Chapter Three — The Blowoff

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!

– Miranda, The Tempest

The cat woman walked up to them with a huge smile, oblivious to the people shuffling towards the exits all around them. “I gather this was a critical moment for you,” she said. “My name’s Nakia, Nakia bint Ramia Inconnu. Are you here on your own?”

Leana answered quickly, “Our parents are back at the hotel unpacking. My name is Leana, for obvious reasons, Leana ni Eibhleann Armstrong. And this is my brother Allan, Allan bar Shimon.” She held out her hand.

Nakia took it warmly, saying, “Your brother just found out something important about himself, I think, and you did too. I’m very pleased to meet you both.”

Leana looked at her quizzically.

“I’m an empath and psychic, and I’m sorry for any inadvertent intrusion, but your own realization was obvious to anyone within a mile or more and your brother’s response was equally loud on the psychic plane.”

Both Leana and Allan blushed, as Leana blurted out, “I’m sorry, I’ve never….”

“Nonsense, young lady, your expression of joy and coming into power was perfectly shidang, completely appropriate.” She smiled and went on, answering their surprised expressions, “I may be koshah, ancient to your eyes, since I’m all of thirty-seven, but I’m still aware of the world around me, and I pay attention to my own children when they speak.” She smiled again, “I only look like a decrepit old lady.”

Allan and Leana had the grace to blush again, and started to protest that they’d thought no such thing when she interrupted.

“And now to business. I got the impression that you are a healer and psychic yourself, if not yet fully trained. Do you feel up to helping our lethargic friend to his feet?” She indicated the man who had fainted, and was just now beginning to stir.

“Of course! I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault!” She bent down toward the man and laid her hand on his arm, taking on the aura of alternative awareness that healing required. After a moment, the old man was fully recovered and trying to stand up. Leana told him, “Take it easy for just a bit before you get up. Your blood sugar is a little low, but you don’t seem to have diabetes. Have you been eating a lot of sugary foods?”

The man stammered. “I… I… I guess I have. And then you startled me, I think….”

“It’s alright,” she reassured him. “You might want to consult your physician when you get back home, to rule out any underlying disorder besides way too much junk food. Have you taken any medications?”

“I took some aspirins awhile ago. I’d gotten such a headache from walking in this sun… maybe I took too many….”

“That might explain it, too, but be sure to ask your doctor. And try to find healthy foods to munch on, since the combination of aspirin and sugary snacks on top of an imbalanced diet can cause acute hypoglycemia in certain people. Do you have any water?”

“No, I had a pop from the stand, though, not too long ago….”

She turned to her brother. “Allan, do you still have any water left?”

“Yes, but it’s been opened,” he answered. “I didn’t think to bring an extra.” He dug into his rucksack and handed it over as Leana turned back toward the seated man, handing it to him in turn.

“You’re a little dehydrated as well, which may have contributed to your vulnerability to syncope, so if you don’t mind drinking from an open bottle, and I assure you that my brother is perfectly healthy and free of any contagious disease, it might be a good idea to take a few sips before we walk down to the restaurant. We’ll stay with you until we’re sure you’re perfectly fine.” Leana sat down beside him.

The man opened it without a qualm and drank deeply. “I don’t mind at all. My Mama always told me, ‘You’re bound to eat a peck of dirt before you die, so don’t you worry about no trifles.’ ”

The three of them laughed at the man’s colorful language, and Nakia said, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No, ma’am, I was born and bred in the great state of Virginia,” he proudly replied, “and just came on down here to see the sights.”

Nakia smiled and said, “I live in northern Virginia myself, and am down on business, just taking a break in the park after a long day of negotiations, but I believe you’re from the Tidewater region, unless I miss my guess.”

The man smiled and said, “New Norfolk, a little back from the beach, now, although it’s been rising to meet me over the years. It’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow Virginian. Are these your children?”

“No, my own children are back in Virginia with my husband. He couldn’t get away; my daughter, Chione, had already signed up for summer camp, and the boy, Etienne, didn’t want to forego a certain footie tournament. This is Leana and Allan; we’ve just met but seem to have a lot in common.” She smiled again, well-attuned to the slow pace of Virginia conversation. “My name is Nakia, Nakia Inconnu, and I’m very glad to make your acquaintance, sir.”

