The Torid Affair by Laurann Dohner
Chapter One
“Dr. Brick, get your ass over here!”
Jessa ground her teeth together and fantasized about punching Carlton George in his big mouth. Ignoring him, she smiled at her young patient lying on a stretcher, despite her anger, and finished bandaging the stitches she’d placed on his shoulder.
“Hey! Do you hear me, Dr. Brick? Get your ass over here!”
She continued to ignore the bellowing man somewhere behind her. “Keep it dry for two days. The stitches will dissolve on their own. Don’t take off the bandages until then. They’re fleet military issue. That means they’re coated with a special gel that induces rapid healing.” She winked at the ten-year-old boy. “Only the best for you, kiddo.”
She reached into her med kit and pulled out two chocolate-flavored nutrition bars, slipping them under the blanket that covered her patient. There was so much more she wished she could do. It wouldn’t kill her to miss a few delicious snacks, especially when the boy was too skinny and appeared half starved. Her hidden stash was nearly depleted from slipping them to needy patients.
The child grabbed them and shoved the food into the pocket of his tattered pants. “Thank you.”
“Don’t tell the guards that I gave you something to eat. They’ll probably steal them.” She shot a glare at the black-clad assholes manning the doors leading out of the ballroom of the Governor’s mansion. It had been converted into an emergency hospital. They were there to make sure none of the patients snuck into the rest of the massive building.
“Goddamn it, Dr. Brick. Are you deaf?”
She closed her med kit and grabbed it, stood, and turned to face Carlton George, who was storming closer. She put her body between him and the kid. “No. I’m busy. I have a job to do here. Don’t you?”
He glared at her, his face turning red. She mentally activated her artificial eye to scan him, just to freak him out, knowing the normal blue color would begin to glow bright.
He started to take a step back but caught himself. “Stop that right now! It makes you look all kinds of wrong.”
She feigned innocence, completely aware that a glowing eye tended to make people feel uncomfortable. “Are you insulting a modified person because I have an artificial eye implant? It’s not my fault the medical team had to give me a blue iris instead of brown to match the color I was born with. There are laws about how to treat modified people. Are you breaking one?”
“I’m doing no such thing,” he sputtered, before changing the subject. “You are supposed to be treating our citizens.”
There were few people she truly detested. The governor’s personal assistant had earned a spot at the top of that short list. She’d hated him from the minute they’d met. He was rude, a total dick, and had the compassion of a rock.
“The boy I just treated is one of your citizens.”
His face grew redder with anger. “No. He’s not.”
She tried to keep her tone polite. “He lives on Torid. That makes him a citizen. The fleet is here to assist everyone. That includes…you know…everyone.”
“We’ll agree to disagree. One of our loyal citizens has been brought in. Go treat him right now. He’s a good friend to the governor.”
It was the second time Defcon Red had been ordered to visit Torid within a short time span. The colony planet had been established ten years before. Someone had sent a report about problems in the one and only city the colonists had founded but when they’d arrived the first time, everything had seemed fine.
Now the fleet had been ordered to return after what amounted to a civil war breaking out. There were rumors of corruption that went straight to the top, including Governor Rodney Boyd, who ran everything, right down to the suppliers who controlled things like food, clothing, and housing. Of course, Boyd denied it. The governor had sworn it was a group of rebels that had infiltrated the planet to carry out acts of terrorism.
There had also been reports of neglected Torid residents being killed. After Defcon Red had returned, the civilians claimed the violence against them was being ordered by the governor. They swore they were only fighting back in self-defense. It was a mess.
The fleet had taken jurisdiction to mount a full investigation. Until they figured out for certain who was to blame, they’d sent down medical teams to treat the injured. Armored bodies in the form of task force teams had been put on the ground to cease the violence. Food, water, and clothing were also being distributed to those in need.
