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He used the knife to point left. "It’s on the side of the cavern. We kept it separate so the noises from the sick and injured wouldn’t disturb the people in their homes."
"Um, thank you."
"Tell my mate I sent you."
"Will do." I gave his sword arm a wide berth and followed the direction the blade was pointed. It was only until I reached the side of the cavern and stood in front of the attached wood and metal structure when I remembered I didn’t ask what his mate’s name was.
The sound of fabric ripping got my attention. I approached the entrance to the infirmary. "Hello?"
The sound ceased. "Who’s out there? You need bandaging?" A female’s alto voice carried outside.
I stuck my head in the door to see her. She stood over six feet tall and had auburn hair. She had clothes on like mine, with the sleeves rolled up past her light grey forearms. "Hi. I was looking for the infirmary. Your mate, the one with the butcher knife, sent me."
"Aklan sent you the right way." She squinted her yellow eyes at me. "You’re the king’s human companion."
"You can just call me Harper. What’s your name?"
"I’m Maagda. I work here as the medic."
"Hi, Maagda, I'm a medic, too. It's nice to meet someone else in the healing profession, and another femme at that."
She ripped another long strip of cloth. "I’d like it not to be under these circumstances. I’m head of the infirmary since we lost the lead physician a few weeks ago when they went out into enemy territory."
"I’m sorry. Between Quarek renegades and Isath, it seems the whole universe is at war."
"Our two galaxies at least. Come in. The door doesn’t need you to warm it." She scanned me. "Are you ill, bleeding, ingreberg stew poisoning?"
"No, Aklan’s stew was great. I had nearly two big bowls of it. I wanted to know if maybe I could hang out here during the day sometimes and research."
"Research?"
I held up my knapsack with the laptop and notebooks. "I’m working on something for Varus. It’d be nice to be in a real facility like this one where I could eventually run tests."
"I guess it wouldn’t be a problem, so long as you’re not in the way when the soldiers come through. Trust me, they will be in and out."
"I’d be more than glad to lend you a hand."
Her face lit up when I volunteered to help. "We’re in short supply of bandages, thanks to the troops blocking the south entrance through the cliffs settlements. Help me tear this cloth into strips and we’ll get them sterilized."
I set my rucksack down in the corner, rolled up my own shirt sleeves, and helped my new co-worker with the workload.
***
Ispent the rest ofthe day in the infirmary, helping Maagda treat a soldier with a dislocated shoulder and another with a sprained wrist. I managed to get a little time to go over my notes I compiled months ago on the serum. The infirmary had some of the ingredients to create the base. The other ingredient I would have to go searching for. I scrawled its name on a scrap of notebook paper and stashed it in my pants pocket.
Maagda and I closed shop once the sun went down. I walked with her to the side of camp where Aklan had three big cookfires going. "All that work gave me an appetite." She ladled a generous helping of ingreberg stew into a bowl and handed it to me. "Guests of honor first."
I wasn’t about to turn down the stew.
An hour later, after chatting with her and Aklan on the best spices to flavor broth, rain started to sprinkle. I waddled into the cavern, full and ready to get off my feet. I found the door unlocked and what looked like wooden staffs, padded squares, and sticks stacked in a neat but noticeable pile on the floor. Between my stuff in one corner and the equipment in another, the living space looked like one big storage unit.
The bedroom door was left open. Steam came out from beneath the adjoining bathroom door. Maagda told me how Racopians who came here over twenty years ago diverted the underground hot springs that ran through another part of the cavern.
The door opened and out stepped Varus, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Water dripped from his hair and ran in rivulets down his defined abs. "You’re home late."
I assumed he was joking. I was a bit distracted watching the water droplets run down his stomach like an erotic game of pinball. "What’s all this?"
He pushed his hair off his neck. "It’s called a towel. Or do they say ‘drying cloth’ on Earth?"
