“Awww, that’s boring,” Kaylee whined. “I don’t want to look at that.”
“Just give me a minute to ask the vendor the specs,” Six said patiently. “If they’re good and the price is right, I may want to bring Pere back here to see it later.”
They were at the stall now and he had his eyes on the helmet as he talked.
“Okay but can we have a hi-ni bread after you ask?” Kaylee’s eyes were wide as she stared at a steaming tray of small turquoise nuggets the old lady at the baked goods shop had just put on display. “Please? Just one?”
“Only if Mere and Pere check it out first,” he answered distractedly. “Swear to the Goddess, Kaylee, just settle down for one minute so I can ask a few questions. Then we’ll go.”
Kaylee whined something else but Six was already asking the man who ran the stall about the helmet. He was reeling off a list of technical sounding questions when Mei-Li saw the old lady at the bakery motion for Kaylee.
“I heard you say you liked hi-ni breads, sweetie,” she said, smiling. “Would you like a sample? These are kind of hot but you won’t burn your fingers if you eat it fast.”
She leaned forward, holding out a warm turquoise nuggets in one wrinkled hand and Mei-Li saw something strange. The old lady’s eyes were a soft, faded blue but the left one had a thin scarlet ring around the outside of the iris.
Mei-Li frowned. The red ring reminded her of Six’s left eye—the one he’d kept covered with the scanner implant for so long. He had a scarlet ring around his iris too. Was there some significance? For some reason the sight made her shiver and a sensation of unease began to creep up from the pit of her stomach. It was an odd feeling, something she might once have called…dread? She wasn’t even sure, she just knew it was uncomfortable.
Don’t, she thought as Kaylee reached for the baked confection that looked a little like a turquoise donut hole. Don’t do it—don’t touch it!
Just as the little girl was about to pop the hot little bread into her mouth, Six turned and saw what she was doing.
“Kaylee, no!” he grabbed her wrist and snatched the bread neatly from her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said, turning to give it back to the old lady. “But we’re not allowed to eat anything my parents haven’t screened first.”
“That’s all right, sweetie.” The old lady accepted the small nugget of turquoise bread from him and Mei-Li noticed that his fingertips brushed her palm briefly as she did. “It’s better to be safe.”
“But I wanted a hi-ni bread!” Kaylee looked on the verge of tears.
“We’ll come back,” Six promised her. “I definitely want Pere to look at the helmet I found. Just be patient, Kaylee—we’ll come straight back here as soon as we meet up with Mere and Pere.”
“That’s all right—listen to your brother and I’ll see you later,” the old lady said soothingly. She peered at Six. “Say, do your parents hail from Terga? You look so familiar somehow.”
“My Mere’s family is from there,” Six said politely. “My father is Kindred. Do you have kinfolk there as well?”
The old lady looked sad. “I used to, long ago. But that’s been years and years back. You’re too young to have heard of them. Then again, the Tergish are such wanderers…hardly ever on the home world.”
“Every world is a home world to us,” Six said, smiling and the lady laughed, the wrinkles around her faded blue eyes crinkling.
“My goodness—I haven’t heard that in years! But it’s still true,” she said nodding. “Every world is a home world.”
Clearly it was some kind of saying their people had, Mei-Li thought.
“Well, thank you for your kindness. We hope to see you again soon.” Six nodded at her and then looked at his little sister. “C’mon, Kaylee.”
He took her hand in his—the same hand he’d used when he gave back the bread nugget, Mei-Li couldn’t help but notice—and pulled her away from the stalls. Then, when they were out of sight of the bakery, he produced the microbe light and ran it over both their hands.
“There—that should take care of anything that was on the bread.”
“There was nothing on it, Jax! She just took it out of the hot oven. Heat kills microbes, doesn’t it?”
“You’re probably right.” He nodded. “But as Mere always says, better to be safe now than sorry later.”
