Pixie Hazard by Archibald Bradford (top young adult novels .txt) 📕

The dermal scanning unit that Billy was using let off a faint buzz as she painstakingly went over every inch of Bryan’s skin.

Every. Inch.

It wasn’t the first time the doctor had seen him naked, so he wasn’t as embarrassed as he might otherwise have been, but he still wasn’t overly comfortable.

At least she wasn’t looking at him directly, her eyes glued to the monitor in her off-hand as she worked the sensor with the other.

“Stop fidgeting, this will take a while.”

“I’m sorry Doctor Wu.”

“It’s alright, just hold still.”

“No, I mean... for the other stuff.”

“What other stuff? You wanting to stay alive?”

“But-”

“We’ve all signed papers with the mega-corps, it’s impossible not to. And while you might have heard some unsettling rumours about what happens to people who violate their contracts, we know firsthand.”

“You do?”

She pinched his ear lobe and folded the flap of skin forwards to get the scanner behind it as she spoke.

“We were marines for the Dungeness Corporation, I’m sure you know that by now.”

“Yeah...” He said with a questioning note.

“It wasn’t often, but a few times we got involved with their black-ops teams.”

It took him a minute to catch her meaning, when he did his eyes widened.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh’. Scary people doing scary things. Usually in the dark. Donnie hated those assignments, but orders were orders.”

Not sure how to reply, he said nothing, instead standing in silence as she worked.

Forty five minutes of trying not to fidget later and Bryan was allowed to don his clothes again.

“Nothing.” Billy sighed; “Not so much as a skin tag. Are you sure nobody came near you with a big ass needle?”

She was sitting on her thighs on the floor, having just finished with his feet.

“Just the routine immunizations, I would have remembered anything special.”

Billy stood and wrapped the cord of the dermal scanner around the screen before stowing it in a cupboard.

She paused when the latch snapped shut though, a frown on her face as she realized something he had just said sounded off.

“What do you mean ‘routine’? I thought you were only in the program for a few months.”

“I was.” He shrugged; “During which I was given the regular monthly shots.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

Seeing her response he grew a mite concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“You were given monthly injections?”

“Yeah, just like everyone right?”

Now she was truly flummoxed, her eyes closed as she shook her head, trying to grasp what he was telling her.

“How long has this been going on?”

Again he shrugged as if it were perfectly normal.

“Since I met Professor Calvin, I think I was about ten. Why?”

“Do you have a pre-existing condition that you forgot to tell me about?” She demanded.

“What?! No!”

“I thought this Calvin guy was a botanist?”

“No, he’s a geneticist. He was the head of the entire program. He was a mentor to me because of how long I knew him.”

Awash with cold dread given that it was far too late to quarantine him, she activated her console with agitated movements, bringing up the blood tests she had run on him when he was still recovering.

All normal.

“What’s wrong?” He repeated, more concerned now than before.

She looked at him, aghast at the level of ignorance he was displaying.

“What’s wrong? Bryan, you should have been given booster shots once when you arrived on site. Then every five years after. And that is ignoring all of the shit that was happening before you got involved with Outerlight.”

“I-I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. Which means I need to run a lot more tests, so it’s a good thing you aren’t afraid of needles.”

Chapter 29:WTF is a Chinchilla?

A few hours and a number of tests later, Billy solved the mystery, calling the captain into the infirmary almost immediately afterwards.

“I gave him a full workup, just like you asked. And boy howdy did I find something.”

“Alright.” Donnie said, expecting the doctor to continue.

She didn’t, instead she gave Bryan a look loaded with meaning.

“Wh-what?”

Crossing her arms over her breasts, Billy lifted an eyebrow at him.

“I only called the captain in here so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself. Doctor patient confidentiality is still a thing Bryan. Even in space.”

It was a tough pill for Donnie to swallow, so she spat it out immediately.

“You’re fucking with me, right?”

The doctor shrugged.

“Can’t do it Donnie, not without his permission.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes before bringing her best scowl to bear; “You know that if he doesn’t give you his permission I’m going to stick him in an airlock with Eva until he does?”

She spoke as much to their guest as she did the resolute doctor.

Not seeing much point in the argument, and remembering well what Billy had so recently told them regarding the crew’s involvement with black-ops teams, Bryan interceded.

“It’s alright, you can tell her.”

“Tell her what?” Bunny called from the door.

The three people in the room looked to see most of the rest of the crew very obviously trying to eavesdrop from the corridor.

Billy and Donnie sighed in unison at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Don’t you all have jobs to do? Or does everyone onboard need the results of the kid’s prostate exam?” The skipper demanded.

“I’m not busy.” Eniella said with a smirk; “Beside’s there’s nothing else going on around here. We’re still in the clear, nobody around for a million klicks.”

With once final look to Bryan to ensure she was still alright to continue, Billy got them back on track.

“Just as you’d expect I started by looking for some form of data storage, since information is the most valuable thing in the universe these days. Subcutaneous data-chits are getting smaller every year.