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

belong.
    The Lieutenant at her elbow stared, too. “I never get used to it,” he whispered.
    Finally, Dana sighed. “I guess I need some assistance finding a MAT pod room.”
    “I’d be happy to guide you. Lt. Schaffer,” he volunteered, though he didn’t extend his hand the way humans often do.
    “Doctor Cartwright,” Dana returned.  
    He was young — well, younger than she -- and quite handsome, with a dark complexion and dark, mysterious eyes. She guessed, however, he wasn’t Earth-born. He wore the insignia of engineering and a curious additional pip on his collar.
    “What does that insignia mean?” She indicated the pip.  
    “I am an Exchange Officer from the GCE,” Schaffer offered.
    Dana blinked. “You’re Enturian?”
    “Yes, Doctor.” He seemed puzzled by the question.
    “So am I,” she admitted.
    They paused in the corridor and took a long look at each other.
    “I thought perhaps you were. I’m from Luandra, Anestia Province,” Schaffer said.  
    Dana deliberated how much to reveal. “My records are sealed, so I don’t know exactly where I…”
    “Oh, that happens a lot,” Schaffer commented. “You can always petition the Master Captain for the details.”
    “Is it that simple?”
    “Begging your pardon…No, it’s not exactly a simple matter; however, it is the only way to get your genetic center records.”  
    Dana sighed.  
    “You’re not an Exchange Officer?”
    She shook her head. “No, I was raised here, on Earth.”
    “Oh… You’re one of the physicians Doctor Garcia said was coming up from the surface to assist on a surgery.” Schaffer nodded.  
    “Yes, but I got lost after leaving sickbay. Navitor is such a big ship,” Dana remarked as they started off again down the corridor.
    “Indeed, Navitor is the largest in the service.”  
    “The corridors seem so empty.”
    “Oh, many are on shore leave. Big conference down below.” Schaffer boasted, “Our Captain is participating in the Meeting of the Masters.”  
    Dana had never heard of it.  
    “The opening ceremony is today.” Schaffer indicated the entrance to the MAT station. “I hope to attend the closing ceremony later this week.”
    Dana thanked the lieutenant for his assistance and stepped inside, heading for one of the six pads. The young ensign there remembered her and offered a smile.
    “Where can I set you down, Doctor?”
    “A public station at Capitol City Mall will do.”
    “Sorry, Ma’am… Those stations are on overload because of the Meeting of the Masters. And SSID has nearly all the immediately surrounding stations on security hold, because of all the dignitaries.”
    Dana frowned. “Then try the Observatory. I can use MCE’s controller to get home from there.”
    That one, hopefully, wouldn’t be crowded since it was so far off the main grid of the Capitol City network.

    Dana materialized near the main lobby entrance. It was her first visit back to the Observatory since the crash. The site looked spotless. Rocky and his crew did great work. Cleaning up took a massive amount of work and training.
    Except for two security tubs, no one was around. The rolling kegs immediately accosted her. “Source and ID required.”
    She scowled and submitted to the retina scan and showed her ID from MCE.
    It finally announced, “Cleared,” without so much as, ‘have a nice day.’
    She groaned and took a few steps toward the landing zone, seeing a few remnant scorch marks on the deck. You would never know that a Blade Class shuttle had crashed there just a few days before.
    She stood on the very spot where she’d been that night while watching the shuttle hover, and she replayed the whole thing over again in her mind.
    “How could the security cameras not have captured everything?” She muttered, looking about, “They’re everywhere.”
    Inspector Regis cleared his throat.
    Dana jumped and sighed. “You scared me!”
    He blinked. “Good morning, Doctor Cartwright.”
    She turned to