Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) (39 page)

As Diet got back into the driver’s seat, he could still hear the intern giving instructions as they hauled Hal away. “Have Beverly work up a preliminary eval on him, so we can get a better idea of what we’re dealing with and then…” The ER doors closed, cutting off any further orders the intern was issuing.  

Good luck, buddy.

* * * *

“Any idea how much longer Diet’s going to be?” Noreen asked.

We’ve hit a little snag, so it’s probably going to be an hour or so, longer than our original two-hour estimate. Sorry about that.

“No problem, Hal. Maybe I should order in, so he doesn’t have to worry about changing in order to go out to a restaurant, when he gets finished. He’ll probably be famished by that time.”

I can take care of it for you, Noreen. The same thing you two had on your first date sound good?

Noreen laughed. “Yes, most assuredly, but
The Beacon
doesn’t deliver.”

They will for Diet.

The Beacon will deliver for Diet? God, just who is this guy that I’m thinking of hitching my wagon to?

* * * *

Diet drove the ambulance two blocks away, and parked it near the curb. He grabbed the small suitcase out of the passenger’s seat and walked to a fueling station another block away. In the men’s room, Diet changed into the suit that he had packed into the suitcase, and stuffed the ambulance driver uniform into the empty bag. Tossing the suitcase into a garbage pickup unit across the street, Diet walked the three blocks back to the hospital.

Approaching the admissions station, Diet waited patiently for the next person on duty to become available. When his turn came, he sat down and waited again until the woman finished dictating information concerning the previous patient. When she finally finished, she turned to Diet and asked, “Can I help you?”

“Yes, my brother was brought in by ambulance earlier this evening, and he is probably still rotting in your Emergency Room. I’m here to sign whatever admission papers that you need and arrange for payment for his treatment.”

“Patient’s name, please?”

“Halbert Fürt.”

“You are his brother, you say?”

“Yes, I am Dietrich Fürt.”

“Ah yes, found it. Thank you. Let’s see, private luxury suite, full rehab regimen… Yes, everything appears to have already been ordered for his care. Doctor Kaeppeler, I see. He’s our best.”

“I would expect nothing less,” replied Diet.

“Insurance?”

“Unnecessary.” Diet pulled out his black
Allex
card and gave it to the woman.

“
Humpf
… never saw a black one before.”

“I’d be surprised if you had.”

When all of the necessary paperwork was dealt with, Diet walked back to the ER and found Hal lying in Bay-1, where the intern had indicated they were putting him.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t be in here,” said the nurse on duty at Hal’s bedside.

Diet turned to her and said, “Don’t be ridiculous, my dear, of course I can. Your patient is my brother, Halbert Fürt. I am Dietrich Fürt.”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Fürt.  I was told his family would be arriving later, but I wasn’t expecting you this soon.”

“When will my brother be transferred to the private luxury suite that I ordered for him?”

“Doctor Kaeppeler is going over the preliminary patient evaluation now.  We’re just waiting for the order to come down from him to have him transferred.”

“Is my brother stable?”

“Oh yes, all of his vitals are very good.”

“Then transfer my brother to the private luxury suite that I’m paying for immediately, on my orders. Then inform Dr. Kaeppeler where he may find his patient. I will not have my brother subjected to gawkers, here in the ER, for a single moment longer than is absolutely necessary.”

I’m sorry, Mr. Fürt, but hospital rules require us to wait for authorization of the patient’s primary physician, before they can be moved.”

“The hospital has its rules and I have mine. As I’m paying the bills, mine take precedence. Move him now, and if Dr. Kaeppeler has any objections, he should take them up with Dr. Thurgood.”

“You know, Dr. Thurgood?”

“No, my dear…  I
own
Dr. Thurgood.”

* * * *

Diet saw Hal safely ensconced into his private luxury suite, long before Dr. Kaeppeler actually got off his dead ass to order it. He spoke to “Hal” quietly for a few minutes, reassuring him that he would be okay and that these people would take good care of him. He and Hal’s less mobile alter ego would see to it. 

A taxi met him as soon as he arrived back down at the hospital entrance, which then whisked him to the TransPlanetary Spacelines terminal at the spaceport. Walking down to the Alliance Spacelines terminal, he then hailed another taxi, which delivered him to the gate outside the hangar where his jumbo spaceliner and Noreen were. 

Just as his taxi pulled up to the hangar, Diet saw a catering vehicle marked with the logo of
The Beacon
restaurant just pulling away. Diet passed through the ring of guards and ran up the ramp, where he closed and resealed the stasis chamber, and then quickly changed back into his grubbies that Noreen had last seen him wearing. He bounded up the winding staircase and arrived, just as Noreen was putting food out on the second and last place setting of gold-plated fine china she’d found in the kitchen area.

When she saw Diet come in through the doorway, Noreen smiled broadly and said, “Now
that
is great timing, lover!”

“What’s all this?” Diet asked.

“Oh, just a little something I whipped up, while I was waiting for you to get your cute butt back up here,” Noreen replied with a sly grin.

“A little something you whipped up, huh?”

“And here you thought I couldn’t cook,” Noreen pouted sweetly.

“You’re taking credit for all this wonderful-smelling food then?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Noreen, I saw the catering vehicle pull up from the top of the cargo ramp.”

“What’s
that
got to do with anything? I
paid
for it this time, so I get the credit!” she laughed.

She wouldn’t let me charge it to the company account, Diet. I swear this woman is almost as stubborn as you.