The man rose from his seat with a certain formality, “And my own is Richard, Richard Harrison Jefferson, no direct relation to that Jefferson.” He made a slight, but courtly bow. “Might I escort you all down to the establishment below and let me thank your un-daughter for her assistance? I’d like her advice on the menu….”

Nakia smiled and turned to Allan and Leana, who smiled back and nodded. “Absent any objection, I think we’re all of one mind.”

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Mr. Jefferson walked right past the fast food stands and breezed through the entry of an upscale restaurant with what had clearly become his party in tow, beckoning to the guy at the front desk as if he did this sort of thing all the time, and asked for a quiet table for four, which was quickly provided. After the bustle of seating and passing out menus, he studied Leana for a moment. “Now, young lady, where on earth did you learn words like ‘syncope?’ When I was a lad, they surely didn’t teach that sort of thing in school!”

She was a little embarrassed by his attention, “Well, after I chimed and they tested my powers, it was pretty clear that I’d eventually be going into some sort of medical field, and there are so many chimes in Campanella that we have a lot of classroom resources that most high schools don’t have, so I’ve been taking pre-pre-med courses for the past year. It helps, too, that I don’t need a microscope or an X-Ray or an illustration from a textbook to see and understand the basic structures of the body. They’re right there in front of me, you might say, so all I’ve really needed to study is vocabulary and theory.”

“How does that work, exactly?” he asked.

She answered, “Well, for example, when I looked into your body, I could see that your intracellular metabolism wasn’t working properly, and I could see the type of molecules that seemed to form a bottleneck in the process, so all I needed was to understand the theory of how the cell utilizes energy, and the names of the structures, and I could diagnose hypoglycemia. Not that I’m a doctor yet, nor can I make a legal diagnosis. I can’t prescribe anything either but, like any folk curandera, I can recognize many common diseases and make pretty shrewd observations about what might cause them. Most of the ‘big words’ in medicine are made up of fairly simple parts, mostly in Latin, so a tiny bit of vocabulary can stretch a long way once you realize how they all fit together.”

“So that’s why you told me to see a doctor?”

“Yes. I don’t know enough yet to be able to distinguish all the causes of relatively rare symptoms, nor to understand all the pathways in which they can manifest. I didn’t see anything wrong with your insulin metabolism, so I figured that you probably didn’t have diabetes, and I didn’t detect healing fingersticks nor injection points, and you didn’t seem to have an on-board pharmaceutical AI, which corroborated my initial impression.

She looked thoughtful as she ran down what must have been a well-organized case history held entirely in memory, “Your stomach wasn’t empty, so the cause probably wasn’t fasting, which left reactive hypoglycemia, which is a huge can of worms that real doctors are still arguing about and well beyond my puny skills.” She made a little moue of resignation.

“So my advice was essentially based on common sense, the same sort of advice your ‘Mama’ probably gave you, eat your vegetables, drink at least six glasses water a day, and more on hot days, make sure you have a reasonable amount of whole-grain breads or other complex starch at every meal, and live a balanced life. It’s the first rule of medicine, ‘Primum non nocere — First, do no harm.’ ” Here she gazed sternly at her patient. “And you undoubtedly know already that too much junk food isn’t good for you.”

Mr. Jefferson laughed. “Yes, Ma’am. It sounds so simple when you put it like that! I was sort of hoping for magic. And here you’re sounding just like my dear old Mama, God rest her soul.”

Leana giggled. “Well, bringing your blood pressure back up to normal was what cleared your head so quickly, and I speeded up your transformation of glycogen to glucose, which gave you a little rush of temporary energy without pills or injections, so except for the mystic robes and the funny pointed hat, you could certainly call it sorcery!” She waved her hands about in what she hoped was a magical way.

The whole table erupted with laughter at that, and the old man gasped out, “Honey, if I’m still kicking around when you get your medical license, I want to be your first patient! You’ve got a lot more horse sense than the damned fool I’ve got working on me now! Better looking too.”

Nakia reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm, smiling. “Well then, Mr. Jefferson, you’re going to have to follow her prescription for a good long while, since she’s still in high school.”

