Port Casper

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Don't worry, Grace. Nasal reconstruction is a fairly fast procedure," Tim said for the third time.

Grace smiled at Tim, forcing her shoulders to relax. Seeing Raj injured had upset her. On the transport back from ITB, she had more than once snapped at concerned passengers. The blood on Raj's shirt and face looked worse than his injuries were, she reminded herself. It wasn't as if he had shared poor Martin's fate.

Martin.

Tim nosed her leg.

"You're doing it again," he said.

"Yeah, well. Human body," she said, wiping away her tears.

"He was a loyal protector, Grace. A good man. I wish I had known him better when he worked for us."

"Yeah."

She rubbed her nose absentmindedly, and felt the smooth metarm of her implant brush against her upper lip. That's how quickly mechflesh becomes second nature, she thought. Please remove it. Please?

"Hey, the nose feels great!" Raj bounded into the room with a mirror, comically squeezing his nose between his fingers, moving it from side to side. He clearly admired the handiwork of his surgical program.

"The greater alar cartilage was damaged, too, and now it feels smooth. Mango!" He sniffed deeply. "You can't even tell where I added the enhanced olfactory grafts." He turned to Grace. "Brilliant, right? Now I can smell poison!"

Grace considered Raj's new nose. "It looks the same to me," she said. "Just less blood. Why'd you keep that hump in the middle?"

Raj laughed and gave Grace a hug.

"Hey! What's that for?"

"Just wanted to say thanks for getting me out," Raj said, breaking away. "You and Martin saved my life, Grace."

Grace punched his chest. "Just returning the favor. Thank that guy," she said, pointing to Tim. "He's got more weapons on him than a squad rushing a grinder."

Raj turned to Tim. "Dope or LEMP?"

Tim started to answer but then Raj laughed. "I know, LEMP, huh? Always works well on protectors."

Raj glanced slyly at her. Grace decided to hit him later.

"You know what doesn't work on protectors?" Grace asked.

"What?"

She extended her right arm. "Here," she said, showing Raj the implant. "Can we take it off? Now?"

"You sure you want to, Grace? Looks swell to me," he grinned.

"Now."