Dana Cartwright Mission 1: Stiletto (15 page)

The Inspector made a note to check with the Medical Center East surgeon. Then he asked Dana, “Do you fly, Doctor?”

“Shuttles? No, I don’t.”

“You have been aboard many, I assume?”

Dana nodded, but then answered, “A few, yes,” for the recording.

“Colonel Jai is an expert aviator — top of his class at the Academy — it is unlikely he made a tactical error on the landing approach.”
 

Regis admitted one more thing, “The Colonel declined to answer questions, and Captain Ensoto declined to give me permission to come aboard
Navitor
. Were there any medical orders preventing the Colonel’s answering of questions? Do you have idea why?”

She blinked and answered very carefully, “I wasn’t aware of any such orders. I gave none. Doctor Garcia may have. You will need to consult Captain Ensoto directly to ascertain why.”

Inspector Regis lifted up his padlet, as if ending the interview. His voice-badge signaled. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” He stepped outside to the deck, with his two assistants — or were they bodyguards.

Dana Cartwright was left alone, staring into space, wondering.

Inspector Regis listened carefully to the message from Colonel Sierra.
 

Jai waived all charges against Doctor Arturo Garcia - citing extenuating circumstances.

How odd? An SSID officer overruled an Admiral?

Regis dismissed his two bodyguards. “I’ll be just another few minutes.”

He stepped back inside for one last question to Doctor Cartwright.

When Inspector Regis returned, he was without his two assistants, but still had the padlet. “There is one last thing, Doctor. Are you a programmer?”

“No, sir. I passed all the usual university courses, but nothing like this.” Dana looked hard at the Inspector. “To hack into MCE and the drone programming would take a computer science genius.”

Regis nodded. “Exactly…Doctor, the man in the images I showed you is Commander Xavier Via, Star Service Control Tower Chief, temporarily assigned to the Observatory crew the night of the crash. My staff has just reported to me that he has not been seen since the riot. They have linked him to a union organizer who lost a sizable investment when the Alphan ambassadors and several smaller planetary systems voted against union workers at the private shuttle zones of Centauri Prime.”
 

Dana frowned. “Does Via have the programming background?”

“Indeed, he does, however, to hack the MCE computers, he needed your DNA. Hence, when Doctor Garcia began snooping in your file, we suspected he might also be involved. Until we locate Via...”

Dana stood and began to pace. She indicated her small home. “So, he needed my DNA…Is that how you explain my apartment being vandalized?”

“What did they take? Nothing? A warning, perhaps?” Regis looked around at the simple furnishings and rather stark walls.
 

Dana shook her head, sending her hair braid bobbing. “Not logical, sir.”
 

“Well, if you have a better theory, kindly enlighten us?”

She wondered aloud, “What if they didn’t come to take something — but to plant something?”
 

“Plant? What for?”

“Because I was a witness...Perhaps the only witness. Inspector, the night of the riot, I was treated by Doctor Calagura for sodium sulfite exposure. It is extremely toxic. I thought it was from a cocktail I drank at the bar, but what if it was from something planted here, at my home? Someone was here, in my apartment. There were fingerprints all over my padlet. Colonel Sierra took it. Could he…?”

“I doubt that…”

She closed her eyes to recall exactly what she and Colonel Sierra had discussed. “Inspector Regis, Colonel Sierra was here first...”

“Colonel Sierra? The Galaxean SSID officer? You cannot possibly suspect him of such a thing?”

“He was first on the scene. He had every opportunity to...”

“Colonel Jai trusts him.”

Dana shook her head again. “This is pure conjecture, I realize. What if he had sent a recruit to my place first? One of the same men hired for security for the Meeting of the Masters?”

“I will need to investigate the MAT transfer records.” Regis pointed to the ticket envelope in her hands. “Are you going to the closing ceremonies?”

“My brother gave me tickets.”

“Perhaps the men will make another attempt?”

“I hope Ambassador Cray stays away. He’s in no condition to…”

“If he does attend, we might draw the culprits out.”

Dana mulled the idea over. “Frankly, inspector, it is far too dangerous.”
 

