"Probably not here at the Lodge, as Colonel Cortin said--but we don't
know how they'll react to the Empire's presence, and I don't think we
should take any chances."
"Neither do I. Okay, I'll make the announcement and put it in the
standing orders." DeLayne turned to the guard. "No one's to leave the
ship without a sidearm, Corporal; pass that on to your relief. I'll
make the all-hands announcement as soon as I show Captain Odeon to
Sickbay."
"Aye, sir."
Odeon wasn't sure what he'd expected the ship's interior to be
like--similar to an airplane, maybe. Once they got past the airlock
and a series of large lockers, though, what he saw could have been the
inside of a large, modern building. If he hadn't just watched it land,
he wouldn't have believed himself inside a vehicle. "Your guard's
uniform was black--a Marine?"
"Right. SecuDiv--sorry, Security Division; I doubt you know our
abbreviations--like all the ones assigned to Columbus." DeLayne smiled
at his guest. "I'd better warn you, Captain--my medical people will
probably want more from you than a blood sample. I don't know how your
people feel about doctors, but don't let Drulet intimidate you into
more than you're comfortable with."
"I won't. I don't have anything against doctors; I owe my life to
several of them." Odeon paused, thinking. Joanie was taking them into
the Empire, which knew even less about the Kingdoms than the other way
around, so-- "Since you've got to start learning about us, too, I'll
go as far as a complete physical--provided it doesn't include the use
of any drugs."
"It doesn't. He'll be delighted."
* * * * *
The examination didn't take as long as Odeon expected, less than three
hours, but it was the most complete he'd ever had--and the least
understandable. The doctor tried to explain, but Odeon didn't have the
background to make sense out of body scans, biochemical and genetic
analyses, or other procedures. After a bit he told the doctor so, to
Drulet's amusement. "Okay, Captain, no more jargon. I'll wait till
we're done and just give you the results, okay? If you want them."
"The results, sure, if you can keep them down to a layman's level. I'm
not even trained in our medicine, and this--" Odeon gestured to the
equipment around them, "is so far ahead of ours it isn't funny."
"I think I can manage that. Okay, nothing but chit-chat until we get
to my office. Do you like coffee?"
"I'll drink it, but given a choice, I really prefer herb teas.
Something with a tang, like cranberry or ginger."
"I know just the thing." Drulet grinned. "I'll stick with coffee, and
you can try Blue Ginger. That originated on Herbert's World--have you
heard of it?"
"Afraid not."
* * * * *
Odeon sipped his tea, then nodded appreciatively. "This is good,
Doctor. Okay, what's the verdict?"
"You're healthy as the proverbial horse, Captain. More injuries than
I've seen on a single individual before, but no lasting damage--and
contrary to what you told me about your medical history, you've never
been sick a day in your life. No chickenpox or measles, no colds--and
no satyr plague." He shook his head as Odeon started to object. "Oh,
you're a carrier, all right; the pseudo-virus is in your body fluids.
It just isn't inside your cells."
"But I've got all the symptoms!"
"Yes, you told me--the diagnostic ones being the increased sexual
capacity and the penile moistening during arousal. The tests are
conclusive, though; in your case those are genetic, not disease-caused."
Odeon frowned. "Then how come none of it showed up till the day after
I had intercourse the first time? Because that's when the urge got
strong and I started getting wet."
Drulet shrugged. "That question I can't answer; I don't know enough
about the disease. Could be pure coincidence, or maybe the virus'
presence in your body pulled the genetic trigger, so to speak.
Possibly any physical stress or trauma could've set it off, once
puberty hit. But that's all guesswork."
"I understand." That part, anyway, Odeon thought. Why he'd have a
genetic condition that mimicked the satyr plague was a whole 'nother
question, and one he knew the doctor wouldn't be able to answer, so he
dropped the subject. "Would you mind sending my commanding officer a
copy of your report, so it can go in my medical records? I'm due my
annual physical next month, but with this one so recent and so much
more thorough, that can be waivered."
"Be glad to. If you don't mind, I'll forward a copy to Ranger Medart
as well. His eyes only, of course."
Odeon didn't particularly like that idea, for no reason he could
pinpoint--he'd taken the examination so Imperials could learn about
Kingdoms people, after all--but he nodded. "I suppose so."
"In that case," DeLayne's voice broke in, behind Odeon, "you wouldn't
mind if I also send him anything I learn from you."
"No--but he did say he wanted to get his data in person."
"What's the difference if I send him the ship's record tapes of our
conversations, or he talks to you himself?"
Odeon frowned. "The ship tapes everything? You don't have any
privacy?"
"Everything in the public areas, yes. Admiral Columbus, please tell
Captain Odeon how you handle monitoring of private quarters."
"Yes, Captain," came from the air, startling Odeon. "I monitor those
only for sounds of distress or people requesting my attention, and
permanently tape only those situations; everything else is wiped
automatically within approximately one microsecond."
"Your ship talks to you?"
DeLayne and Drulet both chuckled at Odeon's incredulity. "Yes, she
does. All Imperial ships of this class or higher--which means all but
couriers or landers--have AI-level ship-comps."
Odeon was silent for a moment, then he said, "Okay, I'll bite; what
does that mean?"
"Sorry," DeLayne said. "That's a ship-wide computer complex enough to
be classified as an artificial intelligence. That means that if you
didn't know you were talking to a computer, you'd think it was a very
intelligent human. I gather you're not too familiar with computers?"
"That's one way to put it; I've never used one, and only seen a few.
None of those talked, and I never heard of any being intelligent!"
DeLayne chuckled. "Any time you want to talk to one, address her the
way I did. She'll answer you, as long as you don't get into classified
information."
"That may take me a while to get used to. No offense intended, Admiral
Columbus."
"I do not have feelings, so I cannot take offense, Captain Odeon, but I
thank you for the courtesy."
"You're welcome," Odeon replied automatically, before turning to
DeLayne. "Even the little bit I've experienced so far--this Sickbay
and talking to your ship--is awesome. It makes me feel . . . I don't
know. I'm competent enough in the Kingdom Systems, but it's pretty
clear none of us are anything but total incompetents in your terms. I
don't like that feeling."
"Neither would I, in your place. But don't worry about it; as I told
Colonel Cortin, we aren't monsters, and we don't force ourselves on
anyone. If she does decide the Systems should join the Empire, we'll
offer but not impose education about us and our science. Also whatever
you need to bring yourselves to our level."
"Like you offered to teach me?"
"Exactly. Ready to get started?"
"Definitely." Odeon allowed himself a brief smile as he stood. "Let's
go see one of these 'teaching tapes' you mentioned. Are they anything
like a book?"
"Nothing at all. They aren't really tapes, either; they just got
called that, back when they were invented, and the name stuck. Let's
go to my cabin, and I'll introduce you to them. Admiral Columbus,
please have a reader and basic-language tape waiting in my fabricator."
"Yes, Captain."
"Fabricator?" Odeon asked as they left Sickbay, going deeper into the
ship.
"Yes. Do you know anything about molecular physics?"
"No." Odeon sighed. "I'm really in over my head, aren't I?"
DeLayne chuckled. "Not really; that's one of my degrees, is all, and I
enjoy discussing it when I get the chance. Most people haven't the
faintest idea how fabricators work; they just use them. We don't
manufacture small items any more; once a prototype's developed, the
pattern is scanned and recorded. When you want one of that item, you
code it into your fabricator, and the fabricator constructs it, with
any modifications you specify in the coding, from reconstituted raw
materials. When you're done with it, you feed it back into the
fabricator's raw material storage for re-use."