✅ Project SETI Trilogy

Chapter Two - Part IX: Transit

          Nova woke up not long after being stabilized. Unlike the last time he woke up in this room, the bed was lying flat, and the first thing he saw was the section of exposed tubing running across the ceiling and the vent cover directly above him. In his peripheral vision, he could see Jarah, but... he couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else in the room. He moved to get a good look, but there was only himself and the Daxut.

          "Ah, you're awake," she said when she saw him rouse. "How are you feeling?"

          Nova blinked hard. He was very sore on the inside, and it had him wondering just how deep she'd gone. Then he noticed the circular sticky pads arranged around his heart—it didn't take him long to realize what it was. He blushed when he did and reached up to feel them and inspect them further, but his chest was aching too, and his body punished him for the movement. He hissed and flinched, then laid very still.

          "I'm sore," he rasped. "What happened...?"

          "I did as you asked," she explained as she stood to prepare another drug infusion. "I'm going to check if it took right away. But... you had an adverse reaction to the sedative. It's not as though we perform resuscitation on humans any differently than on Earth. Compressions and defibrillation are just as effective as anything we developed, so... I had to fracture your ribs. I apologize."

          "It's okay, really," he blushed again and debated telling her that she really didn't need to apologize for it. It had him wondering how exactly the whole thing had gone down, and just imagining it had his pussy throbbing.

          "Now that you are awake and well, I feel better about giving you this," she lifted his hand and pushed the analgesic into his bloodstream. "Your pain will subside right away."

          Nova's eyelids became heavy almost immediately, and the rest of his body relaxed a few seconds later. He took a deep breath—to test if he could still feel the stabbing pain and soreness in his chest and groin—but it was completely gone, like it was never there to begin with. "Wow... you weren't kidding..."

          Jarah's lush blue crown twitched affirmatively. "I need to step out to grab a scanning probe and something to mend those fractures. I would have done it sooner, but I needed to stabilize you."

          "It's okay... I can't even remember what it felt like..." he slurred.

          "I'll be back in a minute," Jarah said. She tapped near a button on the railing of the bed. "If you need something urgently, press this button."

          Nova nodded and relaxed further as the drug took full effect. In addition to its painkilling properties, it was euphoric and sedating, and he found himself enjoying the dreamy state it induced. The door swip'd closed, and he closed his eyes.

          "... Nova."

          Nova tensed and his eyes flew open again. Above him in the vent, he could see a faint white light, but it was too far away to actually see what it was. He thought the whispering voice sounded like Gabriel, but it was tinny and robotic, like he was hearing it through a particularly old and shitty transmitter.

          "It's me," he continued. "I'm in the ventilation shaft."

          "Gabriel?" Nova tried to whisper back, but it came out a bit louder than he would have liked, and he silently cursed himself. "How did you—?"

          "Nevermind that right now," he said quickly. "You're not the only human here. I met someone else, and... I don't know what they really have planned for you, but I don't think—it's not anything good. We need to get the fuck out of here."