The Legacy of Lehr Read Online Free Page B

then, I suppose that depends a lot on what caused it.”
    She shook a white capsule from a vial and handed it across to Lutobo, who gulped it gratefully before sitting down.
    â€œDo you want to tell me about it?” she asked.
    Closing his eyes, Lutobo rubbed both hands hard across his face and sat back in the chair.
    â€œDo you know what the ‘special’ cargo was, the reason we diverted to B-Gem?”
    â€œI’m sure I don’t, Captain.”
    â€œIt was cats !” Lutobo’s tone conveyed all the contempt of the avowed ailurophobe. “Four big, hairy blue cats for the emperor’s zoo. They scream like banshees. I don’t know how Diaz and his people were managing to conduct business down there. Ugly-looking brutes—the cats, that is.”
    As Lutobo looked up at her again, Shannon raised an eyebrow.
    â€œCats, eh?” She started to chuckle but saw the warning gleam in Lutobo’s eyes in time and managed to convert the chuckle to a cough. “Well, I—ah—can understand why you’re concerned, Captain. We’ve lost a lot of time, haven’t we? In addition to the bonus pay.”
    â€œYes. And then, to top it off, there was some kind of disturbance on the observation deck. According to a yeoman, who got it from the purser, who got it from the deck officer, one of the Aludran passengers got hysterical, apparently over the sight of the cats being unloaded, and made enough of a scene that the deck had to be shut down. There was some talk of demons or some such nonsense. I’d like you to check it out.”
    â€œThe Aludran?”
    Lutobo nodded.
    â€œDo you know which one?” Shannon persisted.
    The captain shook his head. “Apparently his mate took him back to their cabin. But if we’re going to have aliens berserking aboard my ship, I want to know why. I’d especially like to know what set him off. If it was the cats …”
    Shannon sat forward in her chair and nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out, Captain. As I recall, there are only six Aludrans, and they all have adjoining quarters. Anything else?”
    The captain rose as a low, deep-throated chime sounded throughout the ship, signaling its imminent departure from parking orbit. The previous lines of pain in his face were already easing from the drug.
    â€œYes, you might check on those cats, when you finish with the Aludrans. Talk to this Commodore Seton, who brought the cats aboard. There’s also supposed to be a doctor in his party. Maybe you can learn something from him. And don’t let anyone distract you. Our first jump comes up in less than an hour.”
    Ten minutes later, Shannon was moving briskly down the corridor toward the Aludrans’ quarters, a medical kit slung on her shoulder and a wealth of new information in her mind about these particular Aludrans.
    She was already familiar with the racial type, of course. Fledgling physicians were required during their training to dissect cadavers of most of the major physiological groupings, and to complete certain survey courses in alien psychology and culture. The latter training had been augmented in even greater detail when Shannon came to work for the Gruening Line, since a starliner’s medical officer might routinely expect to encounter a far larger variety of alien patients than most planetside doctors saw in a lifetime. In two years, Shannon certainly had seen her share.
    Lutobo’s remark about demons disturbed her, though, for she remembered that the Aludrans were a very mystical people, possessed of an ancient and intricate myth system, and actually believed in supernatural beings. They were also slightly telepathic among themselves, though not with other races—which meant that one terrified Aludran could infect all the others. Her quick review of their medical records confirmed that these particular Aludrans were religious pilgrims bound for a retreat on Tel Taurig,