Two updates in less than a month….holy cow. No beta and so on. If you find any boo-boos feel free to PM me with them and I'll fix them. And thank you so much to you sweet, adorable people for still following this.
Lisa sighed for what must have been the millionth time since she'd awoken to find herself chained to the wall of a cave on the MED moon. It was all bad enough to be stuck here, away from Rick and Roy, as well as her friends, but besides all that she was bored. She was used to having to try to find time to do things with most of her days having been scheduled and planned for days in advance. She was on the verge of promising herself never to complain about being busy again.
She swallowed the last of what had passed for dinner and tossed the empty ration pack next to SCLU and felt her tummy rumble.
When I get out of here, she thought with some amusement, I'm committing the entire REF Research & Development division to the soul purpose of creating tastier ration packs.
Lisa laughed out loud, and as the echo of it started to die she sighed again. Her right hand automatically fell to what had become its customary position- her belly- and started to rub small circles once again.
Since realizing that she was carrying a new life created by her and the man she loved so dearly, she'd spent a lot of time thinking about it. She'd thought about how Rick would react. She'd thought about what Roy's reaction would be. And of course she'd thought about the possible reactions of Jean and Miriya. She'd always smiled whenever she'd tried to guess their reactions, which would no doubt range from shock to absolute jubilation.
Her smiles were almost exclusively ones of love and affection, but there was one smile that she'd reserved for another of her acquaintances. It wasn't a pretty smile, nor was it a smile borne of happiness, love or respect, and she'd used that smile so little in her lifetime that it had actually hurt her cheeks when she'd done it the first time in the cave. It was a smug smile, a smile that she wanted to flash in the face of Sue Graham as she rubbed Sue's nose in the fact that she was carrying Rick's baby.
Lisa was far from a mean spirited or vindictive person, but she'd give just about anything right now to be able to show Sue Graham that smile…
Jean Grant collapsed into the chair of her office and tried to keep the tears in her eyes from falling out onto her cheeks. She was drained, physically and mentally, not to mention emotionally. She honestly couldn't remember the last good night sleep she'd gotten, or the last time she'd been able to spend more than half an hour with Vince without work or thoughts of work interrupting them.
Had to be before Lisa died, she thought with a sniff. Everything in her life had been running smoothly before Lisa's murd…
Wait! she thought with enough bitterness to cause her to actually physically bristle. Not murder. Her kidnapping. Jean took a deep, cleansing breath and tried to quell the anger roiling around in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't afford the anger now, not with Angie fighting for her life and Rick dealing with Sue Graham.
She had assumed by the lack of an emergency call from the brig that Rick and Max had managed to stop Miriya from doing something painful to Graham.
Jean still couldn't wrap her head around the situation. How the hell could Graham have done it? What did she do and did she have help? But the most burning question for her was the most obvious one: where was Lisa Hunter?
Jean leaned back in her chair and rubbed the tears from her eyes with the tips of her slender fingers.
"Is there a doctor in the house?"
Jean dropped her hands and looked to the door, and though she was aware of her lips automatically forming a smile, she wasn't cognizant of getting up and running into Vince's arms until he picked her up and gently squeezed her.
"I've missed you, too," he whispered as he gently set her feet down upon the deck. His right hand moved up and, with delicateness that one wouldn't expect from one as large as him, wiped the remaining tears from underneath her left eye.
She smiled as she leaned into him and cuddled the side of her face against his chest.
"How's Angie?" he asked as his arms went around her shoulders.
"I don't know if she's going to make it," Jean answered with a sniffle. "She's…I don't know." She shuddered within his embrace and his right hand began moving up and down her back in a soothing caress. "That feels so nice."
"Haven't lost my touch," said Vince playfully.
Jean smiled and leaned back so that she could look into her husband's eyes. "Never." Vince returned her smile and Jean said, "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Sit. Room trying to find Lisa?"
Vince's arms slackened their hold around her and his face dropped into a confused expression. "What are you talking about, Jean?"
