“Here you are, dear,” Yvonne said softly, offering Asha a small trinket as they settled themselves within the annex of the Temple of Meylith. Light steamed in from several small windows and a pleasant breeze occasionally worked its way in. Gentia was seated near the doorway, both to observe and to ensure they were not interrupted by rambunctious cubs or too curious acolytes. Asha recognized the device as Winters’ translator and popped it into her ear comfortably. “I will continue with translations for Gentia, but Lieutenant Winters wanted you to have that for this visit. He was very concerned about you.”
“I see. I’ll have to thank him later,” Asha replied politely, her bushy tail waving behind her as she tried to remain poised and calm. Though the human woman before her seemed quite soft and caring, both in manner and body, there were far too many unknowns to be fully at ease. Yvonne smiled her way.
“I will do my best to ensure that your report is only good, and that our time together will benefit your health and that of your child,” she promised.
“I would like that very much,” Asha agreed, resting a hand on her tummy. “So, what happens now?”
“Well,” Yvonne began, crossing her legs as she leaned back in the wooden chair she’d been provided. Asha was resting on one of the beds in the maternity ward. “If you were a new human patient of mine, I would begin by introducing myself as Dr. Yvonne Dupuis and I would ask you about your medical history and if you have any concerns regarding your health or your baby. I must admit there is a certain thrill in the fact that you are not human, and that I have the honor, privilege, and great responsibility of tending to you. As such, I believe we should start with a discussion of my hair.”
“If you insist!” Asha giggled as Gentia hummed with pleasant surprise from her observer’s position.
“I’ll get us some tea then if there is to be light conversation. Perhaps my mate will have something cool and refreshing for us?” The elderly Cauthan suggested, waving to them with her feathers before leaving the two of them alone. Yvonne allowed her gaze to linger on the doorway.
“That woman never does anything frivolously, does she?”
“No, at least not that I have ever seen. But I do enjoy imagining Gentia at my age sometimes. I’m sure she got up to all sorts of mischief!” Asha responded as Yvonne’s expression turned contemplative.
“She is a strong and noble woman, to care for you all so well despite never being able to have children of her own. But we are here today to discuss happy matters, oui? I had simply hoped to break the ice and bestow upon you a modicum of comfort, Asha. But I would like your advice, if you have the time.”
“On what?” The young Cauthan wondered with curiosity. Yvonne took a strand of her hair between her fingers, holding them out for emphasis.
“Were it not for dyes and colorings, my hair would all be silver like this,” the human told Asha. “It began when I was rather young, actually, around the age of forty. I had given birth to my third child, my youngest son, only three years prior. It was mortifying.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Asha responded politely and with sympathy, despite not understanding the problem at hand. Yvonne’s eyes wrinkled slightly as she grinned, a sign of her age that could not be hidden as well as silver hair.
“Oh you are too kind, Asha. It’s been almost twenty years since then and I would like to think that I am older, wiser, and far more comfortable with my own looks. And yet, as you can see, this is the most I allow. But seeing you and your beautiful tail has made me reconsider! What do you think? Should I go grey and leave a hint of black, like that stripe down your tail?”
“Oh I… I really don’t know,” Asha said quietly, caught off guard by the question.
“Hmm, what’s this now?” Gentia wondered, returning to them with a small waterskin. “We’re in luck, ladies. Yvonne, you have your… oh whatever it is. That contraption you used to determine if our tea is safe for you?”
“Right here madame, thank you. That’s the least of what I’ve brought with me today. Allow me,” the Frenchwoman insisted, permitting Gentia to be seated as she checked a sample of the contents and poured a mug for each of them. There were plenty on a set of shelves that contained spare linens and other materials needed by the servants of Meylith. As they all sipped the brew, which Gentia described as a standard herbal tea accented with niacta root for a refreshing and cooling sensation, Asha brought her elder up to speed on Yvonne’s dilemma.
“Is it common practice among humans to hide signs of aging?” Gentia asked immediately.
“Oh yes, we all do to a certain extent, especially women,” Yvonne explained without hesitation. “The data is very clear that as human women age they tend to prefer men of their own age group. Our perception of manliness and male beauty shifts over time. Sadly, the opposite is not quite true. Almost all men consider the ideal mate to be a healthy, fertile woman in her twenties, give or take.”
