Shadows In Still Water (6 page)

Aurelia sat in one of the private cubicles in C-wing that GEM Co. provided for visiting employees. She had just finished dictating her report on the box pox epidemic when she heard footsteps approaching. Peeking out of the cubicle, she saw Nicholas Zelan. Her already tight muscles tensed even more at the sight of Renner Conlin and Governor Arnott right behind him.

Aurelia would not let them intimidate her. Propping her bad leg on the desk, she unwrapped a Razo bar and waited.

Zelan rapped his knuckles on the top of the cubicle then looked around the open doorway. “Do you have a minute, Doctor?”

“Do I have a choice?” Aurelia replied around a mouthful of candy. “Apparently not,” she added as Conlin and Arnott filed in and Zelan dragged in chairs borrowed from the other cubicles.

" I hope you plan on keeping this short, gentlemen. I was just about to retire.” Aurelia could feel the buzz of exhaustion beginning in the back of her skull.

For probably the first time in his life, Arnott got straight to the point, “We have several concerns about your handling of this box pox investigation, Doctor.”

Aurelia just stared at him and kept chewing.

“I’ve had several complaints about your conduct in the command office. What was your purpose in sealing the door, leaving all those people locked in?”

“Let me ask you a question. Where were you, Governor? The Dulan called me. He should have been calling you.”

“That doesn’t answer the question,” put in Renner Conlin. He was drumming his fat fingers against his knees, the huge ring on his pinkie catching the light with each movement.

Needs a fix, Aurelia thought, appraising the arbiter professionally. I’d love to prove that to the board one of these days. She forced her attention back to the governor.

“Three freighter captains threatened to drop their contracts with us, they were so angry,” Arnott continued.

“We’ve already alienated enough customers with this whole quarantine business,” Zelan added.

“Hold it right there. Which do you prefer? A few angry customers or the loss of this space station? You’re skirting the edge of a hole yourself, Captain, for breaking that quarantine.”

Zelan leaned forward, “You’re quick enough to disregard the rules when it suits you, Doctor. Code 556 of the Intergalactic Treaty has absolutely nothing to do with epidemics.”

Aurelia raised both eyebrows. “Did I get the number wrong?”

“I don’t think arresting that Sclarian was a good idea either. Intergalactic law is iffy at best. I doubt if he will be convicted and it doesn’t help our relationship with the Sclarians.”

“I’ll agree with you on I.G law, but in this case even a Sclarian judge would convict him. We were lucky that wemrat was only carrying box pox. It could have been a lot worse.”

“I think a warning would have been sufficient.”

“Do you honestly think he would have made it through that crowd alive if I had just given him a warning?”

Zelan apparently had no answer to that.

Conlin was practically bouncing off his chair. “The point is,” he said, “you’ve made GEM Co. look bad, doctor. I’m recommending an investigation of your actions.”

The sudden surge of blood through her veins brought Aurelia to her feet. “That’s the most laughable thing I’ve heard all year. I did my job in the best, fastest way possible. The Jidalians are back to work and everybody else will forget it about by tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you would prefer that,” Arnott said.

Aurelia shook her head, “This is really funny. I don’t know what you three think you’re doing. I have nothing to hide. Do all the investigating you want. I’m going to bed.”

Aurelia stepped out from behind the desk, staring down Captain Zelan. “Get out of my way.”

Zelan scooted his chair back.

Limping down the hall, Aurelia drew in a calming breath. It didn’t help. How dare they put her in a pressure cooker? The tactic had been used by GEM Co. middle management for years, mostly to weed out any weak links, though the practice was frowned upon now. There hadn’t seemed to be any point to this beyond mere intimidation. She didn’t like it at all. She could call Admiral Meng, but she didn’t want it to appear that she was running to him for protection.

We’re leaving tomorrow and this will all blow over, she told herself as she caught an express to the docking level.

On board the
Pasteur
, the halls echoed with silence as Aurelia walked carefully through the corridors. Personnel involved in the testing had all crashed in their rooms. With just four of the 150 beds in the wards occupied only one doctor and four nurses kept the afternoon watch. Engineering crew were the only other people awake.

Aurelia wandered into the children’s ward on Deck 7. A dim light glowed at the nurses’ station. The rest of the ward was in darkness. The nurse on duty acknowledged the chief surgeon with a nod.

“How’s our favorite patient?” Aurelia asked.

The nurse rolled her eyes. “Starting to get obnoxious.”

Aurelia smiled. “That’s a good sign.”

“I just put him down for a nap but he’s been asking for you all day.”

Walking to the eighth bed down, Aurelia automatically checked her patient’s wide wristband which kept track of all his vital functions.

“Doc,” a small voice whispered.

She reached over and flipped on the night light. “What is it, Snuffy?” she asked in low tones.

