I pull up to a gate in my truck. Armed guards patrol the perimeter of an energized fence around a solid white structure. Its tall white walls reflect the sun's blinding light. Even more guards patrol inside the fence and structure within. One of the guards, a perfect copy of all the others, wearing full body armor from head-to-toe, approaches my truck and sticks his hand in the window of my vehicle. He holds firm to a high-end assault rifle in his other hand. "Identification." He demands.

  I hand over my I.D. He gives it a cursory glance and then throws it back at me. Even after the four years since I had my I.D. picture taken, I haven't changed much at all appearance-wise. I am a perfect reflection of the girl in the picture. A boring blonde with a tacky purple right bang. A trend of yesteryear that has long since gone out of fashion, but I could never will myself to be rid of. Even the length of my hair, down to the middle of my back, I could never allow to deviate much. Yes, very little of me has ever changed. Perhaps my complexion has gotten a little less pale, because of my job, but that's about it.

  The soldier gives me a long list of do's and don'ts and ends his brief lecture with, "Failure to comply will result in retaliation with violent force." After I sign a waver and over my phone he directs me to a nearby parking spot. An armed guard escorts me out of my truck and into the building.

  I step into the New Republic Southern Military Hospital: a structure to which no other building on this side of the planet could compare. Civilian hospitals may as well be dumps in comparison. The walls, ceiling, and even floor glow pristine, white, and sanitized. The grizzled, dirty, soldiers look out of place with their forest green armor, but haunt every corridor. They won't let me, or any visitor, walk around by myself for one moment. Not that there are visitors besides me. They guard against imaginary invaders who have yet to breach the exclusive walls. Doctors and other white-coats walk through the restricted halls as if it is their home. I wonder to myself just what secrets they are privy to in this highly restrictive facility. I am only here for one matter though - they can keep all their other secrets.

  The soldier guides me to an office down the hall from the entrance. He opens the door, pushes me inside, and waves to the staff member stationed within. "She's all yours, Doc." The soldier says as he shuts the door behind me. Although, I imagine he is probably still standing right on the other side.

  The staff inside, a doctor, is one of the many non-humans species on the planet: an arakar. The arakar are gangly reptilian creatures, part of a broader species called the rakkar, who all have colorful, scaley, skin. Male arakar have long noses and ears, much like the doctor before me. This planet, Frontier, is mostly populated and governed by humans, but the arakar are the second largest population.

  The old doctor hops out of his chair and shuffles over to me. He is short, even by arakar standards, only about half my height. Most arakar crawl around on all fours, but the doctor forces himself upright and on two feet even in his old age. He tips his hand. "Miss Vells, it is a pleasure to finally be able to see you here, after all this time."

  "Thank you, doctor. It is good to finally be here."

  "Well, let us get moving. This facility is quite big, and it might take a while to get through with these short old legs." The doctor chuckles as he grabs his cane. I nod in agreement.

  The doctor leads me out of the office. As I suspected, the guard is still outside. He follows from behind, rifle in hand, as the doctor leads me through the building. We walk through a series of long, narrow, corridors that all look the same. Sometimes we take an elevator to another hallway, a mirror of all the others. It feels like walking down a hallway with no end. The intrepid soldier follows us like our shadows, but not nearly as quiet. His mechanical armor stomps and whirs behind us, always reminding us he is still there even if he has nothing to say.

  "The military never allows visitors into their hospital," the doctor says as we walk. He pulls off his glasses and wipes them. "But your friend's circumstance is... rather unique so they are willing to make an exception. I had to pull as many strings as I could manage, but I tell you; it wasn't easy to arrange your permissions. You know how it is with these government types and their red tape."

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  "Sorry for causing you so much trouble, doctor." I say.

  "Don't apologize. Your father did a lot for me back in the day." The doctor strokes his grey beard and hums. "He probably saved my life a dozen times. The least I can do for him now that he's moved off world is to allow his daughter a few favors at my expense." The doctor stops at a black door with a keypad lock. He punches in some numbers and swipes his cardkey down the side. A quick beep chimes, and the heavy metal door opens. The doctor points to the soldier. "Wait out here. Don't let anyone else in."

