Stardoc

by S. L. Viehl

  “I don’t need this right now,” I said.

  “Mother of All Houses!” Tonetka marched over to the suite panel and slammed her fist against it. “Captain Pnor! We are trying to perform cardiac surgery down here!”

  “Sunlace under attack,” someone said. “Prepare for weapon fire.”

  “Prepare my ass,” I said, grumbling under my mask. I continued to make the tiny, tightly packed lasutures to hold the replacement tissue in place. Another series of explosions rocked the ship, and this time one of the assistants bent over Hado and held the body motionless with her own weight as I swore at length.

  “Time!” I said, and was told less than twenty seconds remained. “Resuscitate now.”

  “You’re not finished—”

  “Do it!” I said. “I can finish with the heart functioning.” I wanted to see if the replacement artery would hold against the powerful cardiac contractions anyway. Hado’s heart was restarted, and spurting greenish fluid leaked from two areas. I swiftly closed the gaps. Operating on an organ while it was beating was a lot like trying to dance ballet in ankle-deep sand.

  “Check your juncture site.” Tonetka leaned over, and examined my work. “Good. Let’s close him up now, quickly.”

  “I’ll do it.” I could work faster than the residents or Tonetka, and had Hado’s chest closed in another fifteen seconds. I took a moment to breathe and then glared at the suite panel. “We’d better be under attack by someone important. Like the Hsktskt.”

  “I agree.” The Senior Healer motioned to the assistants. “Move him into post-op.”

  I stayed with Hado, although there were no more vibrations indicating a battle continued. I had a tension headache the size of the Sunlace, and wondered if the drastic measures I had taken would keep this man alive.

  Tonetka stormed off to vent her frustrations in person, only to return a short time later looking more worried than outraged. She checked Hado’s chart and nodded over his vitals. “He’s doing as well as we can hope for now.”

  “Who tried to blow up the ship?”

  “A mercenary ship attacked us. One of the larger deep-space trackers. They managed to launch a displacer volley before Tactical Operations could return fire.”

  “League?”

  Tonetka nodded. “The attack ship was destroyed, but Captain Pnor intends to transition the ship as quickly as possible. Someone might be following the first tracker.”

  “We can’t relocate with Hado in his condition,” I said. “He’ll arrest, and everything we’ve done will have been for nothing.”

  “We have no choice.”

  We had just enough time to put Hado into suspension sleep before we prepared for the transition. I refused to leave him for a moment, and had a harness rigged beside his berth.

  “If we come out and he goes into cardiac failure, don’t revive him,” Tonetka told me. “Keep him in suspension and initiate low-grade electristim.”

  I agreed, and strapped in for the jump to interdimensional flight. The Senior Healer harnessed herself in a pod across the section from us, and closed her eyes. Maybe she was praying. I was.

  The Sunlace transitioned. I kept my eyes on the data monitors as Hado and my body were thrown into the state of dimensional flux. His pressure rose alarmingly, and I thought I saw him open his eyes.

  An eternity of seconds passed, and then we snapped back into normal space. I kept thinking about how often this might happen with me on board the ship. How many patients would have to risk their lives to have me as the Senior Healer?

  Hado survived—barely. His body went into immediate shock, but Tonetka’s advice worked.

  The emergencies began to arrive from the ship sections bombarded by the displacer beams. Some broken bones, and a few minor lacerations. One serious head wound I attended to immediately. By the end of our shift, we had admitted a dozen new cases.

  I wouldn’t leave Hado, nor would Tonetka. We stayed through the night, spelling each other as we monitored his condition. By the next morning he had improved enough for us to move him out of suspension. When at last he opened his eyes, I grinned with relief.

  “Navigator Torin,” I said. “You made my first surgical procedure on board the Sunlace a real thrill. And Jorenian medical history while you were at it.”

  “Glad to be of service, Healer,” was his weak reply.

  After we’d finished our scans on Hado, the Senior Healer kicked me out of Medical.

  “Go to your quarters,” Tonetka said, and shook her head when I began to argue. “Immediately, Healer. I still run this Bay, supervise the cases, and schedule shifts.”

  “You’ve had less sleep than I have.”

  “I require less than you do. Go.”

  “You’re a bully,” I told her as I stretched.

  “All Healers are. Go now, and Cherijo—” She smiled as she looked down at the sleeping navigator. “Thank you.”

