Page 41 of Mazorium Buys a Human

“Maz!” I cried, kneeling next to him. Fear made me act stupidly. I felt around his neck for a pulse, almost weeping when I couldn’t find one. But he was Talin, not human, so I couldn’t expect to find a pulse in the same place. Placing Nadia on the ground next to us, I leaned my face over his head and put my ear to his mouth.

He was breathing.

Sitting back with relief, I picked Nadia back up and tried to soothe her.

“What do we do?” I asked her. “Maz probably needs a healer, but it’s a risk to go back on the station. Gorum could send more men after us. They could kill Mazorium next time!”

Fear caused a roaring in my ears. No, there was no way any of us were leaving this ship or even opening the door while still docked at this station. The only option was for me to get us out of here, care for Mazorium, and hope we all survived.

Chapter 13

Mika

Standing up, I moved on shaky legs to the sleeping quarters where all Nadia’s things were stored. I cleaned her up then dressed her in a fresh everclean suit. I laid her in the nest, making sure she couldn’t pull any pillows over herself and accidentally suffocate, then left. It hurt to leave her while she was crying for attention, but I needed to care for Maz.

She was unhappy, but Maz might be dying!

I sprinted to the laboratory bay and grabbed the med scanner. It wasn’t as nice as the ones the healers had, but it would be enough to tell if Maz was actively dying.

Nadia’s cries were calming down by the time I got back to Maz. Hopefully she’d fall asleep soon. I fumbled with the box, my hands shaky. It felt like it took forever to get the scanner out and running.

It wasn’t like the ones I used in the past, and even after I turned it on by jabbing at it, I couldn’t read the screen. All the instructions were written in Talin glyphs!

I wanted to scream in frustration!

A chime sounded. It was a request for entrance. Fear made me freeze in place. Was it the attackers from earlier coming back to finish the job?

When the chime sounded again, the display next to the door flashed.

“Idiot!” I cursed, realizing I could see who was trying to get in and the ship wasn’t in danger of intrusion. Unless they had access to some very advanced infiltration tech or the kind of cutting tools found in shipyards, they weren’t getting in without me opening the door.

“I’m safe,” I murmured to myself, standing up and stepping over Maz to touch the display.

It was Ithorum! This was the only Talin on the entire station I trusted!

There was no one with her or near her. In fact, it looked like most of the ships in nearby slips had all left. Ordering the door open, I grabbed Ithorum by the belt and pulled her inside with enough force to make her stumble, then closed the door.

I didn’t know where this strength came from, but I was probably going to pay for it later.

“Mika, what—” she started to say, then sounded a loud, surprised rattle and dropped to her knees next to Maz. “What happened to him?”

“What do you think happened?” I said, sinking down next to her. “We were attacked and Maz fought like hell. He…he…” My throat swelled and tears poured down my face. I gulped air and focused on my anger. “He might be dying, and I can’t even read the med scanner! Stupid Talins and their stupid glyphs. What’s wrong with Universal or even Common?”

My yelling echoed in the ship and made Ithorum draw back a little. I needed to calm down. If I drove Ithorum away, I’d have no one to help Maz.

“You can read Universal and Common?” Ithorum asked in a voice that was far too calm for the situation. “I didn’t know humans could learn to read.”

“Now is not the time for that!” I pointed at Maz. “Help him!”

Ithorum sounded a rumble of agreement and picked up the scanner. She tapped it a few times, ran it over his head, grunted, then did the same thing to his torso. She kept doing this scan and grunt thing until she’d run the medical device over every part of him.

I couldn’t take it any longer. “Well?”

“He must’ve fought hard; the injuries are extensive,” Ithorum said as she continued to read the scanner's findings. “Nothing is terminal, but he’ll require a substantial amount of recovery time.”

I sagged back, relief making me feel boneless. “Can you help me treat him here? I don’t trust the station enough to leave the ship.”

“Although his healing process will be slower without professionals to assist him, I agree with your assessment. In fact, I’m here to make sure you leave before Station Director Gorum is done dealing with the biological containment issue. It’ll be much harder to steal you from Mazorium once you’ve left the station.”