Jean's eyes widened in realization as she exclaimed, "You don't know! No one told you!" Before Vince could even begin to respond Jean closed her eyes and shook her head. Between mental and physical exhaustion as well as concern for Angie she hadn't thought to tell anyone and she knew Rick and Max were trying to keep Miriya from killing Sue. "Of course not!" she exclaimed as she opened her eyes and looked at him. "I feel like an idiot! Vince, she's alive!" At Vince's skeptical look Jean nodded emphatically. "Rick asked me to try to revive Angie so he could talk to her. I did and Angie told Rick that Lisa was alive and pregnant."
Obviously shaken by what his wife was telling him, Vince could only mutter, "How?"
Jean could feel her face glow and eyes darken in anger. "Sue Graham."
Vince's eyes widened as a thousand thoughts rushed through his head. Finally he said, "Where's Rick now?"
Jean reluctantly edged away from Vince, knowing that as soon as she told him he would have to leave. "The brig. Max and Miriya were here, and when Rick told Max what Angie had said Miriya disappeared, presumably to…"
"…to give Sue Graham a lesson in Zentraedi torture methods," finished Vince in a voice that said he wasn't at all opposed to the idea. "Rick and Max…"
"Took off to try to stop her." Jean placed her hands flat on Vince's chest. "She's probably the only one who knows where Lisa is, unless…"
"Unless we can figure it out," said Vince as he looked thoughtful. "What about Angie" Do she know…"
"I don't know," she replied with some exasperation. "She flat lined after she told Rick, Vince, and I just barely got her back."
Vince looked over the top of Jean's head to the clock on her desk and said, "Almost nineteen hundred hours. I've got to get everyone on the ball and let them know what's going on." He leaned down and they indulged in a quick kiss before Vince stepped back and turned to walk away. As he strode purposefully down the hall he called over his shoulder, "Don't worry, Jean. We'll find her."
Jean watched as her husband disappeared out the door and she sighed, asking herself as she did so, Where are you, Lisa?
She was just about to go back to her desk when an alarm sounded that sent chills down her back. She was already on the run towards the ICU when the announcement came over the Infirmary speakers.
'Code blue- ICU. Repeat, code blue- ICU. Dr. Grant please respond.'
Jean couldn't have known it then, but the young woman she was about to try and save had already answered her question and many more in an email that had just arrived on her computer screen.
Max knelt down and automatically reached to Sergeant Tanaka's neck to check for a pulse. After a few anxious moments his fingers finally found a strong and steady beat causing im to sigh heavily in relief.
"I did not use lethal methods, Max," said Miriya from five feet away where she was checking on Private Gibbons.
Max turned and regarded his wife for a moment. "I know, Mir," he responded gently. He knew without a doubt that his wife would not intentionally kill any of the security personnel that would have tried to stop her, but she was a Zentraedi. More than that, she was a woman, and even he had to admit that there were times during their marriage when he thought she would lose it. He could definitely imagine a very pissed off Miriya, her blood boiling and vision red with rage, accidentally using more force than she'd meant to in eliminating any threat to achieving her goal of killing Sue Graham. Tanaka moaned, tearing Max from his brief introspection and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Easy, Akiko."
"What hit me?" asked a dazed Tanaka as she reached up to rub the back of her head.
"I did," answered Miriya honestly who had moved to stand behind Max.
Tanaka's hand stopped in mid-rub and she looked up to Miriya. "General Sterling?"
"It's going to be a long story, Akiko," said Max as he got to his feet. He held out his hand to Tanaka, and when the Sergeant took it he carefully helped her to her feet.
Tanaka released his hand and Max became concerned when her first reaction was to rest her right hand on the handle of her sidearm. Tanaka noticed Max's glance to her hand and she immediately removed it.
"Sorry, sir," she said apologetically. She shrugged and gave him a half smile. "Habit."
A soft whimper from Gibbons drew their attention and Miriya quickly moved over the injured man. She got down onto one knee and examined Gibbons' arm. "I think it's broken, Max," she said remorsefully. Her eyes found his and he could see the regret and shame shining in them. "He's in a lot of pain."
