Dark Vengeance by E.R. Mason Page B

into me, tripped on my right foot, and fell into my chest. I caught her, and expected her to regain her feet and begin reprimanding me but instead she started a slow slide down toward the floor so that I had to pull her back up with both hands. As I steadied her back up, her head fell limp to one side. I gently straightened it up to find her eyes closed. She was unconscious.
    Others involved in the bumping and shoving were taking a keen interest. Word was spreading. Enough of a distraction had developed that Captain Mars had stopped speaking and was looking our way.
    I managed to get one arm under her knees and hoisted her up into my arms. Silence filled the chamber.
    “It’s okay,” I called out. “She’s just fainted. She must have run all the way to get here and it was too much. Please resume. We’ll take her over to medical.”
    I glanced at R.J. He was wide-eyed for some reason. As we made our way to the medical office, he kept following too closely and stepping on my heel. Purser felt warm and light as a feather in my arms.
    At the doctor’s office they had seen us coming. We were hurriedly ushered into the main exam area where I was directed to lay her on the table. “It’s okay, Doc. She just fainted. They were late to the meeting and they ran all the way. It must have been too much for her.”
    The Doctor gave me a distrusting stare and unfolded his medical scanner. He ran it up and down Pursers body, gave a big sigh and looked back at us. “This woman did not faint. She’s dead.”
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
     
    A grim chaos broke out as they attempted to revive the patient. There was yelling and pushing. Every possible procedure was attempted, each several times. A very angry Doctor Lae finally waved everyone away and stood looking at the corpse as though wondering if he had left anything out. He turned and gave a cold stare at R.J. and I shirking in a corner, watching.
    I raised my hands in frustrated defense. “Doc, she passed out right in my arms! What could she have died from?” I pleaded.
    “I do not know what caused her death. A complete autopsy will need to be done, and I’m getting pretty tired of doing autopsies on our guests, I don’t mind telling you.”
    “Could it have been her heart?”
    “I can’t make any speculations like that. It would be sheer guesswork.”
    R.J. cut in. “Doctor, in the interest of security, could we ask you to do a quick check for an assassin’s bolt?”
    It startled the man. At first he looked offended, but the sincerity in R.J.’s eyes seemed to sober him. He unfolded his medical scanner, tapped in a few entries, and began a slow scan from head to foot.
    Captain Mars entered the exam room and quickly slapped the panel to close the door behind him. The public meeting had gone well but there was no less concern on his face. He looked at Purser’s body on the exam table, then at the doctor as he swept his scanner over her. The Captain turned to me with a pale expression. “She’s just fainted, you said?”
    I shook my head. An expression of disbelief came over him.
    The doctor stopped his scan, clicked the scanner closed and leaned for a moment against the exam table like a man who needed to sit down. He straightened up to address the Captain. “It was indeed an assassin’s bolt, exactly the same type that was used on the previous victim.”
    The atmosphere in the exam room became silent and heavy with anger. The doctor continued, “Somehow this gentleman knew, though I do not know how that could be,” said the Doctor, and he nodded toward R.J.
    Captain Mars rubbed his face with one hand, “Lae, we need to use your office for a few minutes. We don’t want to be disturbed, okay?”
    The doctor gave a weary nod of approval.
    We took seats in the office. Captain Mars shut the door behind us. For a moment the tension level was too high to speak. R.J. looked up at the Captain as he sat behind the desk. “I know what’s going on,” he said. “I know