Linnea's Arrangement (Divinity Healers) Page 2
Dr. Markos wore a red, one-piece suit. The sleeves were long, falling past the woman’s hands. Her brunette hair was all one color and had been pulled back from her face. Her features seemed overly pale in the blue light reflecting off the portal. When the woman looked at her, Linnea said, half conversationally, half to get a rise out of the fine doctor, “You know, Politician Shinclus told me that people sometimes get rematerialized into solid objects when going through these things.”
“He was just trying to scare you,” Dr. Markos answered tersely. “Politician Shinclus is known for his bad humor. It is true accidents happened in the past, but that is why they send out the probes first. Besides, where we are going is a known destination and an opposite portal will receive us on the other side. Everyone there works for the central hospital government in some capacity. It should be like going to a giant hospital.” She turned to study Linnea. The blue light from the portal reflected in the woman’s eyes. “Weren’t you supposed to change your hair?”
“I didn’t make it to my appointment. Something else came up.” Linnea arched a brow and shifted the papers in her arms. Drawling sarcastically, she added, “I don’t really think it matters all that much. I’m sure they’ll make allowance for our alien customs.”
Cecilia closed her eyes, appearing annoyed. “The plane we’re traveling to does not know of our fashion customs. We might unintentionally insult them. Did you read the recommendations report put together by the Committee for Interplane Diplomacy?”
“I was going to,” Linnea drawled, “but I was in the middle of a different book at the time. I wanted to finish it before we left.”
Cecilia frowned, saying, “It’s too late to do anything about your hair now. We will be leaving soon.”
Linnea mimicked the woman’s disapproving expression. The unspoken meaning in the doctor’s tone was clear—her hair ultimately didn’t matter because Linnea was only her assistant, a nonconformist, not a doctor.
Workers began filing out of the room. A low, steady hum sounded moments before a voice could be heard overhead, ordering, “Dr. Markos, Citizen Nel, please report to the platform.”
* * *
City of Asclepius, Country of Chiron, Dimensional Plane 187
Dr. Samuel Swift didn’t move from his place on the narrow cot. The room was small, but he wouldn’t be disturbed. It was practically the only room within the walls of the Central Hospital and Optimal Health Centre where he could find any kind of sanctuary and, if he was lucky, a few minutes of sleep.
As Director of Central Hospital, Sam had one person to answer to—the Medical Supreme. Unfortunately, Medical Supreme Walter had been especially demanding lately—not the least of which was using his laboratories in the middle of the night, something that required Sam’s special clearance and attendance within the building.
Exhaustion and stress filled him from just thinking about it. He didn’t like Supreme Walter’s late night experimenting and he especially didn’t like not knowing what those experiments were. But, his position was a delicate one. The Medical Supreme was in charge of funding and had power. To question him would be to lose not only his position, but his hospital’s funding. With only a cheating former wife to call family, this hospital was all he had.
The former wife was pretty, he’d allow her that much. He’d been blinded by her physical charms—round breasts, soft flesh, thighs that would part as eagerly as her mouth. She’d sucked her way into his life, quite literally. Shamefully, that’s what he missed most—not her, but the feel of her, the companionship, the release.
A light beep sounded. One of the benefits of living on one of the most medically advanced planes of existence was the constant monitoring of health. The room monitors constantly checked his system, anticipating his needs. Automatically turning his head to the side, he let the injector extending from the wall give him a shot in the neck. Instantly, his stress levels lessened and he felt better.
Another beep sounded and he opened one eye. He reached for his waistband a little too eagerly, tugging at it to pull his pants off his hips. The computer had sensed his borderline arousal and was instructing him to take care of it. Who was he to argue with science?
Sighing, he wrapped his fingers around his cock. No one in particular came to mind as he lazily stroked himself. Though he enjoyed it, he knew it was merely a physical function like eating or breathing. He’d heard of people finding great passion. Though he’d enjoyed the charms of his former wife, he hadn’t felt any kind of mighty love passion. Through the Divinity portal, they had traded research with a plane of people who’d done extensive mapping of the brain. Emotions were easy enough to explain, read, even cure. Love was merely what they had called phenylethylamine, a trick of the brain, a chemical the body produced to create the emotion.
