Recon Marines III: The Marine's Doctor (3 page)

“
Are you deaf? We’re not
leaving until I say so.”

The rumble of the hover engines
starting up sent a soft vibration through the floor. Pender knew
what he was doing.

The doctor’s bottom lip pushed out,
distracting Mak for a moment. He shook off a warm feeling. This was
the general’s daughter, Mak’s charge to protect. “Nine minutes,
doctor.”

“
Son of a bitch.” She
hurried back to the lab, throwing a glare over her shoulder at him.
Protests rose from her team inside.

Mak continued onto the bridge. He
settled into his seat, giving Pender a nod.

“
We’re cleared,
sir.”

Mak used the AI device on the control
panel to pull up the star charts they would pass through to their
final destination, Julian, a planet in the Owen galaxy. It was
mostly unexplored with no permanent bases established. That
probably meant no natural resources of importance to the Galactic
Ministry. The one-minute warning for takeoff pinged. “Make sure the
passengers are secured onboard, Pender. Doors locked in forty-five
seconds.”

It was the largest ship Mak had flown,
but he had no trouble maneuvering off the deck and out the bay
doors into space. He used the hover engines until they’d cleared
the space station by five miles. Pender rejoined him as he fired
the interstellar drive propelled by crystallized iron. The stars
blurred on the viewer.

Mak enjoyed the short sensation of
weightlessness before the internal gravitation control of the ship
adjusted. For the first time in months a feeling of freedom washed
over him. He’d missed exploring and seeing new worlds. And for the
first time in his life, he had no immediate commander nearby. He
was in charge.

****

“
Who the hell does he
think he is?” Molly threw her clothing in the narrow closet. Not
that tossing them would do much damage. They were standard military
garb, different shades and patterns of green, browns, and blacks to
suit whatever terrain they encountered.

“
Your father gave Mak his
orders,” Helen said in a reasonable tone. “After that last escapade
with Andy Box in charge, you shouldn’t be surprised the general
would find someone you can’t boss around.”

Molly fumed as she lined up her three
pairs of all-weather boots. “No one was hurt, and Andy doesn’t
blindly take orders from me. He’s a scientist first.”

Helen snorted. “That’s exactly why
your father put a different military man in charge. Someone he can
trust to follow his orders. He might be the general but he’s you
father first. He’ll risk handcuffing us to keep you
safe.”

“
But this time his plans
and ours are the same.” Molly straightened her shirts and pants.
She really didn’t like them wrinkled. Too many years with the
general in charge of her upbringing had ingrained her sense of
order.

“
I’m not so sure. There
could be entire research labs out there that operated for years.
Think what we could learn from the work they must have done to
produce that giant they called Nemon.”

“
What kind of scientist
could do something like that to a person? Dig around in their brain
and cut out everything that makes them human?” Molly silently
considered the perpetrators to be truly evil.

“
Is it that much different
from shuffling around their genes like was done to create that
Recon Marine driving this ship? At least Nemon was born somewhat
normal. Mak is different from humans on a subcellular
level.”

Molly had debated this with Helen
before and didn’t feel like doing so now with Mak only steps away.
She finished unpacking and then took out her AI device to study the
few known facts about Julian.

The journey took three days during
which Molly avoided encounters with Mak. Her anger simmered as she
imagined how much he would interfere with their usual operating
procedures. Andy Box had worked with her on numerous expeditions
when the military had an interest. He’d never tried to usurp her
authority unlike Mak’s stubborn position.

Mak stayed on the bridge at mealtimes,
allowing Kory Pender to join them. It was the young soldier’s third
mission as their pilot.

“
How are you getting along
with the lieutenant, Pender?” Corporal Box asked on the morning of
the day they expected to arrive on Julian.

“
Just fine, sir.” Kory had
proven reluctant to discuss Mak when questioned during the last few
days. “He knows his way around the flight controls.”

“
I’m sure,” Andy said. “I
hope he doesn’t try to take charge once we’re on planet. I expect
you to follow my orders, Pender, once we’re landside.”

Kory frowned. “I can’t disobey a
superior officer, sir.”

Molly felt sorry for the young man.
She didn’t want him caught in the middle of a power play with Mak,
but she also couldn’t let the Recon Marine get in the way of
scientific discovery. Surely her father wouldn’t have given Mak
orders that countermanded her intentions. “What the corporal means,
Kory, is that this is a science mission first, military
second.”

Kory looked down at his meal. “Are you
sure the lieutenant knows that, Dr. Drant?”

“
I’ll make sure he does.
All you need to do is assist us as you did before.” Though Molly
acknowledged to herself that this time wasn’t like before. They’d
hunted plants and even a few strange animals to take blood and
tissue samples, but they’d never searched out something as
dangerous as the man in that vid. She managed a smile for Kory.
“The lieutenant won’t be a problem.”

The ship wide audio chirped for
attention. Lieutenant Mak’s deep voice filled the dining room. “Dr.
Drant, report to the bridge.”

Heat prickled across Molly’s skin, and
her face warmed. Had Mak just issued an order to her in front of
her crew? Hers. Her team. Her mission. Her ship. She stood up,
feeling the stares of her people except for Kory who blushed and
looked down at the remnants of his meal. “I’ll return shortly and
we’ll go over the geographic information.”

She took her time walking to the
bridge, reminding herself that Mak had no experience working with
her crew. No reason to be angry with him. He’d literally been bred
and born into a military mindset. All he needed was instruction on
how this mission would work.

