CHAPTER 64 #3
The royal family started to look a lot better by the second dose of ouerbxo, but they were still weak. I put Selica in charge of restorative brews and foods for the replicators to produce as soon as they were able to eat and drink.
The volunteers worked their hearts out. Hour after hour, they went door to door, delivering life-saving medicine to the Ptexari.
We formed a community of our own through the messaging on the comms panels.
By the second day, though, things took a turn.
Volunteers started reporting the first deaths.
There weren’t enough offworlders to get through the city in time.
The elderly and children were particularly vulnerable. The children hit everyone the hardest.
We changed the color of the comms panel on a door to black when a death was reported, so we could send coroners when this was over. That was a phase I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle.
Four days later, I was slumped over a desk, drool pooling under my cheek, when I was shaken gently awake. I was in Dakleth’s arms, and he was carrying me to his bedroom. “Oh!” I said. “I’m so sorry, I fell asleep.”
“Shhhh, mate, you have been working nonstop for days, it appears,” he said. “You need rest. Real rest.” He laid me gently on the bed and pulled up the covers. “Sleep, my brave one,” he said. “We will take it from here.”
I could cry from exhaustion. Grateful, I rolled over and knew no more.
Dakleth
I was in awe of my mate. She had singlehandedly saved the entire Ptexari population from near extinction.
“You wouldn’t believe it, Your Majesty,” Selica rambled at my father.
“She knew just what to do. She figured out from the computer what was wrong and how to fix it, and made all these instructions, and recruited offworlder volunteers because she knew we couldn’t catch it, and divided up the city and had them go door to door and administer medication, and everyone would have DIED. ” She waved her tentacles in agitation.
“I did my part, I did your highness. I was one of them that did the injections, but I tell you, it’s her that thought of everything and got everyone to do it. And handled all the communications, and logistics, and I don’t even know what else. Never seen anything like it, have I.”
I had not either. You would have thought Andie had a degree in epidemiology or military operations with the way she handled everything. How did she do it?
On the one hand, it was the worst disaster in recent history.
Best estimate, about two percent of the entire Ptexari population had died.
Nearly nine million. And it was anticipated we’d lose another six million this week.
The models were showing we would probably lose about six percent of the population over the next few weeks before the plague was completely arrested.
But if we hadn’t had Andie? We would have probably lost nearly three hundred twenty-five million.
We would have been thrown into a full-scale economic meltdown.
And given that the entire royal family was also sick?
A political breakdown as well. We would have been vulnerable to attacks not just from rival Ptexari dynasties but from offworld invaders.
Our entire social system would have collapsed.
She saved us. She saved us all. I wondered if anyone outside this room realized that.
Andie
Recovery was slow. I was grateful that everything wasn’t on my shoulders anymore.
One week, and I had basically crumbled. I couldn’t imagine being ruler of an entire planet.
It made me scared for the future. What happened when King Akapa passed the torch to Dakleth?
What would my responsibilities be? I did my best during the plague crisis, but I couldn’t imagine being under that type of pressure all the time. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
We were having lunch in the receiving room. It had been two weeks since the plague, and it had slowed. There were only a few hundred deaths reported today. Any death was awful, but there were hundreds of thousands those first days. It still made me sick to think about it.
“This plague has brought many things to light,” King Akapa said to Dakleth and Kashtinela. They nodded in agreement. He turned to Kashtinela. “We should talk about your mating. I want you to choose someone soon. We need to secure the line.”
“We have talked about this, Father. I do not wish to leave Ptekennan,” she scowled into her bowl.
“The best candidates are from Gildnaria and Xochipto. There would be many advantages,” the King continued.
“Kashtinela cannot leave Ptekennan,” Dakleth interrupted. “Her children will inherit the throne.”
“What do you mean? Why would your children not inherit?” the King asked.
“Andie is a live bearer. We cannot have children,” Dakleth explained.
Oh right. I’d forgotten all about that. And somehow, I guess the King never heard that conversation.
“Is this true, Andie?” the King’s eyes bored into me.
“Um, yes. Sorry, I didn’t put it together about the fact that you all lay eggs and humans don’t. I didn’t know we couldn’t, ah, breed.”
King Akapa looked at Dakleth. “You know I love Andie like my own daughter, but you must put her aside. We should have looked more seriously into how to dissolve the bond.” Kashtinela gasped. “Father! How could you?!”
I understood. Really, I did. Dakleth had a duty to the royal line of succession, and the King couldn’t allow his personal feelings to interfere. But damn, it stung. He had treated me like a daughter. Now I was just a failed broodmare in his eyes.
Dakleth growled, low and menacing. “Make no mistake, Father. Andie is my chosen mate. If I must choose between this family and her, I choose her. If I must choose between her and the Ptexari people, I choose her. If I must choose between the whole damn planet, by the stars, I will choose her again and again. I will have no other. Kashtinela’s children will inherit.
She will mate a Ptexari or a male willing to relocate here.
And honestly, given that Andie just saved your whole godsdamned planet, I would think you would show a little gratitude. ”
King Akapa had the grace to look a bit ashamed. He cleared his throat. “My son is wise. I apologize, Andie. I should have known better. I was just taken by surprise.”
I nodded. I really couldn’t think of anything to say. But I squeezed Dakleth’s hand under the table. He’d stood up for me. I would never forget that.