“Right.” Leana continued, “ ‘Cause I’m going to hold you to your promise. So I’ll be seeing you in about eleven years or you’re really going to get a piece of my mind.”

“Oh, my,” he said, “You’re sounding more like my Mama all the time. We’d best order something healthy and start eating right away!”

Which is exactly what they did.

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It was getting dark by the time they left the restaurant, after the best meal Allan had ever experienced, although the portions were so perfectly-sized that they didn’t feel bloated or loggy, even as hot as it was, and despite the lateness of the hour. Mr. Jefferson gave them his BioLync reference, saying that it was the least he could do, and asked them to call any time they needed anything.

“I’m in the transportation business,” he said. “Any time you need anything moved, anything at all, I’m your man. Jefferson Worldwide Ærostatic Transport, you’ve probably seen my ads on your vidscreens. And you can consider it a retainer against your medical fees, young lady, since I intend to be around long enough to generate some and you’ve done me a big favor already.”

Leana demurred, saying that he didn’t owe her anything, and it was partially her fault for scaring him in the first place.

He interrupted, “My dear young lady, you cut me to the quick! When a Southern gentleman informs you that he owes you a debt of honor, he means exactly what he says. I know I don’t owe you a penny in any legal sense, but I was in dire straits and you went out of your way to see me right. The very least I can do is to return the favor at need.”

Nakia added, taking her hand, “Leana, this is important. Remember the sense of exultation you shared with all of us, or all those within hearing at least?” She smiled. “We’re connected; all of life is connected, just as you realized and felt when you saw the whales exulting in their own strength and power and they shared it with you. Mr. Jefferson is sharing his own strength with you, just as you shared your gift of healing with him. Don’t belittle your own gifts, nor a gift freely given by another. It’s the recognition of our connections with each other, and with the whole world, that makes us human, and for those of us who are hybrids, as we all are, even Mr. Jefferson, although he appears on the surface to be an ordinary man, that means something a little bit more than human. That’s why he was particularly sensitive to your roar. Although it was very loud, the psychic component of the roar was louder still, almost overwhelming, even to me. You have extraördinary gifts, dear heart; use them wisely.”

Leana didn’t know what to say. She often felt a little uncomfortable when adults talked like, well, adults. She thought she understood what Nakia was saying, but didn’t know how to respond.

“Uh, OK….”

Nakia smiled and turned to Mr. Jefferson. “Thank you, sir, for your generous hospitality and good company. My full name is Nakia bint Ramia Inconnu. I’m the only one that I know of and am easily found by BioLync. I work for the government, more or less, and would be very pleased to be of service to you at any future date. Just ask. If I can’t help you, I probably know someone who can.”

He bowed again, in the same courtly manner he’d used at the beginning of their acquaintance. “We are in a web of mutual obligation, dear lady, and I in turn would take it much amiss if you didn’t call on me at need.” He nodded in their direction, somehow including all of them in a single fond respectful glance, and said, “Good evening, ladies, and young sir, until we meet again.” And with that he turned smartly and strode off toward the nearest slidewalk, stepping on with authority and being whisked off into the twilight.

The bonfires had been lit; they could see their glow in the sky, and they could hear people chanting, but from where they stood the fires themselves were hidden behind a row of trees.

“Now,” Nakia said, “if you don’t mind, Allan, since it’s going on full dark, please send a message to your parents, letting them know you’re having fun and on your way home. Don’t just call because, as a mother myself, I can tell you that one’s first thought when a call comes in and your children are out late is one of danger or accident. But a message is a gentle interruption, telling the recipient that it isn’t really important, just a courteous note about something or another. They’ll see instantly that it’s from you and won’t worry a bit. I’ll see you to your door, to make doubly sure you get back safe and sound.

Allan hastened to comply, using the voice interface to compose a short message, and then to send it off. He turned back toward the two women, but Nakia and Leana had their heads together in earnest conclave and didn’t notice.

Oh, great, he pouted, She’s just like Mom when she’s talking with Leana, jabbering about some girl thing or another. I’ll bet nobody talks to me all the way back to the hotel.

He was right.

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