We’re met in the gangway by two armed males who eye Slag with apprehension, but Thantose tells them to stand down.
“None of these people want to harm us, but we’ll need a hover-stretcher. The big male is sick.”
My head snaps toward him.
“You can’t lie to a pirate, KJ. I’m too good at it myself. Chased by a huge predator, my ass,” he says. “That male needs medical attention.”
“You knew that and you brought us aboard anyway?” I ask, my eyes wide.
“We’re pirates, not monsters,” he replies with a wink.
When Slag sags onto the hover-stretcher without argument, I know exactly how sick he must be. He’s not the type of male who would allow that kind of help unless he was in dire need.
While he’s being examined in medbay by Seneca, a medic of the same race as Captain Thantose and his cousin Devolose, the three Earth females converge into the hallway where I’m waiting.
Thantose’s mate, Brin, introduces herself, Lexa, blue Sextus’s mate, and Tawny, Devolose’s mate. They tell me they’ve got jobs here on the ship and are having a blast flying through the stars and going on capers.
“Capers? Really? Like a plot out of a TV show?” I ask, my eyes wide. This is all so much to take in.
“We’re pirates! We steal shit and trick people,” Tawny exclaims. “The parts of the galaxy I’ve seen aren’t full of warm, fuzzy people. We only steal from folks who deserve it. We’re like Robin Hood’s merry band!”
“I’ll admit, I haven’t met a lot of good people either,” I tell her. “Except for Slag.” My eyes dart to the door just in time for the medic to invite me in.
Instead of telling me about Slag’s condition, he uses a Star Trek type of scanning device to assess me.
“You were right when you said you thought he had radiation poisoning. It’s not exactly radiation, but it’s similar. You both have it. I suspect Wrage and Elyse have it too, but they weren’t in the mines like you and Slag, so their levels won’t be as high,” he says without sugarcoating anything. I guess working on this ship full of pirates gives him license to tell it like it is.
“Slag is far sicker than you, but based on the levels in your body and the amount of time you were exposed, you wouldn’t have survived more than a week. Let me explain the treatment.”
“Okay,” I say after he’s explained that he’ll inject us both with a chemical that binds with the radiation ions. The radioactive ions then pass out of the body when we urinate.
“I’ll be honest,” he says as his eyes dart from mine, “I don’t expect Slag to live. My equipment is very familiar with human physiology because of all the females on board. I can tailor the treatment to be most effective for you and Elyse. I can formulate a specific compound for Wrage because the database is replete with information on his race of Wryth’Ns. I have no data for Slag.” He shakes his head sadly.
“We don’t know where he’s from. There’s no information in my medical database. I can’t get an accurate reading on his DNA. It keeps shifting. Maybe the ions have affected him down to a cellular level. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ll keep working on adjusting the chemical formula, but his levels are so far off baseline I don’t have much hope for your mate.”
For a split second, my thoughts get stuck on his use of the term mate. It’s a much better thing to contemplate than the news he just delivered. I want to scold him for being pessimistic and for saying such a thing, but I clamp my lips together. He’s just doing his job.
What he said just rocked my world. I don’t want Slag to die. He’s my friend. Admit it, KJ, he’s so much more than a friend.
My world slows down as I contemplate the medic’s words. My heart clenches and my vision blurs as I imagine a world without Slag. We’ve grown too close for me to lose him now.
“Thanks for the warning, but . . .” I almost just insisted he’s not going to die. I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.
“The females set up a room for you. Why don’t you check it out, make sure you have everything you’ll need. Once you start the treatments, you’re not going to want to do much other than piss, sleep, eat, vomit, and drink copious amounts of water.”
Alright. I think Seneca is growing on me. You have to admire his direct approach.
“I’ll bring your mate in a few minutes and administer the first dose to you in your room.”
The women are still waiting for me in the hallway. They look worried.
“Is he going to be alright?”
“We both have a form of radiation sickness. Slag is sicker than me. We start therapy soon. The doc told me to make sure everything we’ll need is in our room. He says we’re in for a bumpy ride.”
They accompany me to a roomy cabin that’s maybe twelve by eighteen. There’s a pretty blue bedspread on a bed big enough for two, a desk, and a dresser. A bathroom with a shower and running water adjoins it.
“Why don’t you take a shower first?” Brin suggests. “We’ll leave you alone. I imagine you’re starved.”
“I’ve had nothing to eat in the last month except for three nutrition bars and some fruit. I’m famished, and I doubt I’m going to have much of an appetite after the treatments the doc is about to administer.”
“I’m on it,” Lexa says as
