Learning to Dance

“The Commander of course.” A pause. “They say he
rescued her from the robots when she was a young girl –
and they’ve been together ever since.”
“How romantic! And sad... how is the Commander?”
“It’s terrifying, honey, like something out of a horror
movie - they’ve got him in stasis, hooked up to all these
tubes and machines – he doesn’t even look human anymore.
I hear the Admiral has been experimenting on him. They
say he saved the Commander’s life – but that don’t look
like living to me.”
The voices were whispering, but it felt like they were
bouncing painfully around inside her head. Taz winced, and
tried to speak. A weak gasp came out, and the voices
stopped.
“Lieutenant, can you hear me?”
Taz opened her eyes. A round-faced woman in a nurse’s
uniform was leaning over her. “Yes,” she croaked.
“Page the doctor,” the nurse barked at her companion,
and Taz heard squeaky footsteps fade away.
“You’ve been through some tough stuff, honey, but
you’re stable now, you’re going to pull through just fine,
don’t you worry,” the nurse continued as she checked Taz’s
vitals. “Dr. T’s not going to let the Admiral anywhere near
you until you’re out of the woods, so to speak.”
Everything was all mixed up in her head. The robots, the
blood, Dr. Space-Claw’s visit - “Up?” she asked hoarsely.
The nurse’s eyes filled with sympathy, and she didn’t
answer for a moment. “They say he’s alive, honey.” She
raised Taz’s hospital bed to a sitting position, and held a
paper cup of water to her lips. “Just a sip now. It will help
with the dryness.”
Taz took a grateful sip, felt the liquid cool her parched
throat. She swallowed.
“I – I don’t understand,” she said, testing her voice. Why