Francis Calagura looked up, seeing DOC Cartwright hovering in his office doorway.

“Doctor Cartwright, please come in.” Francis stood, though he was dead tired and still had an hour of dictation to finish.

“I won’t keep you long.” DOC set a hand-written document on the desk.

Francis frowned. “You’re resigning?”

“No, I’m demanding your resignation.” DOC turned and walked out.

Calagura dropped back into his chair. He reluctantly picked up the ancient and yellowing parchment and scoffed that only DOC still put pen to paper. “How archaic!”

At least he could read DOC’s handwriting.

What he read made his face flush.

“Ethics violations? He’s accusing me of ethics violations!”

Calagura tossed the page down to the desktop with a scowl. “How has Dana ever put up with such a pompous, stubborn, self-righteous boor?” Then he turned the accusation back upon himself. “Well, I’m all that and then some!”
 

DOC had made some valid points.

Dana’s ongoing relationship with the SSID Colonel did stretch the limits of ethical behavior.

Francis decided to have a chat with her, but it would have to wait until he had some sleep.

He folded the hand-written missive and looked about the office for a safe place to store it. His desk was safety glass and chrome. It had no drawers, no books — not even so much as a paperweight.

DOC was from a different generation — a different era — he liked all that antique…stuff.

Calagura settled for anchoring the demand under the corner of his viewer, but chuckled about it as he locked up and called it a night, though it was already noon local.

Dana swam laps in the cold-water pool, using the repetitive motion and consuming focus to blot out all her cares. While she swam, someone entered the middle pool; but Dana paid little attention. Always a strong swimmer, due to the extensive lessons DOC insisted upon when she was young, she counted off a dozen more laps, varying the strokes to exercise various muscles. ‘Never be afraid of the water’. That was another of DOC’s mottos — though she had never, ever seen him take to the pool or lake.
 

Greg often taunted, calling her ‘Pisces the Fish,’ when he wanted to tease or make her blush. He hated the water, probably because of Jocelyn. His wife never wore a swimsuit, due to some cultural aversion to baring the body in public, a rather odd belief for an obstetrician who espoused natural childbirth and lactation.

Dana came up for air and sat on the edge of the pool to rest. Only then did she realize Kieran sat in the middle pool, chest-deep, meditating. Something about his posture broadcast his distress.

 
“Are you hurting?”

He nodded without opening his eyes.

“You should have called to me.” She padded across the tiles and slipped into the warmer pool, moving to kneel behind him.
 

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She pressed her lips against his cheek. With a light touch, she checked along his spine, quickly finding vertebrae T-6 was the problem, as he winced at minimal pressure.

“Will I ever be pain-free?”

“A second surgery may be helpful. However, one in three million suffers residual pain from an injury as severe as yours.”
 

She couldn’t see his facial expression but his telepathic,
Please help me, Dana,
tugged at her heart.

“Perhaps Doctor Santero can...”

“I don’t trust him. I trust you.” He reached for her hand and opened his eyes, craning his neck so he could see her face. “Your eyes are so beautiful.”

“One in three million has mismatched eyes,” she told him. Dana felt his longing, but gently reminded, “The cameras,” and then added, “Besides, you are in no condition to play. Let’s shower and change. I’ll track down Doctor Calagura and we’ll run a full spinal scan.”

He reluctantly conceded, far more willingly when he realized he could not get to his feet without her assistance. This time she did call an android assistant to help him in the shower and to dress.

Because she finished first, Dana called Francis Calagura to meet them in an exam room.

Kieran needed her shoulder for the short walk to the lift, and had to lean against the inner railing
 
for support as it rose.

Doctor Calagura met them and helped, offering his shoulder, too. Once they were inside an exam room, he guided Kieran to lie facedown on the diagnostic bed.

“T-6 must be repaired,” Calagura decided. “We’ll have to do surgery on the disk.”

Dana concurred. “Should we wait until the swelling goes down?”

“Can’t,” Calagura decided, “better scrub while
 
I ready an OR.”

Kieran struggled to turnover, but Dana counseled, “No, let the levitation system do that. Just rest.” She took a moment to remove his voice-badge from the collar of his uniform. “I’ll hold this for you. Anything else?”

