Chapter 12
KIT
SFS POLARIS
After takeoff, Kit makes her way back to her room.
She’s never been on a ship before, and the SFS Polaris is enormous.
She had a hard enough time navigating her way to the passenger seating area on her deck, and will shortly need to figure out how to get to the medical bay and research deck, where she’s to meet the Chief Medical Officer and Head Luminary, Leonidas Oswald.
Before that, though, she wants to collapse into her bed for an hour. She’s exhausted. The day has felt like a week. She cannot believe that only five hours ago, she was drawing the blood of Lumarian citizens inside Port Ro, deciding the fates of her people.
She places her palm against the reader next to her door and it slides open with a hiss, retracting into the wall.
She enters, drawn toward the large, circular window at the end of her room.
She can see Lumaria from here, blue waters surrounded by lush, green land.
She’s never seen it from this angle, and it takes her breath away.
She kneels on the twin bed under the window, placing her palm against it.
Her breath fogs the glass as she leans forward, looking at the planet beneath her.
She thinks of all the people still trapped there, her father included, and her eyes fill with tears.
She’s left them all behind, with no idea when she’ll see them again.
When she’ll be reunited with her father, if ever.
It’s very Lumarian, she thinks, for the minister to stay with his people instead of fleeing.
She gets the sense that Lumaria is very different from the other planets in the Consortium — not only because of the way they are governed, but also because of their sense of morality.
Truly, it’s the thing they hold in highest regard.
People make decisions for the good of others, to protect each other.
Not for power. A rarity in the Consortium.
And also why they’ve need of alliances, why they aren’t very strong on their own.
She lays on the bed, shifting on to her side so she can look out at Lumaria as the ship makes its way through the Lumarian atmosphere. She sighs, wiping her eyes as tears gather upon her lower lash line. She will allow herself this moment, and then she needs to pull it together.
She rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling, blinking quickly to clear the tears from her eyes.
She reminds herself to be grateful. That she’ll survive, that Knox will survive.
That she got Finn’s sister on board, and that she has more people to run trials on.
That she will have access to the largest digital library of medical research aboard the Polaris.
These are all good things. She can help people, even from here, even if the task that has been set out before her feels insurmountable, potentially impossible.
She sinks deeper into the mattress, the weight of the responsibility settling over her like a boulder.
Kit sits at a large white table in the research bay, which is situated across the hall from the medical bay and is comprised of three separate labs. All are on the lower deck, and at the end of the hall is the library, where Kit intends to go first thing tomorrow.
Nevis sits to Kit’s left, Luminary Oswald to her right. Three other healers from Nexarium sit at the other end of the table.
“Welcome to the Polaris,” Luminary Oswald begins, sweeping his hands in front of him. He has white hair and white eyebrows, his face lined. He wears a white cloak and white trousers — typical Luminary garb. “Thank you for being here.”
It’s not as if we had much of a choice, Kit thinks. But she keeps her mouth shut.
“I thought it would be helpful to introduce ourselves, since I know some of us are new to each other.” He looks between the Nexarium healers, who are sitting so still, they could be statutes.
It’s impressive. “I’m Luminary Leonidas Oswald,” he begins.
“Chief Medical Officer on board this ship. I come from Kilari, and specialize in rare disease.” He looks to Kit, gesturing.
“I’m Luminary Katherine Hart,” she says, her voice catching in her throat.
She clears it. “From Aventia, where I’ve practiced at the Aclesius Center for the last two years.
Before that, I was a resident at the Agrippa Institute in Nyx, specializing in infectious disease and magical maladies.
And of course, I studied at Dorworth Academy before that. ”
Dorworth is where all the Luminaries began their training.
A first, intensive year of gross anatomy, coupled with pathophysiology and pharmacology, and then a second year focused on learning how to harness innate Lumarian magic and advanced magitech, which was co-created with Nexarium as a part of the first treaty signed when the Consortium was established.
