LINKS
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The Christa Affair
Chapter Thirty-Six
"I don't \know\ who she is, Jashi," Karli repeated emphatically for the third time, gesturing at the still unconscious form on the bed, "but that is \not\ the Princess Katya! There's a major resemblance, but this isn't her... The hair color's wrong -- I first thought it was dyed for disguise, but it isn't -- and the eyes aren't right. And there's no birth-mark, no ID of any kind. She's not a legal citizen of any Member-World."
"You're sure?" He \knew\ it had been too easy.
"Jashi, we scanned every inch of her body after we bathed her... There's no ID, none!" Suu turned back the sheet as she spoke. "Look at this."
She was Human -- young, but physically mature -- and quite pretty. She looked small and helpless against the backdrop of the hospital bed, unmoving except for the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest; her regular breathing was the only visible sign that she was alive. Her skin was light-chocolate brown, contrasting with the white of the sheets, and bore the not-quite-healed marks of a recent whipping; barely-visible welts crisscrossed her petite form from her shoulders to her knees.
"Damn!" The expletive was an exploding whisper. "Turn her over."
"Don't, Jashi. It's just more of the same," pleaded Karli softly. "There's no permanent damage... Whoever did it was an expert."
Jashi reached under her neck, pushing aside the soft shoulder-length hair, feeling the spinal column just below the skull. "Turn her over!" he demanded.
It was indeed more of the same. Jashi recoiled in disgust as he ran his hand gently across her shoulders and down her back, feeling additional marks that were no longer visible. He felt again the back of her neck, and found what he suspected. "Suu..." he said, holding aside the coal-black tresses.
There could be no doubt. Suu examined the scar tissue carefully, then scanned it with one of her medical devices to be sure. It was the unmistakable footprint of a brain-stem neural-impulse injector. "Sorry Jashi," apologized Suu, her voice trembling slightly. "I never thought to look for \that\."
Jashi felt sick. He pulled the sheet up to her shoulders as he turned away from the still, pathetic form on the bed. "No reason you should," he answered. "Better give her a complete physical. There's probably internal damage... and see if you can bring her around when you finish. I want to know who the bastard is that did this to her." He turned and hurried from the room.
*********
Karli slipped quietly into their quarters. The interior glowtubes remained off -- the automatic sequence on override -- but in the shadowy light from the corridor, a still form was momentarily visible on the bed; the door slid silently shut behind her, plunging the room again into darkness. There had been no contact between them since Jashi's abrupt departure from the infirmary some two hours earlier, and she hadn't intruded; she knew he would explain when he was ready. She didn't intrude now, but rather crossed to the bed and lay down next to him.
He was still clad in the soiled spacer's coverall he had worn to the \Decaying Orbit\ hours earlier, and lay curled in the fetal position, his knees against his chin. She tucked in close against his backside, wrapping her free arm around him tightly; to her surprise, Jashi was crying.
He gave no sign that he was aware of her presence. The crying continued -- the weak, nearly-silent sobs that persist long after the tear-ducts have been squeezed painfully dry. She held him, waiting patiently. Sometime during the night he drifted off to sleep.
He seemed quite normal when they awakened, but didn't speak of it, and brushed away her attempt at contact as they shared the fresher. "Not now, Karli. Please?" he replied aloud. He held her by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes thru the steam that swirled around them. "Later. I promise."
She nodded, reaching up to return his wet tender kiss. They clung to each other as Jashi switched the fresher to icy needle-shower, gasping as the cold water momentarily took away their breath. "I love you, Jashi Abram!" she whispered fiercely, and she felt his arms tighten around her.
*********
They were gathered in the control room, all except for Mowii, who had chosen to eat breakfast in her quarters. At Jashi's request, she hadn't been notified of the meeting to follow; he felt in no mood to tolerate her emotional hysterics. The aftermath of the meal still cluttered the table and no one seemed inclined to tidy up. Suu was consulting a printout from the medical computer.
"She's conscious, Jashi, but very weak. She has severe heart damage from the machine, and the sedative damn near killed her. You can talk to her if you wish, but you'll have to be careful... I don't want her upset." Suu folded the paper and laid it on the table before continuing. "We know who she is. We found a birth-mark -- never mind where -- done in number twenty-six dye. She's a Federation Agent."
"Huh?" Jashi couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say.
"It gets better, Jash."
"Her name is Korlana, personal attendant to Princess Katya."
"You're right, Karli. It \does\ get better!" he replied after a moment. "What have you told her?"
"Nothing, Jashi," responded Suu. "Only that she is aboard a private starship in parking orbit around Sanctuary... That seemed to satisfy her -- she hasn't asked any more questions. I was waiting for you."
Jashi felt a twinge of quilt at Suu's response. "I know I owe all of you an explanation for my strange behavior last night," he began; the words were obviously difficult. "But I can't talk about it. Not yet, anyway..." His voice trailed off awkwardly. He grinned at them reassuringly. "I'm okay! I promise!" he said lightly. "Let's clean up this mess and go see what she has to say." He suddenly seemed to be his normal self again, but he made no attempt to establish contact with Karli.
*********
Korlana pushed herself up in the bed as they entered the infirmary. She had obviously been out of bed long enough to use the fresher and don one of Karli's more conservative nightgowns, and looked quite composed in spite of the unfamiliar surroundings. She accepted Jashi's hand as he introduced himself, and though weak, her grip was steady. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain," she responded as he bowed, touching his forehead to the back of her hand. "I am Korlana, Personal Attendant to Princess Katya, youngest daughter of the Exalted High Lord of the United Uzos Planetary System."
"You are most welcome aboard the \Klondike\, Korlana. Is there anything you have need of?"
"Not at the present time, Captain. Thank you, but your medical officer has taken care of me most carefully." Jashi looked at Suu, suddenly realizing that she must have been up all night; she shrugged at the unspoken question, and smiled.
"Korlana, I beg your forgiveness for such inexcusable behavior on first meeting, but I must ask that we dispense with formalities. I must ask you some questions."
"Ask away, Captain." she replied with an impish grin. "I was getting a bit tired of the bullshit myself! How'd I get aboard your ship?" Jashi paused, unsure how much to reveal; he decided on a slightly distorted and very condensed version of the truth. "I bought you, from a man named DeCarlo."
Strangely enough, the name produced no reaction. "Bought me? In what sense?"
"As a companion." Still no reaction. "You were represented to be of Royal Blood."
"He said I was Princess Katya? That's rich! That's really rich!" Korlana doubled over with laughter, then gasped and clutched at her chest. "Oh, shit!" she moaned as she sank back to the pillow, her face ashen. "God that hurts!" Tears ran from her eyes as she squeezed them tightly shut.
Suu was instantly at her side, checking the readout of the console above the bed. "Out, now! All of you!" she ordered. Jashi didn't feel inclined to argue.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
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