“How awful,” Gentia opined. “What does a maiden know of life?”
“Hey!” Asha defended herself and her age cohort.
“You are indeed young and beautiful, Asha, but do you see the older males of this village lining up?” Gentia asked impishly.
“Of course I don't. They would get a hammer to their skulls for their trouble,” Asha praised Zolta. Yvonna clapped happily.
“And that is why human society does not fall apart, because the bonds we form in marriage and child-rearing tend to be stronger than basic biological attraction. All that being said, I do take satisfaction in looking my best for Gerard.”
“Is that your mate?” Asha spoke. Yvonne nodded and pulled up a picture of her and her husband enjoying a glass of wine on the French Riviera from a couple years back. She handed over the tablet so Asha could inspect it as she saw fit.
“He is the love of my life. We will celebrate our fortieth year of marriage next year,” Yvonne managed a small, happy brag as Asha could not help but chuckle at Gerard’s prodigious and ever present moustache.
“Forty years of being mated?” Gentia wondered. “A sadly large number of our kind don’t even live to see forty years of life. Perhaps that male desire is not so strong as you let on?”
Yvonne laughed boldly, accepting her tablet back from Asha. “Oh believe me, it is strong. But as I said, the bonds made over a lifetime together are stronger. That is the beauty of marriage, and I am sure your goddess, Meylith, is central to your own institutions of this variety? But enough about humans for now. Asha?”
“I think you should change your hair. White is the best background!” the young one insisted. “Perhaps your mate will even look at you like a new female while you are still you! You can copy my tail if you like. But if you do, can you please consider sharing with us how you do it? Alyra has done nothing but discuss what colors she would like since Alice came to us.” Asha made no attempt to hide the annoyance in her voice as both Gentia and Yvonne began to chuckle.
“This is one of those moments where I am pleased to be as old as I am,” Gentia insisted. “What do you say, Yvonne?”
“It seems a fair trade, of course, but we will need samples of your fur to test the safety of standard human dyes. We will also need to do skin tests to ensure no adverse reactions. Given that you are pregnant, Asha, we cannot in good conscience use you for such an experiment. Perhaps Veera would be amenable or even Alyra herself. I understand it is a lot to take in just for something so seemingly simple as changing the color of one’s fur but perhaps now you understand why I chose to begin our visit today with conversation?”
“I believe I do, Yvonne. Or should I call you Doctor?” Asha wondered, trying out the word that had come through her translator a couple of times.
“You may call me whatever you wish,” Yvonne assured her with a warm look. “Shall I explain my objectives for today’s visit? Oh, and how long do I have you for?”
“I am sure Zolta will know where to come looking if he misses me, but knowing him he will still be at his temple by the time we’re done. There is always something more for the smiths to be doing these days, ever since winter really. Ah, what I’m trying to say is I believe we will have plenty of time. Please continue?” Asha offered.
“It is perfectly normal to be nervous, Asha. I know I was on my first doctor’s visit, at least the first one I remember. Most humans are cared for by doctors like me from the day they are born,” Yvonne explained. Gentia’s ears twitched as she listened closely, but the priestess did not say anything and allowed the doctor’s visit to continue uninterrupted.
“Yes, I suppose I am nervous, truthfully. I feel fine, and I have for the duration of my pregnancy. This feels like tempting the gods,” Asha explained, wrapping her fingers tighter around her mug of tea. Yvonne inclined her head, acknowledging the young female’s point.
“That is also understandable, Asha. If you feel well, and you are well, my notes will of course reflect that. Which brings me to my first goal for today, actually.” The chair creaked slightly underneath her as Yvonne shifted to regain a comfortable position. “I wish to provide you with a basic examination known as a physical among humans. It is a regular checkup that you are supposed to get once a year. The idea behind it is that if your health deteriorates, you will catch it sooner.”
“But if you’re sick, you know you’re sick?” Asha wondered, not quite understanding Yvonne’s meaning. The doctor brought a finger to her lips before playing around with her tablet for a minute or so. Satisfied, she held it up for Asha to see. The screen was a solid shade of blue.
“Would you say that this is a light blue or a dark blue, ma chérie?” Yvonne asked.
