"Weird how they’re pushing the hunt for the Scorched Archer less than this marriage thing.”

  “Who’s the Scorched Archer?” Alexi sarcastically asks.

  “My point exactly.” Dr. Redlum huffs, setting down a copy of the hand-scribed monthly report and taking another sip of her sweetened fruit coffee. The aroma overpowers Alexi’s nostrils even with a surgical mask on.

  “So what do you think made Emperor Atheneum finally decide to take a bride?” He asks Redlum, who reluctantly parts her lips from the mug, “Who knows, we don’t even know if the marriage is with President Vanessa or that daughter of hers, the news coverage seems more focused on the idea of humanity uniting again, but maybe it’s different on the central planets.”

  Alexi tosses his surgical mask and gloves aside and checks off the name of a Lungoza patient whose fifth tentacle needed removing.

  “You ever think about marriage, Alexi?”

  Alexi chuckles, “How many times do I have to tell you it’s unprofessional for a Doctor to ask out a surgeon?”

  “But you’re the only human man I’ve met since I moved here.” She pouts, setting down her coffee to look at Alexi with pleading eyes.

  “Sounds like you need to get out more,” Alexi jokingly comments, flipping the patient list over to view the next list of appointments.

  “You’re a real smartass, Alexi.”

  “Yet somehow you aren’t smart enough to get off my ass.”

  “More like I’d like to get on your ass.” Dr. Redlum mutters under her breath, secretly hoping Alexi hears her.

  He doesn’t.

  “Why do you think they even bothered to tell people to look out for the Scorched Archer?”

  Redlum groans at the change in subject. “I don’t know Alexi, the Division is obsessed with her for some reason.”

  Alexi closes the patient list, tapping the crystal table in a rhythmic fashion to stimulate his thoughts.

  “You don’t think she’s crazy enough to actually come to a Republic-occupied planet like this, do you?” He asks in a hushed voice just as a patient steps up to the counter.

  “Uh, excuse me.”

  “How can we help you?” Redlum says in a mockingly over-polite tone.

  Alexi rolls his eyes and readies the ink quill, flipping the patient list to a blank page.

  “Well, I… I mean my- you see I…”

  Smith shoves the bumbling Martian aside.

  “Sorry, but which one of you is Dr. Redlum?”

  The Doctor leaps over the counter, coffee still in hand, “Whoa! Alexi, get a stretcher ready!” She orders, gently grasping Nadeden’s unconscious body.

  “I uh… still need assistance.” Mumbles the Martian, Redlum hands him her coffee mug. “Sorry, bud, but you’ll have to wait. We have an emergency right now, we need to get this Woman resuscitated. Hold my coffee for me in the meantime, would you?”

  Alexi brings out the stretcher with the help of a Fluoredon. Redlum places Nadeden onto it.

  “Thanks, Alexi, you too, Shiina, and on second thought,” The doctor takes the mug from the Martian. She gulps down a large swig of it before handing it to Smith. “Hold that for me, kid, you’re gonna walk and talk with us.”

  Smith follows the group down the winding hall of the hospital, although he focuses on Nadeden, he can’t help but notice the crystal and marble architecture. It's by far the nicest place he’s been in since he got trapped in a human body.

  “When did she black out?”

  “Huh?”

  Redlum rephrases the question, keeping her sense of frantic urgency: “When did she faint?”

  Smith hurries to keep up with her. “About a minute ago, just before we got here.”

  “Just before? So I’m guessing this isn’t the first time, or she’s showing other symptoms? I noticed some injuries on her. Were you with her when she got those?”

  Smith struggles to process all the questions. The heat and smell of the coffee are beginning to distract him as well.

  “No. No, I wasn’t there when she got them, but she has fainted before; I’ve been there for that.”

  The Doctor nods. “How many times has she lost consciousness? What about the extent of the injuries? Why is she wearing that Bandana?”

  The interrogation stalls Smith’s pace as the group turns a corner, moving up a flight of stairs.

  “She’s blind,” Smith states defiantly, proud of himself for remembering Nadeden’s cover story. “And she’s lost consciousness twice that I know of; this is the second time. As for the injuries, I didn’t see all of them, but I know she was attacked. Her stomach specifically seems to be the worst of it.”

  Smith feels a sudden jolt in his chest, realizing that his heart has been racing.

  It’s only slowing now as Nadeden is lowered onto a hospital bed.

  “Attacked?” Alexi looks up.

  The Fluoredon, Shiina, leaves the room quietly. She makes sure not to draw too much attention to herself out of nervousness, fearing that what follows is going to be a very human discussion.

