Read Online Dremiks by Cassandra Davis - Free Book Online Page A

with Lieutenant Price.” She gave the officer in question a side-long, falsely sweet, smile.
    When no one else dared speak on the matter, she clasped her hands on the tabletop. “If there are no other matters, we’re adjourned. The captain wishes to meet with all department heads twenty-four hours before our jump. The exact time will be communicated to you. Double check your duty rosters and leave some flexibility in your schedules. Dismissed.”
    O’Connell stayed behind to consult and consolidate the reports from the junior officers. The men filed out of the room quietly. Once the door clicked shut behind them, Ensign Chi’s almond-shaped eyes crinkled at the edges with amusement. He looked at his roommate, Ensign Robertson. “So, cards tonight? You might need a good game before you have to be the bearer of bad news.”
    Behind the two ensigns, Swede rolled his eyes. He elbowed Price in the ribs. Tony nodded. “So, yeah, there were these mates of mine at Eton. They knew our rugby match was out-of bounds, and they knew all about the secrecy involved but could they keep their bleedin’ mouths shut when we were five feet from the headmaster? No, not these bleaters.”
    Robertson turned around. “Sir? You had to have rugby games in secret?”
    Chi sighed. Swede reached one large hand over and gripped the top of the shorter man’s head. With comical puppeteer motions, he forced the Asian man to nod at his friend. “Yes,” he intoned in a high pitched voice nothing like Chi’s. “They had to play rugby in secret, Nate. Don’t you wonder how they explained all the bruises and missing teeth? Keep running your mouth about our card games, and you just might find out.”
    Nate had the good grace to shrug and look chagrined. “Sorry, sirs.”
    “Right you are. Toddle on now, we strong, silent , types have real work to do.” Price made a shooing motion with his hand and turned his back on them. Swede softened the rebuke by winking playfully and patting Chi on the head after releasing him.
    When the two were far enough away, Guttmann looked over at Price. “We have real work to do?”
    “Well, you always have work to do. Myself, I’m going to try to beat O’Connell’s record on the simulator.”
    Swede was distracted by an electrical panel that was blinking on the bulkhead. He waved his hand over his head. “Go do your pilot things then. You won’t beat her, though. Not in a simulator.”
    “Whatever.” Tony tugged at his flight-suit and fixed his hair. “See you after my watch.”
    “Hey, don’t forget to tell Trell about the meeting with the captain.” Swede turned around and noticed the empty corridor behind him. “Price?” He took a few steps and looked down the other way, past the officer’s mess. No one was around. “What did he do, run?” The lieutenant shook his large blonde head and went back to studying the blinking panel.
    ***
    Dwax floated to the medical bay. He preferred humans to use the term “float” instead of the repulsive “slither” that some found so applicable. He wished he could understand the human psyche’s need to associate anything that had tentacles with slimy, slithering, creatures of the muck and wet. Dwax had never once slithered and he hated being dirty. In one of his arm tentacles, he carried a stack of disks for Dr. Ruger.
    Trained to follow in his father’s diplomatic footsteps, according to the rigid caste system of his home-world, Dwax had no useful medical knowledge. His father had, however, considered it a diplomat’s duty to supply Dr. Ruger with several weighty tomes on the subject. Much as he was bored by all things medicinal, Dwax was fascinated by the coffee-skinned doctor and her soft voice. Happily freed from a meeting with Chancellor Trell, Dwax looked forward to an afternoon in the doctor’s company.
    Right outside the medical bay Dwax encountered Ensign Robertson. They exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before Nate excused himself.
    “I’m