Tamisan and Enigma Box Set

Chapter 6

6

My chest tightened and I gasped. Two hearts? I stared at him open-mouthed.

Well, that explains why my heartbeat is so erratic! I thought to myself. There’s nothing wrong – It’s because I’m feeling two heartbeats!

I put a hand on the left side of my chest, then put my other hand on the right. Sure enough, there were two heartbeats. Both pounding out a rhythm inside my ribcage. That would take a bit of getting used to, but at least I could stop worrying about what was wrong with me. I’d been thinking that I might only inhabit my new body for a short time and then die from a heart attack or something.

I drew in my breath and let it out slowly. It was such a relief. Knowledge was such a beautiful thing.

“That is another improvement on our own physiology,” Dr Starrick continued, “To have two hearts keeping the blood pumping is a definite plus when it comes to a lot of physical activity like swimming...”

He seemed to have run out of things to say. There was another long silence, and I lay there on the bed thinking as Dr Starrick checked the stats on the little electronic chart next to my bed. So much for him not knowing a ‘great deal’ about Sifayah. He only knew just about everything about her physiology that there was to know.

I heard the friendly hum of the Bio-scan, but didn’t bother to look as it hovered past. I knew that once it scanned my entire body, it would return to its bay at the head of my bed. Then it would send the updated data to the electronic chart for Dr Starrick to see.

My mind was too busy to worry about such trivial things. I was trying to think and make sense of everything. As I thought long and hard about it, I began to actually like the idea of being someone else. Well, sort of. Especially if that someone else could breathe underwater and communicate telepathically. It still seemed so surreal.

Well, maybe I could get used to it after all, I thought... I knew I had to. I really didn’t have a choice. There was no reversal for what they’d done. No body to transfer back to. No way possible that I could be Zhenna Rhodarma again. I was now someone else. But what did that actually mean? What did it mean to me? How was I going to deal with it? How was it going to change me?

I sat up slowly, swung my legs down and slid off the bed, then padded bare-foot across the bland white room to the mirror once again. Dr Starrick didn’t try to stop me this time. He simply watched me go. With a wave of my hand, the image of the alien woman was staring back at me again. I sucked in a breath. It was still too hard to believe that it was me.

I studied the features carefully, deep in thought, forgetting Dr Starrick was even in the room. In the name of science, I’d been given a new face and a new body, which were far more attractive than my own. Maybe fate had had a hand in this somehow.

Another thought came to me. I’d always loved swimming in the pool at the Academy and I’d been so intrigued by the marine life I’d encountered while scuba diving on the few trips that I’d been on with the other students. Now that I had the ability to swim under the water unaided by breathing apparatus and unrestricted as to how long I could stay down there, I could roam freely in a beautiful underwater paradise, swimming around amongst the fishes and other marine life. There would be so much to see and learn. And, of course, I’d be helping Dr Starrick and his associates study them and the Waikari people. Maybe I could make this situation work for me. Maybe I could do this.

Dr Starrick’s voice interrupted my thoughts and made me jump. “Well, then. Your stats say you’re in perfect health. And now you’re awake, we should be able to get started with some preliminary tests.” I looked over at him. “We’ll start on them at noon tomorrow,” he announced, “if that is okay with you? It’ll give you some time to rest and familiarise yourself with your new… appearance.”

I turned back to the mirror slowly. “Yes, that will be fine,” I answered absent-mindedly, transfixed on the beautiful alien woman’s face.

And with that settled, he said, “I’ll see you at noon, then,” and when I nodded, he turned and disappeared out the door. I watched the reflection of him leave the room and heard the door swish shut, then looked back at the reflection of the new me again and smiled. The stranger in the mirror smiled back.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now I finally had the chance to be alone and think. I needed to clear my head. I needed to process all of this.

If this was to be my body now, I needed to familiarise myself with it, as Dr Starrick put it. And that included my mind. I would need to somehow learn how to use my newly acquired Talent properly if it was to be of any use to me. Maybe I could do some training, like they do at the TTC (Talent Training Centres) back home.

But first, my new body. What did it really look like?

The garment I was wearing was a loose-fitting robe with long sleeves and a belt, which was tied in a knot at my left hip. The length of the robe extended a little past my knees. I glanced over my shoulder instinctively to make sure I was alone – even though I knew I was – then carefully untied the belt and pulled the sides of the robe apart to reveal flawless brown skin, a flat stomach and full breasts. My breath caught. There were no scars anywhere and my muscles were taut and firm from a lifetime of swimming.

Sifayah’s memories had provided the image of what I now looked like, but the mirror showed a clearer picture and a lot more detail than a reflection in still water. I looked closely and could see the slits running along the bottom of my rib cage, just as Dr Starrick had said. I ran my fingers along them again, to confirm that they were real. It was still hard to believe they were there. They were sealed shut, and I knew better than to try to pry them open for a better look. Although, it was hard for me to resist the temptation to poke at them.

Pulling the robe back from my shoulders and letting it drop to the floor, I turned around slowly to see myself from every angle. I still half expected to catch the woman on the other side of the glass out as she failed to keep up with my movements.

I couldn’t find fault with my new appearance – only that it was all too obvious that I was not human. The larger breasts, the gill slits under my ribs, the colour of my skin, the webbed hands and – I looked down – webbed feet and that black, black hair. All those things set me apart from every human I knew.

It wasn’t that I thought I might be disliked or persecuted because I wasn’t human – that wasn’t what was bothering me. It was just that I was not Zhenna anymore. It kept coming back to that fact. Nothing could or would be the same. Then I thought, So who am I now? What do I do?

Could I travel back home and try to convince Oliana and Kaliya that it was really me inside this body? Would they believe me? Would I believe it if a stranger walked up to me and said that she was really Oliana? No, probably not. And even if they believed me and everyone else believed me, it still wouldn’t be the same. Maybe letting them think I was dead was the kindest, sanest way of dealing with this. I would have to let go of my past and move on with my life. Somehow. Put all my efforts into work for now and try not to think about it too much. Or something...

It suddenly occurred to me that my little room was probably an observation cubicle, which meant this mirror was more than likely fitted with a camera so Dr Starrick could keep a watchful eye on his latest experiment. I quickly stooped down and snatched up the robe. Turning my back to the mirror as I dressed myself, my face flushed hot. He probably would have seen my naked body already – considering what I was wearing and the fact that he knew everything about my physical features and anatomy – but not while I was conscious and aware of him watching. It was unnerving and more than a bit creepy.

I walked back and sat on the side of the bed, looking across at the mirror. I watched as it automatically switched itself off after it no longer detected my presence in front of it. My human body wasn’t all I’d lost; I’d also lost the right to my privacy.

They’ll be watching my every move, I thought with a sudden surge of despair, I’ve lost my body, my privacy, and my life, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Why did this happen to me? Why can’t I wake up and be back at home? I want to get out of here! Away from the testing and all the questions that will be endless. Will all the testing and prodding and poking ever stop? Will they ever leave me alone?

A tear rolled down my cheek.

I’d have to demand that they stop when they’d learnt all they could about Sifayah and the Waikari – or rather, when I decided not to tell them any more. I would take it up with Starfleet Federation if Starrick wouldn’t listen to me.