“Hmm.” It was Asha’s turn to ponder, her tail laying flat on the bed as she leaned forward to the extent her bulging belly would allow. “If I had to guess I would say light blue.”
“I am so happy you chose that word,” Yvonne replied, zooming out on the image which was revealed to be a basic color palette. The original blue square sat next to an even lighter shade. “And now?”
“Oh, I suppose it’s the darker of the two,” Asha said.
“Precisely! Today, Asha, I hope to deduce just what ‘shade of blue’ you are, so to speak. So that if, heaven forbid, anything deteriorates we can catch it immediately.”
“Can I be green instead?” She wondered, touching the pendant that always hung from her neck. A genuine and warm smile lit Yvonne’s face.
“Is that from him?”
“It is. Do you like it?” the Cauthan asked.
“It matches your eyes. He put a lot of effort into that it seems,” Yvonne approved. “You may of course be green, ma chérie. Now, shall we embark on this grand adventure together? I must admit I don’t really know if I’ll even be able to take your blood pressure.”
“M-My what?” Asha stammered.
“All in good time, I promise,” Yvonne replied, standing to unzip one of the bags she’d brought with her. Out came all manner of medical devices and contraptions that she hoped would prove useful despite the anatomical differences between the species. The central feature was a fairly non-descript computer, rectangular with a slanted display screen for use in rough environments. Various modules and tools were bundled alongside it in sterile packaging, waiting for their turn to be plugged in. “Let me just set up a new patient profile for you. Additionally Asha, you should know that if you were a human, all of your medical information would be kept in confidence between you and me by law, only to be released on your consent. That means if you wish, your parents, your husband, or even Gentia can be denied access. I know Alice discussed the nature of medical privacy with you earlier, but it is my duty to explicitly inform you of this. Et voila! We’re all set. How about we begin with something simple?” she suggested, holding up a rather innocuous looking instrument. As she approached Asha, the Cauthan leaned forward to sniff it.
“What a strange scent,” she murmured.
“That is the smell of cleanliness, ma chérie. I suppose the best way to describe it is that it is dead,” Yvonne explained after a moment of consideration. “I will use it to look inside your ears.”
“Why would you do that?!” Asha wondered nervously, shifting backwards and flattening her ears to her head as best she could. Yvonne sunk into a squat in an effort to present as harmlessly as possible.
“It works like this,” the doctor replied patiently, inserting the plastic tip into her own ear and allowing it to remain there for a couple of seconds. She then withdrew it, discarded the disposable tip into a plastic bag for medical refuse, and procured a second one. “It is to check for obstructions, swelling, irritation, and other such conditions. I am fairly confident all I will see is fur, but one never knows!”
“Alright,” Asha tentatively agreed, relaxing her ears as Gentia leaned forward intently. Yvonne stood and grabbed the tip of Asha’s left ear with great care.
“Tell me the moment you feel any discomfort,” she instructed before turning on the light and conducting the first ever inspection of a Cauthan ear. True to her suspicion, she mainly saw fur, but deep within she managed to see pale, almost gray skin that seemed smooth and healthy to her untrained eye. Far from discomfort, Asha giggled as the smooth instrument tickled the fine ear hair meant to trap dust and debris. “Very good?”
“Yes, thank you! Here,” Asha removed the translator from her right ear so that Yvonne could do a check there as well. Nodding to herself, the doctor moved to where she’d placed the computer further down the bed and made a few notes.
“While I don’t know what a healthy Cauthan ear looks like, I’m recording that your ears looked the same and that there were no obvious signs of disease or irritation. For now I consider symmetry of great import, unless of course you often find yourself with trouble in both ears at once?” Yvonne looked the question at Gentia.
“This all seems reasonable. Please proceed,” she encouraged. With the initial jitters mostly dispensed with, Yvonne was free to conduct her physical from head to toe, moving next to Asha’s eyes. After explaining the concept of pupillary response and allowing Asha to shine a pen light into her own eyes, Yvonne did the same and recorded rapid and symmetrical responses. Assuring the mother-to-be that her eyes seemed to be functioning well, she moved on to Asha’s nose and mouth.
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“I hate to tell you this, ma chérie, but one of your canines appears to be close to falling out,” Yvonne reported. To her great surprise, Asha seemed nonplussed at the news.
