Fast Cars and Intergalactic Speed Dating

21: All Part of My Evil Plan

Dr. Das and Aialo-El left Richard for a while, both of them insisting that he should rest—as if he could hope to quiet his mind, let alone sleep, with everything he had to think about.

Aliens from distant galaxies. Spaceships. Refugees and colonizing conquerers. Intergalactic space chases. Martian gas stations. Solar tech spy executives. Too much...too much on his mind to hope for rest...

The whiss of the doors opening startled him out of his light sleep some time later.

Aialo-El had returned.

"Richard," they said, "I have just come from the med-bay. You requested that we advise you if Garth woke."

He sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. He had a crick in his neck from sleeping in the chair. He wondered how much time had passed; he reached instinctively for his phone, only to find, once again, that he didn't have it. "Thank God. Is he okay?"

"He is doing as well as we might hope. We must arrange for a doctor as soon as is possible."

When they arrived at the med-bay, they found Pey-Daika at Garth's bedside, monitoring another application of the small blue pain-relief devices. When Richard and Aialo-El entered, Garth turned his head toward them and exclaimed, "Finally! I thought you'd left me and gone home. I always knew you wanted my bedroom."

"Hey," Richard said, approaching Garth's bed. Aialo-El followed a pace behind. "Stop being dramatic. You know I wouldn't leave you here."

"Do I, though? I was pretty sure you'd left me to get probed," said Garth.

"I thought you were okay with probing."

"Consent can be withdrawn." Garth peered past Richard's arm at Aialo-El. "Especially when I'm languishing in this place and you're off having secret alien adventures with her. You didn't even ask me if I wanted to come."

"First of all, you've been shot, mate. Secondly, it's them, not her." He looked at Aialo-El. "Right?"

Aialo-El's tentacles lifted. "This is correct."

"Oooh." Garth grinned. "Cool. So, were you off talking about what we're gonna do now?"

"Sort of," said Richard. "I'll catch you up, but the short version is that they're running from the crab people—"

"The Chorodonians," said Aialo-El.

"Sorry. They're running from the Chorodonians, but they're going to be on their way as soon as they can. It's why they were after our schematics."

"Oh. Wait—"

"And you'll never believe who's been helping them out. But the first order of business is to get you seen to. The bullet's still in you." He looked at Aialo-El. "Have we made any progress on getting a doctor here?"

"I do not believe so."

"Then I have to take him to the hospital. He could already be cooking up a nasty infection, and the wound is really close to some pretty important stuff."

Garth groaned. "Richard."

"Listen. We don't have a choice. This is serious. Don't think about the money, okay? We'll figure it out."

"Can we not wait for a short while longer? Dr. Kavita Das is currently determining whether there is a medical doctor among the Allies for Intergalactic Peace," said Aialo-El.

Garth frowned at them, then frowned at Richard. "Wait a second..."

"Told you you wouldn't believe it." Richard addressed Aialo-El. "How long do we think that's going to take?"