“Call me if he has a panic attack or anything,” Dr. Proslo said, suddenly all business.
“We will, thank you.”
Betty escorted them away, leaving me with the doctor.
“Please, sit down. I have some rather startling news for you.”
I pulled out the nearest chair in front of his desk and sat, my mind going into hyperdrive, wondering just what he had to say that warranted an urgent office visit.
“It’s nothing terrible,” he hastened to reassure me. “In fact, it’s wonderful news, albeit with a bit of a caveat. Really quite extraordinary, really.”
Okay, then, now I really was confused.
Dr. Proslo gave me a warm, gentle smile. “First of all, let me be the first to congratulate you. You’ve been mate matched.” This did not help relieve my confusion in any way, shape, or form. Usually, we simply were notified via kunnarskyn and sent our match’s profile to read as we traveled to greet them and bring them home. “I know, I know, you didn’t get the usual notification from Xeros about it, but that’s for two reasons. Firstly, you’re the first Mylos to match with two humans.”
Two? Two humans? This was indeed astonishing news. Poly matings weren’t unheard of, but usually they were with species where that was the norm rather than the exception.
“Secondly, it threw a red flag up, as my Betty would say, as you know one of them and have met several times. Close contact, as a matter of fact, yet your mating drive was not triggered. This prompted Xeranos to notify me and run a deep dive into your records. Thankfully, we are certain we found the reason.”
I’d been in frequent, close contact with… was it Carl? Nebula! Please let it be Carl and not my TA or anyone else.
“When you were a year old, you lived on Rikithis Station, where your Mylos father was a systems administrator. Niez Fever swept through the station, which is generally harmless except occasionally to those who haven’t undergone puberty. You caught it, and a closer look at your last DNA scan shows that you were one of the few to be affected in some way. The glands that activate your mating display are not being given the brain signal they should to kickstart the process, something which goes undetected until it’s being actively looked for, as it’s so rare. I’m going to give you an injection of nanites, which will stimulate those glands. To avoid shocking your system, the nanites will start with weak signals and ramp up to normal over the course of a week. Well, that and so you can have time as a trio to figure out your mating. Incidentally, Xeranos ran their profiles together, and they also perfectly matched each other, so your mating is a perfect 3-3-3. Congratulations again.”
“Who?”
“Xeranos, please send him his mate profiles now.”
“Sent!” came the cheerful reply as my kunnarskyn vibrated to let me know I had a message, a nice change from the urgent alert I’d gotten earlier.
Dr. Proslo stood. “Let me get the injection I have prepared out of the way before you have a look. Or you can have the injection and follow me to where they are waiting for you, just down the hall.”
It seemed silly to look now if they were just a few doors down, so I resisted the urge to peek now.
“Please tilt your head. This has to go in your carotid.”
I did as I was bid, and winced at the cool sting of the nanites pushing through my flesh. An iciness followed them, followed by a soft, warm buzz, then nothing.
“Alrighty, you ready or do you wish a moment?”
I pushed my chair back. “Let’s go. I can read their profiles later. Have they read mine?”
“Not yet. Xeranos will send them as soon as you’ve boarded the shuttle back to your ship.”
I nodded, following him out the door.
Please let one of them be Carl.
We turned to go left, passing the original hallway I’d gone down once more. The ambassador was just ahead of us, his two guards accompanying three humans, one of whom was asking him, “So, none of us matched, right? Why won’t you answer me?”
“All will be explained when we reach our ship and sit down to have a civilized conversation,” came the reply. “First, we need to ask for you to be scanned so proper clothing may be obtained for where you are each going.”
“Calm down, dude,” one of the other human males said as they passed us by.
“It doesn’t sound like they will have Nurse Betty on hand when they tell him, or you,” I observed.
“Ah, well, here’s hoping they have a medic on board, just in case. That sort of news is bound to cause a strong reaction, and it’s best to be prepared just in case.”
He opened the door they’d been standing in front of when we first spotted them.