“Oh, that one on the front left? It’s been deciding for ages whether it wants to stay or go. I think the new one’s already coming in. Shouldn’t be long now,” the Cauthan reported jovially.
“You… regrow your teeth?”
“You do not?” Gentia could not help but wonder.
“No, we must maintain one set of teeth from about the time we reach sexual maturity until the end of our lives.”
“That sounds utterly dreadful. I’d be so nervous!” Asha declared. “Is there anything else?”
“I am not a dentist, Asha, so I could not say for sure. A dentist is a human doctor devoted to the health and maintenance of the teeth and mouth as a whole. I do not know what healthy Cauthan mouths look like, but I see no apparent signs of inflammation, bleeding, or discoloration. In humans, those are early indicators that something may be wrong. Would you like some help with that tooth? I have a few tricks from when my own children were losing their baby teeth.”
“Sure!” Asha agreed, prompting Yvonne to fish around for some dental floss. When that proved elusive, a pair of tweezers presented themselves. The force required was almost negligible, and though there was a bit of bleeding in the wake of the tooth, Asha did not seem to experience any pain.
“Could I keep this?” Yvonne requested. Asha’s face indicated she was confused why anyone would want anything so useless as a worn down tooth but the doctor beamed gratefully at her acquiescence, launching into an explanation of just what a human could learn from such a thing.
“Your dietary patterns, your growth over time, your nerves and blood vessels, the nature of your jaw’s chewing forces; there are all sorts of things that the right people with the right tools could deduce from this. I doubt Cauthan would enjoy someone poking around in their mouths anymore than a human, but anything we get that will help us learn about your bodies will help us learn how to care for them.
“How benevolent,” Gentia supplied in a neutral tone, perhaps not quite trusting human intentions.
“I suppose it could be seen that way,” Yvonne agreed, stowing her tools and withdrawing a stethoscope. “But knowledge itself is immensely valuable. One never knows when the study of the Cauthan body could yield results that improve human medical care, or reveal implications for the use of human treatments on your own kind. Throughout human history one of the greatest contributing factors to the development of nations and empires was trade, the exchange of knowledge, inventions, and ideas. I view our time today in the same fashion. I’m sure Alice feels the same in everything she does. She would not be so passionate if you and your village were specimens in a glass cage.”
“She has been a source of tremendous change in a very short amount of time. It is up to Antoth to decide when or if that change becomes unwelcome, but for now I am all for it. What will you be doing to Asha with that contraption?” Gentia wondered as Yvonne rested the stethoscope around her shoulders.
“I will be listening to Asha’s heart and lungs… and maybe even the little one’s,” Yvonne replied with something akin to reverence in her voice. Asha clearly felt the same about the prospect, her ears standing straight up as her feathers rippled and her tail waved back and forth.
“Could I?”
“Say no more, ma chérie. I will conduct my examination and then I’ll let you have all the time you wish. Gentia, if we are able to hear a heartbeat perhaps you should take part as well. Now this may feel a little cold and I may need to brush your fur back, but bear with me. Oh… I will need to rest it against your bare body as well.” Yvonne looked hesitantly at Gentia for permission. The elder looked at Asha in turn.
“It’s up to you, Asha. If you intend to allow a complete examination, as we do, you will need to show her more than your bare chest or belly anyway,” Gentia explained the obvious. The words seemed to dampen Asha’s excitement, but not entirely.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to hear something?”
“From you? I am completely sure. How long have you been pregnant, ma chérie?” Yvonne wondered, taking another few notes as Asha answered.
“For about three seasons now. I should be due around the first snowfall.”
“Mon dieu! Were you human you would already be bringing that little life into this world! Given the size of your belly and the size of our two species, I would stake quite a bit on claiming that we should be able to hear your baby’s heartbeat.”
Asha’s dress came off without further debate, with Yvonne nodding politely as she sat next to her. “It’s just us girls here. Let’s listen to your heart, ma chérie.” And so Yvonne got her first personal taste of convergent evolution, resting the stethoscope against Asha’s flat chest and hearing a faint beating, a hallmark of a chambered, valved heart. Moving from left to right, she eventually settled over a loud and strong rhythm. After taking a count she retreated to enter various notes on her portable medical terminal. “It seems we are more alike than appearances would suggest. Now if you could breathe in deeply for me, Asha?”