Max nodded and moved towards the brig's main communications panel. "I'll call Jean and get her to send someone up." As he worked the comm. unit he glanced to Tanaka who was eyeing Miriya somewhat suspiciously, not that he could blame her. "Akiko?" When the Sergeant looked to him he said, "Prentice and Cather are down by the prisoner's cell, unconscious but otherwise uninjured, apparently." He paused for a moment and then added, "Admiral Hunter is inside the cell with the prisoner."
"What the hell is going on, sir?" demanded Tanaka, the confusion and frustration in her voice matching the narrowed look and deep frown on her face.
Max stood up straight and faced Tanaka. "You're going to have to trust me, Akiko," he said in gentle tone of voice. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course, sir," she replied instantly.
"Then please do as I ask and keep an ear out for Rick," he replied. "Commander Graham has tried to kill a fellow REF officer and there's no telling what she's capable of."
Tanaka looked to Miriya who was comforting Gibbons and then looked back to Max. "Yes, sir."
Max nodded and waited for her to disappear down the hallway before shaking his head. He looked down to the comm. panel and completed the call to the Infirmary. No answer, he said to himself. Strange. He tried again and this time a nurse answered the call. "Nurse, please put Dr. Grant on the line."
'I'm sorry, sir,' came the hurried reply. The anxious nurse looked away for a moment and then back to Max. 'She's tending to an emergency in the ICU.'
Max heard Miriya gasp and fought the urge to do the same. "What kind of emergency?"
The nurse hesitated, no doubt weighing whether or not she should tell a Brigadier General what was happening in a department that was generally very keen on keeping a patients' business confidential. In the end she made the right decision.
'Lieutenant Marques went into cardiac arrest, sir,' she said, her voice hollow with apprehension. 'Dr. Grant is trying to keep her with us.'
Max's hands, which had gone to the console in front of him, curled into angry fists. "Okay." He glanced at Miriya and saw her nearly vibrating in anger. "Listen, we have an injured crewman in the brig. We need a medic up here when you can spare one."
'I'll send Lamaroux up right away, sir.'
"Thank you, nurse," said Max, but before he ended the call he added, "When you get an update on Lt. Marques please let me know. And tell Dr. Grant to call me as soon as she's able."
'Yes, sir.'
Max closed the channel and sighed. He pushed some more buttons and waited for the Sit. Room to come online and a moment later Vince Grant's visage appeared on the screen. "Vince," said Max but the way Vince looked at him told him that Vince already knew.
'Jean already told me, Max,' Vince said without preamble. 'I've got people searching Graham's quarters and office for anything that might tell us where Lisa is.' Someone handed Vince a small stack of papers and Vince quickly glanced through the first couple before looking back to Max. 'I've talked to Baxter and she's floored, hadn't suspected a thing. Nothing jumps out in Graham's file other than some recent visits to the Infirmary for her lip, whatever that's about.' Vince threw the papers down in front of him and added, 'Dr. Pullman saw her, but maybe Jean can fill us in.'
"Jean is busy, Vince," said Max and when Vince's eyebrows rose in question Max explained with one word. "Angie."
Vince nodded knowingly and sighed, looking every bit the man with the world on his shoulders. 'How did this happen, Max? How did she do it?'
"I don't know," Max answered wearily. "But we'll worry about that later."
'I agree,' said the Sit. Room's 2IC. 'The top priority now is finding Lisa.'
"Then let's do it," replied Max, his voice as calm as though they were talking about the weather. It was his place to command and until Rick could take his rightful place in the lead he would do his absolute best. To that end, Brigadier General Max Sterling straightened up and said with pure confidence, "Captain Grant, you have my authority to do anything and everything necessary to find Admiral Hunter. Use whoever and whatever you need."
'Roger that, General,' replied Vince without a moment of hesitation.
"Vince?" said Max before Grant could end the call. "Check her flight records," said Max slowly as though he were still thinking through a hunch, which was exactly what he was doing. "She's gotten her wings recently. Maybe…"
He trailed off, then the two men shared a nod and Vince ended the call. Max stared at the blank screen for a moment, then he walked over to where Miriya was crouched next to Gibbons and put his hand on her shoulder. Her right hand moved up and covered his and he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "It's okay, Mir," he said lovingly.
