Star Cruise: Marooned Read Online Free PDF

situation and I’m the senior crew member.”
    She half expected him to protest, but his eyebrows lifted in mock surprise and he agreed with enthusiasm. “Yes, you are. And I’m here to back you to the hilt.”
    “Hey, what’s going on in there?” Bettis, the male passenger, peered into the lobby. “Can we bring Sharmali in or not?”
    “Yes, we’ve got a nice couch to put her on, make her comfortable.” Red moved to join him, saying to Meg in a low voice as he passed, “You and I need to talk more, later.”
    Red arranged Sharmali on the couch, Meg and Callina covering her with the large, soft beach towels. As she tucked the cloth over Sharmali’s shoulders, touching her clammy skin, Meg was alarmed by her condition. The woman was hypothermic and nearly unresponsive. The purple streaks had progressed beyond her knee into the fleshy thigh area on her injured leg when Meg checked.
    “Whoa, the bite looks disgusting,” Bettis said over her shoulder. “And painful. Glad I didn’t go wading.”
    “If you and Mrs. Bettis can sit with her, Red and I need to supervise activities on the beach,” Meg said, ignoring his unspoken question.
    “Yell for me if there’s any change,” Red added
    “I’m no expert on bite wounds.” Doubt radiated from the man.
    “I just came along to be out of the sun,” Callina rubbed her bare shoulders. “I never had any first aid instructions or anything.”
    “If she gets agitated, or feverish, or if the appearance of the injury changes,” Meg said, forcing herself to rein in her impatience. “Call us.”
    “Right.” Bettis dragged a chair next to the couch for himself and another for his wife, as Meg and Red departed.  
    Not talking, the two of them crossed the landing pad and descended to the beach. To Meg’s relief, Mr. Finchon was seated, drinking a large glass of pure whiskey, judging from the translucent bronze color. As Meg approached, he stood, glaring at her, swirling the drink in the heavy crystal goblet. The other passengers gathered nearby, whispering to each other.
    “I’m going to start packing up here,” Meg said.  
    “I’m pressing formal negligence charges against you both, as soon as we return to the ship,” their Primary guest said, voice quiet and deadly. “And suing the charter company. I’ll be transmitting the claims to Sector Hub immediately upon setting foot on the Far Horizon .”
    “Fine, you do whatever you think you need to do,” she answered, happy to hear how steady her voice sounded, despite the sinking sensation in her gut. “In the meantime, Mr. Thomsill and I have duties to attend to. Does anyone want another drink or a snack before I close the robos?”  
    Trever, held up one hand. “Throw me another, but not that swill I endorse. I drink enough of that for the commercials.” He guffawed.
    Meg fished a high end premixed drink from the robo’s storage container and tossed it to the athlete underhanded. He snatched it from the air, reflexes not much diminished from his glory days on an All Sectors professional ball team.
    A few other people came forward and she and Red served them. Then the passengers drifted away for the most part. Meg turned her back to the lake and leaned toward Red.  
    “The Primary’s going to be major trouble in about an hour, when the deadline passes with no shuttle arriving,” her fellow crew member said before she could utter a word. “Nothing I can’t handle easily, as long as the others stay scared sheep.”
    “I can help with crowd control.” She grabbed the bag she’d been guarding, setting it on her prep surface.
    He fingered the edge of the cleaning supplies label. “Why do I have hope you’re not talking about brushes and mops?” he said, moving closer, his body shielding them from casual view.
    Opening the bag in such a way as to conceal the contents, she showed him the blasters. “I grabbed these when I went to talk to Drewson.”
    As he palmed one, Red gave her an awestruck