Kaylee sighed. “I guess. But she was such a nice lady! She was even from Mere’s home planet—she wouldn’t have given us anything to hurt us.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t but we gave our promise to Mere and Pere to be careful,” Six said firmly. “We’ll come back soon, I promise.”
“Allll riiiight.” Kaylee gave another long suffering sigh. Six put away the microbe light and ruffled her hair.
“C’mon. Still lots to see.” He took her hand in his and they began to walk.
As she watched the little exchange, another twinge of unease ran through Mei-Li. She couldn’t help thinking that if she still had emotions, alarm bells would be going off inside her head like crazy. Something had happened just now—something irrevocable. She didn’t know what but she sensed it somehow. Just as she sensed that the measures Six had taken were too little, too late. However, he and his little sister seemed oblivious. They just kept walking through the station, talking about the various things they saw and pointing out food they wanted to try. Or rather, Kaylee pointed it out to Six—she seemed to never stop talking.
Which was probably why, a half-hour later, her abrupt silence came as such a surprise. Six looked down at her.
“Kaylee, I asked if you wanted to ask Mere and Pere to check out the mirna juice booth. Didn’t you hear me?”
Kaylee just looked at him and shook her head.
“No you don’t want mirna juice or no you didn’t hear me?” He took a closer look at her and an anxious look came over his face. “Kaylee? Are you all right? You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.”
His little sister just shook her head again but Mei-Li thought she was looking extremely pale. Somewhere deep inside her, the social worker who dealt with kids began to whisper that all was not well. Kaylee looked like a child who was about three seconds away from being violently ill. Not good, whispered that little voice that seemed to belong to another part of her life—a part she had all but forgotten. Oh, this is so not good…
“C’mon, Kaylee,” Six murmured. Pulling his little sister gently by the hand, he led her into a smaller, less crowded corridor that forked off from the main walkway. Then he leaned down and took her by the shoulders. “Okay, now what’s going on?”
Kaylee looked up at him, her face pale.
“I don’t feel so good, Jax,” she whispered. Then she leaned over and threw up.
“Kaylee! Oh my Goddess!” The young Six sounded panicked and Mei-Li could see why. His little sister had just puked what looked like half a gallon of blood all over the floor and both their boots.
“Jax…” she moaned. “I don’t feel good. What’s wrong with me, Jax?”
“I don’t know but we’re going to find out.” Heedless of the mess, Six scooped her up and practically ran with her, shoving his way through the crowded corridors. Though he was big for his age, he was still only a young teenager who hadn’t nearly gotten his full growth yet. But though his sister must have been a heavy burden, he didn’t let go of her until they got back to the berth where their ship was docked. There he had to set her back on her feet because he was gasping for breath. Kaylee promptly puked again and then collapsed. Somehow Six managed to pick her up once more.
“Oh my Goddess, Kaylee,” he said in a low, trembling voice. “Goddess, please just hold on. Mere and Pere will be here soon, I swear they will!”
“Hurts, Jax…” Blood was bubbling from her mouth and nostrils and her face was gray with pain. “Hurts so bad—like I’m on fire inside. Please…”
Oh God, that poor little girl! whispered the voice in Mei-Li’s brain. It was still faint but it was somehow getting louder and
harder to ignore. And poor Six—he’s still just a boy, he shouldn’t have to deal with this!
Just then Mere and Pere appeared, coming around a corner their arms laden with packages. When she saw Six holding Kaylee, Mere dropped everything on the floor and rushed over to them. Pere stopped to pick it all up but when he straightened to his full height and got a better look at what was going on, his face grew pale and he hurried over.
“What is it? What happened?” he demanded.
“I don’t know—I don’t know.” It was clear the younger Six was fighting to keep his composure. “She was fine. I didn’t let her touch anything. Well, she did touch a piece of hi-ni bread but I used the microbe light on her hands right afterwards! I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either but we have to find out fast,” Mere said. She cradled Kaylee to her chest, heedless of the blood smearing all over her clothes. “Oh, my baby… Is there a medic listed on this station?”