"I wanted to kill her, Max," she said, her voice neutral and calm. "I still do."
"I know," he replied as he straightened up, "and before this is all said and done I doubt you'll be alone." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and said, "I'm going to go and check on Rick. Are you okay…"
"Go," she said a resolute nod. "I'm fine." She turned her head enough so that she could see Max and said, "Don't let her hurt Rick."
"That I can promise," Max said as he removed his hand from her shoulder. "When they come to take care of Gibbons join me okay?"
Miriya nodded again and Max walked towards the door that led to the cells. As he approached Sue's cell he was relieved beyond words to see that Harry Prentice and Fred Cather were not only awake but upright and apparently alert. Max walked up to the trio, eyed each of them and sighed.
"What I'm about to tell you is going to come as a shock," he said to them. "I know because it shocked the hell out of me." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before explaining. "Admiral Lisa Hunter is alive." He paused to let that much sink in, and he was glad he did when he saw the stunned expressions on their. "Yes she's alive. We don't know where she is, but we do know who is responsible."
"Graham," spat out Tanaka with enough venom in her voice to down a squad of Kabarrans.
Max gave Tanaka a nod, impressed that the Sergeant had followed the situation closely enough to be able to jump to the right conclusion. "Yes. We don't know how or where she's put the Admiral, but she is responsible." He glanced to the door and said, "Admiral Hunter is inside trying to get Graham to tell him where Lisa is, but I doubt very much if she's going to tell him anything."
Max turned and looked up the corridor when he heard footsteps approaching them. When he saw Miriya walking their way he turned to the young Corporal Prentice. "Harry. I need you to man the comm. I'm expecting calls from the Infirmary and the Sit. Room, and I want to be informed the moment they come through."
"Yes, sir," replied the Corporal as he stepped past him to go carry out his orders.
Max turned his attention to the wily veteran Sergeant Cather as Miriya came to a stop next to him. "Fred, I need you and Akiko to remain here in case Rick needs help."
Cather nodded and then assumed a position to the left side of the door with Tanaka taking up station to the right side. Both security officers faced forward and rested their hands on their weapons.
Max sighed as Miriya reached over to hold his hand. He gave her a weary smile and said, "Now we wait."
Rick was so far beyond shocked at Sue's audacity as well as the request that all he could was abruptly blurt out, "What?"
"Make love to me, Rick," Sue repeated sweetly. She took in a breath and spoke as she released it, and if her voice had been sweet before it was pure poison now. "And I'll save your precious Lisa."
Rick's heart was a ship during an out of control fold, going millions of miles per second in no particular direction with nothing he could do to stop it. He gaped at Sue, the young woman he'd once admired and had great pride in. Now she was the woman who had kidnapped his wife, killed at least four people, five if she was responsible for Tim's death, and attempted to murder one of her closest friends, and he had to work very hard to keep from throwing up. Everything she had become repulsed him; everything she had become stood at the polar opposite of the moral compass all people were judged by.
"Sue," he tried, his voice soft and gentle. "It's over." He ignored the closing of her eyes and the shaking of her head and pressed on. "Sue, you need to listen to me." He waited for her to look at him again before saying, "It's not too late for you to do the right thing."
"The right thing?" she questioned weakly and with a mirthless chuckle. "Don't you understand, Rick. It's you. It's always been you and about you. You are the right thing for me, and nothing will change that." She blinked and big glistening tears rolled out onto her cheeks. "There's no one and nothing else."
Not for the first time since the Sit. Room Incident, Rick cursed himself and his naiveté where Sue Graham was concerned. Sue took in a deep breath and smiled at Rick, and for an instant he saw the young woman he used to know and respect.
"I love you, Rick," Sue whispered. "I know you don't think it's true, but I do." She took one step towards him and sniffed back the tears. "You are all I think about. My last thought before I go to sleep is about you, and you're the first thing I think about when I wake up." Sue took another step towards Rick so that she was now within a foot or so of him. "I've admired you forever, Rick, and that admiration has grown over time so that you've become the love of my life."
