A smile tugged at her mouth. “Are you so sure there will be a next time?”
“In my experience, there is
always
a next time.”
Doc was tunelessly whistling as he came back in, both hands carrying a tray filled with an impressive assortment of tools, wiring, and one eyeball sitting in a sterilized container. “Rys, I need a reminder. What was the color code for your eye again?”
“636,” Rys replied promptly, without missing a beat. Seeing Anne’s confusion, he explained, “Doc has numbered every possible shade, tone, and hue of color for the human eye. That way it’s easier for him, once he has determined the color of their natural eye, should a duplicate become necessary. My individual shade of grey is number 636.”
“What a great idea,” Anne noted to Doc. “It must save a lot of time and guess work. I probably would have just tried to match the color every time.”
Doc lapped up her praise like a starving dog. His chest puffed out like a peacock with an extra fancy fan of feathers. “Thank you, Anne. It’s nice to have someone around here appreciate my genius.”
Rys rolled his good eye, in a silent appeal to the heavens for strength. “Doc, if we
appreciated
your genius any more than we already do, your head would be so overinflated, you would have to work in a tent because you couldn’t get through a door.”
Doc glared at him. “Just for that crack, considering what I am currently doing, I am cycling your eye over to basic red.”
Rys was pretty sure he was kidding, but you never knew with Doc. He could play a masterful game of poker, and never break a sweat. “Forgive me, great master, your humble servant spoke with undue haste and lack of forethought,” he intoned with false humility.
“Do you think I’m that easy to placate, boy?”
Alright, time to switch to Plan B. “I will buy you a steak dinner, to redeem my soul.”
“You are forgiven,” Doc replied magnanimously, with a wave of his hand.
Rys managed to maintain a straight face, but his cheeks were aching from the effort. Anne was howling with laughter, which wasn’t helping his control any. “Thank you, great master. You are most generous, as always.”
Doc, grinning at his victory, bent over and started removing the broken eye. Rys was more focused on Anne, than a procedure he had already endured three times before. If anything about him was going to rattle her, this was probably going to be the deal breaker.
He watched every nuance in her face, but she didn’t appear to be unnerved in the least. In fact, she seemed fascinated by the whole process, and was engrossed in Doc’s every movement. Doc, for his part, was keeping up a running commentary on what he was doing for her benefit.
It was not the reaction he was anticipating. “This really doesn’t weird you out?” he asked her, a little taken back.
“No, it’s amazing and interesting,” she assured him. “Are you sure you don’t feel anything? It looks like it has the potential to be painful.”
“Absolutely nothing,” he confirmed. He found the presence of her hand on his arm far more distracting. Pleasantly distracting, but distracting nonetheless. “What does it look like?” He’d never been able to watch from a mirror or a monitor while Doc was working on him, and was curious about what she was seeing.
“It’s surreal,” she admitted. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the right socket. “It’s like there’s a metallic sleeve situated inside your orbital cavity, instead of the normal tissue you’d expect to see.”
“Huh.” Not the most intelligent response, but the only one he could come up with at the moment.
“I made this oculus stronger and more durable than the others,” Doc noted idly as he picked it up and gave it an admiring glance. “I’m tired of replacing this thing every couple of months. I have enough real work to do, I don’t need to practice my speed drills.”
Rys wasn’t about to touch that statement. Not with a ten foot pole and fire proof gloves.
“I never noticed it before,” Anne leaned forward a little, her head tilting to the right to get a better look under the lights, “but there’s a fine scar there, at the edge of your face. Did that happen when you lost the eye?”
“Lost the eye?” Doc snorted under his breath. “My dear young lady, he just about lost the right side of his skull. We had to fit all the pieces back together, before we even started to worry about his eye.”
Anne went white, her face instantly draining of all color as she stared at Rys in horror.
“Doc,” Rys hissed in a clear reprimand.
Doc stopped in mid-motion, eye in one hand and suction insertion rod in the other. “You didn’t tell her the story?”
“Negative,” he replied in a short decisive manner, praying Doc would just drop it.
“All he said was that he didn’t duck quickly enough,” Anne whispered hoarsely, hoping the doctor was in the mood to share.
