Stark Resolution (Stark Trilogy Book 3)

by C. D. Bradley

  “Copy that, Viper One. It sounds like your hostage has a tension pneumothorax. The air coming in through the wound is collapsing her lung. You need to seal the wound. Apply quick clot to both the entrance and exit wounds. Use the H&H Bolin chest seal to the rear, and the Asherman chest seal to the front, so some of the trapped air can escape.”

  Stark opened the quick clot, and poured it into the gaping wound on her chest. Kira’s body writhed with each desperate breath. She was suffocating before his eyes. Hastily, he ripped open the Asherman seal, placing it over the wound. This would seal the wound, but allow air to escape, helping with decompression. Every member of Stark’s team had practiced this maneuver. Carefully, he rolled her toward him.

  “Holt, you pansy fucker. You are a God damned doctor. You need to get your shit together. Take this quick clot and put it into the wound on her back.”

  Holt stood staring, unable to move.

  “Soldier, I said fucking move, or I will end you!” Stark commanded, and forcefully put the quick clot in Holt’s trembling hand. Stark held Kira in his arms. He would not let her die.

  Holt took the quick clot and applied it to the entrance wound. He then took the dressing from the table, and sealed it as Stark directed. Once the dressing was secure, Stark rolled Kira back onto the table and reported in.

  “Viper Four, wounds are sealed.” Kira convulsed on the table. The lack of oxygen was starting to take a serious toll on her frail body. “She is still struggling. No visible improvement,” Stark reported. He knew they were running out of time. Her small body barely hung on. He looked up and caught Colin’s grim look.

  “Viper One, the chest must be decompressed immediately. Locate your 14 gauge needle,” Taylor replied.

  Stark took a deep breath. The love of his life lay on the cold metal table, struggling through every tortured breath to survive, from a chest wound he gave her. He pulled out the 14 gauge needle. Colin gave him a nod of encouragement.

  “You’ve fucking got this,” Colin assured him.

  “Oh shit,” Holt sputtered, seeing the needle. Stark could tell by the recognition on his face that he realized what they were going to have to do.

  “Do you have any betadine?” Holt yelled to Javier, suddenly coming back to his senses. Javier stood up with an armload of supplies. Two big packs of gauze fell to the floor when he moved.

  “There is no time,” Stark replied to Holt, then into his mic, “Viper Four, I have the 14 gauge IV needle for chest decompression.”

  “Viper One, I will talk you through this. Locate the second rib,” Taylor instructed, calmly.

  Stark repeated each step to Holt, “We need to locate the second rib.” Doing exactly as instructed, Holt held his finger in place.“Roger that, Viper Four,” Stark replied into the mic.

  “Trace your finger midway across the clavicle, then go down to the space between the second and third ribs. You will need to go in just above the superior aspect of the third rib,” Taylor instructed, and Stark repeated for Holt. For once, Holt responded like a robot, doing exactly as he was told and located the site.

  “Got it, Viper Four,” Stark replied.

  “Be very careful to avoid damage to the intercostal nerve and artery. That shit will bleed everywhere. The needle should be inserted perpendicular to the chest wall, and not angled toward the center of the chest, to avoid injuring any of the major vessels.” Taylor gave the commands slowly. “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

  Stark handed the needle to Holt. “You are a doctor. You’ve got this. Remember ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast’,” repeating Taylor’s instructions.

  Holt placed the tip of the needle against her skin. A bead of red appeared, and Holt hesitated. With a trembling hand, Holt started again. Stark put his hand on Holt’s shoulder to reassure him, but Holt stepped back.

  “I’ve never done this before! What if I hit the artery? I can’t fucking do this!” Holt staggered back and Stark grabbed the needle before he dropped it.

  “Fuck,” Stark growled. “Please God, help me get this in the right fucking spot.”

  “You got this man,” Taylor said quietly over the earbud.

  “One chance in hell man, but you are the guardian at the fucking gate. You can do this,” Colin encouraged him with their motto. Stark couldn’t count the times he or Colin had said that to each other when the going got fucking tough.

