Chapter 10
Melgara dropped the first of the organs in the medical bay, moving around and ensuring they’d be properly preserved for the experiments.
Several tubes began to blink to life and burble as she placed them gently into the fluid before rolling up her sleeves and attaching leads and scaffolding to the organs to keep them stable.
"I thought there was no power on the ship," Lily said, setting the other bag down on the ground.
"There's a small backup attached to the medical center. It'll consume a little fuel, but it'll be enough to put these in suspended animation until we're ready to use them."
Lily squinted at the two tubes. "And this is the experiment you promised?"
"Of course." Melgara turned with a smile. "However, I have left a few small details out."
The medical officer's words caused Lily to narrow her eyes. "And the details would be?"
"That I suspect not only who but also what you are." Melgara put the second set of organs into suspended animation.
"I highly doubt that." Lily frowned.
"Then how about we play a game?" Melgara smirked. She had her suspicions, and now it was time to lay them out. If she wanted to move forward with the next steps, she needed to earn Lily’s trust and clear the air between them.
Lily squinted, then her eyes slid to the side. "If there's a backup, why is the egg incubation chamber not working?" She changed the subject.
Melgara turned to it. "Oh, that." She pulled out one of the pistols she had collected from their attackers, set it down on the table, and began disassembling it. "An easy enough fix."
Working on this with her back to Lily would show trust and hopefully make the predator in her feel like she didn’t need to ‘solve’ anything today.
In moments, Melgara had the pistol stripped down and began sorting its parts. In the dim light, her blindfold was difficult, but her hands quickly worked through the task; she’d done it dozens of times before. Blasters were plentiful and largely the same if of vastly different qualities.
"Let's play a game of questions.” Melgara smirked. “First, you are not a recognized species by any metric I would be able to judge. Instead, you share interesting traits with frugalia. Traits that I believed, until meeting you, were completely unique to their species."
"I'm afraid the captain has informed me not to discuss what I am," Lily reported and stood to leave.
"We're only playing a game of questions." Melgara twisted the words carefully, and Lily narrowed her eyes, pausing in the doorway.
"Alright," Lily said slowly, no doubt wanting to understand what Melgara knew.
"Having a frugalia racial ability, however not entirely presented as usually depicted, suggests that you have some capability to mimic others.
Now that"—Melgara looked up from her small project to meet Lily’s glowing eyes that were far closer than they were a moment ago—"is a very unique capability.
In fact, I dare say there are fewer than three species I can think of in the entire universe able to mimic others. " She held up three fingers.
"The first you are most certainly not, as their mimicry is only surface deep, and they are a silica-based life form that you are certainly not, based on your food sources.
" She chuckled and dropped one finger. "The second, while capable of mimicry, does require significant and frequent interaction with the race to maintain said mimicry.
I think we can both agree there has been no frugalia aboard this ship since you joined us. "
Lily narrowed her eyes. "If you're so certain, why not just say the name?"
Melgara put her fingers down and began sorting wires for her little project, powering the incubator with the gun's power cell. "What you are is almost so concerning I dare not speak the name aloud. In fact, if I didn’t have access to Horizon Corps files, I wouldn’t have been able to pick apart the traits, because behaviorally you are a complete mismatch. "
Lily continued to bristle at words like that, her body tensing, and Melgara noticed. She had to be careful. There were bound to be several of Lily’s spines in the ceiling above her now. She needed to give Lily a reason to keep her alive.
"Of course. Because there's such a stigma against your people, it also means there's been very little opportunity to understand them and their biology.
Thus, I would offer you a chance to understand yourself and your people more than anyone ever before.
" Melgara's eyes practically sparkled with excitement.
"Lily, I have narrowed down the options, and I know that you are a helivore. "
"A helivore?" Lily laughed, though it was stiff. "Now you're going to make a fool out of me. How could I be a helivore?" she said. "They are monsters who devour worlds."
