Paradise Lost

Ice expected the agency to punish him, but he thought they might have gone too far.  He knew he had to be reassigned, but here?  This is where they sent the rookies, the unstable recruits, the burnouts, and the offenders.  Apparently, he fell into the latter category.

He stepped out of his grass hut into the sunshine and took off his sunglasses.  He turned his face to the sun and closed his eyes.  It was undeniably beautiful here.  The weather held steady at 80 degrees, the foliage was lush and green, the beaches were pure white and glistening along the shores of crystal blue seas.  But those same seas, calm and inviting, tasted like acid on his skin.  He knew this from the boat ride over from the mainland; the ocean spray had burned his skin like tiny flaming needles.  His clothes clung to his skin damply and no amount of toweling after his shower ever got him quite dry.  The siren song of a refreshing dip held the promise of agony, agony if he answered, agony if he did not.

He made his way into the village, and the local children gathered around him.  It had taken them awhile to accept him here.  He was tall, his hair bright silver although his face was young and fresh.  His pale skin practically glowed like an angel.  The villagers were small, calloused, and very dark, their hands and faces worn from hard labor.  At first they thought him a demon, but after the miracles began, they believed he was a god.  And there was very little he could do to change their minds.

His new cover was as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders.  He joined a small crew of three for this particular island; two would have sufficed.  Every morning, he and Drs. Brant and Daley arrived at their medical facility -- a shanty made off wood, thrown together by their own unskilled hands.  Yet it was the most luxurious building on the island.  The villagers came to them out of curiosity, and the doctors inspected them in turn.  Dr. Brant, the pediatrician, treated the children for parasites and chicken pox and gave their parents advice on nutrition.  Dr. Daley treated the adults for cholera and scabies and work-related accidents.

Ice was responsible for the vaccination program, but often he provided much more.  The children came, sat patiently on the hard metal stool, and submitted to the inoculations.  While he talked to them, soothed their nerves, he allowed his feelers to move freely through their bodies, searching hidden viruses and removing them.  They left him protected from polio and no longer complaining of stomach aches, raw throats, open sores, or burning eyes.

And in return, he collected samples, hundreds of samples that would be very helpful to the agency.

*****

This week's prompt: Lonely in paradise.

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