Yue

 

19:19 GMT

O..kay… Assuming that Doctor Natu is a woman of routine and there hasn't been some sort of last second emergency, she should be here shortly. And -now that I'm equipped with a translator upgrade courtesy of Betrassus- I should be able to press my case a little.

"Is drink good?"

I mean, even with the upgrade it's not perfect or anything, but at least it's better calibrated to what a visiting merchant might reasonably have after spending this long in an area.

"It satisfies. I am appreciative."

Definitely not perfect, and I don't think that waiter was here last time I visited. High staff turnover or just changes in shift patterns?

"Tell me if you want anything else."

He smiles and walks over to another table. My goodness me, that was a normal sentence. And the drink does satisfy; I took the time to ask Lantern Tui for a few suggestions and I've found something that tastes like passion fruit juice. There'd be an export market for it on Earth if it wasn't for the exorbitant shipping rates. As it is, it might be worth me spending enough time around here to find out what environment it's best cultivated-.

"-not be here, identically to how he was not here-" Doctor Natu turns away from the older woman she came through the door with and looks around the café. She spots me at once and I raise my glass in greeting. "-last.. time."

"That is your alien hook-up? I hoped that he would be stranger."

Doctor Natu tears her eyes away from me. "He is not-."

"Physically."

"Yes, I understood what you meant. And I hope that his translator is still too bad to-" I smile slightly, shaking my head. "-understand…" She starts to look around for another table, but her friend takes hold of her left arm and gently tugs her in my direction. Doctor Natu half-resists for a moment, then yields to the inevitable and allows herself to be led over.

Ugh. Inconsiderate real universe: giving someone I want to recruit emotional relationships with NPCs. Like they're a real person or something, with friends and a life that goes on when they're not in view of the reader. Stupid non-comic book comic book universe.

"So, you are an alien warlord?" The other woman smiles, leaning forwards across the table. "What is that like?"

"I am not precisely a warlord-."

"A headhunter who sometimes kills people while leading an army."

"It is a technique. It is not an occupation on its own."

Doctor Natu blinks, looking me over. "Your translator has been improved."

"I spent time on planet Betrassus. I bought an improvement."

The older woman grins. "Kill anyone?"

I shake my head, smiling. "Not on planet Betrassus."

"I assert that they have a duelling tradition-."

"Nakkoa, just… Please, stop."

"This is the closest you have been to a-." I don't quite catch what Doctor Natu's right hand does that cuts her friend off, but it appears to be effective. The two of them share a look before Doctor Natu turns her attention to me.

"I mentioned our conversation to some friends at the hospital. They have convinced themselves that you are the most interesting thing happening in my life."

"They think I am more interesting than brain surgery? That surprises me. We only spoke once."

"You try telling them that."

"Okay." I turn to 'Nakkoa', who is probably something at the hospital. "Ms Nakkoa, I am not at all amorously interested in the intelligent and attractive Doctor Natu."

"Pfnnnnnnnnngh." Ms Nakkoa makes a quiet snort-laugh noise, petering off into a grin as Doctor Natu sighs.

"I hope that was a joke; I was not even sure I wanted to talk to you again. What you told me last time was not funny."

"Good. I would be worried if you had found it funny."

"Recruited anyone interesting since last time?"

I nod. "A plant that covers the surface of an entire planet. An engineer made out of anti-matter. Pseudo-insects from a species with seven sexes. Prince Ragnar of Betrassus. Have you operated on any interesting brains since-?"

"A whole planet?" / "Seven-?"

"Sentient planets do exist, though they are rare. Speaking with one was an interesting experience. Physically, they have little in common with humanoids. She senses gravity and electromagnetic fields as you and I do pressure and light." Their faces relax slightly as they try to picture the being I'm describing. "The first time she encountered another intelligent mind, she found pain to be so abhorrent that she learned to turn parts of herself into emergency hospice systems, and the telepathic node network which runs throughout her body allows her to communicate with all parts of her body with almost no lag."

Doctor Natu blinks. "That is-."

"And she keeps her world surrounded by corpses, millions of bodies floating in local space so that she'll always have enough to eat."

Ms Nakkoa pulls a face. "She eats corpses?"

"She cannot live by geothermal and solar power alone." She's actually taking steps to reduce her total volume, using her ring to increase her understanding of the bioengineering she had been doing instinctively. "Corpses lost in deep space are not useful to anyone."

"Wait." Doctor Natu appears to believe that she's seen a wrinkle in my story. "If she is a planet, how did you recruit her? Are you going to build on her?"

"No. I got to sit on her surface while she used her gravity manipulation to move faster than light. Half-visible stars beyond her atmosphere flashing past as we flew. The universe is a wonderful place." I smile. "How is the hospital?"

"Ahh…" Doctor Natu shrugs. "Our hospital is fine. The hospitals in the poorer districts are getting starved of funds to make sure of it."

"I do not know how medical provision works on Korugar. Do you use an insurance-based model, or is provision universal?"

"In theory, it is universal. But some places are more universal than others."

"I had assumed that the purpose of the form of debt bondage you labour under was to compel you to select less desirable work locations. Was that not true?"

Ms Nakkoa rolls her eyes. "Why would the politicians controlling our funding put the best doctors in places they do not use? Medical students on study-grants go through the same assessments as everyone else. It works out better that way for the system, because they have trouble leaving wherever they are put." She leans back slightly as the waiter returns. "But I don't talk to alien warlords to hear about my problems. I want to hear how it works with seven sexes."