He found his mind trying to wander to work, to the mental checklist of things to be done. Off-world doctors were coming today. He’d have to greet and acclimate them. There would be tests to run, scans, checkups. Then he would be expected to escort them to whichever facility he deemed best for their trading purposes.
He glanced down his body, stroking harder. The dry rub of his hand on flesh caused his stomach to tighten. His breathing deepened. Pleasure rippled over him. So close. Almost… Almost—
“Dr. Swift, the dignitaries have arrived. They are in decontamination,” Dr. Lu’s voice interrupted. The man was the last person he wanted to hear at that moment. The shock of it jolted him back from his release. Though some substance did leak from the tip, the pressure remained inside his stomach.
With a frustrated sigh, he reached for the wall panel and pressed a button to answer, “Dr. Lu, I’ll be there in a moment. Please see that they are cleared.”
“Dr. Fauchet has already been dispatched to see to it,” Lu answered.
“Very good.” Sam took a deep breath before getting up to clean himself off. The wall panel beeped a reminder that he needed to do something about his levels. Unfortunately duty called and he hit an override code to ignore his current state of un-release for the time being.
As he was the director, the incident would not be reported to the others. It was one of the small perks of the job, a little bit of medical privacy. If the others knew how many times he ended up taking matters into his own hands without the aid of female companionship, they’d probably stage an intervention. Though, finding women in his position was hard. He didn’t want them fucking him because he had power. He didn’t want them thinking they had to fuck with him because he had power. The Medical Supreme didn’t seem to have the same issue with power that Sam had. The man would seduce anyone he wanted—the more unattainable, the better. In fact, the Medical Supreme even hinted at using the Divinity portal to bring through virgins for their trainable pleasure. His cock tightened at the erotic idea of tight female flesh to plunge into. However, he found the Medical Supreme a letch. Sure, the idea of sexual vessels worked well for a healthy fantasy to get off when he was alone, but the reality of importing virgins was a sort of mental pathogen he wanted no part of. Fantasy women wanted to be fucked. Real women deserved the choice.
Besides, he never understood the obsession some men had with virgins. He hadn’t held on to his own virginity, why should the women who came to his bed be expected to? Sam found himself pulling aside his lab coat and reaching to stroke his cock through his pants. And, furthermore, he didn’t want to have to train his lover to fuck him. He had enough work to do as it was.
The reminder of work caused him to growl and drop the coat. The long length of the standard-issue facility uniform, a long blue coat with red trim, would hide his erection until it lost interest. Since he was expected to escort the visitors to a facility several hours outside the city, it would be a long while before he had a chance to take care of himself properly. The idea did nothing to his mood as he grumpily reached for a medical clipboard and hit his hand against the door scanner.
Chapter Two
Quite an enjoyable ride.
&
nbsp; As the color of the light shifted to a pale green to pull Linnea through the portal, she cursed Politician Shinclus for his obvious lie. The pain of portal travel was unimaginable. The humming in her ears grew louder, drowning out all other sounds. Linnea closed her eyes to the bright light. She wanted to scream, but when she opened her mouth it felt as if her jaw was being ripped away from her skull. Flesh burned and her entire body was ripped apart at a molecular level. She should have been dead, or unconscious, but her mind stayed completely aware.
Those few seconds of pain were unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Then it was over, leaving her body numb and weak. She collapsed onto the hard platform, dropping her papers and not caring. She gasped for breath, coughing and choking as her lungs filled with a sickeningly sweet air.
Quite an enjoyable ride?
Bedlam and anarchy!
She was vaguely aware of Cecilia Markos on the floor next to her. The pale green turned to blue and her hearing came back in the form of loud, blaring alarms. Linnea covered her sensitive ears. “So loud!”
“Sterilization commencing,” a male voice announced, louder than the alarm. “Please stand and move away from the platform.”
