Hell Hath No Fury
Part 4
Back on board the Liberator, Teyet was still sitting with Cally at the teleport controls, and Avon wondered if Cally had been showing her how it worked. When Teyet opened her mouth to speak, Avon expected a technical question, but instead, she asked, “You didn’t see any survivors, did you?”
“No,” he replied, and Jenna added, “There’s no way anybody could have survived … that.”
“I thought maybe somebody else had been outside the dome, like we were,” Teyet said, but then she shook her head. “No, of course not. The only time we go out … the only time we went out was for funerals.”
“Well,” said Avon. “Let’s get Zen and Orac to scan this and see if it tells us where Star One is located.”
They went to the flight deck, where Vila was uncharacteristically awake, and while Jenna positioned the brain scan, Avon walked over to where Orac rested on a table near the circle of seats. After plugging in Orac’s activation key, he said, “Zen, Orac, I want you to see if you can find the location of Star One from this brain scan.”
“Scanning,” Zen announced.
“What is that?” Teyet asked, coming around to look at the plasticene box with its arrays of tubes and wires. “Is that a computer?”
“I am Orac, the most advanced computer in the galaxy,” Orac corrected in his usual arrogant tone.
“Highly sophisticated, but still, just a tool,” Avon corrected it, and Orac made an indignant sound before moving on to the requested information.
“The scan is complete. According to the information given, Star One is in the eleventh sector, grid reference C-17320.”
“So he really did know,” Vila said softly.
“Did you doubt it, Vila?” Avon asked.
“Didn’t you?” Vila shot back, and Jenna broke in. “We’d better tell Blake, then.”
“Yes,” Avon said, turning away from Zen’s display a little too quickly. The dizziness hit him again and he staggered, his headache increasing exponentially.
“Avon?” Teyet stepped forward and put her arm around his waist. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he snapped. With an effort, he straightened up. Yes, the dizziness was passing now, only the headache remained.
“I’m fine,” he repeated in a much softer tone of voice, and gently disengaged himself from Teyet’s embrace. She let go hesitantly, looking up at him with concern.
“You look like you’re going to fall down any second,” Vila said as Avon went up the steps that led to the corridor. He ignored the remark, and told himself he’d get a painkiller from the medical section as soon as he’d made his report to Blake. Or perhaps before.
Cally was just coming out of the medical section when he got there.
“Blake’s asleep,” she said. Too late, Avon reached out to stop her pulling the door shut.
“I need a painkiller,” he said.
“I’ll get you one. Though if you need one, you probably need more rest, too.” Cally pushed the door open again. Avon followed her into the now dimly-lit room, and was aware of Teyet following both of them. With a flash of annoyance, he wondered if she were going to trail around after him forever.
“Can I get some water?” Teyet whispered as Cally opened a cabinet to find the medication. “I’m so thirsty. The air up here must be drying me out.”
Avon glanced automatically towards Blake, but there was no movement from the bed. Cally gave him a pill, then filled two cups with water and held them out. Teyet took hers first and drained it almost before Avon had got his to his mouth.
“It tastes different than our water,” she remarked.
“It’s recycled,” Avon told her, swallowing the pill.
“And purified,” Cally said, no doubt thinking that Teyet might be squeamish about what recycled water contained. “Do you want some more?”
“I’ll get it,” Teyet offered, and while she was filling her cup again, Cally said quietly, “Do you have any other symptoms besides headache, Avon?”
“I’m fine,” Avon responded automatically, a bit harsher than he’d intended.
Cally frowned. “Irritability is also a symptom of concussion, Avon, although if that were the only symptom, then you have been concussed ever since I met you.”
Teyet laughed aloud, and although she stopped when Avon glared at her, her eyes continued to twinkle in delight. When she spoke, however, her voice sounded normal and not filled with secret mirth. “He was dizzy on the flight deck – he almost fell down.”
“I shouldn’t have let you go down to the planet,” Cally said. “Liberator’s medical equipment did what it could, but some things just take time. And rest.”
Avon knew deep down that she was right, but he was still feeling irritable enough that he didn’t want to admit it. With something close to a snarl, he said, “I will do as I see fit.”
