She smiled at how uncomfortable he looked. “A joke?”
He looked at the grain of rice. “Well, yeah.” Then he frowned. “You didn’t get this from Noken down in the mess hall, did you?” he asked suspiciously.
Tamara glared at him. “While I will admit in the heyday of the Navy, I might have been willing to participate in the kind of prank you’re suggesting. But to be honest, it didn’t occur to me. That there is the real thing.” She shrugged. “It’s only the level one version but it’s a start.”
A smile slowly spread across his face. “All right then. When does it happen?”
“You’re the first to get it, Captain,” Tamara replied. “Turan said that whenever you’re ready, we can do this. In fact, if you have twenty minutes right now, we can get the implant in and the nanites activated.”
“Nanites?” he asked, slightly alarmed.
She chuckled lightly. “They won’t hurt you, Captain. They’re designed to make the pathway between that implant and your thumb and the jack that they will create in your thumb.”
“And it doesn’t hurt?” He looked a little nervous.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, it’ll tingle for about a day. The device is implanted here,” she said, pointing to just below her own wrist on her right hand, “and it’s going to tingle and you’ll get this weird itching sensation that goes from the implantation site to your thumb. In the past, as I understand it, the recipient would be sedated and just sleep through the build stage. Mostly just to keep them from digging through their arm with their fingernails because of the itching.”
“You’re not making me feel all that confident, Samair.”
“I’m making it sound a lot worse than it really is, Captain. It itches for about a day or so and then you don’t even know it’s there anymore.” She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need to worry, Captain. I am the person who would be in the know about this.”
He nodded. “All right. Let’s do this. Is Turan ready now?”
Tamara stood. “Let’s head down to sickbay, Captain. Like I said before, twenty minutes and you’ll be back up here going through paperwork.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Tamara had said, it was a very simple operation. In fact, the word “operation” was a bit of a misnomer. Turan sat the Captain down on the edge of one of the beds in sickbay and had him roll up his sleeve. With an injector gun, he pressed the muzzle of the gun to the skin just below the inside of his wrist and depressed the trigger. There was a click, the Captain winced at a sharp pinch of pain and then it was done. The Guura was wiping the injection site with a swab of disinfectant and then running a scanner over his arm.
“It’s looking good, Captain,” the doctor told him. “The implant went straight into the target site and the nanites are unspooling nicely. Go ahead and make a fist. Are you in any pain?”
The Captain followed direction, clenching and unclenching his fist. “No, it feels a little weird. I can feel the implant in there, but it doesn’t hurt.” He flexed in fingers a few more times. “Now it feels normal.” He looked at the place where the injection was done and the wound was gone. “It’s healed!”
Turan chuckled. “The nanites fixed up the wound, Captain. And they’re already working to build the pathway and the jack.”
Vincent nodded. “All right, so Tamara, you’re the one who’s in the know,” he said, looking over to her. “How do I use this thing?” He held up his hand.
“Well,” she said, gathering her thoughts. “You don’t have a HUD with level one implants. Most of the consoles that you would use to access the information will have implant jacks in them, certainly the ones on the ship, anyway. From what few that I’ve seen on the station, a few of the shops there have ones that you can use. Basically, you press your thumb to the access jack and the information you want will appear on the display. If you’re paying for something, thumbing the jack will make the payment. You can also add or subtract data from the memory core.”
“How much is in there?”
“It isn’t a huge amount,” she cautioned. “Quite a large amount if it’s text data, considerably less if you record audio, pictures or video. But right now, it will contain your personal data, medical info, and banking information. That’s bare bones.” Tamara gestured to him. “It will certainly make your interactions with Ganner and Saiorse easier.”
He nodded. He was still clenching and unclenching his fist. “It doesn’t feel weird anymore.”
Turan nodded again. “Just let me know if there’s any problems. Call me right away. Now, it’ll tingle and it might itch, but otherwise, it should be fine. If you feel anything, any pain, you get your captainly ass back into my sickbay right away. Am I clear?”
Vincent smirked. “Yes, sir,” he said, giving a sloppy salute. He stood and walked out.
“Stella, can you make sure you keep an eye on him?” Tamara asked. “I know the internal sensors aren’t one hundred percent throughout the ship, but how are the ones in the wardroom and his quarters?”
“There aren’t any in his quarters, Tamara,” the AI’s voice came from the comm unit on the bulkhead.
“Well, do the best you can. Can’t you hack a datapad or something?” Turan asked.
Stella sighed. “I can try. I think you’re both overreacting here.”
Turan raised both of his flipper hands, palm up. “Perhaps, Stella. But this is the first time we’re doing this. If everything goes like clockwork, then I’ll have you off the spy duties.”
“Thanks,” she replied. Then there was a click and the comm disconnected.
Turan turned his gaze to Tamara. She noted that the Guura looked slightly worried. “You do think everything will go as planned, don’t you?”
Tamara snorted. “Unless the three of us screwed up by the numbers and I find that very hard to believe, then he should be fine. I’ll admit that the first time is the scariest and that you’re right to exercise such caution. But after this one, we’ll just have the recipient keep in touch with us and call in if there’s a problem. Maybe report in every eight hours or so to have it checked on.” She looked off at one of the bulkheads, not really seeing it. “It’s the level twos that are going to give problems.”
“Problems?”
“Well, more that there will be complications and such. Longer recovery times.”
“I’ve read through the literature. I think it will be a little while before I’m ready to move up to that.”
She shrugged. “I know. And I know we’re going to want to get the level ones squared away before we start working on level twos.”
“We’ve got how many of the level ones?”
“One hundred and six,” Tamara replied. “More than enough to get everyone in the crew.” She eyed him. “So, are you ready to be the second guinea pig?”
“I’ll give the Captain six hours, if nothing comes up, then I’ll have one of the nurses give me the injection,” Turan said. “That should be more than enough time to see if there’s going to be any problems.”
Tamara shrugged. “I’m no doctor, but that sounds about right.”
Three days later, Vincent Eamonn was just settling down into his bed in his stateroom when the comm panel chimed. With a groan, he leaned over and slapped the panel, making sure to keep the visual pickup off. “Eamonn here,” he said.
Gresca, the new Severite communications specialist, came over the channel. Her voice was much lower, a throaty purr Vincent didn’t usually associate with those of the diminutive cat-like race. “Sorry to disturb you, Captain. We have a transmission from the station for you. An Administrator Galina.”
Eamonn sighed. “Put her through.”
“You’re set for audio only, sir,” Gresca protested.
“I know. Put her through on audio only. I’ll switch to video pickup in a minute.”
“Yes, sir.” There was a beep.
“Administrator,” Eamonn said. “How can I help you?” He cra
wled out of bed, pulling on his robe from edge of the bed where he’d dropped it. He dropped in the chair at his small table and activated the visual display. The lupusan’s face appeared in the display.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you were sleeping.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I was just getting into bed. How can I help you?”
“Actually, Captain, it’s how I can help you,” she replied. “I spoke to the governing council and they’re interested in your proposal. While they’re a cautious about whether or not you can actually do what you say, they do have the repairs and overhauls to the Kara as evidence and also what they’ve seen your engineering teams doing to fix up the Grania Estelle. They’re on the hook.”
He punched a fist in the air. “That is excellent news, Administrator. How much convincing did it take?”
She chuckled, little more than a grunt. “Not very much, actually, considering how much they’ve seen of you and your work.”
“Good. So, when can we meet? I’ve got the broad strokes of a proposal, but I’d like to bring along one of my people to help with some of the finer points.”
“I’m sure that would be acceptable,” she replied, her image shifting slightly in the video pickup. “You will meet aboard the station at 1030 station time in conference room thirty-two on level nine, Hub One. I can’t imagine they would object to you bringing an associate…”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to be there?”
