“Idiot.” The Gladurian mumbled. “Should have waited ten more minutes.”
The man stumbled over a mound of dirt created by the grenades. They all heard a sharp whine and a shell from a wormgun caught him in the midsection. His screams echoed on the air long after he was dead. The smell of death rolled past the four in the hut. For the first time since nursing school, Millie threw up. Jak, too, gagged, spewing forth orange-colored gastric juices.
Aurelia grabbed a handful of the Gladurian’s blood encrusted shirt. “What did you mean by waiting ten more minutes?”
“I’ve been watching. They keep shooting the blaster about twenty minutes then they quit for about ten.”
“Must have to recharge or something,” said Jak.
“Got any tri-poly, Jak?” Aurelia asked.
“Yeah. Why?” He pulled a canister of tri-poly ether ferrate from his utility belt.
“Maybe I can get close enough to knock them out while they’re recharging.”
“You’ll be killed.” Millie’s face had gone ashen.
Aurelia glanced from Millie to Jak. “That may happen anyway.”
Plucking up the canister she went out the door before they could start arguing.
Aurelia guided herself more by sound than sight through the smoke. She could taste salt from her streaming eyes. The villagers provided covering fire as she raced across the open ground. Her heart and lungs pumping madly, she stumbled through ruts, jumped over debris, and tripped over bodies in her crazed rush for the blaster. She never heard the whine over the rafter fire or even her own screams. She felt the slick, metal pierce the leather of her boot and enter her leg, cold as a sharp icicle. Then the pain began; the hot, burning pain of exploding muscle tissue, tearing blood vessels and shattering bones. Her brain, overloaded on signals within seconds, started to shut down her body, glazing her eyes over with a red glow. She never remembered ripping off the seal and heaving the canister toward the blaster. It lodged between the handle of the hatch and the raised rim of the air hole, leaking just enough gas down the hole to knock out the operator. The last thing she felt was a strong hand on her shoulder then she blacked out.
Aurelia reached down to massage around the wound again. She had been lucky that day. The worm had struck her hipbone and been diverted along her lower back. It had stopped growing before reaching the other side. With the quick reactions associated with his race, Jak saved her life by stopping the bleeding from her femoral artery with a shot of Dormazol. Healing was a slow process with removal of the worm out of the question as it would release powerful toxins if disturbed in any way.
The Gladurians had decorated her with the Golden Star of Valor, but she often wondered if she would have the strength to perform such a feat again. Natural instinct was for survival but a doctor had to train herself to run toward a life-threatening situation not away from it. She still often awakened, screaming at the nightmares, afraid that she would panic if faced with such a choice again. She feared that she would fail a second time.
Shaking her head, she pulled her thoughts back to the task at hand. GEM Co. might be sucking the life out of her like the platerius but she still had work to do.
Millie hurried to her self-appointed task of testing the
Phoenix
crew for box pox. Passing through the attachment tube, she handed her I.D. to the girl on guard at the airlock and was permitted on board.
The
Phoenix
was much smaller than the
Pasteur
. The hallways narrower and more confining. Whereas the
Pasteur
was bright white with red and blue signage everywhere, the
Phoenix
was painted a uniform, dull metal gray. Streamlined and efficient, the
Phoenix
carried a complement of seventy crew members.
And they all look like babies, Millie thought watching the approach of the ship’s medic. He had red hair perched on top his head like the crest of a woodpecker and a sprinkling of freckles across his snub nose. His GEM Co. green jumpsuit hung in baggy folds. If she hadn’t known better, she would have guessed his age at fifteen.
“Hi. I’m Pete,” he said, pumping her hand up and down several times. “You’re here about the quarantine?”
“Millie Konoho, head nurse of the
Pasteur
. We’re testing for raphrydia.”
“Ah, ye olde box pox.” Pete nodded. “Jidalians are putting up a fuss I bet.”
He had brains anyway. “Where can I set up?” she asked.
“Sick Bay. Come on, I’ll get you started.”
