Page 8 of The Hornet’s Hucow Pet

Her expression is sharp, evaluating. “ICSS rules disallow mentions of tea or coffee. They don’t permit it on the city ships anymore.”

“Strange, ICSS rules also disallow any and all communication with an outlaw like Sylvus.”

A subtle smile pulls at her lips. “I’d kill for a cup of coffee.”

I nod, preparing some of the glass equipment I use for extracting medicinal components from plant matter. That’s exactly what brewing coffee is, so the equipment works quite well. I activate an induction plate to heat a beaker of water while I grind a handful of coffee beans to a precise grain size using a mortar and pestle. Once I’ve settled those in a filter and set a mug out to catch the resulting brew, I return to Nova.

She rubs her arm, but her fingers pause when I return to her.

“Why am I here?” she asks.

I like her directness. I don’t like that she doesn’t know the answer. “Did Sylvus not tell you?”

She shakes her head.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Ah. That explains a lot. My apologies for my forwardness, then. I’m a physician, as you may have gathered. I specialize in non-Arthropoid sapients, which is something of a rarity here on Zairion Prime. I look after all the hucows under Sylvus’s care, should they need anything, though they’re all quite hale. Since your application mentioned chronic pain, he wanted me to complete a preemptive physical exam.”

“I could save you the trouble and show you my medical records. I’ve had every conceivable test, tried every therapy, sampled every drug. Legal or otherwise.” The words are delivered lightly, with a wry shrug.

I can guess at the years of suffering they hide.

The hot water has made its way through the coffee grounds, filling the mug with dark liquid.

I fetch it and offer it to Nova. “I won’t torture you by asking you to explain it all again. I only ask for a bit of patience. You’ll find my methods are… different from those of the ICSS physicians.”

She raises a brow as she takes the mug. “Please don’t be offended, but I have no patience for ‘alternative healing’ either. All it’s ever been to me is false promises.”

I settle down across from Nova. “I can assure you I’m no charlatan. While I do make use of the placebo effect, it’s only with the consent of my patients.”

Nova’s brow furrows, and her fingers touch behind her ear—where her neural implant lies. “The way you talk about this stuff… It’s… I mean, clearly, things are translating that I wasn’t expecting to. People don’t usually know what I mean by ‘alternative medicine.’”

I clear my throat and say in her language, with some labor and a thick accent, “I speak some English. I fear my vocabulary skews heavily toward technical medical terminology, however.”

Nova’s eyes widen with surprise—brilliant, striking azure—and her brow furrows deeper.

“I won’t subject you to my accent,” I say, returning to my native tongue. “But I’ve read quite a few authentic human medical tomes.” To illustrate, I reach back into my cubbies for a copy of Grey’s Anatomy and hand it to her.

She flips through the yellowed pages. “This is impossible. The ICSS only saved those records digitally, and then they archived most of them when the statistical variance was deemed too high…” Then her expression suddenly brightens. “Sylvus also smuggles Earth artifacts, doesn’t he? Far more made it off the planet than we were ever told.”

Something like a thrill vibrates in my chest. “Clever girl.”

Her blush deepens, and I want to press my lips to it.

She clears her throat. “Funny you should say that; it’s similar to a line from—I’m blanking on the name; it’s been a long time…”

“Jurassic Park?” The words come out thickly accented, but in their original form, since there’s no translation in my tongue.

A strange expression crosses her face. “Yeah,” she murmurs. “Jurrasic Park. It was my favorite as a kid. Sylvus has movies too?”

“Quite a few. His hucow particularly enjoys them.”

Nova stiffens slightly. “Right. His hucow… We should probably start the exam.”

“There’s no rush.”

“I don’t want to waste your time.”

“I assure you it’s no waste, but whatever makes you more comfortable. First, I’m going to assess your pain levels.”