  Stark took a deep breath and pressed the needle into her flesh, moving his wrist up and in. He was careful to go up and over the third rib. A loud whoosh of air escaped the needle as he entered the cavity. The bulging vessels in her neck started to return to normal. A visible wave of relief washed over both men. Kira’s breathing relaxed slightly and evened out. Stark removed the needle aspect of the IV catheter, and left the hub in place.

  “Help me seal this in place,” Stark ordered to Holt. They secured the catheter hub to her chest wall with tape, gauze, and a tegaderm. Stark put his ear to her chest and listened to the left and right sides. He then covered her bare chest gently with a towel he found on a shelf.

  “Viper Four, we have breath sounds on both sides. She is breathing better but is not conscious,” Stark reported in while Holt checked her pulse again.

  “Her pulse is still rapid and thready. She has lost a lot of blood,” Holt observed. “She needs fluids. Javier, what have you found?”

  “Viper Four, we are in a stable infirmary. We are trying to locate IV fluids.”

  “Copy that, Viper One. Try to get two large bore IVs in her AC veins if possible.” Stark repeated the message to Holt. Holt turned her left arm up, and checked the veins in the bend of her arm at the elbow.

  Javier spread bottles, bags, and IV supplies over the counter. Holt stepped to the counter and looked the supplies over. He held up bags of IV fluids and stared at them. “It’s … it’s all in Spanish!” he muttered frantically.

  “Well we aren’t exactly in Cleveland, Ohio, now are we?” Stark responded. “What do you need? What are you looking for? Javier and I both read Spanish.”

  “Normal saline 0.9 percent, or lactated ringers, which ever they have, and some antibiotics if there is something that is safe for humans.”

  “Ok. Well first, you probably need an IV. I still have a spare 14 gauge and a 16 gauge in my kit, or there are some here too.” He stepped over to the counter, and began looking through the options.

  Sergeant Colin stood watch by the door in case any of the enforcers migrated that way. Stark caught his eye. He gave Stark the “you better hurry the fuck up” look. The sanctuary of this place would not last long.

  “Solución de lactato de ringer,” Stark read aloud. “Got it. Holt, there are three and five liter bags. Horses evidently get very dehydrated. It’s attached to all kinds of tubing, and a catalytic converter or some shit.”

  “Welcome to the jungle,” Sergeant Colin quipped from the door and chuckled.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Stark said, thankful to have a little humor back. He handed the IV bags to Holt.

  Javier brought over an assortment of IVs. “The bags are connected to a sterile giving set. It has plastic tubing, a drip chamber, and a slider to control the rate of flow. I don’t know anything about human medicine, but I grew up helping with the horses. They belong to my brother and me. My brother love … loved … the prestige,” he said, falling silent and looking at the tile floor. Colin watched him, then turned and looked out the window, clearing his throat.

  Stark and Colin had taken a lot of lives in their time in the military. It was their job. He had never experienced anything like this though. Javier had rescued Kira from the office. No doubt, he had stepped over his brother’s dead body to get to her. The large chest wound that Sergeant Colin had given him just minutes before, still fresh. Had Javier been faced with the choice of saving his brother, or saving Kira?

  Javier spread the IV catheters on the table beside Kira. “We have 14, 16 and 18 gauge IVs. The 18 gauge is what we use for foals. Will that wo
rk?” he asked looking from Holt to Stark.

  “The 18 gauge is perfect. Do you have any iodine or alcohol? I need to clean her arm before placing this line.” Holt visibly relaxed as he laid out all the supplies. Stark assisted Holt in placing and securing each line. They then attached the fluids and hung the bags.

  “Viper Four, we placed 18 gauge IVs in both arms, and hung ringer’s lactate. These are huge bags. How much do you want her to have?”

  “Twenty milligrams per kilogram,” Holt answered, before Taylor could respond. “She weighs a hundred and five pounds and has no allergies,” he spoke with authority for the moment as if Kira was his patient.

  “Viper One, that depends on her weight. Usually, we start wide open until they have a bolus of twenty milligrams per kilogram. You guys need to be thinking of moving. Your location is not going to be safe for long. Enforcers are moving all over the compound,” Taylor responded.