She followed him to a small suite of three rooms. One was an examining room, another a treatment room, with a single surgical grid, and the third room served as Pete’s office.
With Pete helping, Millie tested most of the crew in a couple of hours.
Millie looked up as three humans and a Raman came through the door. Hands on her hips, she stared at their youthful faces. “Now you can’t possibly be working here.”
“These are your students,” Pete said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” At her frown, Pete continued. “They’re transferring to the
Pasteur
for a summer internship program.”
“First I’ve heard of it.”
“Ooops. Sounds like somebody goofed.” Pete introduced the four young people to Millie.
Bridget O’Connor was a pretty girl with auburn hair past her shoulders and light gray eyes. Miguel Martinez was a nice looking Latino young man with a rudimentary moustache laboring to reach the surface of his upper lip. The Raman, Torp Nevad, had summer-blue eyes and a short, Mephostaphilian beard that was blonde in sharp contrast with his dark, lean face. Steve Miller was big, blonde and blue-eyed--what they used to call All-American.
“Now what’s this about an internship program?” Millie asked.
“We’re all medical students at the University of Mars,” Bridget volunteered. “The Galactic Earth Medical Corporation recruited us to work on a hospital ship for the summer.”
Millie smiled. “You can just say GEM Co. I wasn’t informed but the chief clerk’s office does make mistakes. Let’s get you tested then we’ll see what’s up.”
They were the final four. When they all passed the test, Millie cleaned up, thanked Pete for his help then led the four students off the
Phoenix
toward the conference hall.
It was now almost 0600 and those who ran on Earth time or close to it were beginning a new day.
Except those of us who never made it to bed at all, thought Millie, stifling a yawn. She blinked her eyes a few times. Then blinked again when she saw a pair of twisted antennae.
Althan Tahk walked just ahead of her. He was talking to Governor Arnott who waddled along beside him.
Slowing her pace, Millie tried to listen to the four students while trying to hear what Tahk was saying. A few words filtered back.
“All the plans are in order,” said Tahk.
Arnott said something in reply but the only word Millie could hear was “
Pasteur
.”
“It’s convenient to use them.”
Arnott said something else. He had a way of mumbling that was driving Millie crazy.
Tahk’s reply was lost around the screech of a security gate going up in the souvenir shop. Millie caught only the last two sentences.
“She has three votes. We can get rid of her and advance our plans at the same time.”
Tahk stopped suddenly and turned around. Millie’s heart bolted into high gear as his strange eyes bore into hers.
“Miss Konoho,” Tahk said, “what a pleasant surprise.”
How did he know her name? Well, she wasn’t going to let on that she knew his.
“Good morning,” Millie nodded. “Good morning. Governor.”
“Ah, yes. How is the box pox testing going?” Arnott asked.
“Fine. We should be wrapping up soon. I’d like you to meet some medical students who will be helping out for awhile.”
Millie introduced the four young people who seemed suitably impressed to be meeting the man in charge of Space Station Davis.
Arnott did not seem inclined to introduce his companion. Tahk continued to stare at Millie with those unsettling eyes.
“If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen, we still have some work to do.”
Arnott and Tahk stepped aside. Millie ushered her charges into an express elevator, pondering the fragment of conversation she had overheard. Who did they want to get rid of? Three votes for what? And what were their plans? Maybe it was a political opponent they were talking about. But N.A.-Mars didn’t have any elections coming up except maybe a few local campaigns. And why would a Kaprinian be interested in that?
The elevator doors slid open at their destination.
“What a trip,” Torp said, unbuckling his harness.
Miguel grinned, “They should add a few curlicue turns like the Cardiac Attack ride at Mars World.”
“Grow up,” Steve muttered.
Bridget turned to Millie as they all stepped out of the elevator. “Wasn’t GEM Co. going to put in some rides a few years ago?”
“I think they talked about it when they started the station tours but nothing came of it,” Millie replied as she pulled open the conference hall door and held it for them to pass through. “Now they just give out free t-shirts at the end of the tour.”