“Avon?” It was Blake. “Did you get the brain scan?”
Cally sighed and shot Avon an irritated look of her own, then went over to the bed. “I’m sorry if we woke you, Blake.”
“I wasn’t asleep,” he protested. “I was just resting while I waited. Avon?”
“Yes, Blake, we have the brain scan.” Avon had followed Cally over. “And Star One is in the eleventh sector.”
Blake smiled broadly. “Are we on course?”
“Not yet,” Avon admitted.
“You want more time to persuade me not to destroy it,” Blake said. “But nobody should have that much power, Avon. Not you, not me, and especially not the Federation.”
“Neither of you are in any shape to discuss this again,” Cally said firmly, and Blake slumped back against his pillow with another, softer smile.
“You’re probably right, Cally,” he said. “But just one more thing.”
“What is it?” Avon asked, still touchy.
To his surprise, Blake looked beyond him. “Teyet? Has Avon spoken to you about whether you’d like to stay with us?”
“I’ve hardly had the chance,” Avon protested at the same time that Teyet said, “No.”
“You probably know we’re all wanted by the Federation. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted us to take you somewhere else. But you’re also welcome to stay with us. It’s your choice.”
“I never thought I’d ever go somewhere else,” Teyet said. “Hardly any of us do – did.” She frowned. “I wouldn’t know where to go.”
“I have some friends on various planets,” Blake said. “I could tell you about them before you decide. Why don’t you take some time, discuss it with Avon, and see what you think?”
Hesitantly, Teyet said, “I’ll think about it but … I might want to stay here. Avon likes computers, too, you know.”
Blake laughed, then curled up, clutching his abdomen and making sounds of pain crossed with continued laughter. “Ow, ow, ow, Teyet, that’s the biggest understatement, ow, ow, I’ve ever heard.”
Even Cally was smiling as she ushered them out. Avon shut the door, cutting off the sound of her question to Blake about whether he wanted another painkiller, then glanced down at Teyet. “We can have our discussion later, when I am not so dizzy. Why don’t you go back to the flight deck and talk to Orac? It might have some ideas for your brain wave project.”
“Where will you be?” Teyet asked.
“In my cabin,” he replied. “Resting.”
“I thought you told Cally you’d do as you saw fit?”
“Well now, I never said I didn’t see fit to rest,” Avon announced.
Teyet gave him a quick smile, then went off. Waiting until she’d gone, Avon turned in the opposite direction, but he’d barely taken two steps when the entire ship shuddered and knocked him off balance. He clutched at the wall for support, then fell to his knees when the ship rocked again. In the ensuing pause, Avon got shakily to his feet and stumbled to the flight deck.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded as he emerged.
“Federation pursuit ships!” Vila replied.
“I’ve got this.” Jenna had come in from the other side; Vila slipped by her and took up his usual position. Avon went to his station as well. “Zen, battle computers on-line!”
“Battle computers are already on-line,” Zen remarked, and Vila said, “Give me some credit here!”
“Clear the neutron blasters for firing!” Jenna went on, ignoring the remark. “And radiation flare shields up.”
“Radiation flare shields up, neutron blasters cleared,” Vila reported. “This is all Travis’ fault – I just know it.”
“Shut up, target the nearest ship and fire!” Avon commanded.
By the time the battle ended, two of the Federation ships had been destroyed, and the third one was limping away, no longer a danger.
Letting go of the controls with a tired sigh, Jenna said, “Zen, damage report?”
“One of the force wall generators has been damaged,” Zen reported. “Force wall no longer able to shield entire ship.”
“We don’t need the force wall now that they aren’t firing at us any longer,” Vila remarked.
Jenna ignored him. “Anything else, Zen?”
“One orbital drift compensator is damaged. One propulsion thrust unit damaged. Energy reserves running low. Energy banks one, two, and three are empty. Energy bank four is at eighty two percent.”
“Estimated time for repair?”
“One point three four hours.”
“Estimated time for recharge?”
“Thirty six hours.”
