Alsea Rising: The Seventh Star (Chronicles of Alsea Book 10)

by Fletcher DeLancey

  The four of them barely managed to crowd into the lift before the doors shut. Ekatya wondered idly what would have happened if Andira, the last one in, hadn’t quite made it. Would she be carried along, half in and half out? Or would the lift have left her behind?

  She was getting punchy, she realized. If she was losing the ability to think clearly, how much worse must it be for Salomen?

  The doors opened again, revealing the surgery bay level of medbay. It was controlled chaos, with staff hurrying this way and that, but most seemed to be coming or going from one bay in particular.

  “Ah,” Andira murmured. “Healer Wellernal just joined us.”

  “Well met,” said a male voice. “Colonel Micah has apprised me of the situation. I’ll do my best, but I need more specifics.”

  “Healer Wellernal, this is Captain Serrado. I’ll get you those specifics in one tick.”

  She followed her body into the surgery bay and stopped short at the scene.

  “Oh, no.” Lhyn clutched her hand.

  Salomen was silent, but the icy blast of her fear made Ekatya shiver.

  Rahel was surrounded by a thicket of equipment, lights, and medbay staff, two of whom were working furiously over her supine body. Bright surgery lights spotlit her abdomen, open from top to bottom and showing white bone and glistening tissue in places Ekatya was fairly certain they did not belong.

  The floor of the bay was littered with so many blood-soaked items that the staff had simply kicked them to the sides rather than take the time to pick them up. She didn’t know a body could contain that much blood. Was there any left in Rahel’s veins?

  “Dammit!” Alejandra threw another bloody item to the floor. “Sponge! And who the fuck let this crowd in here? Get out!”

  A nurse placed a fresh sponge in her palm. Without looking up, Alejandra stuffed it into Rahel’s abdominal cavity.

  “Get Candini into a treatment room and everyone else out,” she growled, both hands moving with a swift steadiness Ekatya marveled at.

  “Dr. Wells,” she said. “I may be able to help.”

  “Unless you’ve got a spare Alsean liver in your pocket, you can’t help. Leave my surgery bay, Captain.”

  “Um. Dr. Wells?” an attending doctor ventured. “I think you should look at her.”

  “For the love of—” Alejandra glanced up, then did a double-take.

  “Phoenix, add Dr. Wells to this call. Dr. Wells, I have Healer Wellernal standing by. We’re going to try empathic healing, but he needs specific details of the issue.”

  “Dr. Wells?”

  “Healer Wellernal.” Alejandra was still staring at Ekatya, eyes wide above her mask. She gave a quick shake of her head and returned to work, now speaking in High Alsean. “I’ve got a foreign object penetration through the right chest and into the abdominal cavity, resulting in comminuted fractures to the seventh through tenth ribs and punctures to the liver and lower lobe of the right lung. Bone reconstruction is underway. The lung is sealed and stable for now; it’s not the priority. The liver is irreparable. We’ve been stopping bleeders left and right, but the force of impact sent a shockwave through the entire organ. It’s practically liquefied. Every repair causes another tear, and I’ve run through most of my blood supply.” Though her hands never stopped, her breath hitched. “I don’t see a solution.”

  “I understand,” he said gravely. “Lancer Tal, if you could arrange blood donations from our fighters, that would buy us time. Dr. Wells, the type?”

  “Type two light.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Andira stepped aside and began speaking to the war council.

  “Captain Serrado, you must sterilize your hands.”

  “Scrub and gown the captain,” Alejandra snapped in Common. “Move it!”

  One nurse rushed her body through the door and down the hall while the other tugged Candini in the opposite direction. Ekatya stayed in the surgery bay, afraid to get too far from Salomen and risk their link.

  “Phoenix, mute.” Her internal com went silent, cutting off Wellernal’s instructions on increasing Rahel’s energy stores for the healing. “Record message for Commander Lokomorra. Commander, keep our fighters out for now. We need the bays for Alsean fighters. We’re asking the pilots and gunners for blood donations for Rahel Sayana. Have guides ready to bring them to the medbay as soon as they arrive. Send message. Unmute.”