“Please, no coffin.”

She patted his shoulder, assuring, “No coffin this time.” Then she readied a DIA-dermal injector to put him under sedation.
 

“Just relax. You’ll wake up in recovery.” She kissed him upon the cheek then pressed the device against his neck. It hissed and he drifted off.

Dana logged into the MCE staff computer and ordered a trio of android nurses to perform the prep for spinal surgery, while she went out to the doctors’ locker room, secured her still damp hair in a net, suffered through the decontamination, scrubbed and dressed in sterile garb. Afterwards, she went into the OR to meet Francis beside the patient gurney.
 

Kieran lay facedown, still under a light anesthesia, nude but for the sterile diaper in which the ANs had dressed him in.

She and Calagura discussed procedures, administered a deeper anesthesia, and then entered orders into the surgical computer system.

“Been awhile since I’ve done a spinal disk. You have a steadier hand, so I’ll assist,” Francis suggested. “Besides, you know this patient’s situation.”

“So logged,” Dana responded. She ran another detailed spinal scan before affixing the ultrasound devices.

Calagura watched her work, proud of her confidence and thoroughness. He called out additional data as needed, keeping the level of anesthesia stable.
 

In less than an hour, she glanced his way. “That should do it.”

He ran a post-op scan and they reviewed the results. “Much better.”

“I concur. Let’s keep him immobilized a bit longer.”

She removed the ultrasound device and gently tucked a blanket about Kieran’s torso.

Calagura logged the surgery as complete and had the androids move the patient to recovery. However, he stopped Dana from following the gurney.
 

“I have to ask you something.” He then plunged in, “You and DOC? What started this feud? He’s threatened me with a review board. Says you and I violated ethical standards and…”

Dana stared. “Seriously?”

“Come on, you know? Is he worried you’ll up and leave us because of Colonel Jai?”

She swallowed a protest. “He told me to do my homework. Like I’m a schoolgirl or something.”

“Well, you are — to him — always will be.” Calagura chuckled. “He still calls me ‘Sonny.’ That’s a laugh. Even my father stopped calling me ‘Sonny’ after I graduated from medical school.”

Dana sighed. “We had words about my ancestry. I think he knows who my parents were, but he won’t tell.”

Calagura agreed. “He’s sworn to secrecy. You can’t hold that against him. DOC is a man of his word. He’ll go to his grave, so to speak, with the secret.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Dana snapped. “I need to know now, especially if I should decide to marry and have children.”

“There are other ways...” Francis suggested, “I’ll take it from here. Grab some coffee and a snack. He’ll be out for at least an hour.”

He watched Dana exit and sighed. “I am too fond of you, my dear. Forgive me, but I think you are acting like a schoolgirl…positively smitten…”

Francis Calagura entered Kieran Jai’s patient room and ordered the androids to levitate and rotate Kieran’s body to face up then to gently transfer him to a standard diagnostic bed. With that task complete, Calagura pushed the surgical gurney aside and began to bring the Colonel gently up to consciousness.

“Welcome back, Colonel. We’re all done,” Calagura assured. “And the scans are totally clear.”

Kieran forced a weak smile. “Dana? Where’s Dana?”

“Changing. She’ll be back shortly.”

As the fog cleared and feeling returned, Kieran realized, “I can feel my legs. No pain.”

“That’s good. We’ll have you up and walking as soon as these readings stabilize.” Calagura remained focused on the diagnostics, but took the opportunity to ask, “So, are you going to steal our Dana away from us?”

“She hasn’t said yes.”

“You did propose? Don’t you think it’s a bit too sudden?”

“Alphans don’t have long courtships. In fact, many traditional marriages are still prearranged before the male comes of age at twenty.”

Calagura studied Kieran’s face. “You’re far past twenty. So I assume you turned down the traditional path.”

“My intended died young,” Kieran admitted.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. We never met.” Kieran responded. “It’s a rather antiquated system; a holdover from pre-Republic days.”

“So that frees you from the tradition... Fascinating.” Calagura said.