Voices - M J Marlow (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📗

remained his manner grew even more clinical. “We received an
Emergency call from a mining colony on Zona-7,” he told us. “A
young woman was brutally beaten and is in a state of coma.” He
set the file in a reader. “I want you all to familiarize yourself with
the basic culture of the colony and adhere to their rules. Under no
circumstances are you to wander alone.” He looked at me
especially. “These miners have been known to abduct lone females
and force them into marriage; so Laura, Drea, you need to stay
with the team.”
“We will be far too busy with the patient,” Drea assured
him; “to wander off unaccompanied.”
“The security men will see that the women are safe,
Doctor,” one of those men spoke up. He looked at me pointedly
and I knew he was one of Danel’s men.
“We will arrive there in seven hours,” Scotti nodded. “I
leave you to your research and your introductions.”
“Are you certain Laura should be on this mission, Doctor?”
Brad asked bluntly. I looked at him in shock and he was apologetic
but determined. “I mean no offense, Laura, but you are very young
and this is your first cruise…”
“You will find, Doctor Landers,” Scotti broke in coldly;
making the younger man flinch, “that I sometimes know what I am
doing when I hand out duty assignments. Laura is a very gifted
young woman, and her parents were the couple whose generous
donations and selfless vision made the work we do on the Solace
possible. She will be able to handle whatever happens.” He saw the
man frown. “If I were to remove anyone from the team, Brad;” he
continued coldly. “It would be you.”
“Wow!” Brad breathed out as the man left. He turned to me
and I could see he was still seeking to apologize. “I am sorry,
Laura…”
“I understand your reasons,” I broke into his apology. “It
isn’t any different from what everyone else on this team was
thinking. You’re just the only one brave enough to speak their
objections aloud.”
“You are good,” Drea smiled at me then. She put her arm
around me and looked at the three men. “If anyone gives my new
best friend any more lip, they will answer to me!” She looked at
me. “My name is Drea Maxell,” she began the introductions. “This
is my third year on the Solace. The doctor with the big mouth is
Brad Landers.” He looked wounded. “You know you shoot off that
mouth of yours way too easily, Brad,” she laughed at him. She
turned towards the security men. “Our erstwhile protectors are
Ethan Mury and Peter Quinn.”
“Have you worked with these men before Drea?” I asked
the woman.
“Often,” Drea nodded. “Brad has been on the Solace since
her re-commissioning seven years ago. Mury and Quinn are on
their second tour.” She knew my question. “Doctor Scotti likes to
mix the personnel up every once in a while so that we get to know
everyone on the medical staff by the end of a tour.”
“If you ladies are through with the chit-chat,” Brad
frowned; “we have a case to review.” He pulled up the file and
projected it on the wider screen so we could all see the specifics.
“Her name is Maya Sutton; aged 19. She is a Betazoid, so it should
be easier for you to reach out to her, Laura.” I nodded. “She was
beaten brutally by a drunken miner who saw her as a ‘witch’.” He
continued reading. “The same day that she lost her husband in a
mine cave-in.”
“That’s brutal,” Mury frowned. “So the men are
primitives,” he said to Quinn. “We’ll be watching for that.”
“If his view was shared,” Brad continued; “Laura could
become a target. You need to keep close to her if she steps away
from our patient for any reason.” He looked at Drea. “I’ll let you
have point on this case, Drea. I will tend to any other needs the
colony might have.”
“We’ll deal with the colonists,” Mury nodded; as he knew
what Brad was going to say next. “The mine foreman there is a
friend of mine. He and I were in the Academy together.” He
looked at Quinn. “You remember Doug Carey, Quinn.”
“Casanova?” Quinn was beaming. “He’s in charge on this
colony?” He looked at the rest of the team. “We’ll either find the
man who beat this young woman dead or missing, then. Carey
does not take kindly to men who harm females.”
“No real man would,” Brad replied tightly. “I think her
physical injuries,” he said; getting back to our main concern, “will
be rather straightforward. Laura is going to have the hardest part of
this.”
We continued going over the file until we were certain we
had it all down. Brad did not let us go until he was assured we
understood what was expected of us. I had a great deal more
respect for his leadership skills after that. Drea and I started
packing the supplies we would need to take down with us and
Mury and Quinn went to the Armory to select side arms. Brad
went to main stores to draw out general supplies that he knew the
colony would most probably be low on.
