Starlaw by Candace Sams Read Free Book Online

organs. “Commander … talk to her while I continue.”
    Darius’s brows rose. He’d just been contemplating a question concerning exactly what Gemma was doing. Instead, he heeded her timely warning and moved closer to the injured woman.
    The gore associated with opening Laurel’s chest wasn’t new to him. The site of it wasn’t particularly shocking. He’d seen many casualties while enforcing laws in his assigned quadrant. But something about watching this backward little Earther lying there in the middle of her own blood and incised body tissue was so pathetic. He tried to come up with commentary that sounded intelligent. Something she’d grab onto assuming she
could
hear what was being said. He put one gloved hand on top of her head, noting the thick mass of hair as he conjured words of comfort.
    “Don’t be afraid. Gemma will have you right in no time,” he whispered as he lowered his head to repeat the words through the barrier of the mask he now wore.
    As the operation proceeded he actually saw the Earther’s entire body tense. Later, she might not be able to remember what he’d said but right now, he was certain she really did hear every syllable spoken, just as Gemma had warned. He got the distinct impression she’d have reached for a hand to hold had she been able to move.
    “Just a few more moments,” Gemma relayed as she glanced between her surgical handiwork and holographic status updates generated by the incu-unit. “Okay. That’s got it. I’ll laser-suture the incision. The unit should remove even the smallest trace of the scar.”
    He recognized the sparkle in his med-tech’s bright gaze, and heard the exaltation in her voice. Apparently, she was satisfied with her skills in saving her patient’s life.
    “She should start breathing deeper soon, sir. Her heart rate is already going back to its original speed. Of course, I don’t know what normal is for her. I’m not that up on Earther vital signs but since her biology is almost identical to Lusterian specs, I think it’s safe to say she’ll be just fine.” Gemma pulled off her mask as the incu-unit walls rose around her patient.
    Other staff in the med bay sighed with relief and congratulated their head surgeon on a wonderful job. Darius simply stood there trying to hide such utter relief as to be nonsensical given his short acquaintance with the injured Earth woman. She’d fought so hard to live. As on the planet’s surface, she’d displayed one more instance of utter courage.
    He glanced at the patient and considered the creamy skin of her full breasts and perfect proportions of her body, as it’d been fully exposed when Gemma pulled the blankets back to make her initial incisions.
    When one of his other crewmen caught him essentially gawking, he cleared his throat and turned guiltily away. That medical assistant snorted in amusement while pulling clean, thicker coverings over the injured woman’s body.
    “I … I was just thinking her physiology and mine might be similar for a reason,” he defended. “Lusterian researchers speak of ancestors visiting many worlds in ancient times, before a ban was ever initiated regarding planets that were too backward to be exposed to higher technology. Earth might have been one of those planets. It seems logical to assume some of my home world’s travelers might have intermingled with various populations, thereby producing entities whose physiology is similar. Even compatible.”
    “That’s quite true,” Gemma maintained as she took off her gloves and bloody surgical apron before handing them to a nearby attendant for sterilization. “Unfortunately … our decontamination unit didn’t see the similarities, only the differences, Commander. The decon-unit actually damaged alveoli in her lungs. That’s what I was repairing.”
    Gemma moved away from the incubation unit, and the presence of staff still cleaning and caring for Laurel. She crooked one finger and Darius bent to hear what