CHAPTER 16
ELERI
In the quiet hours of the morning, Eleri found herself unable to sleep.
With the energy of the previous day still fizzling under her skin, her thoughts kept turning to S’samph and the moment they had shared that afternoon.
She didn’t want imagination to get in the way of sense, but a tiny corner of her heart wanted to believe that there was something meaningful growing between them.
If she allowed herself even more latitude, she found herself curling around the warm memory of the recordings of his voice she’d listened to on the passage over where he narrated facts about himself and his life.
The most dangerous thing she found herself doing was wanting.
She wanted him to want her. She wanted to let him prove his interest and to earn her trust and respect and perhaps even love if she let herself get truly carried away with wanting.
But Eleri guarded herself, aware of the dangers of desiring anything.
Instead of fixating on feelings, she dove into learning more about latil’e and what life had been like on Latilla before calamity struck the planet.
At first, she convinced herself it was purely an academic endeavor, but the more she learned about their culture and the tragedy of their home planet, she realized her intentions had little to do with vocational training.
She confirmed her suspicions about latil’e body language and mannerisms. Most of their gestures were expressed through their frills or their tails, not facial expressions like humans.
They were sexually dimorphic, and reproductively compatible with most species that produced eggs.
Eleri placed an instinctive hand over her stomach.
She knew if she reproduced with S’samph, it would be an egg in an incubator.
No viviparous pregnancy for her. But it wasn’t so strange.
Not anymore. Her grandparents’ generation was fairly homogenous, but hybrid children on Gaia had become much more common in the past several decades.
When she only treated human patients, she helped deliver a few hybrid babies, albeit never one that hatched from an egg.
Her reading brought her into religion and mating rituals.
Female latil’e were responsible for sexual advances in most cases.
Mate bonds were recognized in the flame halo ceremony, where they would burn some of their scales in offering to their great goddess before exchanging mating bands.
The male would prove his valor and determination by walking through a wall of flames.
Instinctively, Eleri swept her fingers down the span of her hip-length braid.
When she was satisfied with her cultural research, her mind turned elsewhere, and she found herself searching for S’samph specifically.
Most people showed up on the intelewaves somewhere if you knew how to search, but S’samph wasn’t even particularly difficult to find in the archives.
There were so few surviving latil’e that the ones who made it had been noteworthy.
He'd been a soldier, a platoon leader. Eleri hadn’t known that about him.
His IA dossier had only listed his employment information as a colonist farmer.
She never would have assumed from his quiet presence.
There were a few grainy holovids of him participating in military exercises in the desert landscape of what had once been Latilla.
She recognized K’kaen there as well and even S’kasia.
All of them must have fought together. Eleri clicked off the holovid and returned to her research.
After ignoring multiple warnings from top latil’e scientists, Latilla’s inner core had imploded, sending the planet into a crumbling death spin.
Only a handful of latil’e had survived. Only those with resources to get off planet immediately.
Of the population of nearly 2 billion, it was suspected that only 100,000 survived.
Eleri’s heart sank. It wasn’t a topic she would broach unless he brought it up first, but she was glad to understand him a bit better.
She finally had some clarity on the need to find compatible mates if the population was so low and disparate.
It also made her realize, with a strange sinking feeling, how small her problems seemed in comparison.
The guilt gnawed at her. If S’samph could survive and rebuild after his entire planet was destroyed, then surely, she could manage establishing boundaries with her family.
Perhaps she could even allow herself to entertain a romantic relationship with S’samph, as something she chose for herself, rather than as a way to escape from a life she despised.
She disconnected from the intelewaves and lay back on her cot.
Her eyes were bleary with lack of sleep, but it was time to start the work day.
Eleri made her way down to the clinic and found Aglao hovering in a manner that could best be described as off-kilter.
They were not their usual busy self, attending to tasks around the clinic.
“Are you well, Aglao?” She asked. It took a moment for her words to register, but Aglao finally turned their face toward her.
“I am well, but I am not. Apologies, the concept doesn’t translate well into Universal.”
“Is it something I can help with?” Eleri asked.
“Unfortunately, no. I have reached my hibernation period. I will need to spend thirty-three IA standard days in a deep slumber to recharge myself for the next two years of awakening.” Their lowermost limbs drooped. “Even now it is difficult to maintain awareness.”
“What can I do to prepare? Do you need my help with your hibernation sequence?”
“You are prepared for most situations that might arise. My hibernation pod is already prepared in my sleeping quarters. If you can just help me inside when the time arises, and make sure no one enters while I am asleep, then all will be well.”
Eleri nodded, understanding dawning on her. She was going to be left in charge of the clinic prematurely. “Are you sure I’m ready for this?” she asked.
Aglao glowed a calming pale blue. “Yes. You are a gifted healer, Eleri of Gaia, and you have good instincts for care. When I awaken from my slumber, you will be ready to pass your examinations, I have no doubt.”
“Will you know when your hibernation is imminent?”
Aglao’s color flickered unstably. “It will likely begin within twenty four standard hours.”
Eleri held back her sigh. She was going to make this work. It wasn’t ideal, but she would manage the clinic as well as she could. It would be a good practice run for her. “Do you need me to do anything before then?”
“No. I will help you restock our pharmacy tonight, and we can walk through the clinical procedures again. You will have to rearrange your home visit appointments to account for the two hours of open clinic in the morning and then again in the evening.” Aglao sagged a bit under their own weight.
“Things will run smoothly as long as you keep to your schedule. Go change into a clean uniform and let us not waste time in preparing.”
Eleri did as she was told, and they spent the rest of the evening cleaning, organizing, and preparing for Eleri’s official takeover of the clinic. Aglao had progressively faded throughout the long night. Eleri helped support them as they made the long climb up to the clinic’s second floor.
“Can I open your room for you?” Eleri asked.
She’d never been inside before as she didn’t want to intrude on Aglao’s space.
Her mentor made an amenable noise, and Eleri lifted their rightmost tentacle to press against the identity reader.
The door clicked open to reveal a simple desk with an outmoded datapad model and a dark maroon cocoon-pod.
“Is that where you’ll be hibernating?”
Aglao made an affirmative gesture. “Help me in if you do not mind.”
Eleri hastened to help them over to the pod. There was no obvious door, but as soon as Aglao’s tentacles touched the surface, it began to pulse and undulate. Aglao was absorbed into the pod. Before her mentor disappeared completely, they reached out a final weary limb.
“I almost forgot.” The credit chip on Eleri’s wrist began to shine. “A stipend for your work in my absence. It is not much, but you should be compensated for your work.”
“That’s not necessary…” Eleri started to protest the gift, but by the time she could gather her thoughts, Aglao had already dissolved inside the pod, which then started to pulsate like a quivering heart arrhythmia.
In the quiet hum of the room, Eleri allowed herself one deep sigh.
She then straightened the datapad on the desk on her way out and then closed and locked the door behind her as she left.
Outside of Aglao’s room, the weight of responsibility fell on her with surprising alacrity.
She was responsible for the clinic and for the health of everyone in both Lauras and Indras.
Certainly, she could contact the senior healer in Abwele if anything catastrophic happened, but otherwise, she was it.
The clinic was quiet in the evening, and for the first time in too long, Eleri sat and soaked in the silence.
She was bone-weary. So many weeks of running around trying to acclimate herself to her new home while also trying to meet all the requirements to become a healer had taken its toll on her.
And then there was S’samph. Stars and stones, she didn’t know what to make of him.
He wanted her. At least he said he did. Her good nature wanted to trust him, but the sad, kicked child in the back of her mind trembled as she reminded her of every time she’d been let down by those she trusted.