  A soft chime confirmed that the message had been sent.

  Alejandra called out orders for injectors to be loaded with what sounded like twelve different compounds. Staff scurried in all directions, two of them running out of the room.

  “Captain,” a nurse said in her physical ear. “I need to cap and mask you first. May I?”

  “Go ahead. Thank you for asking.”

  The nurse’s touch was brisk, twisting up her loose hair and tucking it beneath a cap. Ekatya gritted her teeth, hating the duality of sensation.

  She hated it even more when the mask went over her nose and mouth.

  “I know,” the nurse said kindly. “It’s not the most comfortable thing, letting someone do this for you.”

  “You sound as if you speak from experience.”

  “I do.” Her chair was turned in place. “May I touch your wrists? Thank you. You’re under the decon projector. Now spread your fingers—good. Three, two, one . . . done. Leave your arms out; I’m gowning you next.” The nurse turned her chair again and began pulling the gown over her uniform sleeves. “Dr. Wells put us through an exercise to remind us how patients feel. We undress them, flip them to change sheets, manipulate their bodies for treatment. It’s easy to forget what it’s like on that side.”

  Efficient fingers secured the gown behind her neck and tucked the loose sides between her body and the chair.

  “Gloves next. Lift your hands, ninety degrees at the elbows. Good.” Tugging the gloves over her fingers, he continued, “So she made half of us wear blindfolds while the other half prepped us for surgery, just like this. Then we switched. I can tell you that nobody liked being on this end of it. Doctors and nurses prefer to be in control.”

  “Captains are worse,” Ekatya admitted.

  “I’ve heard that.” A final tug set the second glove in place. “One more trip under the decon.”

  While her hands were being positioned, a message chime sounded in her ear.

  “Phoenix, play message.”

  “Captain, consider it done. I only wish I could donate, too.”

  Belatedly, she remembered that Lokomorra was one of Rahel’s closest friends. When this was over, she would need to check in with him.

  “All set,” said the nurse. “Hands up. Don’t touch anything.”

  Ekatya watched her body come back through the door, capped, masked, gowned, and with gloved hands held up in front. It hardly looked like her, a disparity that was surprisingly helpful. That body was no more than a physical container.

  “Bring her over here.” Alejandra indicated a place to her right and switched to High Alsean. “Healer Wellernal, we’ve pumped Rahel’s system with as much as her blood volume can carry. The captain is in position.”

  “Captain Serrado, let Dr. Wells guide your hands. Bondlancer?”

  “I’m ready.” Salomen stood on the other side of the table, next to the orthopedic surgeon.

  Ekatya sidled up to Salomen. From her position by Rahel’s legs, she could look up and across to her body, sitting in its now-elevated chair beside Alejandra.

  “Dr. Wells, begin.”

  It was the oddest thing in a very odd day, watching Alejandra guide her physical hands over Rahel’s exposed organs. They made a shocking contrast: her hands the light green of clean gloves, Alejandra’s so coated in blood that the green only showed at her wrists.

  “Here. This is the one that won’t stay closed.”

  She wrinkled her nose as her hand touched something smooth and warm. There was a reason she wasn’t in medicine.

  “Yes, I feel it.”

>   “So do I. I’ve felt this before.” Salomen glanced at Lhyn, standing by Andira near the doorway. “But this is a hundred times worse.”

  “It’s a grave wound. A terrible disruption to the balance her body seeks. Our job is to restore that balance. It will take time, Bondlancer. Don’t try to rush it. Focus and let it happen.”

  “I am.” Salomen held her spiritual hand over Ekatya’s physical one, then lowered it until they occupied the same space.

  Time seemed to slow. Except for the orthopedic surgeon still piecing together ribs, the staff came to a standstill. The room was quiet but for the click of tools and soft whirs of equipment Ekatya couldn’t name.

  “Sucking Seeders.” A nurse’s exclamation was jarring in the silence. “Do you see that?”

  “Quiet,” Alejandra snapped.

