Page 12 of Lashe

His eyes were wide with panic as he looked around my room. “Not here,” he said. “This is yours.”

“Not today, it isn’t. Today it’s yours,” I said.

He dug in his heels and stared at my bed as though it was covered in spikes. “I can’t.”

I was out of patience with his misplaced honor. “You’re lying on this bed and that’s the end of it. Who the hell designed this shuttle with no chamber for the operator to rest in? I’m having that changed the moment we land in a decent spaceport.”

“The operator doesn’t rest,” he gritted out. “That’s the job of an operator.”

“Bullshit,” I said. “And anyway, you’re resting now.” I eased him down on the bed. Fortunately, he wasn’t strong enough to offer enough resistance and he fell back on the mattress with almost a look of relief.

“That’s right,” I said, pointing at him in triumph. “And you’re going to stay there.”

“Fine.” He threw an arm over his eyes. “Pushy female.”

I ignored that and took a step towards the door. “I’m getting the medical kit. You breathed in too much of that dust. That can’t be good for you.”

He nodded and coughed. His face was dark blue now, with a reddish smear that disappeared to his neckline. “You…know where?”

“It’s in the compartments on the port side, near the top,” I said. “I know this ship better than you think.”

I left to get the kit. I’d never used it, and as I expected, it was more than a little box with a tissue restorer and a sedation pen. This thing was the size of one of my luggage containers, but not as heavy, thankfully. I hauled it into the bedroom and placed it on the bed beside him. I unclipped it, opened the top and looked at the array of devices that I had no idea how to use.

“Stelis,” I called out a little louder than I needed to. “Assistance with the medical kit, please.”

“Of course, Anna.” After telling Stelis what was wrong with Lashe in as much detail as I could, she directed me to thecorrect device, a respiratory regenerator that was designed for humanoids like me and was meant for anyone who inhaled a toxic substance. Lashe didn’t have chemicals in his lungs, but this would clear out all the dust and restore his lungs.

“Okay, hold still. I’m putting this mask over your nose and mouth.”

He gave me a wary look and tried to suppress a cough, which he failed at. “You don’t know how to use that.”

“Stelis will tell me how to use it. It’s going to remove the dust so you can breathe normally again.”

“You need a vitals’ monitor,” he said, wincing. Talking was clearly a struggle. He shot a glance out of the corner of his eye towards the device I held. “And some pain management. That will hurt.”

“I thought Destrans didn’t feel pain.”

His brows drew together in a frown. “Where’d you hear that? We feel pain.”

“Well, not like humans do,” I said, hoping to distract him long enough to begin the treatment. However, I did take out a vitals’ monitor and place it against his throat. “You guys are so tough and strong. When you battle, you hold nothing back.”

He closed his eyes. “This is not a battle,” he said in a rattling voice. “Very long time since I faced one.”

He was older than me, but I didn’t know by how much. Destrans didn’t show age like humans did, and they lived long lives, thanks to thelamithey regularly drank. It took the place of food when they lived on their Solas. “I’ll give you a sedative,” I said. “You need to rest, anyway. Stelis will tell me what to do.”

He reached out, taking my wrist in a light grip. “Iwill tell you what to do.”

The rough timbre of his voice sent a thrill through me. He had never been anything but deferential to me. But here, Icaught the hint of the powerful warrior that lay beneath the surface. “Very well,” I said. “What should I do?”

He told me the exact dosage of sedative to administer to him. I programmed what he said into the dispensing pen, pressed it to his neck, and depressed the button.

Almost instantly his face relaxed. “Good,” he said with a slight slur in his voice. “Put on the mask. When you see blood, turn it off.”

What?“Is that actually going to happen?”

He shrugged. “Get on with it.”

I positioned the device over his nose and mouth and started it up. He groaned, but right away, it was pulling gunk out of his respiratory system. Nothing about it looked comfortable, but being the warrior that he was, his eyes closed and he endured having his lungs cleaned out.