Darwin

by Amanda Bridgeman

  Doc sat back in his chair, eyeing her.

  She gave him a sheepish look. “Thanks for stepping in before I said something really stupid.”

  He ran a hand across his chin. “You know the best thing to do is to get in first and apologize to him. Knowing the captain as well as I do, he’s going to want to have a word with you about it at some point.”

  Carrie nodded. “Yes, sir, I will.”

  Doc looked at her, his eyes searching hers.

  “I will,” she added.

  “Okay. Just make sure you keep your head down, corporal. Captain Harris does not respond well to those who give him any grief. You want to get on his good side, then do as he says, when he says it, and do it well … and don’t complain.”

  Carrie smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Doc sat forward in his seat again and looked at his monitor. She studied his face. He looked a little tired, but there was something else about him that seemed different. His eyes looked a little heavy, as though he had a lot going on behind them. He reached his hand out to the touchpad beside his console. He started moving his fingers around on the pad, while his eyes focused on the monitor. She watched his hand, circling here and there, his fingers tapping every now and then. Her eyes moved from his hand to his wrist and along to his forearm, where the tendons were jumping about with each movement. She noticed some fresh bruising just above his elbow, wondering where it came from. Then her eyes traced over his upper arm and shoulder, right up to his neck. He glanced over at her and she snapped her eyes to his.

  “I’ll just be a second,” he said.

  She nodded awkwardly, embarrassed that he might have noticed her looking at him.

  “What happened to your arm?” She asked as a means of distraction.

  He glanced down at the bruising, then dismissed it. “It’s nothing.”

  “So, are we any closer to knowing what happened here?”

  “No,” his eyes darted to hers and then back to the screen, “not yet. There’s not a hell of a lot of information available.”

  He moved his hands over to the console, hitting a few keys, then grabbed an e-clip and ran it over the scanner attached to his monitor. There was a beep, Doc glanced at the screen, tapped away at the console again, then handed it to her.

  “Alright, so I actually lied before when I said I had plenty of work for you to do, but you can get this stuff together for me, if you like.”

  “Oh,” she gave him a quizzical look, then smiled. “You lied, sir?”

  He smiled back, his eyes moving away from hers, briefly. “I was, ah, trying to defuse a situation between you and Captain Harris, remember?” he said, looking back at her.

  “Ah, yes,” she nodded. She looked down at the e-clip he’d given her. It appeared to be a form for a physical, with a list down the side of the items required to carry out the tests. Obviously she had to get the stuff ready for the next round with the survivors.

  “Well, thanks for giving me something,” she said.

  “I’ll show you where the stuff is,” he stood from his desk.

  He ushered her into the examination room and showed her where everything was, then told her to restock the shelves from the medical store across the corridor when she was done. She gave him a nod and set about going through the drawers in the cabinet, pulling out the items he needed and placing them on the cart. She double-checked the labels with what was written on the e-clip. It took her a while to find the fluids he needed, but eventually located them. They were up high in the glass cabinet and she just reached them on tiptoe. She double-checked the list and the quantities on the cart to make sure they were all correct. Syringes, fluids, swabs, gloves, thermometers, BP gear, vitals cart, antiseptic wipes, and scanner.

  She flipped over to the last screen and looked at the list of items he’d already used that needed restocking from the medical store. She walked back into Doc’s office. He was at his desk again staring at the monitor, hand moving about on the touchpad.

  “Is the store open?” she asked him.

  He looked up. “Done already?”

  “Yes, sir,” she smiled.

  He led her across the corridor to the store, and punched in a code to unlock it.

  “Everything is labeled so you should be fine,” he said, as Carrie stepped inside. “The door will lock automatically behind you when you’re done. Oh, and don’t think of stealing anything. Every single item is accounted for.” He flashed her a grin.

  “Damn, I really wanted a sick bag as a memento!” she joked.

  “I could probably dig your used one out of the trash if you like?” he said with a straight face.

  She looked at him in mock horror and he flashed another grin as he walked out of the room.

  She turned around and surveyed the small room. It was white and bright and smelt like a hospital, with a few rows of shelves stocked with goods. She began to search the rows for the items used. It only took her a few minutes to locate them all. When she was done, she double-checked the count on the tray. Satisfied she had them correct, she made her way back across the hall to Doc’s office, making sure the storeroom door closed behind her. She entered the office, nodding at Doc as he looked up from his screen. She didn’t want to disturb him so she headed straight back into the examination room to start putting the items away.

  “Wait a second,” Doc said following her into the room. “I need to double-check those.”

  “Sorry.”

  “That’s alright. Normally Louis and Smith do this. It’s standard practice that all items are checked by a second party. Can I have the list, please?”

  She handed over the e-clip and he began scanning. He looked up from the list to the items on the counter a few times, counting them. He looked back down at the list again and winced.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, moving to stand slightly behind him, so she could read the list too.

  He shook his head and looked down his shoulder at her, still wincing.

  “What?” she asked.

  Then he dropped the wince and smiled. “I’m just kidding, it’s fine. You can put it away now.”

