Dana Cartwright Mission 1: Stiletto (9 page)

She stood on the very spot where she’d been that night while watching the shuttle hover, and she replayed the whole thing over again in her mind.

“How could the security cameras not have captured everything?” She muttered, looking about, “They’re everywhere.”

Inspector Regis cleared his throat.

Dana jumped and sighed. “You scared me!”

He blinked. “Good morning, Doctor Cartwright.”

She turned to face him. “Inspector?”

“Come to survey the scene?”

“Actually, all the MAT stations are down because of the Meeting of the Masters. I managed to get here because it was empty,” she admitted.
 

“Oh, yes, because of the big opening ceremonies.” He offered a faint smile.

“How’s the investigation going?” She wondered.

“I’ve pinned down some rather interesting details, but until I speak with the pilot of the shuttle, I cannot confirm my suspicions. Colonel Jai, however, has refused to see me.”
 

He seemed reluctant to reveal more.

Dana deliberated a moment. “You realize that the Colonel has serious injuries.”

Regis simply smiled. “Yes. I understand, also, that your patient was moved to the sickbay aboard
Navitor
and there was something about a computer breach at the Medical Center. I may have to press Captain Ensoto for permission to MAT up there.”

Dana nodded.
 

“There are far too many computer breaches connected to this case. Not just anyone can hack into subroutines controlling the android nurses.” Regis stared out at the landing zone. “Nor is it a simple thing to shut down all the surveillance cameras at a busy place such as this, on a night when a thousand dignitaries were on hand.”

She yawned. “Did you question that man that tried to stop me?”

“Lt. Commander Skeller…Yes, I did. Not very helpful. Said he was inside until after he heard the crash.”

“He’s a liar. He was already here.” Dana walked back to the lobby doors and stood on the very spot where she remembered the man had been as she came down from the observation level and was being accosted by the security tubs the night of the crash. “And he had something in his left hand. It had an amber lamp glowing on the surface. A small box thing.” She indicated the approximate size.

Regis’ face grew very serious. “A small box thing? Perhaps an electronic dampening device?”

Dana closed her eyes, trying to recall. “I think he pointed it at the shuttle. I doubt it was a recorder or…”
 

Regis scowled. “Interesting that you recall this now, but not on our first interview.”

She shrugged. “I was exhausted. I still am.” She yawned again in his face then covered a second with her left hand. “Sorry.”
 

“I told him you intended to press charges. He wasn’t very happy about that,” Regis said.

“Well, I…I should,” Dana admitted. Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, Inspector. I need some sleep. Please excuse me.”

She touched the voice-badge on her left breast and requested a transfer back to her apartment.

To review SSID Officers’ personnel files required Alpha One clearance. Regis had that. However, Kieran Jai’s record had an additional seal upon them, requiring a Star Service Command Admiral rank to release.

That, alone, Regis found fascinating.
 

Regis requested permission to MAT transfer to
Navitor
for an interview with Colonel Jai. By Doctor Garcia’s order, the interview was declined.

Why?

Regis scowled. “Computer? Contact Admiral Barrett Cartwright?”

“Admiral Cartwright is off-world.”

Regis growled, “I don’t care if he’s on the moon! Get him!”

Regis calmed himself. Where had that display of emotion come from? Frustration?
 

“Admiral Cartwright is still unavailable. Would you like to record a message?”

Regis declined. And then he recalled, “Ah! The Meeting of the Masters opening ceremonies! The Admiral is, no doubt, there!”

Regis instead re-opened Xavier Via’s and Dirk Skeller’s files, comparing the two, searching on a hunch for a synchronicity.

At first look, nothing fit. They’d never served together, had no known friends in common and they had disparate specialties.

Yet, Regis dug deeper. It took time, but he was patient.

Dana yawned into the viewer then apologized to Francis Calagura. “Sorry, Francis…very rough night.”

“You need more sleep, dear. So do I.” He yawned, too. “I was worried. Couldn’t reach you. Not like you to take a whole week off.”

“The Star Service moved my patient to a secure location. DOC did the hand surgery and I assisted on the spine.”

Calagura whistled. “I’m proud of you! That’s a massive undertaking. Thinking of changing your specialty?”