  She did see. The light that had been shimmering around her body—so shocking at first, now almost normal—had sunk back into her skin. It vanished for a second, then reemerged from her hands, all the previous brilliance focused in a narrow beam that made the surgery lights seem dim. Rahel’s liver glowed, lit so brightly that Ekatya had to swallow her nausea and look away. Bodies should not be open like this.

  “My stars,” whispered a doctor. “She is Fahla.”

  Ekatya waited for Alejandra’s inevitable growl at the disobedience. When it failed to manifest, she looked up curiously.

  Alejandra was staring in wide-eyed shock at their hands.

  No, she was staring at that awful, dark red gash in glistening tissue—the gash that was slowly sealing itself.

  “Salomen,” she murmured. “Is that really you?”

  “Me, thirty-three divine tyrees, Healer Wellernal . . . and possibly Fahla, I don’t know.” Salomen’s voice was equally hushed. “I never knew empathic healing could work like this.”

  “Had I said it wasn’t possible, would you have tried?” Healer Wellernal sounded euphoric. “It has never worked on this scale before now. Can you feel it? The rebalancing?”

  “Yes. It’s—I can hear it. The symphony. As if there were instruments missing, but now they’re starting to play in the background.”

  “Good, good, that’s how many interpret it. Well done, Bondlancer. Focus on the music. Listen to it swell. It grows louder, more assured.”

  Salomen winced. “Louder, but that note—”

  “Another bleeder. Sponge!” Alejandra blocked the new flow and held out a bloody hand. “Biosealant.”

  “Dr. Wells, wait. Don’t seal it yet.”

  “I don’t have any blood to spare,” she warned.

  “You will in a few ticks,” Andira said. “The first fighters are already in your bay.”

  “I apologize. I should have listened more closely when you spoke of liquefaction. Spread Captain Serrado’s hands; make sure they cover as much surface area as possible. Gently!”

  “Acknowledged. Captain, like this. Yes, barely touching.”

  Ekatya wrinkled her nose again. For the love of flight, she was practically cradling Rahel’s liver.

  “Bondlancer, we must focus more broadly. Instead of bringing in the missing instruments, we will increase the volume of the symphony. The liver tissue is too fragile for repairs. Focus on solidifying the whole.”

  Salomen nodded, forgetting that he couldn’t see.

  “Dr. Wells, we have three donors in the medbay now,” reported a nurse. “More are on their way. They’re lined up out there, waiting for clearance. Type two light is one of the most common blood types among Alseans.”

  “It’s the only common thing about her,” Alejandra said.

  For an uncomfortably long time, Ekatya watched nothing happen. Salomen was so intensely focused that she appeared frozen, eyes closed and hands spread. But her fear and grief had disappeared, submerged beneath determination and a kind of deep, spiritual joy that Ekatya associated with flying.

  Or listening to the symphony of a Sharing, she thought.

  “Now,” Healer Wellernal said. “Seal the bleeder.”

  Alejandra wasted no time. “Done,” she said not half a minute later.

  “Is it holding?”

  “So far.”

  “Good. You’re doing wonderfully, Bondlancer. On the biological level, we’re repairing microtears and even individual cells in the capillary walls, strengthening this organ from the inside out. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m all right.”

  “You’d say that if you were on the verge of unconsciousness,” Andira said.

  “Don’t ask me to stop. If I pass out, so be it. At least I won’t wake up knowing Rahel died because I didn’t try hard enough.”

  Andira and Lhyn looked at each other, then moved in unison to stand behind her.

  “Give her everything you have,” Andira said softly. “I’ll be here if you fall. I’m right here, right now.”

  “And I’m right behind you.” Lhyn touched the back of her neck, an echo of their true position on Alsea. “We’ll both catch you.”

  “I know.” Salomen made a gulping sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I know you will. Ekatya, I’m sorry.”

  “Why?”

  “Because when I cannot hold on any longer, we’ll be here. And you’ll be there.”

  “I’m fine. Besides, if I weren’t here, who would be Fahla’s Vessel by proxy?”

  “Isn’t that the truth and a half,” Lhyn said. “Thank all the stars you’re there. But we need to work on your title. Vessel by Proxy doesn’t chime my bells.”

