The Melbourne dove (Allerides)

The Melbourne dove (Alleride)

This is not a sequel to "The Infiltrator" although it is one in fact, I write short stories according to what I have in mind. I am not a writer. I just participated in a local activity: the writing workshop. and I took a certain pleasure in it. Well on the other hand (no not that one, the other one) I am a big consumer of SF. I read Zelazny, Vance Farmer, Bujol, Mac Affrey, Legui etc... So if these giants made an impression on me I am not making cobblestones like they made them. I don't spend every kilometer, just an afternoon or two. so it's news

The commander put his pad back in his pocket. He looks at me with a frown. I am not familiar enough with human facial expressions to understand the meaning of his expression, and in human contact classes, it was said that humans mask their states of mind a lot in their societal relationships. The example we were given boiled down to this sentence: “Play poker with humans, it’s the best lesson!” ". He nods, and leaves. I don't know what my future will be here. Not in detention, but I have not received any status information. And there's this repetitive noise. Like a quick ring, a code? The nurse returns, looks in panic at the device to my right. The room spins, and becomes foggy then the colors fade… I have the impression that people are talking in a large empty room, the words vibrate and resonate. I catch parts of sentences. “— fourth time we have adjusted the treatment. The answers…” “—… the blood bags have been delivered, we can exsanguinate him t…” I see silhouettes, distorted, like gray flames writhing. At times, clear images, The white coat with these words: Lisa nurse. Every time I come out of this cottony state there are one or two people near me. A clearer view makes me realize that a significant number of pipes are connected to me. A discomfort in one nostril, I shake my head painfully, I feel like I have no strength. A face above me: “Arnnah? It's Lisa, the tube is to feed you. Your stomach needs to recover…” I plunge back into painful unconsciousness. I come back to the surface, like coming out of muddy water. In front of me I see three people dressed in white, who seem to be moving a corpse, the body of a maddeningly thin woman. Grayish skin, which seems to stick to the bones, the ribs are visible, the hands themselves seem dry. It is covered in pipes. A dazzling understanding, this corpse is me, it’s a reflection on the machine that sits at the foot of my bed. A mercy I fall back into nothingness. I wake up. Another nurse. She is not a human, but an allerid. She sees me conscious, approaches, shows my teeth, I don't have the strength to threaten in turn. Did they send me back to the empire? She addresses me: “we’re going to do a few movements to make you more flexible, as soon as you feel tired, we’ll stop. » although her words were spoken gently, she kept showing me her teeth.
“Are you going to torture me? »
She stares at me with wide eyes. She also stopped showing her teeth.
— What idea? What could make you think that? I am a caregiver!
— Your teeth, I…

• Oh ! I'm sorry, but I was born in Melbourne, and my father is human. My teeth are a smile! Smile ! A human father! Allerids and humans are not compatible.
• How ?
  — My father is human, and my progenitor is allerid and the allerids of human father have attitudes and expressions acquired from humans
  — The smile?
• That ? it is an expression of happiness I look at my arms, still IV fluids, I jump at their thinness I observe myself, several probes are stuck to my body I gape, with horror I discover what I look like
  —I'm horrible!
  — Oh, you look much better
  I stare at her. Better ? and a lot, it doesn't seem to match what I'm seeing. She places a hand under my knees and bends my leg, a dull ache at the bend of the hip and knee, She manipulates both legs alternately while monitoring a screen at the head of my bed. She has a slightly worried look.
  — We're going to stop there for today. Two months passed, she came every day, the sessions were longer and longer, according to her I am recovering surprisingly. My meals have also increased. I now eat like an “Ogre”. Explanation, an ogre, would be a human with a colossal appetite, but it is not clear where it resides. I learned at least some human facial expressions and a small number of behaviors. Laughter, an activity which is either mockery, conviviality, or even satisfaction, amusement and something else too. This leaves room for a lot of misunderstanding. I now have a monitoring watch. Humans have a bunch of impressive medical monitoring devices. The watch has a huge advantage, I am no longer attached to the machines in my room. Most of the latter have been moved. Today, I dared to ask why when I called her name at the beginning, she took me back.
  —Why do you call me Mirkhi instead of Mirkhi Sullivan?
  I got a little laugh before she answered, A little laugh that I don't know how to categorize
  “For the same reason I call you Arnnah. It’s like creating a family bond!
  — In the empire, it is a lack of respect, it is affirmed that the other is not a whole individual.
• Oh ! Do not judge humans by the criteria of the empire. We will look at your medical follow-up. See what you went through during these thirty months.
• Thirty !
  — Yes, you've been here for thirty months

The pad showed me a medical history, alongside photos of me in the room. In fast motion I saw myself wasting away, being transfused, covered in bandages, connected to machines, put under a sterile bubble. I find it difficult to understand how so many resources could have been made available to an “enemy”. It amazes me. A delivery man brought flowers. Mirkhi mes brought them in a vase and she said.
—Now we can put them in your room.
— Yes, those that the major brought did not have the right to stay in the same room as you, they were put behind the glass there. She points to the surveillance window.
—Because there were others?
— On each of his visits he came with a Bouquet.
— Were there a lot of visits?
— Every fortnight, he came during his two days of leave.
—And he came today
— No, six months ago he was deployed to Neustadt. He had a delivery made from a planetary base. This shipping service is not very common. There is a note in the bouquet.
— But humans don’t put flowers on graves?
A laugh, again.
— Not always, and not only that.

