Want (Numbered Book 1)

by Magus Tor

  Aurelia considered all this. She was wondering exactly why it was that these two people were willing to go out of their way to help her. Sure, their plan sounded good, and plausible, but why would two such high-ranking citizens want to protect her from murder charges? She voiced her suspicions, and once again Jonathon laughed.

  “Look, you just saved my life,” he said. “It seems like I might owe you a favour or two.”

  “And I can't afford to lose another med Worker,” said Elza. “Particularly one as talented as you.”

  Aurelia had the feeling that she might not be hearing the whole story here, but she let it go for the time being. “Okay, let's do it,” she said.

  Elza bade them both to stay in the room. “We need to move Ellis, so I need to find a uniform to put on him,” she said.

  “You need to get Aurelia's data in the system ASAP,” Jonathon reminded her.

  “Will do,” Elza said. She then left, promising to be back as soon as she could.

  Trying desperately to ignore the body of Ellis on the floor, Aurelia sat back on her bed. He was not the first person she had killed, she reminded herself. But she knew this was different. Deliberately taking life in this way was something...was something that was left to Clones. To the Military Class. And suddenly she understood why Nicholas had acted so strangely when he’d talked to her about taking life. What was it that he had said? Sacrificing many to save one. That was it. She still didn't completely get it, but she felt that she was getting closer. All of this was somehow intertwined.

  “Jonathon,” she said after a few moments of silence.

  “Mmm?” He seemed half asleep, as though the events of the past few hours had been nothing more than a normal day's work for him.

  “Why is it exactly that people are trying to kill you?”

  He gave a soft chuckle. “Now, that's a long story,” he said. “And maybe one for another day.”

  “I helped save you,” she reminded him. “You owe me, remember?”

  He turned so that he could see her face, and she was surprised again at the depth of his blue eyes. “Indeed I do, but I'm not sure that this is something that can be explained here and now.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Power is a dangerous thing,” he said, finally. “Those who want it shouldn't be allowed to have it, so it gets thrust upon those who don't want it, as they will use it better. Avoid abusing it. Which in the end means that those with the power end up fighting to keep something that they never wanted in the first place.”

  Aurelia digested this. As convoluted as it sounded, she knew what he was getting at. History was full of leaders who had destroyed and killed to get the power that they desperately wanted, and it tended to be those who hadn't wanted to lead who made the best leaders. Was all this just a question of jealousy? That seemed to be what Jonathon was saying. But he was a Hansen, a member of the leading Empire family - surely he was used to all this?

  She was still thinking when there came a soft tap at the door. Jonathon opened his eyes and looked at her, and she shrugged back. The best thing to do seemed to be to remain silent and let whoever it was go away. Jonathon looked pointedly at the body of Ellis, and again Aurelia shrugged. The tap came once more, followed by a murmur of voices. Then the door slid open.

  Shit, thought Aurelia. She'd presumed that Elza had locked the door behind her, yet she obviously hadn't. The sight of a locked door might arouse more suspicion than that of one that was simply closed. She realised she was breathing too fast, and then someone called her name.

  Thank the Gods. She opened her eyes.

  “Nicholas?” she hissed. “Come in and close the door.”

  The Clone stepped into the room and immediately saw Ellis.

  “Maybe not the best time for a visit?” he said.

  “Maybe not,” said Aurelia. “But you might be able to help.”

  He came to her bedside. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded.

  Nicholas lifted his hand and gently touched the curve of her cheek, and Aurelia felt the soft perfection of his fingertips and almost closed her eyes to sense his touch better, feel closer.

  “So you're Nicholas?”

  Jonathon's voice was hard, though he was attempting to sound neutral, Aurelia thought.

  Nicholas turned and saw who was in the next bed, and then he looked at Aurelia, his eyebrows raised.

  “I'd like to say that I've heard a lot about you, but I really haven't,” Jonathon went on.

  “Uh, I'm Nicholas. Nicholas Haliem. I'm a friend of Aurelia's, right?”

  Aurelia nodded.