Doc studied her through narrowed eyes for a moment, like he was actually seeing her for the first time. “I guess I can understand why he didn’t tell you more. I’m sorry, Anne, I wasn’t considering my words very carefully. Of course it would be disturbing for you to realize how close we came to losing your friend entirely. I must have tapioca for brains, I apologize.”
“Doc, you can stop now,” Rys gritted the words out between clenched teeth. Anne was gripping his arm so tightly that his circulation felt like it was being inhibited by a tourniquet. She looked like she was close to tears, too, which was very disturbing for him. He hated to think of any woman crying because of him, especially her. “Anne, take deep breaths. This was three years ago, remember? It is just water over the spill gates.”
Anne sucked in a shuddering breath, and then another. “Sorry. I should have realized…of course, if something damaged your eye…”
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she was becoming. Rys had to shift her mind off that track and onto another, quickly. “You know this city pretty well, don’t you?”
She blinked, taking in the question like he was speaking a foreign language. “Yes, pretty well. Why?”
“I’m just wondering if there was a good steak restaurant in the area. Maybe one with a respectable salad bar as well? Doc is part rabbit, he adores vegetables.”
Doc chuckled low in his throat. “You have no room to talk, Rys. You eat fruit like you are afraid that it might be a passing fad!”
Successfully diverted, Anne’s steel grip loosened on his arm. “There’s a really good one about three blocks over,” she offered after a moment. “As I recall their salad bar is fairly decent as well. Doc, would you be able to come with us after you finish with Rys’s eye?”
“I actually stayed late today just for him,” Doc answered absently as he leaned in closer to Rys’s face, seating the eye carefully inside. “I am technically off duty right now. Rys, stop blinking, you are driving me to drink!”
“How can you expect me to control an involuntary reflex?”
“You’re a soldier, you’re supposed to obey all of the orders you’re given,” Doc retorted. “Make it happen, Mister! Ah, there’s what I need!”
“Do you want me to turn it on now?” Rys asked hopefully.
“No, stand by one. Let me run a quick systems check to make sure that everything is connected right.”
There was a soft knock at the door.
“Anne, would you get that, please? My hands are a little full right now.” Doc requested, concentrating on the task at hand.
Anne let go of Rys and opened the door, revealing a somber Sara and Jeremy. “Oh, hello,” Anne greeted them in a relieved tone of voice. “You’re just in time. The eye is in and the doctor is just doing a final check before they activate it.”
They both visibly relaxed at that welcome news, coming in and shutting the door behind them. “There weren’t any complications?” Jeremy asked with his eyes focused on his new son.
“Not a one, sir,” Rys assured him cheerfully. “Doc, can I try it now?”
“Rys, I’ll tell you when you can actually turn the eye on, all right? I am not screwing in a light bulb here you know! Anne, I really need him occupied, he keeps pulling me off task. At this rate I am going to starve to death.”
Anne rolled her eyes and went back to Rys, picking up his hand in hers. Rys really enjoyed when she held his hand like that. What was it about human contact that was so soothing?
“Rys, surely you know better than to distract the doctor when he’s operating on you? If you aren’t careful, you could end up cross-eyed!”
“But he never tells me anything,” Rys complained. “How can I be involved, when I don’t have any intel?”
“You don’t give me a chance to tell you anything before you start assaulting me with questions!” Doc retorted with considerable asperity.
Anne chuckled. “Rys, if you keep badgering the man like this, you’re going to owe him more than just one steak dinner.”
“There, done,” Doc pronounced, stepping back from the bed with satisfaction. “Now you can activate it.”
Rys turned his new eye on and blinked, looking around.
“How is it?” Sara asked anxiously.
“Better, I think.” Rys started cycling through the standard functions. “Infrared works fine, the zoom is…wow! Doc, what’s the range on this thing?”
“About three miles,” Doc answered proudly. “Neat, isn’t it?”
“Very nice!” Rys beamed, feeling like a giddy kid with too many new high tech toys. He didn’t know what to play with first.
“Three
miles
?” Anne repeated incredulously. “What was it before?”
“Two,” Jeremy answered. The only sign of surprise on his part was a simple quirk of the brow.
Rys reached the last function on the menu and frowned slightly. “Doc, what’s this new function about?”
“That is a camera. Neat, isn’t it? You can record up to an hour worth of video, or do simple still screen shots, if you wish.” Doc sounded very pleased with himself over this development.