  I trudged out of the Medical Bay. By the time I got to my quarters, I was ready to admit Tonetka was right. I needed the sleep. Jenner was out prowling the corridors, so I was alone when Reever came to see me several hours later.

  At first I didn’t want to let him in. I was still groggy from my interrupted sleep interval. “Go away, Reever. I’m too tired to deal with you.”

  “I must speak with you now.”

  “This had better be good.” I opened the door. “What?”

  He brushed past me. “Captain Pnor asked me to view the transmission,” he said, and sat down on the edge of my sofa. Resigned, I walked over and dropped into the chair opposite him. He leaned forward. “You will not return, of course.”

  Transmission? What transmission? “Are you asking me, or telling me?”

  “Cherijo.” He obviously wasn’t in the mood to spar, either, from the way he got up and started pacing.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I barely smothered a yawn. “Um . . . what’s this about a transmission?”

  “The League often resorts to unethical tactics, but this goes far beyond that.” Reever hadn’t heard me. He was that agitated. “He must be unbalanced. The crew naturally reacted with outrage over the bounty. They are determined to protect you. Even if it means sacrificing the ship.”

  “That’s nice,” I said. Sacrifice the ship my foot. Who was unbalanced? And what was this stuff about a bounty? Maybe I should just go back to bed and stay there until we reached Joren. “I’ll be sure and thank the crew.”

  He stopped and actually glared at me. “Your humor is inappropriate, Cherijo. His threats are a serious matter.”

  Whose threats? “Reever. Listen to me for a minute, will you? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t seen any transmission from Captain Pnor.”

  “You haven’t.” He appeared bemused.

  “Look, I’m tired. I’ll deal with this later. Anything else?”

  He switched gears as abruptly as I did. “We will be reaching a populated system within a few weeks,” Reever told me. “The Captain has scheduled a sojourn to one of the more developed planets. I requested to be withdrawn from the mission, but he indicated my services would be vital.”

  He was losing me again. “Why skip the sojourn?” I rested my chin on my hand and fought to keep my eyelids open. “Don’t you want to go?”

  “Not if it would make you uncomfortable.”

  “I thought we covered this already,” I said. His unblinking stare goaded me into anger. “What do you want from me, Reever? A note for the captain? Do whatever you want.” I got up and went to the mirrored unit where I kept my grooming supplies. A glance confirmed it. I was a mess. “Is that it?”

  “I can think of several other topics of interest.”

  “Don’t get sarcastic with me. I just woke up, I’m not responsible for my actions.” I picked up my brush, peered at my reflection, then went to work. “Damn.” There was a huge knot at the nape of my neck. Reever took the brush out of my hand. “Hey, what are you—”

  “Let me do it.” He car
efully untangled the snarl, then worked the brush through my hair. The gentle strokes lulled me out of my irritation. I watched his reflection. He appeared totally absorbed in the task.

  “Reever?” His eyes met mine in the mirror. “Why are you doing this?” I didn’t mean the hairbrushing.

  He understood me. “Don’t you know?”

  “No, and forget I ever asked,” I said, then turned and took the brush out of his hand. Wondered how effective it would be as a weapon. “As for the sojourn, you don’t have to ask my permission every time we’re scheduled to work together. Like I said, I’ll handle it.”

  “I want more than your tolerance.” He touched my hair, running his hand over the smoothness.

  Yeah, I could just imagine what he wanted. “Don’t push your luck.” His fingers tightened for a fraction of a second. I had to get him out of here, I thought, before he said or did anything else. Or I would hit him. “Thanks for dropping by. You know the way out.”

  I watched his hand fall away. “This is not finished, Cherijo.” Without another word, he left.

  No, I suspected it wasn’t. To avoid dwelling on that, I got up and went to my console. A signal from Operations was indeed waiting for me.

  A serious-looking Jorenian appeared on the screen. “Healer Cherijo Torin, Ndo, ship’s operational officer. We have a transmission from the Allied League intended for you.”

  “When did it come in?”

  “The signal was received shortly after the skirmish with Allied forces mercenary ship. I will relay it to you now.”

  “Thank you, Ndo.”

  I went to my food unit and dialed up a server of hot herbal tea. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. From Reever’s reaction, the League’s message was bound to be entertaining. I returned to the console, punched up the transmission and sat down to watch the show.

