“So you’re not interested in weather systems?” Bisma asked.
“Oh, I am. Really, that’s my area of expertise. I do want to learn more. But my parents saw this as an opportunity. If the Vendu had a cure or a treatment, something to help April, it would make such a difference. So, I’ve been searching the university databases for weeks, whenever I get the opportunity. And today, I think I found something.”
“A cure?”
Zara shrugged. She wasn’t a doctor. The medical terminology was too complicated and the Vendu anatomy was slightly different to humans. “I looked for similar symptoms and found this one d
octor who has been researching a disease just like April’s. He’s trialing a drug which uses mind control. I don’t get how it works though. It’s too complicated.”
“I see.” Bisma puffed out her lips. “Do you know where this doctor is?”
“He’s not on Earth, but Halos. If I could contact him, I would. But, it’s useless. The judge hasn’t given me access to any messaging system. I can’t even contact my parents to find out how April is or tell them what I’ve found out.” The tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I don’t want to fail them. I’m in enough trouble as it is with the drinking.”
Bisma sat on the seat next to her and took Zara’s hand in hers. She squeezed it. “Is the drinking your way of coping with stress?”
Zara nodded. She hid it well back at home in New Phoenix. The party princess was really not a princess. The reason she got drunk was to forget. Just for a few hours she could be selfish, have fun, and forget about her dying sister. In the mornings, when she woke hungover, she’d remember what she’d done the night before and feel awful. She deserved to be whipped.
Bisma sighed. “Why, silly girl, have you not told me before? I’m a nurse. An imperial nurse with plenty of contacts.”
“You would help me?” Zara gaped. “You’re not going to tell Galen?”
“You’ve tricked him. I guess your keenness to study is more to do with helping your sister than the climate?”
“Yes, miss,” Zara said sheepishly. “It does help to pass the time, too.”
“He won’t like this deceit.”
“Would he send me back to be whipped? Would he have me deported?”
Bisma frowned. “I don’t know. He is his own master.”
“I noticed,” Zara grinned and Bisma laughed for a couple of seconds. She wasn’t really an ice queen, Zara began to realize.
“What do you need from this doctor?”
“Collaboration. I would plead with him to speak to April’s doctors. Why is it that the Vendu share information about the environment, terraforming and those things, but not medicine? If we are so alike, why don’t they help us?”
Bisma rose to her feet. “That is beyond my knowledge. However, let me think about this. I can’t promise I won’t go to the judge. It depends on many things.”
Zara clasped her hands together. “Please, Bisma. Please help me. Us.”
“I’ll see.” She glanced about the room as if to remember something. “There is another matter we must deal with first. I came to tell you that tonight the judge wishes to claim you. We have preparations to make.”
Tonight! Zara stiffened. The plug, which she’d managed to ignore, made its presence felt as she clenched around it. She wasn’t ready, surely?
“Come. Give me the name of the doctor, then shut the console down. Wipe all trace of your searches.” Bisma spoke with urgency. The clock was ticking not only for April, but the day itself was moving on swiftly. Today was the day Zara would lose her virginity.
* * *
“It’s no use, Bisma, I’m not ready,” Zara said despondently. Her reflection in the mirror showed no trace of the tattoo. “My skin, look! There is nothing. I’m trying and it’s not working.”
Bisma clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and continued to brush Zara’s hair. “Do you fear him?”
“No.”
“Then, it will happen.” Bisma spoke with the certainty Zara lacked.
“It won’t.”