In Alien Hands: Crashed

Crashed - Part 6

Once Holli had eaten and fallen asleep, I started the trek to Barne's house. It wasn't terribly far, but it felt like miles with Holli hurt. The wounds were deep, her arm was covered in blood. Once I arrived, I knocked on his door.

"Greetings, Acquaintance." He said in a traditional greeting. I would've returned with the appropriate greeting, but I was too worried and too scared for Holli to do that.

" Barne, my human was attacked. She's hurt. " his eyes immediately grew wide. "You said you know a vet who would treat her?"

Without a word, Barne went back inside, leaving the door open for me to follow. I didn't bother to sit, my adrenaline was still pumping. Barne pulled out a phone (Holli definitely wouldn't recognize it) and punched in a long string of numbers. After a few seconds, someone picked up.

"A small human here is hurt in the woods. An acquaintance crashed there with it and they were waiting for assistance from family. They were attacked." Barne grew quiet as the person on the other end responded. He looked up at me. "What attacked?"

" I don't know what it was. It was on all fours with big teeth, no fur and a long tail" I was speaking quickly. Barne's eyes grew wide as I spoke.

"A Dally wolf" he said into the phone. He then listed what I presume was the address to the house, and immediately hung up.

"They'll be here momentarily. Dally wolf bites can be deadly if not treated. Puckle is bringing two assistants and a carrier. They will sedate her, Humans can be dangerous if threatened." Barne explained. I didn't like her being sedated, but if they could save her, I was fine.

The vet arrived just a minute or two later, with two large aliens in tow. One carried a gun (they assured me it had a fast acting tranquilizer and wasn't to be used unless she ran) and the other a few syringes of sedative. The vet carried a human-sized carrier and several blankets. They explained that we were to distract her while the second assistant injected the sedative. She'd then be wrapped in blankets and carried off to the office to receive immediate treatment. I tried to insist that she didn't need it, but they were firm. I should've turned her in for mandatory quarantine the moment I'd arrived, so I had no say in the matter.

On the way, I explained to them exactly what had happened. She was tame, we had crashed on the way to move back to family, that she'd stayed at the camp while I foraged, and how she got hurt. They explained that the saliva of this beast had high concentrations of bacteria. It first made the injury numb, then the wounds would spread.

I woke her up in the usual way, putting on a fake smile when her eyes lifted open. She quickly noticed the people with me, shrinking down into our hammock at sight of the gun. I talked to her while the assistant snuck up behind, stuck her, and tried to keep her calm while she panicked over the injection. Within 10 seconds, she was out. The vet and assistants didn't hesitate, they had her swaddled in blankets and gingerly put in the crate moments after she was out.

Thankfully, they let me ride to the office with them. Puckle, the vet, was on a call with the office most of the way. She talked about as fast as I did when I was speaking to Barne. She arranged an operating theater (one of the assistants told me they'd be cleaning the wounds and stitching her up, no real surgery involved), antiseptics, a suture kit, among other things. The procedure would be done mostly awake, starting once the sedative began to wear off. She'd be taken from me for several days to weeks for quarantine and recovery, or until I was able to find a ride off planet. After she was fixed up, I was to be driven to the embassy where i could contact family.

There were several people waiting when we arrived. They hurriedly lifted the carrier and took it inside. They had me wash my fur and put on gloves before going into the theater, where she already was. They were placing her into restraints and a mask had been placed over her face. They told me it was just a gas to flush the sedative out of her system and wake her up faster.

A few minutes later, I heard her groan and pull on the restraints. The Puckle jumped to action, directing the assistants to begin cleaning her wounds. The point of waiting, they told me, was to gauge how much feeling she had in her arm, how mobile it was, and her temperament, as they'd be facilitating the quarantine. I

Soon after she started to wake, she slowly opened her eyes, clearly still very groggy. In an attempt to keep her calm, I placed a hand on her cheek. She looked at me, confused but calm, calmer than I had expected.

"Your human is still recovering from the sedative. Shortly, she'll be more conscious. After her arm is stitched up, she'll be put under a human-safe sedative. We'll give her fluids and an entry examination. After she is cleared, we'll bring her around in a cage for quarantine. It is illegal for humans to be housed with free contact in businesses here. You may visit for 20 minutes each day, but no longer, and no physical contact."

I sighed. She wasn't going to be the least bit happy with me. She was intently watching the assistant wipe her wounds out.

"Yes. She's definitely numb. All the way through. Wounds have spread slightly, no further than we can reverse, however. The limb is ready for stitches" the assistant said.

" we're going to cover her eyes with a blinding cloth," the vet explained, "she is going to panic shortly before calming." I nodded in understanding and a cloth was thrown over her eyes. As predicted, she panicked for 10-15 seconds before she went limp. The assistant quickly stitched her up while she was unaware. While the stitches were placed, I tried to comfort her. I stroked her good arm and spoke to her. She was not amused.

If you grew up in a place like I did, the entire species would have seemed horrible by this point. Where I'm from, Humans were revered like dogs or cats are on earth. They are pampered, loved, and treated like part of the family. My family make it a tradition for new adults to leave our home planet and travel to "the colonies" (the planet where I met Holli) to purchase our humans. Humans on our planet have no troubles finding homes, and selling wild humans is illegal. All available humans are domestically bred and raised, you must travel off planet to purchase a wild one. Wild humans require far more work to bond with, but they form closer bonds. They're the lot who die for their owners, the ones who'd do anything for them.

This planet, however, treated them like tigers. Cool pets, but dangerous and not to be trusted. You can bond with one, but don't expect a bond in return. They thought humans only cared about other humans, even then, only humans like them.

All this would lead one to believe they hated humans, that they were mistreated. I thought that when I first met Barne, but I soon thought different. This vet's office was definitely for pets. They had pamphlets, drawings and paintings on the walls, I even saw a couple clients walk by, sedated humans rolling behind them on beds for some procedure. My theory was confirmed when the vet gave Holli another anaesthetic after letting her see what had been done (which was done purely for her comfort) to her. Puckle spoke to her softly, trying to get her to relax as she fell under the anaesthetic. Several assistants swooned over her as she had awoken. Even Puckle whispered "she's sweet" into my ear at one point. It was clear to me that, although she was deemed dangerous, Holli, and humans in general, were liked.

I was taken on a short tour of the quarantine facility while she was given fluids and examined. While I wasn't happy about the cage situation and seeming lack of enrichment, they assured me she'd be given something to do after they were sure she was adjusting appropriately. They let me peer in on another human in quarantine, they were busy going away on a puzzle toy. It was very complex, it looked more difficult that anything Holli had ever been given.

Once I received the news that Holli was deemed healthy, disease free, and doing well, I was driven to the Embassy to begin the bureaucracy of getting myself and a human off planet.