Copyright 2016 by Jean D. Walker
This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, characters and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Cover Art by Fiona Jayde
DEDICATION
To my daughters Valerie and Elizabeth,
To Michael & Mary R, for bringing my characters to vivid life on the Sectors audiobooks
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Joyce L
Julie C and The E-book Formatting Fairies!
STAR CRUISE: OUTBREAK
By
Veronica Scott
CHAPTER ONE
Dr. Emily Shane, recently retired from the Star Guard medical corps, opted to demolish her father’s plan for her future with cold reason. “I can’t leave on a moment’s notice to take a cruise-ship job. I’m needed here on Harilon. I have patients—”
“Ever since you got home from rehab, you’ve been hiding in your rooms, or the garden at my house. Or trying to bury yourself in back-to-back shifts on call at the ER. You don’t have patients—everyone you’ve seen or treated has a regular physician.” His brusque voice softened, and she could see him lean closer to the vidscreen in his office. “I’m worried about you. How are you ever going to get into the swing of things if you live as a virtual recluse?”
“Maybe I’m not ready to get into the swing of things, as you put it.” Emily fiddled with the items on her father’s desk. Being a recluse means I can keep life under control.
He switched to wheedling. “It’s the Nebula Zephyr, honey, top of the line. What could be so bad about a couple of months on a luxury cruise? Prescribe headclear to people who drink too much, apply skinseal to kids’ banged-up knees, have fun the rest of the time. You’d be in space.” He said the latter as if the concept was an irresistible enticement.
Now he’d given her something on which to anchor her rejection. “I hardly think a military doctor is the right fit for a civilian ship full of pampered rich people. Even if the captain is desperate for a chief medical officer—”
“Beyond desperate. He can’t sail without one who has active space certifications, and you’ve kept your licenses current.”
Damn it, she had. But only to try to fool herself into thinking she might be a normally functioning person again someday, might be able to move beyond the nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety. Emily opened her mouth to refuse, but now her father lost his tenuous grip on patience, as she’d known he would.
“The people who own and run the CLC Line are retired military, like you, so everyone you’ll work with speaks the same language and has the same hard-ass attitude, if you’ll pardon my plain speaking. I already gave my word you’d do it, since it was General Maclaren asking me for the favor. His friends own the line. CLC is sending a groundcar to fetch you, so throw some things in a bag and go.” As she sputtered angrily, the elder Dr. Shane grinned and waved one hand, reaching to close the link with the other. “Have fun, earn a few easy credits, see you in two months.”
As the link hummed and disappeared, Emily sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. That’s my Dad, high-handed but means well. Maybe I could tell myself this is just another kind of deployment and not be too stressed? She turned the thought over in her mind. Being home on Harilon hadn’t been all that smooth, so why not try a different possibility?
The soft chime of the doorbell interrupted her musing.
The senior Dr. Shane employed human staff, and the housekeeper was opening the door as Emily entered the foyer.
“There’s been a mistake,” she said, not waiting for the door to swing all the way open. “My father—” She tripped on the edge of the fringed, locally woven carpet and lost her balance.
The visitor caught her, his arms corded with impressively developed muscles, and set Emily on her feet, although he didn’t release her for a moment, looking her over. “The entire crew of the Nebula Zephyr is in your debt, Dr. Shane.” Now he let go of her arm and stepped away.
Her cheeks warm, knowing she was red with embarrassment, Emily smoothed her hair off her face and stood straighter, trying not to stare at the man sent to fetch her. Taller than she was by at least a foot, the stranger had close-cropped black hair that probably curled a little if left to its own devices and deeply blue eyes set in a tanned face. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a formfitting black T-shirt outlining broad, muscular shoulders. The edge of an intriguing tattoo showed below the left sleeve’s hem.
Realizing she was staring, she took the hand he was offering. His grip was firm, her own tightening in reflex. She felt the stirrings of interest along her nerves but took a deep breath to shake off the sensation. Good to know she could still be affected by an attractive man with a deep voice and a strong handshake, but now wasn’t the time or place to pursue the unexpected sensation.
“Jake Dilon, ship’s chief security officer, at your service, Dr. Shane. May I say it’s an honor to meet you, ma’am?”
He hesitated as if he wanted to say more. With a self-deprecating laugh, she said, “Don’t make too much of the experience, you might be disappointed.” She’d had a lot of experience blocking comments about her past since returning home to Harilon. It was almost second nature by now. Running on instinct, she retreated to the small office at the right of the corridor, the man following her. He moved silently. As she glanced over her shoulder, she felt compelled to warn him this berth on his ship wasn’t a done deal. “I haven’t agreed to ship out with you yet, by the way. My father had no right to speak for me and I’m still undecided.” As she sank into her father’s cushioned desk chair, she asked, “Why is this so urgent?”
He focused on her face with an unnerving intensity. Blue eyes narrowed, he paused for a moment, rocking onto his heels. “Captain Fleming was told you’d said yes.”
Surprised by his obvious dismay, she unbent a bit. “What happened to your ship’s doctor anyway?”