Asha complied, unable to keep from feeling a bit nervous and self-conscious as the cool touch of the metal object and the warmth of Yvonne’s fingers made her very aware of the fact that she was being studied. She was being studied with great care and gentleness, of course, but the feeling was there nonetheless. After making a few more notes on Asha’s clear sounding breaths, including a hypothesis that Cauthan lungs had two lobes instead of three, Yvonne placed her hand on Asha’s upper arm. “Now that you know what this entails, shall we take a listen down there?”
“Yes, please,” Asha replied nervously, her voice cracking a bit as Yvonne slid the metal circle of the stethoscope down her chest and over her belly. With care and precision the doctor moved from top to middle and side to side, eventually lingering on a location just to the right of Asha’s middle. She met Gentia’s eyes and smiled, her face full of happiness and the joy of caring for the most vulnerable of lives after many months in space with nothing to do. Gentia herself did not bother hiding her surprise and curiosity. “Well, is it…” Asha interjected.
“Here, Asha. Hold this like so. There you go, not much force required at all. Just keep it steady. I’m going to remove the translator, wipe this down, and insert the earpieces from your back so they don’t get in the way of your muzzle. Can you rotate them back a little? Yes, perfect,” Yvonne assured her, slowly and softly allowing the plastic ear guards to move into place. She could tell the moment the first, faint, rhythmic ticking sounds reached Asha’s ears.
“Oh! By Meylith and all the gods, I can hear it! Oh Gentia, I can hear my cub!” Asha sobbed openly, tearing up as Yvonne backed away and the head priestess was allowed to move to her side. “Listen!”
At Asha’s insistence, Yvonne returned to aid in the swapping of the stethoscope from young to old. Gentia’s reaction was much the same as Asha’s. “How is such a thing possible?” Gentia whispered, resting a gentle paw on Asha’s belly only to recoil as a kick from the baby resounded loud and clear through the stethoscope. “Why that little rascal! He must know we’re listening to him. I approve.”
“It sounds like a girl to me,” Asha replied dreamily, accepting the tool back into her ears as the older women allowed her some ‘one on one time’ with her cub. Gentia’s feathers waved and shifted as she kept her tumultuous thoughts to herself. Meanwhile Yvonne passed the time taking various notes about the color of Asha’s fur and her general build and complexion. There was plenty to document and she considered not a moment of time wasted, not with the way Asha held the device to her belly with one hand and stroked the taut skin with the other. “I can’t wait to meet you for real,” she whispered. “I wonder if you’ll look like your father or me. I think he’d be happy if you get my feathers...”
Not even Yvonne could keep her eyes totally dry, memories of her first ultrasound returning as clearly as if they’d happened the day before. Instead, Gentia poured the two of them another cup of tea as Asha remained in her own little world, greeting her cub for the first time and listening to the wonderful, steady ticking that was proof beyond any kick or morning discomfort that her baby was well and alive.
“Keep this up and half the village will ask to go with you when you return from whence you came,” Gentia said quietly, her voice laced with resignation. “You treated that device as if it were a toy. How long have your people known of it?”
“It was invented in my homeland of France,” Yvonne replied proudly. “This was more than two hundred years ago.”
Gentia could only hang her head at such a proclamation. “What wonderful magic your people are capable of.”
“My dear Gentia, if you had a day I could teach you everything you need to know about how that little thing works. There is no magic, only an ever-constant drive to master and explore the world around us. All it does is magnify the faintest of sounds so that we might hear them better.”
“I appreciate your confidence, Yvonne, but that sort of discussion is best left to my mate and his apprentice. I care only for the health of our mothers and our young, and I fear I am far too old to be learning new tricks. I will watch as you take care of her,” Gentia declared firmly.
“I understand. Asha, dear?” Yvonne called out, loud enough to break Asha from her trance.
“Oh! Uh, yes. Did you wish to move on with the examination?” She wondered, removing the stethoscope from her ears as she realized how long she’s been sitting there.
