Space Raiders: The Complete Series by Ken Lozito

Author:Ken Lozito [Lozito, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC
Published: 2024-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Eighteen

I was beginning to wonder if there was a limit to how many times the autodoc could be used on a person. Was there some kind of side effect that I wasn’t aware of? The designers certainly hadn’t had Humans in mind when they created it. But these arguments fell on deaf ears, and I was getting tired of having the argument about being fit for duty thrown in my face.

Don’t sit there!

Why not?

Because you’re not fit for duty. Our machines must poke and prod you until we’re satisfied.

But I’m the captain of the ship.

Doesn’t matter. Safety of the crew circumvents your authority.

I blew out a long breath as the autodoc scanned me. It was a deep scan, which apparently required that I strip to my derrière. I hadn’t realized just how drafty the examination rooms were. At least I didn’t have an audience.

I frowned and glanced at the control panel by the door, imagining Kaz orchestrating a little payback for my treatment of him. I couldn’t tell if there was a video feed active or if anyone was watching me. I slapped my own top-round posterior for good measure just in case anyone was watching.

The deep scan finished, and a metallic snake-looking appendage rose from the base of the platform. Words appeared on a small holoscreen in front of me.

Sample required.

I frowned and started to consider either running away or whether I could subdue the mechanical snake probe. There were some lines I refused to cross. Nothing goes in the exits, so to speak.

I grimaced and leaned away from it. “What kind of sample?”

Skin sample.

I looked at the snake and then back at the holoscreen. “From where?”

The holoscreen flashed and a linear image of my body appeared on it. The area by my right arm highlighted, and I blew out a quick breath, relieved it didn’t need a skin sample from somewhere else.

Bullet dodged, I regarded the snake thoughtfully, then stuck out my right arm. There was a pattern of semitranslucent lines on my arm that shimmered very faintly. I’d thought I was imagining it, but then it kept happening.

The snake head opened, separating into a miniature hydra with five smaller heads. They looked delicate as they gently brushed against the skin of my forearm. I winced in anticipation of them tearing a piece of my skin off, but they didn’t. Tiny pin pricks of warmth came from the heads, and the snake retracted back into the platform.

Processing sample.

I’d gotten so used to an instant response from it, that when it didn’t happen, I found myself leaning toward it as if I was going to miss it.

Minor skin abrasion, right arm. No medical intervention required.

Cleared for duty.

I grinned and stepped off the platform. One thing I could say about the alien who designed this system was that it definitely took patient confidentiality into consideration. It was gratifying to learn that privacy wasn’t unheard of and taken quite a bit more seriously than back home. The only bit of information my crew was privy to was whether or not I was fit for duty.

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