"We may have to," she said. "I want to be free of this pain and stiffness as soon as possible."
For all her talk of how good the shower felt, it wasn't long before L'Tan asked T'Mar to steady her and rose to her feet. They finished washing and dried each other and headed into the hospital room to dress.
Chapter Eleven
T'Mar pushed the bed back against the wall as L'Tan held tubes and electrical lines clear, then they gathered her belongings and walked to the nurse's station. The nurse clucked like a hen for a bit as she signed L'Tan out and gave her the pain medication the doctor had set out for her.
"Thank you," said L'Tan. "I know how you feel about this, but you must know how I feel about escaping that bed. I feel as if I'm getting out of a prison."
The nurse smiled and nodded and touched L'Tan's arm.
"You just be sure to come back and see us if you need to. Before you really need to would be even better, of course. Prevention is always best. I've already seen to your new quarters. Deck 34, suite 10. Three rooms and a bath and what they laughingly call a kitchen on Confederation ships. I've left passcoding the door to you."
They thanked the nurse and set off in search of their new abode. Three decks toward the interior and what - to L'Tan - seemed like miles of walking later, they found themselves in the proper corridor.
"I think they design these ships to force the crews to exercise," said L'Tan. "There's no straight line to anywhere on foot."
"Could be you're right. Maybe the same people design quick-serve restaurants where the air conditioning is always too high or too low. It feels great when you first walk in and order, but about the time you're finishing your food, you're ready to go outside and stop shivering or sweating."
L'Tan stopped walking and stared at him for a moment.
"They do, don't they..? They really do do that. Damn. As often as I've ducked into one of those places on the way to somewhere or other, I've never realized that before."
T'Mar grinned at her.
"People aren't supposed to realize it; they're just supposed to eat and leave so the table's open for the next customer. You probably never lingered inside one long enough to really notice, anyway, L'Tan. You don't strike me as a lingerer."
"Hmm. Guess I'm not, really. I tend to eat and run. Damn, though. The little things that don't quite occur to you... Hey, wait a minute. How is it you noticed?"
"They were perfectly excusable circumstances, I assure you. The weather changed while a few of us were at lunch. We had to wait for the rain to stop. By then, the windows were fogged over and everyone was shivering."
"Uh, huh. Okay, then. Just so you aren't a lingerer when you aren't lingering over me... Lingering over me is acceptable, just so you know."
"Got it. Linger over L'Tan." He looked at her questioningly. "Whenever possible?"
"Good thinking. Add that to your mental note. Where are we, anyway?"
"Deck 34 and room..." he looked around and appended, "Six on the left. Seven on the right. Not much farther."
He grinned and asked, "Can you make it? Do you want me to carry you?"
"No, I don't want carried. I do want to get there soon, though. I had no idea how tough a simple walk would be."
They resumed walking, found room ten, and tapped the door pad to enter. Nothing happened; the door remained closed. T'Mar tapped it again. It refused to budge.
"We didn't have doors like these when I was aboard," said L'Tan. "They used to use magnetic cards."
T'Mar used the intercom to call sickbay.
"I didn't passcode the door," said the nurse. "Oh, wait! I'm sorry! I've been aboard so long I'd forgotten. Try 123456. That's what comes with all of the doors."
He did so. The door requested a name for its log. He looked at L'Tan.
"L'Tan," she said, pressing the 'enter' key.
"Name of second occupant?"
"T'Mar," said L'Tan.
"Name of third occupant?"
"No other occupants." She pressed 'enter'.
"Name of third occupant?" repeated the door.
The nurse said, "Press zero and the 'enter' key."
L'Tan did so. Against her expectations, the door remained closed.
"I'm about to kick this damned door open," said L'Tan.
"That would put you back in sickbay," said the nurse. "The door's tougher than you are at the moment. Try pressing 'enter', instead."
L'Tan pressed 'enter'. The door asked, "Name?"
"L'Tan."