Galina shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Captain. While my services are appreciated, they are no longer required,” she replied, her voice sounding bitter. It sounded as though she was quoting some officialese delivered by some bureaucrat who wanted her out of the way.
“Anything I can do?” Vincent asked, concerned.
She flicked her ears. “Why do you even care what happens to me, Captain? We aren’t friends. You did me a huge favor, one that I am completely unable to repay. You got me and my ship out of a tight spot, taking a serious hurt yourself. I’m getting you in touch with people that might be able to make you some money.” Galina looked hard at him. “So as far as I see, this wouldn’t even make us even. So again I ask. Why would you care?”
He smiled. “Well, Administrator, you’re right. I did help you out of jam, twice, as I recall.”
She rolled her eyes, ears flattening against her head. “Oh, so now I owe you?”
“No, Administrator, you and I never had any sort of formal agreement,” he countered. “You told me from the beginning that you didn’t have any currency or any trade goods to repay my generosity in fixing up the Kara and that any deals for compensation would have to go through your government. You didn’t mince words. If anyone owes me, it’s your government.”
“And I’m what?” Galina asked. She bared her fangs. “A facilitator?” The word was a curse.
But he wasn’t intimidated. “For the moment,” he admitted. “But you’re also a friend doing me a favor.”
She looked skeptical. “Oh, so now we’re friends?”
“No,” he replied easily. “More like… confederates.”
Her expression turned from frosty to absolute zero. “Confederates? You plan to use me some more?” Galina barked. “Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to speak to the bastards in the government to set this up? How degrading it was? I had to go begging to the very people who only days before had cashiered me out of the service and off my ship. I do you the courtesy of getting this meeting set up and you have the gall to demand more?” She cut the connection.
Vincent sighed, turning off the screen. He grimaced. That hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped. He’d have to make it up to her somehow. Standing, he pulled off the robe, set an alarm on his datapad to wake him in time to catch a shuttle over to the station, then climbed into bed.
“Incoming,” Saiphirelle murmured as they stepped off the shuttle in the station’s hangar bay.
Eamonn looked up and scanned around, not feeling threatened. The lupusan would have been much more forceful if a serious threat or serious concern was coming their way. Looking to his left, he saw what Saiphirelle was referring to.
Bustling in their direction was Administrator Galina. Her hands clenched into fists, her ears flattened to her head, teeth bared. She was walking, though her gait was hurried. She wasn’t moving with intent to kill, though it was clear that fury was radiating out of every pore. Her feet didn’t even seem to be touching the deck.
Saiphirelle stepped up, moving in front of the Captain, who sighed. “That’s close enough there, Administrator,” Saiphirelle said, bringing one large hand up.
“Get out of my way, young one,” Galina thundered. “I will not kill him. He will only bleed a little.”
The security officer made a yip of laughter. “Much as he might deserve it, I can’t let you hurt him.”
She stopped before Saiphirelle and huffed. “Such loyalty for one so young.”
The security officer shrugged. “He’s earned it.”
Galina growled. “Not by me.” Menace dripped from her eyes.
Saiphirelle hunched down very slightly into more of a combat stance, turning to the side and pushing the Captain back a little. “Calm down, Administrator. Now.”
Galina brought herself up to her full height, snarled a few deep breaths and then closed her eyes and took a few more. A few seconds later, she folded her hands together under the wide sleeves of her robe. She nodded. “I am tranquil, young one. You can stand down.”
Vincent stepped to the side of Saiphirelle who growled at her charge as though he was a pup who had strayed away from her. He smiled. “Relax a bit, Sai,” he told her. She did so, but still kept her attention fixed on the other lupusan.
“I’m glad you’re here, Administrator,” Vincent said, smiling slightly, making sure that none of his teeth were bared. Predators tended to take that otherwise innocent gesture as a threat.