“Even if the Federation is on the run, we still shouldn’t stay here,” Jenna said. “Vila might be right – Travis could have sent a signal. And that remaining ship certainly has.”
“Then we go to Star One,” Avon decided. Despite the painkiller he’d taken earlier, his head was throbbing and he was too tired to care about anything except safety. His quarrel with Blake about the Federation’s central computer could wait. “Zen, set course for the eleventh sector.”
“Specify speed,” Zen prompted.
“Standard by two,” Jenna said before Avon could speak. Avon looked over at her, and she said, “Anything else will drain the energy banks faster than they can recharge.”
“Confirmed,” Zen replied.
Avon was just about to announce that he was going to return to his cabin when Teyet spoke up. Although Avon had noticed her sitting in the lounge area at the front of the flight deck, she had remained silent for the entire battle, only gripping the cushions in quiet fear. Now she said, “I feel sick.”
“I always feel sick after we’ve been through something like this,” Vila said. “Maybe we both need some adrenaline and soma. Or maybe just soma. I think I’ve had enough adrenaline for a while.”
“Vila, do not invite Teyet to follow your atrocious example,” Avon said with all the menace he could muster.
“I need water,” Teyet said, pushing herself off the sofa. “I need …”
She stopped speaking, then rushed from the flight deck, pounding frantically down the corridor with one hand clapped over her mouth. After a moment of surprise, Avon went after her, and was not surprised to find her on her hands and knees, vomiting in front of Jenna’s cabin. Eventually, she finished heaving and leaned weakly to one side, gasping for breath.
Avon extended his hand to help her up. “Shall I take you to the medical unit, or would you prefer to rest in your cabin?”
“I feel so strange,” Teyet murmured. ”I don’t want to be alone … please, Avon, can I stay with you?”
“Not if you’re going to be sick again,” he said sharply.
“I won’t be,” she said, a little too quickly for his taste. “I won’t make any noise, you won’t even know I’m there.”
She swallowed, then added, “Please?”
There was something radiating from her, a strangely strong feeling of … sexual attraction? Even as Avon guided her to his cabin, leaving the mess for somebody else to clean up, part of his mind was wondering where the feeling came from. It didn’t matter, he told himself. He could be content with simply being close to her, as he certainly wasn’t feeling up to anything else, and especially not with somebody who looked as miserable as Teyet did. While Teyet got herself a quick swallow of water, he took off his boots, then laid down on his bed and scooted closer to the wall to make room for her. She took off her own shoes, then laid down next to him and turned onto her side to face the opposite direction. True to her word, she was quiet except for her breathing, and Avon closed his eyes in relief.
At some point, Avon became aware enough to register that Teyet was getting out of bed, but he fell asleep again almost immediately. Some time later, however, he awoke to strange sounds, and eventually realised that Teyet was back and trying unsuccessfully not to cry, or at least not make any noise doing it. He turned towards her, and she rolled over to face him.
“S-s-sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m s-s-so scared!”
“Of what?” Avon asked.
“I can’t feel the baby anymore – I can’t feel the power at all!” Her voice wavered and she tried to get her sobs under control enough to speak again. “The power’s dead, and maybe I’ll die, too!”
She reached over to grip his hand. “I don’t want to die alone, Avon!”
“You won’t die alone.” Her hand was warmer than he’d expected; she had a fever. It was a slight comfort to think that all her talk about dying was probably just some illness. The feeling of sexual attraction was gone, too. Perhaps he’d merely imagined it. Sitting up, Avon said, “I’ll take you to the medical unit.”
Teyet pushed herself upright, then wiped her eyes with her other hand. “I feel so strange, like half of me is missing.”
Then she let go and got to her feet, wobbling worse than any drunk. She looked as though the ship had rocked beneath her, but Avon hadn’t felt anything. Floundering around in an attempt to regain her balance, Teyet lost the battle and fell, crashing into the table on the other side of Avon’s cabin.
He got up and knelt down next to her, noting that his own dizziness and even his headache had subsided. She lay curled on the floor, her hands clutching her forehead, and sobbed in pain. Well, at least she hadn’t knocked herself out. Avon took hold of her forearms and guided her gently upright, then put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of his cabin. She still staggered, but he was able to keep her going in more or less the right direction.
