Excerpt of Intergalactic Witness Protection
I unseal the door that stands between Reverend Shipping and the two forms who must be Orion and Wayta.
When the door slides open, I see that I’m right. But all is not right at all.
Orion is paler than a Martian with his head cradled in Wayta’s lap- though she still looks like him. Sweat is glistening on his skin, and his eyes are closed.
Wayta looks up, and her version of Orion’s eyes are dull. “Do you have the cure?”
Shipping holds up the vial as he moves toward them.
Orion’s doppelganger holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”
The Reverend glances at me, as if asking if I trust her.
“You hold him still, Wayta,” I answer both of them. “Shipping can administer it.”
Wayta narrows her version of Orion’s eyes. “I’ve guarded him all this time.”
“And I fought my way to get here,” Shipping counters, bending down beside them and preparing the vial for injection. “How much should I inject him with, Alicia Ivy?”
I scan both him and the vial, analyzing components and running equations to calculate how much he needs. “All of it.”
Shipping doesn’t hesitate to lift Orion’s sleeve and inject him right in a vein.
Moving closer, I scan Orion and barely wait for those results to come back before scanning him again.
Wayta studies me. “Well?”
I ignore her and scan Orion again.
She turns to Shipping.
Shipping turns to me on Wayta’s behalf. “Well?”
“His symptom levels are receding.” I scan him again, but detect a secondary pattern.
One that is about to become a primary pattern. “But so is his heart rate.”
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