Millie was amazed at the change a few hours had made in the hall. The only people left were the
Pasteur
crew who were folding tables and packing up equipment.
Zimbin lumbered over with a stack of tables perched on his shoulder. “Hi, Mil. Just thought I’d warn you. Doc is in a very nasty mood.”
“Thanks.” Even with nine doctors on staff, “Doc” always referred to Aurelia. She was going to be even nastier when she heard what Millie had to tell her. Millie pulled in a breath. Might as well get it over with.
Maneuvering the students over to where Aurelia was standing checking scanners, Millie introduced them, “Aurelia, I’d like you to meet Miguel Martinez, Bridget O’Connor, Torp Nevad and Steve Miller. The company’s started an internship program and sent them to work on the
Pasteur
.” She made her voice as cheerful as possible.
Aurelia’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at each one of them in turn. She looked down at the scanner in her hand, “I need the data in your scanner, Millie. It’s the last one. And have those four pick up some of these tables.”
Millie felt almost disappointed. She had been set for an explosion. “Did you already know about this?” she had to ask.
“Yes.”
Aurelia was great at those one word answers.
“Okay.” Millie turned to her four charges, “Why don’t you go introduce yourselves to that guy over there and have him put you to work.” She pointed out Rob Keller. When they had gone, Millie handed over her scanner. “So how long have you known about this?”
“The Admiral called me a couple hours ago.”
“Nice of them to give us plenty of notice.”
Aurelia snapped the scanner shut. “I don’t even want to discuss it. Assign someone to keep an eye on them and keep them out of my way.”
“Okay. Maybe LRuh. She likes teaching.”
“She likes shooting her mouth off.”
Oh, boy, Zimbin was right. Millie tried a new subject.
“Did we find a carrier for raphrydia?”
“No. We’ll have to go through all the cargoes.”
“Great. Is there any chance for sleep in the next twenty-four hours?”
Aurelia shrugged.
“Sleep? What’s that?” asked Dr. Rialus as he walked over to the two women. His antennae drooped like dry flowers.
Millie was reminded of the strange Kaprinian, Althan Tahk. She was reluctant to mention him in front of Jak but maybe Jak would have some ideas about the conversation she had overheard. She recounted the incident with Tahk and the Governor for the two doctors.
Jak shook his head, “I don’t know what they’re up to but my advice is stay away from Tahk. He’s a Kosapi.”
“What’s that?” Millie asked.
"It’s sort of a secret society on Kaprine. Real nasty. He didn’t get those antennae from his genetic code. Believe me, you don’t know want to know how they got like that.”
Aurelia shrugged and yawned. “Doesn’t bother me. Probably never see him again.”
“Look, ladies. There are two kinds of people in this universe you don’t want to cross--the Vengrii, and the Kosapi.”
“He’d better just stay away from me,” Aurelia grouched. “Let’s go. We’ve got cargoes to test.” She stomped to the door.
Jak looked at Millie and grinned, “Make that three kinds of people you don’t mess with.”
Millie reached out to tug at Jak’s sleeve. “These Kosapi, they’re just what Kaprinian mothers use to frighten naughty children right?”
“Kaprinian mothers don’t even mention them,” Jak replied, looking down at her with a frown. “They are not nice people, Mil. Most Kosapi are professional assassins, and those are just the first degree ones. I’m not even going to tell you about the third and fourth degrees.”
“Oh. Well, we better get moving,” Millie said brightly over the churning in her stomach. She followed him out the door then quickened her steps so she was ahead of him. Having his solid bulk behind her helped the sudden crawling sensation along her back as they walked toward the main docking area.
