his best the first time he meets you. He will be joining us for dinner.”
An aide walked in the room. “Your majesty, there is a problem with Mr. Nesslun.”
◊They took me to a medical aide to have my head cleaned and healed. The aide cleaned off the dried blood and asked me how I had injured my head. I told him I had not ducked low enough when I came to a low spot in the tunnel.
“And how long ago did this happen?” the aide asked me.
“It happened when I first entered the mine,” I replied.
“Say about nine to ten hours ago,” said the aide as he looked at his notes.
He scanned the wound, turned pale and, in a tone I did not like, told me to lie flat on the bench and not move. He left. Almost immediately a doctor came in. He rescanned my wound, while a larger piece of equipment was wheeled in the room. He used the larger piece of equipment to scan me from head to toe.
He said it appeared that I had the misfortune to bump my head on a chunk of fuel quality gloride and the fibers had spread through my entire body. I would need to be put in suspension until I could be sent to a top line medical facility. Being put in suspension was never done casually. About three percent of those put in suspension never come out. I was already being given injections of medication to start the process.
“Don't I get a say in my treatment?” I asked him.
“No,” the doctor said, “There isn't time. Even in suspension the deterioration of your organs will continue, although at a much slower pace. It's go into suspension or die.”
“If you are going to send me to the planet Udell for treatment, I would rather have you cut my throat right now.”
“Udell, I have heard of Udell. That's a Market Sphere university planet. Their facilities are as good as any in the galaxy.”
“You don't understand. They want to find out how my ability to kill gloride monsters works. In order to do this they would have to dissect me and test the parts while they keep me alive. When they are done I understand that the pieces will be mounted and put on display.”
“Don't worry. You're a hero of the Empire now. We won't let anything bad happen to you,” the Doctor said trying to reassure me.
“The royal we always worries me. It implies that someone else will handle the actual details and no one is really responsible.” The doctor must have seen the stricken expression on my face.
“Mr. Nesslun, I give you my word, you will not go to any medical facility where you will be experimented on.”
I looked in his eyes. I believed him. The question was did he believe me. As consciousness slipped away, I wondered what I would wake up to.
◊◊◊
Linda opened the door and there Nesslun was. Linda looked at him carefully. Nesslun was completely naked, every last hair shaved off, tubes stuck in everywhere, down his throat, up his nose, in his penis, in his wrists, in his ankles, in his neck, in his thigh. His eyes were taped shut.
Linda had to touch him. Linda carefully ran her fingertips over the skin at the top of his head, the line of his jaw, down his chest, over his ribs, around his belly button, then gently following the scars across his belly and down his belly to his upper thigh. Linda wanted to handle Nesslun's penis, but was afraid to because of the tube in it. Linda carefully handled his balls. The skin of the sack they were in was so soft. Her fingers continued their journey down his legs. Linda didn't have much time. When they started the next level of Nesslun's suspension Linda would have to leave.
Dr Carroll watched Bob through the clear wall separating them. She grabbed a technician walking by. “How come she gets to go in with him and I don't?”
“That's the Emperor's daughter Lindwella. She could have Nesslun stuffed and mounted if she wanted to.”
“By the way she's fondling him,” Dr Carroll said as she watched Lindwella through the clear wall, “I think Lindwella's the one who wants to be mounted and stuffed.”
The technician smiled. “Nesslun's a lucky man. I hope he makes it.” His smile faded. “By the way, if it should come up, I didn't hear that last comment you made, okay.”
The technician turned and hurried away.
A soft voice behind Dr Carroll spoke up. “Excuse me; are you Mr. Nesslun's friend?”
Dr Carroll turned around to see an elegantly dressed, perfectly groomed young woman with two large Imperial Troopers standing behind her. Dr Carroll nodded.
“Princess Lindwella would like you to join her for lunch. Would you please follow me?”
Mankind has significant commercial relationships with only three other star traveling species.
THE BARRILLEANS;
The Barrilleans appear to be happy go lucky, almost comical figures. They are the galaxy's universal merchants. The Barrilleans are smaller than humans, with significantly larger heads, hands, and feet. The vast bulk of the Barrillean population lives on huge city sized spacecraft scattered throughout the galaxy.
THE THURIANS;
The Thurians are taller and broader then humans, have feathers rather than hair, and appear to be a cross between an owl and a man. They are the universal negotiators and political strategists of the galaxy. The Thurians have the most highly developed sense of smell of any known sentient race. The Thurians are carnivores. They swallow their food alive and whole, but sedated. The Thurians aren't savages.
THE ELAN;
The Elan are taller and much more slender than humans. Hairless, with nut brown skin, the Elan are the technical wizards of the galaxy. If you want the best of the best and money is no object the Elan will build it or provide the service you require. The only things that the Elan will not provide for sale are weapons of war.
The Emperor was speaking with the Elan representative, the Thurian ambassador, and the Barrillean representative by deep space line. Mr. Nesslun's friend Dr Carroll stood beside the Emperor. The talks were informal, even though the Thurian was quite adamant. “The agreement was that Mr. Nesslun would return to the planet Market as soon as his tasks were completed. Market has facilities to deal with gloride poisoning,” the Thurian said while arching the feathers at the top of his head and down his spine.
The trip to the planet Market was longer than the trip to the planet Court, but the delay would not be life threatening. The Elan representative said little but clearly agreed with the Thurian, as did the Barrillean. The Barony representative, in the far corner of the room, had no opinion and Dr. Carroll felt Mr. Nesslun should go to the closer facility on Court. The Emperor told his doctor to contact the Grand Hospital on the planet Market to make certain they were ready for Mr. Nesslun the moment he arrived.
The Doctor talked to the head of the gloride poisoning facilities at Market's Grand Hospital. The director of the gloride poisoning unit said that Mr. Nesslun should be sent directly to the planet Udell. Udell was marginally closer and they had the best facilities to deal with such extensive gloride poisoning. The Doctor had heard of Udell and knew that their facilities were considered top line in any part of the galaxy. Had he not spoken to Mr.
