Hospital Ship (The Rim Confederacy #5) by Jim Rudnick Read Free Book Online Page A

at his forefinger that pressed down on her forearm, and he quickly took it off.
    "Sorry, I just meant to say that, yes, when my own comes, you'll have to do the talking. Okay?"
    She nodded as she placed another forkful of noodles and sprouts into her mouth. Chewing slowly, her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked at him, and then moments later she drank more of that blue juice.
    He toyed with his fork, and the server placed his drink between them He spent the next few minutes talking about nothing really. The latest big 3D movie he'd seen up in the theater was a topic, but he honestly couldn't even think of who had been in it. Don't follow the vid world, he added and hoped not knowing the stars of the big movie of the month wouldn't label him as too much of a science geek. He went on about other things like the new Throth ward that was under construction and the scuttlebutt that there were cost over-runs already. He was just trying to fill up some time, and before he knew it, she dropped her fork on her plate and pushed it away from her. She nursed her juice for a moment and then looked at him as the server dropped his heaping plate of Pad Thai in front of him and he picked up his fork.
    While he dug into his lunch, he remembered to take smaller forkfuls than he'd do if he wasn't sitting beside such a desirable woman, and he found a chance almost all the time to quickly swallow so he wouldn't talk with a mouth full of food. He kept up his end of the conversation and was glad to know she too hadn't known who starred in that vid movie. She shared that the scuttlebutt on the Throth ward was that it was so dang expensive because they were all children who needed top pediatric healthcare staff. More than 9,000 of them, she had said, and that was surprising until he remembered these children had all been asleep for more than 1,600 years. Geriatric doctors may have been a better choice he offered, and they smiled and chuckled again.
    He figured that a great lunch might lead to something more.
    "Nancy, I do have to go as I've a meeting soon—but can I ask? Would it be okay to ask you out for a dinner? And I promise to like the peanuts if they're served, and by then I will have the names of those vid stars so we can both dis them too?" he said, very matter-of-factly. No pressure. Just a simple query.
    She looked at him for a moment, then a moment more, and finally she nodded.
    "I'd love to have dinner with you, Mr. Research Associate, anytime you ask," she said.
    He smiled widely and then laid a soft hand back on her forearm.
    "Then how about tomorrow. I can come and get you in your quarters or we can meet down in the lobby near the walkway ... or whatever is easiest for you," he said and then waited.
    She looked like she was weighing her options—and then smiled one more time.
    "Please come by my quarters—nothing fancy for a lieutenant, but it is my own bachelorette apartment up on Deck F at F-144. See you then, say at 1900 hours—would that be okay?" and she laid a hand down on top of his.
    He nodded and they both smiled. Date asked for and accepted.
    What a day , he thought, as he took the escalator down to the lobby, splurged on a big drink from the Juice Bar, and made his way back to the left and into the long corridor to go back to the Research Labs. Even the thought that work was so boring with the process of changing into the full spacesuit, a quick jump, and losing the spacesuit just to get to work didn't bother him.
    Not now. He smiled and gripped that casino chip even tighter in his pocket as he ambled away.
     
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    Trying to get comfortable in the chair in the outpatient clinic in the Psychiatric Ward, Tanner was shifting his weight every few minutes from one cheek to another when he felt a soft touch on his left shoulder.
    He looked up and smiled.
    "Lieutenant Irving—what a nice surprise! How are you?" he said and then he remembered her hearing might not be good, and he turned away from the robo-doc on his right to