His discussion with Tassie had been rather enlightening, and still she was keeping secrets from him. Kell longed to know just what exactly she had discovered during her research with Irric. A problem for another day, he mused. He shook the thought from his mind and focused on preparing the first of the blood samples he’d received from the team.

  They were suspicious at first when suddenly called in for a physical but knew they didn’t have a choice when Kell ordered it. Each of them worried that there might be something wrong with them and he’d had to calm them with the explanation that it was simply a routine check-up. Not all of them were content with that answer but weren’t able to wrest more information out of him. The gods only know that Jyn certainly tried, but not even he could force Kell to divulge anything related to medical.

  It rankled him that Tassie was technically in charge of his research and that he needed to discuss certain possible private results with her but there was little he could do. He would keep confidential what he could, and she would have to content herself with what he chose to share — medically speaking.

  One by one, he went through the samples and compared them to each person’s history but found no significant changes. At the very least, nothing that warranted any attention. Rann was slightly anemic, and he’d have to have a chat with her in order to get her iron levels back to where they should be but was perfectly healthy apart from that.

  For hours he remained holed up in his lab, hard at work. When Tassie came to check up on him, he was forced to admit that his research had yielded nothing — everybody was fine. Tension bled out of her at the news. “What do we do about Reya?” she asked him. “She and Adrian are a little suspicious that we’re suddenly doing this. Speaking of, did you find anything in the blood sample you took from her when she was first rescued?”

  Kell turned serious. “Yes. You were right to worry. I took a very close look at the foreign substance I found, and it turns out they were nanomachines.” Tassie paled and he continued. “There’s quite a few different kinds, but I still can’t figure out what exactly their purpose is.”

  “Do you have any good news for me?” Tassie asked faintly. The thought of her friend turning into another Stanley worried her greatly. Her relief at Kell’s next words was palpable.

  “Yes,” Keel said. “They’re rather sparse and don’t appear to really be doing anything. Some of them yes, most of them no. One kind in particular dominates. I’m guessing it might have to do with whatever they used to rapidly heal her. If they were running experiments on her, that’s one of the things they did to her the most frequently.”

  Tassie frowned. “They could also be related to the neurotoxin used on her, don’t you think? Or part of the food they fed her.”

  Kell shook his head. “They healed her more often than they fed her. If what you’re saying about the experience being painful is true, then I pity both her and Adrian.”

  “I thought you said you don’t know what they do yet,” Tassie said.

  “It doesn’t change the fact that their food caused excruciating pain when they ate it, according to them,” Kell replied.

  Tassie barked a short laugh. “You don’t know the half of it.” She couldn’t show Kell directly the experiments they’d found on Adrian, but that wouldn’t stop her from imparting on him his lack of understanding into the sheer amount of pain the experiments caused.

  “And you do?” Kell challenged. At most, he was expecting incredibly painful cramps that might have resulted from literal machines being introduced into the host’s system.

  “I have a much better idea than you, yes,” Tassie said. “I’m not going into any specifics. I’m not allowed to.”

  “More information would help me do my job better,” Kell pointed out.

  “And you’ve been given all you need to know to carry out your tasks,” Tassie said.

  “Fine,” Kell sighed. “I’ll go talk to Reya and see if I can convince her to have a physical done. A new blood sample would go a long way in determining if there’s anything truly wrong with her.” The two of them left the med bay and Tassie waited for Kell to lock it up. She bid him farewell and went back to the bridge to continue her work.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Kell left the ship and entered the house. The faint sound of music told him exactly where he’d find the person he was looking for. Knocking on the music room door, he waited patiently as the music stopped and Reya opened it.

  “Kell,” she said, surprised, “what brings you here? You never come to the music room.” She moved aside to let him in, and he strode into the room. She shot a worried glance to Adrian, who eyed Kell in suspicion. “Does this have to do with the physicals you’ve been giving everybody?”

  Kell eyed the bass he knew Reya was learning to play and wondered how best to approach the topic without being immediately shut down by either of them. “It does,” he admitted. “I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to also undergo a check-up.” He braced himself for the backlash.

