Tombstone Estate

[Doc Holliday]

Freeport 5, Omega 41 System

It was day number three of his visit to "Radiation Rock" as he called it. It was a place seldom visited but the Zoners there needed medical like anyone else. For now, he was relaxing in an executive suite, such as it was, away from most of the base personnel. His door was locked as he valued his privacy.

"I hate this place," he told his wife as they finished a conversation, "but, I do care about those here."
"Hai," was his wife's reply, "Just come home safe."
He then smiled, "in a day or two. Love you, Dahlin'", he said
She blew him a kiss and the channel was cut.

He was tired and still mentally drained but strangely, he was relaxed. In a pair of sweats, t-shirt and a bath robe, he poured himself a glass of Gallic Wine. Taking it in his hand, he leaned back and put his feet up on his desk as he looked out over the Neuron Star off in the distance. For such a dead system, it was strangely intriguing.
"How many times have I flown past that?" he asked himself, "Hundreds, maybe?" He then shrugged and took a sip of his wine.
"Delicious!" he said and the took another.

For a few minutes, anyway, all was right. In the backround played the music of Mozart, unimpeded by any other noise. Outside, passing ships made there way from place to place. His dinner, which had arrived only minutes earlier, was still hot in it's serving dishes. It wasn't his beloved's Mahi Fish that she was famous for but it was darn good. Leaning back up, he served himself a dish and began eating. With a nod, he commented, "Not bad for rations!"

But, his peace wouldn't last long. With a mouthful of food, his com sounded. Still chewing, he looked over at the screen: "Secure, Encrypted Message From Med Force One"
He finished his bite and swallowed. He then said, "Great! Secure and Encrypted usually means trouble." He then answered. On the other end was his medical chief, Dr. Edward Tesh.

"Edward! How goes the rebuilding effort out there?" he asked.
Edward sighed, "John, I wish this was for pleasantries but it is not." He sighed again.
"Ed, what's the problem?" he asked, now very concerned.
"One of the engineers was murdered on Freeport 9," stated Edward.
"Murdered?" asked John.
"Yes, Murdered. He was knifed from behind. It cut his spinal cord and went through his heart. Whoever did this knew what they were doing."
"Any suspects?" asked Doc.
"None yet but Commander Haddock has ordered an investigation," continued Edward.
"Very well," nodded Doc, "my shuttle isn't due to pick me up for a couple more days so if there is a ship there to get me, I'll come to Med Force myself. I'm staying on ship as I have no intentions of going on the Freeport. That diplomacy isn't mine to be involved with."
"Understood. I'll have someone pick you up first chance I get," said Edward, "See you soon."
The comm then went blank.

Doc again leaned back with his wine, "One of my crew? Murdered?" He shook his head, "But why?" He shrugged again, "Well, we'll find out more soon enough."
Despite the news, he leaned back, finished his wine and fell asleep.

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises