Renegade World: Future Past (15 page)

Though I understand why I was banished from Idumea, I
never thought that I would enjoy it
.  He blew a kiss at his mistress.
What
I do, I do for the good of Idumea…and me.

Idumeans had looked upon him as both a hero and an
abomination. Made a slave by the Azazelite conquerors at age four, Azazelite
scientists had altered his genetics and permanently integrated other technology
within his body, both against his religion. One of the seven heroes who had led
the final revolt against the Azazelites, he should have died in the final
battle, but a Ganadn warrior had saved his life; he never learned the warrior’s
name.

That I am here on Earth must be God’s will.

Banished from Idumea by the High Priest, one of the lesser
priests had covertly approached him to serve God by going to Earth. Though the
majority of the Confederation of Planets had high hopes for the humans, the
Idumean High Council had demanded that two of their own be assigned as
prosecutors. Lilith, the granddaughter of the High Priest, was selected as lead
prosecutor, and he was chosen as her assistant.

I’ve got to deal with ANT. Back to work.

Though the Confederation’s rules specified that they only
gather evidence, the High Priest had given them instructions to the contrary.
Together, they had worked to limit the population of humans and to limit the
concentration of power. Per his convert directives, he had taken more extreme
measures than Lilith, and would again.

He reviewed his great-grandson’s report.
Why would ANT
want to waste time and money going to Mars? They think bigger than that. Well,
that’s Lilith’s problem.
He smiled.
She’s the one stuck on the moon.

Lilith had infiltrated LunarX six years ago when it looked
like the company’s lunar operations might generate enough profits to make it a
big success. Other than delicately manipulating LunarX employees’ moral, she
hadn’t done a thing.
What is that human expression?
He smiled.
Look
up succubus in the dictionary, and you’ll see a picture of Lilith.

It’s been peaceful without her around to micromanage me
.
She had been due to return to Earth two years ago, but LunarX had postponed the
resupply mission three times.
It was so easy to sabotage the parts that the LunarX
spacecraft needed. Too bad ANT got the new contract.
He had tried to infiltrate
ANT but failed.

 
How do I cause a malfunction on the return flight?  
Though
he entertained the idea, he wouldn’t kill another true believer, no matter how
much easier it would make his work.

T
heir rental vehicle pulled into the parking lot of an innocuous-looking white one-story building, the New Mexico Medical Research Institute.  As the
car stopped in front of the door, Anita opened her purse, took out a jar, and
opened it.
Use the wipes to clean your hands, face, and neck before we get
out.

Naami’s dad had applied an instant temporary spray tan to
her hands, wrists, face, and neck yesterday morning. Not even Camila knew about
her loss of pigment. She took off the jacket of the white, long-sleeved running
suit that she had picked out early this morning to hide the rest of her skin.
Mom
seems less freaked out today. I thought she was going to have a breakdown
yesterday.

She removed the tan from her hands with one of the wipes.
Abraham,
ask Hypatia to feed you video so that I can see the back of my neck.
She
took a clean wipe and wiped the tan off her neck as she looked through her
mother’s eyes. Using two more wipes, she removed the tan from her face.
Did
I miss any spots, Abraham?
She saw arrows point to two areas near her
hairline behind her right ear. Reaching behind her head with her left hand, she
pulled the hair away and rubbed the two spots until the arrows disappeared.

Naami pulled her jacket back on and zipped it up. As she
got out of the car, her glasses darkened. The car pulled away and joined the
other four cars in the lot, parking itself in the nearest of the twenty open
spaces as she followed her mom up the walkway into the building

 A brown-haired, brown-eyed woman, innocuous-looking and of
indeterminate age greeted them. “Welcome to the New Mexico Medical Research
Institute. My name is Sarah. I’m Dr. Shemesh’s assistant. Anita and Naamah
Schmidt, correct?”

“Yes. I’m Anita, and this is my daughter Naamah.”

“Call me Naami.” Naami smiled at the woman and then looked
down at her hands.

“OK. Let’s go back to the lab.”

