Free Six Scifi Stories by Robert T. Jeschonek Page A

queen of the world, and I’ll make it so nothin’ happens without my say-so.”
    â€œOkay,” I said. “Wanna play doctor?”
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    *****
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    I watch her get drunk in the old dungeon for a long time, and I hardly say a word. When she finally starts to nod off, I help her upstairs to her quarters so she can sleep in her own bed.
    And I don’t leave right away like I should.
    I stand in the doorway and watch her as she sleeps, the peaceful look on her face belying the turmoil in her life.
    I would do anything for her. If I could cure her cancer by giving up my own life, I would do it. If I could take all of her troubles on myself, I would do that, too.
    But there is one thing that I can do. It’s the one thing that both of our lives have been leading up to since we first started playing mad scientist in the back yards of our childhood homes.
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    *****
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    The next morning, I have a pot of coffee waiting for her in the lab. That much, at least, is like every other morning...though it’s really the third pot I’ve made since midnight the night before. I drank the first two on my own; it was the only way I could stay up all night and make the final preparations for the grand unveiling.
    When I see how bad she looks when she walks in, I’m extra glad I decided to carry out my secret plan today. Her eyes are bloodshot, her face haggard, her hair tangled. She shuffles around like she’s still half-asleep, like she was the one up all night and not me.
    I fill her mug with coffee and stir in a teaspoonful of sugar, the way she likes it. She doesn’t take it at first, and when she does, she only sips once and puts the mug back down on the table.
    Half-heartedly, she walks over to the big whiteboard on the wall and stares at the equations scrawled there in red, green, and black dry-erase marker. “Did the U.N. return my call yet?” She says it without looking back at me.
    â€œNo, Doctor.” I cross the lab and stand alongside her.
    She sighs and shakes her head. “I give up.”
    â€œI know the feeling,” I say.
    â€œNo,” says Dr. Medici. “I mean I really give up. No more mad science. It’s just not working for me anymore.”
    I never thought I’d hear her say that, but I understand where it’s coming from. “You’ve been having a rough time lately,” I say. “Things’ll get better.”
    â€œIf by ‘better,’ you mean death, then yeah.” She’s finally showing some spark. Too bad it’s in the form of sarcasm. “Much better, coming right up.”
    I take a deep breath. My big moment has arrived. “Things will get better.” I feel a chill as all the blood seems to rush right out of my body at once. “Things will get better right now , in fact.”
    She isn’t taking me seriously. She doesn’t even look at me as she ladles on more sarcasm. “Oh, good. You’ve come up with that cure for cancer you’ve been working on. I’ll have some right now, please.”
    â€œFollow me.” I turn and march to the far corner, where the big surprise awaits, laid out on a gurney under a white sheet.
    Dr. Medici follows slowly, her face etched in a scowl. “I’m not in the mood for jokes, Glue.”
    My hand shakes as I pat the shape beneath the sheet. I feel the heat of it, the rise and fall of it, and I know I’ve done well. “Trust me,” I tell her. “Give me a chance.”
    â€œWhat is it?” she says as she draws up beside me.
    â€œScience project,” I say, and then I whisk the sheet from the gurney.
    Dr. Medici stares silently at the naked man who is lying there.
    He is lean and muscular, the type who could be a model or an all-around athlete. His complexion is fair, his thick hair glossy and blond. He has a movie star face with chiseled features...and his eyes, when they finally flutter open, sparkle like twin