Starlaw (8 page)

“Yeah … I understand,” she bitterly responded. “And is there any reason why your medical person says she put something in my brain? Something I never permitted?”

Darius sighed loudly, passed a weary hand over his face, and answered quickly. “That was done so you could understand and converse with numerous sentient beings. The chemicals induced in your brain … by way of the communo-chip's neural stimulation … will allow you to hear your language being spoken as other tongues are automatically translated. The processes induced by the chip also affect your eyesight in this respect. The most common colloquialisms will be transmitted in a way that will be perfectly clear. In short, you'll hear and see languages spoken in your native, Earth tongue. You'll be able to read many other languages as well. This should make life easier.” He lifted his chin in a superior fashion and looked down at her. “This is the advanced technology from which you now benefit, and which could save you a great deal of trouble. Conversely, we all see and hear you speaking in
our
various languages.”

“I guess that accounts for how I'm hearing perfect English,” she grudgingly acknowledged, “but I've got a few choice phrases for your internal memory banks!”

He looked her over in what he hoped was a deprecating fashion. Then he glanced at the nearly destroyed med bay once more. “Thus far, you've made your feelings abundantly clear, madam. I reiterate that what my medical technician did was standard procedure. The communo-chip must remain in place … unless you
don't
want to communicate for the duration of this trip. This, of course, is up to you. But I wouldn't recommend its removal.” He straightened and pulled his shoulders back. “Now … I'd like to consider your infantile behavior a thing of the past. Is it resolved or must I have you incarcerated?”

She opened her mouth to speak but he walked toward the hatch and pushed several buttons on a bulkhead console. “Gemma … return to the med bay, please. Our guest is over her tantrum, and she's agreed to help you put the space back in order.” He smiled when he saw the Earth woman's murderous glare.

“Yes, Commander,” Gemma responded.

Darius stepped away from the communication console and walked slowly toward the Earther. She refused to back up and stared straight into his eyes as he approached. The creature was trying, with all her might, to show no fear. There was no hint of sniveling. That was a mark in her favor as he disliked those of the fairer sex who succumbed to tearful pleading in order to get their way. His once beloved mate had yielded to that habit and had gotten
her
way. An innocent child paid the price for it.

His trust for the fairer sex wasn't easily given nowadays, but it was easier when the woman in question looked him straight in the eyes. Just as this Earther did.

“One more thing. You'll need to stay in the med bay until I give you permission to leave. There are crew members and equipment aboard that you don't need to see. You wouldn't understand the technology at any rate. But there's simply no need for you to go gallivanting in an area where you might be hurt.”

Laurel put the jar she held down, grabbed her blanket closer, and shook her hair back once more. “How long will it be before I'm returned to Earth?” she asked in a furious, low tone.

“I'll ask about your return as soon as we get to our final destination, as promised,” he explained. “It could take up to a year for me to convince—”

“
What
! You're going to keep me a prisoner for an entire year?”

“You're not technically a prisoner. At least, we don't consider you such unless your behavior indicates we must keep you locked away.” Darius softened his voice slightly. “You'll only be kept in the med bay until such time as I can secure other areas of the ship. As I've said, there're places aboard … and beings among us … that you don't need to see.”

“Why? What're you hiding?”

“As I'm sure your Earth law enforcement facilities have places where they wouldn't want civilians wandering, and operatives whose identities should remain secret, it's the same way aboard this vessel. That's standard operating procedure. You don't have a need to know certain things.”

“But why will it take so long to get me back home?”

Sadness in her brilliant blue eyes touched Darius and made him feel longings he hadn't experienced for a very long time. He understood the yearning for home, even if hers was a primitive little rock that wasn't worth mentioning. The promise to ask for her return was genuine though he knew what the response would be. For now, all she needed to know was that he would
ask
.

“It isn't the distance from Earth that takes so long to travel, especially not since we have access to wormhole technology. It's the process of trying the man we were sent to capture. Trials can proceed slowly on Luster … that's our destination.”

She lifted one hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. For a second, she looked like a little girl trying to decide what to do. Pity wasn't something he was used to feeling. Not any longer. The sudden presence of it in his arsenal of stoic control weighed heavily.

“I must warn you, enforcer, it's entirely possible that you'll be called upon to stand as a witness against the man who attacked you and your friends.”

She turned her head away. In that instant he knew she wouldn't talk about what had happened back on Earth. At least not yet.

“Y-You talk like you're some kind of cop.”

“We're referred to as enforcers, just as I've referenced you. Obviously, we saw your uniform and your identification, hence the mention. As for the word cop, my communo-chip equated words similarly. The difference is that I enforce laws binding a group of planets together. These planets comprise an organization called the Constellation League. The man we chased to your planet was an escaped prisoner from our justice system. He murdered one of our officials.”

“He killed a lot of
my
people,” she angrily muttered, finally touching on the subject. “What kind of …
thing
… attacks the way he did?”

Darius further softened his tone and his demeanor. Now, she was acting more rationally and they could converse, assuming one could speak intelligently with someone of such a mentally inferior race. “The man with whom you came into contact is called Goll. If Gemma hasn't already told you, he's called a
vamphiere
. Though they can exist well enough on other food, they prefer to feed off the flesh and blood of newly killed humanoids. Whenever we come across his race, we keep a very close watch on them. Citizens of most planets report their whereabouts to us whenever they're spotted. There aren't many of them left, but they can be quite dangerous as you've discovered.”

“And that's what killed Cory?” she whispered as she stared out the view port.