Over five hundred different ships were docked at Davis and each one’s cargo had to be scanned for raphrydia. Dr. Aurelia sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She stood in the huge, midsection of the station where most of the docking airlocks intersected. Her crew was scattered in all directions, passing back and forth through the airlocks with both hand-held and the bulky, two-person scanners. Aurelia directed the operation from a raised platform in the center of the bay area where the central computer system for the station was located. Three operators sat at the long panel of controls, correlating all the information coming in from the scanners. Pacing the floor behind them, Aurelia gave out orders rapidly in a loud , firm voice.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.” Aurelia turned at the sound of a voice behind her. She looked down at a round, porcupine-like being with sharp bristles covering his body, tiny, mud-colored eyes and a turned-up nose. The Sclarian was no taller than Millie, which meant she would stand almost a foot taller even without the platform. He didn’t seem intimidated.
Shaking his finger at her, he said, “You have no right to search my ship, Dr. what’s your name. It’s a violation of interstellar treaty.”
“We’re not searching anything; we’re testing for disease.”
“I don’t care! I’ll sue this company for illegal searches and I’ll sue you personally as well.”
Aurelia leaned over, bringing her face close to his. “You are perfectly free to pack up and leave but don’t think the Company will ever give you clearance to dock here again. It’s a long way to Sclara without going through this system.”
He seemed to think about that for a minute. “Well, I have 800 tons of Matian rind-wheat in my hold. If you people don’t hurry up, it’ll be nothing but a stinking pile of roots. And I will sue to recover my losses!” He glared up at Aurelia who glared back. They may have stood there for sometime if their staring contest hadn’t been broken by a scream.
Looking up, Aurelia saw Millie running out of one of the attachment tubes. “What’s the matter?!” she shouted.
Millie slowed her pace and stopped in front of the platform. Breathing hard, she shook her head, “I’m sorry, I am not getting paid enough to do this.”
Crouching down to her head nurse’s level, Aurelia asked, “What’s wrong, Mil? Are you okay?”
“It’s a snake pit!”
“Most of these cargo holds aren’t exactly botanical gardens. I thought you were being killed.”
“No! I mean it’s a snake pit! They’ve got at least a million snakes in there.” Millie shivered. “I come from a civilized island that doesn’t have the disgusting things.
Aurelia rolled her eyes, “They’re not like Earth snakes, Millie. They’re domesticated animals. Quite tasty too.”
“Yuck! There is absolutely, positively no way I’m going back in there.”
Aurelia took Millie’s scanner, and climbed down from the platform. “Well, I live with one,” she said, tapping her leg. “I guess I can stand a few more.”
“Now don’t disturb my snakes,” the Sclarian said, scurrying after Aurelia, waving his hands.
“They’re your snakes? I should have known.”
The Sclarian ship, called the Haetiln, looked like it had been through the Plasmic Wars and never recovered. It was only about two meters between the floor and ceiling. As she stepped through the door, Aurelia had to cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve. A heavy, musky odor filled the place. Plastic crates had been crammed into every available space with one, wavering trail left to walk on, and two rows of tiny kesium bulbs as the only source of light. The orange glow made it look like some weird radiation experiment. This is nice, she thought, stepping forward carefully. Her boot hit wood and she felt it shift. Grabbing for a crate, she steadied herself and pulled her ring light from her belt, sliding it over her index finger. She was standing directly above a writhing, dark mass.
“Move to your right. That’s the only way around the pit,” the Sclarian captain spoke behind her.
“Now you tell me. I suppose you were hoping I would fall in.”
“If this was anywhere but Davis I would have pushed you in.” He smiled as she turned her head to look at him.
Ignoring him was probably the best policy so she turned right and started scanning the cargo. It took almost forty-five minutes with the little porcupine following her all the way, constantly telling her to be careful with that, or don’t touch this. As she finished scanning and returned to the snakes, she had to fight the sudden urge to shove him into the pit. Instead she peeled off a green sticker from a roll in her pocket and slapped it on the door of the hold. “You’re all clear, Captain, but don’t leave just yet.”
“You can’t hold me here!”
“Yes, I can. I’m not letting anyone leave until testing is completely finished.”
“That’s stupid! There is no reason for us to stay here now!”