  She snatched the e-clip out of his hand, narrowing her eyes playfully, then began to grab the items off the counter. Doc grinned and began to walk out of the room, but she called out to him.

  “Doc?”

  He stopped in the doorway.

  “Thanks for giving me something to do. I appreciate it.”

  He glanced down at his watch and nodded. “Even if it was only twenty minutes.”

  “Hey, twenty minutes is twenty minutes, I’ll take it,” she smiled.

  “Good. Now get back to work!” he smiled back. Doc turned and took a step into the office, but pulled up short. “Captain? What’s up?”

  Carrie turned around and saw Harris standing there studying her from the other room. Doc looked between them both. “Er, I’ve got some stuff to do. I’ll leave you to it?” he said, checking for Harris’s approval.

  Harris looked over at Doc, then at Carrie again, watching her put the items away. “No, I would like Corporal Welles to leave,” he said, with a dry emotionless voice.

  Carrie shot Harris a glance, then nodded. “Yes, sir. This is the last of it,” she threw the syringes into the draw and began to leave, but then hesitated, stopping in front of him. “Captain, I would like a word with you about our conversation earli—”

  “Would you?” he cut her off.

  “Yes, sir. Perha—”

  “Perhaps another time.” He cut her off again, staring down at her.

  Carrie hesitated a moment, but then nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, flashing Doc a quick glance as she left.

  *

  Harris held the e-file pane at Doc’s chest, before he had a chance to question him about Welles.

  “What’s this?” Doc asked, taking it.

  “I want you to look at those lists and tell me what the items on there are,
and what they’re used for. You’ve got fifteen minutes and then I want to see you in my office.” He looked Doc in the eye, then turned and left.

  He could feel Doc’s eyes staring after him. Harris could’ve easily discussed the list in Doc’s office, but after seeing Welles there, yet again, he felt it was time to have a different discussion with Doc. The kind of discussion that was best held in the captain’s office. It was as it had to be.

  He’d had many a serious discussion with Doc over the time they’d worked together, but generally Doc was sitting on the other side of the desk on a somewhat equal footing. Today, however, his lieutenant would be standing. Harris would address the issues quickly and to the point. He didn’t believe that Doc would argue or disagree, but they needed to be said regardless. Harris had bigger fish to fry and this was one little thing to be nipped in the bud, asap.

  Entering his office, he went straight over to the coffee machine and poured himself a strong, black coffee. He took a sip and then stretched out his back and neck, trying to relieve the tension within. He tried not to think about the dream of Sibbie and Etta. It seemed it have become a recurring one; the two of them appearing like they did. He gave a deep sigh and then went and sat at his desk. He stared blankly over at his bookshelf, running through in his mind the conversation he was about to have with Doc.

  His mind began to wander back to the four men in the bio cell, however. He thought about how they’d been angry with Doc that morning. He thought about the Belgo. Why had it been here for two weeks? And why were they bringing animals and animal parts onto the station? Why was any information hard to come by? Was everything surrounding the programs classified, too? What the hell happened to the other five workers? What are the four survivors not telling me? And was Doc right about them trying to work out how many were on the Aurora? Were they just scared of strangers, or was it something else? He recalled Chet asking him about Aurora’s crew this morning, as both Hunter and Bolkov had been new faces to them. Why were they so interested in who was here on the station with them?

  Harris’s thoughts were disturbed by a knock at the door.

  “Come in, Doc,” he said, before taking another mouthful of his coffee.

  Doc entered the room, manifest e-file in hand, and stood on the other side of his desk. His lieutenant obviously sensed something was up, as he didn’t take a seat. Harris didn’t offer him one either.

  “So what can you tell me about the list?” Harris asked.

  “Well, I’m not 100 percent on all the items, but there’s definitely growth hormones, certain amino acids and steroids on here, along with other vitamins and proteins used for strengthening muscle and bones and promotion of general good health.”

  “Growth hormones?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “For animals or humans?”

  Doc shrugged. “They can be used on both.”

  “Did you see the list with the animals on it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What do you make of that?”

  Doc looked down at the manifest, scanning over it. “Well,” he began, “Sharley studied hunters of the animal kingdom, so maybe this is some extension of that. I mean, owls and bats, they’re great nocturnal hunters. Dogs and cats—good hunters too. I don’t know, it’s definitely weird. They’re running classified biological programs here. Who the hell knows what they were doing with them. It’s a list and it’s a start, but it’s only a piece of the puzzle. For all we know, it has nothing to do with what happened here. Or maybe the crew didn’t agree with what they were doing? Maybe they believed in animal rights or something? Maybe they got a conscience and took off in the Spector? Maybe these four guys left were the only ones who wanted to go ahead with the experiments?”

  Harris nodded. “Could be … I’m still not satisfied, though.”

  Doc shrugged. “All we can do is check those labs this afternoon and hope there’s no change, which at least will mean there’s no virus.”

  Harris nodded and sat back in his chair. He took another mouthful of his coffee, placed the cup down and looked Doc in the eye. “I want to talk to you about what happened this morning.”

