Her Alien Healers by Susan Hayes

Author:Susan Hayes [Hayes, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Scroll Publications Ltd.
Published: 2023-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

8

Five days. She’d been avoiding Tariq and Sulat for the better part of a week. Jody knew she needed to deal with it, but she’d rather be dropped into a pen of starving gharshtu than face Tariq and Sulat right now.

This wasn’t the way she wanted things to go, but after she heard about their brawl at the local arena, what other choice did she have? Everyone in the colony seemed to have an opinion on the matter. Most thought it amusing and seemed to enjoy relaying every detail, real or invented. Some expressed curiosity about what the fight was about and offered up their personal theories.

Jody had a damned good idea what the fight was about. Her. Which was why she’d kept her distance from both males and their daughter despite the fact she worked with them all in some capacity. She’d handled her administrative work from home, rearranged her hours at the clinic, and taken efforts to arrive at the new arrivals integration camp during periods she knew Vixi was busy elsewhere.

So far, it had worked, though Lores made sly remarks about it every chance she could. Beneath her teasing and sometimes caustic remarks was an undertone of concern Jody appreciated.

“I’ll figure it out today,” she muttered as she made her way to the clinic. Dodging the last remnants of puddles left by last night’s rain. The early morning weather was clear and bright, though, lifting her spirits despite the lingering chill in the air.

Haven’s streets and sidewalks were quiet at this time of the day, but a handful of beings were already out and about. Some prepared their stores and businesses for opening while others were on their way to work on coming home from a night shift. She smiled at those she recognized but never slowed her pace. Not until she spotted the small crowd gathered around the front door of the clinic.

So many patients this early? Had there been an accident? Another outbreak of illness? And why were they all outside?

She hurried forward, her mind filled with questions she couldn’t answer yet.

Once she was close enough, she called out to the group of Vardarians gathered outside her clinic. “I’m here. What’s the issue? Who needs help first?”

Some turned toward her, wearing similar expressions of worry or even fear. Others shied away, leaving the area with their heads down and wings partially extended, as if they might take flight any second.

She didn’t shift her focus to the damage until she was certain none of them needed aid.

What the hell?

The windows and doors of her clinic had been vandalized—not with paint or even a laser etching device but with something more disturbing. The air reeked of chemicals that stung her nose and made her eyes water. Despite her blurred vision, Jody saw that a single symbol appeared repeatedly, identical in size and still smoking slightly from whatever acid had been used.

Something about the glyph, which looked to her like a series of swirling lines inside a circular border, tickled the back of her brain.

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