“Nothing at all, ma’am.”
The commander didn’t believe that for a second. She didn’t miss, either, how Cassie slumped against the counter. The normally perky doctor wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. While Maggie ran through an internal checklist of her recent interactions with the doctor, Price started his muttering again. This time no one in the room could pretend not to understand what he said.
“PMS from the both of you, just what we need.”
Swede was happily minding his own business. He looked forward to a quiet dinner and a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. The engine inspections sapped his mental fortitude. Dealing with Price and O’Connell snapping at each other for most of the day was not helping. He saw the doctor lunge in Price’s direction just as he noted Fortunas entering the officers’ mess.
Fortunas reacted instinctively. He grabbed Cassie as she whipped around the table, bent on murdering Price. “Whoa there, little one.” His arm locked around her waist, Ben swung her around while he faced the co-pilot. “What the hell did you say now, man?”
Price jumped out of his chair. He backed against the wall, out of the range of the dangerous looking, but eerily still, commander and the still struggling doctor. He shot a glance at Swede and wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
Swede ducked his head down to the commander’s height. He whispered in her ear, “Breathe, Mags. He’s not worth the effort.”
Dr. Ben Fortunas felt as if he was wrestling a wet cat out of the officer’s wardroom. He glanced frantically over his shoulder.
“Mein Gott, woman, calm down!” He spied a doorway and backed into it. When the door clicked shut behind him he leaned against it and loosened his hold a bit. She shocked him—she hadn’t once insisted he let her go, put her down, or otherwise leave her alone. He felt her shudder slightly. Steeling himself for what he was sure would follow, Ben gently turned the petite woman in his arms and cradled her head against his chest. Her sobs began seconds later.
Cassie cried until she felt sick to her stomach. She sniffed and winced. Her nose always ran when she cried, and she never had a tissue handy. While many men were willing to overlook a tear stained shirt, she had yet to meet the man who found snot smeared across his chest an endearing keepsake. Feeling the scientist’s hand making small circular soothing motions along her lower back, she stiffened.
Fortunas stopped soothing her the moment he realized she was aware of what he was doing and where she was. He moved his hands to lie chastely atop her shoulders. “Feel up to a chat, now?”
Cassie sniffed. She glanced around. “Where are we?”
He chuckled, a rich deep baritone sound. “I would call it a broom closet, if the Hudson had brooms. I really have no idea what this room is used for. Come on back to my office, I’ll get us a drink.”
She giggled, then hiccupped. “What kind of drink?”
He smiled down at her and waggled his bushy eyebrows. “Anything you like, liebchen, now will you come quietly or do I have to drag you through half the ship?
Back in the mess, Price remained a safe distance from O’Connell.
Great, now that crazy bitch is going to get me in hot water with the captain. At least she can’t go running to Daddy, out here…
“Price! Are you ignoring me?” The captain’s tone indicated just how severe the lieutenant’s punishment would be if he was indeed ignoring his captain.
“Sir, no sir!”
Captain Hill resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. It wouldn’t have stopped the burgeoning headache anyway. “I don’t know what just happened in here. I couldn’t give a damn either. Price, you will apologize to Dr. Ruger, soonest. Commander!”
Still standing just slightly behind Guttmann’s broad shoulders, O’Connell turned her head to look at her commanding officer.
“Is there anything else I need to do to resolve this idiocy?”
She pulled her chair out and sat down with as haughty a manner as she could muster. “No trouble here, sir. I believe Lieutenant Price has a duty rotation to supervise.” She raised her eyes to look at the younger officer. Her bland expression and mild tone begged him to contradict her.
Captain Hill suppressed a sigh. “Off you go, Lieutenant.”
Price stalked out.
The captain looked to where Swede still stood behind O’Connell’s chair.
Is he protecting me from her or her from me?
“I believe the danger of Commander O’Connell decapitating anyone has sufficiently passed, Lieutenant. Let’s eat.” Captain Hill didn’t miss Maggie’s eyes narrowing or the violent way she chewed her food.