Rick shook his head and his voice was sad as he said, "Sue…"
Sue reached over and put her hands on Rick's cheeks and Rick had to force himself not to pull away from her.
"All I want," she said as the thumb of her right hand caressed his cheek, "is you. All I need is you."
Before he knew it Sue drew him to her and pressed her lips to his in a searing kiss. His hands moved up onto her arms, gripping them tightly just above her elbows as her mouth moved against his. He gently pulled her hands away from his face as he leaned back to put some distance between them. He ignored the coppery taste of her blood on his mouth and moved his hands down her arms, past the cuffs adorning her wrists until he held her hands. He gave them a gentle squeeze before sighing and saying, "I'm sorry, Sue." He swallowed hard and softly said, "I'm so sorry."
More tears left Sue's eyes trailing watery rivers down over her cheeks. "Rick…"
"No, Sue," Rick interrupted as he released her hands. He took a few steps back, keeping a wary eye on Sue as he did so, then carefully and deliberately wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand to remove as much of her blood as he could. "I've handled this badly from the start and everything that has happened…" he paused and tried to hold back to sorrow and anger, then lowered his eyes to the floor and added, "…is my fault." He looked back up to her and said, "But you can end this, Sue. Don't make anyone else pay for my mistakes."
"It's too late, Rick," Sue replied sharply. She raised her hands towards her face and gently dabbed at her bloody lip with the edge of her right sleeve. Her tears seemed to magically dry up and her voice became frigid. "I've already killed six…oh wait, Angie didn't die, did she? Sorry. I've already killed five people, tried to kill one of my closest friends and kidnapped the Fleet Admiral…"
She'd spoke so flippantly of her reprehensible actions that Rick was disgusted to the point where he couldn't trust himself to do anything except shake his head and gape at her.
"…with the purpose of making her husband mine." She calmly clasped her hands together in front of her and said, "There is only one way for you to end this, Rick, and I've told you what that is."
Finally he snapped his mouth shut. "I will never- never- betray Lisa," Rick finally said through clenched teeth.
Sue regarded him for a second, then shrugged her shoulders and said as though she were reciting the EoD, "Then Lisa dies." She waited a heart beat and added, "And so will her baby."
"Our baby," Rick automatically corrected, and even under such tense circumstances he couldn't keep the love he felt for Lisa and his unborn child out of his voice. He could easily see Sue's nostril's flare in anger, but before she could do or say anything Rick said, "Lisa is carrying my baby, Sue. A part of me." He took a step closer to her and nearly recoiled at the evil that seemed to be emanating from her. "You say you love me, Sue. Would you really kill a part of me?"
Sue's answer was swift and sure. "Yes. I would do anything to be able to have you."
Pure anger developed in Rick's chest and expanded until he was almost shaking. "Never going to happen."
Sue smiled coyly and her voice was nearly musical when she said, "Yes it will, because I know you, Rick, and I know you will do anything to save them."
Max was usually a patient man who had seen enough in his life as a pilot, husband and father to send a lot patient men to the looney bin, but now his patience had abandoned him and he was getting antsy, as was Miriya. Tanaka and Cather remained still and ready, and Max made a mental note to give them an official commendation for outstanding professionalism when this was finished.
He glanced at Miriya who implored him with a look to do something. He nodded then turned to Tanaka. "How's the head, Akiko?'
Tanaka kept facing forward though her dark eyes flicked to him for an instant. "Fine, sir."
Max nodded then said as he reached for the door, "Then come with me."
Max opened the door and stepped inside, followed closely by Tanaka.
Rick thought over the options. He had no doubt that now that they knew that Sue had kidnapped Lisa, they would be able to find her. All they needed was time to go over Sue's movements over the last while, to retrace her steps. All they needed was time.
"She's out of time, Rick." Sue smiled at the surprised look on his face and said, "Like I said, I know you, Rick." She took another step towards him, and when she spoke her voice held a reverence that surprised Rick further. "I've seen you through so much, Rick. I can tell what you're thinking even before you start thinking it. I know you're thinking that all you need is time to figure out where she is." She took his silence as confirmation and then played her trump card, hoping to bluff him into bed. "And you're right. The only problem with that is she's been out of food and water for days, Rick."
