The Madness Engine

by Paul B Spence

  She nodded, too choked up to speak. A tear leaked from her eye.

  "I haven't had a family in a long time," she said.

  "Now you do."

  "You're not angry?"

  "Not even a little."

  He stood and gently kissed her forehead.

  "There are some things I have to do here on Dawn. I won't be leaving again for a while. There is plenty of time for us to sit down and figure this all out. You concentrate on getting well."

  "Tebrey," Tonya said, then corrected herself. "Hrothgar, Hunter and Ghost are together, and there's something else."

  "What is that?"

  "Ghost is pregnant."

  "Is she in danger, with her injuries?"

  "No."

  "Good. I always wanted to see what a baby neo-panther would be like."

  She nodded.

  "Take care of yourself and the rest of my family. I'll leave Pt'kar and Meeks outside to guard you. They're both armed. Let me know if there's anything you need."

  "I almost wish you'd been angry," she said. "I had my arguments ready."

  "Well, if it will make you feel better, when you're healed I'll kick your ass for sleeping with my wife."

  "Ha! You'll try."

  "Take care of yourself."

  "Thank you." Tonya had been worried about his reaction; he could feel that.

  He nodded and left the room.

  "Are the Aurorans here, too?" he asked Ana.

  "Two rooms down," Ana said. "If you don't mind, I'm going to stay here."

  Tebrey kissed her again. "Okay, but you and I are going to need to find a room of our own soon." He wanted her more just then than he could even say.

  She pushed him away playfully. "Go, before I drag you off to one now."

  He watched her go back into Tonya's room thinking about just how much more sexy she had become in the last year or so. She'd been attractive when they met, but unsure of herself, and young. She'd matured much since then. She had more curves now, and he ached to feel those curves under him.

  He sighed and walked up the hall to the next suite of rooms. Deegan opened the door before he could knock.

  "I thought I heard you out there," Deegan said. "Please, come in."

  Tebrey thought Deegan seemed subdued. He was usually more emotive.

  The room contained two beds. David was sitting up and eating in the first one. His right hand was gone; he had long pink scars across his face where he'd been torn open. He didn't seem bothered by the loss of his hand, although Tebrey didn't know him well enough to be certain. He nodded to David, then walked past his bed to greet Leander.

  Lyra lay in the other bed, and Tebrey knew that she was in bad shape just from the look on Leander's face. She was in an immobilization harness with her limbs splinted, and covered with medical nanotech packages.

  "Tebrey, I'm glad you've come," Leander said. The Auroran healer looked exhausted.

  "I got here as fast as I could," said Tebrey. "How is she?"

  Leander sighed. "Beyond my help, I'm afraid. The only person I've seen in worse shape than her, and still alive, was you when you first came to Aurora."

  "That bad, huh?"

  "Yes. She doesn't have your natural healing abilities, either. Honestly, if it wasn't for the medical packages your people applied at first, I think she'd be dead already."

  Tebrey walked over to the bed. Lyra was bandaged everywhere there wasn't a medical package, and there were only two of those. He knew the machine next to her bed was filtering and oxygenating her blood. Tubes were feeding her, too. She looked terrible.

  Catbrother? came her weak thought. It was heavily laden with pain.

  "I'm here, Lyra. Rest."

  "She's paralyzed," Leander said quietly. "Just about every bone in her body has been broken. Her lungs were burned, she was blinded, and most of her internal organs are damaged and beginning to fail. We don't know how much longer she has."

  "That's crazy," Tebrey said. "Have they operated? Have you received any treatment besides these two medical packages?"

  Leander was quiet for a moment. "I did what I could psionically. I relieved her pain and reduced the swelling, but she is just too badly injured. These entropic burns are difficult to heal."

  "I've been in worse shape."

  "You're not entirely human, either, Tebrey. Lyra is."

  Tebrey could feel his rage building. They were letting Lyra die. "Medical MI," he said clearly, "I'd like to talk to the medical chief."

