Private For the One Who Has Everything

[Kai Bamarri]

Quick as a cat, Kai moved out of Damsy’s way, settling back into a sitting position on the edge of her bed. She threw her arms around him, and he returned the embrace while it lasted.

<The Shi’ido we let in brought a surprise,> he explained. <A caterpillar that burrows into people’s bodies in order to transform into a moth, and put them in a trance to keep them occupied in the meantime.> If the implications of his words weren’t frightening enough, the pain in her arm certainly would be. He hurried to elaborate. <The Shi’ido are adamant about us not removing them—they’re rare, sacred animals to these people, and killing them would be very upsetting. But I’m afraid it may be too dangerous to leave them in people’s bodies, especially the ones whose species is not able to regenerate quickly.>

Whether that meant an emergency trip to the hospital for half the Reef, he didn’t know. In some cases, moving the Sithspawn out in the open would present its own problems. They had a few folks here with medical training, possibly even some medical droids lying around, but surgery was complicated. He supposed everyone would have to be informed and make their own decisions.

Damsy Callat​

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy nodded along with Kai's explanation. "Yeah, we're agreed there," she said, pushing down any commentary than that made the first time in a while. "We'd better apprise the...uh," she floundered, trying to come up with a politically correct phrase that more or less meant infected with a duller edge, "the caterpillar-carriers of the options. I'll try to extract the ones that didn't pick willin' hosts. Maybe we can try an' coax 'em out?" Damsy shrugged her good shoulder. "'Live sacred animals are better than dead sacred animals, right?"

Maybe, but they had to ask their keepers.

Damsy scooted towards the end of her mattress and stood, still clasping her bicep. She staggered into the qabbrat where Arisso had been surrounded by the clamoring Micians. They had apparently lost immediate interest in Keziah, allowing the dragon to scurry to her master, climb up her leg and torso, and bury herself in the braids hanging over her nape. Through the crowd's unanimous chatter, she made out parts of native religious explanations. "I understand all I need too," she interrupted. "That I'm feelin' pretty lied to right about now. Y'all're really lucky Kai was able to stabilize all those affected so far. Most o' them are here to avoid prosecution, not go have a surprise religious awakening that might kill 'em."



**
Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai shook his head at Damsy’s suggestion. <I don’t think they can be coaxed out. Its “mind” is in a hibernative state now, its other tissues fully dissolved, nothing but a nervous system hotwired to mine—it has no body of its own.>

There was always a way of removing such things, but it probably wouldn’t be as simple as cutting them out, he now realized. The individual cells would probably have to be targeted and destroyed, using medical equipment the Reef simply didn’t have.

He accompanied Damsy to the qabbrat, where the others had gathered. Her words immediately sent a stir through the crowd of Micians. Mothlike wings spread, the feathery membranes whispering, colors darkening and angry shapes appearing on their surfaces.

“We did not intentionally infect heathens,” one of the Micians replied. An imitation of the glaring eyes of a predator had appeared on the tips of his wings. “It was an accident, one which you cannot hold all of us responsible for!”

<Then who is responsible for this?> Kai asked.

“The one whose duty it was to transport the Chernamila and keep them safe. We will deal with them in our own way.”

Now it was the Reefdwellers’ turn to be outraged. Shouts and exclamations demanding equal justice rang out through the hall. Tempers were already running hot, and if something wasn’t done about it, the situation would only get hotter…

Damsy Callat​

 

[Damsy Callat]

Kai Bamarri​

“The one whose duty it was to transport the Chernamila and keep them safe. We will deal with them in our own way.”

He'd better not be referring to Claudia.

Damsy swallowed her outrage. This, much like the night Andromache had arrived, was time for compromise.

She took a few steps forward from beside Kai and smoothly stepped up onto a stray cargo crate. "Woah woah woah now," she exclaimed over the ruckus, putting up her hands to try to get more attention than her voice might alone. "We've all been blindsided by this one 'way or another." She leveled her gaze at the Mician who had spoken to her. "Don't you think we all ought be part of the solution?" She touched one hand to her chest. "I tell ya what, I do."

With her other hand, she motioned generally to the Sithspawn portion of the Reefdwellers around her. "We might not be part of your culture, get your religion, but we've formed a new community here. I want to keep it strong. For that to happen, I need us to coexist."

She glanced over at Kai, then back again.

"Is there any way we can move through this misunderstandin' together?"

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Though there was much grumbling, complaining, and perhaps a few oaths uttered, it turned out that they could, in fact, come to a compromise.

The culprit in the whole fiasco was revealed to be a young novice of the Mician clan. With her head down and eyes pinned to the floor, she confessed that she had passed the plant and Chernamila, which had been entrusted to her, onto Claudia without thinking of the consequences. She had only sought to ensure their survival against the cold.

<How are you going to ‘deal with her in your own way’?> Kai asked.

“She will be punished. Her own trial will be delayed, and she will be made to fast as penance and remain silent for a week.”

“That’s nothing compared to what we’ve had to suffer!” Petyr retorted. “We get infected, she gets a slap on the wrist!”

“She’s only a girl by our standards, barely more than a child. She made a mistake, but not one that should ruin her life. No one has died from the Chernamila.”

“Not yet, they haven’t!”

<I’ve had enough of this,> Kai said, his telepathy cutting like a knife through the heated discussion. He turned to Damsy. <We should focus our efforts on medical treatment, and leave it up to the carriers whether they have the Chernamila removed. That’s the only way to go about this—and I think the Micians know it, too. Or at least, they won’t dare try to stop us.>

Damsy Callat​

 

[Damsy Callat]

Kai Bamarri​

Damsy nodded at Kai. "Yeah," she concurred. "Take me to them. We'll do it together."

By the grace of whatever God looked out for the Sithspawn—because it surely wasn't either Ashla or Bogan—none of the Reef's handful of medical hobbyists had been infected. That meant they could operate if they could manage the procedure. Damsy was the first to volunteer to see if they could at least try, but they were altogether unsure. After discussing just what removal of a liquefied body another of plenty of other liquids would entail, they came back with a choice: risk the infected's health who wanted this removed by staying down here, or risk their lives by taking the to an actual hospital.

Chitty choices all around, but Damsy had taken her share of risks already. The Spawns' presence had almost been discovered by the Jedi during the Sith siege of Coruscant, and they'd get away with playing with fire again now if Damsy had anything to say about it.

All it'd take was some clever thinking, some extra aural charms, and, just maybe, a Mind Killer.