“Twelve hours straight! Hell, no!” She responded, yawning a second time, “I’ll stick with neuro-ophthalmology. Say, Francis, do you know where I can get a fresh coconut?”

He shook his head, laughing heartily. “What on Earth for? Wait! Maybe at the Farmers Market? I’ve seen pineapples.”

“Yes!” She returned. “Good idea.”

“So, you’ll be back in a few days? No off-world trip? No fun?” He winked.

“What? You know me, hitting the books. Downloaded a fresh reading list.” Dana smiled.

Calagura chuckled. “You must have a month or more of leave accumulated. Why don’t you go do something fun?”

“Like hang-gliding? DOC would have a coronary if I went off and did something truly fun and exciting.”

They both had a good laugh.
 

“Actually, I was thinking of heading over to the Albuquerque conference for a few of the lectures.” Dana stifled another yawn.

“Oh, that’d be nice. Much warmer there.” Calagura got serious. “So, how’s your SSID officer doing?”

“Tremors and twitches. Declining pain meds. Looking at months of physical therapy.” Dana sighed. “And probably another spinal surgery, once the inflammation subsides.”
 

“He is lucky to be alive — very lucky.” Calagura nodded. “Well, get some rest. Call if you get bored with your reading and would like to do dinner.”

Dana scowled at the viewer after Doctor Calagura terminated the call. Why was Francis so interested? She yawned again and headed back to her bed in the loft of her modest apartment. While hugging the spare pillow, she wondered what size quarters a chief surgeon like Garcia had aboard
Navitor.
 

“The sickbay was certainly large enough. And that ship… Bet it has all the best equipment and labs and…”

She struggled to calm her thoughts, but just couldn’t sleep. The next best thing was to go shopping. She dressed in civilian clothing, a simple black jumpsuit, boots, and her oversized cloak.
 

The Farmers Market area on the north side of Capitol City usually attracted a big crowd. Fortunately for her, the crowds hadn’t materialized when she did. “Probably at the Meeting of the Masters or something.”

She found some lovely fresh Hawaiian coconuts, and some green Brazilian ones. The Hawaiian were far more impressive. She took the biggest one she could find to the clerks at the front and asked if they could deliver it to the spaceport.

The clerk assured they could deliver anywhere and offered her a padlet to type in the instructions. “All our fruit is guaranteed to clear customs inspections.”

Dana grinned as she took the padlet, entering Kieran’s rank and last name, care of:
SS Navitor
- Sickbay.

Dirk Skeller looked at the mess he’d created and pronounced it ‘good.’

“That’ll teach the bitch to threaten me! I didn’t interfere with her duty! She interfered with mine!”

As a parting gift, he sprinkled a very light dusting of sodium sulfite powder all over the key surfaces in the kitchenette. Unless the Enturian bitch wore gloves and a nose covering, she’d wake up with a nasty hangover.

“That’ll teach her!”

Skeller did a three-way teleport from a public MAT pod station to cover his tracks.

Once back at Station One, he did a decontamination shower and dressed in a fresh Star Service uniform. Then he checked his chronograph.

“Good!” Just enough time to have a coffee before the mandatory security personnel briefing for those staffing the closing ceremonies of the Meeting of the Masters.

Kieran didn’t consider it walking. It really didn’t even qualify as hobbling. Doctor Garcia had him between two handrails, shuffling forward and backward.

“Sure you still want to decline some pain medication?” The doctor wondered.

Kieran wavered. Pain radiated down both legs, but was worse in his mid-back. At least he had the dignity of wearing a sickbay two-piece uniform over his diaper, so that when a yeoman came in bearing a box, he was covered.

Doctor Garcia accepted the package and announced, “It’s for you.”

“Please, do the honors,” Kieran said, needing both hands just to stay steady.

Garcia dug inside, held up a rather curiously shaped brown ball, and then roared with laughter.

“What is it?” Kieran asked, stopping his routine to look, leaning against the railing to free up his hands.

Garcia passed it to him. “It’s a coconut. From Doctor Cartwright…”

Kieran joined in the laughter, carefully surveying the brown thing in his palms. “Wow! Wonder where she got it?”

“She thinks you’re a nut,” Garcia chortled.

“She uses coconut oil on her hair and I liked the smell. I didn’t know what a coconut was.” Kieran hefted the fruit. “Where do these come from?”