Linnea didn’t bother looking up. She crawled forward to gather the papers before pushing to her feet. Cecilia stayed on the ground, shaking. Reaching down, Linnea pulled the woman up by her arm.
“Please stand and move away from the platform,” the voice repeated, even louder. No one was there. The voice came from a sound system. She looked around but couldn’t see any viewing devices looking in at them. The room was constructed of shiny metal—from the floors to the walls to the ceilings.
“I think that’s us,” Linnea yelled over the alarm, not letting go of Cecilia’s arm as they moved, afraid one of them would collapse again and injure themselves. They both turned, startled, watching as a shield slid down from the ceiling, blocking the platform.
“Welcome, dignitaries from the New Order Society, Dimensional Plane 303, to Central Hospital and Optimal Health Centre in the City of Asclepius, Country of Chiron, Dimensional Plane 187. We are now scanning you for foreign dimensional parasites and viruses. Please do not move until scanning is complete.” A series of lights followed the male’s orders, flashing over them. The alarms thankfully stopped. “Sterilization complete. Please state your clearance code.”
“Dr. Cecilia Markos,” her companion answered. “New Order Society dignitary.”
“This is tedious,” Linnea muttered. Her ears still rang from the blaring noise. “I hope they don’t all talk that loud.”
“Voice recognition accepted. Please move to the orange door.” A metallic gray door with a series of numbers and letter written in orange across the front opened automatically and they passed through to the metallic gray corridors of the hospital. They stepped down the hall, not sure where they were going, but heading down the longest route. The orange letters on the wall seemed to indicate some kind of navigational system, but they weren’t trained to read it.
“It’s only for a couple of months,” Cecilia said under her breath.
“Yeah,” Linnea answered, “but two months of what?”
A man appeared in a long blue coat with red trim holding an electronic device in his hands. The device held his attention for a long moment. The women stopped, waiting for him to look up and give them some sort of indication as to what they should do next. Linnea shared a quick look with Cecilia, but the there was no camaraderie between their gazes. In truth, Cecilia was as much a stranger to Linnea as the man standing before them.
“Welcome,” the man stated. “Welcome, doctors.”
“I’m the doctor, Dr. Cecilia Markos,” Cecilia answered, her tone clipped and frankly a little insulting. She motioned to Linnea. “This is my assistant, Linnea Nel.”
Linnea gave a rueful smile at the other woman’s introduction and suddenly regretted bothering to help her up off the floor. She had hoped, being from the same dimensional plane, Cecilia would show her some form of respect. Though why Linnea expected as much was a mystery even to her. She was used to people treating her poorly, and all because of a stupid tiny-little implant.
“Welcome, Dr. Markos, Sans Nel,” the man amended. He smiled at both of them equally, unfazed by her non-doctor status. Linnea was inclined to like him instantly.
Cecilia nodded once.
“Thank you,” Linnea answered politely.
“I am Dr. Gerard Fauchet. I will be your guide while you’re on our plane. Anything you need, all you have to do is ask.” He motioned to the papers. “Would you like me to carry that for you?”
“No, I’ve got it.” Linnea glanced pointedly at Cecilia and added, “I am the assistant, after all.”
“We don’t work with parchment, but I can have one of the doctors scan your documents into a clipboard if you like.” He lifted his electronic device to indicate what he was talking about. “In fact, I understand supplies are waiting for us at the assigned research facility.”
Cecilia looked around, clearly taken aback. “You mean…we will not be working here? Near the portal?”
Linnea had the same question. A thin thread of fear worked through her at the idea. Of course, she knew this was part of her mission, but the nagging idea that her plane might just abandon her here wouldn’t leave her. They couldn’t kill her. They couldn’t monitor her. But they could trap her in an alternate reality and tell her family she’d suffered an accident. Who wouldn’t believe it? Inter-dimensional travel just sounded dangerous. And that was if they even admitted to what they’d done to her. Her family might not even know she’d gone missing. They might even be relieved to never hear from her again.
