BB-8 and I made our way to the base of the star fighter. Poe came around the side of the ship decked out in his orange flight suit.
"Alright doc. You ready to fly?" He asked as he handed me a suit of my own. I nodded enthusiastically, trading my bags with him so he could store them away while I changed. When I climbed up into the ship, Poe looked back at me from the cockpit and let out a low whistle. "I'm not sure which I like better on you, a flight suit or my jacket.." he put his hand on his chin as if he were truly pondering it before I shoved his shoulder with an eye roll.
"I look good in everything," I said while sitting in the chair to his right, buckling myself in. I shifted my gaze to him with a joking smile which he scoffed at.
"That may or may not be true," he said with a wink. "I'm curious, did you know General Organa before you came to base?"
"No, but I have spent a lot of time with her since I've been here. Especially when I first came on board. As you know, my uncle Gavin was the one who made it possible for her brother to destroy the first Deathstar, so we bonded on old family stories a good bit."
"Ah, that explains it then."
I tilted my head, confused by what he meant. "Explains what?"
"Just how protective she is over you," he said with a shrug.
Okay, now I was really confused. "I... what do you mean? How would you gather that?"
"It's something I picked up on is all. She mentioned something briefly the other day when we saw you above the hanger." He then turned to his droid, clearly done with our conversation. "BB-8, everything good to take off?" BB-8 gave the affirmative and set himself in his dock behind our seats, ready to head out. Poe placed his helmet on and I did the same with mine after doing a quick braid down my back.
"Commander Dameron to flight deck, are we clear for take-off?"
"This is the flight deck, you're clear, Commander," I heard through the head piece. He looked over at me with a huge grin. "You ready, doc?"
"10-4, Dameron. Let's do this!" I was ready to see the stars up close again. As he flipped the necessary switches and pointed the thrusters towards the ground, I thought back to my father and the number of times I had been his co-pilot when I was younger. I swear I spent more time in a ship than I did with my feet on the ground, and the giddy feeling I always had made its way into my chest, starting a flutter into my limbs. We rose from the ground and out of the hangar, and I looked over at our pilot to see a deep look of concentration across his features. He was in total control of this craft, and I felt safe in his hands as we rode further into the atmosphere.
Once we broke the atmosphere, my favorite view rose in front of us. I strained against my restraints to look around the sky in awe. There truly was nothing like it that you could find on any planet. No, this was something specific and special to the space above. The stars stood out against their black curtain and you could make out a soft aura of color surrounding each one. Even being so far away from them, it still felt as if we were flying amongst them.
A soft laugh caused me to turn to Poe, "You'd think this was your first time up here."
"Maybe my couple-hundreth time, but it's just as wonderful as the first time I saw it, ya know?" He kept his eyes on mine, nodding his head before turning back to the controls.
"Okay, we can jump to lightspeed from here. Shouldn't be too long before we reach the Inner-Rim, then it's a relatively short flight to the Colonies from there." I heard him communicating back to base through my helmet, but was content just staring out of the window in silence as we broke into lightspeed. At some point when we entered the Inner-Rim, the lack of sleep the evening before caught up to me, and the hum of the ship carried me off into sleep.
"Dr. Dreis, there is nothing we can do. She's lost too much blood." A person was next to me, trying to pull me away from the bleeding body. I looked to them, only to see a blurry face with no recognizable features.
"No, I can bring her back. I know I can if you'll just let me try, please!" Another blurred individual grabbed my other arm, making it impossible for me to keep cleaning away the scarlet liquid. "Let me go! She needs me!" Yet another arm grabbed me, this time around my waist. Another came from behind and wrapped around my neck. As they jerked me backwards, I took another glance at the patient's face to see it blurred as well.
I was jerked onto the floor, fighting with the limbs that were still trying to drag me down the hall. I was kicking and biting; anything I could do to be released from their hard grasps. Her blood covered my knees and I felt the warmth of it soak into my pants. With one last pull, I released myself from the caging arms and hauled myself up using the gurney holding the patient.
A sheet had appeared, covering her body. The blood was gone, none even remaining on my knees. With a violently shaking hand, I reached up to the top of the sheet covering her face and slowly pulled it down. A sharp call of my name was heard down the hall, "Sienna!" I heard it once more and felt myself being pulled away once again, but this time within my own mind. I looked down one last time to see this woman that I was not able to save.
I found my own dull, green eyes staring up at me, lifelessly.
I woke up with a jolt, popping against my restraints. Poe was leaned over in his seat, his hand on my shoulder and eyes wide.
"Sienna, Sienna, hey, you okay? You fell asleep for a bit, but started shaking pretty hard-"
I did my best to reassure him in between my deep shaking breaths. "I'm fine, sorry. Just an odd dream is all. Get them all of the time." I leaned my head back against the seat, trying to shake the image of seeing myself dead.
BB-8 voiced his concern as well, causing me to turn towards the droid with a small smile. "I promise, I'm okay."
"If you're sure..." Poe replied, giving me a last once-over before turning his attention back to his controls. "We are a few minutes out from Devaron. BB-8, go ahead and secure for landing."
I leaned forward to get a better look at the small green planet before searching out to the stars one more time, using them to finally bring my heart rate back to normal. I knew that once we landed, there would be no reason to dwell on just another bad dream.
Not too long after, the ship rocked slightly as we landed on the ground. Undoing the restraints, I stood and stretched before removing my helmet and shaking out the braid at my back. I looked over to see Poe running a hand through his brown curls, then shook my head and looked away, afraid to give myself too much time to admire the pilot. I made my way over to where my bags were secured and waited for Poe to undo the exit hatch. Once opened, he gestured for me to go first, "ladies first."
