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“Sit. Now.” Cleo pointed at Daisy’s seat. “Let’s finish up here, then we can all get to work. And you can go get tested.”
Daisy opened her mouth as if to protest. She glanced at Rexx, and he gave her a small shake of his head. She seemed more excited than usual. These emets must be a big deal to her.
With a dejected sigh, she slumped into her seat.
He tried to catch her eye, let her know everything would be fine, but she wouldn’t look at him. She could stay angry, so long as she didn’t push herself too far.
Daisy was his light. And he’d keep that shining, no matter what it took. A month in the lab, a year. It didn’t matter to him. It was all about her.
Chapter 3
“That’s it. I’m done.” Angel stepped back and pushed the mobile scanner to the side of the medical room. She brushed her short pink hair off her face and smiled at Daisy.
“Great. So I’m good to go? Mission ready?” Daisy slid off the examination table and moved to the door. Ever since her capture by the Gente, she hated any kind of medical setting. It always gave her the chills and sent her back to those scary times when she’d been at their mercy.
“Hold your horses. The results will take at least twenty-four hours,” Angel said.
“Can’t you rush them through? I don’t want to be stuck in the lab. There are emets out there that need my attention.”
“What’s wrong with working in a lab?” Angel pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the trash. “All the chemical smells you can desire, sick people to examine, mucus samples to test. Heaven.”
“You have a weird idea of heaven.” Daisy always thought Angel was so cool with her dyed hair, tattoos, and lip piercing. She was also strong and whip smart. The strength part came from being half Apexian.
“I’ll see what I can do but no promises. I’ll get in touch when I’ve got the results.”
There was no point in arguing with Angel. She was as tough as nails when someone was ill. And Cleo always listened to her medical expertise.
“I’ll be in my room. Let me know as soon as you’ve got them,” Daisy said.
“Will do.”
Daisy walked out of the medical room, along the corridor, and up to the personnel quarters. She walked into her room and sank on the couch, lifting her tablet. She may as well do some work while she was waiting.
The kittens bundled out of her bedroom and scrambled over to her. Helix climbed up her leg, Darwin launched himself onto her lap, and Quark attacked her hand.
She laughed and snuggled the boisterous cuties. “Easy, you lot. This is a work day, not a play day.”
Daisy hadn’t regretted a second of fostering these bundles of joy. She’d found them three weeks ago, weak and malnourished in the abandoned cargo hold of a Blobbe ship. Cats weren’t rare, but there was no way she could leave them behind. She’d made Rexx carry them to keep them warm. He hadn’t protested once, even when he’d been peed on and had his earlobe sucked until it was raw by Quark.
“You have an incoming call,” ELVIS said. “It’s from Leticia.”
“What? I haven’t heard from her in weeks. ELVIS, put the call through. Put it on the big screen.” Daisy eased the kittens off her, stood, and walked to the screen.
Her younger sister’s pretty, petite face appeared. She wore her dark hair much longer than Daisy, but they shared the same blue eye color. Leticia had on a full face of make-up, making her feel a touch shabby.
“Hey, sis. It’s good to hear from you. How’s everything back on Earth?”
Her sister raised a glass of white wine. “Oh, you know. Everything’s great.”
“What time is it back there?”
“It’s getting late. I’ve been meaning to get in touch for a few days, but I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, I should have called you, too. I always lose track of what time it is.”
“You would, floating up there in space. How’s life as a... space explorer?”
Daisy didn’t miss the slight wrinkle of her sister’s nose. They were both clever and ambitious, but Leticia’s ambitions were focused on bagging a rich husband and becoming a lady of leisure. It was smart, if you were into that.