It was then that the door opened, and while Sue looked towards it and nearly retched when she saw Max, Rick kept his eyes focused on her with an intensity that could have melted gold.
"Rick?"
Rick slowly turned to Max, though he gave his friend only a cursory glance before his eyes noticed Tanaka. As he turned back towards Sue he said, "Sergeant Tanaka?"
"Yes, sir?"
Sue's head tilted questioningly, but Rick ignored her and said, "Come here please."
A moment later Tanaka fell in beside him, standing so that she was facing Rick but turned enough to be able to keep an eye on Sue should she be tempted to try something.
Rick held out his right hand and then calmly said, "Your sidearm, Sergeant."
Sue's eyes narrowed and it gave Rick a sense of satisfaction to see her worry. The problem was thirty seconds had passed and his hand was still empty.
He turned to look at Tanaka so she could not mistake the seriousness of his order. "Give me your weapon, Sergeant. Right. Now."
Tanaka glanced to Sterling who remained grim and silent, then reluctantly pulled her sidearm from its holster. She held it in her hand for a few seconds a few inches above Rick's waiting hand before finally relenting and giving it to him.
Rick serenely, methodically and deliberately checked the weapon in his hand, looking at it as though it might hold the answer to all of his questions. It didn't of course, but it may very well help him to get some.
In a flash of metal and movement he was in front of Sue with his arm outstretched and the tip of the gun's barrel pressed against Sue's forehead. He felt movement behind him, but knew it was Max and that his friend would let him play this out...up to a point at least.
All he had eyes for was Sue Graham and the surprise in her eyes.
"I'll keep an eye on her, Jean," said Dr. Emma Keller, one of Jean's staff.
Jean looked to her friend and smiled wearily, agreeing if for no other reason than the worry and fear in the younger woman's blue eyes. "Thanks, Em," she said with a slight smile. "I'll be in my office."
Jean shuffled towards her office, the fatigue she was feeling deep in her bones giving her just barley enough energy to do so. She was just about to walk in the door when one of her nurse's called her name from the main desk. Biting back the sigh that wanted to escape her lips, Jean walked over to the desk and gave the nurse a tired smile. "What is it, Olga?"
The nurse's face was grim as she said, "You're to call General Sterling- Max, not Miriya- and your husband as soon as possible."
Jean couldn't stop the sigh this time, and because she was simply too tired to walk back to her office she moved around the desk and all but collapsed into the chair next to her nurse.
Jean started pushing buttons on the comm. and waited for the brig to answer.
'Brig…Corporal Prentice speaking.'
Jean studied the young man on the screen for a moment and winced at the shiner currently residing underneath his left eye.
"Harry, it's Dr. Grant. Can you get General Sterling for me please?"
The young man's Adam 's Apple quickly bobbed up and down before he said, 'Yes, ma'am.'
As the Corporal moved off screen, Jean allowed herself the luxury of closing her eyes while she waited for Max to come on.
'Jean.'
Jean's eyes snapped open and she found herself looking into the green eyes of Miriya Sterling. She was about to comment that she had the wrong General, but Miriya explained before she could.
'Max is in with Rick and Sue,' she said with a mixture of anger and worry. 'How is Lt. Marques?'
Jean sighed once again and said, "Stable, for now. She's been through so much, Miriya, but I think…"
She stopped and shook her head, but Miriya wouldn't let it go.
'You think what?'
Jean gave Miriya a self-deprecating smile and said, "It's almost like she doesn't want to live."
Miriya nodded and looked off camera for a moment. 'I am concerned for Rick and Max. They have been in there for a while.'
Jean leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk and then rested her head in her hands. "Do you think Rick will be able to get Sue to tell him anything?"
Miriya said nothing, but the way her lips drew downward into a frown mirrored what Jean was thinking to herself: not a chance in hell.
"Alright," said Jean as she straightened up. "Tell Max I called and to let me know what happens. I need to call Vince and see what he wants."
