the benign-looking plant life. The acrid odor of the resin made me sneeze several times.
“Karas must have aspirated some of this gunk,” I muttered to myself as I took some samples of the dried resinous substance. “Got to get this over to the lab; maybe they have a test to prove it caused the pneumonic symptoms.”
“I had no intention of harming you,” Reever said from behind me.
I didn’t bother to look at him. “Collect some of these leaves, will you?”
“I apologize for frightening you.”
My teeth clenched. “I saw some empty containers over there. Use one of those.”
“I didn’t expect the link to be so complete.”
“Reever.” I stopped ignoring him, turned on him. “There’s no excuse for what you did.” Was that dismay in his eyes genuine? Probably not. I let out a long breath, then said, “Next time, ask first, okay?”
“I understand. Will you link with me now, Joey?”
The man was as dense as plasteel. “No!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Chief Linguist.” I enunciated each word slowly, carefully. Never let it be said I’d broken a man’s nose because he hadn’t comprehended my meaning.
Reever nodded, and sneezed himself.
“We’ve got to get out of here, this sap may cause an allergic response.” There was another possibility -
could Karas have died from an anaphylactic reaction to this gunk? “Now, help me get these sample tubes filled.” I handed him some vials. “One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t call me Joey.”
After I got rid of Reever, I dropped off the samples at the FreeClinic for bioanalysis. They weren’t happy to see me. The lab, like all the other clinical services, was backed up and understaffed. I finally got the attention of one of the technicians when I dumped the samples of resin and leaves on his console.
After I explained what I was looking for, he frowned.
“We can do a full spectrum bioanalysis, but if you’ve already run it through the scanners...” I got a doubtful shrug.
“Look, there may be a chemical component my scanner didn’t pick up. I want these samples scrutinized down to the molecular structure, if necessary. Got it?”
“Doc, it’s not like someone’s going to die if we don’t find-“
I glowered. “Someone already has. Do it.”
I had the rest of the day off - a rare enough occurrence - and headed back to my quarters. I was too agitated to sleep, and in no mood to study, so I played grab-the-fiber-ball with Jenner. He eventually got tired of beating me and disappeared under the sofa for a nap.
It was too quiet. I didn’t want to think about Reever and the incident at Karas’s accident site. That would have made me mad enough to disassemble my furniture.
Time to relax, Cherijo. I took one of my cases out and thumbed through my disc holder for some music.
In the middle of the holder, I came across the same anonymous disc I’d spotted during my journey on the Bestshot. Odd, I had always labeled them. I popped it into my player to hear what I had recorded.
Maggie’s voice poured into the silence.
“Hey, kiddo,” she said, shocking me so much that I dropped the player. Her rich laughter filled the room. My knees gave out and I sank down on a chair. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m sorry I couldn’t hang around longer. This blood rotting - whatever it is I’ve got - is a real bitch.”
“Maggie?” I whispered. “How...?”
“Sit down and don’t start bawling. I know I’m dead, that’s why you’re listening to this. I’ve programmed one of the old man’s housedrones to put it in with that crap you like to listen to. Once my death notice has been logged by the metal moron, that is.”
“God.” I couldn’t take a deep breath, much less cry. It felt like I had been punched squarely in the solar plexus.
“Now, listen up, Joey.” I straightened at the commanding tone. “The old man thinks he has it all planned.
I don’t need a Medtech degree to know he’s wrong about you. You’re too smart not to find out about all this crap he’s been up to.”
Maggie knew about it, too?
“He’s setting you up. He’ll have you thinking you have to protect his good name, safeguard the family integrity, blah, blah, blah. That’s how he’ll make you do what he wanted in the first place. Joseph has a thing for control. You know what I’m talking about.”
“Understatement of the decade,” I mumbled.
“No matter what that son of a bitch tries to do to you, you are in charge of you. Not him. Got it?” I nodded. “You’re probably wondering how I know about this whole mess.”
A kind of stupor settled over me, from the shock, I supposed. When my thoughts cleared, Maggie’s voice seemed weaker.
“- made sure of that. What he doesn’t know is he talks in his sleep, and I’m a great listener.”
What was she talking about?
“He’ll try to stop you. He may even tell you about us. And yeah, I know you’re not going to be thrilled to find out I was sleeping with your dad.”