“I can’t even walk straight,” she cried, going down on one knee. “What’s wrong with me?”
Cally’s door slid open and she peered out in concern, then came around to Teyet’s other side and put her arm around the girl’s waist.
“It’s all right,” she said soothingly. “We’ll help you.”
Together they managed to get Teyet to the medical unit and onto one of the beds. Avon watched as Cally smoothed Teyet’s hair away from her face and attached medical sensors to each side of her forehead.
“That’s a nasty bruise,” she commented.
Teyet had almost stopped crying by then, and managed to explain, “I fell down!”
“You didn’t let Vila give you anything to drink, did you?” Cally asked.
“I only drank water. I was so thirsty!”
“Computer?” Avon asked. “Diagnosis?”
“There are a large number of unknown organisms in the blood stream. Ninety one point one percent of them are dead. Patient’s temperature is forty one point one degrees. Nothing else abnormal can be detected.”
“Organisms? What kind of organisms?” Cally asked, but the computer merely repeated, “Unknown.”
“I need more water,” Teyet whispered.
Water. Suddenly, Avon remembered Travis saying, “I didn’t drink the water.” Travis had also said something before that, too, about faking it? The transition! The other woman had been worried that Travis would be sick, delirious, because he was going through a transition of some kind, but Travis had only been pretending.
“A symbiote,” Avon breathed. “The organism inside her is a symbiote – and now it’s dying.”
“A symbiote?” Cally asked, and then said, “Of course. That would explain it.”
“It must be in the water on Ferron, that’s why she keeps asking for it,” Avon went on. “Teyet, tell Cally about the transition.”
Teyet sniffed a little, but her voice was steady. “I don’t know all the details. Just that anybody who stays on Ferron more than a day gets sick for a while, but then they have the power, too.”
“And what about anybody who leaves?” Cally asked.
“I don’t know anybody who left,” Teyet admitted. “We don’t – we didn’t talk much about leaving, especially not after the plague. But now I’ve left, and I can’t feel the power anymore. I feel dizzy and strange, and I can’t tell whether the baby is still there or not.”
“So that was all it was,” Avon said. “A symbiote, perhaps only able to reproduce through its host bodies, therefore giving them special powers to encourage it.”
That must have been the sexual attraction he’d felt in the corridor, the last dying gasp of an organism using everything it had in one final desperate attempt to secure life. And it had definitely been what he’d felt in the presence of the Ferron women when they’d first met. It had only been the mention of computers that had tipped the scales in Teyet’s favour; he would have been equally attracted to the older woman. He’d been used – he’d been drawn close to somebody against his will, leaving him vulnerable, and now he’d found out that the attraction had been artificial. He felt sick with the betrayal.
“Am I going to die?” Teyet begged. Avon glanced down at her, his feelings for the entire situation finding their focus, and when she reached out for his hand, he refused to take it.
“You are not going to die,” he told her icily. “The fever is your only reaction to the demise of this symbiote, and Cally can give you something for that. Any dizziness you feel is probably psychosomatic. Otherwise, your vital signs are strong and you should feel better as soon as the remains of the symbiote are washed out of your system. You can go back to your cabin any time.”
He turned to leave, but not before he’d seen Teyet’s hurt face. Before he could reach the door, however, a new voice stopped him.
“Avon.”
It was Blake. Avon realized he’d been lying on the other bed, quietly watching them the entire time. Now he looked back to where Blake was starting to get up.
“Would you mind helping me to my quarters?” Blake asked.
“Yes, I would,” Avon snapped, and went out. Blake would want to talk on the way, and Avon did not want to talk. Pulling the door shut with more force than strictly necessary, Avon strolled briskly away from the medical unit.
For a few moments, he wondered where he would go. He did not want to return to his quarters, and Blake would find him too easily on the flight deck. It was probably still Vila’s watch, too, and he didn’t want to deal with Vila, either. No, he realized, enough time had gone by that Jenna would have taken over again, not that it mattered. Eventually, Avon found himself outside one of the sub-control rooms, and went in. There was probably something he could work on, maybe even improve. Even just checking things would keep his hands busy and give him something else to think about.
