“He wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m fine.”
She watched me with narrowed eyes but continued, “Dr. Qinlin is heading the project on me, though she reports to Prince Kalvoxrencol.”
“Why?”
“He’s the representative for the royal family on the ship, and this is history defining. Iamthe first NAID displaying independent thought,” she answered with more than a dash of pride in her tone. “Dr. Qinlin needs to see you anyway.”
“Why?” I asked, squeezing the touchstone in my hoodie pocket. I could call Kal. He would come in a second and sit by me. I could almost feel the pressure of his tail around my ankle.
“She needs to perform tests before you go to the planet. Prince Kalvoxrencol is worried you won’t be compatible with the atmosphere. He hasn’t mentioned it?”
Well, all we’d done this morning was eat and make out, so he’d been sufficiently distracted. Also, knowing him, he would want to take me himself and hover. “When does she want me to come?”
“She doesn’t have a set appointment. You can go whenever you like.”
“Might as well get this over with.”
I went to the medbay, finding my way from reading the labels on the doors. When I got closer, I recognized the hallway as the first one I’d seen from when I arrived. With every step, I moved slower, tension pulling my muscles tight. My fingers trembled as I pressed the panel to open the door.
Dr. Qinlin’s back was to me, her dark purple tail swishing, and she was focused on a monitor. At the mere sight of the room, dread pooled in my stomach. The harsh antiseptic smell burned my nose and the bright lights stung my eyes, both driving my pulse through the roof. Suddenly, I went back to when I’d first been taken—she was the first alien I’d ever seen. My mind went further, flashing to my mother on a hospital bed, struggling to breathe.
Shaking my head, I backed away. I didn’t want to be here.
“Seth Harris,” she said.
“It’s Seth.” I stopped in the doorway, gripping my touchstone. “Harris is my family name.”
“What can I do for you, Seth Harris?” Dr. Qinlin said, clearly ignoring my earlier statement.
“NAID mentioned you wanted to see me.”
“Oh, yes. I’d forgotten about Prince’s request. Let me take a scan as well as a blood sample.”
Dr. Qinlin gestured to the bed I’d woken up on so many days ago. Feet dragging, I sat. She swiped a couple of devices over me, then selected a cylindrical vial from several options. She pressed the metal tip against my neck, and I jolted when something sharp stabbed me.
“You’re alright,” she said in an absentminded voice, patting me, claws catching on my hoodie sleeve.
I swallowed convulsively as the tube filled with my blood.
Dr. Qinlin placed a round bandage over the pinprick. “Don’t let Prince Kalvoxrencol lick the injury. He’ll want to, instinct and all that, but saliva is highly unsanitary.”
I blushed as my mouth opened, but no words came out. Dr. Qinlin didn’t seem to require a response, placing the tube into a hole in the wall. Readings appeared on the screen after a couple of minutes of tense silence.
“You should be perfectly safe to enter the planet’s atmosphere,” she announced.
When she didn’t speak further, I said, “NAID mentioned something about me helping you study her independence.”
“You want to help?”
“What would it entail?”
“Talking to her.”
“About?”
“Anything. Art. War. Literature. Your planet. Our planet. Other species. Literally anything. We want to monitor her program to see where the emergence is coming from.”