Just not near the governor’s mansion. He refused to allow them to set up fleet supply distribution centers within a mile radius of his home. It had been hell gaining permission to use part of his huge mansion as a temporary fleet-run hospital. The fleet basically forced him to agree, since Earth owned the building and had paid for it to be built. That’s unfortunately where Jessa had been assigned.
After spending three days on the planet, Jessa fully believed the poor civilians. She wasn’t buying the governor’s bullshit. Basically, anyone in good standing with the city’s government seemed to have decent living conditions. Everyone else—which appeared to be an alarming percentage of the inhabitants—were screwed. They were starving.
In her opinion, the governor and all his “loyal” citizens were a bunch of heartless, greedy bullies. Outsiders weren’t coming in to cause trouble. All the patients she’d treated obviously lived full time on Torid. An unfortunate amount of them seemed to be kids subjected to various forms of violence.
“Did you hear me? Quit looking at me like that,” Carlton George snapped. “Do what you are told or I’ll have you fired!”
Jessa had to fight the urge to use her med kit to physically beat him. He really annoyed her with his bullshit threats. She didn’t restrain her mouth, though. “You can’t fire me or tell me what to do. Do you see this dark blue uniform I’m wearing? These patches? They should have been a clue, but you seem like an idiot. So take notes if you must: I work for the fleet. Notyou. Now get out of my face and stop bellowing orders. I’m currently treating patients in the order that they came in. I’ll get to your guy when it’s his turn.”
He gaped at her, his face turning even redder. He fisted his hands as his eyes bulged.
“You should get control of that temper of yours. Your blood pressure is rising to dangerous levels. It could cause a stroke or a heart attack. That would be such a shame.” Jessa knew she was being a bitch, but he deserved it. He’d been yelling at her since she’d arrived. “You know…since your loyal citizens have been beating the hell out of everyone. So there’s a lot of patients ahead of you, should you need treatment.”
“I’ll have you arrested if you don’t change your attitude right now and do as I say,” he seethed.
Jessa used her free hand to tap the patch on her right arm, near the shoulder. “Fleet. God, how did you get your job? Do you know anything? I outrank you and your boss, since United Earth has taken over jurisdiction until this mess is sorted out. The fleet is in charge. Try to have me arrested and your ass will get a free transport ride straight up to Defcon Red’s holding cells. Your boss won’t be happy either, because they’ll probably take him with you since you’re his right-hand man. The investigators can sort out whether he knew in advance what moronic demands you’d be making.”
“You fucking cunt,” he spat.
Jessa gave him a tight-lipped smile. “That’s superior cunt to you. Don’t forget that I outrank you. I’m glad that we’ve established clear lines between us—you don’t tell me what to do, and I don’t like you. Now get out of my face.”
He spun on his heel and stormed away. That’s when she became aware that someone stood slightly behind her to the right.
She turned her head, staring at Matt. Or maybe his name was Mark. He was one of the tactical team medics, judging by his different uniform and patches. There were over seventy fleet members working with her inside the huge mansion ballroom, and they didn’t really have time to speak. Tactical team medics didn’t work in the Med Bay on Defcon Red. Neither did she.
He studied her face. “I thought he was going to hit you.”
“Did you want a front-row seat for that?”
He shook his head. “I was going to step in.”
Her mood softened. “I appreciate that, but I can handle myself. I really hate that guy.”
“All of us do. I’ve noticed that he’s worse with the women than us men. He’s probably afraid we’d haul off and deck him if he talked to us that way. I would.”
“The only reason I haven’t beaten him with my med kit is because I like this one. It’s not standard fleet issue. It was a gift from my sister when I graduated med school.”
His gaze took in her hair. “I like the blue streaks.”
“Thank you. I think it looks good in contrast to my natural black. The doctors gave me a choice in colors to cover the bald spots on my head where real hair wouldn’t grow back after an accident. I picked the blue to match my artificial eye. I figured I might as well flaunt it, since it’s obviously modified.”
A grin broke out on the guy’s face. “I’m Michael. I’ve heard about the famous Jessa Brick.”