Part 5
“No,” he replied, and Jenna added, “There’s no way anybody could have survived … that.”
“I thought maybe somebody else had been outside the dome, like we were,” Teyet said, but then she shook her head. “No, of course not. The only time we go out … the only time we went out was for funerals.”
“Well,” said Avon. “Let’s get Zen and Orac to scan this and see if it tells us where Star One is located.”
They went to the flight deck, where Vila was uncharacteristically awake, and while Jenna positioned the brain scan, Avon walked over to where Orac rested on a table near the circle of seats. After plugging in Orac’s activation key, he said, “Zen, Orac, I want you to see if you can find the location of Star One from this brain scan.”
“Scanning,” Zen announced.
“What is that?” Teyet asked, coming around to look at the plasticene box with its arrays of tubes and wires. “Is that a computer?”
“I am Orac, the most advanced computer in the galaxy,” Orac corrected in his usual arrogant tone.
“Highly sophisticated, but still, just a tool,” Avon corrected it, and Orac made an indignant sound before moving on to the requested information.
“The scan is complete. According to the information given, Star One is in the eleventh sector, grid reference C-17320.”
“So he really did know,” Vila said softly.
“Did you doubt it, Vila?” Avon asked.
“Didn’t you?” Vila shot back, and Jenna broke in. “We’d better tell Blake, then.”
“Yes,” Avon said, turning away from Zen’s display a little too quickly. The dizziness hit him again and he staggered, his headache increasing exponentially.
“Avon?” Teyet stepped forward and put her arm around his waist. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he snapped. With an effort, he straightened up. Yes, the dizziness was passing now, only the headache remained.
“I’m fine,” he repeated in a much softer tone of voice, and gently disengaged himself from Teyet’s embrace. She let go hesitantly, looking up at him with concern.
“You look like you’re going to fall down any second,” Vila said as Avon went up the steps that led to the corridor. He ignored the remark, and told himself he’d get a painkiller from the medical section as soon as he’d made his report to Blake. Or perhaps before.
Cally was just coming out of the medical section when he got there.
“Blake’s asleep,” she said. Too late, Avon reached out to stop her pulling the door shut.
“I need a painkiller,” he said.
“I’ll get you one. Though if you need one, you probably need more rest, too.” Cally pushed the door open again. Avon followed her into the now dimly-lit room, and was aware of Teyet following both of them. With a flash of annoyance, he wondered if she were going to trail around after him forever.
“Can I get some water?” Teyet whispered as Cally opened a cabinet to find the medication. “I’m so thirsty. The air up here must be drying me out.”
Avon glanced automatically towards Blake, but there was no movement from the bed. Cally gave him a pill, then filled two cups with water and held them out. Teyet took hers first and drained it almost before Avon had got his to his mouth.
“It tastes different than our water,” she remarked.
“It’s recycled,” Avon told her, swallowing the pill.
“And purified,” Cally said, no doubt thinking that Teyet might be squeamish about what recycled water contained. “Do you want some more?”
“I’ll get it,” Teyet offered, and while she was filling her cup again, Cally said quietly, “Do you have any other symptoms besides headache, Avon?”
“I’m fine,” Avon responded automatically, a bit harsher than he’d intended.
Cally frowned. “Irritability is also a symptom of concussion, Avon, although if that were the only symptom, then you have been concussed ever since I met you.”
Teyet laughed aloud, and although she stopped when Avon glared at her, her eyes continued to twinkle in delight. When she spoke, however, her voice sounded normal and not filled with secret mirth. “He was dizzy on the flight deck – he almost fell down.”
“I shouldn’t have let you go down to the planet,” Cally said. “Liberator’s medical equipment did what it could, but some things just take time. And rest.”
Avon knew deep down that she was right, but he was still feeling irritable enough that he didn’t want to admit it. With something close to a snarl, he said, “I will do as I see fit.”
“Avon?” It was Blake. “Did you get the brain scan?”
