Business Before Pleasure, 2
Posted on July 2nd, 2012 by Leda Harper

Owen Burseen’s idea of ‘whipping through’ ground on for nearly two hours. A helpful intern had long since come through and collected her set of workaday legs. Leda endured the usual checks of interfaces – yes, the delicate feathering of synthetic muscle fibers into natural ones remained healthy, unstrained and untorn; yes, the hip sockets and major tendon anchors were clean and intact. Her bones were strong and showing no signs of damage or erosion despite their heavy lacing of ceramic and titanium. The tiny computers built into her reinforced spine and the back of her skull were responding properly, even given the last-minute upgrades squeezed in before shipping out. All in all she was in tediously good shape.

“How’s your digestion?” Burseen ran his tricorder up along the arch of her back, following up with a skilled jab into her kidneys.

“Frighteningly efficient.” Leda yelped at the palpation and glared over her shoulder. “We done yet?”

“Digestion’s the most complicated system you have!” She rolled her eyes, having heard this one before, but buried her face into folded arms. He was right, as usual. It’d taken the better part of two years to balance that one out and banish the specter of outright rejection; her entire gut was compact, sophisticated biomachinery at this point. The doctor nattered at her happily about diet, advice she’d long since absorbed and largely tuned out upon discovering that she now possessed a literal iron stomach.

“How’s business?” she got out into a momentary thoughtful pause.

“Lousy!” Burseen chuckled in approval. “You’re still the worst we’ve had in the last few years. Congratulations on that, by the way. And – “ He tapped at his PADD. “Done. Clean as usual, though with you visiting us again so soon after your departure I can’t say I’m surprised. Now.” Elbows to knees, he settled forward, studying her at near eye-height despite her being sprawled belly-down on the exam bed. “Are you truly well, Miss Harper? Military life agreeing with you?”

Leda levered herself up onto elbows, expression blanked as she weighed the question. “It has not quite been what I expected,” she said at length.

“Any feedback on your condition?”

“No. Nothing. I mean, we’ve been busy, but everyone has been polite beyond belief.” Her lips curved a little. “I thought that the instant camaraderie of the front lines was a myth, but it turns out to be quite real. Atlantis is a diverse bunch. I barely even stand out next to the dragon.”

“Good. I can simply skip sending you over to the psychs then…?” His fingertip hovered over his PADD, then jabbed down at her emphatic nod. “Excellent! We can move straight on to physical therapy and field testing! You’ll meet up with Mik at Langkawi; he’s got a new set of legs for you to work with. Your usuals are going to be in Engineering’s hands for a couple of weeks for an overhaul, so there’s plenty of time. Marie!” Burseen leaned over to crack the door open. “Is Leda’s therapy pack ready to go?”

She was spluttering in protest halfway through, the doctor talking right over her. “Are you serious? The last time I saw Mik I left him with a black eye, which he’d earned mind you.” With a hiss of effort and irritation she rolled upright, swinging the erector-set legs down over the edge of the exam bed.

“Of course I’m serious.” Burseen looked back to her, brows rising, and she immediately shrank back a bit. “You two are adults and can handle the matter as adults. He’s by far the best integration engineer we have, and yours is by far the most complicated case.”

For a moment she swung her feet, glaring at them.

“I may have been enjoying my outrage a little too much,” she finally conceded, rewarded by the doctor’s chuckle.

“Yes, and you’re so good at it. Thanks, Marie.” He accepted the duffel bag that Jedlicka handed off to him from the hallway and tossed it over to Leda. “Now scram. Have fun, and consider yourself off the radar for the next couple of weeks. If you two haven’t hammered it out by then, I’ll make sure that Engineering finds more upgrades to cram in, understood?”