Isla

“I’ll go first,” Ryock offers as we enter the medical bay.

No doubt he can feel my anxiety through the bond. I’m so nervous my hands are shaking with it. I just have this awful feeling that there’s something wrong.

A chunk of my life is gone. What if it’s my brain? What if the Crima or someone else messed with it?

I nod my head at Ryock and offer him a forced smile as he walks up to the exam table.

The exam table is the only piece of furniture in this whole light gray room. Above the table, attached to the ceiling, is some kind of machine, but otherwise the room is open and completely bare.

The table creaks under Ryock’s weight as he climbs up, and appears to be a touch too small.

When he lies back and stretches out, his feet and shoulders hang off of it.

The floating orb, Marketh, zooms over to him, reaching him first.

“Close your eyes, relax, and remain still,” Marketh says, his tone cool and professional. “This will only take a few moments.”

I slowly approach the exam table, stopping a couple of feet away. I’m unsure of where to stand so I won’t be in the way, but I want to be close.

Ryock closes his eyes and sends a burst of reassurance through the bond.

Maul comes up to stand beside me and gives me a curious look before turning his attention to Ryock.

Though Lexi wanted to be here, Maul insisted she tend to Thorn in their sleeping quarters.

I’m not sure if he insisted so Thorn isn’t a distraction, or because he’s trying to protect her. I get the feeling it’s the latter. My Spidey senses are telling me that Maul and Marketh know what’s up.

If only I had a clue.

A bright beam of light suddenly shoots out of a recess in the machine attached to the ceiling and begins to slowly roam up and down Ryock’s body.

I tense up.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Maul says before I can ask.

I peek up to find his neon green eyes peering down at me.

Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what to think of my new brother-in-law. For one, he’s very intense and just a tad overprotective. Normally, I’d probably find it endearing, but the fact that he’s trying to protect me from Ryock of all people is starting to rub me the wrong way.

I plan on talking to Lexi later to see if she can get him to lighten up a bit.

“The light is simply scanning him,” Maul goes on. “The system is similar to the MRI machines you use on Earth.”

“But more advanced,” Marketh chimes in. “The system is able to completely map, monitor, and diagnose over a thousand different race’s vital functions.”

“Does it treat?” I ask.

Maul inclines his head. “Up to a point.”

I nod my head and swallow back another burst of anxiety. I don’t like that ‘up to a point’ part.

The beam of light does one more pass over Ryock then shuts off.

“Okay, big guy, you can hop off. You’re all done,” Marketh says, his little orb spinning in a tight circle.

Ryock blinks open his eyes, sits up, and gives me a reassuring smile.

“Well?” Maul asks, shooting Marketh a look.

“Everything seems to be in working order…” Marketh says thoughtfully and stops spinning. “In fact, his vital systems seem to be a little too perfect.”

Maul frowns. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say his organ systems are constantly repairing themselves.”

Maul nods his head, seeming to accept that answer. Then everyone turns to me.

Oh, that’s right. I’m next.

Ryock stands from the exam table and holds out his hand.

Gathering up my courage, I lift my chin and walk up to him. I place my hand in Ryock’s and he pulls me close to his chest.

“It doesn’t hurt, my star, and it will only take a couple of minutes,” he says, his chest vibrating with a soothing purr. “I promise.”

I nod my head and he brushes back my hair before bending down and pressing his forehead against mine.

I’m radiating anxiety and everyone seems to think I’m worried about the procedure. It’s actually the opposite. Lying down on a table and being scanned by a light doesn’t frighten me in the least.

What terrifies me is what that scanning light might find.

Marketh clears his throat, which is odd given that he probably doesn’t have a throat. “We’re ready to begin whenever you are.”

Ryock sighs and pulls away then helps me on the table. Once I’m stretched out, he gives my hand another firm, reassuring squeeze, steps back and pushes his purr through the bond.

I close my eyes and focus on the purr.

Behind my eyes, I see a flash of light and then Marketh grumbles. “Ryock, if you could stop purring for a moment…”

Ryock’s purr turns into a growl which echoes behind my ribs. “Why?”

“You’re interfering with the procedure.”

I want to peek my eyes open but resist the urge when Maul asks, “How is it interfering?”

“It’s vibrating her ribs,” Marketh snaps. “Which is making it difficult to get a good read on her.”

“Interesting,” Maul murmurs.

Ryock mutters something under his breath and the purring stops, leaving me with nothing to focus on but my own thoughts.

I try to keep my breathing calm as I desperately push through my memories, searching for something… anything… before the lab.

