Free Redwood: Servant of the State by Jaxon Reed Page A

Professor Cruz saw me.
    “There you are, Marcus. Let’s find Physician Patel and let him have a look at you.”
    So I was redirected to the medical building, staffed by the Patel family.
    -+-
    “Fascinating.”
    Physician Patel and Professor Cruz watched a hologram of my internal organs. I’d just finished drinking a quarter liter of blood from the Ranger station’s blood bank.
    “So, his body absorbs the new blood through the digestive system, and … what? Does his existing blood need fresh blood that’s been digested? Explain it to me, Jivin.”
    “That I cannot do yet, Curtis. It’s obvious his body needs the blood, though. Look at this chart.”
    “Hey, Doc, I could use some more of that stuff.”
    They stopped talking and turned to look at me. Physician Patel had a look of surprise on his face.
    “Nobody has called me ‘Doc’ since my residency back on Bharata. We don’t use the term ‘doctor’ anymore.”
    I nodded. “Makes sense. ‘Doctor’ is Latin for teacher, anyway.”
    The two men looked at each other. Patel blinked at Cruz, then looked back at me.
    “I’m interested in how a Servant came to know Latin. But I’m tasked with your physiological attributes, so I must prioritize.”
    I nodded. “Fair enough, Doc.”
    “Don’t call me that. Now, earlier this morning you say you burned your arms sliding down the triplets’ flag pole. Let’s see your arms.”
    I held them out. Both men stared closely at them.
    “Are you sure they were burned, Marcus?” Professor Cruz asked.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “But they’re not burned now.”
    “No, sir.”
    “Indeed,” Physician Patel said. “It is as if they were never hurt. Marcus, you said yesterday when you were bitten a few years ago, the fellow ‘took a chunk’ out of your neck?”
    I nodded.
    “And, after a couple weeks there were no more signs of it? Where did he bite you, exactly?”
    I pointed at the spot on my neck. The Physician gave the area a long close look.
    “No scar tissue at all. Hm. Curtis, I’m thinking his restorative capabilities are incredible. Especially after drinking blood. Perhaps his first injury years ago healed from his own blood. Now, with new injuries, fresh blood seems to speed his healing.”
    The Professor nodded. “Strong recuperative powers might also explain why he’s never knocked out for long. It also gives us a clue why Fred is still alive after being shot so many times.”
    They looked at each other, and a smile of understanding crept across both their faces.
    The door burst open and one of the triplets ran in.
    “Professor! Come quick, Mrs. Cruz made a discovery!”

Chapter Seven
    We gathered around a hologram featuring part of the forest. A scale model of green leaves and brown branches shimmered translucently. In the middle, an indistinct outline represented the primate city. All around in the branches of the trees were blinking red circles that shifted in and out of visibility. Larger purple circles would move out from the city from time to time, float around the trees, then go back. On occasion, the red and purple circles would intersect and flash briefly.
    Around the table stood the Cruzes, Physician Patel and me, Dee Dee and the triplets. Ranger Jenkins walked in late. The Professor waved him closer.
    “Melody, explain it again to Colt.”
    “Okay. This is a three-dimensional representation of the forest surrounding ‘Monkey City’ showing what our sensors have been recording in real time. What you are seeing includes several years worth of data points. The red circles indicate Fred when he showed up within our sensor grid. The purple circles represent hunter-gathering parties exiting and re-entering the city. We finally have enough data to make a statistical model that promises to be fairly accurate.”
    She moved her hand across the control panel, and the circles disappeared. A purple square exited the city and began a long elliptical arc through the trees. When it reached the outer