Monday Musings 1.4

Part 4 of this little story. Please share and comment, but do it quietly lest you wake the baby–and anger Dr. Ruger.

Before Cassie could ask another question about the missing ship, someone—or something—pounded on the hut’s door. Ginny jerked and whimpered on Ben Fortunas’s shoulder.

Cassie muttered a curse under her breath as she pushed away from the futon. Ben stepped out of her way. He knew better than to get in her way when she had that look on her face.

“What?” Rather than shout her question, Cassie hissed it as she glared up at the Kigvan guard commander.

The juxtaposition of the petite, frizzy-haired, human doctor and the hairless, seven-and-a-half foot tall, armor-wearing alien should have been ridiculous. Instead, the filtered air within the Dremiks habitation dome crackled with potential violence. The Kigvan guard stepped back and crossed her stubby arms over her flat chest in a gesture of respect.

Kigvans valued knowledge above all else. They exchanged information as currency and were hyper-curious. In just under two standard Earth months that the guard detail had been on Dremiks, they’d learned a certain amount of caution around Dr. Cassie Ruger.

It was, Dr. Fortunas thought, a testament to the Kigvans’ survival skills. Even before she’d become a sleep-deprived adoptive mother, Cassie had been a force to be reckoned with.

“This,” Cassie swirled her right hand in front of her in an encompassing gesture, “was not part of our deal. You stand here and make sure no one tries to snatch the baby. You are not here to interfere with my care of the child.”

“But—”

“No! Seriously, do you really think that after pulling her into this world, keeping her alive on a home-made formula substitute, and giving up sleeping, eating, or SHOWERING, that I would just smother her? I don’t care what you’ve read about human reactions to colicky infants. You do not get to imply that I would murder my child!”

The Kigvan officer lowered her hand to Cassie’s eye height. “I do not come to imply harm to the Inheritor, most honored doctor. I come with a message that has arrived from Ambassador Teriwyn ko’Khanaa.”

Cassie blinked. She looked from the shiny metal strip in the alien’s hand then up at the oblong head and hairless features. “Oh.” She gingerly accepted the message strip. “Well, next time, knock quieter. You’ll wake the baby.”

She closed the door slowly. When she turned, she found Dr. Fortunas holding the baby with her small head cradled in his hand and her belly on his forearm. Ginny and Ben both stared back at her—though the baby hadn’t yet mastered the art of raising her eyebrows in mock surprise.

“Oh, shut up.” Cassie dropped the message strip on the table. “I’m going to shower.”