Ever Just Know it’s Gonna’ Be a Bad Morning?
As told by Ashcroft William Andrews IV
I was sitting in the temporary Data Center, somewhere in another space and time. I was interrupted by Kurt Kellerman banging open the door like a Rhino in Heat!
“I was told Young Man, that you might have certifiably clean copies of the standard diagnoses publications in your Data Base!” He said it in that Master to Peon tone of his!
Well, as I had linked the Lab network to Andy’s little monsters I in fact did; but, this guy just rubbed me raw!
“Well”, I said in my best Southern drawl, “I probably have it in here somewhere. Leave me what you need and as fast as the Captains’ priority search is over I’ll get it right to you.”
Then he came in that same haughty tone, “Young Man, I am not accustomed to waiting on tin pot dictators nor trumped up researchers both of who seem more like hired killers than what they purport to be!”
I probably never will remember coming out of that chair, cause the first thing I remember was shoving the barrel of my XD up his right nostril! “With you left hand, pass me your personal padd! And do it slowly!”
He complied and I placed it into the reader slot and punched several keys. “Down home they had a phrase for people like you. Plain ole snooty Asshole, comes readily to mind. That trumped up researcher was a Board Certified Thoracic Surgeon when you were still dreaming about getting into Med school! She got out of it to try to fix stuff with Bio-Sciences instead of a Knife. Hell, half of the drugs for Cyro sleep came from Her team.”
I punched several more keys. “ I do not know what she was onto that made the UNWG shut her down, except that it scared the hell out of them. So she became a clinician for the old U. S. SOCOM, that being the only job she could find! While running the drills so she could understand the stress involved, guess what happened? She got ID’d as the perfect fit as a partner for the deadliest man alive. You might have meant him, he’s my cousin Andy. Course theses days he’s also her husband. Don’t ask about her first one if you want to keep your teeth.”
I punched up another sequence. “On a personal note, having three Piled Higher and Deeper’s of my own; and being by the records two years older than you, the next Young Man outta your mouth will cost you those selfsame teeth! As for the Capt., I don’t see you putting your precious ass out where the hard calls have to be made.”
I reached out and placed his padd back in his pocket. “Here you go, Asshole. Latest and greatest copies of the PDR, Merck and if you have the stomach the UNWG treatment guide! Now take this and get outta my sight. One last thing, you break Sally’s heart and there will be more than me looking for you Asshole!”
With that I shoved him out the door! This was my morning for things I didn’t really want to do. Racking out the 2 Terra byte padd from the second reader station I thought of the next one.
God, after what I had just been through; finding Bartlett was the last thing I wanted to do!