“Why are you glad, Captain?” she asked, suspiciously. Her head tipped slightly to one side.
He sighed. “I am not your enemy, Administrator. We can be allies in this. Hell, we might even be friends.”
She huffed. “Apparently, you are not capable of speaking without using untruths. You used me because you were bitter you did not get payment for your work on my ship.”
Now he felt himself getting angry. “I did services for you, Administrator. By all rights, I could have sailed on and left you there. I was under no obligation to help. No one would have blamed me at all for that. Especially after I found out you had nothing but promises to give me after I fixed your ship.” Vincent squared his shoulders. “So you set up a meeting for me out of what you felt was a sense of duty because the government refused to honor our agreement. I appreciate that. I understand that it was personally very difficult for you. But you already owed me. I don’t have to do a damned thing more for you.”
That rage was starting to build in her eyes again. Her breath started to come in shallow puffs, her ears folded back. “And this is why you are happy to see me?”
“No, ma’am,” he said, tamping down on his own anger. “I’m glad you are here because I want you to accompany us to the meeting.”
“The government already said they don’t want me there.”
He shrugged. “So? Maybe I want a familiar face. Maybe I want someone who can corroborate that I and my people can deliver on our promises. Maybe I want to try and help you fight to get that hospital ship back.”
She blinked, her ears flicking in surprise. “Why would you do this?” she whispered.
He shrugged again. “The Kara was a good ship and in decent condition after my techs fixed her up. Be a shame to take a hardworking ship and crew away from people who need her services. And it would be an even bigger shame if the Administrator who commanded such a ship of mercy was put on the beach simply because the government would prefer to cut corners.”
Galina stood stock still, frozen by his
words. She nodded forcefully. “I do not understand humans sometimes. Very well, Captain. I will accompany you. I apologize if I spoke and acted in haste.”
“Don’t,” came a voice from behind them. Eamonn sighed and rolled his eyes at the voice. Saiphirelle snickered. “He’s more often than not an asshole. You were right to suspect him.”
“Tamara Samair, if I didn’t need you as much as I do, I wouldn’t put up with your smart mouth,” he growled.
The human woman stepped off the shuttle and up in front of Galina. She stuck out a hand. “Administrator. Good to see you again.”
The lupusan extracted one hand from beneath her sleeve and took the human’s smaller hand in her taloned fingers and gently squeezed. Tamara’s hand was strong and calloused. Galina’s was furry and hard-boned. “Ms. Samair. Always a pleasure to see you again.” Releasing the human’s hand, she peered at the young woman. “I see you’ve acquired a new toy,” she said, gesturing to the metal device on Tamara’s neck.
Tamara’s face darkened. “Yes, it was a gift of sorts from the leader of the pirates that took the Grania Estelle. He wanted me pliable and leashed. So far I haven’t been able to remove it without it killing me.”
“I see,” Galina replied. “I did not know.”
Tamara nodded. “It’s nothing. You couldn’t have known. So, Captain? Shall we go?” she asked with false cheer.
Eamonn nodded. “Yes, let’s go. Our future awaits! If you could please lead the way, Administrator?”
The walk to the conference room took about thirty minutes from the hangar bay. All of them had made the trip numerous times and they made their way through the outer hubs to the central one in good time. As they walked, Tamara followed behind the group, the last in line. It seemed today that the corridors of the station were a little more bustling than on previous trips. There were people in station uniforms, coveralls, others in business suits, and formal skirts and dresses. People of all species and races were moving through the corridors and the passages. They were careful to maintain their distance, however, after they saw two lupusan in the group. It seemed as though an invisible force shield had been erected before them and the small crowds parted as the group approached. Tamara smiled to herself at the phenomenon. She hadn’t seen anything like it since her Navy days when the Marines would move through the station in groups and the crowd would part around them in just the same way. It was a strange touchstone to her past, one that she didn’t find made her bitter or angry, as most of the reminders of that time did.
Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 Page 37