by A. Payne
“They’re murderers, Saskia! You saw with your own eyes what they’ve done. They’re abducting innocent children and subjecting them to torture. If you’re with them, I’m not letting you get on that shuttle.”
“So be it.” Saskia lifted her arm and leveled her weapon at Zoe’s heart.
Chapter 23
When Victor arrived at the medical bay, technicians had already received their assignments from Hart. They rushed to and from the stockroom to gather necessary supplies and made portable first aid kits. O’Reilly arrived out of breath, bearing an armload of nanite core gel. It was the base of almost all medicinal products that went into the field. It served as the binding glue for bio-stitches and anti-toxins.
Victor’s hands began to cramp, so he stopped to sweep his fingers through his hair in frustration. A visceral headache pounded behind his eyes, but too much work remained to take a break. “Hand me another pack, O’Reilly. We’ll need about…”
“I’ve kept count, sir. We require one for every man aboard the ship and five for every medic. This marks ninety-three.”
“Victor, can you tell us what we’re walking into?” Hart finally demanded.
As the leader of the medical department, Oshiro had another task ahead of him. It became Victor’s duty to lead preparations for deploying their combat medics into a possible battle situation. And he didn’t believe in leaving his men in the dark. “All right,” he agreed quietly. All eyes fell upon him. “I don’t think there’s any harm in telling you what’s happening. Due to the severity of the situation, it’s to the benefit of everyone to remain completely aware. We have a possible hostage situation involving a marine thought to be killed in action.”
“Who?” Davis asked curiously.
“Hamish Lockhart sent a Royal Marine distress signal to his brother while we were on Elora.”
“No shit?” Hart was the first to blurt out.
“Three hours ago Jem picked up an emergency distress signal from him and patched it to Chief Lockhart. He confirmed its authenticity. We’re looking at the recovery of a man who has been missing for five years and subjected to the unknown. We need to be on our game.”
“Holy shit… I always thought he was a decent fellow,” Hart said. She shook her head in pity and resumed her work at the station. “You have 1000 doses of halergen left in quantity, Doc. You’re getting low.”
“What do we have as a substitute? Do we have any kinderal?”
Before she could answer, a quake tore through the Jemison and tossed bottles of antibiotics onto the floor. One shattered and the others rolled out of sight beneath the table.
“Shit,” Victor swore under his breath. “What was that?”
“Breech detected in level three,” the ship’s artificial voice announced. “Breech detected in level three.”
“Level three is engineering,” Victor muttered.
“All hands to the shuttle bay. The Jemison is currently under at–”
The glowing nimbus of color surrounding the PA system speaker dimmed and sparked out.
“Jem?” Hart called out.
“And now we’ve lost the main ship console,” Davis said. Her brow furrowed in concern. The lights flickered and died, but the backup power generator activated and restored power to the medical wing.
“Never mind that. I think Jem tried to warn us of an attack,” Victor said.
Trevor skidded into medical. His flushed face glistened with perspiration. “The lifts dropped offline. I can try to get them goin’ again with the access panel in here.”
“Do it,” Hart said. She abandoned the lobby workstation and left it open for his use. “Fairchild, take O’Reilly and get down to engineering. They’re bound to have injuries.”
“You’ll have to use the maintenance hatches,” Trevor called over. He pried off the wall panel and pulled out his datagram to access the electrical module. A dozen red and green lights winked on and off, indicating a disturbance in the system. “It’s goin’ to take me a few moments to get this sorted.”
“Got it!” The two medics grabbed emergency kits and headed out.
What if this is planned? The terrifying revelation crossed Victor’s thoughts, running his blood cold with fear. In all his time in the military, he’d never encountered a similar situation before. Attacks on the Empire’s ships simply didn’t happen. “Do you think this is connected to our mission objective?” Victor asked.