  My father’s face appeared on the screen. Behind him, uniformed officers were walking back and forth. League officers. At the estate?

  “This is Dr. Joseph Grey Veil, signaling from the L.T.F. Perpetua, Pmoc Quadrant.”

  I nearly dropped my server in my lap. “What are you doing on a troop freighter?” I asked out loud.

  He couldn’t respond, the signal was prerecorded. Despite that, I still expected him to tell me to shut up. Maybe it was the way he was glaring at me through the screen.

  “This message is for the non-sentient designated Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil,” he said. Well, he was still sticking by his story that I was his lab specimen. “It is imperative that you return to Kevarzangia Two and surrender to League forces immediately.”

  “Sure.” I lifted my server and toasted his image. “Just let me finish my tea.”

  “If you are unable to return to Kevarzangia Two, you may surrender to the authorities on any Allied League world. Transport will be arranged.”

  “A pickup service?” I said. “That’s convenient.”

  “Your oath as a physician directs you to do no harm. By ignoring the deportment order, you are violating the oath you swore to uphold.”

  “Am I?” I took a sip from my steaming server, enjoying my pretend conversation now. “How so?”

  “Your presence on board the Jorenian ship puts every member of the crew at risk.”

  “They don’t seem to be worried about it.” All right, I’d thought the same thing. So what? I was his clone. It was to be expected that we’d fire the same brain cell on occasion.

  “In exchange for your voluntary surrender, the League will allow you to resume your former position on the planet Kevarzangia Two. I have agreed to continue my clinical trials there.”

  My Father? On K-2? It was such a delightfully provoking thought. Rogan could be his research assistant.

  “Additionally, I will allow you unlimited access to my complete research database. This will clarify and resolve issues that will otherwise taint your existence.”

  “Taint my existence,” I said. “I’m confused now. Wasn’t that what you did?”

  “If you do not surrender, you will be pursued. The Allied League of Worlds has offered a generous bounty for your delivery to Terra.” He named a sum that made my eyes widen.

  “That much?” I put down my tea and got to my feet. No wonder the crew was upset. “You must have called in a lot of favors to get the League to agree to that,” I said out loud as I found my robe and pulled it on. “Or did you take out a mortgage on the estate?”

  “Cherijo, you are my property.”

  “Really?” I turned around and smiled at Joseph Grey Veil’s stern image. He’d forgotten that I was encoded with some of that unyielding determination, too. “I don’t think so.”

  “Think on this.” He said it as if he’d heard every word I’d uttered. “If you choose not to surrender, the League will take whatever measures are necessary to capture you.”

  Here come the threats, I thought. “They have to find me first,” I told the display.

  “The League’s resources are virtually unlimited. They have allies and treaties in a thousand different systems. They will track you down.”

  “You hope.”

  “Any planet that gives you sanctuary will be invaded. Any ship you travel on will be targeted. Anyone who helps you will be considered an accomplice and eliminated. You will be hunted down like an animal until you are apprehended.” He paused, giving me a moment for that to sink in.

  It sank in. Reever was right, this was no laughing matter.

  I could see worlds being occupied and terrorized by the League. Ships exploding in the midst of battle. People being systematically exterminated. My father would stop at nothing to get his hands on me.

  “No,” I said. I reached for my server of tea, and saw that my fingers were trembling. I snatched them back, and glanced up at the display. He was smiling at me, his dark eyes glittering with a strange, terrifying anticipation. What had Reever said? He must be unbalanced.

  “They will bring you back to me.”

  You must never allow yourself to fall under his influence again. An unexpected surge of renewed confidence burned through me. Maggie was right. I hadn’t come this far by giving into fear or Joseph Grey Veil’s threats. I wasn’t going to start now. Maggie hadn’t raised a coward, and this fight was just beginning.

  “Enjoy your freedom while you can, Cherijo.”

  Before his image faded from the display, it shattered. There was an immensely satisfying explosion of sound. The saturated console sparked and sizzled, then went dead. Wisps of smoke rose from the shorted internal components. Shards of vid screen and server littered the top of the unit and the floor around it like plas confetti.

  No big deal. Consoles could be replaced. I had plenty of servers. I’d just make more tea.

  The exciting story of

  Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil continues,

  coming to you from Roc in October 2000.

  Don’t miss it!