Bird Reawakens
"
By: Favor, Medic / Morale Officer, [PST]
"That would be just like you now, wouldn't it, Birdie?" she crooned. "Fighting over the ladies. Or were they fighting over you?"
Behind his lids, Bird's eyes raced. Good; that was good. He'd need to wake up soon, probably today. His rapid eye movement levels indicated full brain function.
Favor lifted a dressing. There'd been a deep gash across his upper arm , and she saw nothing but pink and warm brown skin. He'd have a scar; some wounds were so deep that even the bio-regenerator couldn't fully erase the scar tissue. She wiped a damp cloth across where the wound had been, threw the dressing in the trash. Funny, she never had much to say to Bird when he wasn't lying on a table, dead asleep. "Isn't that funny, Birdie?" she asked, tapping his hand. "We have such a one-way relationship, don't we?"
She'd seen him in Miranda's, and around. He just wasn't that interesting to her when he wasn't half-dead, she guessed. "Bird, I have a question for you," she said. "From one shipmate to another. I need your opinion. Who sent me that bunch of dagger lilies that's in my quarters?"
There was no answer, only the quiet hum of the bio-bed. "Patient non-responsive," the computer helpfully advised.
"No kidding, you don't say!" Favor rolled her eyes. Someone really needed to explain rhetorical questions to the computer!
Three dozen orange and purple dagger lilies. Now there was a puzzler indeed. Favor'd gone to her quarters earlier that day, and found a huge bouquet of the fragrant flowers sitting in the middle of her chamber. No card, no indication of who they were from.
"What do you suppose, Birdie-bird? Shall I go in there and give them a big old sniff?"
* * * The Dagger Lily, a Risan import. The rarest flower in the galaxy, found only on the southern winter slopes of the Nilo Mountain Range, and the most toxic bit of flora known to man. No one on Risa ever weeps. The significance of the dagger lily lies in its poison pods. Risan legend has it that a mythical creature called the Svelgia collects the tears of newborn Risan babies, before they even have a chance to fall. They steal lifetimes of sorrow, and pour out the babies' tears over the fields of dagger lilies. Or so the story goes.
Not everyone believes that the Svelgia waters the dagger lilies with babies' tears, but there is no debating the toxicity of the flowers' pods. The removal of the lily's pods must be done under tightly controlled circumstances. If the pollen escapes, it is a lethal inhalant, and its presence in the body is undetectable. Dagger lilies are a popular means of murdering enemies among the wealthy visitors to Risa. Expensive, but there's no evidence left in a corpse. Nothing to prove in court.
Not that Favor has any enemies. They are also a favored gift of lovers, an indicator of a desire for deep and abiding trust. The pods removed, the scent of the flowers increases, and becomes a spicy, intoxicating aphrodisiac. Yes, a favored gift to a loved woman from a Risan man. Not that Favor has one of those, either. * * * "Who the hell sent me these flowers, Bird?" she mused, tapping her finger against her chin. "I don't have any friends, and I don't have any enemies." Silvio's hand twitched. Favor sighed. "OK, it's time for you to wake up, my friend." She injected a vial of susserin into Bird's vein. His eyelids fluttered, once, twice, and flew open. He peered at the world with big, bloodshot brown eyes.
She handed him a glass of water. They were always thirsty from the chemicals when they first woke up. He opened his mouth, but she already knew his throat would be so dry that he wouldn't be able to croak out a single word. "Here you are," she said curtly, handing him the water. Awake, Bird was a whole different kettle of fish; Favor had no time for him. "I'm going to leave you to your privacy, so that you can get dressed. You can get a fresh uniform from the computer. If you need anything, just scream."
She turned on her heel and strode out of the Sick Bay. True to their one-way relationship, Bird, she thought, had had nothing to say to her! * * * "Knock knock!" she called through the Counselor's office door. "You hungry, Patia? I'm thinking of stopping by Miranda's-------"
She froze. The Counselor was curled up on the floor, rocking back and forth. Wet strands of hair stuck to her forehead; her face was swollen from weeping. "Oh my God! What happened? Should I call security?" Patia slowly shook her head---NO. She gasped, shoulders rocking in great, heaving sobs.
Favor sank to the floor beside her friend and waited for her to speak.