“I hope to God it isn’t, Victor. He’s counting on us, and I’ll tear anyone apart who stands in my way. If… if that is Hamish out there sending a distress signal, we’ve got to retrieve him, aye?”
Victor set a hand on his shoulder. “Aye, mate. And we will. Calm down and do your job. Focus.”
Trevor nodded his head. “Thanks. I’m just… after thinking he was dead for all of this time, for him to send our special code… It’s got to mean that it’s him, doesn’t it?”
“We’ll find out. Daniels will have the assault squad ready for the retrieval by the time we arrive.”
Victor’s personal communicator shrieked to life. “Raines to Medical. I have a man down in the ha–” Zoe’s voice cut off abruptly before she could complete her message.
“What happened? Did communications drop?” Fear made Victor’s lungs squeeze like a vice constricting his ribcage. Not Zoe. Maybe her link dropped. Maybe systems are down across the board. His breath shook and his heart rate increased despite his attempt to maintain focus. Oshiro had taught him methods to remain under control, but for a moment they failed him. He was terrified of losing her.
“Shit,” Trevor swore. He left the panel and crossed to the medical terminal. “No, comms are still up and running, but Zoe’s is inactive. I can’t get a link to it.”
Victor lingered behind his friend, practically lurking over Trevor’s shoulder. “We need those lifts back up. I can’t evac wounded without them.” Or get to the hangar to Zoe.
“I’m doing everything I fucking can, Victor. Let me breathe! I know you’re worried about her, but I can’t rush this.”
Given a man with a gut wound, Victor knew exactly what to do to prolong and save his life. Place him in front of an open series of connectors and power couplings, and he was all thumbs. He grabbed emergency gear while Trevor feverishly worked at the panel.
The green light above the lift in their hallway blinked on. Trevor slammed the access panel shut. “Done.”
“Hart, report to the Commodore. Let him know the lifts are up and we have an issue down in the shuttle bay.”
Victor and Trevor rushed out. With the lifts operational they arrived on the lower decks within a minute. The Jemison rocked beneath another assault.
“Shit. Looks like the pirates.” Trevor directed Victor’s attention to one of the small viewports in the hull. “I recognize the build… That’s the flagship of the Black Jackals. Where the hell did they receive those kinds of upgrades?”
“What do you mean?” Victor asked.
“That’s a bloody military cannon.”
“Probably scavenged off a ship…” Victor’s voice held uncertainty. To the best of his knowledge, no vessels in Her Majesty’s Navy had fallen to smugglers.
“Face facts, Victor. If they scavenged a military cannon off a ship, that means one of ours was lost in battle. Have you heard reports to that effect?” the man asked grimly.
“I know. We’ll consider those ramifications later. Right now we need to get to Zoe.”
The passageway took them directly down to the hangar. The double doors remained dark and unresponsive, but that was the least of Victor’s worries. The sight through the window chilled him.
“What in the hell is going on in there? Why is Sassy holding a gun on Zoe?” Trevor asked in bewilderment. “Christ, that’s a body on the floor!”
“Zoe!” Victor banged on the glass.
His arrival drew Saskia’s attention to the viewing portal. Zoe shamelessly capitalized on the distraction and flicked a tool at the woman’s han
d and charged. Victor held his breath, a helpless observer to the chaos beyond the unbreakable partition. The weapon discharged the moment it struck the floor. Sparks exploded off the nearest shuttle and left a charred, circular dent in the metal.
“We should have taken the maintenance shaft. Shit!” Trevor swore.
“Can you hack into it?”
“Already on it,” Trevor muttered from the dataport beside the door. “With the ship offline…”
The two physically skilled women in the hangar exchanged blows, matching strikes and kicks. As a cyborg, Zoe had strength on her side, but Saskia weaved in and out of the fight like a cobra. She lacked Zoe’s heavier muscle, and for every punch that the brunette landed, her adversary seemed to deliver two. Saskia was lithe, slender, and frightfully swift.