Again, he felt something akin to pity. He saw a brief glimmer of tears in her eyes before she closed them. Oddly, the presence of them now didn't rile him as it once might have. Her response was entirely warranted as she'd just lost someone who was apparently close to her.

Once again, he grudgingly gave her credit when the woman looked back at him and seemed in control of her emotions. In this particular, rare instance, he was actually sorry she masked her feelings. There would come a time when that control slipped and she'd need help. He knew. He'd been where she was now and understood what she was shoving down and why. The difference was she'd eventually have the opportunity to seek solace in her own way. He hadn't the luxury of accommodating old wounds.

“What will happen to this person? This … Goll?” Laurel questioned.

“It's my sincerest hope that he dies slowly,” Darius answered honestly.

Laurel nodded.

“Commander, I'm outside the bay hatch. May I enter?” Gemma requested via the outer, passageway intercom.

“Yes, Gem. Everything is under control,” Darius responded as he uncharacteristically shortened his med-tech's name.

The hatch opened and Gemma stepped into the space.

Laurel turned to the medical technologist spoke quietly. “I'm … sorry … about the way I behaved. Thank you for helping me.” She paused and searched for the right words. “Many of my kind don't really believe in people from other planets. Can you understand why I acted the way I did even if you can't excuse it?”

Gemma smiled. “Of
course
I can. You've been put in a terrible position because one of our prisoners escaped. The fault isn't yours.”

Laurel returned the ready smile Gemma offered and nodded. Then, without acknowledging Darius's presence further, she began to straighten the space and pick up objects that had been strewn about.

Darius spoke quietly so that Laurel wouldn't hear. “Gemma, can I speak to you?” he asked while nodding toward the outer passageway.

Gemma nodded and followed him out of the med bay.

Once they were in the space outside the hatch, Darius leaned against one bulkhead and gave his new orders. “Until I can make arrangements to shield some of our more secure areas, I've restricted her to the med bay. The less she sees the better. She understands that I'll ask for her return to Earth as soon as Goll is taken to Luster and stands trial. What I haven't told her is that such a request will most certainly be denied.”

“Sir … she should know—”

“Not yet. Now isn't the time. I don't want to have to lock her up, but I will if she thinks she's out of options. She'll fight and I can't have that kind of behavior aboard this vessel. Besides … it's my hope that once she knows us better, she'll accept the news with greater understanding.”

“Ohhhh … I don't think so, sir.”

“Be that as it may, this is my decision. I have a ship to run and I can't have this distraction. Understood?”

“Sir … she's not someone to be—”

“The discussion ends now,” he commanded.

“Aye, sir.”

He sighed when Gemma dropped her head in apparent disapproval. “I promised I'd ask on her behalf, as stated. This I
will
do and I'll put it in the strongest terms to the powers-that-be. There might be a small chance if I can word my request tactfully. So … let's just leave it at that.”

“Sir, there's another problem.”

“What
else
?”

“When we get to Luster, our own scientists may want to examine her.”

“And why is that an issue?” Darius pushed his huge frame away from the bulkhead in concern.

Gemma lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “I'm not about to suggest they'll do anything to her that would be harmful. But they've never come into physical contact with any Earthers that I'm aware of. They'll want to give her an exam outside of any decontamination controls we've already taken. They'll want to make sure I haven't missed something potentially harmful.”

“She should expect as much. One of us would most certainly be examined if we'd fallen into Earthers' hands.”

“Sir, please try to understand how she must feel,” Gemma pled.

“Your heart, as always, is in the right place. But Gemma … and I cannot stress this enough … I have a ship to run and we have a trip home that could be dangerous in certain sectors. We can ill afford time spent on infantile dramatics. The woman will have to understand, and I'll tell her what she needs to know when and as I think it's appropriate. She's already proven she can't handle stressful situations. I'm amazed she was ever made an enforcer to begin with, but then Earth
is
as backward as planets come. Even our own scientists and humanists corroborate that sentiment. Now … this is the last I'll speak of it. You may speak more about how her friends died if she asks; she obviously knows about that part of her sad story. But you and none of the crew are to say anything else. Not one word. I'll make sure this general command is known throughout the ship.”

He stalked away, squashing any feelings of remorse, empathy, or even the much-vaunted superior intellect he credited to his Lusterian heritage.

“I don't understand,” Gemma said as she watched Laurel straighten the mess she'd made of the med bay. “What did the commander say to change your demeanor?”

Now sporting a blue robe made of some thick, warm fabric, Laurel stopped picking up surgical tools and stood to speak to the other woman. She sighed heavily and shrugged. “It's simple. I want to get home but I'm out numbered and out-gunned. I realized that even if I were to fight my way out of this place, where would I go? Out there?” She waved a hand toward the vastness of space just outside the view port. “At first, I convinced myself this was all some kind of crazy setup—something to get even with a cop. But no one would go to these lengths over me. I'm just a street pounder. I wouldn't be worth it.”

“I know that seeing people from other planets must have been quite a shock. I've done it all my life so it's nothing to me.”

“You don't know the half of it,” Laurel replied heartily.

“You must be a very good enforcer on Earth. Despite your fears, you've managed to gather yourself quite well.”

“What choice do I have?” Laurel responded as she bent to retrieve more equipment.

“Look, after we get this place picked up, maybe you'd like to see where you are and some of the ship's functions,” Gemma offered.

“As advanced as you people seem to be, don't you have robots or androids to clean up messes?”

“Not aboard a standard enforcement vessel of this type, no. Our space is limited and everyone is expected to take care of the ship and personally inspect their work stations. We have to report in regularly on any problems. Helps keep us all safe if we don't depend on technology in that respect.”