The word is typed. A slanted font that I don't understand. Mirkhi reads the message to me: I learned that you came out of the coma. I'm glad you're recovering. I will come by at the end of my deployment to get some news. Good luck.

— That doesn't tell me who he is
— Apparently someone who cares about you.

I did a search on Neustadt. The system worked for a while and finally got me out: a dirt town in a European country. I doubt that a military intervention from Melbourne will take place on Earth. Oh, the frontier planets, I'm restarting the search with Neustadt-PL Ha several fields. I learned that Neustadt is one of the planets recently added to the border federation. It is a planet with a small mixed colony. A whole bunch of considerations on exploitable resources, A beginner agriculture which is sufficient for local consumption and should soon export. Nothing exceptional. If the planet is mentioned in the news. Pirate attacks and slave trafficking. The intervention of the army is explained. Those who intervene are not Terran space troops, but the new forces of the Border Federation. This army is recent. I need to update myself on the events of the last two years.

— Arnnah, you will be able to leave the hospital soon.
—Mirkhi, do you think I could apply for Melbourne citizenship?
— You want to apply to acquire local citizenship, there will be a small problem.

Lisa who returned from her medical trip with an epidemic. He told me the same thing, that there is a problem. To understand, we are going to give me a tour of the Melbourne dove site.

The Melbourne Dove Site is a commemoration of the Border War. The area has been cleared of mines, a set of a few trenches have been preserved. A room traces the history of the battles. We enter a room where a film is shown to us. The last day of the war. Two soldiers in a trench. And suddenly an Alleride jumped into the trench, a feline which landed softly at the bottom of the trench with dialogues reconstructed.
Soldier on the right: — Who are you?
Soldier on the left: — She’s an allerid sergeant
Soldier on the right: — Identify yourself
The alleride; — you have to give this to your boss
She holds out a data disk in her hand. I lean towards Mirkhi
— But what is this bullshit?
— Well, that’s your story.
— Well, there you go! except that I didn't jump into the trench, I hung myself like a rag before letting myself fall while holding on to the wall and the sergeant, the guy on the right, said from memory: "Don't you think she has a nice ass? » the other replied “Sure sergeant! but what she's crazy about. » and the sergeant closed the debate with a “It’s true that she stinks. » afterwards he told me “we saw one side, show the other”
—Are you sure?
— Not the text but the spirit. I was there! And the data disk I held in my cheek.
— It’s true Mirkhi, I took it away from her when we received her at the hospital. Ah, continuation of the visit. The previous group of tourists passes us, a little human looks at me with eyes that eat her head. She moves forward without taking her eyes off me. What, I'm not the only allerid around! We pass the trench, a plaque marks the place where the lyrical scene of the film took place, I'm not too interested, memories that we can forget. The trench which crosses this has been modified at the link of the peaks a staircase ends it. We climb and a statue occupies a sort of circus. Two dogs are on each side of an alleride which extends towards the sky a sort of crystal ball in which the light of the sun plays. We face the statue with the sun behind us. My jaw drops to my chest. It’s me, the statue represents me. An arm holds one of the dogs and hides the breasts, the other dog modestly hides the front of the character. The details are impressive: the wounds covering the chest. The underside of the forearms. The face is an exact representation of mine. Lisa leans towards me.
— Do you understand the kid's behavior? look at the plate below. In both alphabets the plaque says:

“Arnnah Pakkah known as the Dove of Melbourne, honorary citizen of the planet and the border federation”

Mirkhi whispers to me.
— Do you see the problem? Make an official request for something you already have.

That's it, I'm going to leave the hospital. The army needs intelligence personnel. I already have the training on the empire side, but I will have to update everything. I won't be in the field, it seems I'm too well known. Right now I'm looking at myself in the mirror. I especially look at all these scars. The blisters are no longer visible, but a fine network of lighter lines forms a mesh on my skin. I am happy, I have regained my figure, no more thinness, I have even regained some small bulges at the waist. I turn a little more to see a little of my back when Mirkhi shouts:
— Major!
I hide, Mirkhi gives me a blouse. Once put on, I turn around, a human is there presenting his back to me, he holds a bouquet in his hand. I button the blouse and approach. I tap his shoulder. He looks at me with a big smile. I detail it, no his face doesn't tell me anything.
—Who are you? I ask. Instead of answering he leans towards me, sniffs the air and in a clear voice
— From what I've seen, you still have a beautiful posterior, but you smell fabulously better.