  “Pleased to meet you. I'm Jonathon Hansen.”

  “I know who you are,” said Nicholas quietly.

  Aurelia could hear the strain in their voices and wondered where the hell this was going. The two men were very much alike, maybe too much. It was clear that something was going on, but she wasn't sure what to do to make things easier. Did Nicholas regret saving Jonathon? But why? And as far as Aurelia knew, Jonathon had no idea that the Clone had saved him.

  “I just came to see if you wanted to grab that coffee,” Nicholas said, turning back to Aurelia. “Maybe tomorrow? Are you going to be working?”

  Smooth save. Nicholas obviously wasn't going to talk to her here now that he'd seen who her temporary roommate was. But Aurelia didn't even get the chance to answer.

  “Aurelia's having dinner with me tomorrow,” Jonathon said. “So she won't be able to make it.”

  Aurelia sat up straighter. She didn't like being told what to do, especially like that. What the hell did he think he was doing?

  “Actually,” she said, “I'm having coffee with Nicholas tomorrow.” She saw Jonathon's face darken. “But I'd be happy to have dinner with you later in the evening,” she proffered. She didn't want to make him any more jealous than he already was, and it was rapidly becoming obvious that the only problem in the room was her.

  “With a Clone?” Jonathon snorted.

  “With a friend,” Aurelia said quietly.

  Nicholas's eyes had hardened. “I can defend myself,” he told Aurelia. “With a Clone,” he said to Jonathon. “A Clone who happened to save your life.”

  “Bullshit. You had nothing to do with it; that was all Aurelia. And as far as I'm concerned, you can get the hell out of here. Go on.”

  “I'll leave when Aurelia asks me to, and not before,” Nicholas said, his cheeks red. “I came to visit her, not you.”

  “You will do what I tell you to because you're a Clone and I'm a Hansen.” Jonathon struggled to sit up in his bed. “And if you don't get out of here, I will throw you out.”

  Nicholas laughed a short, sharp laugh. “You don't look as if you could even get out of bed.”

  Jonathon's eyes narrowed. “Just try me,” he said. “And when I'm done throwing you out, I'll have you posted to the ends of the fucking Earth, got it?”

  Okay, that was enough. Aurelia knew that it was time to intervene. The last thing she needed was another fight in the room, and she knew damn well that Jonathon couldn't get out of bed even if he wanted to.

  “Enough!” she said loudly.

  Both men turned and looked at her.

  “You're behaving like spoilt trainees fighting over a bag of candy. Quit this shit; I don't want to hear it from either one of you.” Internally, Aurelia cringed at the fact that she was yelling at a Ruling Class, but she hadn't liked the way Jonathon had pulled the class card on Nicholas. That wasn't fair, not fair at all.

  “Both of you are, I hope, newfound friends, and I enjoy the company of you both. And frankly, I don't really care whether or not you like each other. But you won't argue in front of me, clear?”

  Nicholas and Jonathon nodded, both seeming chastened, and for a second Aurelia fought against the desire to laugh. They really did look like little kids.

  “My apologies,” Jonathon said.

  “And mine,” Nicholas hurriedly added.

  “Accepted. Now, Nicholas, I'd love to have coffee i
f I can, but I don't know when I'll be able to leave the hospital. Can I intercom you?”

  “Sure thing,” the Clone said, with a smile.

  “Perfect. And then maybe, as long as I'm not working, we could have dinner?” she asked Jonathon.

  “Of course,” he said. “And you can intercom me too.”

  “Right. All settled, then. It was lovely of you to come and check on me,” Aurelia told Nicholas, in an obvious message that it was time to go.

  “Uh, yeah, right. No problem.” The Clone grinned at her. “You seem to have found your feet up here pretty fast; it's quite the bark you've got there.”

  Aurelia grinned back. “I'll explain everything tomorrow,” she said.

  “Sure. I'm out of here.”

  “Not so fast,” said a female voice.

  Crap. Aurelia saw Elza standing at the door.

  “What exactly is going on here?” asked the head of the hospital, frowning.