“No. And even if there was, there’s nothing anybody here could do for us that would help,” Pere said grimly. “But we’re only a solar day’s journey from the medical barges of Zeaga 4. They say the Tollegs there can cure anything—we need to get her there.”
“A day? But look at her.” There were tears shining in Mere’s kind gray eyes. “I don’t know if she can…can make it…I…oh, Kaylee.” She began to weep, her tears falling on her daughter’s bloodstained face.
“There’s no choice—we have to try. Come on!” Pere led the way into the family spaceship and was already shooting away from the space station almost before they had time to sit down and strap in.
Mei-Li found herself going along for the ride, drifting like an unseen ghost that could only observe and couldn’t do anything to help.
She frowned. Help? Why would she want to help?
Because this is what you do, whispered the little voice in her brain that was growing ever stronger. You help people—especially kids in trouble. And right now this whole family is in trouble!
For some reason it made her stomach ache to know that but she didn’t know why—only that the sensations she was experiencing were getting stronger and more and more uncomfortable until she wished she could just stop watching this scene.
But she couldn’t stop—she was stuck here. And so she had to watch as first Mere and then Pere got sick within an hour of each other. Whatever the pathogen they had somehow picked up at Ligex Station was, it was incredibly fast acting. Soon Pere and Mere were both leaking blood from their eyes and ears and noses and mouths and then Pere got too dizzy to steer the ship. He put it on some kind of autopilot course and sank low in the captain’s chair, unable to move.
In the living area of the ship, Kaylee was almost motionless, lying on a child sized sousa and making small, hurt sounds that somehow made Mei-Li’s heart feel tight in her chest. Her mother lay beside her on the floor, her head resting beside Kaylee’s, keeping a watchful eye on her child though it was clear she was horribly sick as well.
The only one who didn’t get sick was Six.
Mei-Li could see him growing more and more upset and more and more frantic as the hours ticked past. But somehow he kept his composure and though he tended to both his parents and his sister, he didn’t get so much as a cough or a runny nose. In fact, the only change Mei-Li could see in him was in his left eye—it had somehow grown a scarlet ring around the outer iris. A scarlet ring as red as his family’s life blood that was slowly leaking away.
The scene seemed to go on and on—Mei-Li wasn’t sure but she thought they were experiencing it in real time. Yipper’s voice came back to her as he had spoken to Six, You will have to relive the memories and you will feel the emotions associated with them three times as intensely…
Poor Six! whispered the voice inside her head. How can he stand this? Going through this again and feeling it three times as strongly? How could anyone stand it? Just look—his whole family is dying all around him!
Her heart got tighter and tighter but though she wished to look away, she couldn’t. She had to watch and see as the awful memories unfolded, had to see Six relive them as though they were happening for the first time.
When they were just an hour or so from the med barge, Pere died. But before he did, he took Six’s hand in his and told him he was the male of the ship now—the leader of the family.
“Your Mere and Kaylee are counting on you now,” he whispered through blood-smeared lips. “You’re going to get them to the med barge in time, son—I know you can. I’ve called ahead and the Tollegs are waiting.”
“But, Pere…” Six said wildly. “You can’t—”.
“Shhh—just listen.” His father coughed, spraying bloody flecks on Six’s cheek that the boy didn’t bother to wipe away. “You’re a good pilot…you can…can make the docking yourself. Have…have faith in you, Jax.”
And then his eyes drifted closed and his broad chest stopped heaving.
“Pere? Pere, no! No, please!” Six’s eyes were wide and wild with shock as he shook his father’s shoulder and got no response. “No, you can’t be gone—you can’t!”
Six shook him again and the heavy body slid out of the pilot’s chair and lay on the ground in a boneless heap. Pere’s eyes stared sightlessly up at the shadowy ceiling, their deep green depths already glazing over.
Mei-Li felt as though there was a lump in her throat she couldn’t swallow no matter how hard she tried as she watched Six beg his father to wake up—to not be dead—not to leave him. It was a brutal, bloody death and it was all happening so horribly fast—how could Six possibly continue?
