“That’s a good question, Dr. Shaw,” Andraia said. “Juna?”
She turned to the enkar. “Ukatonen, do you have any suggestions?”
“We could include a doctor in the link with us, I suppose.”
“I’m afraid that wasn’t quite what we had in mind,” one of the other doctors said. “We need to hook you up to machines that can monitor your heartbeat, and your brain waves.”
“I see,” Ukatonen said. “How much time does it take to set up these machines?”
“It takes about fifteen minutes to set everything up. We can use one of the upstairs examining rooms.”
“Then Moki and I will heal our patients in that room,” Ukatonen said. “I will be interested to see what these machines do.”
“But what about those of us who want to investigate how the Tendu heal a specific problem?” another doctor asked.
“We can work on that after we’ve found the best way to study what the Tendu are doing,” Dr. Andraia said. “Ukatonen, Moki, I apologize for the initial misunderstanding and I hope that we can figure out a harmonious working arrangement.”
“Thank you, Dr. Andraia,” said the enkar. “Moki and I are looking forward to learning from you.”
A lavender ripple of relief coursed over Ukatonen’s body as he turned on the shower. It had been a very long day. He and Moki had healed five people today, four yesterday, and two the day before. He was drained and weary, and beginning to feel as out of harmony as the people he healed. He needed a green, quiet place in which to restore his balance. Tomorrow, they would rest, he decided. He would get out with Eerin and Moki and they would find a tree, and climb it, and not come down until they felt more in balance.
He emerged from the shower and climbed into bis moist, heated bed, and fell asleep.
The next day they explored several of the station’s gardens, climbing trees, swinging from branch to branch. They found a small, quiet park with gnarled pine trees and rounded, moss-covered stones. Water trickled from a bamboo pipe into a dark pool where bright orange fish swirled and circled. The garden’s tranquillity and balance filled Ukatonen with peace.
“I like this place,” he remarked to Eerin. “It has ruwar-a.”
“This garden,” she told him, “was designed by Mo-toyoshi XVI. His family have designed gardens for almost a thousand years, first in Japan, then around the world. A branch of the family moved into, space two centuries ago. Do you remember the Uenos?” she asked.
Moki nodded. “Your neighbors, the ones with the strange fish.”
“Mrs. Ueno is a Motoyoshi; she told me all about her family.” Eerin smiled, remembering. “You should see her garden. There’s a bonsai that’s almost three hundred years old. It was a wedding present from her family.”
“I would like to meet the man who created this garden,” Ukatonen said. “I think I would like him very much.”
“I think you would too,” Eerin agreed. “But he died ten years ago. He was Mrs. Ueno’s grandfather. She told me about this garden.”
A grey cloud of sadness passed over the enkar’s skin at this news. “You humans live such short lives,” he said. Eerin’s people desperately needed the healing he and Moki were providing.
“Actually, Mr. Motoyoshi was nearly one hundred and thirty years old when he died,” Eerin said. “He lived a very long life for a human.”
“But that would still be young for a Tendu, even with the difference between your years and ours.”
Eerin nodded. “We live longer now than we once did. Until the twentieth century, most people were lucky to reach sixty.”
“I know, but even a hundred and thirty years seems too short to me. But then, it’s hard to believe that most of what I have seen here is no more than a century old. Where are your people’s roots?”
“On Earth, where we came from,” Eerin said. “But we brought our roots with us,” she added, gesturing at the little gnarled tree.
“Earth,” Ukatonen said. “When are we going to see it?”
Eerin ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know,” she said. “Soon, I hope. In a few more months, I’ll be too pregnant to travel.”
“Why can’t we just get on a shuttle and go?” Moki asked.
“Because people are still afraid of you,” Juna replied. “They don’t want you on Earth because they think you might spread disease.”
Red lightning forks of anger flickered over Ukatonen’s skin. “Haven’t we been through this already?”
“I agree. It makes no sense,” Juna replied. “But this is often true of my people. One of the reasons that we are here, healing people, is to show them how much good you can do.”
“I see,” Ukatonen said. “This is not just research, then? Healing these people will help your people trust us?”
“I hope so,” Eerin said. “I hope so.”
About a week after they had settled things with the hospital, Juna was watching the Tri-V with Moki when the door chime rang.
It was her guard. “Excuse me, Dr. Saari, but this gentleman insists on seeing you. And well— ” Glancing beyond the guard Juna saw a handsome, dark-skinned man with sharp-chinned features that looked vaguely Vietnamese. He was dressed in a quietly elegant suit that must have cost a great deal, and he had the presence of someone who expected to be recognized wherever he went.
“My name is Yang Xaviera,” the visitor said. “I am here on behalf of the Xaviera family. Please forgive your guard, I really have been most persistent. He has checked my identification, and searched me most thoroughly. I am quite safe.”
Juna was too stunned to speak. The Xaviera family was one of the wealthiest and most powerful group families in the solar system. They practically owned the Moon.
“I see,” she said, recovering herself. “Please come in.”
“Thank you, Dr. Saari. I apologize for not contacting you first, but your comm is very tightly filtered, and we were unable to get through to you. We could have worked through an agent, but this way is both more discreet, and more direct. As I mentioned, I am here on behalf of the Xaviera family. We have come to ask permission to court you.”
Juna stared at him, astonished for the second time in a minute.
“It is most gracious of you to see me,” he went on. “I apologize for surprising you in this manner.” He remained polite and serious, though Juna knew she must present a laughable spectacle.
“Please, sit down,” she said at last, motioning him to the couch. “Would you like some tea?”
“Thank you,” he replied.
She headed for the kitchen, grateful for a moment to think, but Moki already had the kettle on and was spooning tea into the pot.
“It’s all right, siti,” he told her. “I’ll do it.”
Juna returned to the living room. Yang was perched on the sofa like some rare tropical bird. She sat down in the armchair, painfully aware of how untidy the apartment looked. They had been working very hard, and there hadn’t been any time to clean.
“Moki will bring the tea,” she explained. “He feels that it’s his job to look after me.”
“Indeed,” Yang said. He held out a dossier. “These are our bona fides. We encourage you to have them verified.”
Juna took the folder, which was made of rough, expensive paper embossed with the Xaviera’s Family seaclass="underline" “Thank you,” she said, putting it down on the table.
“There are many more influential and interesting people for your family to marry. Why are you interested in me?” she asked.
“On the contrary, Dr. Saari— ” he began.
“Please, call me Juna.”
“Juna, you survived for four and a half years on an unexplored planet, lived among aliens, learned their language, and helped negotiate the beginnings of a most impressive First Contact treaty. Then you bullied some of the most powerful politicians in the system into releasing you and the Tendu from quarantine. By any standards you care to use, you are a most exceptional person, and that has drawn my family’s attention to you. We would like to get to know you better, and perhaps”—he gestured at the folder—“arrange a more permanent alliance. I think, under the circumstances, you could use some powerful allies.”