  Doc nodded. “I spoke to Welles. She knows she was out of line and I don’t think you’ll have any further problems with her.”

  Harris placed his hands into his lap and interlocked his fingers. “Welles was not who I was referring to, Doc. Although, believe me I will be speaking with her at some point. I was referring to you.”

  Doc looked a little surprised, but it didn’t last long. “Yes, sir?”

  Harris sat forward in his chair again. “You jumping in like that undermined my authority in front of the other men.”

  Doc thought about this for a second, then nodded. “I apologize, captain. That was not my intent.”

  “No, your intent was to protect Welles from my wrath, I believe.”

  Doc shook his head. “Everyone was a little short on sleep, captain. I was just trying to defuse the situation before it got out of hand unnecessarily for both parti—”

  “Before Welles got herself into a world of trouble. I certainly didn’t need your protection, Doc.”

  His lieutenant looked like he was about to say something, but he hesitated, then answered. “Captain, I apologize if I undermined your authority in front of the other men. That was not my intent, nor was it my intent to appear to be taking any sides. I assure you I was just trying to jump in the middle, sir. I’ll stay out of it and keep my mouth shut in future.”

  Harris eyed him for a moment. Doc was a good soldier who generally knew when to keep his mouth shut. Every good soldier makes mistakes and he knew his lieutenant never meant any offense to him when he’d spoken up. It was simply a mistake in judgment.

  “Alright,” Harris told him.

  “Was that all?”

  “No, one more thing,” Harris said, taking another sip of his coffee.

  Doc waited expectantly.

  “I want you to take a step back from the new recruits.”

  Doc looked at him, seemingly a bit lost. “I’m sorry?”

  “The new recruits. I want you to back off.”

  Doc’s brow furrowed. “Is something wrong, captain?”

  “No, Doc. I just think it’s time to take a step back … from Welles at least. Packham and Colt are fine.” Harris reached forward, grabbed his coffee and took another sip, eyeing Doc carefully.

  Doc’s brow furrowed even further in confusion. “Wait a minute, I haven’t done anything wrong, but you’ve singled out one soldier that I’m to back off from.”

  Harris let out a big sigh and rubbed his hand over his face. “Okay, Doc, I’m going to level with you.”

  “Please do!” Doc said quickly.

  Harris eyed him again for a moment. “I want you to take a step back from Corporal Welles, because I think she’s attaching herself to you and I can’t have that on my ship.”

  “Attaching herself?” Doc seemed to be having trouble understanding exactly what Harris was trying to say. Either that, or he was playing dumb. Harris couldn’t decide.

  “Doc, let me be very blunt … I think Welles is attracted to you. She’s come on this ship where the other men haven’t exactly been welcoming, and you’ve been the friendly face for her, and I think she’s attaching herself to you because of it.”

  Doc stared at Harris, “Wait a second, captain, you asked me to help assimilate the women onto this ship because you knew the guys would give them a hard time. That’s what I’ve done. And now I’m getting shot down for it?”

  “I’m not shooting you down, Doc. I did ask you to help assimilate them and you’ve done that for me, thank you. As I said, Packham and Colt are fine. I just didn’t account for Welles having a thing for you, but now I know that’s where we’re at, I’m asking you to take a step back. I’m just looking further down the road on this thing than you are. I’d prefer to stop things now, before something does happen.”
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  Doc gave a laugh of disbelief and shook his head slightly. “Are you questioning my integrity, Saul?”

  Doc was using his first name. That meant the conversation was no longer between a captain and his soldier, but between two friends. He could see Doc was starting to get angry, his jaw clenching up. Harris sat back in his chair, eyeing him. He’d never seen him direct any anger or intensity at him before, though he was doing his best to control it. This was new. He was curious as to why Doc was being so touchy about this.

  Harris softened his voice a little. “Doc, she’s an attractive woman. It would be … understandable, if you slipped …”

  “Slipped?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Are you trying to tell me that you’re not attracted to her? ’Cause I know you, Doc, and I know your type!”

  Doc kept looking at Harris but didn’t answer. There was that line in the sand of his.

  “Hmm?” Harris pushed it a little further. “You don’t find her attractive, at all?”

  “Are you going to ask me the same question about Packham and Colt? They’re attractive?” Doc deflected.

  Harris kept his voice calm and steady, but firm. “No, I’m asking you about Corporal Welles. Welles, who always seems to find her way into your office, or sit near you in the mess hall, and who you seem to feel the need to protect on occasion. I’m not attacking you, Doc, I’m just pointing out what I see. She’s attracted to you and because of that, I want to put as much distance as possible between you two, so that this thing can be quashed. Now, I’m not going to discuss this any further. My order to you is, take a step back from Corporal Welles and keep her at arm’s length. Do I make myself clear? She is not to hang out in your office and maybe once in a while you could sit at different tables in the mess hall. She’s not going to get to know the other soldiers if she’s following you around, is she? Understand?”

  Doc clenched his jaw as he looked down at his feet, exhaling deeply through his nose. He knew very well that Harris was having the last say on this. “Yes, sir,” he said, looking back up at Harris.