The Haunted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 5)

Chapter 7.4

"I would complain of being bored," Cynthia remarked, leaning on the doorframe to Scotty's room, "except I remember that the solution for boredom in your family was chores."

"Not when I'm in charge," Scotty muttered, tossing his pad to the tabletop and rubbing his eyes. "Only problem is, I'm not usually in charge."

"Can I help?"

"Only if you've learned to read Praxatillian in the last few hours. And have some ideas about military galactic intelligence reports."

"No need to be snide. And don't rub your eyes like that. It's bad for them."

"Yes, Doctor."

"What did your Commander say?"

"The censored version: we have a better chance of being hit by lightning than finding them with the parameters we've got so far."

"We're in space. There's no lightning out here."

"Exactly."

"I see. Your Commander doesn't believe in dumb luck?"

"She does, she just thinks I've used up my lifetime ration of it."

Cynthia grinned despite herself. "I like her already." She took a seat, having made a circuit of the room and examined the various odds and ends that passed for décor. "I like your friend Aurora, too, by the way."

Scotty grinned back at her. "What's not to like?"

"She must drive Sabrina nuts."

"Why's that?" Scotty was taken aback.

"She's so unnaturally calm. It's like a statue of the Madonna came to life or something."

"Oh, that's just Miahns. They're all like that. Well, most of them. Okay, some of them. They live longer than we do so they take a longer view, Sabrina says. Problems don't seem that big a deal if you know you're going to be around in a century to fix them. She's got this big theory about species longevity and temperament. It's a crock of, uh, bull, but you know how she is when she gets an idea going."

"Well, I think Aurora must be good for you guys. Like pouring oil on water to calm the sea."

"You're only saying that because you haven't seen her with a blaster taking out the bad guys."

"Every man's fantasy. Well, it's reassuring to know that you are still, at heart, just an Earth boy."

"You been peeking at my medical records or something?"

"I was bored. I figured as the physician on board I should get up to speed. Khediva wouldn't let me near Tirqwin's data, or Aurora's for that matter, but she said I might understand things about your physiology that she was unsure about."

"And?"

"Between the two of us, we're doubly clueless about this hybrid version of you. Sabrina's records look pretty normal, though she's apparently suffered some cellular damage over the years. It's minor, but fascinating."

"Earth's first xenobiologist," Scotty said. "Too bad you can't write a book about us. You'd win the Nobel Prize, if they didn't lock you up in a padded room first."

"Or let the Air Force disappear me. No thanks. I never wanted to be famous, just rich."

"Can't help you with that, sorry." Scotty rubbed at his forehead.

"What's the matter?"

"Headache. No big deal."

"Let me know if it gets worse. If Khediva's infirmary doesn't stoop to aspirin, I'm sure she's got the instructions for a brain transplant around here somewhere."