  In her hands she was holding a chem Worker uniform that looked like it would probably fit over Ellis's broad shoulders. She stepped into the small room, closed the door and then locked it.

  “And you are?” she asked Nicholas.

  “He's with me,” Aurelia said. “He can be trusted.”

  Nicholas smiled a little when she said this, and Aurelia noticed that he stood a little straighter.

  “Do you agree?” Elza asked Jonathon.

  Reluctantly, Jonathon nodded. “If Aurelia trusts him, then yes.”

  Elza looked doubtful. “It wasn't a good idea to invite any more people to be involved in this than was really necessary.”

  “I butted in,” said Nicholas. “They didn't invite me; I came to check on Aurelia.”

  “So you're her Clone,” Elza said. “Very well. You can be useful.”

  My Clone, thought Aurelia. She hadn't been around Military Class very often. They weren't generally stationed in the middle of Cities; encampments tended to be closer to the Dark, to the edges, where the soldiers might be needed. And, of course, up here on Lunar. She knew about Clones, about the Military Class, but she'd never really experienced how other people treated them. It was like they were servants, just there to do the bidding of anyone who told them to do something. This made Aurelia feel uncomfortable. She, herself, wouldn't like to be ordered around like that, and so she didn't like hearing other people do it to Nicholas. He, on the other hand, seemed fine with it, but she supposed he was used to being spoken to in this way.

  “What can I do?” Nicholas asked Elza.

  “I need him,” Elza pointed at Ellis, “dressed in this,” and she handed Nicholas the uniform that she was holding.

  “I'll help,” Aurelia said, getting down off her bed and wincing. Her hipbone hurt where she had crashed into the floor before.

  “Nope,” said Elza. “You're going to be checked over first. I'm going to need you in a while.”

  Nicholas deftly began undressing Ellis, discarding his med Worker uniform, as Elza took a look at Aurelia's hip.

  “Bad bruise,” the med Worker said after a couple of minutes. “Here.” She went to a cupboard and pulled out a painkiller tab. “Stick this over your hip.”

  “Er...” Aurelia didn't particularly want to undress in front of the others.

  “The sooner you do it, the sooner you'll feel better,” Elza pointed out. Then she took pity on Aurelia and ran her hand over a wall sensor. A screen descended around the bed, allowing Aurelia some measure of privacy, and she quickly pulled her uniform down and stuck the patch over her hip. She could already see the green and purple beginnings of a bruise forming.

  “I'm done,” she said when she was dressed again.

  The screen ascended, and Aurelia could see that Ellis was now dressed as a chem Worker.

  “Alright,” said Elza. “Here's the plan. We need to get Ellis, here, out into the hospital where we can blend him in with the rest of the bodies coming off the shuttle.”

  Nicholas looked a little confused, but he asked no questions. So used to following orders, Aurelia thought.

  “I was going to have him take Aurelia's bed and then get orderlies to come and take him away, but now that we've got a Clone on board, I think it'll be safer to just carry him out of here, ourselves.”

  Nicholas nodded. “I can do that. Just tell me where to take him,” he said.

  “I'll come with you,” Elza told him. “No one will stop or question me. We'll go down to the end of this corridor and take a right, which will bring us back to the entrance, where you can join the others who are coming in. At the first door you come to, you'll find a med Worker doing triage. Just say that you pulled him off the shuttle. The Worker will take care of things from there, and you turn around and walk out as though you were going back to help carry more patients. Got it?”

  “Got it,” said Nicholas.

  “You,” Elza said to Aurelia, “are going to leave the room with us. You will then come straight back in here.”

  “Huh?” Why would she go out then come back in again?

  “Your data is in the system now, and I want a log of you opening the door and coming inside,” explained Elza. “You'll then treat Mr. Hansen. As soon as you've done what's necessary, you can discharge him.” She looked at Jonathon. “It's best to get you out of here as soon as possible now, whether you want to have special treatment or not, okay?”

  “Agreed,” said Jonathon.

  “Great. Everyone ready?”

