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 his 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.”
The captain sat in his chair and folded his hands in front of him. “Do.” Commander O’Connell’s presence and manner bemused him. He watched as she motioned the doctor in the door. He caught her reassuring smile and the return frown from the doctor. Clearly something was bothering both of them.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Ruger. Please have a seat.” He waited until she complied. “How can I help you today?”
The captain’s gaze didn’t miss a single nervous gesture or grimace from the doctor. He watched her fingers clench on the arms of her chair. He saw her eyes flick towards O’Connell. She licked her lips and prepared to speak, then frowned again. He waited.
“Captain, I’m afraid I have some unsettling news.” Cassie waited for the captain to prompt her further. She found his motionless features and ramrod straight posture to be even more intimidating than usual. When he didn’t even blink in acknowledgement of her statement, she pressed on. “There is a colonist who has fallen pregnant.”
O’Connell watched the captain become even more motionless, something she hadn’t thought possible. He seemed to shrink inward, trying to contain his shock. When he spoke it was in a soft tone that betrayed nothing but professional curiosity.
“
Fallen
, Doctor? An odd choice of words.”
Cassie laughed nervously. “Yes, sorry. She has become pregnant.”
“How?”
Dr. Ruger blushed. O’Connell blinked several times in mild dismay.
“Uh, well, the usual way, I’m sure.”
He leaned forward in his chair, placing his crossed hands on the desk. “You did not ask?”
“It wasn’t entirely necessary, sir. The colonist in question was not surprised, or, more importantly, dismayed at the news. I believe this was a planned pregnancy.”
Captain Hill sat back to think for a few moments. The idea that a woman would purposely put her health, and that of an innocent unborn child, at risk was almost unthinkable. Yet, some colonist had stopped taking her birth control and convinced her partner to stop taking his medication as well. On top of that, they had purposely planned the pregnancy. It was galling.
“Who is this colonist?”
Cassie swallowed twice. She licked her lips again and blurted out, “Marissa Hill.”
O’Connell watched her captain’s hands, folded in front of him, turn white at the knuckles as they clenched. She saw his jaw flex and for just a moment she was sure he was going to yell, or swear, or show some bit of emotion. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cassie shift in her seat. Maggie smiled down at her, trying to reassure her that the worst was over. When she turned her attention back to the captain, he’d resumed his veneer of quiet calm.
“She was not surprised by the news?”
Dr. Ruger shook her head. “No, she seemed to be expecting the news.”
He continued to ask questions in the same calm tone. “She is healthy? The baby is ok?” When he heard the doctor’s answers, he sat staring at the women, but not seeing them.
“Sir?” O’Connell’s soft question interrupted his thoughts. He frowned slightly at her. “If you are done with the doctor, sir? Her staff is paging her.”
Dr. Ruger’s alerter was beeping softly. She rose and nervously tugged at the pleat in her trousers. “My apologies sir, but I really must be going.”
“Absolutely, please don’t let me keep you. You’ll let me know if there are any further developments?”
“Not
if
, Captain Hill, but
when
.” She smiled to try to lighten the mood, but when the captain did not smile back, she hurried out the door. It clicked close behind her and the captain went back to staring off into space.
“By your leave, sir.” O’Connell said the words softly as she did an about face and moved towards the door.
“No, Commander, a word, if you please.” His eyes focused on her now. She turned back to face him. “Dr. Ruger felt uncomfortable coming to me with this news. Why is that?”
Maggie nibbled her lip for a moment before answering. “You intimidate her, sir. She was afraid of some emotional outburst.”
“Excuse me?” His tone was sharp and his look, accusatory.
“It is a delicate subject sir, under any circumstances. When your own family is involved…”
He waited for her to finish. When she stood there staring back at him, obviously fighting to find the right words, he grunted in annoyance. “I simply cannot understand how she would think I would hold her personally responsible for doing her job. All I ever ask of this crew, and of our colonists, is professionalism.” O’Connell did not respond. He stood and came around the desk. “She really finds me intimidating?”
O’Connell nodded. “Yes sir, she does.”
“Does everyone?”
She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes. “Does it matter?” She asked the question with an expression and frankness that belied her subordinate status. “I should think you would welcome the attitude.”