Dana Cartwright Mission 1: Stiletto (34 page)

“Agreed!” Dana tapped the rim of her cup against his to seal the toast.

“Guess we should get back to studying,” Korwin bemoaned.

Dana shrugged. “I have all the chapter questions up here.” She pointed to her temple then challenged him with every one starting with the hardest. He answered easily.

“I’d say we’re ready for the test,” she smiled and set down her half-empty cup.

Korwin scoffed, “You could probably challenge the entire course.”

She shrugged, “I can certainly quote the text verbatim.”

“Well, that’s all Professor Para does,” Korwin reminded as he helped Dana with her cloak. “By the way, Ambassador Solon bought our lunch. We’ll need to reciprocate sometime soon.”

“How nice of him,” Dana said.

“Shall we browse the public sector?” Korwin suggested as they crossed the restaurant to the lobby.

“Let’s,” Dana answered, but she paused at the massive viewport, staring out at the stars and taking one last look at the Earth’s moon.

Korwin’s voice-badge sounded. Captain Skein broached a question, “I have a quick hop to Centauri and back. Want some more flight hours?”

Korwin looked to Dana.
 

“We have the time?” she assured.

His grin matched hers. “You bet. We’ll be there in a flash.”

“Perfect timing,” Dana commented.

They hurried to the public sector and raced each other down to the bay where
Trident
was docked.

Captain Skein stepped aside, settled into the communications station chair, and let them do the pre-flight. That done, he nodded approval. “Take her out.”

 
Korwin plotted the course. Dana did the piloting.

“We make a great team,” she commented, as she engaged the interstellar drive.

“Indeed,” Korwin answered.

They glanced over their shoulders at Captain Skein and caught him snoring.

Korwin winked.

Dana grinned then turned her attention to the viewport. “Hey, PK?”

“Yes, DD?”

“I want to be out here, among the stars. It feels like…home.”

He smiled, “Do you know the twentieth century Earth poem, ‘
Desiderata
’ by Max Ehrmann?”

She shook her head. “I know it. It’s up here.” She indicated her brain.

“The last two lines…are for you
.
”

Dana smiled. “Yes…the universe is unfolding… That certainly sums it up. Thank you, my friend.”

“Thank you, DD… We do make an incredible team. I was worried, you know, when I first signed up for academy. I’ve never had a friend like you. Call it synchronicity or not, it was our good fortune to both be here, right now.”

“And we have two incredible years ahead of us,” Dana added with a grin.

“Let’s volunteer for flight duty every chance we get.” Korwin folded his arms across his chest and sighed, “Once I start medical school, I won’t have much time for flying.”

“Very true.”

Korwin smiled. “I sometimes play it out in my mind. My father is there at graduation, beaming proudly, wearing full Ambassadorial robes. You and I are tied for academic excellence and even get the top honors for marksmanship and martial arts. And the Galaxean twins are there on the sidelines, just a few points behind us, wondering why they failed to take top honors.”

Dana chuckled. “Is it really that important to you to best them?”

“Absolutely, since the Galaxean twins are related to Ambassador Solon.”

Dana scowled. “I didn’t know that.”

“They’re all related to the Queen of Galaxea. I thought you knew.”

She shrugged. “I had no idea.”

“Well, every Galaxean who’s attended the academy on Earth has taken top honors. It’s time for us to put a stop to that,” Korwin chuckled.

“I’m part Galaxean,” she reminded, “at least, I have some Galaxean DNA.”

“To the Star Service, you’re Enturian! You’d be the first!”

Dana shook her head. “I’m a hybrid. I don’t…”

“Trust me,” Korwin insisted, “that will be a wake-up call for them all!” He sat back and rubbed his eyes.

“Stop that!” She commanded.

“They itch,” he moaned. “And I didn’t bring any drops.”

“Use the digitizer and make some artificial tears. Be specific,” she cautioned.

He glanced at her station, “You have the con.”

She nodded and replied formally, “Aye, I have the con.”

Korwin then released his safety bar, got up, went aft and below to the galley.

For a moment when
Trident
dropped out of interstellar drive and returned to natural space-time, Dana stared, reliving Kieran’s memories of flying an ambassadorial shuttle on approach to Centauri Prime. And then it hit her — the reality that the memory was now hers. Before her floated the triple star system, just as Ambassador Cray described it in all his lectures.

