Chapter 5
1100 Words
5
When I woke up, it was like waking from a strange dream. I was bombarded with flashes of memories again and the confusion that came with it. As I was struggling to clear my mind and work out where I was and what had happened, I heard voices and opened my eyes to find a man standing over me. I blinked a few times in an attempt to focus on his face. Then I recognised him as Dr Starrick, which brought the memories flooding back of the attack in the jungle and of how they’d changed me, turned me into an alien. That cleared out the cobwebs. My mind was now crystal clear. My heartbeat picked up. I looked up at him. I needed to get away from him. He did this to me. I tried to sit up, but Dr Starrick put his hands on my upper arms and guided me back down.
“Now then, Miss Rhodarma, just lie back down,” he told me. “You need to take it easy. That sedative was a strong one. You need to rest for a bit longer.”
I did as I was told, then lifted a hand up in front of my face to check that it wasn’t a dream. It took a while for my eyes to focus on it properly. It wasn’t my own hand, but that of the strange Althari woman. But wait – I spread my fingers a little wider – the fingers were webbed! I hadn’t noticed before through the tears. But, of course – I needed them for swimming!
Whoah! This is cool! Weird, but cool! What else didn’t I know about this body? What about my feet? Were they webbed, too? I could bet credits on it. I’d have to check them later. I was sure Dr Starrick wouldn’t let me do it now.
I realised Dr Starrick was speaking to me. I slowly looked up at him. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I simply asked how you were feeling,” he snapped, but composed himself quickly and gave me an almost-warm smile. His voice changed to a calmer tone as he continued without waiting for my answer. “I can’t say I blame you for reacting the way you did. It’s not easy to accept such a drastic change in one’s life – especially when it wasn’t planned or expected. You must’ve had quite a shock.”
“Yes, it was a shock,” I agreed. I’d play along with all of this for now, even though I felt like yelling at him again. Even though he’d practically yelled at me right then. I forced a smile onto my face. “But I’m feeling a lot better now, thanks.”
I suppressed a frown. His outburst wasn’t called for. He didn’t need to snap at me like that. I had the impression that he was a very different person under the facade.
I took a deep breath and I asked the question that had been playing on my mind. “What about my friends back on Earth? Oliana Kyeema and Kaliya Jumanah. They were listed as my ‘next of kin’. Have they been told? I mean, have you sent a message back to Earth?”
Dr Starrick shifted his weight as if he was very uncomfortable with my questions. “Well, under the circumstances, we were reluctant to send anything at first,” he began. “It is a sensitive issue. I have sent a preliminary report stating that you are in fact missing after an accident, and I wanted to discuss things further with you so that we can decide what to do. You know, get your input on the matter.”
Missing after an accident? Was that the best he could do? Well, I guessed he had to say something neutral like that while they worked things out. And what – now he wants to get my input? It was a bit late for that.
I felt strange. I wasn’t sure what to say. What could we tell Oliana and Kaliya? What could I possibly say to them? “Hey girls, it’s me, Zhenna! Yes, I know I don’t look like Zhenna – but it’s me. You have to believe me. They gave me a new body... illegally... and now I’m an alien…” Yeah, that will work, I thought bitterly.
Also, it wasn’t like Dr Starrick was going to tell people he’d broken Intergalactic Law to save me. We would have to come up with some kind of story. Something believable. Like what?
“I – umm, I don’t know. I would have to think about it,” I stumbled. Whatever we think of, it would be a huge lie...
“Mmm, yes,” he said. “We will talk about it soon. We will think about it and gather some ideas together and come up with a suitable solution.”
He sounded like he was simply working through another scientific equation. I guessed that that was all it was to him.
There was a long pause, and my thoughts kept returning to Sifayah. The young Waikari, daughter of the leader that had unwillingly and unknowingly given her life to save mine. I had the images of her and her life right there in my mind, but I wanted to ask him more questions.
“What about Sifayah?” I ventured, “Is there anything more you can tell me about her?”
There probably wasn’t too much he could tell me that I didn’t already know, but I wanted to know more about what he knew. Also, I had to pretend I knew nothing about Sifayah if I wanted to keep the truth from him.
“Not a great deal, unfortunately,” he told me. “She was captured while walking alone on one of the beaches southwest of this base. We think her people are called the Waikari. They live in a small cove a little north of where she was found. They are a new discovery and there is little more I can tell you about her people and their culture.
“We only really know the physical and anatomical differences between our species as she wasn’t very cooperative with us. We were unable to communicate without the help of a Talent, and she seemed determined not to help us in any way. It was quite strange really. We usually find that any new species are curious and will try hard to communicate in any way they can.”
I felt a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I knew why Sifayah had refused to communicate with them. Something just out of reach...
“We also calculate that she is about sixteen Earth years old,” he continued, “So you’ve gained another four years onto your life.”
So what! I thought. That’s not going to give me my life back! An extra four years without all the people I know, the people I love! Without Oliana. Without Kaliya. My life is ruined! How do I start over without them?
Tears stung my eyes. There was a short silence, then Dr Starrick decided this was a good time to blurt out that I also had two hearts.
- Writer
