Chapter 26 Collateral Damage
The station floor reverberated under Ford as a second shock wave thundered through the stations infrastructure. He looked up and saw Vlade standing by the doorway on the far side of the room. He’d managed to eject the malevolent cyborg into space, before it could complete its detonation cycle. Pulling himself to his feet he surveyed the carnage around him.
Scott’s guards had been cut down by the cyborg and there was no sign of Scott, other than his discarded cuffs, lying on the floor between their bodies. Broken camera’s, lights and microphones littered the floor. Intermingled with the bodies of technicians, security guards and the odd reporter or two, who had occupied the space in front of them. Which appeared to have bore the brunt of the attack. Whatever you thought of them, you had to admire the newshounds instincts for survival. As they emerged from whatever cover they’d fled too, when the fighting started, to continue reporting with what equipment and technical staff they had left. It looked like some of them had been providing their viewers with a running commentary on the fire fight.
He looked around as additional security and emergency medical teams came rushing in behind them. A gaggle of heavily armed black suit guards surrounding the Governor, pushing reporters roughly aside, as they sought to evacuate him to safety. He ordered his men to stand down, straightened his suit, and assured the gaggle of press around him that failed assassination attempt on his life, and terrorists attack on the station, changed nothing. The press conference would be resumed as soon at the injured had been attended too and then he was gone. Marching calmly out of the room surrounded by security, as if it was just another day at the office, without a second thought for any them.
He watched a medic check Haidar’s lifeless body for a pulse. Pushing his fingers against his jugular to confirm his medical scanners readout and shake his head. His eyes were glazed, a thin trickle of blood oozed from his mouth and dripped on to the floor. Medics were fanning out across the room, rushing from casualty to casualty, in a ruthless efficient triage operation. Stabilising those they could save, sedating those they couldn’t, and bagging the bodies. He felt his fists clench involuntary as he wondered how many more people he came into contact with had to die. Vlade was signalling to him frantically from the far side of the room. Startled he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to confront a young, anxious looking, security guard.
“Sir, we’re evacuating you all back to your quarters, for your own safety, till the lockdowns lifted.”
Ford shook his head as Vlade’s message sunk in.
“Sir, I have my orders, you have to leave now.”
“It’s alright son, he can look after himself.” it was Admiral Faiz. He turned to Ford. “I’ll take care of the others, Vlade needs you over there.”
Ford nodded and leapt over the tables, weaving his way through the confusion, to where Vlade was engaged in an angry stand-off with a medical team. The guard, shaking his head in despair, decided this was one argument not worth having and escorted Faiz and the others back to their quarters.
“These fools are trying to put your Chief Medical Officer in a body bag.” snarled Vlade, standing over Anna seemingly lifeless form, slumped against the wall.
“She’s gone sir. There’s nothing we could do. That monster snapped her neck and look at the wall. The force of the impact shattered her body. She has multiple internal injuries.” snapped an exasperated field medic. “Where as this one we can save her.” He pointed to Carol’s unconscious body, propped up against a table, the severed stump of her missing leg lying in pool of slowly drying blood.
Ford held up his hand to silence them and rolled his eyes up to interface with Gaia and Alaster, jacking directly into Anna and Carols suits medial units as he did so. He knew there we’re limits to what medical nanobots were capable of and even Gaia’s tech couldn’t grant them the gift of immorality, as far as he knew. He didn’t like the readouts and feedback he was getting from either of them.
“Jay prep the Phoenix for an emergency medical evac and get me two stasis pods to the conference room stat. Shoot anybody who gets in your way if you have too.” he turned to the startled medic. “We have a highly advanced med bay on our ship, we’ll stabilise them and treat them there, assuming you can clear it.”
The medic nodded. “I’ll clear your man, for all the good it’ll do you. This one’s beyond any medical help. “ he pointed at Anna.
“Let me worry about that. Like I say we have advanced medical tech on our ship. We’re happy to put it, and our medical staff, at your disposal, to assist in the treatment of the causalities here.”
The medic nodded, gesturing to men to withdraw, shaking his head as he did so. “I’ll pass your offer on to my superiors.”
Vlade turned to Ford. “Can your ship really save her?”
Ford tried to raise a smile. “Anna? Her organs can be repaired or replaced, but her spines another matter. It’s been badly damage, we won’t know for sure till we get her back to the ship.”
Vlade waited with Ford till Jay arrived with the stasis pods. Using his imposing physical presence to keep the prowling packs of reporters away. While Ford oversaw the delicate task of getting them stabilised and prepped for return to the Themis. Urging Jay to hurry they bade him farewell. They watched the stasis pods disappear down the corridor, then made their way silently back to the guest quarters, to check in with the others. Vlade casting a casual glance and growing lowly at any news teams that got too close, to deter them from asking any questions as they left.
Exiles Page 50