  The soldier flops his back against the wall beside the door. His armor lets out a hiss of decompression as the armor's hydraulics settle into a resting pose.

  The doctor and I enter a pitch-black room that lights up as soon as we enter. It looks more like a research lab than a hospital room. There are a few desks with computers, flasks, and books. Packed bookshelves line the walls, but not much else. My eyes wander upward to see more research equipment tucked away against the ceiling via mechanical arms. Even an operating table is up there, out of the way. The back wall is cordoned off by a heavy security bulkhead. A door next to the bulkhead is decorated with an extensive warning sign.

  The doctor motions to a nearby desk and set of chairs. "Go ahead and take a seat there, miss." I comply and the doctor hops in a chair of his own. He raises his chair up high so he can reach the human sized desk. The doctor interacts with a cluttered holographic display in front of him. "I'll be frank with you, Miss Vells; his condition isn't good. The life support system is keeping him stable, but it won't last forever. The computer projects that his condition will eventually deteriorate, gradually, until he will pass away."

  I already knew that. I've known that for a while. "How long does he have? Can't you do anything at all? I ask.

  "That's a difficult question to answer. He could still yet live months or years, maybe even decades. It is hard to say." The doctor pauses and scratches the tuft of hair atop his head. "As for what can be done, frankly my associates and I are out of our depth. We have no experience with his kind's physiology. There is simply no point of reference for us to work from. There are no others like him on this planet and he's probably the last of his kind, at least this far out in the galaxy. We've poured over the oldest medical records we could gather and still had no success toward finding anything."

  "So, there's no progress towards recovery at all? We just have to sit here and watch him die?"

  The doctor replies, "All we can do for the time being is to keep him in the life support system. That is the best we can do for him. Until we know more about what we are dealing with, I'm not comfortable promising you procedures that will likely have little, if any, benefit. Not to mention of course this goes well beyond your interests alone, Miss Vells." The doctor leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "Our progress is contingent upon learning more about his injury. If my team could examine the assailant's weapon, it might give us some clue as to how we should proceed, but the Ministry of Defense is keen on keeping the weapon behind lock and key for whatever reason. It's a bureaucratic mess to be honest. Getting permission for you to visit was hard enough. They won't even budge on letting us examine the attacker's weapon though. You would think it would be within their interest to cooperate with us, but I suppose they have their own agenda."

  I take in his every word. They are words I expect to hear. That doesn't make them any less hard to receive. "Is... is it alright if I see him?" I ask.

  "Well, yes, I suppose. That is what you came here for after all." The doctor hesitates, but eventually enters something into the computer which opens the security bulkhead at the back of the room. The machinery slowly pulls apart. It is a loud metal whir as the door clicks over various locks. "Now miss, don't be alarmed. As I warned you before, it is rather gruesome."

  The doctor directs my attention toward the back of the room. The bulkhead, now open, reveals a life support tank in the adjacent room separated by a massive glass observation window. Someone unrecognizable is submerged inside the tank. Dozens of pipes and medical apparatuses are attached to them. There is a gruesome wound on the person's side. Some unknown affliction eats away at their body, causing their flesh to fall off in chunks down to the bone.

  I emerge from my seat and approach the window separating this room and that. I put my hand upon the cold glass and stare through. No matter how I hoped and wished otherwise. My eyes bear witness to the truth I am forced to accept. I feel my stomach twisting inside of me, ripping itself apart in disgust in anguish for myself, and for the one on the other side. I can scarcely stay on my feet through the self-inflicted tribulation.

  The doctor comes besides me. "It is difficult to believe. Who would have thought one of the arenka, those said to be immortal beings, could sustain such an injury?"

  I have no words for him.

  The doctor continues, "Ahem, well, you take as much time as you need. Just don't touch anything, please. I'll wait outside for you. We can go back to my office and talk more there." I hear the doctor walk away and the door slide open and shut behind me.

  I press my head against the glass. What remains of the person on the other side is only an arm's reach away but feels farther away than ever before.

  "Can you hear me, Iskir?" I say aloud. "What should I do? Say something or open your eyes. Do something... anything..." I sink down to my knees. "Just don't leave me alone..."