***
Dr. Fortunas did not have a true office. Half-walls separated a corner of the science bay from his tables and rows of experiments. His cubicle space did have two comfortable chairs and a modicum of privacy, which was all he required at the moment. He gestured to the chair beside his desk and waited until Dr. Ruger sat. The older man pulled out a desk drawer and sat a plastic jug on the top of the desk. Cassie looked at the jug and back to his face, her doubts evident.
He chuckled. “It’s fruit juice and honey, slightly fermented. A child couldn’t get drunk off this mixture.” Another minute of rifling through his desk drawers produced two remarkably clean drinking mugs. He poured a measure into each mug and slid one over to Cassie. Then he leaned back, stretched his long legs in front of him and nodded his head.
“So, what’s got you out of sorts?”
To her credit, Cassie didn’t try to deny that anything was wrong. She swallowed her first sip of the fruit juice then licked her lips. Ben tried to ignore his basic male response to that gesture.
“This is not how it is supposed to be. We are supposed to have one civilian physician and one military physician. I’m not supposed to be out here alone. This isn’t even my ship!” She blinked as if startled by her own outburst. A large gulp of the fruit juice followed the blink.
“I forget that you were supposed to be on the Magellan. You’re right, it’s hardly fair to jerk you from the crew you’d trained with for over a year and throw you on the Hudson with less than two months until launch.”
“Unfair and cruel,” she muttered into her drink.
“Or you could consider it an honor. Of all the fleet-ready civilian physicians available to fill Dr. Comb’s slot, they chose you.”
Cassie snorted. “They didn’t exactly have a choice. I was the next highest on the eligibility list with training on ship systems. And if they had such a large pool of candidates, why didn’t they replace Dr. Xai?”
It was a question that still troubled Fortunas, so he did not have an answer. When Dr. Comb, the original civilian physician for the Hudson, died of a ruptured aneurysm, the ISA re-assigned Cassie from the Magellan to the Hudson. The Magellan had not started her shakedown cruises, but Dr. Ruger had been on board the Hudson’s sister ship for nearly a year. She was, indeed, the most qualified doctor to replace Comb. That the ISA had not immediately replaced Dr. Xai, the Hudson’s original military physician, with another officer was troubling. There were at least four military officers qualified to take the position. Dr. Xai’s sudden, and severe, hyper-tension was just as troubling to Fortunas. One man dying of a previous undiagnosed condition was understandable. Having his colleague nearly die of yet another undiagnosed condition, just six weeks later, was too coincidental for the elderly German’s peace of mind.
“Perhaps it was decided we didn’t need another doctor. We don’t have a large crew. Also, Mangoda might as well be a doctor. You know he’s a qualified flight surgeon?”
For the first time that day, Cassie’s features softened into a smile. “Marty is a god-send. I think I would be truly overwhelmed without him. I don’t understand why he’s not an officer, or addressed as a “doctor”.”
“Eh, the whims of military designations. He seems happy as he is. A great many military men do likewise. They find a position where they are comfortable and respected and have no urge to advance in the
ranks. To them, I suspect, the rank and titles are just words—things they don’t need to feel self-worth.”
Her eyes, a curious grey color, considered him over the rim of her mug. She still clutched it in both palms, as if the cool juice was a comforting cup of cocoa. She sat, silently, staring at him for several minutes. Just as he began to feel uncomfortable with her perusal, she lowered the mug. “Your knowledge of, and comfort with, the military is something of a mystery to me. How does a biologist turned university professor know so much about the armed services?”
That was a question he could answer easily, the memorized words rolled off his tongue without thought. “I’m German. I had a great many family and school-mates join the military during the war. I saw war destroy my country. Military men and women are just men and women doing a job.”