“Famous?”
“You’re the Alien Research Specialist assigned to Defcon Red. I don’t envy you giving the Veslors physicals. I like those guys, but I sure as shit wouldn’t want to ask them to turn their heads and cough.”
She chuckled. “They have their own medic to do that.”
He leaned in a little closer. “You’re a lot younger than I imagined. I heard you’re twenty-six? The only other A.R.S. I’ve met was in his seventies. You must be super smart.”
“I got in some early education and graduated medicine right before my seventeenth birthday. The instructors used the fourteen months before I was old enough to be shipped off on my first fleet vessel to train me to be an A.R.S.”
His eyes widened.
“Orphaned at eight and fleet raised.” She expected him to give her a disgusted look and stop talking to her. She wasn’t good with people, especially men as handsome as he was, so it was best if she shut it down fast. He’d avoid her after she dropped that info.
It was a well-known fact that “fleet raised” meant she hadn’t voluntarily joined the fleet. Orphans tended to sign up for service since the fleet were usually their only job opportunities. She’d been required to give up seventeen years of her life to serve. There was a stigma attached to people like her. As if being without other options meant she didn’t deserve the same respect as those who’d joined for other reasons.
He surprised her by still acting pleasant. “Wow, that’s impressive that you learned everything so young. Though I’m sorry that you lost your family.”
“Thank you, Michael.” If he could be polite, so could she. “We should get back to work.”
“Yeah.” He glanced around before looking at her again. “Would you have dinner with me? I’d really like to know more about your A.R.S. schooling and what you do. It’s fascinating.”
She stared up at him, stunned. He wanted to talk to her more? “Sure,” she blurted.
He grinned, flashing some spectacularly white teeth. “Great. It will give me something to look forward to. Try not to piss off anyone else…but if you do, yell out for me. I’ll kick their ass. I’m sure you could do it yourself, but that might delay our dinner. I’m really looking forward to us getting together to talk later.” He gave her a head nod and another grin before walking away to treat a patient.
Jessa watched him go. He had short blond hair, a muscular body, and he seemed nice. Most of the crew on Defcon Red avoided her, so the concept of making a friend was exciting.
She forced herself to turn her back and move to the next patient. It was an older man wearing a mansion guard uniform. His hands were a mess. She opened her med kit and scanned them, reading multiple broken bones under his split, swollen skin.
“You gave someone a hell of a beating.”
He scowled at Jessa. “I fell.”
She rolled her eyes and put away the scanner. He was lying. Those injuries were clearly from him using his fists to punch something repeatedly. Or someone. It was tempting to send him to get his bones reset without administering pain meds first, but she wasn’t that heartless. She injected him in the side of the neck with a small dosage before raising a gloved hand, making a signal.
An orderly rushed toward her, a man she spoke to on a regular basis. Pete represented all the orderlies on Defcon Red when they held department meetings.
“Broken bones in both hands. Take him to see Dr. Jenson, please.”
Pete arched both eyebrows in surprise. Marcus Jenson had only been sent down to the surface to help restock their med kits when they ran low on supplies. Their chief of staff in Med Bay, Cynthia Kane, no longer trusted the doctor to treat patients. Jenson had earned a reputation as someone who would lie and manipulate situations trying to inflate his status. He also bullied some under his care. The only reason he hadn’t been fired was because he had time to fulfill on his contract with the fleet.
Jessa stared at the orderly. “We’re swamped, Pete. This is a special patient. Did you notice his uniform? He deserves to be seen by Dr. Jenson. Tell him that I’m ordering him to treat this man, if necessary. All hands on deck.”
Pete grinned, seeming to understand that the patient was about to get shitty care by a bad-tempered idiot. “Right away, Dr. Brick.” He activated the gurney holding the guard to move and led it toward the back of the room.
She changed her gloves and went to the next gurney. No guilt surfaced, though this situation was a reminder to be grateful she was only required to perform standard doctor duties when the fleet needed every able body in service. She missed her quiet laboratory.
