A Call to Darkness - Michael Jan Friedman [36]
“I… I was only protecting myself,” said Dan’nor. “Surely, you can understand that.”
“Perfectly. And I trust that you will also understand-when I tell you the Council’s decision.” Again, a pause. “You’re not going to Civil Service, Tir’dainia. You’re being ousted from the Military altogether.”
Dan’nor felt numb suddenly. The words seemed to hang in the air like smoke, incomprehensible and without mean, ing.
He thought he had been prepared for the worst. But this was a much more hideous turn than he ever could have foreseen.
“Why?” he finally asked-though it was little more than a rasping sound in his throat.
“Because a stint in Civil Service is only a minor setback for a clever lad like you. You might have wriggled your way back into the real Military someday-and resurrected the issue of my irresponsible behavior. By then, my relative might have fallen from her councillor’s favor-and he might not have been inclined to protect me anymore. But with you out of the way, I will need no protection. There will be no one around with a reason to bring up the past.”
Dan’nor licked his lips. “I won’t bring it up either.”
“Of course not. You won’t have an opportunity.”
“Don’t do this to me,” he begged.
The Conscription Master looked at him. “You mean… have pity?”
Dan’nor swallowed. “Yes. Pity.”
The man’s smile returned. “The same kind of pity you had for me-when you reported me?”
Dan’nor’s throat was so tight it hurt. “Please,” he said. “I’ll do anything.”
The Conscription Master looked away. “That will be all, Tir’dainia.”
A strange thing happened then. Dan’nor’s desperation seemed to harden into something else. And without thinking, he flung himself over the desk that separated them.
But he had only a second or two to vent his fury before the guards came in to restrain him.
When Commander Riker originally called Burtin up to the bridge, just about five days ago, he hadn’t sugar-coated the situation. Not one bit.
“We’re doing everything we can, Doctor. And there’s still a good chance that we’ll be successful. But for the time being, you’re going to have to operate on the assumption that Doctor Pulaski isn’t coming back.” An eerie pause. “In the meantime, what’s the status of Fredi’s case?”
At the time, Burtin hadn’t had much to report. Just that they were proceeding on the basis of Pulaski’s hypothesis, trying to isolate the hybrid bacterium-if there was one.
Now, however, he had quite a bit to report. He wished only that Pulaski could be present to hear it too.
“Commander?”
“Is that you, Doctor?”
Riker sounded a damned sight better than he had the last time they spoke. Of course, that had been before the Klah’kimmbri dropped their energy mantle.
“It’s me, all right. And I’ve got some good news. I found the bacterium that’s afflicting our friend Fredi.”
“Glad to hear it,” said the first officer.
Burtin had expected a little more excitement-something along the lines of what he himself was experiencing. Then again, Riker no doubt had other things on his mind. Even with the mantle down, they still had to find the away team. And bring it back.
“Now,” said the doctor, “we’ve just got to make sure that the antibiotic we usually use on this bacterium also works against the altered version. But my preliminary analyses indicate that it will.”
“So Fredi’s all but cured?” concluded Riker.
“It looks that way,” said Burtin. “Also, I don’t see any reason to hold the other survey team members any longer. They still show no signs of the disease-I’m going to lift their quarantine.”
“Good news, Doctor. But don’t let me keep you. I know you’ve still got a lot of work ahead of you.”
It was a polite way of saying “go away,” and Burtin took the hint-without taking offense as well. What the hell, he thought. On the frontier, that message would have come across in much less delicate terms.
“Burtin out,” he said, making it official. His duty done, he decided to get back to the lab. See how the accelerated cultures were doing.
As he traveled the short corridor that led past Pulaski’s office, he hit something