JillAndTheGenestalk by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

have had the good taste to crash on Stok. We are interdicted, so you are going to be here for quite a while.”
    “I didn’t hear the warning…ohhh.” She tried to reach up to touch her forehead as she remembered that she had disconnected her audible systems.
    “Are you injured somewhere else?” The low-toned man was concerned.
    “No, I just remembered that I tampered with my com unit. I wasn’t able to hear anything, not that I was in any shape to pass to the next planet.”
    “Well, you are conscious. That is a good sign. We were able to get a net under you just in time to ease your landing.” The man chuckled. “You can thank the Monitor for that.”
    They loaded her onto a vehicle, and it took to the air.
    “Monitor?”
    “Yes. We monitor our skies and hope that no one falls in.” He chuckled and brushed at her forehead, pulling strands of hair away from her vision.
    “Excellent practice.”
    The crew she was with flew for five minutes before they unloaded the gurney with her on it and carried her inside a building that had a decidedly green tone to the walls.
    They moved her from the gurney to a springy exam bed and physicians moved in on her.
    Jill noted something peculiar about the folk around her, male and female. They were all tall. Extremely tall. She looked pre-pubescent next to them.
    The doctors asked her about all the symptoms of her pain while they scanned her.
    One of the doctors unwrapped her foot and hissed at the mess she had made of her sole. "What did this?”
    “Shattered glass. I had to make a run for it through a windowpane.”
    He swabbed her skin and carefully cleaned her wound.
    There was something peculiar that Jill was watching. Every time someone removed tissue or blood from her, it was whisked out of the room. It was either cultural or there was something going on behind the scenes.
    By the time they had treated her bumps and bruises, the room was as pristine as it had been before they started working on her.
    The man who had stayed at her side since the crash site got to his feet. “I was going to walk you to the ambassadorial area, but since you have that foot injury, I will carry you.”
    The head physician scowled. “She should remain here overnight. We need to run more tests.”
    Jill frowned and sat up. “Why do you need to run more tests? I am fine aside from the injury to my foot.”
    The doctor looked from the other man and back to Jill. “Just routine for newcomers.”
    She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “I thought you were interdicted.”
    The doc smiled, “We are, which is why we have these protocols in place. You are a slight thing, aren’t you?”
    “Enough, K’lin. I will take her somewhere she can rest. I will bring her back tomorrow for a check on that foot.” He smiled and lifted Jill without another word.
    He carried her through the strangely lumpy halls and out into the bright light. A wide walkway led to another building made of the strange substance.
    “What is everything made of?”
    The man smiled. “We grow everything from vines. It has long been a tradition here to manipulate nature, just a little.”
    “Vines?”
    “They provide us with housing, carry water, give us fibre for clothing and textiles as well as supplying power.”
    She nodded and looked around her with a little more respect for the shades of green that reached as far as the eye could see in all its different formats. Jill was a little embarrassed by the means of transport, but she glanced up at him as they walked.
    His skin had a similar greenish cast to it. It was well tanned, but his hair was a brilliant emerald that matched his eyes. The curve of his lips was a medium green with a pink tint. She tried to be casual, but her gaze wandered over the column of his neck and down to the broad expanse of his shoulders. It must have been her recent brush with matrimony, but she suddenly found herself interested in the masculine form.
    The arms under her held her easily.