15. Clair #3
Maera looked puzzled.
“You mean the nectar?”
“Yes. There are fruits mixed into it, which complicates things, but if VEL-7 changes during preparation we should see it,” Clair said.
Maera led her to a small food preparation area attached to the conservatory and prepared another glass of the pale lavender drink.
Clair had to admit that even after the goosenburly disaster, her mouth watered when she smelled it. No wonder every woman on Titus Four drank it—it was uniquely delicious.
Maera carried the glass back to the laboratory and Clair ran another analysis.
The VEL-7 compound was still there, completely unchanged.
“Huh.” She frowned. “No change in the compound.”
“Do you find that disappointing?” Maera asked.
Clair nodded.
“A little.” She leaned both hands on the counter and stared at the results, trying to make sense of them.
“The flowers aren’t activating it. Crushing doesn’t activate it.
The fruit doesn’t activate it.” She frowned.
“But you said women have been drinking this for thousands of years because it has all these effects.”
Maera nodded.
“Yes. The health benefits of veloria nectar for women are well known.”
“What happens if a man drinks it?” Clair asked. “I mean, I know you said they don’t get the same benefits, but do they really get nothing at all?”
Maera shrugged.
“Nothing particularly noticeable. For instance, Varell has tasted my special drink many times. He enjoys it, but he says it does not make him feel any different.”
Clair turned toward her.
“Has he ever drunk it regularly?”
Maera shook her head.
“No. Why would he when it does nothing for him?”
Clair started pacing.
“Okay. Raw plant doesn’t activate it. Preparation doesn’t activate it. Men can drink it with no particular benefit. But women drink it regularly and swear it has measurable health effects.” She stopped. “Which means maybe the plant isn’t doing all the work.”
Maera watched her closely.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking about the star-vine again.” Clair felt her pulse beginning to quicken. “The star-vine needed living tissue to convert its precursor. What if veloria does too?”
“You mean once a woman drinks it, something in her body activates it?” Maera asked, looking surprised.
Clair nodded.
“Exactly.” She turned back toward the molecular display. “What if the female body of a Titus Four woman does something to VEL-7 that mine—or a man’s—doesn’t?”
Maera’s expression became thoughtful.
“Our bodies are not dramatically different from those of women on other humanoid worlds.”
“No. But metabolism can vary because of all kinds of things. Genetics. Hormones. Enzymes. Gut bacteria. Long-term exposure to local foods,” Clair said, listing them off on her fingers.
She pointed at the veloria sample. “And if women here start drinking this at puberty, maybe there’s a hormone-dependent metabolic pathway involved. ”
Maera’s eyes widened.
“You believe the female body transforms it.”
“I believe it’s worth finding out,” Clair said.
For a moment neither of them spoke, then Maera held out her arm.
“Take my blood.”
Clair looked at her in surprise.
“You’re serious? But…I thought Kaelus and I had to, uh, improve our relationship before we could take samples from your people.”
“I’m making an exception,” Maera said. “You wish to know what happens to veloria after a woman drinks it and I drank a full glass less than an hour ago.”
Clair smiled at her.
“Doctor Maera, I like the way you think.”
Her hostess smiled back.
“I am a physician. And besides, I want to know the answer to this riddle as badly as you do.”
The Titus Four laboratory had automated blood-drawing equipment, which Clair was deeply grateful for because she had no desire to accidentally stab their hostess with an unfamiliar alien needle.
Maera placed her arm into a curved recess on the side of the workbench, and a moment later a small vial filled with shimmering dark violet blood.
Clair stared in surprised at the sample.
“Your blood is purple?”
Maera frowned.
“Is yours not?”
Clair shook her head.
“No, it’s red.”
“How strange,” Maera remarked.
Clair laughed.
“That’s what I was thinking about yours.”
They exchanged smiles and then got down to work.
Clair placed the sample into the analyzer and watched as the holographic display began processing. For several seconds nothing happened…then the molecular profile appeared.
There were thousands of compounds represented, of course, but the analyzer had automatically highlighted substances related to the veloria sample. VEL-7 was not among them. Instead there was something else—a new molecule. It was similar to VEL-7 but not the same.
Clair leaned so close to the hologram her nose nearly passed through it.
“Well, hello there,” she murmured.
Maera came closer.
“What do you see?”
“This.”
Clair pulled the new compound up beside the original VEL-7 molecule. They were clearly related but several of the outer molecular groups had been stripped away and a new reactive structure had formed at the center.
“The precursor is gone,” Clair whispered.
“And this has replaced it?” Maera pointed at the second compound.
“I think so.”
Clair’s heart was pounding now. This was the feeling she lived for—the instant when nature stopped looking random and started revealing a pattern.
“Your body changed it,” she said to Maera.
Maera stared at the two molecules.
“You are certain?”