“You just don’t know me that well yet, Hal,” Noreen cooed. “There is no ‘almost’ to it.”

“Oh God, that tastes wonderful,” Diet said, around his first steaming mouthful. “I was starving.”

“Cook pretty damned good, don’t I?”

Diet laughed, “Hell yes, sweetheart… you can cook for me, anytime!”

* * * *

Noreen spent the night on-board the plane in Diet’s marvelous borrowed bed, where they made slow, sweet love, unhurried by the hectic animal passions that had ruled during their first night together in her apartment. Noreen marveled at what a sweet, gentle lover Diet was, that second night. She also marveled at how incredibly fulfilled and happy she felt, when wrapped in the arms of this unusual man.

The next morning, a lightning bolt of alarm knifed through her when an entirely different crew suddenly arrived and removed the stasis chamber from the cargo bay, loading it onto a large cargo vehicle. After covering it with a tarp, they drove it away toward parts unknown. She found herself suddenly terrified that Diet’s mission on Massa was completed and that he’d be leaving shortly, off on yet another mysterious assignment for the inscrutable baron. With her heart in her throat, Noreen croaked out the great question, the answer to which she felt her future happiness depended.

“So, does this mean you’ll be leaving soon?”

Diet smiled as he took her in his arms and said, “Oh no…  You’re not getting rid of me
that
easily! This just means we’re entering into the next phase of the project. You’re gonna to be stuck with me for the next several months, at least.”

Noreen suddenly felt tears welling, as she was almost physically overcome with such incredible feelings of relief. She couldn’t even speak. Clinging to him tightly, she was suddenly struck by a startling realization. 

I love him. Dear God help me, but I’ve fallen ass-over-teakettle for this big lug… and I’m never, ever going to let him go! 

* * * *

“This ‘living under a microscope’ all the damned time is really starting to get on my nerves,” said Admiral Ben Stillman to his new ladylove. They were sharing coffee in the
Defiant’s
officer’s mess, the objects of fleeting glances by the roving stewards and officers coming and going, in and out…  more coming in, than going out, when word got passed that the admiral and captain were in there together.

“I know the feeling, Ben,” sighed Dorothy Fletcher. “Ya know, this is a real role reversal for me.”

“How so?”

Dorothy laughed. “I’ve spent most of my life fending off all the slavering dogs that were chasing me, like I was a bitch in heat. Now, when I finally meet a man who makes me want to act like one, we’re both stuck in the middle of a damned three-ring circus!”

Ben chuckled, “Too bad we’ve got such a rapt audience. Makes it hard to let nature take its course and still observe propriety, doesn’t it?”

“
Hard
isn’t the word for it.”

“It is for me.”

Dorothy spit coffee at that remark. “God, Ben… look what you just made me do!”

“Oops.”

“Anyway, that’s good to hear,” Dorothy continued. “I’d hate to think I’d saved myself all this time for a man who couldn’t perform, when the time came.”

“Oh please, you’re under standing orders to avoid cemeteries because of your penchant for making the dead rise, and we both know it!”

Dorothy giggled. “That’s one of the things I love most about you, Ben, you make me laugh.”

“Not that hard to do, with a face like mine.”

Ben Stillman,” Dorothy scolded. “I happen to like that handsome face of yours, thank you very much.”

“That reminds me, I think we need to get you back down to the dispensary to get your vision rechecked. Comments like that leads me to believe there was a major mix-up in your records the last time.”

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments, and I’ve already obliged you all that I’m going to this morning, so you might as well quit.”

Ben just smiled and shook his head gently. “I still don’t see how a drop-dead gorgeous woman like you could possibly be attracted to a craggy old goat like me?”

Now it was Dorothy’s turn to shake her head. “I’ve told you before, Ben, although I’m definitely attracted to what’s on the outside, it’s not your looks, but
who
you are that I find most attractive about you. You’re the physical embodiment of virtually every positive trait that I find most appealing in a man. That plus the fact that you’ve never treated me like just a piece of meat that you wanted to devour.”

“I’ll plead the fifth on that one,” Ben chuckled. “If we ever do end up in bed together, I bet you’ll have me howling at the moon inside of an hour.”

Dorothy grinned, “I certainly hope so. Now, how might we go about arranging one of those moon-howling episodes, anyway? Have you had any ideas?”

“Just one… but it’s a bit extreme. After so short a time together, I hesitate to even mention it.”

“Mention it.  I’m desperate to get some alone time with my new man.”

“Well, we both know that Fleet takes a rather dim view of
that
level of open fraternization between senior officers…”

Dorothy sighed, “Yes, they’d separate us as soon as the word got out and with this crew, that would happen at light-speed.”

“Only one exception that I’ve been able to find in the regs.”

“You mean?”

“Yup, like I said… a bit extreme if all you’re wanting is a quick roll in the hay.”

“I want more than that, Ben. A lot more.”

“Me too, the question is how much more?”

“All there is… all I can get.”

“After only a week?”

“It’s been a
lot
longer than that for me, Ben. It’s only been a week that we’ve talked about it.”

“Me too. I was so afraid I was gonna get caught stealing glances at you, and get you thinking I was another of those slavering dogs that you hate so much.”

Dorothy laughed. “Well, evidently you were pretty darned sneaky at it, because I was scared to death when I asked you to kiss me that day. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to.”

“I’m ugly, not stupid.”

Dorothy’s features softened and she said, “Oh, Ben… you’re not ugly. You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever known.”

“I think I’d better let
you
assume the role of the beautiful one in the family. You’re much better suited for it.”