“Only because I need to return to my husband aboard our ship later this evening. Otherwise I would sit here and listen to your little cub with you as long as you wished,” Yvonne assured her tenderly. With trust firmly established, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the physical. Even the drawing of blood went off without a hitch thanks to the anatomical data recorded aboard the Event Horizon from Veera and Xan’s prior visit. Gentia had demanded a demonstration of course, which Yvonne was more than happy to provide by turning the device on herself. It looked like a futuristic nail gun more than anything else, and while Asha had not enjoyed the pinch of the needle, it did not miss her vein even through the fur. As it happened, Yvonne explained that she intended to compare Asha’s blood with Xan and Veera’s in an attempt to discern any pregnancy indicators present within Asha that were missing from the other two Cauthan. Upon hearing this, Gentia demanded that a vial of her own blood be taken, as well as samples from several of her acolytes, one of whom was pregnant. The Cauthan had been quite nervous, but upon seeing another demonstration on Yvonne and learning that Asha and Gentia had already gone through it, they complied with Gentia’s wishes before being sent away with small gauze pads.
“We thank you for your generosity,” Yvonne said to Gentia once the collection was over and the filled vials were labeled and carefully packed away for transport. She wiped her brow and checked her watch. “My goodness, it’s getting dark outside already! I do not have to leave for a bit longer but if it’s all the same to the two of you I believe we should call it here for today. I would rather perform Asha’s ultrasounds aboard the Event Horizon, but I will need approval from Admiral Kaczynski and Antoth, as well as a verification that we can safely transport a pregnant woman into orbit.”
“And what is an ultrasound?” Asha demanded politely, dressing herself again and brushing her dress flat against her body.
“It is a procedure that has been common practice among humans for the last hundred years. We use sound to ‘look inside’ your belly and construct an image of your child,” Yvonne explained. “The details are obviously much more complex than that, but I had multiple ultrasounds for each of my three children. In addition to the wonder of being able to see the baby, it allows us to confirm that the pregnancy is proceeding smoothly. In the event that there are problems with the umbilical cord or other circumstances that could complicate the birth itself, it is good to have prior warning. I will not lie to you, Asha, even if we test it on a non-pregnant Cauthan initially, your cub will be the very first. I will not know exactly what to look for. But I believe if Gentia and her acolytes join us that this could be the beginning of a very important process of information gathering about how Cauthan children develop in their mothers’ wombs. Gentia, the results would be best if we can examine females at all stages of their pregnancy. Asha, you should feel free to say no.”
“I will need to consider such things. And I will certainly need to inform my mate,” the young Cauthan replied, not necessarily saying no in a knee-jerk reaction.
“Asha, you need not be afraid to put your talons in the dirt,” Gentia said firmly. “This may be too much, even for you, Yvonne.”
“I did not say anything one way or another,” Asha clarified. “You spoke with Yvonne before this meeting was even allowed to happen, Gentia. You have seen that she treats me with the same care and tenderness that you do. I will not endanger my cub for anyone, but I promised Zolta that after everything that has happened I will do whatever is necessary to ensure our cub is born healthy. I will speak with Veera and Russell about this as well. Will you inform them and Alice of your intentions? I believe they will all have their own opinions on the matter.”
“Of that I think we can all be sure,” Gentia chuckled. “Not a meek mannered one among them.”
“I would be happy to send a message to them now, Asha. And that is why I did not bring a portable ultrasound with me today. With your permission, I think we should finish with an exterior examination of your vagina. Gentia, I would appreciate your assistance both for the sake of decorum and so that I do not touch anything I shouldn’t.”
Asha devolved into giggles as Gentia looked unsure whether to reprimand her or Yvonne. “It is not funny, young one. And you are a very bold human, asking to examine something reserved for her mate and for those of us who serve the Mother. However… I suppose there was a first priestess of Meylith, a long long time ago. Asha, you do not need to bear this burden.”
“No, she does not,” Yvonne agreed, seating herself back in her chair so as to allow the young mother to come to her own conclusion.
“I don’t see the problem in it, so long as it is common practice among the humans,” Asha stated, causing Yvonne to chuckle loudly.
“Oh ma chérie, I have lost count of the number of women I’ve examined down there. I assure you that after a short while it became routine and boring. Though I cannot help but wonder how alike or different you are from us, woman to woman.”
“Only one way to find out I suppose,” Asha replied, tentatively lifting her dress and opening her legs slightly. “Would you join my family and I for dinner?”
