Summon the Thunder

Of course, given that Qui

Whereas Qui

I’m not acomplete idiot.

“So, are we going or not?” Pe

Holding up a hand to silence his friend, Qui

Pe

“Get your stuff and meet me at the docking port,” Qui

An expression of surprise appeared on Pe

“I’m not that lucky,” Qui

Pe

“Don’t worry, dear. We’ll be fine,” Qui

And with that, he laid his head back down on the bar. Within seconds, the few i

He had no idea how much time had passed before he felt another poke in his left shoulder.

“Dammit, Tim,” he said, jerking his head up and squinting in pain at the sudden movement. “You’re worse than my second wife.” He whirled around on his barstool, seriously considering punching Pe

Instead of Pe

“Mr. Qui

Qui

Zett, of course, did not smile. “Why, nothing. At least, not yet.”

4

Occupying his customary table at the rear of Starbase 47’s officers’ mess and without moving his eyes from the data slate lying atop the table near his left elbow, Commodore Diego Reyes reached with the fork in his right hand to stab at his eggs.

The fork scraped against the plate, alerting him that he had already consumed his breakfast. Looking over at the empty plate with an aftertaste of the meal still in his mouth, he realized that he had been so engrossed in his morning reading that he had failed to recognize how utterly horrible the eggs had tasted.

“What the hell did I just eat?” Reyes asked, frowning, as he reached for his glass of orange juice in the hope of washing away the aftertaste of…whatever.

Across from him, Dr. Ezekiel Fisher’s brown face warmed as he offered a wistful smile from over the rim of his coffee cup. “Ktarian eggs. I made a change in your diet profile for the galley after your last physical. Those are lower in cholesterol, and they’ve got all sorts of vitamins and minerals a growing boy like you needs.”

Reyes frowned at his longtime friend. “You know I hate Ktarian eggs,” he said. “Always have. I’d rather chew on my boot.”

“Your boot would offer more nutrition than what you usually eat. Besides, they taste better when you mix in green peppers,” Fisher countered, indicating Reyes’s plate with a nod of his head. “You didn’t seem to mind them this time.”

His scowl melting somewhat, Reyes said, “Is it part of a chief medical officer’s job description to harass and harangue those in his care in as many ways as possible?”

“Absolutely,” Fisher replied, nodding with conviction as he took another sip of his coffee. “It’s the second verse of the Hippocratic Oath, the one you never hear because most doctors are going on about doing no harm and whatnot. Me? I skipped right to the good part.”