“Afraid we might keep you here against your will?” Gerard teased. Linnea couldn’t help but return the man’s playful smile. However, Cecilia was far from amused. The open expression disappeared from the man’s face. In a more subdued tone, he stated, “Please, follow me.”
Linnea gave her companion a questioningly glance as Gerard led them down the hall. She caught the woman staring at the man’s ass. This was who they sent as the dignitary? A displeased woman who lusted after the first male specimen they came across? Linnea gave a small laugh, feeling a tiny bit superior to the great Dr. Markos.
Cecilia began to cough.
“Doctor?” Gerard inquired, glancing at his clipboard then the women.
Cecilia touched her chest lightly. “I am still adapting to the air.”
“It smells like we’re walking near a confectionary,” Linnea observed politely, trying to lighten the insulting tilt to Cecilia’s words. This was getting ridiculous. As unhappy as she was by her plane’s anti-chaos laws keeping her out of medical higher learning, she didn’t want her people misrepresented by the rude doctor at her side. “The air is very sweet.”
“That is the air-filtering sterilizer,” Gerard said. “The air is continuously tested for abnormalities and purified. You have nothing to fear here. We haven’t had a serious illness for, well, some would argue for centuries now, depending on your particular definition of serious.” He waved his hand toward the ceiling. “I am told that after a time you will become accustomed to the scent. We tried modifying the formula to be unscented, but it lost two-point-three percent potency.”
“No illness for so long?” Cecilia questioned, clearly trying to convey the significance of such a discovery when she looked at Linnea. “That is quite the accomplishment.”
Linnea didn’t react. Of course that was why they were here—to glean medical knowledge to cure diseases on their plane. She didn’t believe for a second Jinna merely wanted them to spread some goodwill and come home.
Gerard led them through the hall, turning several times until it became apparent the halls were an endless maze that would be impossible to navigate without a map. Linnea noticed monitors on the wall displayed their life signs as they passed, and if she walked too close to them they blipped, so she tried to stay toward the center of the hall. She stopp
ed walking, staring at the monitor, trying to decipher what it was saying.
“Ah, Dr. Fauchet.” The abrupt sound cut into her thoughts and directed her attention to the arrogant sounding man coming down the hall.
“Dr. Markos, Sans Nel,” Gerard introduced, “may I present Medical Supreme Walter, his son Dr. Sebastjan Walter and Dr. Walter’s wife, Sans Ariella.”
“Doctor,” the Medical Supreme acknowledged, glancing only briefly at Linnea. He had a smooth, youthful look to him that contrasted the intelligence in his blue eyes. A foreshadowing of gray salted the black hair at his temples.
“Welcome,” Dr. Walter said. Ariella simply nodded and didn’t look at any one person for too long.
Linnea noted that everyone talked louder on this plane, as if someone turned up the volume a couple notches. She was tempted to rub her ears, but refrained.
“And this is the hospital coordinator Dr. Lu,” Gerard finished. Dr. Lu stayed back behind the others, more interested in his clipboard than his visitors.
“Welcome to Asclepius,” the Medical Supreme said. “We look forward to a mutual exchange of knowledge. I have chosen Dr. Fauchet to be your guide. He will remain at your side. Should you need anything, please speak directly to him or to Dr. Swift. I will be unable to attend you at the research facility. I am a very busy man after all.”
Cecilia began to answer, but the Medical Supreme cut her off.
“Here he is!” The Medical Supreme lifted his hand, motioning behind them. “May I present the esteemed Dr. Swift, Director of Central Hospital.”
Linnea couldn’t move. All thoughts left her as Dr. Swift moved closer to join their group. He nodded in acknowledgement. Dark brown hair framed his tanned face and green eyes. The cut seemed long compared to the other natives, but the look suited him. Well, honestly, she wasn’t sure if the look suited him, but it suited her just fine. Attraction rocketed through her body, causing her nerves to come alive. It was potent and raw, as if he emitted some kind of sex pheromone all over her body. She shifted uncomfortably, her one-piece jumpsuit feeling very tight and oddly erotic. Moisture wetted her sex.