I wasn’t thrilled. I was aghast.
“I usually have much better taste, but it was necessary. It kept him quiet, and it kept me with you. That’s why I did it, kiddo. Not because he was God’s gift in bed.”
Maggie and Dad? Having sex?
“Pay attention, Joey. You’ve got to get the hell off this planet. Get away from the old man, and find a place where you don’t have to be his personal drone. Do it, baby. You’ll know what to do when it’s time.” There was a faint thickness to her voice, as if she was choking back tears. “Joey, I love you like you were my own daughter. Don’t grieve for me. I had a great life, and you were a great kid.”
“Maggie.” A single tear slipped down my face.
“Now pop this disc out, destroy it, and start packing. Pronto.” She chuckled, and then the sound faded away.
I didn’t destroy the disc. I sat and stared at it for a long time. Maggie had known the truth, apparently about everything, and never said a word. Why? Had she been trying to protect herself, or me? Or both of us? Why make sure I wouldn’t know until after her death?
I had to do something; the walls were beginning to close in on me. I put Maggie’s message away and went to my console.
Kao Torin answered my signal with a slow smile. “Healer Grey Veil. I was just thinking about you.”
Too bad I couldn’t have said the same thing. “Hello, Kao. Are you busy?”
“I am preparing to report for my shift.” His grin faded. “Cherijo, what has happened?”
“Nothing,” I lied. “Have a good rotation.”
“I will, if you tell me why you have been crying.”
Damn. “Me? Crying?” I forced a chuckle. “Not at all. I’m fine. Just got something in my eye.”
He wasn’t convinced, but didn’t press the issue. “I will be off duty tonight. Will you share a late meal with me?”
“Sure. Call me when you get back.”
After I terminated the signal, I changed my tunic and headed out to my glidecar. If I couldn’t spend time with Kao, I could check in with Trauma, see if they needed an extra pair of hands. That would keep me from brooding over Maggie’s message.
When I arrived at the facility, there were a number of priority cases on hold. The remaining patients in Assessment were audibly irate.
Nurse Ecla greeted me with an air of great serenity - if that’s what two clusters of frills along her cranial ridge meant. She told me Drs. Mayer and Dloh were involved with two critical cases from a glidecar collision. Dr. Rogan, it seemed, had not bothered to show up for his shift, and could not be located.
“Have you tried tracking him through his TI?”
“Yes, but since he never wears it off duty, it was a useless exercise.” The Psyoran turned to deal with one of the more contentious patients and quickly soothed him. Ecla wasn’t the type to let dire circumstances rattle her. I suspected very little ever did. She escorted the patient back to the waiting area, then returned to the Assessment desk.
“Any sign of the contagion involved with Karas?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“No other cases reported. I even ran two scans over myself, to be sure. Both were negative. What are you doing here?”
“I’m just restless.” I looked around Assessment once more, and sighed. “Tell you what, Ecla, I’ll take Rogan’s shift until he shows. Who’s next in line for treatment?”
“Springfield, Kyle,” she said as she handed me the chart.
“Terran?”
“Uh-huh. Just brought in, and spitting mad, too - GravBoard injuries.”
I winced. We treated a lot of children with injuries, but an increasing number of them were lately due to GravBoard accidents. An impromptu track had been erected behind the Sports Complex, and the kids were crazy about it.
“Serious?” I said, and Ecla made an affirmative gesture.
Our young GravBoard enthusiasts generally sustained multiple lacerations, bad sprains, and even some broken bones. The track was elevated, and it was a long way to fall. Last week I’d treated two cases of serious compound fractures. I had promised mu Cheft I’d make a formal report to HQ Administration on the next case.
“This is going to make me popular,” I said to Ecla. “You’d better notify Mr. Springfield’s parents and tell them to get over here.”
Kyle Springfield was thirteen years old, according to his chart, and displayed the normal amount of Terran adolescent attitude as I walked in.
“Hey, can you fix me up so I can get out of here?”
“Hey, Dr. Grey Veil, can you please fix me up,” I said as I made a visual survey of his wounds. “Be polite, and it will open every door, Mr. Springfield.”
“Whatever. Can you do something about this?”
He had the usual assortment of scratches and gashes, but I didn’t like the way his right leg was turned.
