Sholan Alliance Ch. 05

Billy laughed quietly. "You should listen to my two closest friends not to mention my girls. They keep telling me I gave them an inferiority complex growing up. I think I gave some of my teacher's headaches since they all looked peptic while I was in their classes. One teacher was overheard saying that I was driving him to drinking."

As he was talking he started running his hand along her arm. "I never really thought about it till I was older since when I was a kid I just wanted to learn as much as possible. That is one reason I ended up working for the Naval Design department. I love trying to stretch my mind and designing new things. I hated having to leave the service since they let me play with all kinds of fascinating toys."

She rested her hand on his leg as he was talking and had to shake her head. "That sounds so strange since it would draw attention to you." Z'Marl was a rather private person and preferred not to have that type of attention drawn to her. Out of nowhere a sneeze caught her by surprise and she barely managed to catch it with a tissue. "Excuse me. I have been sneezing a bit though I am not sure why." She settled back down next to him. "So why did you get out of the military if you enjoyed it so much?"

Billy tensed up slightly before he answered. "My wife died delivering my second child. I got out so I could be the one to raise them. That is one reason I purchased my ship. It gave me something to do while trying to deal with my grief." He gave her a slight hug after saying that to let her know he didn't mind answering.

"Oh I am so sorry to hear that." She gave him a hug and then curled up in his lap and gave him another hug and light kiss. "Would you mind showing me more of your work? And just so you know I am not asking for that for any other purpose than it was fun stretching my brain." She licked his neck and tucked her nose into the side of his neck as well. "If you don't feel like it we can talk family and travels and places we have seen as well."

Billy snorted. "If you asked Satasha or my oldest girl I tend to use stretching my mind to get out of a grumpy mood. Mind you I am not in a grumpy mood but I am very pleased to meet someone I didn't manage to give a headache to." He pulled out a Sholan set of VR glasses and waited for her to pull hers out.

Once she did he took a drink and pulled up some additional equations and they curled up and started talking about them. They talked for a fair amount of time and Billy oddly enough was having a very enjoyable evening. Before he realized it the hour had gotten late and he yawned. "I would enjoy spending the night with you but for right now I think just a bit of cuddling in bed and then sleep." He leaned over and kissed her after saying that.

She yawned as well and pulled her glasses off. "You have a very interesting mind Yilly and thank you for being willing to share that with me. It was very nice to actually stretch my brain." She leaned into the kiss and hugged him. "I understand and had actually expected you to go back to your rooms." She slid off his lap and pulled him to his feet. "My quarters are probably much smaller than yours but the beds and showers will be pretty much the same."

Billy let her pull him up off the couch and curled an arm around her and let her show him towards the bed room. "They might be small but I have been admiring the pictures and decorations all evening." One finger was run across a statue, or just over the statue since he didn't want to just touch without permission. "Thank you for understanding. I would like to spend more time with you and not just because I don't give you headaches."

She returned the kiss he had given her and snickered a bit. "I don't know why but that is amusing to me." Z'Marl watched him appreciate the statue of the Green Goddess. It showed an adult female Sholan with a baby in her arms, a young child leaning against her and some animals gathered around her. "That is the Green Goddess and is one of the primary deities for Sholan females." After a few minutes she gave him a gentle tug into her bedroom.

"Well it is a lovely statue and you can almost feel the caring for the young cubs." He had to smile at it and then let her pull him into her room. It was most definitely smaller than the rooms the four of them lived in currently but again they were nicely decorated. As he was looking around she pulled her over robe and tabard off and draped them across a chair. When he noticed he didn't really think and stripped down as well and rolled into the bed. "God I want to steal the technology behind the beds."

She snickered at his comment and rolled into bed as well and scooted over next to him. "What? You don't want to steal engine technology? I am shocked and horrified." As she moved towards him he rolled on his side and wrapped an arm around her. She lightly ran a hand up and down his arm. "It feels odd not to feel fur. Your skin is pretty soft as well."