  "My name is Noel," the MI responded. "I'm sorry, Commander Tebrey. The medical chief is in surgery. May I help you?"

  "I want to know why this woman hasn't received better medical aid."

  "I'm sorry, Commander. Given the state of her injuries, a decision was made not to expend further resources."

  "I want this overridden," said Tebrey.

  "I'm sorry, but you don't have the authority."

  "Open a channel to Admiral Macklin."

  There was a lengthy pause. An air screen opened in front of Tebrey. "Channel open," Noel said.

  Admiral Macklin was sitting at his desk. "Admiral? This is Commander Tebrey, Internal Security."

  "I know who you are, Commander. What did you need? I'm very busy."

  "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir. I need your authorization for extreme medical intervention for Lyra, the Auroran who was visiting here."

  "You want me to override the medical chief of the hospital?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "I can't do that, Commander. Whatever his reasons are, I have to accept them, and so do you."

  "No, sir. I don't."

  "Excuse me?"

  "Admiral, Lyra represents an allied force that could prove invaluable to our war."

  "I know who she is. I still can't override the medical chief."

  Tebrey gritted his teeth. "Then may I have permission to transfer her to another facility?"

  "Every hospital on the planet is – Ah, I understand. You may, with the captain's permission."

  "Thank you, sir."

  Macklin closed the connection.

  "Tebrey? What are you doing?" asked Leander.

  "What should have been done in the beginning." He called up the controls and opened a channel to the Vigilant. "Let me speak with the captain," Tebrey said as the com officer, Lt. Freeman answered.

  "She's asleep at the moment, Commander. Could y—"

  "Then wake her the fuck up," Tebrey cut him off. "Would I be fucking calling if it wasn't important?"

  "Just a moment, sir.

  Tebrey was seething with rage: at the Empire, at the Thetas, at his own people for leaving his friend to die when it would be easy to save her. He granted that they probably didn't have the resources on the surface. The civilian patients were overloading the capacity of the hospitals, but the military ships it orbit were idle. Their doctors were on standby in case of another attack. He struggled to get his emotions under control. Captain Maxwell wasn't going to respond well if he was being combative.

  "Commander Tebrey? What's this all about?" Captain Maxwell asked. She looked tired. "Lt. Freeman was almost shuddering with anxiety."

  "I'm sorry, Captain, I've been getting the runaround all day from the civilian authorities. I need a medical evacuation. Will you authorize that?"

  "Is it military personnel?"

  "No."

  "Commander, I can't bring civilians up here. Not unless it's extreme circumstances, which I don't think it is."

  "Captain, one of our allies is dying. She could be saved if we transfer her to the Vigilant. She was wounded fighting a Theta, trying to save my family."

  Maxwell looked thoughtful.

  "Admiral Macklin said it was up to you, Captain. I'm begging you. Please."

  Maxwell sighed. "Since she was wounded in action against a Theta, I guess I could authorize this, but you owe Lt. Freeman an apology."

  "Anything you want, Captain. Can you send a shuttle to the hospital?"

  "They'll be on thei
r way presently, Commander. Will you need a medical team to move... whoever it is?"

  "Yes, Captain. I'll be bringing my family back as well, under the circumstances."

  The captain sighed again. "Whatever you want, Commander."

  "Thank you."

  "You owe me, Commander."

  Tebrey nodded.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  The trauma team, accompanied by Leander, rushed Lyra off to Medical as soon as the shuttle was securely docked aboard the Vigilant. Another medical team stood by to take Tonya Harris. The others were more or less walking wounded, and made their own way. David placed his hand on Tebrey's shoulder to stop him.

  "Can I talk with you for a moment?" David asked.

  Tebrey waved the others on and then turned. "Yes?"

  "I wanted to let you know that I was on the fence about whether or not to support an alliance with you and the Sentient Concord. Everything I've heard about you says you're reckless and more than a little crazy."