He propped himself up on the exam pad. I noticed it took considerable exertion.
“Sure.” I picked up a scanner, and gestured for him to lay back. “With your cooperation, and some luck.” He reclined, muffling a whimper as he shifted his weight. I frowned at the resulting data. Evidently his right hip had taken the brunt of his fall. “Looks like you took quite a spill.”
“I’m - I’m okay. Stupid board’s stabilizer blew. Marv ride,’til then.”
“I bet.” I dealt with the hip first. He flinched under the gentlest touch. “Your landing must have been fantastic.”
“Yeah, I just-“ One traitorous tear slid from his lashes, and he swore as he knuckled it away savagely.
I knew just how he felt. “Watch the language, pal.” I took the sting from the reproach by adding, “You’ll give Terrans a bad rep.”
“We already - hey!” He pushed my hand away from the injury, and tried to sit up again. “I don’t believe this. If Dad finds out-“
“I’m afraid he’ll have to. Your hip is dislocated.” Sympathy softened my tone as the boy’s face reflected his dismay. “The cuts and bruises you can hide, Kyle, but you’re not walking out of here.”
“Marv. Just marv.” He sagged back down, and I touched his shoulder briefly.
“It will work out. Trust me.”
“You don’t know my dad.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea of what he’s like.” I thought of my father as I injected the boy with a mild combination of analgesic and muscle relaxant. After a few minutes, I swiftly manipulated the hip into place. He shuddered with relief.
“There,” I said, and ran a scanner over him once more. “That’s got to feel better.”
“Dad’s gonna space me.” The boy’s fierce expression relaxed as the painkiller took effect. “He doesn’t know I swapped my glideskates for a GravBoard.” He grimaced once more. “He’s got this Terran thing about alien tech.”
“You won’t be GravBoarding for a while, kiddo,” I told him.
“But everyone-“
“Dr. Grey Veil, Harold Springfield is here,” Ecla said via display, interrupting us.
I patted the boy’s tense shoulder. “Relax, Kyle. I’ll go talk to your dad.”
I left one of the nurses to clean up his lacerations and suture the gashes that needed it, while I went to speak with the father. I spotted a Terran male pacing restlessly in front of the Assessment desk and approached him.
“Mr. Springfield?”
The man was obviously a pilot, from the flight suit he wore. Springfield repeatedly thrust his fingers through his thinning hair as I related the particulars of Kyle’s condition. When I mentioned the GravBoard, he froze.
Terrans tended to flush when they lost their temper. Springfield’s face went right past flush into purple rage.
“Damn contraptions,” the Terran said. “I’ve had enough of this! No transfer bonus is going to make me change my mind!”
“Transfer bonus?” I was confused.
He sneered at me. “Why else would I be here, rubbing elbows with all these filthy offworlders, if not for the credits? Well, that’s it. I’m shipping my family back to the homeworld as soon as I can invalidate my contract.”
No one had offered me a transfer bonus. Not that it mattered. “Mr. Springfield.” I was aware of the many sets of alien eyes watching us. Time to get him calmed down before one of the filthy offworlders decided to shut him up. “Kids fall and get hurt all the time. It could have happened back on the homeworld, with our own tech.”
“I’m sick of this place! All these - these - freaks!”
“That’s enough,” I said. “I know you’re angry, but lower your voice. You’re upsetting the other patients.”
He laughed at me. “Yeah, well, it figures you’d care what they think. You’re that big Jorenian’s plaything, aren’t you?”
“Mr. Springfield,” I said, “you are out of line!”
“Doing it with an offworlder!” He looked at me, then spat on the floor. “That’s what I think of you!”
“I’ll have Kyle transported to your quarters when he’s ready.” I gestured toward a couple of sizable orderlies. “You, Mr. Springfield, can take your filthy mouth out of my clinic. At once.”
“Why, you slut, I-“
I shut out the rest of what he shrieked as he was hauled out of the facility. Once Springfield was gone, I saw I had the full attention of the patients waiting to be seen. Dr. Mayer watched me from the Assessment desk.
“He belongs on Terra,” I said. I didn’t wait to hear the response as I brushed past the chief to enter the treatment area. I thought-I heard him say something under his breath, but I’d had enough insults for one day. I got back to work.