Juna blushed brown. “I don’t think so,” she told him. “It’s different with my people, Moki.”
“He arouses you, though. I felt it in the link.”
Juna looked out at the distant ship. “Moki, I’ve been away from my people for a long time,” she said. “I’m easily aroused, but I don’t mate with strangers. I don’t know Bruce well enough. Besides, there’s the quarantine.”
“Anitonen says you won’t make anyone sick,” Moki told her.
“But they don’t believe her,” Juna said, gesturing at the ship with her chin.
“Do you believe her?” Moki asked.
Juna shrugged. “I’m afraid to be wrong. It could kill someone, or make them very sick. I’d lose what little trust they have in me if I broke quarantine without permission.”
Moki looked out toward the ship for a long time, his colors fading to a deep, cloudy grey.
“You need your people,” he admitted, turning back to her. “I need you.”
Juna looked down at the sand, shrugging helplessly. They reached the boat. Bruce handed Anitonen and Juna in and shoved off. Juna helped him into the boat and watched as he started the motor. When she looked back at the beach, Moki had vanished into the forest.
Juna watched as Anitonen broke her link with Dr. Wu, unclasping his arms carefully to avoid disturbing any of the wires taped to his body.
“He’s recovering very well,” Anitonen told her. “His heart muscle should be completely regenerated in a couple of days. I’ve also cleaned out more of his circulatory system.”
Juna translated this for Dr. Wu and the assembled medical personnel.
“I feel stronger and more alert,” Wu confirmed.
The doctors clustered around the readout of their tests.
“Look at this!” one of them said. “There’s a double line here, as though there were two readings instead of one.”
“What is this?” Anitonen asked. “Please explain.”
“This is the neural readout,” Dr. Baker said, after he explained what the graph told them. He pointed to a pair of green lines. “There appears to be a double reading, but then it merges again.”
“Yes,” Anitonen said, once Juna had translated Dr. Baker’s words, “that is where I linked with him. The line merges as I come into harmony with Dr. Wu.”
“And this?” Dr. Baker asked, pointing to another readout, “Why does the heart suddenly slow and then gradually speed up?”
“I was testing it, seeing how the regeneration was proceeding. His heart is much stronger now.”
The questions continued. Soon Juna found it impossible to translate the technical terms that each side was using.
“Tell them that it would be much easier if I could show them,” Anitonen said, holding her suited arms out as though asking for allu-a.
“But the rules—” Juna said.
“I can’t answer any more of their questions with talk,” Anitonen responded.
“She said that she can’t tell you anything else, but that she can show you,” Juna told the doctors. “She’s offering to link with you.”
Anitonen nudged her. “Tell them I am too tired to do any healing, but I will show them their body from my viewpoint, and show them what I did to Dr. Wu. I can also show them what my body looks like so they will understand my people better.”
Juna translated this. The doctors conferred among themselves for a few moments.
“This is—ahm—rather unusual,” Dr. Baker said. “We should consult with the Alien Contact team.”
“You’ve got the head of the team right here. Why not ask him?” Juna suggested.
“If one of you is willing to volunteer for this, I have no objections to having you link with Anitonen,” Dr. Wu told them. “Allu-a is an amazing experience.”
“She wouldn’t alter my body in any way?” Dr. Baker asked.
Juna relayed the question to Anitonen.
“No, I promise not to do anything.”
“Can we trust her?” Baker asked Juna.
“Dr. Baker, Anitonen is an enkar. Her life would be forfeit if she broke her word,” Juna explained. “I’ve known her for more than four years, and she has always kept her promises, even before she became an enkar.”
“I see.” He looked appraisingly at Anitonen. “Very well then. I volunteer to link with Anitonen. What do I do?”
Juna guided him to a seat. “Sit down and roll up your sleeves,”
Anitonen touched her shoulder. “Will you monitor us? Your presence will reassure him.”
Juna pulled a third chair into the circle. “Anitonen said that I should monitor you. Will you allow me to break quarantine?”
Dr. Baker leaned back and looked over at Dr. Wu. “Well?” he asked.
“I’m still alive after touching her,” Wu pointed out.
Baker hesitated for a moment longer, thinking it over. “All right,” he said. “Go ahead.”
Juna undid her gloves and pushed her sleeves back past her elbows. Anitonen did the same.
“Hold out your arms like this,” Juna told him, resting her arms on her thighs, palms up.
He did so. Juna grasped his warm, human arm as Anitonen grasped her other arm, her skin cold and moist and suddenly alien. She felt Baker flinch a bit as Anitonen touched him.
“Are you ready?” Juna asked.
Baker swallowed nervously. “Go ahead,” he told her.
Juna nodded at Anitonen and they plunged into the link.
She felt Baker’s mingled fear and curiosity as she entered the link. Anitonen moved to enfold him in reassurance. His fear ebbed swiftly. Juna was impressed; it had taken her a long time to get over her fear.
She watched as Anitonen gently began showing Baker his own life rhythms. First, the steady beat of his heart, and the salty metallic taste of his blood. She showed him how the taste differed between the oxygen-rich blood leaving his lungs and the depleted venous blood returning to the lungs. Then they traced his last couple of meals through his digestive system. Anitonen let him experience the irregular, sharp taste of his nerves, transmitting sensation and instructions back and forth between the brain and the rest of his body. Juna could feel the doctor’s excitement rising as Anitonen showed him more and more of his body.
Then, as they were exploring his bladder, Juna felt something odd. A tiny cluster of cells in the lining of his bladder was out of harmony. Juna could feel Anitonen waver, tempted to repair the problem; then she moved on. Shortly after that, Juna noticed that Anitonen was tiring, and gently broke the link.
Dr. Baker sat up slowly. “What happened? We linked with Anitonen, and then—”
“I broke the link,” Juna told him. “Anitonen was getting tired. It looks like you are too. Try eating something sweet. Sugar helps wake you up after allu-a. That’s why the Tendu eat so much honey.”
Baker nodded. “There’s some electrolyte solution up in the cupboard. That ought to help.” One of the nurses handed him a bottle of the solu tion. He poured some into a glass and held it up. “Can she drink this?” he asked Juna. “It’s made up of simple sugars and a few salts.”
“I don’t know.” She handed the glass to Anitonen. “Can you drink this?”
“Let me see.” Anitonen stuck her spur into the electrolyte solution. “It should be very helpful.” She drank it down, brightening noticeably within a few minutes. “This is excellent for recovering from allu-a,” she said. “Even better than our honey.”
“There is an irregularity in the cells lining his bladder,” she said, pointing her chin in Dr. Baker’s direction. “If it is left untreated, the cells will grow too muth and eventually spread throughout his body. I could repair it, if he will let me.”
Juna translated this.
Dr. Baker’s eyes widened. “You mean that cluster of cells was a cancer?”
“A very small one,” Juna said. “Anitonen could repair it for you when she’s rested. It would only take a few minutes.”