Inter Mundos (Between Worlds)

Twelve: Perfect DNA

The paper work for the Academy was done the same day, however, starting the same time as everyone else was a different matter. So while everyone was getting acquainted with the academy and each other I was stuck having to go through a physical first (and I wasn't without one of those annoying patient robes). Thankfully Dilbert was there to draw some blood from me.
"How long have you been a doctor?" I asked him.
Dilbert stuck the needle in my arm. "Almost ten years. After my first voyage and the trouble my friends encountered I thought it best to study to become one. I don't regret a single moment of all those late night studies." He smiled a bit as he told me this. "Ah, there we go." He took the needle out and set it on a silver tray and then handed me a cotton ball to apply pressure to the tiny hole. As I held it down he grabbed a thick rubber band and put it over my arm to hold the cotton ball in place. "The female doctor will be in to see you shortly." He stood up and took the silver tray with him.

I waited for about three minutes before the female doctor came in. She looked a like crossbreed of a cat and mouse. I tried not to think about the huge difference between a cat and mouse. She was very pretty though and her name tag read: Pie Monty. I held back a grin as I thought of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
"Miss Edwards Briar, yes? Can you stand up for me, please?"
When I did I was glad to see that she wasn't much taller than me; usually people towered over me.
"And stand on that scale over there." She pointed without looking as she kept her head down to look at her notes.
I gulped. I was not prepared to see what I weighed. It wasn't like I was fat, but I wasn't exactly thin either. I was average and little on the short side. As I stepped on the dreaded scale the doctor pressed a bunch of random numbers and moved the metal bar on top back and forth. Finally, everything was in place and she took her pen and jotted information down. "Nearly 60 kilograms and standing at 162.56 centimeters."
Like I really needed to be reminded that stood at 5ft and 4inches and weighed 132lbs. I sighed.
The doctor had me do various poses and stretches and even some exercises before laying me on the sanitary paper covered bed. She pressed down on my stomach and other parts of my body and made me take deep breaths. Visiting the doctor hadn't really changed for the last thousand or so years...or so I thought.
"Stay lying down." She told me and pressed a button on the side of the bed. A glass cage locked me inside. She then turned off the lights in the room and pressed more buttons. My body was then scanned with a green light and then the glass cage glowed a neon blue. My skin appeared to be showing tiny orange, purple, and white dots. And then what looked like pink dust hovered over me.
Pie Monty gasped.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
I could tell that she didn't want to worry me, but the look on her face was that of being utterly shocked (in a good way) and completely confused. When she was done with everything she turned the lights back on and told me to get dressed. She wrote in her note book a few more times before excusing herself from the room.

I got changed quickly, thinking someone would be in here soon to check on me. Instead, I ended up waiting for almost an hour! Was it normal for something like this to take so long?
Finally, Pie Monty returned only to tell me to gather my things quickly and follow her. That was easy enough seeing as I only had a simple coin pouch. I followed her down the hall thinking I would be leaving soon, but when it came time to turn the usual corner we took a different way. Confused, I asked where we were going but she just told me to keep following. Did I do something wrong? I was getting nervous. Maybe joining the academy was a mistake?
And then we stopped and Pie Monty opened the door to a large office. She stood to the side and let me through. However, she did not follow me and proceeded to close the door behind me.
I saw Captain Amelia, Jim's friend Kate, Jim himself and another fellow I had yet to meet, although he had a striking resemblance to Kate and I figured that maybe they were related.
"Hello, Miss Edwards. I am Admiral Blake." Said the stranger in his deep voice. "I believe you have already met my daughter Kate and of course you know Jim and Amelia." I nodded at this, feeling shy. "Come have a seat."
I walked carefully to the chair as I did not want to risk tripping over my own two feet because of how anxious I was feeling. "Am I in trouble?"
Admiral Blake shook his head. "No, not at all."
I saw that the doctors notes were sitting in front of him.
"Miss Edwards..."
"Call me Briar."
He nodded once and gave me an acknowledging smile. "Of course, Briar." He cleared his throat and looked over the notes for a few seconds before continuing to speak. "Your physical went smoothly." He told me.
A wave of relief washed over me.
"However,"
I raised a brow. "However?"
"Your DNA is a different matter."
"What's wrong with it? Am I sick?" My left foot started shaking uncontrollably and I hoped they couldn't tell. I pressed down on my left leg to keep it from moving, but I don't think it helped much.
"On the contrary." Said Amelia. "You are perfectly healthy."
"Then what's the problem?" I asked.
Kate spoke up. "Its the purity in your blood."
I gave her a confused look. "Purity? What are you talking about?" I felt cold now and goosebumps covered my arms and the back of my neck.
"We are saying that your blood shows no signs of any other species." Said Jim.
I stared at him. "And that's...not normal?"
"Considering the last person to be fully human was nearly nine-hundred years ago, yeah that's not normal."
"But wait a minute," I said. "You're human."
"Ninty-eight percent human." He told me. "Somewhere in there a person I'm related to someone who had children with another species, but its so far down the line that's its hard to track exactly who it was. Understand?"
I nodded weakly. "I guess so..."
Amelia smiled at me, trying to make me feel better. "Miss Edwar- I mean, Briar, we are happy to have found someone as unique as you. You're special; a beautiful creature in a lonely domain."
When she said that I guessed she meant that I was like an exotic animal in a foreign land. "Good," I said. "Then there's no trouble." I said it as a matter of fact.
Admiral Blake sighed. "There is something that puzzles us, though."
I scrunched my shoulders up in question. "And that would be...?"
Admiral Blake continued. "There is no one that we can find who might be related to you. The last Edwards to be recorded was a little over two-thousand years ago."
I was slightly impressed. "You keep records that far back?"
"We back up records as early as the time of Earth." Explained Jim.
Oh yeah, I thought. Even Silver knew about Earth and how it had been lost for thousands of years. Of course they would have records that far back. I was stupid.
"It's time to tell us everything." Said Jim. "Whatever you tell us will stay between us."
I nodded but I wasn't ready. I should have known that I wouldn't be able to keep this act up forever. "I'm from Earth." I told them.
Kate sat straighter in her seat. "Come again?"
"I'm. From. Earth." I said it slower this time.
Kate said, "That's not possible."
I almost laughed. "It is if you get sucked up into a time hole thingy while you're in a plane."
Jim grinned. "Time hole thingy? I like that."
Amelia hushed him. "Start from the beginning, Briar." She then said to me.

