The Helavite War (15 page)

"Hello." Margaret walked up to Arr and
extended her hand. "My name is Dr. Margaret O'Connor. I'm Chief
Medical Officer aboard the St. Mary."

Arr extended his hand, but did not
immediately speak. He was wondering what he did wrong to warrant
the doctor getting his superior. They were only talking. He
answered all the questions to the best of his knowledge. The doctor
even asked him if he could point out his planet on a space chart.
He did as he was asked even though he couldn't imagine what the
location of his planet had to do with what he understood as a
scanning of his physical body.

The assistant filled the silence. "This is
Arr, Dr. O'Connor. He is a Henu from a planet in the Nigula
System."

"Well, Arr," Margaret began in a friendly
tone, trying to put her patient at ease, "We haven't had the
opportunity to meet a Henu before. What brings you in? Are you
ill?"

"No, I'm fine. My friend wouldn't come
unless I did and he needed a physical."

Margaret turned to her assistant. "Find out
who's examining the other Henu. We will want to compare data." Two,
this was a rare find.

Arr smiled and caught the assistant's arm as
he turned to leave. "He's not Henu. He's a human named Jake
Harcourt. I'm the only Henu."

Margaret couldn't believe what she heard.
She asked for clarification. "You're the only one here or the only
one anywhere?"

"The only one anywhere. I am the last of my
people."

Margaret could feel her adrenaline rise.
This got better and better. Not only a new species, but one of a
kind.

Jake had been sitting in the waiting room for at
least a half hour. He had his physical, paid the bill and even went
to the bathroom yet there was no sign of Arr.

Oh well, he probably just got a slow tech.
Jake's stomach growled. He gave thought to where they'd go for
dinner when the blood suckers got finished with Arr.

"Will it hurt?" Arr asked with one eyebrow raised
questioningly as Margaret stood impatiently holding the eye dropper
in her hand.

This was the third time she was asked this
question. She took a breath and tried to put herself in the young
man's place. He told her that he had never seen a doctor before.
This must be a strange and frightening experience for him. Don't
talk down to him she told herself he'll resent you and possibly
bolt before you have all the data you need. Remember, he is here of
his own free will. He could leave anytime.

"No Arr, I just want to look at your eyes.
The drops dilate the pupil so I can see in."

She hadn't hurt him yet. Arr decided to
trust her further and tipped his head back obediently as
instructed, just as Jake poked his head in the door.

"Aren't you finished yet? I'm starved. My
stomach thinks my throat is cut." Jake said indignantly, as he
stepped into the room.

"This is my friend, Jake." Arr introduced.
"This is Dr. O'Connor the Chief Medical Officer," he continued
politely to Jake.

"Well doc, I know you're finding my partner
real interesting, but there's nothing wrong with him and we got
places to go and people to see. Just give him his shots and a base
medical graph for our ship's files and we'll be on our way."

"I don't think giving him a battery of
inoculations would be wise. We haven't determined if he is allergic
to anything." Dr. O'Connor put on her best bedside manner.

"Well, aren't you the lucky one. No shots.
Personally I feel like a Bull's Eye after target practice." Jake
rubbed his arm. "So doc, if you'll just give us his graph we'll be
on our way." Jake waved Arr off the table. "Come on kid. Chow's
waiting."

Margaret put a restraining hand on Arr's
shoulder as he moved to obey Jake's instructions. "Could you wait
here for just a moment Arr? I want to speak with Mr. Harcourt."

As she moved briskly past Jake at the door
he caught a light whiff of her very pleasant lemon scent.

She stood in the hall waiting for him to
close the door. She was really quite lovely. Jake figured when that
coil of hair on her head was let down it probably reached close to
her waist. She began to lecture shortly after he closed the door.
Jake called his attention back from her good looks to what she was
saying.

".... and a base graph will do no one any
good if they don't have the backup information to go with it. What
is it that is so pressing that you can't give me another hour or
so?" Margaret asked, unable to keep from sounding scornful.