“Would you believe that you aren’t the first patient to ask me that question during this part of the examination?” Yvonne laughed anew, beckoning Gentia over so as to lessen the awkwardness of the situation while she equipped a pair of sterile, non-latex gloves. “Please lean back against those furs and we’ll get you comfortable. Gentia, what should I know?”
“Don’t bother trying to find out what’s inside,” the matron replied drolly. “That’s only possible if she is bedding her mate or if her child is on the way. Oh, is that so surprising?” Gentia could not help a smile as the human nodded.
“Absolutely. A human woman’s vagina is something of a… let’s call it a passage that is easily opened with the correct application of force. You make the Cauthan womanhood sound like a fortress.”
“That’s because it is,” Gentia affirmed, causing Yvonne to meet Asha’s eyes.
“I must admit, ma chérie, I find myself curious and about as nervous as I was on the day I examined my first patient in medical school. She was nowhere near as polite or cute as you.”
“I don’t think compliments will make this any less awkward,” Asha replied nervously, nevertheless allowing Yvonne the space required for a proper examination as she moved her tail out of the way. The human rested a comforting hand on her knee as she took a look and waited to see if Gentia would explain anything. After a few moments Yvonne addressed Asha again.
“Well there’s isn’t that much to see, especially with all this fur in the way. May I touch you? Outside only, you have my word.”
“That should be alright,” Asha agreed, knowing that Gentia was in prime position to whack Yvonne with her cane in the event of any missteps. Fortunately, Yvonne proved to be a consummate professional, massaging and probing gently with her fingers. She hummed curiously to herself as she traced the evident rings of muscle that surrounded Asha’s opening, nodding as she finally withdrew and all the women breathed a sigh of relief.
“I can say one thing for certain. If there is to be a field of Cauthan gynecology we will have to find some other way to examine the internals, so to speak. But perhaps that tight seal renders such procedures less important? Asha, thank you so much for your time today. It has been my pleasure, and as promised this information will all remain between us. I would be honored to join you for dinner, as I did want to discuss the possibility of comparing your blood sample to the others, which would of course require your consent. Gentia, that applies to you and the young females you asked for as well.”
“I will be meeting Meylith sooner rather than later, human. You may do what you wish with my blood. I will get what you need from the rest,” Gentia assured her. "We may not be able to enforce it with spear and shield, but if the gods are just, they will punish you if you go back on your word."
“Given that we currently live in the ‘heavens’ above your world, so to speak, I intend to keep my word, elder. So Asha, what do I need to know about coming over for dinner?”
“Oh nothing much. Just expect my mate to not really warm up to you at first and my parents to ask you all sorts of questions,” Asha explained, standing gingerly and casting a warm look at her tummy. “You’re sure you have time?”
“Yes, I do indeed. I will just send a message to my husband as we walk, let him know he should eat without me. Thank you for your hospitality, and yours Gentia,” Yvonne said as she packed away her things, closed Asha’s patient file, and triple checked to ensure she hadn’t left any litter or instruments behind.
“Mine was not selflessly given. Take care of her and her cub as I would, and you will have my blessings. Selah to you both. I shall accompany you to the entrance. Let’s see if Thantis is still suffering from his own curiosity regarding those trinkets for your eyes”
As Gentia predicted, the crowd in front of Kel’s temple had only slightly abated despite the setting sun. Asha and Yvonne saw Gentia the short distance to the building, waving at Alice as they passed.
“How did it go?!” The raven-haired girl wondered, her face only slightly tired from performing examination after examination.
“It was just fine!” Asha assured her. “And don’t feel afraid to close up. They’ll all be back tomorrow!”
Tittering at the prospect of a slight amount of mischief, Asha turned away from the temple, leading Yvonne slowly through the streets and past a home that was obviously Alice’s on account of the HEL tech sitting just outside the door. Taking the opportunity afforded by proximity to the communications array, Yvonne penned a quick message to Gerard about her dinner plans and the potential for a comparative blood panel before stowing her tablet in her bag and devoting her undivided attention to Asha. The young Cauthan proved an eager host, and by the time Pilot Cromwell arrived late at night to shuttle her back into space, the French doctor found herself firmly in agreement with Alice that the potential for the species was boundless.