I told the four of them about how I went to school in Europe and I was flying home to America to be with my dad. When they asked about my mom I spoke briefly about her passing. I then proceeded to tell them how I ended up on a planet called Jagerveen and that's when I ran into Stickler, his mean, and even Silver and his group.
"Wait," said Jim. "You know Silver?"
Amelia seemed intrigued as well.
I nodded. "Yes. It's because of him that I survived. He saved me."
The four of them looked at one another.
I was hopeful for a moment. "Have you seen him? I'm really worried about him."
Jim spoke up. "None of us have seen him for years." He thought for a moment. "It almost seems too good to be true that you know him."
I shrugged. "Know him. Knew him. Whose to say? We were attacked by Stickler and that's when we got separated. He stayed on the ship while I escaped on that boat you found me in. I don't know if he's still alive. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Jim's voice was gentle.
Admiral Blake heaved a heavy sigh. "So, what you are telling us is that you're from the past?"
I nodded. "Silver told me to never tell anyone, that's why I've kept it a secret...until now. I'm not sure how its possible, but it happened. Please, you've got to believe me." I didn't want them to think I was crazy and stick me in some loony bin.
"Don't worry," said Jim. "I believe you. I've seen a lot of crazy things in my life and you're the best one so far."
I blushed and put my head down. "...Thank you, Jim." My foot finally stopped shaking.
"I believe you, too." Said Amelia. "As long as I'm breathing no one outside of this room will know of your origin."
I looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you!"

The rest of our conversation went on about how I would enter the academy and which dorm I would be living in for that semester. I should have expected to be staying in dorm. This was something I was used to, and heck, I might even feel "at home".
As the captains dispersed I left as well, heading back to the main lobby where Sarah was waiting for me.
"Briar, wait up!"
I turned around and saw Jim walking up to me. He was carrying with him a dark blue cloth bag in one hand and black leather knee-high boots in his other. "These are for you."
I took them. "And this would be?"
Jim smiled at me, although it was more like a "ha-ha" grin. "Your uniform."
"Oh, well thanks!"
"I know you wont be starting until the day after tomorrow, but I wanted to give these to you now so you had a chance to try them on."
I smiled up at him. "I will."
He leaned in closer to me now and said, "Did Silver look to be in good health?"
I thought for a moment. "Yeah, he seemed okay. Of course, his cyborg arm and leg gave him trouble from time to time, but he seemed good."
Jim nodded weakly to this.
I looked at him, concerned. "Is everything okay?"
Jim scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, everything's fine. Believe it or not Silver is an old friend of mine. I met him on my very first voyage."
I smirked. "Amelia says there are no good pirates."
This made him laugh. "I try not to take Amelia too seriously, then again I can afford to. But don't you go doing the same thing."
"Gotcha, Mr. Captain!"
Jim gave me a thoughtful look. "Briar...don't ever change." He squeezed my shoulder softly. "I'll see you at the academy." And then he walked away leaving me speechless yet again.