  “Roger that, Viper Four. She is only about forty-seven kilos so she needs a one liter bolus. We can run that in before we move,” Stark responded. “We are only four clicks from the river. To get her out alive we’re gonna need SWCC.”

  “Roger that, Viper One. I’ll make the call,” Taylor responded.

  “What is Swick?” Holt looked up at Stark confused.

  Stark looked at Colin and they exchanged a half smile. “Special Warfare Combatant-Craft (SWCC) units from the Navy are about as badass as they come. If we can get to the river in one piece, they can get us the fuck out of here.”

  Stark figured that they had about twenty minutes before they had to move, barring anything else happening. They needed to let her fluid bolus run in and then secure her for transport. He took the SLICK Medevac kit from the M249 pouch on his belt, and rolled it out on the ground beside the table.

  “How do we look out there?” he asked Sergeant Colin.

  “So far so good. We need to be ready to move when they make the call.” Colin’s voice had an edge. Stark knew that staying in this position for very long put them all at risk.

  “If we can just get this bolus in, she will be more stable for transport.” Stark knew it was a risk. Everything about this mission had been a calculated risk, but one he was willing to take.

  “You're the boss. I'll be the muscle.” Colin chided.

  Holt wavered and was pale again. Stark looked him over. The man had been through more in the last twenty-four hours than ever before in his life, and Stark could see that it was starting to take its toll. He didn’t know the extent of Holt’s injuries, and at this point as long as he was walking and talking, Stark just needed to get him home. He caught Javier’s attention and motioned toward Holt. “He needs to sit and take it easy until we have to move. Javier, can you help Dr. Holt to the corner? Holt, take a knee and drink some fluids.”

  Now that they had done all they could for Kira, Javier’s words from earlier finally sunk in. Stark looked at the muscle bound Peruvian and wondered just what his connection with Kira was. “Javier what did you mean this was your fault? I thought these two were kidnapped. How did they end up here? Just what the fuck is going on?” Stark kept his voice calm and relaxed, though a raging fire was starting to burn on the inside.

  Javier’s eyes widened as he helped Holt to the corner of the room and began tending to him. “I was the local guide helping Captain Riley and Captain Holt gather samples along the Amazon. Kira was becoming increasingly frustrated because her findings were being dismissed. Then when United States Government officials came into Brooke’s lab and took everything, Kira asked for my help.”

  “Who the fuck is Brooke, and why would Kira ask for your help?” Stark’s eyes narrowed.

  “Brooke is a Naval Officer and researcher in Iquitos. She and Kira were working on uncovering information about the Zika virus. My brother was very interested in their work because one of his close associates lost a son pursuing some of the same research. He grilled me with questions after each trip, asking about their progress and theories. When I told him about Kira’s frustration and setbacks, he offered to help.” Javier looked down at the floor and shook his head. “I warned Kira that my brother was dangerous. I should have known better than to get her involved with him. I never dreamed he would hurt her, though. He genuinely seemed to want to help her. He told me to have her meet his associate at Café-Teatro Amauta, and said they would talk and see if they could help each other.”

  “We never made it to the café,” Holt spoke up. Holt spoke up. “I caught up with Kira when she was almost there. When we reached the corner, a van pulled up and took us by force. They threw us in the back of that fucking van and hooded us. Is that how your brother treats his associates? What the fuck?” Holt spewed, trembling, reliving the experience. “I fought, but they knocked me out. God only knows what Kira fucking went through and then what, they fucking shot her? Why? Why the fuck did he shoot her? Thank God command gave me this tracker or these guys would have never found us. They said it was standard operating procedure for assets to be tagged, due to a history of kidnappings for ransom,” Holt sputtered, and pulled down the edge of his shorts exposing a very tiny Gotham asset tracker made by Blackbird Technologies.

  Stark’s eyes widened. He and Colin exchanged a very worried glance. Gotham TTL (Tagging Tracking and Locating) provided seamless tracking, communication, and overall situational awareness (SA) among mission planners, field personnel, and central command elements. Stark and Colin were both wearing two-way tracker/communicator mics that fed into the same damn system. What … the … fuck. Their location was no secret to central command. Stark prayed they were all on the same team. If SWCC didn’t come, they were beyond fucked.