We went down to the colony in a shuttle and the men began
unloading the supplies on the porch of the colony Infirmary
building as Drea and I went to the patient. She looked so small on
the bed in the back room. An old gray-haired woman had been
sitting next to her, telling her about the day. I smiled as she got up,
but she glared at me and hurried off. I was shocked to see the
hatred in her mind. I would have to get used to people seeing my
talents as a curse; I guessed. I sat down in the chair next to the bed
and closed my eyes to begin the initial probe. Maya did not open
her eyes, but I felt her sudden acknowledgment of my touch. She
laid her hand on mine and I felt my mind being caught up in hers. I
was no longer Laura Greyson, sitting at her bedside. I was a
spectator in this girl’s life. I was completely unaware of Drea
standing behind me, watching carefully.
I opened my eyes the next morning and smiled as I heard
him snoring beside me. Osric, my mind sang out the name as I
turned and saw the sandy haired man sleeping beside me. My
husband opened his grey eyes and smiled as he saw me watching
him. He raised his hand to the back of my neck and kissed me.
Then he released his hold and got up. I watched as he went to
ready himself for work in the mines, wishing I could talk him out of
going.
“We could go to my family, Osric,” I said as I got up to
prepare his breakfast. I missed the look on his face as I made my
plea. “Now that I know who they are…”
“I am a miner, my wife,” Osric broke in. He saw the worry
in my eyes and came to hold me. “I know you are worried, my
angel,” he sighed as he stood there with me. “Your nightmares are
coloring your thoughts. I know what I do down there.”
He kissed me on the forehead and I returned to preparing
our meal. I could hear him singing in the shower and I smiled. He
was a good man; a decent man, and I was very fond of him. He
came out of the shower with the towel around his neck and smiled
at me as he dried his thick brown hair. I sighed with contentment.
He had made me so happy since he had rescued me from a cave-in
several months ago. I had been quite happy to become his wife;
despite the fact that all I could remember about myself at that point
was my name - Maya.
“You have been happy with me, angel,” Osric said later
after he had eaten and finished dressing. He pulled me down into
his lap as I nodded and kissed me again. “You are the best thing
that has ever happened in this miner’s life, Maya. You are my
treasure.” He saw the tears. “Don’t cry, wife! You know how it
wounds me.”
He left me with my lips still throbbing from his farewell kiss
and I wondered why I felt such dread. Osric was right; he knew the
mines. But as I moved through my daily chores, I just could not
shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. I went
to the terminal and checked our messages. I froze as I saw the
latest. It was from the medic I had visited yesterday. I had been so
emotional and exhausted lately that Osric had insisted I go to the
woman. Her answer was displayed there and I had to sit down.
“Baby?”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or scream. Should I
be happy about this? I knew that I had to tell my husband about it
quickly. I called down to the mines and was told he was too deep to
receive messages. That made me frown. There was never ‘too
deep’ in the mines. The communications system in these mines was
the finest in the Federation. I pulled on an overcoat and went out
to look. There was a cloud of dust coming out of the mine. I started
towards it and Anjela, the wife of the miner who had second shift,
pulled me back.
“You must stay here, Maya,” she said as my eyes remained
locked on the sight. “You will only distract them from what they
are doing.” She saw my face go pale and knew what I was
thinking. “Don’t worry, child,” she crooned as she took me back
into my hut and made me sit down. She got me a cup of water and
made me sip it slowly. “It is probably nothing. You know how
clumsy these men are…” Her eyes went to the screen I had left up
and she smiled. “You have something to be happy about today.”
I nodded numbly. I was having his child and he was
trapped in the mines, trying to dig his way out as the air became
harder and harder to breathe. The image was so vivid, I gasped in
shock and ran for the door. I could feel his fear and it was calling
out to me. Anjela tried to stop me, but I was locked on him. He
needed help and he needed it now. The foreman caught me and I
struggled to get out of his hold.
“17-H,” I sobbed as he forced me to look at him. “Osric is
trapped! The wall caved-in and cut him off from the others.” I
tried once more to get free. “You have to help him, his air is going
foul!” I collapsed and the medic came over.
“Be careful with her,” the woman said as the foreman
picked me up. “We just learned she’s having Osric’s child.” She
brought me round and looked into the blankness in my eyes.
“Maya!” she patted my cheek. “Come on, child. You can’t die with
him” I turned to look at the mines and I began to sob. The medic
held me as I cried. “Think on it, Maya. Would Osric want you
grieving if it meant you harmed his child?”
I shook my head and pushed her away, running towards the
mines. I dropped to my knees and started digging, striking out at
the people who tried to pull me away. Osric was in there! That was
all I could think about now. I saw him again and heard the
rumbling with him. He looked up and the