The Sclarian child looked up at her, one tear gleaming on his cheek. His upturned nose quivered. “You didn’t come by all day yesterday,” he said in a shaky voice.

Aurelia lifted the sheet to examine the red patches of skin where new bristles were just beginning to sprout after a ship fire had burned over eighty percent of his body. “I had lots of work to do,” she replied, replacing the sheet. “A few more days and you can blow this one engine joint.”

“Tell me a story.”

“I don’t know any stories.”

“Yeah, you do. I bet your mom told you stories,” the cub urged.

Aurelia shook her head, “I don’t remember my mother.”

“How come?”

“She died...I think.”

Snuffy’s nose began to tremble even more. Two huge tears tumbled out of his eyes, splashing onto Aurelia’s hand. “My mom died too...in the fire. I w...want her back.”

Aurelia reached out for his paw, glad that someone could cry. She sat beside him, staring into the darkness, until his sobs lessened and his breathing deepened into that of sleep. After switching off the light, she crawled into the empty bed next to his and fell asleep herself.

Millie’s ninety minute power nap had taken the edge off her tiredness. Other crew members were catching up on their full quota of sleep, but Millie knew from experience that it was better to stick to her regular, daily schedule. With all the time changes and distortions involved with space travel, her biological clock could get screwed up real fast. She had no idea how people like Aurelia did it. The chief surgeon slept at all kinds of odd hours, mostly catnaps and ate whenever she was hungry, mostly junk food.

Stopping in the middle of the corridor, Millie looked around. She intended to go to Davis’s library but had to admit she was hopelessly lost.

Oh, no, she thought, seeing Althan Tahk step off an elevator and turn her way.

Sliding her right hand into the pocket of her green lab coat, Millie tightly gripped the spray can of Nangatrol, a topical anesthetic. In the eyes should be effective.

“Miss Konoho.” He greeted her. “I’m afraid we got off to a bad start earlier. I’d like to apologize,” He smiled and his whole face was transformed. He looked much younger and less intimidating.

Millie relaxed her fingers. “Apology accepted.”

“My name is Althan Tahk, but call me Than, please.” The Kaprinian continued. “Could I interest you in dinner at Alfonso’s? I hear they have some great dish called lasa agna.”

Millie smiled. “That’s lasagna and it is very good.” She looked up into those strange eyes fixed on her face and added, “Thanks for the offer but I really have a lot of work to do yet.”

“Well, you have to eat sometime don’t you? It’s a public place and you won’t be alone with me. Honestly, I’m perfectly safe to be with.”

She had to smile again at his persistence. He really did seem harmless now. Her reaction to him earlier had probably just been lack of sleep. “All right,” she finally agreed.

Alfonso’s had a better reputation than it deserved. It was really just a waiting room for departing passengers with a few tables and a bar added. Most of its customers were crews off the zero gravity freighters to whom any kind of solid food tasted like ambrosia after their dehydrated, highly nutritious, processed fare.

They ordered at the bar then sat down at a table in the corner.

Than smiled, “I’m glad you came. I don’t often have the opportunity to entertain a beautiful lady.”

Millie had to admit he had a certain charm. He must have spent a good deal of time on Earth or one of her colonies or somewhere around humans. Kaprinian customs and manners were quite different--they were a direct, uncompromising people with many rituals but very little charm.

The lasagna, when it came, was dry and curling up at the edges. The bottle of green wine from Oralen was surprisingly good. Millie found herself talking easily about growing up on Hawaii as the eldest of five children and how she had become a nurse, working for GEM Co. Somewhere about the time she was finishing a dessert of pefflinberry pie, Millie realized her companion had drunk three and a half glasses of wine, eaten very little lasagna, no dessert and was completely sober. She knew from direct experience with Jak that most Kaprinians were intolerant of alcohol. As she looked up into his intense eyes, a slow shiver started up her spine.

“Cold?” he asked.

“A little. The conditioning system here isn’t the greatest. Enough about me. What do you do for a living, Than?” Millie ventured to ask.

“I’m a diplomatic liaison. Right now I’m working on a large scale project with Renner Conlin.”

Millie wanted to ask him about the PEF card but then he would know she had been checking up on him. “Can you tell me more details about the project?”

Than shook his head, “I’m afraid not at this time. You look tired. You must have been working all night.”

Nice way to turn the conversation. “I’ll be fine if I stick to my regular schedule.”

“I was surprised at how fast you finished the testing.”

“We’re pretty efficient when we get going. We were lucky to find that wemrat though. He could have been running around this station for months.”

“Yes. I believe Dr. Aurelia found it?”

“That’s right.”

“Most fortuitous.” Than’s tone implied he didn’t think it was luck at all.

“What do you mean?”

Than’s antennae swayed slightly though they were certainly not as expressive as Jak’s. “It just seems convenient for her to find it. Quite a boost to her reputation.”

