The Salarian Desert Game by J A McLachlan

Author:J A McLachlan [McLachlan, J A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Amazon Kindle, futuristic, literature, e-book, Book, reading, spiritual and metaphysical fiction, Books, Mystery, strong female protagonist, coming of age, colonization of planets, Christian science fiction, teen adventure, teen fiction, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781770531130
Publisher: EDGE-Lite (an imprint of Hades Publications, Inc.)
Published: 2016-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

I wake up in my bed the next morning. What a nightmare, I think. Then I move my foot.

When the pain recedes enough that I can breathe and all my energy isn’t needed just to stop myself from screaming, I lie there thinking of every nasty word I know in all six languages I’m fluent in, and a couple more I’m still learning, and direct them all at this rotten planet.

The cactus sap I got yesterday is sitting on the table, but I would have to move to get it. Desert doctor, Teacher called it. D-doc, for short. I remember the immediate relief in my left foot as the sap numbed the site of the snakebite.

But I would have to move to get it. And then I’d have to remove the bandage, and touch the fiery, throbbing, agonizingly painful underside of my right foot to apply it, and wrap the bandage around my foot again… I close my eyes.

PING. I wake up slowly, trying to place the noise that intruded on my sleep. I was dreaming a dragon with a preference for barbeque was cooking my foot with his breath. It’s well past rare, verging on medium-well, when the timer goes off again: PING.

No, that’s not a cooking timer. It’s my door. I frown at it. “I’m sick.” I call out. Maybe.

My whole body feels hot. On Seraffa, that means fever. On Malem, if it weren’t a fever, it would be a miracle. Here, it could just mean the air cooler is overtaxed and failing.

PING. I give up and wave my palm at the door. It hesitates a moment — my thinking is a little fuzzy — and opens. Kayo walks in with a tray of food. The smell alone is enough to make me want to throw up.

“I can’t eat,” I groan. “I’m sick.”

“Really?”

I close my eyes.

“Because Master is furious with you. She told Kama to drag you out there if she had to.”

I wave urgently at the door until it slides shut.

“You sure you don’t want these?” Kayo starts in on the veg sticks.

“I’m sick,” I say tersely, because even speaking increases the torture in my foot.

“You look kind of red.”

“Fever.” Doesn’t she get it? I could be contagious. If we were on Malem, she’d be out the door already, not dawdling closer as if she’s going to touch—

She puts her hand on my forehead. “You’re really hot. Maybe I should call a medic?”

“No. I’ll be okay. I get this sometimes.” Like whenever I go into the desert with Norio. “I just need to sleep.”

“You’re sure?”

“Kayo, please. Just say… say I have a headache.” I glance at the tray. “And leave the drinks.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “Do you want a pain-deadener? I have some in my room.”

I drift off to sleep after gulping down a capsule of relief, wondering why Kayo needs pain-blocks, but glad, in a totally selfish way, that she does.

When I return to training two days later, both Master and Teacher stand in front

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