Aleia

by

John Medkeff

The waiter placed the salads on the table, bowed and withdrew. Aleia picked up her fork and gazed into Tilen’s eyes for a moment. Then she took a bite. It was their third date and he was proving to be a lot of fun to be around. He was a bit of a flake of course, but you expected that in the University’s poet in residence, and it was quite seductive the way he wrote a small poem about her to attach to each rose, he sent her.

As Aleia put the second bite into her mouth she noticed that the restaurant was getting quiet, and the wave of silence was getting closer.

“Col. Torgau?” A voice behind her asked.

Aleia turned around in her seat and looked. The speaker was an uniformed Zorapolis policeman. “What can I do for you officer?”

“My dispatcher said to give you this message.” He handed her a piece of paper. “I’m told it’s from Sandy. I don’t know who that is.”

She took the paper. It looked like it had been printed out on a patrol speeder’s computer. She read.

Aleia,

Where the hell are you? We have a possible level 5 incident. Get back to the Manor now.

Sandy

“You may go officer. I’ll take it from here.” She ordered.

The policeman saluted and left.

“What was that about?” Tilen asked.

Aleia turned back to him, and ate another bite of her salad. “I don’t know. But I have to run. Work is demanding my attention.”

“He called you colonel. I thought you were a doctor, and who is Sandy?”

“I am a doctor, but I work for the Imperial Medical Corps.” She stood up. “ We’ll have to continue our date later.”

She paused. “Sandy is my boss, Lady Cassandra Mathem-Steele.”

Then she kissed him on the cheek, turned and headed for the door.

Aleia drove up to the front gate of Steele Manor and started to slow down. The gate opened and the guard waved her though. She drove in and went to the main house. As she jumped out of her speeder the front door opened. She walked inside. “What’s going on, Xion?” She asked the butler.

He bowed. “Welcome, Col. Torgau. All I know I know is that Lady Talasa, Lady Polena, Lady Mikala, Lord Darien, a guest and two others are sick. Lady Cassandra says for you to join her in the isolation ward.”

“Thank you, Xion.” Aleia walked down the hall. She found a footman holding the elevator door open. She stepped inside and the elevator dropped to the hospital level.

The elevator doors opened. Tiri pushed Kieren inside, almost knocking him into Aleia. “Sorry, Col. Torgau. Mother said its not good for Kieren to hang around the hospital.”

Aleia stepped around the two kids and headed for the isolation ward.

When Aleia entered the isolation ward’s observation room she found Cassandra watching the monitors. Though the windows she could see seven patients. One was in bed. A dozen nurses and paramedics in containment suites hovered around them.

“What do we have?” Aleia asked as she stepped up to Cassandra.

“I’m not sure. “ Sandy said. “The Jedi have just quarantined Yaven with some kind of plague. My likely zero case just came from there.”

Aleia studied the readings. “Its looks interesting.”

“I want you to check into that angle. “ Sandy instructed. ‘Find out if we have the same thing.”

“Run every test you think will help.” Sandy looked at her. “I want this stopped fast, Aleia.”

“Then I’ll get started.”

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