Billy snorted. "Nah though I would love to study them but with our current tech level it would be too hard to try and incorporate the two technologies. If the changes I am contemplating work it will be a massive leap forward for us." He moved closer to her and stroked her back and sides to feel the differences between her and Satasha.

After cuddling and talking for a while they ended up falling asleep curled up together. Billy slept almost as well as he did with Satasha though Z'Marl had a different mental feel to her. Satasha came across as career oriented and goal oriented. Z'Marl came across as comfortable and content with what she was doing. He might have to convince her to help him with his equations. She could definitely help him with the Sholan math symbols.

~~~

The next morning he was awakened by her stretching next to him. He couldn't resist and reached over and tried one of the spots Tasha was ticklish and got a squeak back from her. "That is for being a tease and stretching that way." There was a hint of a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes when he said that.

She hissed at him before finishing the stretch. Before he could really move she rolled over so she was straddling him. Z'Marl curled her hands around his and leaned over and gave him a slow kiss before starting to nip at his lips. "I would enjoy some fun this morning if you are interested. It is usually a good way to wake up."

At first Billy was a bit startled and then he closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss and then the nibbling. "mmmm, don't stop. That feels really good." He shifted his head to one side and she started working along his jaw and neck. Billy didn't really notice that he was responding as a Sholan would and simply enjoyed the feelings.

She sat up for a moment and looked down at him. "Do you realize you are reacting as a Sholan would? Satasha has taught you a great deal." She leaned back down and continued nipping. They played for a while before they finished the bed play and collapsed on their side for a few minutes to catch their breath.

He hadn't thought about that and was too busy enjoying the feelings she was causing. Once they were done he gave her a hug and a light kiss. "That was quite enjoyable but no telling anyone how much fun we had. Having two ladies that I want to spend time with is more than enough." He pulled her head down and rubbed her cheek with his. "I do need to grab a shower and get back to my rooms. I get to cause more headaches today."

~~~

Satasha showed up at Z'Marl's rooms shortly after they had showered and had a warm smile on her face. "I am glad you had an enjoyable evening and night." She pulled him into a hug and good kiss which was returned. "Thank you for showing my companion an enjoyable evening. I could feel his contentment and relaxation." She gave the other woman a good hug. "Oh here are some clean clothes for you and from here we go to the tutor." She paused. "Okay, after we grab a quick meal in the chow hall."

Billy grabbed the cloths and pulled them on and had to grin when it was some coveralls and a plaid shirt. "Satasha you are a stinker. Now all I need is a stalk of hay sticking out one corner of my mouth and I would look like a real redneck." He turned and gave Z'Marl a good hug. "Don't be a stranger and later Satasha can give you our comm number." With a wave both left the room.

They quickly headed to the chow hall and got something to eat. They were getting stared at but it didn't bother him nearly as much now that he had the damper and was learning to shield. He could feel Satasha's curiosity and he simply smiled as they ate. Once they were done she led them to the tutor and let the assistant know they were there.

Moments later they were invited in and the tutor smiled at them. "So are you going to break out your glasses today?" There was a gentle humor when he spoke. Billy rather fascinated him and there was definitely more activity in his brain than normal. "I have also scheduled both of you for some additional scan in medical to see what if any changes there are since your talent is getting stronger." He looked at Satasha. "Yours seems to be getting a bit stronger as well."

Billy grinned at the male. "Most definitely, I am trying to see if I can define at least some basic equation that will create a general boundary for my talent. I also want to run it through some set theory to see if there is a reasonable possibility of my talents also being related to how my mind works." When Satasha rolled her eyes at him he simply squeezed her hand.

The tutor shook his head. "Good luck and now start with what you learned yesterday..." They were there for an hour like the day before.

Billy had a bit of a headache and decided it was just stretching his talents as Satasha had mentioned the other night. He chose to ignore it and a few minutes later he was back in the room he had been in for the last couple of days. When the screen activated he nodded towards them. "Shall we start where we left off or do you have questions for me?"

