Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“Dr. Olivia helps,” she whispered through tight lips as the human doctor probed between her legs. “Dr. Olivia helps.”

“Well, not right away, I’m afraid,” Dr. Olivia said, straightening up. “Whatever is in there, it looks like it’s made of some kind of metal alloy and it’s stuck in tight. If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring in a colleague to consult on this.”

“All right,” Bard said tightly. He knew that most of the other doctors aboard the Mother Ship were males. It was ridiculously possessive of him, but he didn’t like the idea of another male looking between Makenna’s legs, even in a medical capacity. Still, if the human doctor said she needed another opinion, he had to respect that.

Dr. Olivia went away. After she left, Makenna seemed to relax a little under the soft cloth drape the human doctor had put over her to cover her and keep her warm while she was gone.

“You’re gonna be okay, baby girl,” Bard told her, as much to reassure himself as her. “Everything is gonna be okay.”

But what if it isn’t? whispered a little voice in his head. What if that thing inside her is stuck for good or what if it’s poisoning her? What if—

Just then there was a soft rap on the exam room door and Dr. Olivia entered the room again, followed by a little creature who looked like a cross between a baboon and a hound dog.

Bard felt a burst of relief. It was Yipper, the Tolleg Surgeon who had joined the Mother Ship about five years before. The little guy might look furry and strange, but he was extremely skilled and trusted by everyone on board.

Makenna’s eyes widened when she saw him come in, his furry body dressed in a white lab coat like a miniature version of Dr. Olivia’s.

“Oh! What…what…?” she asked and shook her head, clearly frustrated at her inability to communicate.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” Bard told her quickly. “This is just Yipper. He’s a very good surgeon. Yipper helps Makenna,” he added, knowing she would understand that, at least.

“Yipper…helps?” she asked uncertainly.

“I would like to! Yes I would! Yes I would!” the little Tolleg exclaimed. “I understand that you have something stuck where it shouldn’t be. No it shouldn’t, no it shouldn’t,” he added, shaking his head until his long, floppy ears whipped around.

Makenna’s eyes grew even wider and she giggled at the Tolleg’s antics and then put a hand over her mouth as though she wasn’t sure she should have laughed or not.

“Hey, it’s all right,” Bard assured her, smiling a little himself. He was just glad she didn’t look so scared and distressed anymore. “It’s okay, Yipper doesn’t mind if you laugh.”

“No, I don’t! No, I don’t!” the little Tolleg exclaimed. “Now let us see what we have here,” he added.

After peering between Makenna’s legs, as Dr. Olivia explained, he nodded.

“Ah yes, I see the problem and I believe I know the solution. Yes, I do. Yes, I do.”

“You do? Then you’ve seen this kind of, er, thing before?” Bard asked, frowning.

Yipper’s furry face grew grave.

“Yes, I have, yes I have,” he said, nodding. “The thing inside your female is called a ‘spreader.’ Yes it is, yes it is. I am afraid it is used in order to make a smaller, humanoid female ready to copulate with a Trollox.”

“Oh, that’s terrible.” Dr. Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “But it makes sense, considering where you rescued her from,” she added, looking at Bard.

“Yes, it does,” he growled, thinking of the big bastard called ‘Biter’ who had been in the act of buying Makenna. He wished that he’d shot the Trollox dead on sight! “The question is, can you get it out of her?” he asked Yipper.

The little Tolleg nodded.

“Yes, I can! Yes, I can! We just need some bio-solvent, which I can whip up in my lab in no time at all! No time at all!”

“Could you do that now, please, Yipper?” Dr. Olivia asked. “I’m very concerned about Makenna—that uh, spreader inside her seems to have some very sharp edges—it has to be painful for her to have it up there.”

“Of course, of course!” Yipper nodded again until his ears flopped around comically. “I’ll be right back. Yes, I will! Yes, I will!”

He scampered out of the exam room and in a short time was back with two vials of fluid—one was bright blue and one was deep green, Bard saw.

“Here you are, here you are,” the Tolleg surgeon said, handing the vial filled with green liquid to Dr. Olivia. “Simply apply that to the edges of the spreader and it should melt the bio-glue that is keeping it in place and then you can remove it. Yes, you can! Yes, you can!”

“Thank you, Yipper,” Dr. Olivia smiled gratefully. She took the green vial from him and transferred the contents into a syringe. Then she got into position between Makenna’s legs again.