Korwin returned and let her stare in awe and silence.

The spaceport controller called over the COM system, “Ambassadorial shuttle,
Trident
? You are clear for approach to secure bay number twenty-one. Do you copy?”

Dana blinked then fingered the COM switch. “Shuttle
Trident
, roger, bay twenty-one.”

Korwin chuckled as Dana turned off the switch. “You’ll need to slow to one-quarter impulse or you’ll miss it.”

She quickly did just that, sliding the thruster controls slowing the shuttle down considerably.

Korwin asked, “Do you want me to take her in? You seem distracted.”

She was, but assured, “I’ll do it. Just thrilled to be here.”

Yes, that was the word for it. Thrilled.

Korwin sensed her excitement, even with the N-link blocking a direct connection. He pointed to their right. “Bay eighteen coming up on your right. Slow to stationkeeping just as you pass it. Good. Now passing nineteen... twenty... hover... And set us down.”

Dana skillfully landed the shuttle on the circular deck. A dome rose up and over them. The bay sank downward and, with a distinct thud, came to a stop. Flashing red lights came on above them as the bay doors closed. Then came amber lights and finally green.

“Nice landing,” Captain Skein offered, as he got up from his chair, now wide-awake. “Don’t power down completely. We’re not staying all that long.” He retreated aft and the ship’s doors opened and a ramp descended.
 

Korwin chuckled. “That was a ten point zero perfect landing. Wish we had more time so I could show you around the spaceport. Maybe next time...”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “It felt so... natural.”

“You made it look that way.” He settled back in his chair and closed his eyes.
 

She noticed the right was twitching ever so slightly and released the safety bar on her pilot’s chair to go retrieve her medical kit from a storage cabinet.

Korwin heard the device and opened that eye and then the other.

She showed him the readings. He reached for the device and used it to do a scan of her eyes. “Your brown eye is stronger,” he realized. “That’s fascinating. Do you know why?”

She explained about dominant eye theory as they waited for Skein to return. Dana described several other tests and taught him how to run them and to evaluate the results.

“You learn quickly,” she commented.

He asked about other medical tests and devices then decided, “I have to get one of these.”

Dana blinked then offered, “Keep it.”

Korwin started to protest.

“No, don’t protest,” Dana responded. “It will serve you well. I’m retired officially and well, effective right now, I am no longer an eye surgeon. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to fly!”

“Maybe I need to do a psychiatric evaluation,” he teased.

Before she could answer, Captain Skein returned, rushing up the ramp with a droid trailing. They both turned to look and then saw Ambassador Cray bringing up the rear.

Korwin bolted to his feet. “Mister Ambassador!”

Cray smiled at them.

Dana stared at the patch over his injured eye. He noticed and acknowledged her. “Doctor Cartwright.”

She stifled the response of ‘nice to see you,’ feeling it inappropriate and managed, “A pleasure, sir.”

He nodded her way.

Korwin stared at the droid. “Is that LittleJohn?”

“Yes. A gift to your father.”

Dana knew what he meant before Korwin. “You’re retiring?”

“It seems the logical choice.” Cray looked to Korwin, “LittleJohn’s programming has been upgraded sufficiently to prevent any further tampering.”

Dana sighed. She could have volunteered to do an eye transplant, such as that done for Korwin, but just a few moments before she had officially resigned as a medical doctor.
 

The Ambassador turned to Korwin. “You have wisely chosen your friends.”

“She chose me, too,” Korwin assured. “We’re a team.”

Cray smiled and mumbled, “Indeed.”

An awkward moment of silence followed. Captain Skein ordered, “Prepare for liftoff,” then he took LittleJohn to a cabin below.

Korwin volunteered to take the con and slid into the pilot’s chair. Dana walked Ambassador Cray to the hatch. “When we dropped from interstellar, my first thought was of you — of your lectures at the Observatory about the Triple Star System Of Centauri.”

Cray chuckled.
 

“I know it from memory,” Dana added.
 

The Ambassador bowed his head to her. “I’ll bet you could give that lecture. You have a passion for the stars.”