Molly noticed something different
about the bridge, an orderliness that was previously missing. It
looked…like a military vessel. Even the copilot’s seat was squared
up to face the front viewing window. But the change in the bridge
seemed less physical than an extension of the man sitting with
perfect posture in the pilot’s chair. “This is a science vessel,”
Molly blurted, not the lecture she’d prepared to put Mak in his
place.

Mak glanced at her over his shoulder
but then turned his attention back to the controls in front of him.
He pointed toward the front screen. “We’ll enter the atmosphere of
Julian within an hour. According to information shared by Admiral
Lester, they built their lab inside the tree line of the only major
forest on the largest land mass. Most of the land around the forest
is savannah populated by nomadic herds of herbivores.”

Molly took the copilot’s seat so she
could see the AI screen set into the control deck. A detailed map
of the continent he spoke of took up the screen. The excitement of
seeing a new land almost pushed aside her irritation. Almost.
“Lieutenant, we need to set some rules of command in our working
relationship.”

“
Rules?” The glow of the
AI unit brought out deep blue sparkles in his eyes. What might
natural sunlight do for the color she’d mistaken for black until
now?

Molly grimaced at her unusual
distraction. “I’m the leader of this scientific endeavor. I give
the orders and make the decisions.”

Mak gave a short nod. “General Drant
explained you would lead the scientists. I have a firm
understanding of that and some experience in civilian hierarchies
of command.”

His agreement surprised her even as
relief swept her. “Good. Why did you want to see me?”

His right eyebrow lifted as if with a
question, prompting her to smile for some reason. “I wanted to
speak of your plans more than see you.”

She fought a grin. “Speak then,
lieutenant.”

“
The planet temperature is
moderate, gravity and atmospheric gases consistent with
requirements for human occupation without special equipment. The AI
is running checks for viral and bacterial vectors. For security
reasons, I will set down one half mile from the tree line after we
do a low fly over to check for native creatures.” He pointed at a
spot on the map that looked like any other to her. “These
structures you see should be the lab. It looks like one large
building and one other small structure. We can’t tell with this
equipment if there are underground constructs.”

She looked at the AI unit and the
front view screen where the planet had grown close enough for her
to distinguish land masses and frozen oceans at the poles. “I
intended to hold a planning meeting with the hour. You’re welcome
to attend.”

“
The plan is that Pender
and I will take point while Box covers the rear and watches the
flanks. I would prefer to go in alone and clear the building first,
but sensors indicate no life within the walls. You and your team
will remain within our protective arc.”

“
Andy will help us carry
our testing equipment and log our findings. Everything needs
careful handling to make sure we don’t contaminate any material we
find. There could be skeletons, preserved remains, heavy objects we
need to bring back to the onboard lab.”

Mak’s hands flew over the ship’s
controls. The vessel slowed enough for Molly to feel it. Mak
touched the AI device and a high view of the grasslands came up. A
small herd of furry animals grazed on the thick grass. “Box will
cover you from twenty paces behind so he has a clear line of fire
to the flanks. The only equipment he will carry is his
gun.”

“
That is not the way we do
things.” Perhaps she hadn’t understood what he had said
earlier.

He lifted his eyebrow again. “What
things? Have you searched for secret labs before?”

“
Well, no, but we’ve been
on many searches for new scientific discoveries, successful hunts
for new pathogens and plants we hope to develop new medicines
from.”

“
Twenty minutes until set
down, Dr. Drant. All nonvisual scans should be completed ten
minutes later. My men will secure the perimeter before your team
exits the ship.” Mak adjusted things on the flight controls, his
side of the conversation apparently over.

The usual thrill of seeing a new world
and searching out never before seen fauna and flora battled with
Molly’s need to set Mak straight. Perhaps it would be easier to
make procedures clearer to him after this first investigation when
he would see a science team in action. Recon Marines were
accustomed to battles not peaceful exploration. “We’ll be ready in
thirty minutes.”

But after leaving Mak to his flying,
it took Molly, Hector and Helen nearly an hour to decide what to
take with them. Without Andy to help them, they had to leave many
instruments behind. They finally decided if they needed something
else they would send the stubborn lieutenant to fetch
it.

Molly entered the code to open the
exit door, savoring the rush of cooler air and the scent of sun on
grass. They negotiated the four steps to reach the ground and
paused to take in their surroundings. No matter how many new worlds
Molly visited, each struck her with its beauty. Green and gold
grasses stretched to the horizon where they met a sky clear of
clouds. Three small moons hung in the blue infinity. Their ship
that looked so huge in port appeared tiny on the vast
plain.

“
Do you suppose they went
on without us?” Hector asked.

The grass shimmered from about fifty
feet away. Mak turned toward them, his camouflaged outfit rendering
him nearly invisible except when he moved. He flipped the head
covering back, his dark hair standing out against the background of
the grass. “Follow me. It would be best if you didn’t wander from
the path I’ll make. We flushed one species of snake and two small
lizards. Anything could be venomous.”

“
We’re familiar with
safety protocols on unsettled planets,” Molly said, some of the joy
of discovery fading. Later she would deal with Mak’s
presumptions.

Mak started off up a gradual incline
that Molly hadn’t noticed. The terrain beneath the grass wasn’t
nearly as flat as it had appeared. As they trudged up the slope,
she realized their ship occupied a small depression where it would
go unnoticed unless one knew where it was parked. Not that there
was anyone about except peaceful animals. Mak really was taking
security seriously.

Andy and Kory waited twenty feet away,
also dressed in camouflage though not the high tech gear that Mak
wore. Kory stood with his back to their approach, watching the
forest as if expecting an enemy regiment to charge out of the
trees. Andy scowled at Mak, his rifle held carelessly in his hands.
Mak walked by him without giving notice to the insubordinate
expression on Andy’s face.