Callan cleared his throat, bringing my attention back where it should have been; the first pair of Tirians were heading to a small room encased in opaque glass. A door slid open to admit them, then closed once they walked through. A small light began to glow over the door moments later.
‘Decontamination,’ Callan whispered.
‘Then the doctor will be in there,’ I murmured back.
He gave a slight nod. ‘Or an assistant, at least.’
I tried to repress my shiver.
We waited outside the door, trying to pretend like the eyes of the Tirians in the hanger weren’t on our backs. None came close; they were too well-trained to approach when we might have been exposed to something unknown – or nasty – on the tiny moon. The welcomes and the questions wouldn’t come until the decontamination had been completed – but by then we would have our doctor and be on our way out.
Hopefully.
The light went off.
‘Here we go,’ Callan murmured. ‘Courage, Prince.’
When the glass door slid open, I strode in before him.
The Tirian standing inside was handsome, with moss-green eyes and waving blonde hair. He gave us a kind smile. ‘Well done on your mission,’ he said, his tone deep and smooth through my translator. ‘You know the drill.’ He gestured to the glass cubicles that lined one wall of his clinic, then moved to focus on a large screen. ‘Pick whichever you’d like. Any injuries to report?’
Callan pulled his stunner from beneath the Tirian uniform.
‘I know you’re saving the debrief for the Captain,’ the Tirian started, when we didn’t answer, ‘but I need to know whether –’
Callan pressed the stunner to the doctor’s temple. ‘Are you a doctor?’
The Tirian froze.
‘Are you a doctor?’ Callan repeated.
‘Yes,’ the other being answered. ‘Yes. I’m a doctor.’
We watched as thedoctor packed his bag.
He was outwardly calm, but I could sense the fear beneath. He knew what this could mean for him – pain, possibly death – but he gathered the things he’d need for his patient anyway. I respected him for that; he was already doing better than Dainn, who clearly hadn’t cared a bit for Anna’s safety.
He stiffened. ‘The female. She’s not your species. Is she a prisoner?’
I forced myself not to look at Alcide. We hadn’t told the Tirian that Anna was human; a healer might risk themselves for their patient’s health, but if he knew we’d abducted her, he might be more inclined to make it someone else’s problem, too. ‘Not your concern, doctor,’ I growled.
He swallowed and closed his bag; I saw him press a distress button, but I let it go. I’d been expecting him to press it earlier.
Everything fell silent when we re-entered the hangar. My scales rippled, every instinct shouting at me to run. I steeled my spine and directed the doctor calmly towards the Pod instead. I’d already disabled its tracker on the way to the ship – Tirian craft were so easy to operate it was almost farcical – and Alcide would have to somehow manage in the back with the doctor on his lap.
One of the Tirians started forward.
‘Stay back,’ I warned. ‘We’re taking the doctor, but that’s all we’re doing.’
Another Tirian called out to him. She didn’t try to approach us, but I could see her fingers flicking over her screen.
The doctor took a deep breath. ‘Juni, just … Tell Ashton to stay with the Hamadryad, yes?’
I shifted slightly in surprise. I’d heard of their Hamadryad, beings made ofelya, heard that they were more goddesses than Tirian. If this doctor knew one, he might be more important than we’d thought.
Which made it imperative that we got him to Annaquickly.
The Tirian female stepped forward. ‘Doctor –’