“I don’t believe that. And, I don’t think you believe that. They are not just ordinary folk following orders and doing a task like any factory worker or office administrator. There’s an... aura about…”
She was cut off by his laugh. She couldn’t help noticing the bitterness that tinged his expression. “Aura? If we’re going to discuss the spiritual nature of warriors I’m going to need something far stronger to drink.” He shifted into a more comfortable position. “We were discussing the patent unfairness of your life.”
Cassie pouted. It was a rather endearing expression on her. “Stop making me sound like a whiner. I just feel so…”
“Alone?” He blinked, slowly, but it did nothing to hide the pity expressed in his blue eyes.
“No.” She couldn’t look at him after such a blatant lie. “Ok, yes. Alone. I’m surrounded by people, and I’m busy from the moment I wake up until I fall asleep. So why am I lonely?”
Ben reached over with one large hand and took her mug to refill it. “You should talk to O’Connell. I’m sure she would be happy for a sympathetic, non-military, ear. It sounds as if you could use some girl-time.”
“Girl time?” Her laughter came in sputtering wheezes. “I cannot see Maggie painting her toenails or braiding my hair.”
Having managed to bring the doctor out of her funk and laugh heartily in the process, Ben took her giggles with good grace. He waved a hand in the air. “Please, I don’t wish to know the secrets of female fellowship. Although, I was under the impression that consuming large amounts of chocolate were requisite part of any such ritual”
“I could tell you, but then I’d have to castrate you.” She giggled again.
Ben chuckled, satisfied that, for the moment at least, Cassie Ruger felt better about life.
“No, no,” he chided, taking her mug from her hand. “That’s enough of that. Let’s get some food. I find I’m famished. I need regular meals to keep up with you young people.”
“Ha! At your age your metabolism is practically glacial in its progress.”
He waggled his trademark eyebrows. “Yes, but I had to wrestle a spitting wildcat off of her prey, earlier. I need to regain my strength.”
“You should have let me hit him. I know the placement of every nerve in the human body. He could still be writhing in pain.”
Ben was only slightly teasing with his look of fearful shock.
So my little pixie has a dark side. That might prove useful.
Chapter 7
Dr. Ruger found Commander O’Connell in the officers’ mess. The pilot of the Hudson was munching on a sandwich while reading the latest engineering reports. She glanced up and smiled when Cassie entered.
“Oh good, you saved me from the driest report I’ve ever read. Why is it that engineers find it necessary to say the same thing, in consecutive sentences, using slightly different words? Then there’s the overwhelming urge to draw diagrams...” She trailed off when she saw how tense the doctor appeared.
Cassie poured herself a glass of water and sat down at the table. She fidgeted with her glass for a moment then glanced to the door. “Are we reasonably assured of privacy here?”
Maggie chewed and swallowed. “Well, as much as privacy exists around here. What’s got you all worked up?” She tore off another section of the sandwich and cocked her head to indicate her curiosity.
“I have a dilemma.” The doctor ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs askew and making her appear even more frazzled. “Look, the thing is, medical information is private, and I can’t release it without permission. Everyone knows that.”
Maggie made a grunting sound of agreement.
“Ok, so that doesn’t apply if the health information indicates a serious inability to perform necessary tasks or a danger to the crew and passengers of the ship—right?”
“Yes, standard military doctrine there.” Maggie leaned back in her chair and toyed with a snagged fingernail. She briefly wondered how the doctor kept her nails so straight and even. Someday she would have to ask about that. “So what’s the issue? Crew member medical data is released to the captain all the time. I seem to recall,” she said in an arch tone, “that my data was very quickly a matter of official record.”
Cassie waved her hand in the air. “That is not the issue at all, and I wish you would get over it. The point is, how much does that standard disclaimer apply to a colonist and not a crew member?” She glanced again at the door before pausing to draw absent circles on the table with her index finger.