Aurelia shrugged, “Deal with it.” She left him sputtering in the middle of the airlock. Breathing in the fresh air of the station, Aurelia limped slowly to the control center. She sat down on the edge of the platform and massaged her leg. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered how much longer it was going to take to find a carrier. I think I’m going to die of either exhaustion or old age before that happens, she thought with a sigh then jumped as someone tapped her on the shoulder. “What?!” she asked sharply.
“Sorry, ma’am,” said one of the computer operators. “Dulan Aric has asked that you come to the station command office.”
“That’s all I need. Tell him I’m on my way.”
The command office was one level above the docking bay. When Aurelia entered, she saw a number of ships’ captains and traders of all species. The Jidalian Dulan, Aric, stood behind the command desk, facing them. The residual breathing gills on either side of his gray neck, flapped in agitation. His flabby gray digits gripped the back of the metal chair.
They all turned to look at Aurelia when the door opened. She noticed Governor Arnott was no where in evidence.
“What seems to be the problem?” she asked as she crossed the heavily carpeted floor and slid into the chair, scooting it forward and away from Aric’s hand. She ignored the grunting noise he made and folded one slim leg over the other.
The group of beings closed in on her. One particularly vicious-looking Raman with a deep scar across his dark face spoke up, “We want this quarantine lifted. Box pox is a stupid little disease and I want to leave now.”
“It is a terrible plague to us!” Aric said in a hissing voice, his long neck stretching out to its furthest extension. He snapped his beak as if for emphasis. “We will not have any of you spreading it around the rest of the galaxy.”
“I’ll spread whatever I feel like spreading,” an Awkanian freighter captain said angrily.
“Are you making a confession?” Aric demanded.
“Of course not, you gellet. You’ll know it if I ever bother having my revenge on you,” the captain replied. He looked at Aurelia and added,” or you Company bingeloes.”
Aurelia blinked but let the insult pass in silence.
“Perhaps the good doctor has some ulterior motive for keeping us here.”
Aurelia raised an eyebrow. She moved her head to see who had said that and saw the Sclarian captain of the ship she had scanned at the edge of the crowd. He must have just come in the office. He was baiting her but she wasn’t about to bite.
A girl with bright fire-red hair leaned forward and sneered at Aurelia, saying in an annoyingly snotty voice, “The
Pasteur
crew doesn’t even have the competence to stop box pox.”
Aurelia stood up so fast her chair slid into the wall. She fixed the girl with an icy stare. “This station will remain under quarantine until all testing is completed,” Aurelia announced. Ignoring the ensuing protests she walked out the door. Pausing in the hallway, she pressed her hand against the grid, “Computer, seal this room until further notice, quarantine order number four. Aurelia, authorization number 77321.”
A loud click reverberated throughout the hall.
Aurelia walked away. The wall that the door was set in was transparent and she imagined their faces pressed against the glass, but she didn’t bother looking back.
Halfway down the hallway, Aurelia caught a flash of something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked up at the long, metal light fixture. She thought she had seen a black, furry tail. Now she could hear scratching against the metal. By stretching to her tiptoes, she managed to lift the box off the ceiling. Something screeched, hit the ground with a solid thump and took off running up the corridor. Swearing under her breath, Aurelia gave chase.
“Whoa, where’s the chocolate?!” Jak exclaimed as they nearly collided around the corner.
“Get out of my way! Did you see it?”
“See what?”
“The wemrat, you idiot!” She grabbed his arm, turning him the way she had just come. “Check that maintenance shaft right there. Don’t let it get away.”
Jak hurried to the opening to the shaft and started climbing, his boots clanging on the metal rungs. Aurelia frantically tore down all the light fixtures in the hall. The fifth one flushed out her quarry, a six-inch long wemrat from Matia VII with frightened luminescent orange eyes, a fat, furry brown body and black tail.