  "Was on the fence?" Tebrey asked. He hadn't actually met David before today, and he wasn't sure what to make of him. He was big and tough-looking, and he exuded danger. He reminded Tebrey a bit of his father, although he couldn't quite say why.

  "I thought Lyra, Emerald, and Deegan were exaggerating the nature of the treat here," said David. He waved the stump of his right arm, missing its hand. "Obviously not."

  "So you'll support the alliance?" Tebrey asked.

  "You've got my vote. Save Lyra, and you'll likely sway everyone else, too. Well, everyone except Brennen."

  "What does he have against me, anyway? He tried to kill me on Aurora."

  David sighed. "That's a long story. Another time, perhaps."

  "Is he going to be a problem?"

  "No," David replied. "We'll deal with him." He studied Tebrey for a moment. "I hear that you manifest the fire."

  Tebrey raised his hand, and cool blue-white flames rolled up his arm. It was a strange sensation. They didn't burn anything that he didn't want them to.

  "Very impressive. Do you know if your father can also do this?"

  "I really don't know much about him – sorry. I've given up trying to understand him. Every time I think I've got him pegged down, I learn something that lets me know I know nothing."

  "Do you really think they can save Lyra?" David asked, changing the subject. "Can the doctor on your ship do more than those on the planet?"

  "Lyra still has brain function; they can save her. Trust me. Down on the planet, they're trying to deal with a flood of victims from the disaster. The doctors are running out of supplies and have to spend them according to who they think will receive the most benefit. Lyra was borderline critical. They gave her a couple of medical nanopacks and hooked her up to a breathing machine. That was all they could spare."

  "Why aren't wounded being ferried up to the ships?"

  "The Fleet has to be ready to defend Dawn against another attack. That means they can't expend resources on civilians. They need them for military personnel, in case of attack. You have to understand, starship battles result in thousands of casualties. We have several devoted medical ships, but they were in another system. When they get here, civilian wounded will be ferried up and taken care of."

  "So they'll let people die?"

  "Badly irradiated people, with too much cellular brain damage to save, will be euthanized humanely. Critical patients who are likely to die before the ships get here are placed in stasis pods. They gave Lyra enough aid to keep her alive until the medical ships got here, they hoped. I think her condition deteriorated, and they just didn't have enough medical personnel to take care of her."

  "Hence all of this."

  "Exactly. They can fix you up, too, you know."

  "Me?"

  "You hand," said Tebrey. "I lost my arm just over a month ago." He held up his hand to show David. "Good as new."

  "Impressive. Is it prosthetic...?"

  "No, regrown. We can clone specific body parts without growing a whole clone."

  "I see." David looked as if he didn't like the idea. "You've done this a lot? No problems with tissue match?"

  "It's the patient's own tissue. There are never complications. Come on, I'll show you."

  Tebrey led him to Medical.

  Lyra was in surgery. Leander was in there with the surgeons. Hunter and Ghost were being attended to in one of the other rooms. Ana stood holding Amanda and talking with Tonya as a doctor looked her over.

  "What's the prognosis?" Tebrey asked as he walked up. David walked past to watch through the window into surgery.

  Ana gave his arms a quick squeeze.

  "Well, her broken legs will mend before her spinal cord does, but she should be back up and walking in a couple of weeks. Three before she's ready to go back on duty, Commander," the doctor said.

  "Good." He smiled at Tonya, who still looked uncertain.

  "Tebrey," David called. "What exactly are they doing to her?"

  "I'm not sure. Alessa? Do you know?" Tebrey asked. Whatever it was, it looked messy.

  David started and looked around as the MI responded. "I've interfaced with the medical VI," Alessa said. "Lyra suffered over sixty-two fractures, mostly to her back and limbs. She was also badly burned. They are currently debriding the dead flesh. Once they have that removed, they will begin work on her broken bones."

  "What exactly does that mean?" asked David.

  "Given the extreme nature of her trauma, each bone will have to be exposed and knit back together. This is a laborious process. Her lungs and eyes are too badly damaged to be repaired. Once they have been removed, the doctors will take tissue samples and begin growing her new ones. It will take a few weeks."