Melgara searched Lily’s eyes, and still Lily smiled. There was a touch of pain behind those words.
"You've come a long way since you began interacting with the captain.
I almost believed you." Melgara gestured at the organs they had collected.
"But the fact of the matter is, I need you to be honest with me if we're ever to complete the experiments. The salve you created with your saliva worked fantastically. However, I assume it worked on the captain on a genetic expression level. From everything I can read, several aspects of the captain's physiology went into overdrive, healing and repairing itself far faster than it had any means to do normally. As promised, I didn’t inspect it, but given what you are, I suspect it was a viral component injecting RNA that triggered healing expressions found in the captain’s cells. "
Lily continued to narrow her eyes dangerously at the woman before her. Melgara could feel her life balancing on a knife’s edge under the woman’s gaze and hoped to tip it to her survival and raised her hands.
"Thus, these two humans would make wonderful test subjects to understand what can and cannot be done to human men without causing undue stress on their bodies. After all, I think we are in agreement that the captain is unfortunately susceptible to far too many injuries," Melgara offered.
"You wish to improve the captain," she said, relaxing a touch.
"Exactly." Melgara smiled. The one thing that Lily would do anything for was the captain.
"However, such a thing must be done slowly and carefully.
First, we must run a few tests and determine if there is a risk of any side effects, and then we can push for traits that would make the captain better equipped for survival. "
Lily nibbled at the inside of her cheek. "I will need to discuss this with the captain before we implement anything."
“First, we must determine if it is even possible,” Melgara cautioned her. “The theory is sound, but the body is complex. The captain is still quite young, and if we keep him safe in the meantime, we can keep the captain alive for a very, very long time.”
"If you attempt to alter the captain with any of this information before I am ready, you will find me very unhappy, no matter how positive you believe your results to be.
" Lily lorded over Melgara at the desk with the half-disassembled blaster.
At the same time, several spots on the ceiling receded.
Melgara was both surprised yet very satisfied with her reaction. The doctor held out a hand to Lily. "Then hopefully we can work together well in the future." Melgara smiled.
"I understand why I would be interested in this. But why are you interested in such an arrangement?" Lily squinted.
"Simple. Three reasons." Melgara held up a dainty hand with three fingers outstretched.
"You present a unique opportunity to study topics that I would have no ability to witness, much less participate in, elsewhere in the universe.
" One finger fell. “The captain is clearly something you are invested in, thus the best chance for you to cooperate.” The second finger fell, and one remained as Melgara smirked. “And I like the captain.”
“What?” Lily’s fingers tore into the sheet metal of the table with a screech. “You… wish to steal him from me?” Her nostrils flared, and Melgara felt death hanging over her like a red dot floating on her forehead.
“His compassion that has won you, as well as his unabashed pursuit of his dreams, is admirable. Despite what some people have warped of my past, I can relate to him. Anyone would want to support someone pursuing their dreams.” Melgara smiled.
Though she’d not turn the captain down, that wasn’t something she should mention to Lily at present.
Lily was a hunter and so was Melgara, only she hunted for knowledge. A never-ending goal, but one that would be ultimately fulfilling.
"Then hopefully such an endeavor will be fruitful." Lily narrowed her eyes. It seemed that last reason was going to push Melgara a step back, but it seemed that Lily would cooperate.
Melgara could work with this.
"And understand that betrayal of the captain is the same as betrayal of me. Now that you understand what I am, I hope you understand the implications." Lily squeezed Melgara's hand, and the doctor only smiled wider.
"Did you know that helivores and JACK drives were originally the same project, but they were split in two different directions because of the immense possibilities?" Melgara offered a tasty morsel of knowledge.
"I did not," Lily answered succinctly.
"Furthermore, the helivore project had considerable plans for future iterations, except their eventual breakout from the lab and the public concern that followed were enough to prevent even someone like Horizon from continuing. You must understand that is a substantial feat."
"And you have some desire to continue these projects?" Lily nodded.