machinist mate closed his hand in a hatch.”
“Ow! Bad?”
“Had to glue a few lacerations but nothing was broken.” The doctor considered her roommate with a professional eye. Maggie lay sprawled out with her legs hanging over the side of the bunk and one arm covering her eyes. “You look exhausted, again. Doing laundry shouldn’t be so tiring.”
With an exaggerated groan, O’Connell sat up and began folding the clothes she had stuffed willy-nilly into the bag. She hissed in exasperation over a small yellow stain on one tank top. “Technology to redefine the universe and catapult us past the speed of light, but still no effective way to remove a mustard stain. There’s a deeper meaning there, I’m sure.” She shrugged. “Anyway, it’s not doing laundry that’s exhausting. I went a couple rounds with Tony today.” She grinned when Cassie groaned in response. “Yeah. Couldn’t let the co-pilot upstage me, of course. He has a nasty uppercut.” She paused and smoothed at a wrinkle in one of her uniform blouses. “Did have an interesting conversation in the laundry, though.”
“Oh?”
“Captain’s brother.”
Cassie rolled over to face Maggie, but kept quiet. She kept her face emotionless, giving nothing away.
“He’s an odd duck. I’m convinced one of them is adopted. They’re a perfect personification of yin and yang. One’s cold and calculating and completely, stultifyingly, proper. The other is all emotion and naked ambition. Disturbing, though.”
Cassie re-arranged her comforter and switched off her lamp. “Which one is disturbing?”
In the act of hanging up her dress uniform, Maggie paused. “Well, both. But Ryan Hill…” She shook her head. “Maybe I’m just tired and jumpy. He sets my nerves on edge. This tickling in the back of my mind, like something dangerous is coming up on my six but I can’t quite see it. You know what I mean?”
“No idea, sorry. I’ve barely met him. You’re probably just imagining it. You do tend to jump to conclusions about people. Maybe the dichotomy between his personality and his brother’s is causing your misgivings. You’re seeing deceit where nothing but honest differences exists.”
Maggie frowned. “Maybe.” She flicked off the lights on her side of the room. “Get some sleep.”
Cassie turned her head and peered into the darkness. “Where are you going?”
“Watch patrol. Chi has the con and I’m senior officer on watch. I want to check on him before I turn in. I’ll wake you for dinner.”
***
Ben Fortunas made Dwax nervous. There was an underlying current of intellectual skepticism and suspicion that the scientist’s outwardly jovial and grandfatherly appearance could not completely hide. Even as an alien still adapting to the behavioral intricacies of the human species, Dwax knew when someone didn’t believe him. The worst of it was, Fortunas had every reason to be suspicious and Dwax had every reason to be nervous. It made for a tense partnership.
Fortunas had been studying every scrap of information available about the planet Dremiks since the Dremikians arrived in Earth orbit. His immediate family died during the war, leaving him with no ties to any place or person. A German by birth, the doctor liked good German wine, and good, warm, beer. He was a biologist by training but had solid backgrounds in mineral sciences and meteorology.
The lights flickered in the science bay, but Fortunas didn’t glance up from the screen in front of him. Underneath the lens of a powerful microscope sat a precious sample of Dremikian soil. The doctor knew by heart the mineral content and atomic weight of the contents. He was content, for the moment, to examine the physical characteristics of the fine granules. He told Dwax that a great deal could be learned from simple visual observation. All Dwax saw was sand.
Dwax thought humans curiously precise in their varying terms and definitions for dirt. In his native tongue there was no
“Ow! Bad?”
“Had to glue a few lacerations but nothing was broken.” The doctor considered her roommate with a professional eye. Maggie lay sprawled out with her legs hanging over the side of the bunk and one arm covering her eyes. “You look exhausted, again. Doing laundry shouldn’t be so tiring.”
With an exaggerated groan, O’Connell sat up and began folding the clothes she had stuffed willy-nilly into the bag. She hissed in exasperation over a small yellow stain on one tank top. “Technology to redefine the universe and catapult us past the speed of light, but still no effective way to remove a mustard stain. There’s a deeper meaning there, I’m sure.” She shrugged. “Anyway, it’s not doing laundry that’s exhausting. I went a couple rounds with Tony today.” She grinned when Cassie groaned in response. “Yeah. Couldn’t let the co-pilot upstage me, of course. He has a nasty uppercut.” She paused and smoothed at a wrinkle in one of her uniform blouses. “Did have an interesting conversation in the laundry, though.”
“Oh?”
“Captain’s brother.”
Cassie rolled over to face Maggie, but kept quiet. She kept her face emotionless, giving nothing away.
“He’s an odd duck. I’m convinced one of them is adopted. They’re a perfect personification of yin and yang. One’s cold and calculating and completely, stultifyingly, proper. The other is all emotion and naked ambition. Disturbing, though.”
Cassie re-arranged her comforter and switched off her lamp. “Which one is disturbing?”
In the act of hanging up her dress uniform, Maggie paused. “Well, both. But Ryan Hill…” She shook her head. “Maybe I’m just tired and jumpy. He sets my nerves on edge. This tickling in the back of my mind, like something dangerous is coming up on my six but I can’t quite see it. You know what I mean?”
“No idea, sorry. I’ve barely met him. You’re probably just imagining it. You do tend to jump to conclusions about people. Maybe the dichotomy between his personality and his brother’s is causing your misgivings. You’re seeing deceit where nothing but honest differences exists.”
Maggie frowned. “Maybe.” She flicked off the lights on her side of the room. “Get some sleep.”
Cassie turned her head and peered into the darkness. “Where are you going?”
“Watch patrol. Chi has the con and I’m senior officer on watch. I want to check on him before I turn in. I’ll wake you for dinner.”
***
Ben Fortunas made Dwax nervous. There was an underlying current of intellectual skepticism and suspicion that the scientist’s outwardly jovial and grandfatherly appearance could not completely hide. Even as an alien still adapting to the behavioral intricacies of the human species, Dwax knew when someone didn’t believe him. The worst of it was, Fortunas had every reason to be suspicious and Dwax had every reason to be nervous. It made for a tense partnership.
Fortunas had been studying every scrap of information available about the planet Dremiks since the Dremikians arrived in Earth orbit. His immediate family died during the war, leaving him with no ties to any place or person. A German by birth, the doctor liked good German wine, and good, warm, beer. He was a biologist by training but had solid backgrounds in mineral sciences and meteorology.
The lights flickered in the science bay, but Fortunas didn’t glance up from the screen in front of him. Underneath the lens of a powerful microscope sat a precious sample of Dremikian soil. The doctor knew by heart the mineral content and atomic weight of the contents. He was content, for the moment, to examine the physical characteristics of the fine granules. He told Dwax that a great deal could be learned from simple visual observation. All Dwax saw was sand.
Dwax thought humans curiously precise in their varying terms and definitions for dirt. In his native tongue there was no
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