Cally sighed and shot Avon an irritated look of her own, then went over to the bed. “I’m sorry if we woke you, Blake.”
“I wasn’t asleep,” he protested. “I was just resting while I waited. Avon?”
“Yes, Blake, we have the brain scan.” Avon had followed Cally over. “And Star One is in the eleventh sector.”
Blake smiled broadly. “Are we on course?”
“Not yet,” Avon admitted.
“You want more time to persuade me not to destroy it,” Blake said. “But nobody should have that much power, Avon. Not you, not me, and especially not the Federation.”
“Neither of you are in any shape to discuss this again,” Cally said firmly, and Blake slumped back against his pillow with another, softer smile.
“You’re probably right, Cally,” he said. “But just one more thing.”
“What is it?” Avon asked, still touchy.
To his surprise, Blake looked beyond him. “Teyet? Has Avon spoken to you about whether you’d like to stay with us?”
“I’ve hardly had the chance,” Avon protested at the same time that Teyet said, “No.”
“You probably know we’re all wanted by the Federation. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted us to take you somewhere else. But you’re also welcome to stay with us. It’s your choice.”
“I never thought I’d ever go somewhere else,” Teyet said. “Hardly any of us do – did.” She frowned. “I wouldn’t know where to go.”
“I have some friends on various planets,” Blake said. “I could tell you about them before you decide. Why don’t you take some time, discuss it with Avon, and see what you think?”
Hesitantly, Teyet said, “I’ll think about it but … I might want to stay here. Avon likes computers, too, you know.”
Blake laughed, then curled up, clutching his abdomen and making sounds of pain crossed with continued laughter. “Ow, ow, ow, Teyet, that’s the biggest understatement, ow, ow, I’ve ever heard.”
Even Cally was smiling as she ushered them out. Avon shut the door, cutting off the sound of her question to Blake about whether he wanted another painkiller, then glanced down at Teyet. “We can have our discussion later, when I am not so dizzy. Why don’t you go back to the flight deck and talk to Orac? It might have some ideas for your brain wave project.”
“Where will you be?” Teyet asked.
“In my cabin,” he replied. “Resting.”
“I thought you told Cally you’d do as you saw fit?”
“Well now, I never said I didn’t see fit to rest,” Avon announced.
Teyet gave him a quick smile, then went off. Waiting until she’d gone, Avon turned in the opposite direction, but he’d barely taken two steps when the entire ship shuddered and knocked him off balance. He clutched at the wall for support, then fell to his knees when the ship rocked again. In the ensuing pause, Avon got shakily to his feet and stumbled to the flight deck.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded as he emerged.
“Federation pursuit ships!” Vila replied.
“I’ve got this.” Jenna had come in from the other side; Vila slipped by her and took up his usual position. Avon went to his station as well. “Zen, battle computers on-line!”
“Battle computers are already on-line,” Zen remarked, and Vila said, “Give me some credit here!”
“Clear the neutron blasters for firing!” Jenna went on, ignoring the remark. “And radiation flare shields up.”
“Radiation flare shields up, neutron blasters cleared,” Vila reported. “This is all Travis’ fault – I just know it.”
“Shut up, target the nearest ship and fire!” Avon commanded.
By the time the battle ended, two of the Federation ships had been destroyed, and the third one was limping away, no longer a danger.
Letting go of the controls with a tired sigh, Jenna said, “Zen, damage report?”
“One of the force wall generators has been damaged,” Zen reported. “Force wall no longer able to shield entire ship.”
“We don’t need the force wall now that they aren’t firing at us any longer,” Vila remarked.
Jenna ignored him. “Anything else, Zen?”
“One orbital drift compensator is damaged. One propulsion thrust unit damaged. Energy reserves running low. Energy banks one, two, and three are empty. Energy bank four is at eighty two percent.”
“Estimated time for repair?”
“One point three four hours.”
“Estimated time for recharge?”
“Thirty six hours.”
“Even if the Federation is on the run, we still shouldn’t stay here,” Jenna said. “Vila might be right – Travis could have sent a signal. And that remaining ship certainly has.”
