The Legacy of Lehr Read Online Free Page A

futility, Lutobo picked up the stack of chip cards that were the medical records and sighed, then began to make his way across the shuttle bay toward the crew lift. Behind him, Mather Seton watched his Rangers float a third cat cage down the ramp of the shuttle ship, its occupant screaming with a sound like ripping metal.

CHAPTER 2
    â€œIf they send me back to Tejat on the Valkyrie , I’m going to take you dancing, Doctor,” said the legless man, managing a courageous grin as he made his antigravity harness lift him awkwardly off the treatment table. “I mean that, so you’d better start limbering up your dancing slippers.”
    Doctor Shivaun Shannon, Chief Medical Officer aboard the Valkyrie , gave the young major a wink and an answering smile and locked away the rest of the sanity-saving pain medication for another twelve hours. “I’ll be looking forward to it, Major, but by then there are going to be dozens of other women just falling over themselves to dance with you. By the time you’ve got those new legs grown, you’ll probably have forgotten all about me.”
    â€œYou think I could forget you, Doc?” The major made his harness lift him to standing height and took one of Shannon’s hands with his free one, trying to twirl her. “I’d dance with you now, except that the other passengers might get jealous. Besides”—they both laughed as he twirled instead of her—“this blasted harness won’t cooperate! I’m going to keep practicing, though. I just might get it right before we arrive at the Med Center.”
    â€œYou might,” Shannon said lightly, taking advantage of his weightless condition to propell him gently in the direction of the door, “but I’m afraid it’s only a briefly useful talent. You’ll have new legs again before you know it. Seriously, though, if you exert yourself too much, your painkiller isn’t going to last the full twelve hours, and you’ll be hurting until I can give you the next dose. Run along now, and try to stay reasonably quiet.”
    â€œSpoilsport!”
    â€œYes, I know. I’m a cruel, heartless doctor, with absolutely no sympathy for a gallant war hero. Goodbye, Major.”
    â€œâ€™Bye, Doc.”
    Shannon was still smiling as the major floated off down the corridor, and the twinkle in her eyes softened even Lutobo’s dour expression as he approached from the other direction.
    â€œYou’re awfully cheerful this morning, Doctor.”
    â€œWell, it helps the patients feel better, Captain. Ah, I see that Mister Diaz has conned you into bringing me the records on the new passengers, hasn’t he?”
    Lutobo snorted good-naturedly as he handed them over. “Somehow, I always manage to forget that Diaz has as much blarney in his blood as you do—though you’d never know it by the name. At least yours got Major Barding smiling this morning.”
    â€œIndeed, it did. He’s even promised to take me dancing on the way home.”
    She dropped the handful of medical chips into a holding bin on the reception desk and started to ask why Lutobo wasn’t smiling, but decided to stick with the more neutral subject of Barding as the captain gestured toward her inner office with an expression that warned against further levity.
    â€œActually, Barding’s doing pretty well—if he’d just stop overdoing things, so his pain medication would last the full time. The poor man goes through hell the last hour or so.”
    â€œAnd I’m going through my own hell right now, Doctor,” Lutobo muttered, following her into the office and closing the door. “What have you got for a good, pounding headache?”
    â€œWell, ‘good’ and ‘pounding’ are rather diametrically opposed when talking about a headache,” Shannon said, sitting at her desk and opening a drawer. Controlling a smile, she added, “But