  As if activated by her words, alarms sounded on two machines, their different tones blending in an urgent call.

  “Salomen, stop! Healer Wellernal, we’ve lost too much blood. She’s below minimum levels.”

  “Don’t panic, Bondlancer.” In their Sharing, Wellernal felt Salomen’s instant terror as easily as the rest of them. “That simply means we’ve used all of Rahel’s energy stores in the healing so far. Her body cannot fuel further progress until we replenish her blood volume and add more nutrients.”

  “What does that mean? We stand here and wait? How long can she survive this way?”

  “A surprisingly long time,” Alejandra said. “There are machines in this room running her bodily functions for her. We’ve taken the load off her systems and outsourced it until she can handle it again. My worry was the blood loss that I couldn’t stem, but she’s stabilized. It’s still not good, but it’s not getting worse.” She flexed her fingers and released a breath, tilting her head as a nurse moved in to blot her brow. “All right, let’s prep for the incoming blood. We need to preload it. And turn off those alarms.”

  After confirming Rahel’s weight, she called out a series of incomprehensible names and numbers. Four staff hurried to the counter at the side of the room, pulled vials from various cabinets, and began loading slender injectors.

  Ekatya blamed her exhaustion for the fact that it took a full minute to understand what was happening. She looked up at Alejandra with new awareness. “You did that in your head.”

  “Did what, calculate dosages? Of course.”

  “Calculate weight-based dosages. Of drugs you don’t normally use during surgery, judging by the fact that you had to send runners for some of these.” And in the middle of a very difficult surgery that was surely taking an emotional toll.

  “Are you just now realizing I’m good at my job? I thought that was why you recruited me.”

  The nurse who had helped Ekatya dashed through the door, one blood bag in each hand. His arrival set off a new flurry of activity as the bags were quickly hung and injected with whatever complicated mix of compounds Alejandra had ordered prepped. Within seconds, the blood was flowing into Rahel’s body.

  “Look at those numbers.” Alejandra had never sounded so relieved. “Healer Wellernal, we’ve had a blood delivery and we’re already back in what you’d call the blue zone.”

  “Excellent. Bondlancer, do you hear the difference?”

  “I do. The symphony
is much clearer.”

  “I believe we’re ready to heal that big tear.”

  Alejandra didn’t wait for instructions before moving Ekatya’s hands to the area in question.

  Once again, it slowly sealed itself, millimeter by agonizing millimeter. Ekatya held her breath, waiting for the tissues to split open elsewhere.

  “My sainted—” Alejandra gave an incredulous laugh as the tear closed and faded with no repercussions. “Goddess above, Mother of us all, Great Mother, and anything else that applies. This is working!”

  “It feels as if that was the worst of it. Are there more tears you couldn’t seal?”

  “No, we sealed the rest, but I don’t trust them. Salomen, do you have enough power left to check my work?”

  “As much as you need.”

  Ekatya squinted at her doubtfully. There had been a slight tremor in her voice, and she could see it in her hands as well. If even her spirit self was showing the strain, it must be debilitating indeed.

  Andira caught the look and shook her head.

  Over the next twenty minutes, more bags of blood arrived, and Salomen strengthened the seals of at least ten sizable tears in Rahel’s liver. Then they turned to the lung. When that was repaired to Alejandra’s satisfaction, she tried to get Salomen to stop.

  “She’s out of danger. We have the blood, her liver is in better shape than mine, we avoided resection of that lobe of her lung—it’s just closing now. You should rest.”

  “No,” Salomen said stubbornly. “I’m seeing this through to the end.”

  “I can hear how tired you are.”

  “If you were the one doing this, would you stop now?”

  Alejandra hesitated. “No. All right, how about this? Let me do the closing, and you can seal each layer as I go. You’ll still accelerate her healing, but it won’t cost you as much.”

  Having agreed on a compromise, they set about their work. Ekatya sat obediently, letting her hands be moved this way and that and trying not to look too closely at the gleaming layers—red, grayish-white, and pink—that she hoped never to see again.

  “Look at that. Her skin tone is perfect,” Alejandra marveled as she moved Ekatya’s hands over the final seal.