The door hissed open for her. She said, "Thank you. That did it," and walked into the room.
T'Mar also thanked the nurse and clicked off the intercom, then started to walk through the door. It hissed shut and asked, "Name?"
L'Tan's muffled voice said, "I don't believe this shit."
T'Mar grinned and said, "T'Mar."
The door remained closed. His grin faded.
"Try again," said L'Tan.
"T'Mar," said T'Mar.
Nothing happened.
"You try it, L'Tan."
L'Tan said, "T'Mar."
The door opened, but at T'Mar's approach, it closed and said, "Your voice and phyisiology does not match the name as recorded."
L'Tan swore and said, "T'Mar!"
The door opened again and L'Tan put her foot against the leading edge of it, waving at T'Mar.
"Hurry up and get in here!"
T'Mar grinningly ambled into the room, gazing down at her foot pointedly.
"It was all I could think of," said L'Tan. "I'm tired to the bone and damned tired of dealing with this door."
T'Mar nodded and pressed the intercom's service button.
"Maintenance. Corporal L'Soi speaking."
"T'Mar, in 3410. We need to know how to reprogram the door's second name entry."
"That room was issued to a L'Tan. Is she there?"
"I'm here," said L'Tan.
"Is this man authorized to be in your room, ma'am?"
"Yes. He's my aide."
"Your what, ma'am?"
L'Tan was stiff and glaring as she moved to within inches of the wall speaker and said in a voice of iron, "Look it up later, Corporal. The answer is yes. He is authorized and I'm too tired to take much more. Now how do we reset it?"
The woman instructed them step-by-step and the results worked. T'Mar thanked her and apologized for his 'Commanding Officer's' poor spirits, explaining that she'd just been released from the ship's hospital. He quickly added in a confidential tone that back injuries frequently cause people to become cranky.
When he'd clicked off, L'Tan asked, "What was all that for?"
"I called you my CO so that she'd know that you were a somebody. I told her you were just out of the hospital so she'd maybe not think of you as a harpie, and I told her you'd had a back injury so she wouldn't think you were in there for mental reasons."
"Mental reasons?!"
"Yeah, well, her first impression of you was bound to be less than ideal, and we don't want to alienate the help, do we? Alienate one and you alienate all of them. You know that if you do that, the best you can hope for is grudging, minimal cooperation."
L'Tan looked sharply at him for a moment.
"Maybe it's time to take one of those pain pills," she said. "Now that I think of it, I was kind of snappish with her."
When she glanced up at T'Mar, he raised both hands and said, "I didn't agree or disagree, did I? I'm just trying to survive, here, ma'am."
L'Tan sighed and went to the right-hand bedroom. She prodded the bed to test its resistance, then carefully sat down and sighed again, but the change of position made her sit very upright and still for some moments. She slowly let her breath out between clenched teeth and drew another.
"Let me have a glass of water, T'Mar. I'll take a pill, then maybe I'd better lie down for a while."
"Want another shower to loosen things up? I can go fish for information on the bridge or something while you soak."
"No," she said, fluttering a ha
nd at him without otherwise moving, "No shower. No nothing. I really think I should just take a pill, get flat, and stay that way for a while. That's a good idea, though. You see what you can turn up on the bridge."
T'Mar opened the vial shook a pill into her hand, then went to the sink to get her a glass of water. After L'Tan had taken the pill, she held his arm and used it for support as she lowered herself into the bed.
"I hope I don't feel like this tomorrow," she said.
"Sometimes using your body makes it feel better later. I'll bring some dinner back here for us and then you can get some sleep. The bridge can wait a little while."
She nodded. "Good. Thank you, T'Mar. I told you I might need some real help."
"That you did. Let's get you undressed and under the covers."
"I can manage."
"Sure you could, but I'd enjoy getting you naked again, and you hurt enough without having to get up again. Just lie there and relax."
L'Tan laughed softly.
"Lie there and relax. Where have I heard that before?"