Miriya nodded before breaking the connection and Jean immediately set about calling her husband. A moment later his grim face appeared on the screen. 'Hey you.'
"Hey, yourself," she replied with a smile. "Any news?"
Vince shook his head and said, 'How's Angie?'
Jean shrugged her shoulders and felt her eyes welling up again. "Stable for now, but it doesn't look good."
Vince closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. When he looked to her again he said, 'How about you?'
Jean's heart swelled with love at the concern in his eyes and in his voice. "I'm doing okay. I just need some rest, like everyone else around here."
She watched as Vince turned and talked to someone off camera, and when he looked back to her he gave her an apologetic shoulder shrug. 'Gotta go. Let me know if anything happens with Angie.'
Jean nodded and said, "I will. Love you."
Vince smiled and responded with, 'Love you, too.'
Jeans finger was on the button to end the call, but Vince calling her name stopped her.
'Jean! I almost forgot.' He stopped and looked down to find something, then brought up a file and said, 'Graham has been into the Infirmary a few times recently about her lip.' He dropped the file and said, 'Pullman tended to her, but do you know what it was about?'
Jean shook her head but said, "I'll look into it."
'Okay,' replied her husband before ending the call.
Jean took in a deep breath and was about to get up, but the image of Sue Graham's lip from when she'd seen it on her and Rick's visit to Fleet Intelligence popped into her head and made her sit back down.
Her eyes closed once again, but instead of the fatigue induced respite of a few moments ago, this time her mind was a whirlwind of images, thoughts and snippets of conversations.
"Jean, I want you to take a good look at Sue Graham's lip…on the sly, that is. Don't let her catch on that you're really looking at it," Rick had said.
Jean breathed deeply as she then remembered something Alistair had said concerning one of his patients. "This officer is the one I told you about some time ago. She obtained a virulent infection that seemed to resist every treatment, though the latest prescription I gave her seems to be working rather well. The infection was caused by a bacteria that was matched in our database," he'd explained.
Rick's voice jumped back in. "When Max and I visited the hangar deck the other day, Graham had a split lip, and we don't buy her story. Just take a good look and tell me what you think."
The echo of Rick's voice had only faded in her mind when Pullman's voice sounded off.
"But her story about how she came in contact with the bacteria is suspicious. I believe she is deliberately misleading me in regards to how she could have received this infection."
Jean's eyes opened but her vision remained unfocused as she continued to remember. She recalled how Rick had told her of how Sue had explained that she'd slipped on the Alpha's ladder and hit her face on the plane itself. Then her own words rang like bells in her head. "If I had to guess, Rick, I'd say that someone gave her a pretty solid smack to her kisser. What hit her would have been the size of a fist…maybe a little bigger, but not much bigger."
Jean's eyes focused sharply on the computer screen in front of her, and even as her hands reached over to punch in the commands to bring up the medical file of one Susan B. Graham her mind raced.
Sue lied to Rick about how she got that lip, she thought excitedly. And Alistair saw her, and he said one of his patients had lied about how she- she- got an infection. Sue's lip showed sign of infection. Was he talking about Sue? Could it be?
Sue's file came up on the screen and Jean scrolled down to the last entries made by her friend concerning the identification of the bacteria that had caused the infection in Sue Graham's lip.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed loudly.
Her body was shaking from head to toe in excitement, and it took her three times to successfully activate the comm.
Come on! she silently implored. COME ON!
Finally Prentice's face appeared on the screen and Jean wasted no time. "Harry! Tell the Sterlings she's on the MED moon! Lisa is on the MED moon, Harry! Tell them now!"
To his credit the young Corporal did as he was told without hesitation and she could hear him run away from the comm. through the still open channel. Jean waited for one of her friends to appear on the screen, her heart racing as the seconds turned into minutes. Finally she heard someone approach the comm., but instead of seeing Max, Miriya or Prentice she saw something that made her heart spasm and the blood it had been pumping through her body turn cold: a mane of black hair, a pair of piercing hazel eyes and a mouth dripping blood from a cut on its bottom lip.
She could hear the telltale tapping of computers keys and she was just about to cut the feed and call Vince when the lights went out.