“Hello,” she said to the young woman in her teens as she approached. “What’s going on?”
“My stomach hurts really bad.”
Jessa activate her artificial eye as she grabbed a handheld scanner. She was alarmed even before she was able to pass the device over the young girl. The patient was running a slight fever but her belly area radiated heat even stronger. The scanner confirmed what she’d already seen with her eye scan, revealing internal bleeding and massive contusions.
“Who did this to you?”
The girl looked away, fear on her face.
Jessa threw a hand into the air, flashing a few signals. Then she unlocked the gurney legs, leading it rapidly toward another large room they’d prepared for emergency surgeries.
Dr. Arye ran to meet her at the open double doors. “What do we have?”
“Internal bleeding. She’s beaten to hell under her clothing,” Jessa whispered. “I can’t tell exactly where the bleeding is coming from since a few organs are showing damage on the scan. She needs a more in-depth one.”
Nurses rushed to transfer the patient to a med bed inside one of the sterile indoor surgical tents they’d set up in the secondary room. The specialty beds had the ability to run advanced scans and tools to perform intricate surgeries.
Dr. Arye cursed softly. “What is she? Fourteen? It was probably the city police who hurt her. Do you want to assist me with her surgery?”
Jessa shook her head. “No. I’m too rusty. I haven’t had to cut a human open in a few years. If they bring in the governor or his personal assistant though, get me. I could use some practice with someone I wouldn’t mind making mistakes on.”
Dr. Arye snorted a laugh before rushing off to prep for surgery.
Jessa returned to get her med kit and took a detour to the triage section near the front doors, which was run by doctors who weren’t fleet. She glanced at the two civilians, before finding the third sitting in a chair with a drink in his hand.
“Yord, a moment, please?” She refused to call him “doctor.” He didn’t deserve the title.
He scowled at her but stood. “What?”
Jessa jerked her head to an unoccupied corner. He hesitated.
“Now,” she ordered.
He reluctantly followed. She faced off against the much older man and once again wanted to beat someone with her med kit. “Do you want to explain to me how you missed a girl with internal bleeding? Dark brown hair, about fourteen, wearing shabby clothing. Ring any bells? You know—the one you should have called a surgeon for immediately instead of having her wait on a gurney? That one.”
“Her injures weren’t immediately life threatening. We had a lot of injured loyal civilians who needed treatment first. She had time to wait.”
Jessa fisted the handle on her med kit tighter, wishing it was his throat. On one hand, she had to give him credit for not pretending he didn’t remember the girl. On the other, he’d also basically admitted he was a prick with that explanation. She took calming breaths, attempting to get control of her temper.
“We’re done here. Instead of harassing us, you should be doing your job.” He smirked at her and started to walk away.
Jessa moved and got into his path, dropping her med kit on the floor with a loud thump. “I am not done. You are relieved of triage duty. Go find Dr. Jenson and assist him with doling out med supplies to restock kits.”
The blowhard glowered at her. “You can’t reassign me.”
“I just did. I’m taking your place at the door. I see patients, not what clothing they’re wearing. I’d send you home but we need every pair of hands we can get. Even incompetent ones.”
“You can’t talk to me like that! The governor put me in charge. I’m the chief of staff at our main hospital,” he yelled.
“Well, that’s unfortunate for the people on this planet, if you’re their best. Fleet has taken jurisdiction. That means you take orders from fleet members. Am I clear?”
“Is there a problem?”
Jessa tensed at the masculine voice. “Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse,” she muttered, turning slowly to stare up at Maith, her nemesis…as well as the Veslor medic. The male disliked her. It was mutual.
It had been her duty as the A.R.S. to learn everything about the grouping of Veslors that had been assigned to Defcon Red. They were aliens, and that meant they fell under her care if they needed medical treatment. Instead, they’d avoided her for the most part, flat-out refusing to allow her to run any medical scans. Despite that, she got along well enough with most of them, except for their medic. He seemed to take it personally that she’d even attempted to become their doctor.
