CHAPTER VI

The next day I went to the hospital to check on my sister. But there was a barrier in front of me. The guard was standing on the turnstile and did not listen to me at all:

"You are not on the list of persons who are allowed to visit Yusha Iridium."

"I'm her own sister, Maya Iridium. Let me through immediately!"

"You're not allowed to visit her," the guard told me.

"Why?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"You have been blacklisted," he put a bold dot. "If you don't leave the hospital right now, I'll have to call security."

I had to admit defeat and retreat so as not to completely annoy the guard. I still didn't want to be in a cell at the security station.

After wandering around the hospital, I couldn't think of anything better to go to school. I absolutely did not want to study, so I complained to the supervisor about feeling unwell. She allowed me to stay in the infirmary, but, to my deep disappointment, our nurse was a very responsible worker. So she took my temperature and also did a quick blood test to rule out inflammation. At the end of the examination, the wise woman in a white coat smiled:

"You are healthy and can fly into space!"

"It's very strange," I continued my acting. "I have something tingling here."

I pressed my hands to my chest, as my grandfather did when his heart ached.

"Maya Iridium. You're too young to suffer from heart ailments," the nurse shook her head. "Perhaps it's something completely different."

"Really, it hurts me a lot here," I put on a pained grin, as much as I could.

"Come on, what happened this time?" she didn't believe it.

"I won't say anything, since you will tell your parents," I had to turn my gaze away.

"Okay, then I'll have to tell your supervisor that you were faking symptoms of the disease. Let the teacher punish you," she grinned.

"No, don't do that!" it burst out of me.

"I don't need the details. And I don't bite. So what exactly happened?"

"My sister." I lowered my head and sighed. "I'm not allowed to see her in the hospital."

"Yusha is in a bad condition, so she needs rest," the nurse tried to calm me down. "There's nothing terrible about it."

"But I protected her with my body, provided her with oxygen in time, sheltered her from the storm… So why is she in a serious condition? Why does she visit the hospital often? I can already see that the reason is something else?" I began to think out loud in front of a woman in a white coat. "So tell me, what's the problem with her?"

"Who knows?" she was lying.

"Yusha is clearly suffering from some kind of illness, but everyone is hiding the truth from me."

"I can't help you with anything," the nurse spread her hands. "It's a secret I can't tell without permission. But you can find the name of the disease in the medical directory. It starts with the letter "A" and has something to do with breathing."

"Thank you!" I was delighted.

"Just what are you going to do with this information?" She paused and looked me straight in the eye. "How can you help your sister?"

"I don't know," was my answer. "But I need to figure everything out. I've been living with my sister all my life, and I know practically nothing about her... as if we were strangers…"

"This is normal. Even though you are similar to each other, you are different inside," the nurse smiled. "What did the commander-in-chief say in the twenty-sixth paragraph of the fifth chapter?"

"Move towards the intended goal and do not pay attention to the losses!" I immediately gave out.

"Well done," she nodded. "Follow this rule and you will be able to survive in our world."

"But," I frowned. "That's my sister."

"It's up to you to move forward or stand still. And someday you will have to make a choice. Now go to bed and get a good sleep."

I didn't want to sleep at all, but I didn't contradict the nurse. I followed her decree and tried to fall asleep. And after that, when classes ended and I went to the library. I wanted to find out as soon as possible about the mysterious illness from which my sister was suffering. And perhaps, over time, I will have a plan to infiltrate the hospital. Having found a medical reference book, I plunged into it with my head. But there were plenty of diseases with the letter "A". Which one of them does Yusha have? The so-called symptoms came to the rescue. Coughing and choking indicated to me an ailment called "Asthma". It turned out that she needed some kind of provoking factor, and after thinking about it, I remembered my sister's eternal complaints about red dust. Had she been suffering from it all this time?

A chain immediately formed in my head explaining the behavior of Yusha. She couldn't live on Ferrum Three because of her asthma, so her only salvation was to go to another planet. Since the galaxy was in chaos, many solar systems were closed to us. There was only Flora, but, judging by the entries from the diary, they did not want to accept Yusha. And it's not surprising, because there were damned enemies on the Flora who didn't care about us. By the way, maybe Martha Ironstone will be able to shed light on this moment.

My supervisor liked to stay up late in the administration, where she wrote reports, checked our work, and tried to adjust the curriculum to raise our school performance. Today she was sitting at her desk in proud solitude and scribbling something in a notebook with her ink pen, inherited from her ancestors.

"May I come in?" my voice scared Martha.

"Oh!" she shuddered, obviously thinking about something of her own. "Please don't scare me like that. And how is your health?"

"It's gotten a lot better," I nodded and slowly walked over to her.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" the supervisor put down her pen.

"Martha Ironstone. Can I ask you a personal question?" there was excitement inside me because it sounded a little strange.

"Yes," she swallowed. "What would you like to know about?"

"My sister is studying the language and culture of Flora," I began from afar.

"Did she tell you that?" Martha frowned.

"No. I figured it out, no matter how. I'm worried about why she can't go to the Flora? What happened?"

"This is classified information," she said sternly.

"My sister is dying in the hospital right now. I want to get to the truth. Why wasn't she allowed to fly there?!" there was nowhere to retreat, it was necessary to go to the breach.