  “Were you in the town Square this morning?”

  “No,” Smith shakes his head, “No, we passed through just before sunset.”

  The pair eyes Smith then Nadeden then each other, exchanging a glance that communicates all it needs to.

  “Show me your identification papers.” Dr. Redlum kindly demands Smith.

  “I don’t have them.”

  “Where are they?” Alexi crosses his arms, approaching Smith, whose hands are burning on the coffee mug.

  “I said I don’t have them.”

  Dr. Redlum snatches her coffee from Smith and moves for the door.

  “I’ll have to get an Officer down here. We can’t do anything unless you have citizenship.”

  Smith bites his lip.

  He has to think of something.

  It’s just like before with the pirates.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  One wrong word, one misstep, and it could cost him everything. He couldn’t have come all this way for nothing.

  Sweat drips down his back. His tongue flexes. The involuntary responses of this body are exposing him.

  This can’t be like last time.

  It won’t be like last time.

  He should have known better than to come here. Nadeden should have known better than to come here.

  This whole thing was a terrible idea, and all for what?

  So he can help Nadeden?

  Who is she to Smith?

  Why does she matter to them?

  Life is precious, life is all. The Mystic told Smith that those words should only apply to their own kind.

  Those close to them.

  Smith leaps for the door, slamming it shut and locking it, stopping Dr. Redlum in her tracks. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  She raises her palms out, trying to hold onto the coffee. “Kid, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but-”

  “I’m helping my friend, that’s what I’m doing. Now, please, doctor, move back toward the bed.”

  Redlum backs away from the door one step at a time. She places her coffee down when she reaches the bedside. “Alexi?”

  “Yes, Doctor?”

  “He said the patient has a stomach injury, correct?”

  Alexi shifts his shoulders, leans over the bed, and lifts up Nadeden’s shirt.

  Smith remains pressed against the door, fearing what could happen if he leaves it unattended. Still, as Alexi and Dr. Redlum work on Nadeden, moving back and forth to fetch equipment from a small table, pull strings up and down, and apply fluids from sealed bottles, Smith feels the need to move.

  The urge to look over Nadeden is too strong.

  It consumes him.

  What are they doing to her with their malicious tools? These things are unknown to him.

  He needs to look, he must look, he must.

  Why?

  Why must he look?

  Staying at the door is more important. If he lets the pair get help, both he and Nadeden are as good as dead.

  He swallows a lump that has appeared in his throat and asks, “What are you doing to her?”

  Alexi is the first to turn around, but the doctor is the first to respond, “Just giving her a few stitches. The wound needed to be sealed; that was the main issue. The antibiotic and sanitization fluids will take care of the rest.”

  Smith lets out a sigh of relief. “Alright, good.”

  Alexi locks eyes with him, seemingly examining him from afar, then turns back, whispering, “That wound was too large, like something had hooked into her and tried to pull her apart. Not just that, but it looked like it had been frozen and thawed out. That sort of bodily damage can only happen in the vacuum of space. It should be impossible for someone this wounded to survive in those conditions.”

  Redlum sets down the bottle of fluid, reaching for her coffee, “What are you saying?” she asks in a tone even more hushed than Alexi's.

  “I’m saying that this might be worse than we think. These people are dangerous. They might not even be part of the protesters.”

  Redlum carefully applies bandages to Nadeden’s stitches as Alexi cautions her.

  She lifts her eyes to wonder, “Who do you think they are, Alexi?”

  “What happened in the Town Square this morning?” Smith pops the question, desperate to put an end to the conversation he can’t hear.

  The pair may be plotting something.

  They could be planning to hurt him.

  That’s definitely it.

  They want to hurt him like the Martians did.

  Dr. Redlum stands at Smith’s question. Alexi takes over the process of applying the Bandages.

  “It’s illegal to discuss affairs of law enforcement,” she explains to Smith, “Who are we to critique our brave officers?” She hides a hint of resentment in the words as she begins to tend to Nadeden’s other wounds.

  Smith leans in closer to watch the doctor’s hands, still staying pressed to the door. “I’m not trying to be critical.”

  Alexi finishes wrapping the bandages, looking back at Smith’s comment, “They won’t see it that way, kid, and you're already pushing your chances of arrest pretty close.”

  Smith lowers his head. Alexi lowers his as well.

  “Division citizens have been protesting the upcoming Marriage.”

  Redlum lifts her hand to pull shards of glass from Nadeden’s neck.