Naami knew what was coming. “Are you going to stick my
finger or take it from a vein?” Her mother drew blood from her once a month,
usually from her finger.

“We’ll need a little more blood than we can easily get from
your finger. Don’t worry. Kaitlin, our tech, is really good. It won’t hurt at
all, just a tiny prick.”

“I’m not worried. I’ve had it taken from my vein a couple
of times.” She sniffed and looked around. “Does someone have a dog here?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“I thought I smelled a dog.”

Sarah pointed down the hallway to the right. “Kaitlin’s
down this way, second door on the left.”

“I hear company coming.” A dark-skinned hand poked out of a
doorway and beckoned them to enter. As Naami entered, Kaitlin gave her a big
smile. Middle aged, petite, but slightly overweight, she loved children, and
they loved her. “Are you Naamah?”

“Yes, but you can call me Naami.”

“Wow, you’re taller than I expected. Are you really only
five?”

Naami giggled. “Yes.”

“Your hair is so cute.”

“Thanks.”

“Can you take your jacket off for me and sit here?” Kaitlin
pointed to the chair where she drew patients’ blood. Naami took off her jacket,
revealing her pink sleeveless shirt. She handed the jacket to her mom and sat
down. After the seat raised her up, she put her arm on the armrest and made a
fist.

Kaitlin looked at Anita. “She has done this before.”

Expressionless, Anita nodded, her glasses still darkened.

Naami giggled. “I’ve done this…” She hesitated as Abraham
warned her. “I’ve done this before. I think blood is so cool.”

Kaitlin raised her eyebrows and then smiled. “That’s
wonderful. I wish all of my patients were like you.” She tapped two fingers
against the inside of Naami’s elbow. “You’ve got the perfect vein right here.” 
As she wrapped the tourniquet around Naami’s arm, she said. “Just relax, lean
back, close your eyes, and think of something fun. This will be over in a
jiff.”

Naami giggled. “I’m relaxed, but it’s fun to watch.”

Kaitlin shook her head. “You know, you’re very special.
You’re the first person who’s ever wanted to watch.”

Naami watched closely as Kaitlin inserted the needle into
her vein and slowly drew her blood. “Sarah was right. I only felt the tiniest
of pricks when you stuck the needle in.”  After the vial was full, Kaitlin pressed
a cotton ball to Naami’s arm as she withdrew the needle.

Naami, hold it there. Don’t take it off.

OK.

“Do you want a Band-Aid?”

“No thanks. I’ll just keep pressing the cotton ball down.”

The chair lowered. “There are chairs though my door across
the hall. You can relax out there while I draw your mom’s blood.”

“OK. Am I all done?”

“Not quite. After I’m finished with your mom, I’m going to
get a sample of skin and muscle from you.” She tousled Naami’s hair. “Don’t
worry. It’ll be easy-peasy.”

The chair moved up, and Anita sat down as Naami took a seat
across the hall where she could watch.
I can tell that Mom is uncomfortable
taking my blood. Let’s see what happens when someone takes hers.
She took
off the cotton ball and looked at it.
No blood ever shows. Is that unusual?

Yes. Put the cotton ball in your pocket.

She watched her mom lean back, and she knew by the movement
of her eyebrows and the skin below her glasses that her mom had closed her
eyes. Except for a momentary stiffening of her body when Kaitlin inserted the
needle, her mom showed no other expression.
Mom did better than I thought
she would.

A
lthough her mom sat in a chair in the room while Dr.
Shemesh examined her, she knew from her mom’s facial expressions that she was
working. His examination was more thorough than Naami had expected.

Dr. Shemesh pointed to a treadmill. “Do you know what this
is, Naami?”

“It’s a treadmill. People walk and run on them.”

“Well, we’re going to have you walk and run on this one. I
need to put some sensors on your skin, and then I’m going to have you wear a
special mask over your mouth.

As he attached the wireless sensors to her skin she asked, “What’s
all this got to do with my skin problem.”

