Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 7.2

Ford was shaken roughly awake, disappointed to find his headache still in place despite his timesense telling him he had slept for several hours. "Huh?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Cynthia Grayson exclaimed. "Where's Sabrina?"

Ford blinked, sitting up on the sofa and reorienting himself in English. "Home. It's kind of a long story."

"Isn't it always?" Cynthia retorted, unwinding a scarf from around her neck and shrugging out of her coat. "Good to see you again, anyway. And you too, uh—"

"Major Lien," Ford supplied.

"Thank you, Doctor Grayson. Sorry to invade your home like this," Lien said, pausing to let Khediva translate for him. "We think we were spotted in orbit, you see, and she didn't want to risk making things worse."

"You have beautiful timing," Cynthia said. "Just let me pack a few things and I'll be ready to go."

Ford said, "Cynthia, we're not here as a transport service, unfortunately. We just need some information. Where we're going is dangerous."

"What kind of information? And wait a minute. You're not going home? Why not?"

Ford sighed. "Have a seat, please. I'll start at the beginning."

Cynthia sat down in the wingback chair facing the sofa. "I'm all ears."

Ford explained about Sabrina's pregnancy and the Crystal's effect on it. Then he told her about the attack on Praxatillus.

"And you left her there?" Cynthia demanded.

"We had no choice," Lien put in. "Really."

"I didn't want to," Ford said, "but it's done. Now what we need from you is all the research you can put your hands on about premature births and how to prevent them in humans."

"I'm a pediatrician. I don't usually deal with children until they're past the newborn stage," Cynthia said. "I can access the research online for you, but I don't have any experience that's relevant. I wish I did." She sighed heavily. "I was hoping to go with you."

"What's the matter?" Ford asked, taking in the dark circles around her eyes.

"Malpractice suit. I didn't do anything wrong," Cynthia added quickly.

"I never thought you did," Ford assured her. "Am I correct in thinking that is a lawsuit?"

"A serious one. I don't want to go into the details, if you don't mind. I'm sick of thinking about it, reliving all the steps, wondering if there was some clue I missed." She trailed off, looking into the distance. Then she seemed to shake herself. "When I saw you—after I recognized you and put my mace back in my purse—I thought a trip to your crazy planet would be just the thing."

"We have a stop to make first. Mother is trapped on another planet with one of my sisters. It's also under siege, but we're betting they're moving their forces to concentrate on us. So we might have a chance. But it's going to be risky. I can't bring you along."

There was a long silence, until Ford attempted to change the subject. "How is your mother?"

"Dead. Two months ago," Cynthia said. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she spoke.

Ford and Lien exchanged slightly panicked glances; then Ford got up and went over to hug her. "I'm very sorry," he said. "Sabrina will be too."

"I just—I don't know what the point of my life is anymore," Cynthia confessed, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. Ford rummaged in his pockets and handed her a slightly grubby handkerchief, then patted her on the shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

When she had recovered her composure somewhat, he took her hand, kneeling beside her chair to look her in the eye. "Help me save my daughter," he said softly. "That's a good point to a life, isn't it?"

"The last parent who asked me to save their child is now suing me for several million dollars," Cynthia sighed.

Ford looked at her, his mind racing. Sabrina was the one with the persuasive skills; he had no doubt she would know exactly what to say to refocus Cynthia on their problem instead of hers. Then it hit him: she would deal with Cynthia's problems first, not try to ignore them.

"I'm sorry for them," he said slowly. "I can't imagine what it is like to lose a child, and I hope never to know. But I do know that whatever happened was not your intention. I have faith in you."

"You barely know me."

"My wife trusts you. She brought us to you when we had no one else to trust, when she barely remembered who she was. You helped us then. What can I do to help you now?"

Cynthia took a deep, watery breath. "I hate my life. I don't know how it all went to hell so fast, but I don't know how to fix it. Take me with you."

"We're going into a war. A bad one, one we may lose."

"I went with the retrieval team to that Reissian mudball, where crystal was falling from the sky and nuclear bombs were going off underfoot. Will it be worse than that?"

Ford grimaced. "I don't remember Arcassius. But our best odds of dying will be in space. At any rate, Cynthia, it's not up to me. Khediva told me no passengers."

"You came with Khediva? Then where's your father?"

"He was hurt. We had a rough trip."

"I can tell that by looking at you," Cynthia said. "It seems to me you need a doctor along. Let me at least go up and look at him."

Ford eyed her suspiciously. "This is beginning to feel like one of those disagreements I've had with Sabrina where she gets her way without my quite noticing until it's too late."

Cynthia mustered a weary grin. "Where do you think she learned it?"

Ford shook his head. "As much as I'd like to take you to Sabrina, I equally don't want to have to tell her I got you killed."

"So, don't. I'll give you a signed note holding you harmless for my demise." Cynthia got to her feet. "Anyway, as good as your English is, I doubt you've got much of a medical vocabulary. You're going to need my help to understand the research."

"Khediva will translate—"

"Khediva doesn't know anything about this, or you wouldn't be here."

Ford glanced at Lien, whose mouth was turned up slightly at one end. It was a familiar expression, one he'd seen on the bodyguard before when Ford was losing an argument with Sabrina but hadn't realized it yet. It made him fiercely homesick. "All right. Gather your research, and I'll tell Khediva you're coming up to look at Father. That'll give you a chance to convince her, but I have no power over whether she puts you right back down here."

"I'll take it," Cynthia said. "Come on. Let's get my laptop plugged in. Oh, and grab that big blue book on the bottom shelf."