keep Earth safe.’
I herded the conversation back to the topic of marriage again. ‘So, how did you manage to get married? Earth law requires a minimum of three Twoing contracts, which add up to at least one year, and you two hadn’t even …’
Drago grinned. ‘Military regulations section 14, subsection 3.9. “Military personnel unable to travel due to medical conditions or the constraints of active service may, at the discretion of their commanding officer, be married at their current location under the laws of a sector of their choice.”’
I was startled. ‘What? I didn’t know about …’