Maggie noted the added fidgeting and sat up straighter. She opened her mouth to speak then re-thought the action. Choosing her words carefully, she said “I don’t suppose there is a way to suggest a hypothetical situation that I could make a judgment on?” One look at Cassie’s face told her that wasn’t an option. “Well then, you are going to have to make one of those really annoying “command decision” calls. Generally they just end up biting you in the ass.”
“And they let you counsel subordinates, handing out advice like that?”
Maggie finished her sandwich and waited.
Seeing that Maggie was not going to help her make the choice, Cassie sighed heavily. “There is a colonist who is pregnant.”
“What?” O’Connell whispered the word in a tone of shock. Her face portrayed an equal measure of horror. “But that is supposed to be...”
“Yes, it is supposed to be impossible with the proper medication and procedures, so that sort of rules out an accidental pregnancy. Also, the colonist in question doesn’t seem in the least bit apologetic. She also doesn’t seem concerned.” Cassie leaned her elbows on the table. “Maggie this is serious. I have no idea how a pregnancy will progress out here, with the pressure changes, relative gravity, everything.”
“Is she healthy so far?”
“Yes, perfectly healthy except for a slightly low blood iron count, which is normal. She’s a good eight or nine weeks along”
“Well there’s nothing you can do about it at this point. If the pregnancy has survived this far, and two jumps, there’s not much about ship-board life likely to cause trouble. The captain will need to be informed just because of the breach of contract and the possible demands on your time. Why does this have you so nervous? The captain certainly isn’t going to blame you and, again, there is nothing you can do about it now.”
Seeing the look of near panic on her friend’s face, Maggie leaned forward. “What is it?”
“Not what,” Dr. Ruger said. “Who. It’s the patient in question that has me so nervous.”
“Oh.” Maggie scowled before her eyes widened in shock. “Oh... God. No, not even Marissa can be that twisted.” Thinking of how the captain would take the news that his sister-in-law was pregnant, Maggie understood why Dr. Ruger was so upset. “Well, that’s a new wrinkle.”
“Wrinkle?” Cassie fairly screeched the word then lowered her voice with a nervous glance at the door. “I really don’t want to be the one to tell him this. The very idea of the look on his face makes me want to pee my pants.”
O’Connell snorted. “He doesn’t bite, Cassie. He’s probably just going to give you one of those icy looks of hi
s and say “I see” in that tone he always uses. I doubt there will be any sort of emotional outburst at all.”
“I think you underestimate the captain’s potential for anger. You do know that Marissa was once the captain’s fiancee before she left him and married his brother?”
“Yes, I know. I’d also highly recommend you not bringing that up when you talk to him.”
Dr. Ruger cagily surveyed her roommate. “Will you come with me?”
Maggie wiped the crumbs from her meal into her palm as she stood. She walked over to the trash receptacle and dusted her hands off, then straightened her uniform. Turning back to the doctor, she shook her head. “I’m sorry Cassie, I can’t help you. This is your burden to bear.”
Before Maggie could walk out, Cassie jumped up from her chair. “It might be best, for appearances sake, if a senior officer was present when the captain learns of this. You know—to ensure objectivity.”
“Oh, shrewd, Cass.” Maggie shook her head and threw up her hands in defeat. “Let’s get it over with, then.” At the shocked and fearful look on the doctor’s face, she sighed. “Waiting isn’t going to make the issue go away. Come on.”
The captain had just returned from boxing with Swede and was fresh out of the shower. He ran a towel over his wet hair and gave the commander a chagrined look. “I apologize for my appearance, Commander, I wasn’t expecting visitors.”
O’Connell glanced at his immaculate uniform and wondered what he was apologizing for. The captain’s wet hair was the only thing out of the ordinary.
“Is there something in particular you wanted?”
O’Connell focused her attention back on the doctor’s pressing concerns. “Dr. Ruger has a matter she wishes to discuss with you sir. She asked that I accompany her, for protocol reasons.”
He leaned sideways to peer at the empty room behind her and raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll show her in then.”
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