“Then we go to Star One,” Avon decided. Despite the painkiller he’d taken earlier, his head was throbbing and he was too tired to care about anything except safety. His quarrel with Blake about the Federation’s central computer could wait. “Zen, set course for the eleventh sector.”
“Specify speed,” Zen prompted.
“Standard by two,” Jenna said before Avon could speak. Avon looked over at her, and she said, “Anything else will drain the energy banks faster than they can recharge.”
“Confirmed,” Zen replied.
Avon was just about to announce that he was going to return to his cabin when Teyet spoke up. Although Avon had noticed her sitting in the lounge area at the front of the flight deck, she had remained silent for the entire battle, only gripping the cushions in quiet fear. Now she said, “I feel sick.”
“I always feel sick after we’ve been through something like this,” Vila said. “Maybe we both need some adrenaline and soma. Or maybe just soma. I think I’ve had enough adrenaline for a while.”
“Vila, do not invite Teyet to follow your atrocious example,” Avon said with all the menace he could muster.
“I need water,” Teyet said, pushing herself off the sofa. “I need …”
She stopped speaking, then rushed from the flight deck, pounding frantically down the corridor with one hand clapped over her mouth. After a moment of surprise, Avon went after her, and was not surprised to find her on her hands and knees, vomiting in front of Jenna’s cabin. Eventually, she finished heaving and leaned weakly to one side, gasping for breath.
Avon extended his hand to help her up. “Shall I take you to the medical unit, or would you prefer to rest in your cabin?”
“I feel so strange,” Teyet murmured. ”I don’t want to be alone … please, Avon, can I stay with you?”
“Not if you’re going to be sick again,” he said sharply.
“I won’t be,” she said, a little too quickly for his taste. “I won’t make any noise, you won’t even know I’m there.”
She swallowed, then added, “Please?”
There was something radiating from her, a strangely strong feeling of … sexual attraction? Even as Avon guided her to his cabin, leaving the mess for somebody else to clean up, part of his mind was wondering where the feeling came from. It didn’t matter, he told himself. He could be content with simply being close to her, as he certainly wasn’t feeling up to anything else, and especially not with somebody who looked as miserable as Teyet did. While Teyet got herself a quick swallow of water, he took off his boots, then laid down on his bed and scooted closer to the wall to make room for her. She took off her own shoes, then laid down next to him and turned onto her side to face the opposite direction. True to her word, she was quiet except for her breathing, and Avon closed his eyes in relief.
At some point, Avon became aware enough to register that Teyet was getting out of bed, but he fell asleep again almost immediately. Some time later, however, he awoke to strange sounds, and eventually realised that Teyet was back and trying unsuccessfully not to cry, or at least not make any noise doing it. He turned towards her, and she rolled over to face him.
“S-s-sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m s-s-so scared!”
“Of what?” Avon asked.
“I can’t feel the baby anymore – I can’t feel the power at all!” Her voice wavered and she tried to get her sobs under control enough to speak again. “The power’s dead, and maybe I’ll die, too!”
She reached over to grip his hand. “I don’t want to die alone, Avon!”
“You won’t die alone.” Her hand was warmer than he’d expected; she had a fever. It was a slight comfort to think that all her talk about dying was probably just some illness. The feeling of sexual attraction was gone, too. Perhaps he’d merely imagined it. Sitting up, Avon said, “I’ll take you to the medical unit.”
Teyet pushed herself upright, then wiped her eyes with her other hand. “I feel so strange, like half of me is missing.”
Then she let go and got to her feet, wobbling worse than any drunk. She looked as though the ship had rocked beneath her, but Avon hadn’t felt anything. Floundering around in an attempt to regain her balance, Teyet lost the battle and fell, crashing into the table on the other side of Avon’s cabin.
He got up and knelt down next to her, noting that his own dizziness and even his headache had subsided. She lay curled on the floor, her hands clutching her forehead, and sobbed in pain. Well, at least she hadn’t knocked herself out. Avon took hold of her forearms and guided her gently upright, then put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of his cabin. She still staggered, but he was able to keep her going in more or less the right direction.