Dana shook her head. “I’ve found my passion. It’s flying.”

Cray seemed surprised. “And DOC approves?”

“No, of course not,” she giggled.

The Ambassador’s uncovered eye sparkled. “Good for you. Enjoy yourself. You’re young still. There’s time when you are older and slowing down to return to lecturing. Perhaps, one day, you will inspire some young doctor to pursue their passion, too.”

She smiled graciously.
 

After watching him totter down the ramp and back into the spaceport, Dana hit the switch and the ramp retracted. The hatch closed with a thud.

“Hatch secure,” she called forward.

Captain Skein returned from below and announced, “Passenger secure.”

Korwin fingered the COM switch and requested permission to lift off.

Dana settled in at the copilot’s seat, fastening safety bar, as the bay began to ascend and the dome above them retracted.

“Shuttle
Trident
, you are clear for departure,” came the control tower over the audio.

Korwin blinked to clear his eyes then did the honors. After the shuttle cleared the spaceport, he did a quick scenic loop around Proxima Centauri that made Dana grin with appreciation.

“Calculate our return course please.”

Dana did so. “Course entered.”

“Engaging interstellar drive...”

Dana tried to discount all the feelings of apprehension flooding over her as Korwin slowed
Trident
for the approach to the space dock. She assumed they both were just exhausted from the hop to Centauri and back. The sensations only grew as he prepared for landing.

“Korwin? I’m sensing something...”

He glanced over. “Even with the N-link?”

“Yes!”

“Take it off.”

She quickly pulled the cord up over her head and dropped the N-link into his outstretched palm.

“Now, tell me what you...” He didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Abort the landing!” She shouted.

Korwin obeyed without question, taking manual control and diving the ship down below the space dock bay doors, skimming the lower dome before shooting clear. He cut the engines and let
Trident
drift.

The Controller’s voice came through the com, “
Trident
? You are off course! Respond!”

Dana did, “Control, we have a... a warning light. Will advise!” She cut off and took a deep breath. It wasn’t exactly a lie. “Korwin, I’m seeing someone wait...”

Captain Skein hovered at her elbow demanding, “I’ll take the helm.”

Korwin quickly contradicted him, “No, let us work through this.”

“You’re not flying a simulator,” Skein growled.

Korwin shot the Captain a warning look then focused on Dana.

She stared forward, eyes transfixed, wide. “Someone on the docks has a box — a disrupter box. I can’t see his face. I can only feel the anticipation.”

Korwin stared up at Skein. “Dana, can you tell us anything more?”

Her eyes glazed over as she sank deeper into the image. “Korwin, shuttle
Stiletto
didn’t crash because the drones pinged against the side. It crashed because the pilot was incapacitated. Colonel Jai was momentarily unconscious!”

Korwin stiffened, ignoring the repeated appeals by the space dock Controller demanding answers.

“Go on, DD.”

She blinked, “Oh! It’s Regis! He has the box.”

Skein groaned, “Maybe he just wants to return it.”

Dana shook her head. “No, he was going to use it — on us!”

Skein returned to the COM station and established a voice-link with Ambassador Kord’s security detail.

Jad responded, “Captain?”

“It’s Regis.”

“Confirmed?”

“Aye,” Skein said, looking to Dana.

Jad responded, “He’s here...now.”

Skein turned to Korwin. “Reliable sources confirm it. Charge him with attempted murder of Ambassador Cray, of a Prince of the Elect and of a Star Service officer candidate.”
 

Korwin scowled as the Captain cut the link. “You knew all along it was Regis?”

Skein sighed. “We suspected Regis was part of the overall conspiracy, based upon inconsistencies in his investigative reports of the attack on Ambassador Cray.”

Korwin nodded, then looked to Dana.
 

She frowned at Skein. “How could you conceal it from us?”

Skein bowed his head. “I’m a 33rd degree Master of the Elect.”

The way he said it both irritated and intrigued her. “Why did you not sense Regis? Korwin wears an N-link. You don’t.”

“You heard Jad. We required confirmation.”

Korwin groaned. “I wondered about your motive for taking us on this outing to pick up LittleJohn. Even I detected nothing.” He turned to Dana. “Thank you, DD. You just saved our lives.”