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30
Neb-en-khata
A blurred white,that’s all I see when I open my eyes for the first time in what feels like a century. My mind is completely blank. I feel like this is my first conscious moment. I try to move, but a searing pain in my arm and stomach force me to stay still. I look around and see a completely white room, from walls to ceilings to the strange-looking charts and tables in the corner of the room. It’s almost like I’m waking up in the future.
I look down and notice that I am completely naked, covered only by a thin white sheet. I lift it up and see a large, tight bandage on the left side of my abdomen. I also notice that my right arm is aching like hell and is covered in small thin needles throughout; it must have at least a hundred of them in there. I am starting to freak out a little when someone walks in the door. It’s—it’s a human. I mean, she looks human, but her hair is blond, and she is much taller than any woman I have ever seen. She is dressed in all white and looks to be some kind of doctor. She sees me awake and is visibly alarmed by this. She extends her hands toward me in a ‘wait there’ gesture and then says a few things in a language I can’t understand and leaves the room in a hurry.
The memories finally start flooding back to me. My escape from the Dhaarrir space station, fighting Chem-tat-ef, picking up Zanika—Zanika! I lift myself up into a sitting position and scream out in pain.What the hell happened to me? But more importantly, where the fuck is Zanika?
I’m just about to force myself out of bed despite the excruciating pain when a very large human steps into the room. His bushy white beard covers the better part of his tanned features, but he exudes an aura of authority with his massive frame and intensely dark blue eyes.
In Dhaarrir, he urges me to get back into bed. I recognize him as the voice from the radio but can think of nothing but Zanika right now. I swing my legs off the bed and fall to the floor. I groan out in pain as the human rushes to me and lifts me back up onto the bed.
“I told you you shouldn’t do that.”
“Where’s Zanika?” I ask, fearing the worst.
He looks at me with a smile and says, “She’s fine. You turned out a lot worse than she did. We’ve just notified her that you’ve woken up. She was dining. You know you’ve been out of it for over a week?”
“Zanika’s okay? You’re sure about that?”
“Yes, of course. She will be here any moment.”
Just as the human finishes his sentence, Zanika strides in. She is wearing an all-white gown just like the other humans here. Our eyes meet and I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotions of happiness and relief. She looks as beautiful as ever when she rushes toward me and throws her arms around my neck. I don’t even care about the physical pain now that I have her in my arms.
“Zanika, I was so worried I was never going to see you again.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up. I just stepped away for a moment!”
Our lips unite in the most meaningful kiss of my entire life. She tastes just as sweet as she did the first time we kissed.
“I’m sorry to break up the love birds, but we do actually have some questions for you,” the human says dryly.
We break off the kiss and I look back at him. “Yes, of course, thank you so much for taking care of her—and me. I will never be able to repay you—”
“Admiral Pheidon Mnester, but you can call me Pheidon. We’re not big on formalities around here.”
“Thank you, Pheidon, and I’ll—we’ll help you in any way we can,” I say.
To my surprise, Zanika nods as if understanding me, even though I’m speaking Dhaarrir with Pheidon and not Ebkherun.
“Can you understand me, Zanika?”
In Ebkherun she answers, “Pheidon gave me this little, um—”
“Ear bud,” Pheidon says in Dhaarrir.
“Yes, ear bud, and when I put it in my ear, I can understand everyone here. He tells me it’s not magic, but I don’t see how else something like this could exist.” Zanika seems very excited and happy.
“Zanika has had quite an eventful week while you’ve rested, Neb-en-khata. Let’s get you in a chair and take a little stroll around. I think we both have some questions that need answering.”
* * *
As Pheidon pushesmy hovering chair (that apparently works with magnets of some kind) around this large, white facility, I can’t help but wonder at how different all of this is to Dhaarria. Our space station above Yoria is pretty rundown by these standards. I had always understood that Dhaarria was at the forefront of technology and innovation, but just looking around me, I see technologies that I am incapable of understanding. I’ve already been told about the extent of my wounds and that my arm was actually ripped off. Apparently, these hundreds of little needles are rebuilding my nerve connections, which should give me back full use of my arm.
“Let’s start with the obvious question, shall we?” Pheidon says. “How did you become an enemy of Dhaarria in the first place?”
I look at Zanika walking by my side, holding my hand in hers. I tell Pheidon the whole story from beginning to end, which takes me a good fifteen minutes at least. He listens attentively and occasionally says something in his own tongue to a female walking next to him who is using some kind of hand-held computer.