Leaning forward, Millie stared hard into those disconcerting eyes. “I’ve worked with Aurelia for twelve years and I’ve never seen so much as a hint of impropriety. She has an excellent reputation because she’s the best at what she does.”

“I admire your loyalty.”

“I don’t like innuendoes and rumors based on pure speculation not material fact.”

Than waved his hands at her. “Okay. I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin an enjoyable evening.”

Millie sat back and smiled. “Neither do I.”

“I heard you were leaving in the morning?”

Millie nodded. “O800 on the dot.”

“I would think you would stay longer. Rest up for awhile.” Than looked hopeful.

“I would love to but I’m afraid that’s up to Aurelia and our scheduler, Ford Netteb.” Millie shook her head and laughed. “Both of them are very driven people.”

“Can’t you put in a request? If enough people signed it, they’d have to stay wouldn’t they?”

Raising an eyebrow, Millie looked at him. “The
Pasteur
is not governed as a democracy. Neither is GEM Co. for that matter.”

Than shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”

The thought struck Millie, he doesn’t want us to leave tomorrow. Why not? She studied her companion’s face as he took a sip of wine.

Than smiled at her over the glass, a sly smile as if he could read her thoughts.

Suppressing another shiver, Millie let her gaze slide casually over to the clock on the wall. It was in Jidalian time but easy to convert. Almost 2200. “It’s getting late,” Millie said. “I need to get some sleep. Thank you very much for dinner.”

Than got to his feet and held her chair for her. “May I walk you back to the ship?”

Millie didn’t want him to but didn’t want to be rude either. “All right,” she finally agreed. Maybe she could ferret out why he didn’t want the
Pasteur
to leave just yet. Or was it herself he wanted? No, even though he gave her the creeps he hadn’t tried to touch her at all and only complimented her once. Millie felt sure he was after something else.

They reached the elevators when it happened. For half a second Millie thought she had drunk too much wine. A tingling, nauseating sensation passed through her. The floor seemed to tip. She hit the wall, took a three foot drop to the ceiling and slid down the opposite wall. Alarms blared. Dazed, her breath knocked out of her lungs, Millie tried to stand. Gravity was gone. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face but felt her body rising.

A hissing noise. Something wet smacked against her face. Twisting in panic, Millie spat the bitterness from her mouth. Fire foam.

“Oh, God, please help me.”

Even with the force with which it was ejected, the foam had no place to go but up. The kesium back up system came on, splashing orange glow everywhere. The foam, white and sticky, spurted from the ceiling grids.

Pushing herself along the wall, Millie banged the elevator buttons. No lights, no service.

“Frap!” She tried to pry the doors open with her fingers until the nails chipped and bled.

“Somebody help!” She shoved foam away from her face. “Than! Where are you?”

The Kaprinian’s body floated about eight feet away from her. Millie could see his boot dangling out of the white mess. One hard shove against the wall sent her flying in his direction.

“Than! Can you hear me?” Millie yelled again. Throwing one arm around his waist, she kicked her foot against the wall and dived just like a swimmer into a pool. She swam for the door to Alfonso’s. The fire doors had locked into position.

“Hey, open up!” Millie pounded on the heavy titanium steel. Each hit sent her backwards. “Frap.”

Twisting, turning, struggling to hold onto Than, Millie pulled her utility belt off. Looping one end through the emergency door handle, she wrapped the other end around her ankle. Anchored, she pulled Than closer. The Kaprinian was unconscious with a smear of copper-colored blood across his forehead.

“Than. Can you hear me?” Millie yelled at his antennae. No response. At least he was breathing. The pulse at the base of his left antenna beat slow but steady.

She got a better grip on him then went fishing for her comm-link. “Hello. Is anyone there? I need help.”

No response from that either.

Something brushed the top of her head. The foam was going to fill the entire corridor. “How much of this stuff can there be?” Closing her eyes, she prayed it would run out.

A tug on her foot made her already racing heart jump. They were putting the gravity back on slowly. Would it be fast enough. Was there enough foam already to smother them? Than was going to get a lot heavier too. Pulling him over her shoulder, Millie yanked the belt off and held her breath as they rose through the wall of white.

Hurry up, hurry up, she prayed, feeling her body sinking once more. Than’s weight pressed against her shoulder.

Millie tried to get her foot under her but she slipped and fell to the floor. Coughing and gasping, she got to her feet fast, found the foam came about waist high. Feeling for Than’s shirt, she grabbed it and hauled him up. Both arms around his waist, Millie propped him against the wall. She wiped his face clear of the sticky stuff. Then she just breathed.

Than moved, blinked. “What happened?”

Millie started to laugh, catching her breath in little gulps. She wiped her watering eyes, stinging from the chemicals. “I’m not sure, but you missed it.”