“Palm trees, mostly. In tropical climes.” The doctor grinned. “She certainly has beautiful hair. Rare to see it in Star Service, especially among Enturians.”

Kieran frowned. “Among Enturians? What has that to do with Dana?”

Garcia smiled. “Oh, you didn’t know. Dana Cartwright is. Well, she’s half-Enturian. Not sure what the other half is exactly. Might be Galaxean or Castellan.”

“Have you seen her file?”

“Oh, goodness, no, but I ran a scan, because my adopted brother has eyes like hers. March is Enturian mixed with Galaxean. Same hair color; actually, he’s quite small, too.” Garcia walked away to dispose of the empty box.

Kieran found the idea fascinating.
Dana’s an Enturian.
He took a step back towards the bed, still carrying the fruit with both hands. He started to fall, dropped the coconut, and then clung to the railing with both hands. The fruit rolled across the deck, coming to a stop at the feet of a Star Service Captain.

“You’ve lost something,” Captain Ensoto said with a grin, stooping to pick up the coconut. “You must be Colonel Jai. I’m Captain…”

“Ensoto… Yes, of course.” Kieran struggled to stand at attention. “A pleasure, sir.”

“At ease, Colonel. Not necessary in sickbay.”

Kieran still bowed his head out of respect for the Oriental Martial Arts Master, one of his heroes.

“Ambassador Cray asked for you at our meeting this morning and I realized I had neglected to come by.” Ensoto offered to put the coconut on a tray near the diagnostic bed.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Inspector Regis has requested permission to come aboard. I assume he wants to interview you about the crash.”

Kieran frowned. “Can you stall him for a few days? I’m not up to…”

“Understandable and certainly, I will,” Ensoto assured.
 

Navitor
’s Captain then turned to Doctor Garcia. “I have authorized shore leave, Arturo. That means you, too.”

“Can’t just now, Akihiro.”

“You’ll miss the opening ceremonies at the Meeting of the Masters.”

Garcia nodded sadly. “Ah, but the closing ceremony is my favorite.”

“Actually, mine, too.” Ensoto turned to Kieran. “Are you a martial arts enthusiast, Colonel?”

“I was.”

“It will be a long while before you hit the mats,” Doctor Garcia cautioned.

“Only my opponents hit the mats,” Kieran said with a laugh as he clung to the railing.
 

The Captain chuckled. “That’s the spirit, Colonel! Great motto!”

“Sir?” Kieran faced the Captain. “Has security been increased surrounding the Ambassador?”

“He protested, but Star Service has ordered additional men to protect all the dignitaries,” Ensoto admitted.

“Sir… This was the fifth attempt on an Alphan Ambassador. It is clearly an orchestrated attack — possibly from within Star Service itself.”

Captain Ensoto nodded. “I think Inspector Regis is well aware of that.”

Kieran scowled. “I don’t trust Regis. He’s slow and tedious.”

Ensoto didn’t comment.
 

Kieran heaved a sigh. “If only I… I think I’ve had enough for today, Doctor.”

Garcia rushed to help him back to bed.

“Sounds like you need rest, Colonel. Very good to meet you,” Captain Ensoto added.

“And you, sir,” Kieran offered as he fell onto the bed, fighting off a bout of sharp pain down his left leg.

Once he was settled, Garcia handed him the coconut then excused himself.

After they left, Kieran hefted the fruit, using it as a weight to strengthen his hands and arms. “Hmm… Rum…”

He closed his eyes and concentrated.
 

Dana? Are you sleeping?

I’m shopping.

I walked today,”
Kieran proudly told her telepathically.

She cautioned,
Don’t overdo.

At this rate, I’ll be back in shape in just under two hundred years.

She didn’t comment.

I’m hugging the coconut. Thank you.

Oh, good. It arrived. Was worried it wouldn’t clear inspection.

He chuckled.
How do they get the milk out? Drill a hole?

I suppose…

Dana?

Yes?

What happened to my clothes and the Ambassador’s robe?

I have the robe. I think they disposed of your clothes before putting you into the coffin. Too much blood. The beard and wig are in the security vault, I believe.

Oh, yes… Your memory…

She wondered,
Could I give you other memories?