  They all nodded, and the plan went into action.

  Aurelia felt foolish going out of the door, waiting for it to close and then opening it again. But her data worked this time, and the door slid open for her immediately.

  She then went to work, opening cabinets to find the equipment that she'd need to examine Jonathon. Thankfully, the man was quiet, and Aurelia knew that he sensed she was angry with him because of the way he had spoken to Nicholas. She really didn't want to talk about it right now, though. She had laid out her instruments when Elza returned.

  “Better hurry things up in here,” Elza said.

  “Why?” asked Aurelia.

  “Because you're needed outside. I'm missing a head of trauma, and since you're the one responsible for his demise, it seems only fitting that you fill his shoes.”

  Chapter Eight

  The door closed behind Elza. Wait. Had the head of the hospital just named her the new head of trauma? Aurelia saw that her hands were shaking, and Jonathon clearly noticed.

  “Congratulations,” he said dryly.

  Aurelia grabbed a scanner and turned to him. If she kept her mind on work, perhaps she could deal with all of this. But she was so tired that the situation was threatening to overwhelm her.

  “You learn the politics of Lunar fast,” Jonathon continued. “Kill your predecessor and take his job - not bad for a newbie.”

  His smile showed her that he didn't mean to offend, but still, the words cut her. She'd had no intention of any of this happening, no intention of making trouble or getting involved. Aurelia had spent her whole life doing the right thing, studying, behaving, working. And now, suddenly she was up to her ears in things that she didn't understand, things that her gut told her were just plain wrong.

  Jonathon put his hand on her arm. “Calm down, Aurelia,” he said to her softly. “Try to go with the flow for a while.”

  “Why did she make me head of trauma?” Aurelia stuttered. “I don't get it. I'm new. There's no reason for me to be pushed so far up the ladder so quickly.”

  Jonathon gave her another of his flashing white smiles, the ones that made the dimple in his cheek stand out. “Remember what I told you about power?” he said. “It gets thrust upon those who don't want it purely because they're the best able to handle having it. Perhaps that's what Elza is doing. By making you head of trauma, she prevents the job from going to an unknown entity, someone who might abuse the position like Ellis did.”

  Aurelia switched on the scanner in her hand. “Do you really think that?”<
br />
  Jonathon paused in thought. “Partly,” he said. “But I also think that Elza sees something in you, something special. Something that you won't understand for a while yet.”

  Aurelia began to scan Jonathon's leg, her movements brusque. “I'm sick of this. Nobody will explain to me what the hell is going on. I'm suddenly stuck in the middle of something that I don't understand and being pulled in eight different directions and...”

  Her voice broke, and to her horror, she couldn't stop the tears. Jonathon sat up, pulled her onto the edge of the bed, and put his arm around her.

  It was long moments before she could speak again, and when she did she just said, “I'm sorry.”

  Jonathon rubbed her arm. “Don't be sorry. I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now.”

  “Jonathon, I've killed someone!” Her breath was still coming in hiccupping sobs. “I've been in a shuttle attack, and now I've suddenly become one of the top people in Lunar Hospital, and I've only been here for a few hours. I don't understand anything.”

  He rubbed her arm again, sighed, and lay back on his bed. “Aurelia, I know you don't. I understand more than you do, but even I don't get everything.”

  “So explain things to me,” she demanded.

  “Right now, I can't. There are things that I need to check and people I need to talk to. And now is neither the time nor the place.”

  “So people keep telling me,” said Aurelia, dully.

  He looked at her and moved his hand to her leg. “Aurelia, you have my word that as soon as I'm able, I will tell you as much as I know, as much as I can without endangering you or anyone else.”

  “Fine,” Aurelia said, nettled by the fact that she wasn't going to understand anything any time soon.

  “Take my advice, Aurelia. Just go with the flow for a while. Accept that things are happening and you'll learn more later. You have a job to do, so do it and put everything else out of your mind. There's no point worrying about things you can do nothing about.”

  She went back to examining his leg. But Jonathon clutched her arm once more, so she turned to look at him.