“Yes, there is,” the blowhard doctor ranted. “Get control of your people.”
Maith lifted his gaze from her and narrowed his eyes on Yord. “She’s human, not Veslor. Are you experiencing problems with your vision?”
Jessa almost smiled. That was a great smartass response. Maith looked at her again.
“She’s trying to reassign me. She can’t do that,” Yord sputtered.
Maith arched one of his eyebrows at her as the doctor spoke.
“Yord,” Jessa jabbed a thumb toward the jerk, “decided to make a young girl with internal bleeding wait to be seen. Since she’s not one of their priority loyal citizens, her life matters less to him. I told him I’m taking over at triage. I want someone at the door who won’t let someone die just because they’re poor.”
Anger twisted Maith’s features. “A young female died?” His voice deepened to a snarl.
“I got to her before that happened. She’s with a surgical team right now,” Jessa informed the angry Veslor.
“The girl could wait.”
Jessa spun on the doctor. “Says you, Yord. What if I hadn’t gotten to her for another hour? You could have killed her. She’s a kid. One that someone has beaten the hell out of. Where’s your compassion? You took an oath when you became a doctor. Remember that? You should have immediately sent her to a surgeon.”
The jerk sneered. “You’re overreaching your authority.”
A big body pressed against Jessa’s back. She tensed at the feel of Maith touching her.
“No, she is not,” he growled. “The fleet is here to handle this situation. They have full authority to do what it takes to broker peace on your planet. If she says you are not fit to handle this duty, then you are part of the problem—and I like to beat on problems.”
Yord paled and took a step back, looking terrified.
Jessa grinned then. “As I said, Yord, go find Jenson to assist him. If you want to file a complaint against me, send a message directly to Commander Howard Bills on Defcon Red. He’s the one in charge of the fleet battle vessel in orbit. My name is Jessa Brick. It’s spelled like it sounds. Good luck with where that gets you after I file a response. You’ll be lucky to keep your medical license. FYI, it’s United Earth-approved through the fleet, since this is an Earth-owned colony.” She paused for effect. “Which means the license can be pulled if the fleet reports your actions to the medical board—and your governor can’t do a damn thing about it. You better get your priorities straight. Patients first, kissing the governor’s ass second.”
Yord stormed off, headed away from the front doors.
Jessa schooled her features and turned, meeting Maith’s gaze.
“I see that you are rude to everyone, and it isn’t just me.”
Jessa crossed her arms over her chest. “You call it being rude. I see it as taking no shit. I’ve had to pull rank to stop these assholes from letting people die.”
The tall Veslor tilted his head a little, his eyes narrowing. “We are here to help ease tensions. Not add to them. We were ordered to be polite.”
She lowered her arms. “The fleet shouldn’t have sent me if they wanted a diplomat. That’s not in my skillset. I wasn’t even supposed to be a part of this mission. It was a surprise when I got orders to leave my lab and come down to this planet. I’m tired, getting really pissed over how some of these poor people are being treated, and I can see why this place erupted into violence. You’re seeing the same bullshit I am, Maith. The government here is corrupt and his goons are abusing their power.”
He sighed. “Don’t you humans have a saying about bedside manner?”
“I’m not a normal doctor, as you well know. I’m polite to aliens.”
He arched an eyebrow again, peering at her with disbelief.
“Most aliens. You’re the exception, because you tend to annoy me. How hard would it have been to allow me to run some basic scans when your grouping moved onto Defcon Red? The fleet has given me all kinds of grief because they want medical information on you, but you’ve acted like I’m the enemy for daring to even ask. It’s my job to learn everything about aliens—especially ones who are living with us.”
“We don’t like other races knowing too much about us.”
“What if you ever get critically injured? I’m the one who will be trying to save your life.”
“We will not have this discussion.”