“You would ask the question we can’t answer.” Jake’s grin seemed genuinely rueful. “He took shore leave when we arrived at Harilon ten days ago and failed to report back. Your planetary police can’t seem to locate him, and we can’t wait any longer. Even cruise ships have deadlines to meet, and we’re carrying a lot of cargo, which means penalties if we don’t deliver on time.” He spun the old-fashioned globe on the edge of the desk. Head tilted, studying her while she was contemplating him, he said, “I’m no doctor, but I think it’s pretty light duty, ma’am. I don’t recall Dr. Meers ever complaining about being overworked.”
“I’m not afraid of hard work.” She drew in a deep breath, trying to block a flashback of stretchers full of injured soldiers. Her responsibilities in the past had been staggering and fraught with consequences. “Quite the opposite. I like to stay busy.”
“I see I’ve offended you, which wasn’t my intention.” Standing in a loose parade rest, he spoke softly.
Emily made a vague hand gesture. “It’s just—I’m not used to dealing with pampered civilians. To be honest, I’m not sure I can ingratiate myself with the paying customers.”
He laughed. “Do you think I do?’
Well, the women anyway. No effort required. Emily wanted to admire the tight T-shirt, but that would be unprofessional and inappropriate. Or so she told herself.
Undaunted, and hopefully unaware of how much his physical presence was af
fecting her, Jake persisted in making his case for her help. “The CLC Line is owned and run by ex-military. We guarantee the efficiency and discipline the Space Navy maintains, while offering the luxury and amenities of the top cruise lines. The motto is ‘Our crew will never take you into enemy space and abandon you.’ But we have an entirely separate staff to ‘pamper’ the passengers, as you put it. Captain Fleming is retired Space Navy, but his executive officer was hired away from a major cruise line at great expense to oversee the passenger experience. Our cruise director is a dynamo, knows what the customers want before they do. Nothing fazes her. Your duties will be strictly medical in nature, the sickbay your domain, unless you choose to mingle with our guests.”
“I probably won’t.” Her intense, military attitude tended to make civilians uncomfortable, and vice versa. “I don’t want to be more of a liability to the ship than an asset. If there’s a lot of socializing required outside the sickbay, I might not pass muster as what the Nebula Zephyr needs, medical certifications notwithstanding.”
“No problem,” he assured her. “Then you’ll ship out with us?”
Taking a deep breath, she glanced around at the walls of the small study. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to leave home behind for a short time. Maybe she’d be able to think better away from her impatient father and all the well-meaning people waiting for her to implode or explode.
“We’d better get going.” He checked his wrist chrono. “The ship has to leave orbit in half an hour. We’ve used our entire margin for error waiting for Dr. Meers to report.”
“Let me throw a few things in my go bag.” Nerves taut but giving in to the seemingly inevitable, Emily admitted defeat, moving past him to the door.
“You won’t need much. The ship supplies uniforms. Maybe a bathing suit—we do have a fully realized ocean beach deck.” He flashed a grin. “There’s a crew-only beach party tonight, in fact. Good chance to meet some of your new shipmates.”
And will you be there? Biting her lip, Emily kept herself from asking the question. She forced herself to walk slowly up the stairs, aware he was watching her from the hall below. Jake Dilon was definitely the type of man she was invariably attracted to, the kind of guy she rarely met now, in civilian life, but pursuing anything with him might get complicated. She couldn’t handle complications—she could barely handle anything unrelated to her medical duties these days because of the fear of flashbacks and the crippling anxiety attacks. Besides, he probably has a string of girlfriends on the ship.
Fifteen minutes later, after a ride through the skylanes to the spaceport, through rush-hour traffic that should have been hair-raising but wasn’t, due to Jake’s superb driving skills, Emily sat in the co-pilot’s chair of a fast little shuttle. She watched her companion run through an abbreviated preflight check.
“Special Forces?” she said as he brought the small ship smoothly off the ground and arrowed it into the stratosphere.
He nodded, maintaining his focus on steering through the traffic lanes.
“I thought as much. How do you keep from getting bored on a cruise ship? There can’t be much call for your kind of combat skills.” His calm military demeanor was familiar and oddly reassuring. After time spent solely in the company of civilians, she found that being with Jake relaxed her brittle nerves. Maybe accepting this unexpected opportunity wasn’t such a bad idea.
He made a minor adjustment to the controls. “It’s a soft berth. And we carry some passengers who’d make high-value targets, so my staff and I are in charge of ensuring their safety during their time on the ship. There’s a casino, so we get our share of card sharks, a few pickpockets, some scammers. Crooks gather wherever there’s opportunity, and our passenger list is stuffed with generational billionaires, Socialites, royalty—” He concentrated on the maneuver necessary to arc around a slow-moving freighter and straightened the flyer’s course again. “The Nebula Zephyr is dead ahead. You can see her on the scanners.”
Emily gave the screen a cursory glance. Ships didn’t interest her. Clenching her fists in her lap to stop herself from fidgeting, she said, “Do I have a staff?”
