The bed was empty. Zak was gone.
CHAPTER 8
“Where’s my brother?” Tash demanded.
Kavafi held out his hands to try to calm Tash. “Now, young lady, I tried to tell you that-“
“What have you done with him?”
“What is going on here?” Uncle Hoole appeared in the doorway.
“They’ve done something to Zak,” Tash said. “They’ve taken him somewhere. “
“Of course they have,” Uncle Hoole replied. “I’m the one who authorized it.”
“You know where he is?” Tash said.
“Of course I do.”
“Can I see him?” she asked suspiciously.
Dr. Kavafi looked bewildered. “Of course you can see him. But he’s at the other end of the hall. This way.”
Tash reddened with embarrassment. She had imagined that Zak had been taken away to some chamber of horrors and subjected to bizarre experiments.
Instead Kavafi led her into a sterile white room brilliantly lit with glowpanels. In the center of the room was a large tank filled with greenish liquid. A medical technician in a crisp white uniform monitored the tank, making small adjustments. Inside the tank, Zak floated peacefully. He was hooked up to an air mask that allowed him to breathe while floating in the fluid, but otherwise, he looked very relaxed and alert. He even waved to Tash.
“A bacta tank,” Deevee said. “He should heal quickly there.”
Tash was surprised. Bacta was the galactic cure-all. It helped to heal wounds, stop infections, and regenerate damaged tissue. If Kavafi was treating Zak with bacta, he really was trying to cure him.
The medical technician finished adjusting the flow of bacta into the tank and then left the room with a polite nod.
Kavafi said, “It seemed the quickest way to treat his infection. I think this should kill the virus. I expect him to make a full recovery from the influenza necrosi.”
Relief flooded through Tash. All she could do was repeat what she heard. “Full recovery? Influenza necrosi?”
Kavafi looked at his datapad. “That’s right. We diagnosed it almost immediately and gave him the appropriate medicine. It is a fairly common illness and no danger as long as it is treated,” he concluded. “Once he is out of the tank, the only aftereffect may be a slight skin rash from the virus that should go away in a few days.”
“Now, Tash, I think you owe Dr. Kavafi an explanation and apology for your behavior,” Hoole said firmly.
Tash felt her cheeks flush again. Kavafi smiled, but she could hardly meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, doctor. It’s just that I heard someone”-without knowing why, she didn’t want to mention Wedge by name-“I heard some people talking in the plaza. They sort of suggested that… that some strange things were going on in the Infirmary.”
Kavafi sighed. He looked around and said quietly, “Tash, I hope you are not too young to understand this, but working for the Empire is not always rewarding.” Tash’s ears perked up. She was definitely not too young to understand this.
Kavafi continued. “There are people who oppose the Emperor and the government. They start rumors, they spread lies. But I joined the Imperial medical staff because the Empire has the money and resources that let me treat patients in the way they deserve. Now, I don’t know whether or not some of the other things you may have heard about the Empire are true, but I can promise you that I run the Infirmary as a top-notch research and medical facility. Our job here is to cure patients, and that is what we do.”
After only a moment’s hesitation, Tash replied, “I understand. I’m sorry to have caused a scene.”
The doctor winked. “Quite all right. Nice to see someone who cares so much about her family.”
Hoole said, “Now that that is settled, Deevee and I need to return to the Shroud. Tash, will you stay with Zak until he is released from the bacta tank? “
“Sure,” she replied.
Hoole started to leave, then turned back and said quietly, “And please do not make any trouble.”
Tash watched Hoole depart. She felt a sudden pain stab up through her arm. She could feel the lump there start to swell.
“Dr. Kavafi?” she asked. “Will you have a look at this?”
She rolled up her sleeve. The brown lump had grown uglier and larger. It was already a few centimeters wide, and thin brown veins ran down its sides and into her skin.
“Hmmm.” Dr. Kavafi picked up an electroscope and examined the bruise. “It looks as though you’ve had a reaction to the injection I gave you. But it is nothing serious. How do you feel?”
“All right,” she said. “A little tired and hot.”