Lumarians possessed minor healing magic which when used, could promote the regeneration of tissues and the mending of muscles, but it was slow, and not very powerful, all things considered.
The magitech had been a godsend. It allowed them to do things they wouldn’t otherwise be able to — quickly close a gash without stitching, heal a scrape immediately, offer a quick shot of pain relief if someone was brought in with a traumatic wound.
A small golden token fashioned from the Calandrian core pressed into a fist and a set of words muttered under your breath, and the impossible became possible.
“And you?” Oswald nods at Nevis, encouraging her to go on.
“Nevis Alpin,” Nevis starts, her fingers playing with the end of her red braid. She’s anxious, Kit can tell. “I’m also a Luminary at the Aclesius Center. I was a resident with Kit at the Agrippa Institute.”
Oswald, Kit, and Nevis look to the Nexarium healers, who have been deathly silent thus far. Kit can barely hear them breathing. All three wear tan tunics, their skin so pale, it is almost translucent.
“Wynnstan Pluto,” says the one closest to Nevis.
He has short black hair, his jaw a harsh line.
His biceps bulge from beneath his tunic as he crosses his arms. He looks like he should be in the Force, not working as a healer.
“Field healer, specializing in battlefield wounds and other space-related injury.” Kit wonders if they’ll really need his specific brand of expertise aboard what is essentially a luxury passenger liner. She hopes not.
“Amaltheia Metis,” says the girl next to him. She has curly blonde hair, which halos her small, pointed face. “I’ve studied magical maladies stemming from manifestation for the last two years, so I suppose that’s my specialty.”
Kit nods. She studied magical maladies while at the Agrippa Institute, though her practical experience was limited.
On Lumaria, they didn’t have to worry about manifesting in the same way that Nexarians did.
In her studies, she’d learned that on Nexarium, manifestation side effects occurred frequently, and were oftentimes unpleasant.
She still finds the field interesting, and always hoped she’d find someone to talk to further about it.
She’s excited at the prospect of having this healer aboard the Polaris with her.
“And last, but not least,” the final woman grins, tucking her long, brown hair behind an ear.
She’s older than the other two, maybe in her thirties, but still has an air of youth about her.
“Tullia Laurentia. I’m a generalist. Which, I would argue, actually makes me more valuable than these two.
” She gestures her thumb to Wynnstan and Amaltheia, and the former frowns, while the latter rolls her eyes.
“Wonderful. I am pleased to have such a skilled team with me aboard this ship,” Luminary Oswald says, clapping his hands together, and the sound echoes around the room.
“We’ll operate on a rotating schedule. A Luminary will be in the medical bay at all times, accompanied by two healers.
Those of you that are not assigned to the medical bay will be free to conduct your research. ”
Kit wonders what research the healers are doing and whether their time could be better spent helping her find more information about Crimson Fever, but doesn’t feel comfortable asking.
She’s only just met them, and Luminary Oswald is in charge.
She doesn’t want to step on his toes without knowing him better.
She’s not always the most tactful, so she’s making it a point to keep her mouth shut right now.
Luminary Ellsworth may appreciate her brazenness, but Oswald is an unknown quantity, and she needs to take her time in puzzling him out.
She clears her throat and tentatively raises her hand. “Sir?”
He looks to her, eyebrows raised. “Yes?”
“Can we… I mean, it would be helpful for me to understand what the others are researching. Maybe we can help each other?”
“On your own time,” he says, waving a hand as if her question is unimportant.
She frowns a bit, annoyed that he’s swatted her away like a fly. This has never been her experience anywhere she’s worked before. Doesn’t he know that they are trying to race the clock to find a way to beat the deadly pandemic threatening to extinguish their entire planet?
She feels her neck get hot as anger coils in her gut, but she keeps her mouth shut and takes a deep breath in through her nose.
She can catch up with Amaltheia, Wynstann, and Tullia later.
She already knows that Nevis will help her, especially because Nevis’ entire family is still on Lumaria.
She has every reason in the world to find a way to stop the spread of Crimson Fever.