Page 102 of Sky Song
Cricket shook her head. “I don’t need help sleeping. And I’m afraid I can’t afford a week off.”
He squeezed her hands lightly. “I could have you fired for your behavior today. It was a violation of professional conduct.”
Yes, she was aware of that. She gave a curt nod.
“Good. Take that week off. After you come back, there will be no more talk about the blue lights or stairs or Yanet’s device. None of that. Just plain old lab work.”
Cricket lifted her chin. “If that’s how you want it, Dr. Ragberg.”
Abruptly, he let go of her and stepped back. “It’s how it will be, Emma.”
He told her to go, and she left his office without a goodbye.
As she schlepped in the direction of the lab, someone called her name - Emma. Lifting her head, she came face-to-face with Dr. Nura. The doctor was dressed in scrubs and a hair cap that hid her dark hair. The expression on her delicate face with sparkling dark eyes was open and friendly.
“How are things at the lab?” Dr. Nura asked.
“Oh. The lab? Good. Everything’s fine.”
“Has Yanet been helpful to your shift?” She leaned closer and lowered her voice in confidence. “I know she can be a bit flighty. I hope it’s working out in Kim’s absence.”
Cricket blinked. “Yanet has helped a lot,” she assured the doctor.
They talked for another minute before Dr. Nura left, wishing Cricket a nice day.
Abruptly, Cricket was awash with sadness. She had trusted Dr. Ragberg, and… And everything. Such a talented, compassionate physician, why? She needed an honest answer.
She marched back, and after a curt knock, pushed open the door to his office. She didn’t know what she was going to say,only that she had to say something. Her savior, a fellow Earther. She would have sacrificed herself for him.
His office was empty, and the sudden silence of the closed room resonated sharply. He must have left while she was speaking to Dr. Nura in the hallway.
Cricket lowered her eyes to the floor and chuckled.
It was fortunate that he’d already left, saving her from making a fool of herself. A persistent, and therefore dangerous, fool.
She raised her eyes, looking around his familiar office, his neat desk and credenza, instruments. And a plain no-name access card laying near the desk lamp.
Cricket stubbornly finished her shift. Salty and Terrance left ahead of her, and she never mentioned to them her forced hiatus. She hadn’t decided yet if she was going to abide by the orders.
As she walked home, she wondered idly if mama’s friend Gemma had any inkling what her former fiancé had gotten himself into. Gemma could hardly know, of course, and her Rix Simon likely didn’t suspect Dr. Ragberg personally, but, if Lyle was to be believed, Simon had more than a firm suspicion about Meeus’ illegal experiments involving alien genes. His genes, to be exact.
A familiar figure loitered next to Cricket’s door tending flowers around his porch. In the dark.
“Hi, Emma!” Mr. Sulys greeted her with a contrived bonhomie. In the window behind his back, the drapes wavered, revealing a sliver of an ugly animal face and one round eye.
“Good evening.”
“I was wondering if I can ask you something,” he began, brushing dirt off his hands, and she thought,Oh, boy. “About your other neighbor. Paloma.”
Cricket halted, straightening her spine into the maximum of her impressive height, a couple of inches taller than Mr. Sulys. “What about her?”
His large and watery eyes narrowed. “Does she bring friends over often?”
“Mr. Sulys, you probably see more of Paloma than I. Our schedules don’t align.”
“Oh, I don’t see her very often. Almost not at all, actually.” He sounded disappointed in this situation. “I leave for work very early, so you see, our schedules also don’t align.”
The drapes wavered again, and the eye disappeared. Instead, a brown nose with one horizontal nostril poked at the window in a vain attempt to sniff air from behind the glass.