That was why Jessa wanted to strangle him most of the time. He was hardheaded, stubborn, and aggravating. She decided to change the subject, since Maith would never see reason. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought your grouping was sent to where the heaviest fighting is still taking place.”
Instead of responding, he scanned the room carefully before stepping closer.
She stiffened as he invaded her personal space again—then gasped when Maith suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist, bending her to the side until she was off balance. His other hand came up to cradle her head. He leaned in, until his lips nearly brushed hers.
The crazy Veslor was about to kiss her! She was too shocked to react.
“Don’t fight and be still,” he rasped. “I need you to trust me. It’s urgent.”
She reached up, grabbing hold of his uniform. If he let her go, she would hit the floor on her back. He had her full attention, though.
“You once said you have the ability to detect surveillance signals with your false eye. You promised that your fleet wouldn’t see anything when Darla birthed the cubs. You also mentioned that you constantly scan your lab in case someone places surveillance there without your knowledge. Was that true?”
“Artificial eye. And yes.”
“Commander Bills is being lied to by the humans running this planet. We need to discover the truth. Clark mentioned to Roth that there is a basement under this building, and the humans might keep records there. I need your help to locate and sneak into that basement tonight—without us being caught.”
She hated noticing that the slitted irises of his green eyes were fascinating and appealing. The color and patterns inside his irises were vivid and beautiful, reminding her of liquid emeralds with some dark silver hints threaded through. They also really contrasted nicely against his dark skin and black hair. Even his pointed ears flattered his handsome alien features. The fact that he held her easily, his big body warm and firm against hers, was also noted. He smelled great too.
“Sure. I’d love to help remove these assholes from power,” she finally said a little breathlessly.
“It will be difficult, but Roth suggested we pretend to be a copulating couple seeking privacy, to explain why we are leaving the area where we’ve been assigned.” He lowered his gaze to her mouth briefly, before staring into her eyes again. “As if we’d ever like each other enough to copulate,” he snorted.
Saying they didn’t get along was putting it lightly. “Right,” she muttered.
He suddenly straightened them both and set her firmly on her feet before letting her go. “Tell anyone who saw this conversation that we tangled tongues and are a copulating couple.”
Jessa was pretty sure that meant she was supposed to say they had kissed and were lovers. “Won’t your girlfriend mind? Even if this is a pretend relationship?”
He scowled. “I have no female.”
“Um, you hang out a lot with Darla’s sister.”
He made another snorting sound. “Becky is family. She is a sister.”
That surprised her, though Jessa saw sincerity in his eyes. “Fine. I’ll be your pretend lover. But only because I really want to take these jerks down.”
He spun away and marched toward the hall that led to the area where they’d been given sleeping quarters and access to bathroom facilities.
She sucked in a sharp breath, remembered to grab her nearly forgotten med kit, and marched to the triage area by the front doors.
“Under fleet authority, I’m in charge here now,” she informed the other two loyal civilian doctors. “Be fair. That’s an order. Stop looking at the clothing these people are wearing and only focus on injuries. Otherwise, you can go pass out meds and bandages with Yord.”
They both appeared angry but said nothing. She didn’t care if they were unhappy.
Would Commander Bills be pissed when he heard that she’d pulled rank? Probably. She still felt no regret. He wasn’t the one on the ground dealing with assholes who might get people killed because they didn’t care about the poor. That pissed her off enough to face the consequences…if there were any. Pulling rank was legal. That’s all that mattered. The fleet overrode the authority of everyone on the planet when they were handling a situation.
She took the first injured person who stumbled in the door and helped them to a gurney, grabbing her scanner.
Her thoughts turned to Maith as she worked. He was water to her fire, always putting her out. But she’d work with the Veslor if it meant helping the impoverished civilians on Torid to get a better life. That was a sacrifice she was very willing to make.
Even if Maith annoyed the hell out of her and made her want to shoot him in the balls with a stun gun most of the time.