think all those UFO types were batshit crazy, but not anymore.” She made her repeated demand that had heretofore been ignored. “Now … you take me back to where I came from or I swear I’ll make you wish you’d never heard of Earth!”
At that moment the hatch to the med bay opened and bear man walked in. He was accompanied by the big tan guy she remembered from her time in the coffin-looking device.
“Thank the Creator,” Gemma gasped. “I didn’t know how much longer I could hold her off. She’s got the worst temper I’ve ever seen in one creature.”
“
Human!
I am
not
a creature!” Laurel exploded. “I’m human.”
Bear man began to chuckle.
“You find something amusing?” Laurel angrily asked. “Because things don’t look so funny from where I’m standing.”
“Forgive me,” bear man calmly told her, “it’s just that … for a woman who sustained a very serious injury you seem to be doing remarkably well.”
Laurel grabbed at the blanket which currently served as her only clothing. She kept it wrapped around her body with one hand while wielding what looked like a glass specimen jar in the other. Her hair had come loose from the uniform code bun she’d worn the last time she was on duty. It currently lay around her shoulders, causing her to shake it back as it got in her face.
• • •
Darius took a long look at the med bay. He’d never seen it so horribly awry. It looked as though the entire space had been hit by a truncheon blast. Glass was shattered everywhere. Bedding from normal, pristine examining platforms was stripped. That bedding was strewn from every conceivable hanging point. Equipment that should have been contained within sterile shelving units lay on the floor like so many scattered bits of metallic refuse. Carts were overturned; medication containers lay in colorful abandon across countertops. A keypad used to open the main viewer in the port bulkhead had actually been pulled from its containment unit. It lay smoking and flashing on the med bay deck.
“What in the name of … Gemma, what happened?”
Gemma swallowed hard. “We … we had a little difference of opinion. Laurel is under the impression that we mean to harm her. I’ve tried to tell her otherwise, but she’s a bit confused. When I attempted to sedate her she became … upset.”
“
Upset
?” Darius growled as he pulled his shoulders back and imperiously clasped his hands together at the base of his spine. “The med bay looks like a Lamarian she-cat barreled through here! Did
she
do this?” He motioned toward Laurel with nothing more than a jerk of his head.
“She’s a bit confused,” Gemma repeated.
Laurel squared her shoulders and planted her feet apart. “Yeah … I did it!” she admitted, as she lifted her chin in defiance. “Who’s askin’?”
Darius looked at the Earther and narrowed his eyes in anger. The woman’s posture indicated she was daring him to do something about her behavior. As commander of this ship, he was about to take up that challenge.
“Barst, Gemma …
out
!”
“Commander,” Gemma began, “you have to understand. Laurel has been through a great deal. We have to be patient and—”
“Barst, take Gemma to the bridge,” Darius ordered as his gaze lingered on Laurel.
“Come on, Gem,” Barst said as he used the shortened version of her name. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
Barst took the med-tech from the space as Gemma protested in Laurel’s defense.
Darius saw their patient looking him over, the way a predator sized up its prey. He almost felt sorry for her. To her, his height must appear massive. She was head and shoulders beneath him, even though she stood quite tall.
She’d obviously seen men and women in uniform. But the black League tunic, pants, and boots he always donned were more officious than the clothing he’d seen on the dead enforcers. And as he recalled, their hair had been shorn quite close to their heads. None sported
At that moment the hatch to the med bay opened and bear man walked in. He was accompanied by the big tan guy she remembered from her time in the coffin-looking device.
“Thank the Creator,” Gemma gasped. “I didn’t know how much longer I could hold her off. She’s got the worst temper I’ve ever seen in one creature.”
“
Human!
I am
not
a creature!” Laurel exploded. “I’m human.”
Bear man began to chuckle.
“You find something amusing?” Laurel angrily asked. “Because things don’t look so funny from where I’m standing.”
“Forgive me,” bear man calmly told her, “it’s just that … for a woman who sustained a very serious injury you seem to be doing remarkably well.”
Laurel grabbed at the blanket which currently served as her only clothing. She kept it wrapped around her body with one hand while wielding what looked like a glass specimen jar in the other. Her hair had come loose from the uniform code bun she’d worn the last time she was on duty. It currently lay around her shoulders, causing her to shake it back as it got in her face.
• • •
Darius took a long look at the med bay. He’d never seen it so horribly awry. It looked as though the entire space had been hit by a truncheon blast. Glass was shattered everywhere. Bedding from normal, pristine examining platforms was stripped. That bedding was strewn from every conceivable hanging point. Equipment that should have been contained within sterile shelving units lay on the floor like so many scattered bits of metallic refuse. Carts were overturned; medication containers lay in colorful abandon across countertops. A keypad used to open the main viewer in the port bulkhead had actually been pulled from its containment unit. It lay smoking and flashing on the med bay deck.
“What in the name of … Gemma, what happened?”
Gemma swallowed hard. “We … we had a little difference of opinion. Laurel is under the impression that we mean to harm her. I’ve tried to tell her otherwise, but she’s a bit confused. When I attempted to sedate her she became … upset.”
“
Upset
?” Darius growled as he pulled his shoulders back and imperiously clasped his hands together at the base of his spine. “The med bay looks like a Lamarian she-cat barreled through here! Did
she
do this?” He motioned toward Laurel with nothing more than a jerk of his head.
“She’s a bit confused,” Gemma repeated.
Laurel squared her shoulders and planted her feet apart. “Yeah … I did it!” she admitted, as she lifted her chin in defiance. “Who’s askin’?”
Darius looked at the Earther and narrowed his eyes in anger. The woman’s posture indicated she was daring him to do something about her behavior. As commander of this ship, he was about to take up that challenge.
“Barst, Gemma …
out
!”
“Commander,” Gemma began, “you have to understand. Laurel has been through a great deal. We have to be patient and—”
“Barst, take Gemma to the bridge,” Darius ordered as his gaze lingered on Laurel.
“Come on, Gem,” Barst said as he used the shortened version of her name. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
Barst took the med-tech from the space as Gemma protested in Laurel’s defense.
Darius saw their patient looking him over, the way a predator sized up its prey. He almost felt sorry for her. To her, his height must appear massive. She was head and shoulders beneath him, even though she stood quite tall.
She’d obviously seen men and women in uniform. But the black League tunic, pants, and boots he always donned were more officious than the clothing he’d seen on the dead enforcers. And as he recalled, their hair had been shorn quite close to their heads. None sported
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