Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 11 - Hard lessons

Infection

"What the heck happened to you?" Henry asked the next morning. "Who did this?"

Taylor stood outside her door, blinking in the bright sun. "What? Oh, I tripped."

"You've got to be kidding. Where did you trip? Where were you going? Your legs are shredded!"

Taylor looked down at her legs. They had gone numb in the night, but the bleeding had stopped. Her legs looked terrible, with bits of bark sticking out of several cuts. Some of the cuts dripped a yellowish ooze. "Oh, we went for a walk last night."

"You went for a walk? In the dark? Don't they know you can't see in the dark?" Henry fumed.

"They can," said Taylor. "And feet glow."

"You're talking nonsense. Your legs look badly infected, and hey - you're hot!" said Henry, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead. "Carla, can you call Angus? She needs a medic!"

Carla nodded, then entered the flyer. She came out a minute later. "He's got the kit ready, but I've got to go get him."

Henry nodded. "Just do it. She needs help. Bloody hell, those Illiya saying you have to stay on this cursed planet. It's only been two days with them and you're already a mess. A few more days with them and you'd probably end up dead, anyway!"

Taylor shook her head, which ended in a wobble. "Sacred. Asook. Need to learn, need to -"

"Taylor? Taylor??" yelled Henry as she slumped to the ground.

Fever

Taylor awoke to a sharp pain.

"Sorry, thought I was losing you," said Henry, cradling her to his chest.

"What the hell- ow!" she said, touching her face. Her hands were swollen and tender.

"What is the matter?" asked Char as he approached.

Henry shook his fist up at Char. "It's your fault! You did this! If she dies-"

"She may not die. She has tree fever. I will help."

Henry shook his head. "You've helped enough. I've got Carla bringing real help - real medicine - for Taylor. You stay away from her."

Char nodded. "I will bring fruit."

"You keep your bloody fruit away from her!" Henry snarled.

"Fruit will heal," called out Char as he disappeared into the forest. "You will see."

Five minutes later the flyer arrived carrying Angus and Carla. Henry and Susan had moved Taylor back into her hut and laid her down on the sleeping platform. Susan was trying to cool her down with damp cloths.

Angus was first into the hut, wearing a class two suit. "Let's see what we have here," he murmured. He tapped his temple and withdrew a hand-held scanner from the med kit. He placed it on her forehead briefly, then passed it over her body, staring at a series of symbols hanging in the space above her chest. "Uh-hum," he said. "Hmmm."

"What, Angus? What did you find?" asked Henry.

Angus tried to rub his nose, but his hand bumped into the visor. "Well, she has a fever, and her hands are swollen. Her legs look pretty bad too."

"We know that. What else?"

"That's all. The scanner doesn't show anything."

"How could that be?" asked Susan. "The nanos report on all biological functions."