The light flashes behind my eyes.

“Please remain calm,” Marketh says, the bite gone from his voice.

Coming up with one great big giant blank, I stop racking my brain and try my best to relax by focusing on the back of my eyelids.

The light flashes again but otherwise I can’t sense the beam passing over me. There’s no warmth, no tingle.

The light flashes a couple of more times and I swear I’ve been lying here twice as long as Ryock before Marketh informs me, “We’re finished, Isla. You may sit up.”

I blink open my eyes and sit up.

Marketh zooms over to me so fast he cuts Ryock off. “Isla, I’m going to do another quick scan. Please remain still.”

Another scan? I shoot Ryock a worried look but his face shuts down before I can tell what he’s thinking. He nods at me to comply.

Marketh begins to spin around me in a slow circle. “Have you been experiencing any fatigue lately? Or fainting?”

I start to answer, “No…” but then remember the fainting I did back in the lab. “What do you mean by lately?”

“The past few weeks.”

“I fainted a couple of times in the lab, but I haven’t really been tired or fainted since.”

Marketh seems to buzz and stops circling around me to hover in front of me. “When was the last time you fainted?”

I think back and then remember, “Oh, I passed out when we crashed on the planet, but I thought that was just from the impact.”

“What are you thinking, Marketh?” Maul asks as he slowly approaches the table.

“A moment, Maul,” Marketh says and then circles around me one last time.

He seems to hum and buzz for the longest time, stretching all of our patience, before he finally declares, “She shows all the signs and symptoms of an extended cryosleep.”

“Cryosleep?” I repeat, not understanding what that means. “What’s that?”

“An old technology that’s been nearly obsolete since the invention of the warp drive,” Marketh says.

“Okay, that still doesn’t explain what it actually is,” I frown.

Marketh sighs and explains like he’s explaining to a child, “Cryosleep is a state of suspended animation. It causes a temporary cessation of the body’s main functions by inducing a hypometabolic state that preserves mental and physiological capabilities. In layman’s terms, the body is essentially frozen to force a short-term hibernation.”

“So I’ve been sleeping for over a year and a half?!” I blurt out while I try to wrap my mind around the concept.

“It would explain why we found no traces of her during all of our searches,” Maul says thoughtfully. “If they had her on ice, they could have kept her anywhere…”

The ramifications of that hit me like a punch in the chest. “Oh my god, so someone like froze me and stored me in a freezer like a popsicle?!”

“What?!” Lexi exclaims as she enters the room, carrying Thorn. “Who froze you into a popsicle?”

“The Crima,” all three guys growl.

“Ugh! The damn Crima. I’m so sick of them,” Lexi says with disgust as she walks up to the table.

Everyone makes sounds of agreement and then Marketh says, “Maul…If the Crima put Isla into Cryo, it’s not that far of a stretch to assume they are doing it to other humans as well.”

“Explain what you’re suggesting, Marketh,” Maul says while looking to Lexi and giving her a disapproving frown.

Lexi shrugs her shoulders and smiles at him, and once again I get the impression they’re somehow communicating without actually speaking.

“Well, we know that hundreds, if not thousands, of humans have disappeared from Earth, yet we still don’t know what’s happening to them. Besides Lexi, very few are showing up in the slave markets.”

Maul nods his head and then his head whips back around to look at Marketh. “You think they’re keeping the humans on ice somewhere?”

“It’s a possibility. It’s a practical storage solution, despite the potential side effects.”

Ryock has been mostly silent up until now, but his voice comes out a little growly as he asks, “What side effects?”

“Oh, the usual,” Marketh says nonchalantly. “Fainting, nausea, weakness, irreparable cell damage.”

Just when I think it can’t get any worse… “Irreparable cell damage?!”

“Oh, don’t worry, Isla, your cells are quite healthy,” Marketh says cheerfully.

Whew. I breathe a sigh of relief and start to relax until he goes on. “So healthy, if my calculations are correct, your body should have no difficulties carrying your pregnancy to term.”

Wait. What the fuck?

“Did you just say I’m pregnant?”

I mean, I know Ryock and I joked about it, but I didn’t think it could actually happen.

“Yes,” Marketh snickers, seemingly finding this amusing. “And according to my scans, the father is definitely an Argmarath.”

Ryock sends a burst of joy so strong through the bond it nearly knocks me off the table.

“Oh my god,” Lexi gasps, and I can’t tell if she’s saying it in a good way or a bad way over the ringing in my ears.

“Marketh,” Maul growls. “Change course. We need to reach the Tribunal as quickly as possible.”