Free Dana Cartwright Mission 1: Stiletto by Joyz W. Riter Page A

repeated.
    “You say that so easily.” She sipped her coffee.
    “Because it’s true.”
    “You hardly know me. And I hardly know you.”
    “That’s why I gave you my favorite memories. Flying… Puff…” His eyelids closed. “You doubt me.”
    “I don’t know what to believe. How can you love someone after just two days?”
    He chuckled. “I’m the ‘man of your dreams.’ Oh, Dana, I have the same dreams!”
    “You dream of men?” Her blue eye squinted at him.
    “No, silly!” He had a good laugh, opened his eyes, and smiled across at her. “For a long time, my soul has ached for a life companion. Unlike Galaxeans, who repeat their mating ritual every year, Alphans long for a lifetime mate. I’m thirty-three, with a demanding career, but in the wee hours before dawn, my soul aches.”
    He stared and telepathically sent, It aches for you.
    She felt the longing but was afraid. “I’m not Alphan.”
    “You are so beautiful.”
    He struggled to move, winced from the pain, breathed through it, and then settled back down on the bed in a prone position, still holding the cup. “Does coconut milk make you sleepy?”
    “It can.”
    After a time, he closed his eyes again and sighed. “I’m not a good patient, am I?”
    “It’s never easy being incapacitated,” she reminded.
    “Have you ever been in a coffin?”
    “No, never.”
    “Had a broken bone? Or a…”
    “No.”
    He seemed surprised but then realized, “Your guardian protected you.”
    “He tries.”
    “I was a daredevil. Still am, but you know that already.” He chuckled. “I like coconut milk. What’s a coconut?”
    “I’ll bring you one,” she teased. “They have hard shells.”
    “I have a hard head,” he snickered. “Oh… I have another memory I must give you,” but he fell asleep without telling her.
    She ordered the lights dimmed and collected the cup from his hand, taking hers also to the recycling chute. She retrieved her padlet from the medical kit she’d brought up from the surface and on a lark downloaded a short movie on kites and hang-glider flying. The memory Kieran had given her far surpassed the video. He certainly was a daredevil and a rebel.
    “And I’m not,” she thought. The most daring thing she’d ever done was crawling under that wreckage to save Kieran’s life.
    Was it synchronicity? Was it meant to happen? What happens next?
    She watched Kieran sleep, fretting at the occasional twitches and tremors in both his legs. Then she downloaded three more texts on neurological traumas. That took her through till Doctor Garcia returned in the morning.
    “All quiet?” he asked.
    “He’s refused all pain meds. I administered an anti-inflammatory.”
    Garcia nodded, and went to look at the diagnostic panel. He quietly offered, “Well, you need some rest. I’ll take it from here. You’re a tremendously talented surgeon. Have you considered a Star Service career?”
    “No,” Dana answered flatly.  
    “Aboard a ship like Navitor , you’d be a valuable officer.” He offered his hand and she clasped it firmly. “I do hope we can confer again.”
    She smiled. “If his…”
    He nodded, “I’ll keep you apprised of his progress. And, I will see that the coffin is returned to MCE.”
    “Thank you.”
    She gave Kieran a last pat upon his bare shoulder, smiled, and then went to collect her gear and change into her uniform.
    She slipped out and started down the maze of corridors, unable to recall exactly the way to the MAT pod room. She tried a few, but ended up feeling a lot like Kieran’s little pet rat, Puff, trapped in a labyrinth.  
    And then she happened upon an officers’ lounge, and drifted to the viewport. Her jaw dropped open. The view was breathtaking; not just of the full moon, but of the Earth and Sol and even Venus and Mars.  
    Someone came up behind her. “Great view, don’t you agree?”
    Dana nodded but continued staring out at the galaxy, all the while thinking, This is where I