THE SNOW MAIDEN
or the Case with the Holiday Blues
by M. C. A. Hogarth
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 .C.A. Hogarth
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In the multicultural Alliance, aliens mingle with humans and the Pelted, gengineered offspring of human experiments, in a vast and mostly peaceful communion. The mindlinked xeno-therapists Jahir, one of the rare Eldritch, and Vasiht'h, a furred centauroid, work on a starbase teeming with members of multiple races and species, where they ply their special brand of dream-therapy on the over-stressed members of their community. These case studies are a series of stories about living and working among these diverse species.
Like most of her kind, the Seersa foxine was a petite individual barely five feet high at the tip of her pointed ears, densely-built with heavy wrists and digitigrade legs neatly crossed at the ankle. She was a striking member of that race, with her white fur and delicately pointed muzzle; the stark black and cobalt blue of her Fleet uniform matched her dark eyes and the black tips of her ears and soft tail.
She was also—
/Nervous?/ Vasiht'h guessed over their mindline.
/More than we are,/ Jahir replied, his wry humor filling the link with the taste of iron filings.
"I imagine you find this somewhat irregular," she said.
"Just a little, alet...?" Vasiht'h said, settling down across from her. Jahir sat next to his partner in the chair facing the couch where their client perched.
"Nisia," she said. "Nisia Baker, lieutenant commander." She made a face. "I don't suppose Commander Hutchins told you anything."
"Nothing more than that one of his officers had requested us, and the instructions—the detailed instructions—on how we were to present ourselves for admission to the Fleet section of the base," Jahir said.
"You must have been surprised," she said, smiling suddenly. She had a good smile, impish. It made the hollows under her eyes more noticeable.
/Not sleeping much,/ Vasiht'h said.
/The question is why,/ Jahir answered and said to her, "Lieutenant Commander, you have no idea."
She laughed. "That's a mouthful. Please, just call me Nisia." She settled then. "You two are listed now as acceptable external contractors in the medical category. I requested you... specifically because of that."
"Because we're not Fleet?" Vasiht'h asked. "I would have thought you'd be more comfortable discussing your issues with someone who shared the context of your work with you."
"I would, yes, if what was bothering me wasn't exactly that," Nisia said with a sigh. She chafed one of her upper arms. "I love Fleet, gentlemen, and I love my work, but I feel so... hollowed out lately. I went for a physical just to make sure I wasn't coming down with something, or that I didn't need a change in my diet or exercise routines, but they cleared me. So... I sent for you. I've heard good things about your therapy work."
"So is it work that's bothering you, or something else?" Jahir asked.
"And what exactly is it that you do?" Vasiht'h added.
She glanced at them and paused for a long moment before continuing. "You understand, what I'll be telling you is in strict confidence."
"We have oaths to that effect," Jahir said.
"Even beyond that," she said. "It's why you're here, instead of me visiting you off-section. Security concerns."
/How did we get into this again?/
Jahir's amusement was lopsided enough to give Vasiht'h vertigo. /I think we did one too many good jobs on Fleet personnel sent our way. And as I recall it was your idea to even approach them./
/Great, I have no one to blame but myself./
"We understand," Jahir said aloud. "Please, continue."
"All right," she said and steadied herself with a long breath. "All right. So, I'm in charge of environmental control."
"For the Fleet section?" Jahir asked.
She met his eyes. "For the entire starbase."
Their pause was so long the mindline started to reflect it, echoing like footsteps leaving an abandoned house.
"The entire starbase," Vasiht'h said at last. "The entire... moon-sized... starbase."
She grinned now, obviously amused at their reaction. "Yes!" And lifted her white brows, eyes sparkling. "I see that impresses you."