T'Mar kissed one of her now-uncovered breasts and solemnly said, "I really don't think I want to know that, ma'am. I just want to continue to delude myself that I'm your first."
L'Tan laughed again, then groaned.
"Oh... Oh, damn... I asked you not to do that," she hissed.
T'Mar didn't answer as he worked her blouse off her shoulders and arms, then went to work on her uniform slacks. He hung her clothes in the closet and returned to the bed. L'Tan had already pulled the covers up and shoved the pillow to one side.
"Flat," she said. "Absolutely flat seems to feel best at the moment."
"Try to stay awake for half an hour or so. I'll go get dinner now."
She nodded and shut her eyes. It seemed like only moments had passed until he was standing by her bed again, holding a covered tray of food.
"That was quick," she murmured.
"It was almost an hour. I had to backtrack twice to find the dining hall, then convince someone to let me take a couple of trays out."
"I told you this ship was designed by a fitness fanatic."
T'Mar looked at her outline under the cover and said, "You should know. I've seen you as you really are, remember? A hardbody like you would have designed this ship the same way, I'll bet."
She grinned up at him as he popped open a couple of drink boxes.
"You think so, do you? Well, maybe so. And I wouldn't have made it any easier to find things. Having to ask for directions all the time helps new crewpeople meet old crewpeople and keeps visiting politicians dependent on their guides."
Chapter Twelve
T'mar could see that L'Tan was having a lot of trouble keeping her eyes open as she finished eating. He gathered up trays and utensils, set them on the dining table, and returned to the bed.
"Need anything before I go? I'm going to take the trays back, as promised, and check in with Comm to see if anyone at the home office remembers me. I also want them to know that I've already found another place to be so that they won't arbitrarily reassign me."
L'Tan smiled sleepily and said, "If they try to reassign you, quit. I'll hire you."
"Sounds good to me," he said, stroking her hand. "Back in a while."
He kissed her and pulled her covers up, then picked up the trays and headed for the door. Not far along the corridor he encountered Captain T'Var.
"Hello, T'Mar. I'm on my way to see L'Tan. How is she?"
"Asleep," said T'Var. "I was on my way to see you about getting a message to someone."
"We aren't handling any personals at the moment, T'Mar. I've decided to let T'Bar's mission statement address convey the bad news to the crew and save my energy for helping my people through this."
T'Mar nodded. "Good plan. It isn't a personal message, Captain. Who's handling Confederation counterintelligence ops at the moment? I need to let them know that I'm still alive and on what's left of the Consulate staff. You can screen the message, if you want."
T'Var stepped back a half a pace and eyed him for a moment.
"Does L'Tan know you're a spook?"
"Yes. Since this afternoon and before she released L'Sil to you."
"Too bad she's asleep. This is something I'd like to verify."
T'Mar smiled slightly and said, "No problem. You can call HQ to verify me and tell them I'm still on the job. That would cover both of our interests."
The Captain kept his gaze on T'Mar as he lifted his comm pad and said, "Computer, scan room 3410. Report."
"Room 3410 contains one adult female named L'Tan."
"Condition of L'Tan?"
"She is asleep."
"Are there other registered users of that room?"
"One other, Captain. T'Mar-Sen, listed as her aide."
T'Var pursed his lips thoughtfully and tapped off the comm pad.
"I see."
"Maybe you do," said T'Mar. "Maybe not. I was hiding as a Consulate clerk until a court date. The case I was working is probably literally a dead issue. Now I'm working directly for L'Tan, unless my office has something more important for me to do. Nothing spooky about it, T'Var. L'Tan needs help for a while, so I'm helping."
"Why did she let L'Sil go? Did you have anything to do with that?"
T'Mar shook his head.
"No, not a thing. L'Tan had her own reasons for doing that. L'Sil meant well, but... Well, she was becoming an irritant, I think. L'Tan doesn't like obvious, overweening concern any better than being ill."
T'Var almost said, "I see," again, but he stopped himself.