"Okay, you know how to keep your mouth shut, so you can keep it a secret," Martha Ironstone pointed to the chair next to me with her hand. "Just make sure that no one is in the hallway, close the door, and then sit down."

I followed her instructions clearly and prepared to listen.

"We have to buy food in the neighboring system, but it looks like the war will get there soon. Therefore, they will stop supplying us with the necessary components for synthesis," she began to tell almost in a whisper.

"How will we live then?" I was indignant.

"We live off a small supply," Martha looked at me sadly. "Soon we will starve to death, and there is a green planet next to us, full of real food."

"Only they won't sell us anything."

"Yes, that's why the council decided to negotiate with them. They want to get specialists in mining, as they are forced to purchase materials from neighboring systems. There had to be an exchange. Yusha was lucky to be among them, but…"

Martha Ironstone paused and listened.

"At the very last moment, they decided to add another specialist to the program."

"And what's the problem?" I didn't understand.

"Where will we get another one who wants to become a biologist?" she explained. "You saw the reaction of the group to the statement of Yusha."

"Of course, because we don't have plants and animals."

"And probably won't be," Martha Ironstone said sadly. "But with the help of the exchange, we will at least try to establish a relationship."

"It's a stupid idea, and many people won't like it, because our enemies live on the Flora."

"That's why this operation is kept secret from everyone. By the way, would you like to become a biologist?"

My tongue was ready to say no, but at the last moment, I thought about my sister.

"And if I agree, will the agreement with Flora remain in force?" I asked a counter-question.

"I think so because the council has not yet given them an answer," a smile appeared on Martha's face. "It would be very noble of you, but you know, it will be very difficult to live there. And being a biologist is not an easy profession. You also need to learn the language…"

"I don't care!" I interrupted her. "If it helps Yusha to fly to Flora, then I'm ready to roll mountains with my bare hands."

"And what about your parents?"

" One less engineer, one more. What's the difference? Ferrum Three will die anyway."

"All right, I'll inform the council of your will, but you can still refuse," she surrendered. "There will be no way back."

"I know, but my decision is final."

Now it remains to figure out how to get into the hospital and tell Yusha the good news. But my head couldn't come up with anything worthwhile. I had to return home, where in the evening I was again called to the "carpet". The supervisor reported to the council about our conversation, and they, in turn, pressed my father. I could understand him because he absolutely did not want to let Yusha go to Flora. After all, he considered this planet dangerous. But there was no other choice because she suffered from dust. And now I've decided to fly there too.

"Do you understand what you've done?!" my father walked back and forth like a mine trolley.

"Yes," I nodded.

"My daughter," my mother sighed. "Flora is a very dangerous world. We decided to send Yusha there because of her illness."

"That's why I have to fly! Someone has to protect her there."

"She's just like you," mom looked askance at father.

"No, that's how you brought her up," he stopped and pointed his finger at the exit. "Maya, go to your room and don't let me see you."

"But..." my eyebrows lowered, giving me a frown.

"I won't let you become a biologist. You'll be an engineer because we don't have enough people," he got angry. "You will be left without dinner and breakfast!"

"Okay," I lowered my head.

"Why does the great synthesis send us such hard trials?" Mom said sadly.

"Nothing, we will definitely cope with any difficulties!" father said decisively.

Again, I began to be overwhelmed with mixed feelings, because of which I just flew into my room and jumped on the bed. Everything inside me was boiling and bubbling. It's not enough that they kept me in the dark all this time, so I was also to blame for wanting to help my sister find salvation. And what's the use of another engineer when our world could die of hunger?!

I knew that these feelings were only hurting me, so I decided to switch to another topic.

"How to get to the hospital?" I wondered aloud. "Come on, my head, think of something! Synthesis, stars, or whoever created this world, help me find a way out."

"Do you think you can pass a physical exam with a broken leg?" echoed the words inside my head.

"And this is a great idea!" it dawned on me. "So I can get to the hospital and meet with Yusha. And you can forget about exams for the duration of treatment. And I can persuade my father to let me become a biologist."

But how do I implement my plan? Easy to say, hard to do. However, you can jump from a height to your feet. The school was just right for this purpose, and the infirmary was nearby. They'll send me straight to the hospital from there. To my joy, I even forgot to prepare for classes and went to bed early to get into tomorrow as soon as possible.

Finally, the crucial moment has come. At lunchtime, I went up to the last third floor and, waiting until no one was around, climbed over the railing of the stairs. The height made me dizzy, and my body was paralyzed by fear, which did not allow me to take the last step toward a crazy idea. Perhaps I overestimated my strength, because not only my legs could have suffered from the fall. Something and the desire immediately disappeared to make a jump. Yes, and it was possible to find another way to be admitted to the hospital.

After thinking about the abyss for a minute or two, I still changed my mind about jumping and decided to turn to a nurse. I think she could help me find a safer way out of this situation. But when I tried to climb back over the railing, my foot slipped and pulled me down with it. At the last moment, I managed to grab the ledge of the ladder with my fingertips and hold on. Horror completely took over me, forcing me to call for help, as if scalded by hot steam. It was all in vain, as my hands began to slide over the smooth metal surface, and as a result, I flew down like a stone, towards my fate.