I threw my clothing bag down and threw the med bag over my shoulder before climbing down the ramp.
"Dr. Dries, welcome to Devaron." I spun around to be greeted by a tall woman with full, white hair. Her skin was the shade of dark clay. She approached me with a large smile, showing her pointed teeth, but her eyes were friendly and kind. I almost didn't even notice the two vestigial bumps on her forehead. "My name is Yunish, the leader of Devaronions. This is my council." She gestured to the three beings behind her, two other females and a male who had a small set of horns. I nodded to them before returning my gaze to Yunish.
"Sienna Dreis, it's lovely to meet you." Poe walked up behind me, as I introduced him, "and this is Commander Poe Dameron." He shook the leader's hand, giving the group behind her a polite smile.
"We are happy to have you here, however I wish it were under different circumstances." Yunish said. "We are indebted to you for arriving on such short notice. Would you like to stop by your designated quarters to relieve yourself of your travel bags?"
"That would be great. I do want to get to your clinic as quickly as possible."
"Are you sure you don't want to rest for a little bit, doc?" Poe asked while softly placing his hand on my shoulder.
"That nap on the ship will hold me over. I'll be fine." I shot him a smile and turned to follow Yunish and her council as they led us to our quarters. The path there was off the ground and woven by thick vines. I was amazed at the beauty of this place. The thick jungle was so untouched and preserved. "Isn't this stunning?" I asked looking back at the pilot. He smiled widely, nodding in agreement.
I heard Yunish laugh ahead of us, "thank you, doctor. We Devaronians take great pride in our planet. We try to nourish the land the same it does to us." She finished as we approached our rooms, turning to face us. "Here are your quarters while you stay. We will leave you to settle. Dr. Dreis, I will send Dr. Sanu to fetch you in a short time. She will show you to the patients and update you on our.. situation."
"Thank you for your hospitality." Poe politely said. I sent Yunish a grateful smile as the group left us in front of our doors. Poe turned to me with a raised brow. "Doc, I really do think you should get some rest before heading out. Who knows how long you will be kept over there, and I know you didn't get much sleep last night."
I leaned my back against the door, giving the man a determined look. "I really do appreciate the concern, Dameron, but I promise you I'll be just fine. I won't be able to sleep anyway because my mind will be on the patients here. Speaking of sleep though," I pushed myself off the door and walked in front of him, "I know you didn't get much sleep either and obviously didn't have time to nap. Why don't you settle in for the night, okay? I'll wake you in the morning before I head out." He looked like he was about to argue with me, but stopped short.
"Okay, okay. You want BB-8 to go with you?" The droid spoke up from behind him, peeking around his leg.
"You need to charge tonight, but I probably could use your assistance tomorrow if that works?" He beeped in acceptance to me, whirring around mine and Poe's legs.
Poe shook his head at the droid and walked over to his door as I made my way to mine. "Goodnight, Sienna. Go solve your medical mystery." He sent me one last knee-melting smile before entering his room with the droid close behind him.
I went into my modest quarters and changed from my flight suit to a shirt and loose base pants, then throwing my hair in a high ponytail. Grabbing my med bag, I took another quick inventory, trying to prepare myself for what I may need tomorrow. As I was flipping through my notes on different nitrates when a soft knock filled my room. I made my way to the door and opened it to reveal an older Devaronion woman in a long white coat. Her dark hair was as black as the night sky, matching her dark eyes.
"Dr. Sanu, I presume? I'm Sienna Dreis." I stuck my hand out to the woman with a smile who warmly took it in both of hers.
"Dr. Dreis, I have heard much about you. I'm so grateful that you have come. I'm afraid my medical team and I have reached our limit and I knew that you would be the one who could help us find a treatment for this sickness."
"I'll do everything I can to help." And I meant it.
Dr. Sanu beckoned me to follow her as we made our way to a building on the other side of the main grounds we were on. It was covered in old vines; a layer of delicate purple flowers covering some areas. Entering the building, the sound of coughing replaced the rustle of leaves and branches. The doctor handed me a mask before securing her over her nose and mouth.
We walked by the mostly sleeping patients, but some were wheezing in their sleep. It seemed hard for a few to breathe. Dr. Sanu filled me in on when the illness started, how the symptoms progressed, and what the final symptoms were of the three who had already died. First the coughing, then a wheezing, choking breathing. From there it became shortness of breath, and patients described the feeling of a large weight on their chest that was crushing their lungs. Some said they were drowning from the inside out. Death seemed to take two weeks after the shortness of breath. It also seemed to have airborne transfer since it was not contained to one household.
"The first patient that died was a male who had just gotten back from a desert mining planet. He had been there for quite a while, but did not start feeling sick until he returned. His wife died from it also after contracting it from him. It's been slowly spreading ever since." She looked incredibly sad while describing it all to me, and I could understand her pain.
After some time observing, listening and taking notes, the pair of us made our way out of the med wing. "Thank you for explaining everything to me, Dr. Sanu. Let me take some time to go over my notes and compare them to what we know now. There has to be some link you've been missing if there are no reports of the illness from the mining planet." I put my hand on her arm, offering her a gentle smile. "We will work through this together. You have my word that we will find a solution for your people. I won't leave until we do."
"You are a blessing to us, Dr. Dreis. I'm very much looking forward to working by your side. I must head back to brief my nurses, but I will see you in the morning."
I navigated my way back to my room, my mind already running with the new information. I was sure we could cure this.. I just had to find out how.