"I'm going back to the bridge. Take that stuff to the dining hall and then report to me. We'll see what HQ has to say about you."
"Will do. See you in a little while."
T'Mar watched T'Var stride back the way he'd come and wondered why the Captain had been so disgruntled to find a counterintelligence operative on board. He'd run into people before who simply didn't like the concept of spying, but nobody'd yet found a way to do without intelligence gathering.
When he reached the bridge, Captain T'Var waved him over to his chair and handed him a disk.
"You check out with HQ, T'Mar. They said for you to stay with L'Tan for the time being. Someone named L'Sal says hello. Girlfriend?"
"A long time ago, she was. I hope her husband made it. They've only been married a few months."
"Uhm. Sorry. She didn't seem to be upset, though. Maybe he's on the station with her."
"Could be. They're both with the agency. Anything else? Anything for L'Tan?"
"It's on the disk with your message."
T'Mar nodded. "Should I wake her, or let her sleep?"
"Let her sleep. It's good news, by the way. Her daughter was way the hell out in sector seventeen on a science mission."
"Good news, indeed. She never mentioned having a daughter. I guess she knew that the girl had a good chance to survive and put her worries on a shelf during all this other stuff. She's a tough lady."
T'Var laughed and said, "You have no idea, T'Mar. She once took on four enemy fighters alone to keep them from attacking a colony. She took out two of them, but the others ripped her fighter to shreds and she crashed on a mountainside. Her action gave the colony time to repair their sabotaged generator. The last two enemy fighters were making their attack run just as the field was reestablished, and they splattered themselves against it."
"Enemy? As in 'pirates'?"
"As in pirates. They were after a shipment of food and supplies and the plan was to hijack the freighters, but someone saw them coming. Their man on the inside took care of the field generator, but they weren't counting on a Confed fighter pilot visiting her family."
T'Mar looked thoughtful. "Uhm... If I recall correctly, pilots aren't supposed to use their craft for personal transportation, T'Var. How did she get away with that?"
T'Var grinned and said, "She got away with nothing, T'Mar. We simply scheduled some maintenance work for her fighter, then let her take it f
or a test flight. There was a glitch in the nav computer, so she landed at the colony to fix it."
"'We' scheduled her maintenance work, huh? I see. And the ship just happened to be near Lora at the time, and she just happened to have a nav glitch near her home town."
T'Var's gaze narrowed.
"How did you know that the colony world was Lora? For that matter, why would you know something like that?"
T'Mar raised his hands placatingly.
"Relax, Captain, sir. When I was sent to the Consulate, I studied a bit about all the top people there. I'd do the same if I were sent to work with you."
A small light flashed on T'Var's chair. He looked up to see his Tac officer looking back at him.
"Sir, we're being painted with what appears to be a targeting laser, but it's flashing code at us."
"Where's it coming from and what are they saying?"
"It's a distress call, sir, repeated over and over, but it's in a code that we haven't used for more than twenty years. It's coming from the northern continent. Whoever is sending the code is signing himself '97B'."
T'Mar said, "That may be from before our militaries combined. It's the old land forces occupational code for a counterintelligence specialist or investigator."
T'Var gave him a sharp glance and said, "Tac, I assume you have the source of the signal pinpointed?"
"Yes, sir. A small town three hundred miles north of the capitol."
"Can we answer him?"
"Not without our signal being noticed by all the wrong people, sir. It looks as if he's using a much-enhanced targeting laser."
T'Var thought a moment, then said, "It would have to be, to reach us out here. I can't think that he'd be signaling us without hope of reply. Assume that he only has a telescope. What can we do to acknowledge the signal?"
T'Mar said, "If he's really one of us from back then, he was trained to double-click his comm unit to acknowledge if he couldn't speak without being overheard. Opaque the ship's field twice quickly and see what happens."
"Tac, try it," said T'Var.
When the opaquing effect occurred, all incoming light was trapped or routed around the ship, rendering the ship a black spot on a black background.
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