“Jak!” Aura yelled, swiping at the creature with the heavy box still in her hand. Screeching, the wemrat jumped up the wall, crawling through an air vent. She heard a yell from Jak and figured it was now traveling through the network of maintenance tunnels. Hobbling towards a shaft, Aurelia tripped on one of the fixtures she had thrown down and almost ran into Millie who had just turned the corner.
“What in heck...!”
“Wemrat. Get a net. Wait at Corridor C Junction H.”
Millie hurried to obey as Aurelia, gasping for breath, got up and pulled herself into the network of tunnels.
“Jak, where are you?” she called.
“Over here! I had it cornered but it faked me out.” Jak’s face looked unusually pink and he was breathing hard. He had his shirt off, using it as a net. The rest of his uniform was filthy, spacestations being notorious for not cleaning the shafts.
“All right. Let’s try to herd him toward Corridor C. Millie’s waiting to nab him.”
“Where are we now? I can’t figure these shafts out.”
“Next time read the blueprints.”
“That’s retentive. Like I really expected to be crawling around up here.”
“Just keep going straight. I’ll take this side branch and meet up with you.”
Jak nodded and both began crawling forward. Banging on the sides of the shafts as she went, Aurelia finally saw the little animal just ahead of her. It was close to an opening. Aurelia pushed herself forward with her toes and made a grab for it. It squeaked and went tumbling out of the hole. Aurelia followed headfirst with Jak on her heels.
Millie stood at the bottom just in the act of swinging a huge net on a pole.
“Did you get it?!”
“No! I missed!”
“Give me that!” Aurelia took the net and the three went charging toward the command office. The wemrat had given up attempts at hiding and was simply tearing down the hall trying to outrun its pursuers, but by now it was getting tired. All three of the wemrat hunters, seeing the animal falter, put on a burst of speed and dived for it, landing in a muddled mass of arms, legs and wemrat tail.
“I got it! I got it!” Jak crowed triumphantly, his hands clamped around the still struggling body of the creature now wrapped in his shirt.
“What is all this?”
They looked up into the stern, unsmiling face of Arbiter Renner Conlin. He had apparently tried to open the office door. They had landed at his feet.
Mentally groaning, Aurelia struggled to stand, trying to regain her dignity despite filthy clothes and hair flying around her shoulders. Captain Zelan leaned against the wall next to the arbiter. The smirk on his face made her furious.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said through tightly clamped teeth. She stepped between them and hit the grid, “Computer, unseal this door. Aurelia, 77321.”
The office door slid open, allowing a stream of angry people to pour out into the hall. Zelan and Conlin looked bewildered.
“This is an outrage, Doctor.” The Sclarian was the most vocal in his protests. “You had no right to lock us in. I’m going to your superiors!”
Aurelia got right in his face. “I.G. Treaty 556, Section 747.5 gives me martial law authority in any epidemic investigation. You were interfering in the performance of my duty. Furthermore, would you care to explain the presence of Matian wemrat on this facility?”
The Sclarian blinked. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he blurted.
Aurelia waved at the now quiet lump in Jak’s hands. “We just caught a wemrat. Isn’t it yours?”
“I...I bought it from a legitimate dealer. For a pet for my son.” His laugh sounded nervous as he looked around at all the serious eyes focused on him. “You know kids. He opened its cage a few days ago, and it escaped. So who cares about a stupid little animal?”
“That stupid little animal can be a carrier for practically every known disease in the galaxy. It’s illegal to transport them off Matia.”
“But the man said...”
“There is no legitimate dealer in wemrats. I suspect you know that. I wondered how you were keeping those snakes out of all that rind-wheat. I’m placing you under arrest.” Aurelia turned to Zelan, ignoring the Sclarian’s protests. “I’d appreciate it if your security chief could handle this.”
Zelan nodded, but a look of disapproval remained on his face. Aurelia lifted her chin and limped down the hall, ignoring Conlin who opened his mouth as if to speak to her as she passed. She didn’t really care what the arbiter had to say anyway. Even though he was GEM Co.’s chief negotiator he had no real authority over personnel. Besides Meng would be on her side if any complaints were made. She hoped.