But continue he did. Somehow he lifted his head and wiped the bloody specks and tears off his cheeks. He closed his father’s eyes and went to the main living cabin to check on his mother and sister.
What he found was even worse. His mother was close to death too—Mei-Li could see it in her gray face and the trickles of blood that ran from the corners of her eyes and seeped from her nose.
“Mamere?” Six whispered hoarsely, bending over her. “Mere, please, I need you…”
Her eyes fluttered slowly open and she reached for him, clutching blindly at his hand.
“Jax? Is…your father all…all right?”
Six nodded firmly. “He’s fine. Just…sick is all.” His voice was a croak but his mother didn’t seem to notice.
“Sick…yes, sick.” She nodded wearily. “You have to take care of your sister now, Jax. Pere and I aren’t going to make it. Take care of her—get her to the medical barge. Save her…” She squeezed his hand tightly. “You have to save her.”
Six swallowed hard, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
“I’ll save us all—you’ll see if you’ll just hold on. We’re almost there. Please, Mamere! Please don’t die…don’t go.”
“Can’t…help it. Love you…Jax.” Her eyes fluttered shut. “Take care of…your sister.”
Then her breathing stopped. She too, was gone.
For a moment the young Six buried his face in his hands and Mei-Li saw his shoulders jerk spasmodically. A twinge of sympathy tugged at her. A feeling of sorrow for the horror this boy who had grown into the man she cared for was going through.
For some reason she wanted to go to him, to take him in her arms and stroke his hair…to comfort him and soothe him…to ease the horrible ache she could feel growing in his heart…
Mei-Li shook her head. Where had those thoughts come from? Why would she wish to comfort Six?
Of course you want to comfort him—look at what he’s going through? The voice inside her was almost a shout now. Look, just look at him! When he woke up today his life was normal and happy and sane. Now, nothing makes sense anymore. He just lost both his parents in the space of ten minutes and his little sister is next. Of course you want to help him—of course you feel for him!
I feel for him…I do…I am beginning to feel again…And it wasn’t just her emotions she was feeling. Mei-Li could feel other, darker sensations slipping through t
he crack that was widening inside her. Despair…desperation…horror…desolation and a fear so great it threatened to swallow her whole. That’s Six—this is how he’s feeling right now, right at this minute, she realized. Oh God, how horrible…
Mei-Li was distracted from her thoughts when she heard Kaylee calling for her mother.
“Mere…please, Mamere, it hurts,” she whimpered.
Six, who had been hunched over the body of his mother, raised his head and wiped his eyes hastily.
“Kaylee?” he whispered hoarsely. “Kaylee, hang in there, all right? Mere is…well, she’s sleeping. But I’m here with you now so don’t worry.”
“Don’t want you—want Mere,” the little girl said fretfully. “Please, Jax—it hurts so much. Please.”
“We’re almost to the med barge.” He took her small hand gently between his own. “Pere said…says that he already called the Tollegs. They’re waiting to make you well. If you can hold on just a little while longer…”
“But I can’t. It hurts…it hurts…” Kaylee’s cry of pain seemed to be almost more than the young Six could bear.
He squeezed her hand tightly, his eyes bright with tears. “Just hold on, Kaylee. Hold on…”
She shook her head and opened her eyes. In their green depths, Mei-Li could read her knowledge of her fate and she suddenly looked much older. In fact, for a moment she almost resembled the young woman she might have grown to be if things had been different.
“I…I want you to kill me Jax,” she whispered. “Please, it hurts so much. And it’s too late—nobody can make me better now.”
“That’s not true!” Six insisted fiercely. “The Tollegs—”
“Mere’s not sleeping, is she?” Kaylee’s preternaturally bright eyes flicked over to her mother’s face which was still close to hers. Six hadn’t had time to close her eyes and her gray gaze was fixed and staring.