Chapter Thirty-Seven

Quiet Conversation

Still not his usual stoic self Commander Tolan made his way to Roxell's office, checking in with the guard at the door before entering. He found Amanda curled up on the sofa where she had been dozing most of the day. The sound of the door opening woke her from her uneasy sleep and she sat up fearfully, relaxing when Tolan entered, his oddly reassuring words returning to her mind. "It's only me."

As Roxell had said, Turlough was also in the room, having been asked to keep the jittery Amanda company. He had spent his time working on his sketches while she slept and looked up when the Commander came in.

"Would you excuse us, please, Turlough?" the officer said firmly.

Throwing a quick glance in Dr. Spencer's direction, the young man considered a moment. The stern look he received from Tolan made his mind up for him and he quickly left the room.

The Commander took a seat opposite the apprehensive woman, watching silently as she sat up to face him. It was obvious she was trying to discern the reason his arm was in a sling, since he was not the kind of person to openly broadcast his injuries. It was also obvious she was still in shock as she pulled her blanket around herself. He wondered how best to begin and decided to simply come to the point. "Do you feel up to telling me what happened, Amanda?"

The Alterran's quiet tone actually made Dr. Spencer jump. This was not how she expected him to address her. "Amanda? I thought I was Miss Legrand to you."

The Commander's tone did not change. "Everyone still calls you that. I just thought—" Interrupting himself, he asked, "Would you rather I called you Miss Legrand?"

"Why not? You're convinced I'm part of this, aren't you?"

"Am I?" came the mild, almost amused reply.

Amanda scowled. Tolan's manner had her completely thrown. He was always so cold and authoritative, nothing like the subdued, almost kind individual who sat before her. "Are you trying to be funny? Because if you are—"

"This is no joking matter," Tolan said seriously. "An awful lot of people have been hurt because of this mess."

"Including you, right?" Amanda snorted. "Too bad you had to pull a muscle during your acrobatic heroics."

The Commander smiled briefly. "It comes with the job."

"I'm really impressed you and your men can guard me with such style."

"Not guard, protect," Tolan corrected. "You've been in protective custody since I left."

Amanda sat up a little more. "Protective…? Do you mean I haven't been under arrest all this time?" The Alterran shook his head, increasing her anger. "And you left me locked up anyway!" she exploded, jumping to her feet.

"I left you locked up for your own protection," Tolan replied forcefully, sounding more like his old self. "I even went so far as to put the house on Alert—"

"Fat lot of good that did," the physician snorted, folding her arms and turning away. "They still managed to get in here."

Commander Tolan was stung by this remark. What did she want from him? One man was dead; two others injured, he had taken a bullet, and his own son— The image of the unrecognizable form in the energy bed brought a lump to his throat. He drew a deep breath and looked away. "Well…we tried," he said softly.

Amanda turned back, suddenly remembering the guard who had been dumped at her feet. "Oh God, Tolan, I'm so sorry," she said apologetically touching his shoulder. "I completely forgot about—" She broke off when he flinched away, a cry of pain escaping him as his free hand went to his aching arm. The physician could plainly see the truth from the way he was cradling it. "Tolan, that's no pulled muscle. You're really hurt, aren't you?"

"I'm fine," came the strained reply.

"Yeah, and I'm above suspicion," Dr. Spencer countered. "What happened?"

"That's what I came to ask you," Tolan replied evasively. He told her of the incident in the receiving bay involving Fane that preceded the attack on her door guard.

Amanda was appalled. In spite of her arrest and confinement, her friendship with Fane had not suffered. In fact, it had actually grown stronger. Since the decision to arrest her had not been his, she had seen no reason to hold it against him. "Oh, Tolan, not Fane, too!" she gasped a hand going to her mouth. "He's not—?"

"No, not yet. They worked him over pretty good, though. And…" Pausing, Tolan said at last, "He's pretty bad off."

"Your men mean a lot to you, don't they?"

"More than you realize," came the reply in a faraway tone.

Suddenly Amanda was Dr. Spencer again and she scrutinized the Alterran a moment before saying, "Tolan, you shouldn't be working. You should be in bed."

"I said I'm alright, dammit!" he snarled, his tone surprising even him. He was getting very tired of everyone telling him to rest.

"Do you sound alright?" Amanda countered forcefully. "You're in shock, Commander, and over tired to boot." She put her blanket over his shoulders, giving him a quelling look to stop any objections. "You're just lucky I'm not your M.O. anymore or I'd have you removed from duty and confined to bed."

Tolan's reply was interrupted when the Doctor poked his head in. "Ah! There you are, Tolan. I've been looking for you."

"Well, you've found me," the Alterran responded darkly, wrapping the soothingly warm blanket around himself.

Not put off by the officer's obvious ill humor, the Time Lord smiled broadly looking over at Amanda. "And how are you doing?" he asked as he took a seat at Roxell's desk.

"I've had better days," she replied caustically and then dropped back down onto the couch.

"I was about to ask,"—Tolan looked pointedly at the woman across from him—"Amanda, if she could tell me what happened?"

Dr. Spencer flashed an amused smile. Then she shivered as the morning's events returned to her mind. Drawing a deep breath to steady her nerves, she recounted her harrowing ordeal. Her abductors had said very little in-between the orders they snarled at her. They had expressed a desire to inflict more damage on the security force, but as for what they planned to do with her, she had no idea.

"They didn't say anything?" the Doctor asked.

Amanda shook her head. "One of them said something about not getting paid for undelivered goods. Something like that." She gave an apologetic smile. "That probably doesn't help much. I was pretty scared at the time."

Tolan did not reply directly, nodding his understanding. He had been uncharacteristically silent the whole time, allowing the Doctor to do all the questioning.

Amanda threw a puzzled look in the Commander's direction and then looked over at the Doctor. "Does this mean I'm not under arrest?"

To her surprise, Tolan gave a tired laugh. "No, you are not under arrest. You're under protective custody, along with everyone else in Starbridge."

After a brief pause, the Doctor said conversationally, "You know, after the house was secured, Tolan asked a very interesting question. How did they know you were here?"

Glaring at the officer, Amanda said icily, "He didn't ask me that."

"Would you've been able to give me an answer if I had?" the Alterran asked reasonably.

The Time Lord grinned. He was suddenly in an exceptionally cheerful mood, which was strangely out of place in the somber atmosphere of the office. "I've a theory about that," he said happily, pulling out an object Dr. Spencer recognized instantly. "That's my scanner!"

"It is indeed."

The Doctor began dismantling the little unit before the aghast physician's eyes. "Doctor, what're you doing?" she protested. "Those things cost a fortune, and I can't afford another one now that I don't have a job anymore."

Ignoring her objections, the Time Lord said, "Amanda, you're a doctor. What's the one thing you keep with you at all times? Even when you change jobs?"

"My scanner, of course. You already know that. And it's no good to me broken!"

"Ah, that brings up another point. Have you ever had it repaired?"

Amanda looked over to the equally baffled Tolan before replying, "No, I've only had to reprogram it from time to time, or update the memory."

The Doctor let out a small cry of triumph when the back of the unit finally came off. "I think you should've had it looked at." He held up the instrument to reveal a pulsing light inside. "It appears your scanner's been bugged."