“I can’t even walk straight,” she cried, going down on one knee. “What’s wrong with me?”
Cally’s door slid open and she peered out in concern, then came around to Teyet’s other side and put her arm around the girl’s waist.
“It’s all right,” she said soothingly. “We’ll help you.”
Together they managed to get Teyet to the medical unit and onto one of the beds. Avon watched as Cally smoothed Teyet’s hair away from her face and attached medical sensors to each side of her forehead.
“That’s a nasty bruise,” she commented.
Teyet had almost stopped crying by then, and managed to explain, “I fell down!”
“You didn’t let Vila give you anything to drink, did you?” Cally asked.
“I only drank water. I was so thirsty!”
“Computer?” Avon asked. “Diagnosis?”
“There are a large number of unknown organisms in the blood stream. Ninety one point one percent of them are dead. Patient’s temperature is forty one point one degrees. Nothing else abnormal can be detected.”
“Organisms? What kind of organisms?” Cally asked, but the computer merely repeated, “Unknown.”
“I need more water,” Teyet whispered.
Water. Suddenly, Avon remembered Travis saying, “I didn’t drink the water.” Travis had also said something before that, too, about faking it? The transition! The other woman had been worried that Travis would be sick, delirious, because he was going through a transition of some kind, but Travis had only been pretending.
“A symbiote,” Avon breathed. “The organism inside her is a symbiote – and now it’s dying.”
“A symbiote?” Cally asked, and then said, “Of course. That would explain it.”
“It must be in the water on Ferron, that’s why she keeps asking for it,” Avon went on. “Teyet, tell Cally about the transition.”
Teyet sniffed a little, but her voice was steady. “I don’t know all the details. Just that anybody who stays on Ferron more than a day gets sick for a while, but then they have the power, too.”
“And what about anybody who leaves?” Cally asked.
“I don’t know anybody who left,” Teyet admitted. “We don’t – we didn’t talk much about leaving, especially not after the plague. But now I’ve left, and I can’t feel the power anymore. I feel dizzy and strange, and I can’t tell whether the baby is still there or not.”
“So that was all it was,” Avon said. “A symbiote, perhaps only able to reproduce through its host bodies, therefore giving them special powers to encourage it.”
That must have been the sexual attraction he’d felt in the corridor, the last dying gasp of an organism using everything it had in one final desperate attempt to secure life. And it had definitely been what he’d felt in the presence of the Ferron women when they’d first met. It had only been the mention of computers that had tipped the scales in Teyet’s favour; he would have been equally attracted to the older woman. He’d been used – he’d been drawn close to somebody against his will, leaving him vulnerable, and now he’d found out that the attraction had been artificial. He felt sick with the betrayal.
“Am I going to die?” Teyet begged. Avon glanced down at her, his feelings for the entire situation finding their focus, and when she reached out for his hand, he refused to take it.
“You are not going to die,” he told her icily. “The fever is your only reaction to the demise of this symbiote, and Cally can give you something for that. Any dizziness you feel is probably psychosomatic. Otherwise, your vital signs are strong and you should feel better as soon as the remains of the symbiote are washed out of your system. You can go back to your cabin any time.”
He turned to leave, but not before he’d seen Teyet’s hurt face. Before he could reach the door, however, a new voice stopped him.
“Avon.”
It was Blake. Avon realized he’d been lying on the other bed, quietly watching them the entire time. Now he looked back to where Blake was starting to get up.
“Would you mind helping me to my quarters?” Blake asked.
“Yes, I would,” Avon snapped, and went out. Blake would want to talk on the way, and Avon did not want to talk. Pulling the door shut with more force than strictly necessary, Avon strolled briskly away from the medical unit.
For a few moments, he wondered where he would go. He did not want to return to his quarters, and Blake would find him too easily on the flight deck. It was probably still Vila’s watch, too, and he didn’t want to deal with Vila, either. No, he realized, enough time had gone by that Jenna would have taken over again, not that it mattered. Eventually, Avon found himself outside one of the sub-control rooms, and went in. There was probably something he could work on, maybe even improve. Even just checking things would keep his hands busy and give him something else to think about.
Part 5