  They delivered.

  “I don’t need another physical,” Reya said while crossing her arms, shutting him down. “I had plenty of them done when I was recovering in the hospital. Just get those results from them.” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What’s this really about? It’s strange that you’re suddenly examining everybody.”

  Adrian gave the doctor a critical gaze. “Does this have to do with me?” he asked.

  Kell nodded. “High Command wants to ensure that nothing’s come from being in contact with you over an extended period of time.”

  “They’re convinced I’m a walking biohazard, aren’t they?” Adrian fumed. “I already told them that whatever’s killing Stanley had to do with my time back on Earth and doesn’t apply to the others.”

  “They just want to be sure,” Kell said, placatingly. “It’s my job to make sure everybody’s healthy. I know you won’t let me take a look at you,” he winced when he saw Adrian’s expression but continued anyway, “but that doesn’t stop me from making sure the others are fine. We don’t know what the gru’ul did to you and whether it can spread or not.”

  “I think it’s rather obvious that it can’t,” Reya said. “We’ve been in close contact with him for months now and none of us ever got sick.” She wasn’t impressed by the rhetoric. “Why do you want to take a look at me if I’ve got nothing outwardly wrong with me?”

  “It’s to be safe!” Kell said. This was going about as well as he thought it would. Neither of them were receptive to being studied — not after what had happened to them. Reya had permitted the hospital to take regular measurements of her blood as they monitored her recovery, but that was an exceptional circumstance. “Listen, why don’t the two of you discuss it. I’m not trying to force you. I can’t do that since you’re no longer military. It’s my professional opinion that we should at least check you out to make sure everything’s alright.”

  “Fine,” Reya said in a hard tone. “Was that all?”

  “For now, yes. When you’ve come to a decision, come find me.” With that, Kell turned and left the room, not wanting to intrude any further so that the couple could properly discuss his proposal. He shut the door behind him and went back to the ship.

  Back in the music room, Adrian regarded Reya with a worried look on his face. “What if there’s something wrong with you?” he fretted. “Maybe Kell’s right and you should get looked at.”

  Reya shot him a surprised glance. “I thought for sure you’d be against me being looked at by Kell.”

  Adrian shook his head. All he wanted was for the person the most important to him to be healthy and hale. He would never forgive himself if he were the cause of an illness in her and they could’ve discovered it soon enough to save her. The thought of losing Reya terrified him. He told her his thoughts on the matter.

  Reya bit her lip. “I’m pretty sure I was also experimented on, at least in part. What should we do if Kell finds something related to the experiments? I know you don’t want to learn anything, but I don’t want to keep anything important from you.”

  Adrian took a deep breath. “I’d leave it to your judgement. If you think it’s something I need to know, then tell me. Otherwise, I trust you. I know you won’t ever hurt me. But Reya, what if there’s something wrong with you and it’s my fault?”

  Reya heard the deep-seated worry in his voice and gave him a hug. “I feel fine. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with me, but if you really think I should be checked out, then I’ll let Kell know. I just don’t like the fact that the military is going to have access to my results. I’m sure there’s another reason they’re not telling us for why they suddenly want these physicals. It’s suspicious.”

  “I agree with you there, but your health is far more important. I don’t know what I’d ever do if I lost you to something we could have treated early,” Adrian said. He leaned into the hug and tightened his arms around her, resting his head against hers.

  “Alright,” Reya replied, breaking the hug. “If that’s how you feel, I’ll let myself get checked out by Kell. I’m sure nothing will come of it.” She let go of him and rubbed her eyes. “Gods, my eyes have been so itchy lately. Maybe I’ll have him take a look at that instead.”

  Adrian flashed her a wan smile. “Do you want to tell him now?”

  “He can wait a little bit,” Reya replied. “I was having fun learning how to play the bass. It still boggles me that you know how to play so many instruments.” She picked up her bass from the stand she’d rested it on when Kell came and took up her position anew. Their problems could wait a couple of hours. It’s not like she had anything to be worried about.