  “This planet has been a mix of both political parties since the Rusting ended the war, but it was Republic first. There’s been a relative understanding that by keeping both sides and cultures separated, peace can be kept. However, with the Marriage, the Division's citizens now feel threatened. The entire reason they fought was to be free of us in the first place, so I can’t blame them.”

  She places the glass shards into a dish.

  “They’ve been loud, though, and they’re growing louder. The protest in the square this morning and the cover-up surrounding it are just natural consequences. Suppressing news coverage has become incredibly easy ever since the Rusting began.”

  “That’s…” Smith attempts to speak, but his voice fades at a loss for words.

  “It’s horrific,” Alexi adds, “but the war was worse. We’ll do anything we can to avoid another one.”

  “They’re still humans, though,” Smith mutters.

  The doctor laughs, “Well, obviously, but they’re also a threat! Think of it this way, kid, you’re keeping us locked in here so we can help you’re friend, and the Republic and Division are locked together because they’re both made up of humans. They both have different ideas of what’s best, just like how Alexi and I have different ideas on how to work with patients, so sometimes they have to compromise and suppress certain thoughts to prevent conflict. It’s all about survival, and sometimes that means keeping your head down and doing what you're told. That’s the way life works, it’s ugly and horrific, but it works.”

  Smith removes himself from the door. “So if I were in the town square this morning like you thought I was, I would have been killed to keep the peace?”

  Dr. Redlum sighs “Yes.”

  For the first time, Smith doesn’t cling to their beliefs.

  They feel challenged by this notion of stalemate that the humans find themselves in.

  Smith’s been drafted into it now, and they are beginning to accept that. Smith doesn’t fight back, although they feel every urge to.

  Even though they know it’s wrong, they do the human thing and choose to remain silent.

  Alexi shifts back to assist Redlum, who is now applying gauze to Nadeden’s neck, where she pulled the shards from. “He’s certainly a strange one; they both probably are, but I don’t think they’re dangerous.”

  Dr. Redlum smiles at Alexi’s whispered words.

  She lifts Nadeden’s Bandana to pull the remaining glass shards from her face.

  She freezes once she sees the burn.

  The doorknob turns.

  Smith slams himself against the door again.

  The Officer outside recoils and signals for the others with him to prepare to breach the room.

  “We’ll give you one warning!” He screams from outside, “We just want the Scorched Archer!”

  Alexi and Redlum leap up from the bedside; both are in shock. Unsure of what to do next, Smith pushes harder on the door.

  The Officer yells from the hall, “You have till the count of ten to surrender! TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!”

  Smith shoves all his weight on the door now, his body sweats as his weak muscles strain.

  “Did Shiina know that this was the Scorched Archer? Did she tell them?” Dr. Redlum frantically asks Alexi, pulling at her hair.

  “No,” Smith gasps, “That must be the Officer who saw me and Nadeden earlier.”

  “FIVE!”

  Alexi is frozen. He cracks his neck. “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know Alexi!”

  “Don’t do anything.” Smith grunts.

  “TWO!”

  “I have an idea.” Redlum speeds toward the bed.

  “I said don’t—”

  “I know what you said, kid.” Redlum snarls.

  “ONE!”

  The door opens.

  “Hello, Officer, would you like some coffee?” Dr. Redlum splashes the hot liquid into the Officer’s eyes, blinding him as she steps aside for Alexi to roll the bed into the hall, knocking down everyone in it.

  “Thank you,” Smith says in gratitude, stepping into the hall with Nadeden on his shoulders.

  “No problem.” Redlum smiles. Alexi grins as well, although it seems forced.

  Smith runs down the stairs with Nadeden on his back.

  The Officers regain their bearings, cursing themselves before going after the pair.

  The blinded Officer stays behind. He rapidly rubs his coffee-stained eyes before stumbling into a wall. Redlum lets out a laugh at his clumsiness. Alexi places a hand on her. “Why’d you help them?”

  The Doctor moves the bed back inside the room. “Alexi, you said that kid wasn’t dangerous, so what do you think he was?”

  Alexi shrugs, “Scared, I guess.”

  Dr. Redlum grabs the blinded Officer and places him on the bed. “We’re all just trying to survive, Alexi. When I realized that Woman was the Scorched Archer, I wondered why she had that young man with her, and why he was willing to go so far to help someone so dangerous, but then I remembered something someone once told me. It was the thing that made me want to become a doctor in the first place.”

  “What did they say?”

  Redlum smiles, preparing to treat the Officer, “That we’re all just trying to survive this cruel life, so the least we can do is be kind and help each other. Now give me a hand, will you?”