“We’ll talk about your skin at the end of all of your
tests. By that time, we will have the results of the skin samples that Kaitlin
took. But your mom wanted me to do a complete exam as long as you came all the
way here.”

Mom?

Yes.

Should I hold back?

No.

“OK. Step up onto the treadmill.” He put the mask on her
head, adjusting the straps until it fit snug around her mouth and nose.”

This mask is really weird, and the tube coming from it
goes to that machine.

What is this for, Abraham?

Most likely he is going to measure the performance of
your heart and your oxygen uptake.

What’s uptake?

Uptake means how much you can take in, or use, or
consume.

“OK, I’m going to turn it on. It will go slowly at first.
After you warm up, I will gradually increase the speed and make it steeper,
like running up a hill. Are you ready, Naami?”

“I’m ready.”

The treadmill started, and she walked.
This is easy.
Every
so often the speed and the incline increased until she had to run.

“Are you doing OK?”

“Yes.”
This is still pretty easy. The hill part of this
test will be harder than how fast it goes. If I knew they were going to test me
like this, I would have run some hills to practice.

The speed and incline increased again.
“Still doing
OK?”

“Yes.”
It is getting a little harder to breathe.

After several more increases, she stumbled and was
surprised when the doctor grabbed her and lifted her up.
He’s strong.
He
disconnected the tube from her mask, lifted her over the treadmill’s rail, and
set her down.

“I just tripped. I didn’t need to stop. You could have just
steadied me, and I could have gone longer.”

He squatted down and looked her in the eyes as he removed
her mask. “You did great. This wasn’t a competition. I got all the information
I needed.”

Abraham, I smell that dog smell again.

Maybe he owns a dog.

“Dr. Shemesh. Do you own a dog?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“I thought I smelled a dog, and there are no dogs here.”

“You’re right. There aren’t any here, but you know what?”

“What?”

“Next we’re going to test your hearing, your vision,
and…your smell.”

“OK, but can I have something to eat? That test made me
really hungry.”

“Sure. Do you like yogurt?”

“I love yogurt, especially blueberry or banana.”

“Perfect. We have some blueberry yogurt. Sarah will get you
some, and then she will do that testing. After she’s done with the tests, I’ll
be back to talk with you.”

“S
o what’s wrong with me, Dr. Shemesh?”

“Nothing at all. You’re very healthy.”

“Well then, why did my skin turn white? That’s just weird.”

“Unusual perhaps, but we’ve ruled out any known diseases.”

“So I have some kind of new disease?”

“No. You’re skin cells are healthy, but…Naami, do you know
what causes skin color?”

“Not really.”

“There are tiny little things in everyone’s body called melanosomes.
Skin color depends on the size, number, shape, and distribution of
melanosomes in a person, as well as their melanin content. The skin is one of
the most active parts of your body, and little bits of skin die off all of the
time, replaced by new skin.”

He paused and tried to determine how much detail to give
her. “One of two things happened to you. The melanin in the top layer of your
skin disappeared while you slept the other night, or the top layer of skin died
off very quickly and was replaced very quickly with cells that had less
melanin.”

Naami chewed her lower lip. “So you think my skin lost all
of the stuff that gives it color or my skin died, and I grew new skin very
quickly. That’s really weird. Why would either of those things happen?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to have you stay here a few days
and see what your skin does.”

She looked at her mom.
Mom, do I really have to stay
here?

I think it would be a good idea. I’ve booked a hotel
with a pool and a workout room for the rest of the week.

The rest of the week? Four more days?

We’ll see.

Naami chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out a way to
get out of this. She batted her eyes at the doctor, smiled, and then stared
into his eyes. “I don’t think I’ll have to stay here more than another day, do
you?”

The doctor didn’t break eye contact, almost as if he was
engaged in a staring contest. After nearly a half minute, he shook his head
slowly and broke eye contact. “Sorry. I can’t make any promises.”

Drat. That usually works on Dad.

She tried to make eye contact with him again, but he didn’t
look at her. “You won’t need more tissue samples, will you?”

“Sorry, we will.”

“But not many, right?”