Doctor Newman sat behind her desk for only a short moment and returned with another set of empty vials, "Have you ever had blood taken before?"
Charrack nodded, "Yes, but we do it differently."
"How so?" Sarah asked as she slid the needle into Charrack's arm.
Charrack winced as the needle pierced his scales, "We just slice a wrist open and pour the blood into a bowl before bandaging it up."
The doctor pursed her lips, "That sounds terrible."
Charrack shook his head, "It's not so bad. It honestly isn't as terrifying as these needles."
Doctor Newman laughed, making Charrack grin out of one side of his mouth, (the Valk equivalent of blushing), "What's so funny?"
"Oh just that a big strong guy like you is scared of a little needle." She switched the vial she had out for an empty one. "I hope you don't mind if I take a little extra. We don't have any samples to compare it with."
Charrack nodded, even though he was starting to get lightheaded, "it's fine."
When the last vial was full, Newman swirled it around and went back to her desk.
The sergeant cleared his throat, "If you don't mind doctor, can we take the lizard with us for,... debriefing?"
"I'm afraid I cannot clear him for anything just yet," she pushed her glasses up her nose and stared at the computer screen. "We don't know if Charrack here has any alien contagions from his time on that planet."
"Well, surely we can't quarantine these two together."
"I can, and I will. So unless you'd like to be in the same containment unit I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you. Don't forget you spent time planetside as well."
With that last comment the sergeant clamped his mouth shut.
"I'm starting to really like this doctor of yours," John whispered to Charrack, "she's got spunk."
"What is spunk?" Charrack whispered back.
John froze in contemplation, "I don't know; I guess it means she has spirit, guts, or something like that."
Five minutes passed with only the sound of Newman's fingers, tapping gently on her keyboard. Charrack watched her every movement, his heart skipped a beat every time she did something as simple as brushing her hair back.
"It looks like I've got everything I need sergeant, you can take them away now."
"Thank you doctor." The sergeant opened the door and gestured for us to head out.
Charrack picked John up, setting him back in his wheelchair and turning to look at Sarah, "Will I be seeing you again?"
She gave him a wink, "You can count on it."
Charrack smiled and followed the soldiers out of the lab, casting one final glance at the doctor as the door slid shut. "What is quarantine?" He asked John.
"Isolation to keep everyone safe, usually until they know whatever they're quarantining isn't infectious." John answered.
"So we'll be alone in small rooms to make sure nobody gets sick?"
"When you put it like that, it sounds like prison." John frowned.
"Well maybe it is, of a kind."
As they walked, several of the guards gave Charrack nervous looks. One even stepped into their path and pointed a rifle at Charrack, "Shouldn't he be in cuffs?"
Donnie rushed forward and pushed the weapon down, "Are you crazy? The lizard is here by his own choice, if you raise your weapon at him there's no telling how he may react."
"And you trust him to be loose?" The soldier asked.
Donnie swallowed, "More than I would if he was in chains."
Charrack stared down at the man in front of them, "Would you have me disarmed and carried around in a cage?"
Through gritted teeth the soldier growled, "I would have you dead."
The sergeant finally saw fit to intervene, "Step aside private."
The soldier complied, but spat on the ground as Charrack walked past.
"The locals here seem friendly," Charrack murmured.
John grinned from ear to ear, "Was that sarcasm? I'm impressed."
Before long the group arrived at a processing point to prep them for isolation. Several people in hazmat suits instructed them to remove all articles from their person.
"Surely I don't have to give them my bow?" Charrack complained.
"If you think that's bad, I have to spit my gum out." John grumbled as the boot was pulled off of his remaining foot.
Everyone who had gone to the alien planet was isolated and sprayed with a sanitizer before being given a new change of clothes. Charrack met back up with John on the other side in what appeared to be a living room.
"I've been under quarantine once before, when I had the flu," John explained. "I didn't mind it so much, they set it up like a tiny resort. We get our own bedrooms, a living room, a small pool..."
"I know what a hotel is." Charrack interrupted.
John shrugged, "Well how was I supposed to know you knew that word."
"Because the English phonetic alphabet was a required course of study for all military personnel, once we acquired some of your technology." Charrack stated this as if it should be obvious.
"That still doesn't explain how you know what it means." John prompted.
Charrack rolled his eyes, "I looked it up."
John put his hands up in a show of surrender, "Alright. Needless to say though, our stay should be comfortable."
"Not for him," a tall soldier in black riot gear walked up beside Charrack.
"What do you mean? I have done all that was asked if me." Charrack clenched his fist and glared at the guard's faceless helmet.
"You need to come with us." Two other guards in riot gear rounded a corner and pulled out stun batons.
John "wheeled" on the guards, "You can't do this, doctor Newman gave us assurances that we would be quarantined together!"
A man in a sharply pressed uniform with several medals across the chest came around the same corner and stood behind the guards, "Doctor Newman has no jurisdiction here I'm afraid. You are in a military facility now, not a lab."
Charrack curled his lip up and barred his fangs, "Stand down, I don't want things to get ugly."
John put a hand up to settle his friend, "That's a general, it would be best not to anger him."
"So what?" Charrack spat, "I should just let him take me and lock me in a cage without a fight?"
The general spoke up, "If you value your life, that's exactly what you should do."
Charrack looked to John, who nodded and gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I'll figure something out."
Two of the guards grabbed hold of Charrack's arms and began to escort him out of the room.
After they had left, the general addressed John, "Well mister Doe, it seems we have a lot to talk about."...