  Stark watched Colin pace back and forth and shake his head. He tapped his Casio, indicating they better move, and soon. They both knew they weren’t brought here to rescue Holt and Kira. Fuck, he had been ordered to kill Kira less than an hour ago, Was it a mistake? Did they know it was her? Why hadn’t they been informed that there were two potential US soldier hostages on the premises? Maybe command didn’t know they were hostages. He had so many questions, but what mattered now was that they get out alive. He had to get Kira back home. He left Holt and Javier to rest for the moment and checked on Kira. They would need to move very soon.

  She lay quiet and pale on the cold metal table. The dim light of the gas lantern illuminated her battered skin. A great heaviness set into Stark’s chest knowing he did this to her. The beauty and light of everything she was, everything she could be, flickered on the edge of going out, extinguished by his hand. He struggled to breathe with her, his eyes burning. She was so strong, but the road out would be dangerous for all of them. Her chances of leaving this jungle alive were slim, and he knew it. Stark took Kira’s hand in his. Her tiny fingers were cold and limp.

  “Hang on, baby,” he began, softly leaning in to speak into her ear. “I'm so sorry. God, what I would give to trade places with you right now. Please, hang on. I promise you with everything that I am, I'm going to get you home.” Or die trying, he thought. His mind drifted to the small box still in his pocket. He had carried it every day, on every mission since he bought it for her. If he did not make it home, he wanted her to at least know she was everything to him. Now he shuddered as he realized he may never get the chance. Stark moved closer so that his lips brushed her ear and whispered, “You are the perfect golden light that cracks the sky each morning. My first thoughts are of you. I carry you with me in everything and every decision throughout the day. At night when I close my eyes, you are there. I will not fail you. Fight with me. Stay with me.”

  “VIPER ONE, THIS is Viper Three. There is enemy QRF approaching from the south road to the compound. We need to start exfil now. Your position will not be safe for long. Can you move your hostage? SWCC is on the way, and they are bringing two boats. We need to get to rally point D and haul ass to the river. They will meet us at the tertiary extract.” The call jolted Colin and Stark into action. Do or die, it was time to go home.
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br />   “Roger that, Viper Three. We are on the move,” Stark responded into the mic.

  Sergeant Colin looked Stark in the eye and nodded, his brow set firm. The goofy giant morphed into the quiet professional that Stark knew would always have his back. To hell and back, he was his brother, no regrets. Colin stepped into the doorway and began scanning the surrounding area.

  Stark then turned to Holt and Javier, “We need to move now. Help me load Captain Riley onto the litter. We have enemy QRF closing in.”

  “QRF?” Holt looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

  “Quick reaction force … bad fucking dudes who are about to make you have a really bad day. You have just been promoted from ass to pack mule. Now get over here and fucking help,” Stark replied. He was already disconnecting Kira’s IVs from the tubing. Holt joined him. They needed to move quickly. Holt secured the IV sites with another tegaderm, while Stark and Javier laid the litter beside her on the table.

  “We need to move her on three,” Stark ordered. “One … two … three.” Stark and Holt rolled her onto one side and Javier slid the litter under her. They then rolled her back onto the litter and began to move.

  “Kill that light,” Stark ordered, and Javier complied quickly. Darkness filled the space but the moonlight was in full effect now.

  Sergeant Colin was the first one out the door. “We are coming out,” he reported in.

  “Roger that, Viper Two. Enemy QRF is only eight mics away and closing in fast,” Miller called over the mic. “You guys need to move now. They are on you.”

  Stark took the front of the litter and Holt started to take the rear. He stumbled, almost dropping her. Javier jumped in and took up Holt’s position. Holt swayed and grabbed onto the doorway.

  “This is my fault, I will help carry her,” Javier said.

  “We can move faster if I just carry her,” Stark responded. “You help Captain Holt; Sergeant Colin will cover us. Holt, are you good to move?” Stark scooped Kira up in his arms and left the litter on the ground.