"Dinner," Jake answered, turning on his
charm. "Why don't you join Arr and me? We'll talk about your extra
tests and perhaps we can delay our departure."

Margaret was a delightful dinner guest. She was
intelligent and witty. She was a good conversationalist, but
balanced it well by being a good listener. Jake was quite taken
with her.

Toward the end of dinner Jake turned his
attention from their lovely dinner guest to Arr.

"You mind letting Margaret do some
additional tests?" Jake wasn't going to force the kid into anything
even for a beautiful woman, but he promised her he'd ask.

"No, not if that's what you want." Arr
looked at Jake for assurance.

Jake could see the apprehension in
Margaret's eyes as she waited for his answer. "I think it would be
a good idea." Jake graced Margaret with a roguish grin.

"It won't hurt will it?" Arr asked. He
thought sure there must be something they missed doing to him today
that did hurt or Jake wouldn't have fussed so about taking a
physical.

"I promise it won't." Margaret now had the
task of reassuring the young Henu though she thought she could
probably tell him she was going to pull his toe nails out one by
one with pliers and he'd submit to it because Jake said 'he thought
it was a good idea.' Jake had a winning personality. She wasn't
sure that she wouldn't end up taking orders from him herself if she
was around him long enough.

After dinner they strolled around the park
in the city square. It was a lovely night. Good company, good food
and prospects of her name in numerous medical journals filled
Margaret's thoughts. Her mind was racing, trying to put in some
orderly fashion the tests she would run in the morning on Arr when
he commented that the sky looked like the night they spent in the
bunker on Alta III last year.

"Alta III has been off limits to visitors
for years," Margaret said with authority. "What were you doing
there?"

"We were just resting between jobs. It's
really a lovely planet if you stay out of the inhabitant's
way."

Jake cringed; bracing himself for the next
question he knew was poised on Margaret's tongue.

"What kind of jobs, Arr?" she asked with
interest.

"Fighting. We're mercenaries." The young
Henu announced in total innocence.

Well, there she goes, Jake thought. Women
either loved the idea of dating an adventurer or they hated it. He
thought Margaret was probably the latter. He had been side stepping
the subject all evening with success. Now Arr blew it in a few
random comments. He would have to clue the kid in on the finer art
of wooing women.

"Mercenaries? My father was with the Earth
Forces." Margaret commented with her own innocent expression.

Well, you called that one wrong Jake, old
boy. It had rolled off her like water off a duck's back. Maybe
there was hope for the evening after all.

It was late afternoon and Margaret was hunched over
studying Arr's open medical file on her desk. She chewed
absentmindedly on the end of her pencil.

The last three days were like a wonderful
dream for her. She spent her working hours with Arr, her leisure
hours with Jake. Margaret really couldn't say which she enjoyed
more.

Arr was an incredible being. Usually three
days with an alien was sufficient for basic cataloging, but Arr was
a real find. Every time she thought she was finished she'd discover
some new angle to pursue.

Margaret scanned one of the test charts. The
pencil traveled from her mouth to beat a light tattoo on the desk
top. She narrowed her eyes behind her reading glasses in
concentration at the outcome of the tests.

The first day was spent testing his senses.
They were very unique. He possessed enhanced night vision much like
the domestic cats at home and his hearing and smell were very
astute.

Jake's first night alone with Margaret he
told her about the incident on the ice planet with Arr and his
purring.

The next day that phenomenon was
explored.

She asked Arr late in the day where he
learned to speak English. He tried to explain to her how he
learned. She couldn't believe it. She was fluent in French and
asked him if he spoke it. When he replied negatively she pulled a
volume of French poetry from the shelf behind her desk and began to
read aloud. Within fifty pages Arr could converse in French. His
mind was like a computer when it came to languages. He was truly
remarkable.

Margaret leaned back in her chair pushing
her glasses up on the top of her head. She continued to toy with
the errant pencil between her fingers.