The female on the board cleared her throat. "I do have some questions but first I wanted to apologize for how I treated you the first day. It was just hard to believe someone from such a young world could have come up with these equations. That isn't even taking into consideration the few modifications to the engines you have shown us. I can tell from the schematics and equations there is a large amount of additional information. I have cleared you to have access to selected math books. I would really like to see this converted to our math since we aren't totally positive that we are changing it correctly."

Billy bowed slightly to her. "Thank you for the apology and I have to apologize for the way I acted that day. It has been a very long time since anyone questioned my talents, I mean skills with working with hyper engines and shielding. Thank you also for allowing me access to the books. I will need either the engineer or Satasha to help me read them for a while till I really start learning your written language."

He smiled at all four. "Now to get started we left off at..." He actually spent a decent portion of the morning answering questions and reviewing what he had shown them over the last two days. When lunch was delivered his stomach did a sort of flip flop and didn't smell good.

"I think I am going to skip lunch. It feels like my stomach has had enough alien food and needs to settle down. I will see about getting some of the food from my ship later." The engineer looked at him. "Do you need to go to medical? We really don't want you to get sick while you are here."

Billy contemplated it and shook his head. "Satasha and I have an appointment this evening at medical and if I need to I will mention it." Thankfully they had a box of tissues since his nose was a bit runny. He figured that was simply a side effect of being on an alien ship and blew it off as well as blowing his nose. "Well let's start again and continuing from page..."

Part way through the afternoon he had to ask to have the heat turned up since it was a bit chilly in the room. His headache was getting a bit worse as well. Billy was starting to wonder if he was coming down with something and would ask when they went to medical. By the time they were done he was feeling pretty beat.

"I think I am going to need to take a day off tomorrow. It has been a rough three or so months. My body is feeling a bit worn down and some extra sleep would be nice as well as simply lounging around and maybe watching some of the storyteller movies and shows." Billy's muscles were starting to ache as well. When he went to stand up he staggered some.

The engineer managed to catch him and keep him from falling over. "Yilly I am taking you to medical and am going to have the other three report as well. Your face is flushed and I can tell you are not feeling well." He wrapped an arm around Billy and called ahead to let medical know as well as having the other three report as well to ensure they weren't sick as well.

When they arrived they were taken straight to the lab. "We need to get him stripped and in the scanner. I want you to go and have a seat outside in case what he has might be infectious." The engineer nodded and stepped out of the room as an assistant came in and helped strip Billy down. "Let us do the work of getting you on the table." She told him and once he was situated she strapped the diagnostic unit around his arm and took blood samples as well as his vitals.

She closed the lid over him and started a complete scan on him. It was something she had been intending to do anyways but in this case she added a few more tests as well. Once done she inserted the small vial of blood into the analyzer and started it working. As she was doing that the other three came in and both Sally and Satasha hurried over to where Billy was.

"What is wrong with him ma'am?" Sally asked and she looked very worried as she asked. Her father was normally healthy as a horse. Looking at him now he was flushed and starting to sweat and was moaning as well.

"I am not sure quite yet but the diagnostics is going to take a bit of time. While it is processing I want you to settle into the other bed so I can check you to ensure that you aren't infected with what he might have."

Once Sally settled down the physician closed the lid and set it to run the same scans she was doing on Billy. The doctor had drawn blood on her as well and set it to be analyzed next. "Once Billy's scan is completed you will be next Lt. Verzilon and lastly you warrior Vangie. As of now all four of you are going to be in isolation till we are sure that you are not infectious." Since they were simply sitting there she gathered the blood as well and placed them in the analyzer.

Satasha was looking pretty worried as well. The sensations she was getting from Billy were confusing. She could tell he was feverish and was having fever dreams. If they were going to be in isolation for a few days she was going to insist that she be allowed to stay with him. The environment was different enough he would probably have problems dealing unless she was there.

