The Cycles of Revelation Series

Artifact of the Dawn: Wah’kah’ria (A Queer Sci-Fi Adventure)

Episode 68: Ardyn and Jenira are transported to the Wah’kah’ria and find Jevan severely injured.

In the blink of an eye, Ardyn’s world shimmered out and back into existence. When he rematerialized on the Wah’kah’ria, he reached out to steady Jenira, whose mouth hung open, still mid-sentence.

Jenira looked around, startled. “Wha- where are we?”

“We’re on the Wah’kah’ria,” Ardyn explained. “This is how their transportation system works. One second, you’re on Med’nor, the next, you’re up in space.”

“You were right, that was very weird,” Jenira said, wobbling on her feet. “I don’t know if I could ever get used to that.”

The transmat tech cleared her throat. “Your friend is in the medical bay. It’s three decks up from here. Follow the hall from the elevator and you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Ardyn replied before helping a still bewildered Jenira off the platform. “Come on, let’s go check on Jevan.”

The mention of her brother’s name seemed to snap Jenira out of it. “He better be okay,” she said with a huff, before swaying on her feet.

Ardyn reached out and steadied her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “That… whatever that was… just messed with my head.”

Ardyn kept an arm around Jenira’s shoulders as he guided her toward the elevator down around the corner from the transmat room.

Jenira shrugged away from him as he placed his hand on the wall to summon the elevator. “Jevan promised he was going to be fine, and said these ships were completely safe,” she groused.

“He didn’t want you to worry,” Ardyn admitted, leading her into the elevator. “But all the ships were part of the defense against the Maara’dahl.”

“So, you knew there was a risk? Why did we send so many people to take shelter in this place?”

“No, they weren’t aboard this ship. They took shelter on the Pah’ora,” Ardyn explained. “That was the ship my people were transported to when Denyra abducted us. Keryth had his techs reinforce the shields, and the Pah’ora stayed out of the fight. The battalion made sure of that.”

“Why couldn’t Jevan witness this battle from that ship?” Jenira asked.

Ardyn shrugged. “I was told it was because they needed to bear witness to the command decisions, not just the action. The battalion was going to take the brunt of the attack and keep the Wah’kah’ria safe.”

“If Jevan’s injured, then they didn’t do a good job then, did they?” Jenira said with a growl, her voice raising in volume, as tears of frustration slid down her face.

The elevator doors slid open, and Ardyn led Jenira down the corridor. Taking hold of her hand, he squeezed it. “I’m worried about him, too.”

Sliding her hand out of his, Jenira stopped. “He’s always been so brash…”

Ardyn quirked a smile at that. “That’s part of his charm. The way he rescued me from that sar’ora. If his arrow had missed, we’d both have been dead.”

“He’s always been everyone’s protector, for as long as I can remember,” she recalled, fiddling with a loose curl of her hair.

“Jevan is also remarkably gentle for such a large man,” Ardyn said. “He told me he often helped to brush your hair when you were growing up. He… he also enjoys brushing mine.”

Jenira reached out and stroked Ardyn’s hair. “I can see why. Your hair is such a pretty color, and it’s so soft. It’s so comforting, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I need to get Micah to help me brush my hair when I see him again,” Jenira said, speaking of her bondmate. “I still miss Jevan doing it for me.”

“Once he’s recovered, I’ll tell him to visit and brush your hair. It can be penance for making his little sister worry so much about him.”

“I’d like that,” she said, moving forward once more, taking Ardyn’s hand. “Thanks for that.”

The corridor curved, and they found themselves in front of two large glass doors that slid apart as they approached, reminding Ardyn of the main entrance to the hospital wing on the Rahn’naa. As they entered, they saw many medical techs swarming around various beds, each one occupied by an injured crew member. Scanning the room, he looked for Jevan, spotting him in the far corner.

“Over there,” Ardyn pointed, leading Jenira to where he saw Jevan’s feet propped up on a small cart, his taller frame too large for their medical beds.

As they approached the bed, Ardyn had been expecting to find a smiling Jevan, joking with the medical techs tending to him. Instead, he saw Jevan lying still as death. His face was ashen and barely visible under something that covered his nose and mouth. There was an array of tubes and wires attached to his head and arms. They had swathed Jevan’s head in a bandage and had encased his torso in something solid.

“Jevan!” Ardyn cried out, rushing to his friend’s side.

Jenira rushed over next to him, staring at her brother. “Is… is he…?”

Before she could finish her question, she fainted. Ardyn barely caught her and slid down to his knees to soften her fall. Cradling her in his arms, he tried to wake her. “Jenira? Jenira! Can you hear me?” When she wouldn’t wake, he looked desperately around at the medical techs tending to other patients. “Someone, please, help!”

The medical techs ran over and checked on Ardyn and Jenira. Someone brought a hovering gurney, and several of the techs gently lifted the Medellan woman carefully onto it. She was only slightly taller than Ardyn, so thankfully, she fit on the gurney.

Others helped Ardyn up, and they led him to a seat next to Jevan’s bed. It took a moment for Ardyn to orient himself when a tech approached him. “You must be Ardyn. I’m Tamaryn, the chief medical technician on the Wah’kah’ria.”

Ardyn’s eyes darted from Tamaryn to Jevan and Jenira. His voice caught in his throat when he asked. “I-is Jevan… i-is he?”

“Jevan is severely injured, but he is still alive,” Tamaryn reassured him. “Unfortunately, he’s too tall for any of our medical beds, as you can see. We’ve stabilized him, but we need a larger bed for him before we can treat him properly.”

Before Ardyn could ask for clarification, one of the medical techs checking over Jenira called out. “Tamaryn, I need your assessment.”

Ardyn followed Tamaryn over to where Jenira lay, still unconscious. “What’s wrong with her?”

The medical tech was running a hand-held scanner over her and focused on her abdomen. “Am I understanding these readings correctly?”

Tamaryn looked at the scanner’s display and nodded. “Yes. Their species may have differences in anatomy, but I believe she is pregnant.”

Pregnant?

In that moment, Jenira came awake, suddenly sitting up. “Did you just say I’m pregnant?!”