  "It's the tissue samples that bother me," he said.

  "David," said Tebrey, "the doctors can't grow new organs without tissue samples. You have my word that nothing else will be done with the information. Believe me, I know what it's like to lose control of one's genome."

  "I, too, will swear to you," Alessa added. "The Concord does not indulge in cloning or genetic experimentation."

  "I guess I'll have to trust you. Leander is in there. I know he wouldn't allow anything to happen that he didn't approve of."

  "Then you won't mind if the doctor helps you out as well," Tebrey said, motioning the doctor over.

  David grimaced, but he didn't resist when the doctor had him sit on a table and began working on his stump.

  Θ

  Daeren Drake was leading his horse along when he felt a presence ahead. It was familiar to him, although he couldn't immediately recall why. It wasn't one of the Enemy, or simply a human or a feral. It was someone – something – else.

  The man came into sight as he walked around a bend in the road. He was tall, only a few centimeters shorter than Drake himself. His hair was black, and his eyes were green. Drake knew him then; he'd almost killed the man the last time they had met. Brennen. He was made of tougher stuff than Drake had expected. It wasn't often that Drake thought he'd killed someone, only to find out he hadn't.

  Drake tied his horse up and walked forward to meet the man, stopping just out of sword reach.

  "You are a long way from the last place I saw you," Drake said.

  "So are you," said Brennen. Anger radiated from him. "You won't find me as easy to dispatch this time. We aren't in the dark, where your tricks will work on me."

  "You attacked me last time," Drake said. "I've heard since then that you were trying to kill my son. If I'd known that at the time, you wouldn't be standing here now."

  "Try it, if you think you can."

  Drake fought down his anger. No matter what Brennen had done, or tried to do, he wasn't the enemy. His people were allied to his son's. "What exactly is it you want?"

  "I want you to die," Brennen said.

  "Do you even know who I am?" asked Drake.

  "I know what you are. That's enough."

  "And what is it you think I am?"

  "You
are the Enemy," Brennen said, and green fire flowed down his arms and out from his hands. Drake barely avoided being hit by the flames. The soul-fire wouldn't hurt him like it would hurt the Enemy, the Dark Ones, but it could still burn. It could even, however unlikely, kill him.

  "I think you are mistaken. I am not the Enemy."

  "Come on!" Brennen shouted. "Show me your true self. Show me the darkness that you call a soul. Reveal yourself!"

  Brennen hurled the fire again, but Drake had expected it and swatted it away.

  He laughed. "You want to see me as I am? Be careful what you wish for."

  "I've seen many of your kind. Your green eyes don't fool me. I know what lies underneath. You are nothing but a rotting corpse of a soul. A dark thing without a name that hungers for pain and despair. I know your kind well – I've sent enough of you to hell."

  "I will ask you one more time to walk away. I have no quarrel with your people. Either of them."

  Brennen's eyes widened. "You leave them out of this! This is between you and me!"

  The dusk was suddenly lit up brighter than day as Drake revealed himself to the man in front of him. White flames covered his form. Even his skin shone pinkly translucent with white light, lit from within. Brennen cried out and covered his eyes with his out-flung arm, his own fires dying away.

  "You dare to use the soul-fire against me?" Drake shouted. "You wanted to see me as I am! So look! Look, damn you!"

  Brennen opened his eyes, squinting against the light.

  "This is what I have become! You petty..." Drake took a deep breath to calm down and dampened the fires in his soul. "I know what you are, as well, and your name wasn't always Brennen. You dare accuse me, after what you did to our people? Don't expect me to take off my armor. I’m not some feeble old man ready to die."

  Brennen drew his sword. "I don't care what you are or what you've become. I know what you tried to do, and I'll be damned if I'll let destroy us all." Brennen lunged forward, but Drake deflected the sword and grabbed his arms. Brennen was strong, but Drake was wearing powered armor. Brennen struggled futilely.