The hours with Jake were just as rewarding.
He was everything she ever wanted in a man. He was strong and
forceful yet intelligent and witty as well. He was also gentle and
tender with the ones he loved and he loved the Henu. That's what
was going to make what she felt she must tell him tonight so
hard.

The pencil splintered in half with a
resounding crack in Margaret's unrelenting grip.

Jake hadn't raised his voice, but he was no longer
sitting by her on the couch. He had stood up and walked a few steps
away. He was trying very hard to stay in control.

"I've only scratched the surface Jake. Arr
has so much to offer and if something were to happen to him it
would be lost forever. He should be studied." Margaret's tone had
an almost pleading quality to it.

"I can't believe this. What are you saying?
You want to keep him like a lab animal?" Jake's voice rose in
anger.

"You know better than that Jake. He would
have a good life here. The things we can learn from him as far as
language concepts alone are staggering. We won't learn anything
from him if you get him killed!" It came out much too harsh. Jake
looked as though she had slapped him.

"He's a good fighter and I take care of
him." Jake was talking through his teeth. His fists clenched and
unclenched at his side as he tried to reign in his temper.

Margaret could see how difficult this was
for Jake. She pushed forward trying to make him see the logic of
her idea. "You can't be there all the time. He would be safe here.
Have you ever asked him what he wants? He comes from a gentle
people. If you left him here he might even take a human wife. His
anatomy is capable of it."

"Right! Then you'd have a little half breed
to study. You could write some paper that could make you rich and
famous," Jake spit out as, quivering with rage, he stalked toward
the door.

"You're being unfair Jake." Margaret was
seeing the only relationship she ever really wanted crumble before
her eyes. She rushed to him placing a consoling hand on his arm.
"Please at least consider what I've said."

"I think I'd better go," he said
testily.

Jake was gone before she could think of
anymore points to strengthen her argument.

Arr heard the pod come into the bay on the cruiser.
He and Kay-o were having a late night snack in the mess.

Jake came in and went straight for the
cabinet where he kept his bottle of whiskey. He brought a glass and
the bottle to the table.

"You're home early," Arr said, as he took
another bite of his carrot. He tossed a Goo Chew to Kay-o, which
the dar-dolf caught expertly on the fly.

Jake shrugged and downed a double shot. "You
ever think of doing anything besides being a mercenary, Arr?"

"No. That's what we do."

"I mean, if I wasn't around. Would you do
something different?" Jake persisted.

"Have I done something wrong Jake?" Arr
sounded upset.

"No, kid. Not at all. I was just thinking
out loud." Jake poured himself another double shot.

The Calpernia left the St. Mary's air space the next
morning. Jake was morose. His usual playful battering of Arr and
Kay-o was absent. When Arr asked if he should send a message to
Margaret that they were leaving, Jake growled, 'Do whatever you
like.'

Arr came to the logical conclusion that Jake
and Margaret had fought. He didn't however realize it was about
him. He re-analyzed the conversation of the night before and
decided Margaret must have asked Jake to quit the life of a
mercenary. Arr would have volunteered to quit. He liked the quiet
times they spent on the Henu planet. He would like to have explored
the St. Mary further, but he knew the quiet life was not for Jake
and he would never, ever leave Jake.

*****

Jake felt betrayed. He had known Margaret
only a short time, but in her he truly felt he found the woman to
share the rest of his life. She was perfect in every way. They were
like soul mates that found each other finally after a lifetime of
searching.

Why did she make him choose between Arr and
her? Couldn't she see that she was tearing him apart? He could not
conceive of leaving Arr behind. Being without him now would be like
operating with one arm tied behind his back. It would be like
losing the brother he never had. The thought was incomprehensible
after all they had been through together.

Sometime during their conversation Margaret
suggested Jake stay too. Jake pointed out that a Mother Ship didn't
have much call for mercenaries. Margaret's suggestion that he might
change professions was met with laughter and the query, 'What else
could I do?' She had no answer.