His scan was finally done and Billy was definitely out of it. His eyes were closed and he was shivering and moaning some. Much of what he had to say was nonsensical. One thing that was clear was when he cried out, he was begging his wife Danielle not to leave them. He was moved to a floater and moved out of the room.

Satasha looked at the doctor. "He is going to need a familiar face in the room. Unless what he has is horribly infectious I want to be there for him." As she was stripping down she was saying that and carefully climbed on the bed. To be honest she was feeling a bit under the weather as well. As the bed fitted itself to her and warmed up she started to relax.

The doctor closed the cover and started the scans. Moments later Sally's scan was finished and Vangie helped her out. Since he knew what was coming next he stripped down as Sally was getting dressed. He hopped up and lay back. "Just so you know I feel fine doctor. No fever, no chills, and no aching muscles." She closed the cover and started the scan.

It was a short while after the scans were done that the blood analysis came back and the doctor reviewed them and frowned slightly. "Interesting, it appears that you and Yilly have the ni'uzu virus. How you got it I am not sure since you were inoculated against it. With Yilly I can understand since my tests haven't completed to see what I might be able to immunize him against. Go through that door and you will be shown to his room." She pointed at a door and Satasha hurried away.

The doctor double checked the results of the other two. "So far neither of you appear to be infected by this but I am still putting you in isolation for a day or two. I am going to run some checks to see if you can be immunized against it Sally." She pointed at the same door. "Go through there and you will be in the room next to your father and Lt. Verzilon.

Once they had left she settled down and contacted the Ship's Commander's adjutant. "Good evening this is Doctor Jusdean. The terran male has somehow caught the ni'uzu virus as well as Lt. Verzilon. His daughter Sally and her companion of the moment appear not to be infected but I am keeping them isolated for a day or maybe two. Can you please patch me through to the Commander so I can update him?"

"Hold a moment doctor and I will be right back." The screen showed the Sholan Alliance symbol for a few moments before the adjutant came back. "He is coming down to see you and will be there shortly." He nodded at her and then terminated the connection.

She raised an eyebrow and left a message at the front desk to have him brought to the isolation rooms. Doctor Jusdean headed over to the isolation rooms and was pleased that the sick bay attendants were dressed in gowns and masks. One was affixing a drip to the terran male and started it flowing. He then turned to Satasha and did much the same after shaving a bit of her fur off to get to the vein.

Since the doctor was satisfied with what he was doing she moved to the other room and looked in. In this case they didn't need IV's but did have diagnostic monitors strapped to their wrists. They would alert her if there were any major changes in their vital signs. She returned to the other room and mentally nodded as an antifebrile and mild analgesic was injected in both.

As she was watching through the window the Commander arrived. "Damn, we were going to talk to him tomorrow about taking the first contact team to earth." He sighed slightly. "I know they were just diagnosed but do you have any estimate on how long they might be in here?"

The doctor looked slightly startled but it did make sense since Billy and Satasha had a reasonable understanding of each other's cultures. "I really am not sure Commander but if it follows the normal course it will be somewhere between 3-5 days. What concerns me is that Lt. Verzilon caught it and she was inoculated against it. I am going to have a DNA break down done on the virus they caught and compare it to the standard virus."

He nodded. "Tell me what you find and keep me updated as often as needed on their status." He turned and walked away. This was going to throw a wrench in the plans they had. As soon as Billy was feeling better he needed to talk to him about taking the first contact team back and maybe a few upgrades to the living quarters and sensors.

~~~

The next morning Billy woke up and was confused for a few minutes since this most definitely wasn't his room. Satasha was next to him and the room definitely had a medical feel to it with the white tiles and observation windows. He ran through his memories of the day before and realized that he had been brought to medical since he was feeling like crap. Beyond that he didn't remember much. When he moved his arm to move some hair out of his eyes it felt heavy and both his muscles and joints ached. The worst part was he needed the bathroom.