“Now that’s going to be handy,” Rys noted with approval. “You’re right, I like this upgrade.”
“I thought you might. Now, where is that steak dinner you promised me?”
Rys swung himself up and off the bed, in one easy motion. “That will be one steak bribe, complete with salad bar, coming up. Jeremy, Sara, would you like to join us? Anne assures me it’s a pretty good restaurant, but we need to run recon to verify her revue.”
“I make it a policy to never pass up good food,” Jeremy declared with a grin on his face. “We’ll follow you over there.”
“Let me shed my doctor togs, and I’ll be right with you.” Doc left the room with a bounce evident in his stride.
Rys waited until he was sure the doctor was out of earshot, then murmured to Anne, “You’d tell me if my eye was red, wouldn’t you?”
Anne smirked at him. “Maybe.”
He’d figured that might be her response. “What will it cost me to get a straight answer?”
“Dessert will get you there.”
He gave her a crisp salute. “Consider it done, ma’am.”
“It’s grey,” she admitted with a saucy smile.
“What are you two talking about?” Sara demanded with open amusement.
Rys just had to laugh and shake his head. “It’s a long story.”
***
Anne led the way to the Walker Steak House, one of the best places she had ever eaten, and a personal favorite. It had the added advantage of being located within walking distance of the army base, so it was very popular with the soldiers. Rys and Admiral Bloch wouldn’t even get a second glance in this mob of starving, uniformed personnel.
They were seated in a back corner table by the hostess, who was trying her best to keep ahead of the crowd. Anne sat in between Doc and Rys, and it didn’t surprise her in the least when Rys held her chair out for her. Apparently he hadn’t been exaggerating about manners being drilled in to them at the academy.
It took quite a while to look over the menu; they had a wide variety of selections. They finally decided what they wanted and placed their orders. Doc immediately bolted for the lavish salad bar, with Rys keeping pace with him. Anne was distinctly amused when her friend returned with a plate spilling over with every imaginable fresh fruit. “Doc wasn’t kidding about the fruit, was he?”
“I’m seriously addicted to fruit,” Rys admitted unrepentantly, as he sat down again. “We seldom had fresh fruit or vegetables on Fourth — everything was usually dehydrated, or powdered, or reconstituted. Fresh stuff had to be imported from off world, making it very expensive. It was harder to get real fruits and vegetables than to get candy.”
Doc was back in time to hear this last sentence, and he nodded in agreement. “That’s straight up. That’s one thing about the place I sure don’t miss.”
Rys got a tight, pinched look to his face, remembering his former home.
Admiral Bloch sighed. “Arystair, don’t take it that way. You did everything possible, and a few things impossible to protect that place. All of 01 did. Great Guardians, you were absolute miracle workers protecting that colony as long as you did. You were outnumbered, outgunned, under supplied and eventually outmaneuvered. You can only fight those kinds of odds for so long.”
Anne didn’t understand the full scope of this conversation. She felt like she had just entered the third act of a play, and missed all of the set up. Gently putting her hand on Rys’s arm she asked quietly, “What does he mean by that?”
Rys put his fork down and turned to face her. She almost wished he hadn’t. There was so much pain evident on his face that it tore at her heart and twisted it. “We failed to protect Fourth Colony, Anne.”
“You did not!” Doc hotly protested, almost choking on a mouth full of salad.
He shook his head, disagreeing. “We only protected the population. We evacuated most of them safely, although there was that one shuttle accident… Anyway. We were created and trained for one purpose — to protect Fourth Colony. We didn’t do it. We lost our home because we weren’t strong enough to protect it from our enemies.”
“Wait, Rys, back up.” Anne held up a hand, stopping him from going any further. “As I understand it, Nova attacked Fourth Colony without any warning, or provocation. They just showed up in force and started hammering away. No target was off limits. It was only because of the ingenuity of the miners on the outer asteroids that Fourth wasn’t destroyed during the first wave. They jury rigged a shield to protect the colony, which bought the military enough time to scramble their forces and respond. From the first volley, you were fighting a war against an enemy that outnumbered you, had more assets in place, and more resources. Despite those overwhelming odds, your people held them off for ten years. Even in retreat, the Fourth navy and army decimated the final armada from Nova. They were attempting to cut you off, and wipe out all of the evacuees. That doesn’t sound like a defeat to me.”