“Physician’s assistant and three nurses. Maeve, the ship’s AI, has an extensive database and medical records. Or so she says. I wouldn’t know firsthand. Meers always reports he’s satisfied.” He shot her a glance. “I told you, it’s light duty. Almost a vacation.”
“And I get paid to sail. Whats not to like, right?” Convincing herself to relax was always half the battle these days. She smiled, watching the vids as the giant space liner came closer until Jake deftly inserted the shuttle through the half-open hangar deck doors and brought the craft to a soft landing.
Twisting sideways in the pilot’s seat, he said, “You don’t talk much, do you, Doc?”
“Is being loquacious a requirement of the job?”
“No, of course not. Simply making an observation. I’ll escort you to your cabin now. Captain Fleming will be busy getting us out of orbit, so you’ll meet him later.”
“I’d rather see the sickbay first, if you don’t mind.” The idea of a claustrophobia-inducing cabin sent her anxieties into high gear. She wished she’d given this mad escapade more consideration before saying yes.
Jake was waiting for her to exit the tiny cockpit. “Sure, Doc, whatever you’d like.”
Emily allowed him to carry her larger bag, but kept possession of her medical kit as she crossed the busy hangar deck, external doors now closed tight. Jake hailed a crewman and handed off her go bag. “Have this sent to the chief steward on deck eleven and dropped in Dr. Shane’s cabin,” he said.
“You’re somewhat high-handed,” she observed, exiting the hangar bay and stopping in the Level 17 corridor to get a better grip on her medkit.
“I prefer to think of it as finely honed efficiency.” He gave her a grin.
She relaxed a bit as they passed only crew members in the hall. “Don’t try too much of it in my presence, whatever you call it.”
“I consider myself duly reprimanded.” His voice wasn’t penitent at all. Jake paused, and she had to avoid bumping into him. “Gravlift or moving stairs?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“Gravlift, of course. My father may have real stairs in his home, but I haven’t forgotten my antigrav training. I’m not a civilian.”
“Although you are separated from the service,” he said mildly.
Hearing herself sounding unnecessarily prickly to someone who’d been nothing but cordial, she sighed and unbent a little, admitting, “I’ve missed antigrav actually.”
“The ship was outfitted with stairs, for those passengers who want the vintage feel, and also a set of tricked-out, simplified gravlifts for civilians who can handle themselves. Or like to think they can. For the crew we have the basic high-speed setup.” He showed her the access code, and Emily rode the silvery stream of antigrav to A Deck. Allowing her to precede him from the small landing ledge into the main corridor, Jake said, “This deck has the casino, shops, a restaurant, your sickbay—there’s a small, connected cabin for whoever has the overnight medical duty. Your personal cabin is on Level 11, officers’ country. We’ll be neighbors.”
Glancing at the wide corridor she was strolling through, lined with shops, spas and places to dine, Emily said, “She’s a big ship.”
“About the size of a battleship but with more amenities. Maeve can give you a schematic. I’ll be happy to escort you until you learn your way around.”
Deciding more of his company could be fun, Emily swallowed any retort about the implication she might get lost.
The closer they came to the casino, the more crowded it was. The passengers were dressed in gaily colored leisure wear, window shopping and moving in and out of the casino and eateries. Emily’s throat tightened, and she swallowed hard, fighting panic as Jake paused at the edge of the causeway.
“How many passengers?” Her voice was more of a croak.
“We had about two hundred coming into your
planet, plus fifty in cryo sleep. The majority boarded here, for a total of about three thousand awake and maybe four hundred asleep. Harilon’s a major hub, but of course you know that. The cruise industry is a staple of your planet’s economy, right?”
Since it wasn’t a subject Emily knew much about, she nodded and made an indeterminate sound of agreement.
“We can carry thousands more, but this is still a shakedown cruise, so we’re traveling light. Not all the amenities are completed and running for the cruise.”
Feeling exposed, as if all three thousand sentients were there on A Deck, staring at her, Emily took a deep breath to steady herself. She marched through the crowd, not making eye contact with anyone, all her nerves on edge. No one’s going to ambush you here. Counting her breaths, she was conscious of Jake pacing behind her, his presence reassuring. He had her six. No one could come at her from behind. There are no bombs or booby traps here.
Her companion received any number of friendly greetings, she noticed, but didn’t slacken his pace to engage in conversations. She crossed the threshold of the sickbay as if finishing a race, heaving a sigh of relief she couldn’t control. Nausea and vertigo warred in her body.
“Apparently, you have a patient already,” Jake said, touching her arm to direct her attention to the small waiting area.
She startled and gulped, pulse thrumming and cheeks flushing with embarrassment that he might have noticed her lack of control.
“Over there.” Jake pointed with his chin.
Emily glanced in the other direction, at the empty reception desk and the open doors of the three exam rooms beyond. Where in the seven hells was the staff? Patients shouldn’t be waiting to ambush the doctor the moment she came in. Come to think of it, she needed to find out if there was a staff entrance, so she could come and go unobserved.
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