Daniels had trained her well.
Blood slipped down Zoe’s chin, leaving a crimson trail. She shrugged it off and maintained her guard.
Come on, baby. You can do it, he rooted from the sideline. Take her down, Zo.
Victor had learned from experience that Zoe hit as hard as any man. She hadn’t struck him with her cybernetic arm, but he spent an entire evening icing his jaw to alleviate the swelling after sustaining a blow from the left during a training session. Apologetic kisses and soft laughter had helped ease the discomfort.
“Trevor, what’s taking so long?”
“Workin’ as fast as I can, I swear to you. I have to get into the wiring to disable the magnetic locks,” he explained distractedly. His concentrating expression dissuaded Victor from questioning him further.
The anxious doctor waited beside the door with his surgical laser in hand. A year ago, he’d been completely helpless when news reached him of the ECF Orlando suffering losses during a meteor storm. When he learned that the water supply lines burst and that his wife’s H2O tank had drained on the floor during transport, Victor hit rock bottom. Despite all efforts by the flight attendants to keep her moist and comfortable, despite other passengers donating their glasses of refreshment, she had suffered an excruciating death – and he hadn’t been there to help her.
Not Zoe, too. Please. He wouldn’t survive another loss.
Saskia bore Zoe down to the floor, but the latter managed to gain the upper hand. The two marines flipped across the hard, grated ground. Zoe bloodied Saskia’s face until the woman kicked her off. Her opponent lunged for her gun but Zoe caught Saskia by the ankle and tripped her back to the ground. Bloodied spittle flew from Saskia’s mouth, indicating she must have bitten her tongue when her chin hit the floor.
“Got it!”
The magnetic lock on the door released. Both men rushed into the bay to find their comrade on top of the situation. Literally.
“Traitor!” Zoe slammed Saskia’s face against the floor. “Fucking cow!”
“Zoe, it’s over. She’s out.” Victor pulled Zoe’s struggling form off Saskia’s limp body right before Daniels and Abernathy swept in with drawn weapons. “Get some restraints on DuPrie. I don’t know what happened yet, but Lopez is dead and she had a gun on Raines,” he called to them.
“Lopez caught one right between the eyes… Holy shit. She murdered him,” Trevor breathed from where he crouched beside the corpse. “Looks like he used his access on the emergency override to the shuttles. Stopped that little tart from leaving the ship.”
Lights blazed above them and returned to functional status.
“The ship has returned to online status. All services will resume shortly. Please standby,” Jem’s calm voice announced shipwide.
“C’mere. Let me look at you,” Victor murmured gently to her.
While Daniels handled Saskia, Victor led Zoe aside to check her over. One of the medical teams arrived but he waved them off. Sometimes, Victor preferred to do the work over delegating authority to anyone else. Zoe was worth that time.
“She broke your nose.” Saskia had also gashed Zoe’s forehead, but it was nothing a few nanites couldn’t set right. He drew his penlight and swiftly assessed her for lingering effects from the fight. “Pupillary reflex looks fine… how’s your head?”
“She killed Lopez,” Zoe whispered instead.
“I know, Zoe. But how are you?”
“Hart to del Toro. We need you in medical. Cresswell lost footing in a maintenance shaft and jarred an abductor cable in his left leg pretty terribly during the fall. I’d wrench it back in, but I’m likely to fubar the entire thing, mate. We need you.”
Victor paused. He turned his face toward the link pinned to his lab coat. “We have injuries in the shuttle bay, Hart.”
“Go. I’ll be okay,” Zoe urged him.
“Zo…”
She smiled fleetingly and squeezed his hand. “Cresswell needs you.”
So do you, Victor thought. Zoe’s arm was fine and the rest of her injuries could be tended to by any medic. Cresswell required a cyberneticist.
“I’ll check in on you when I’m done, I promise.”
His professional behavior lapsed long enough to kiss her brow. Leaving Zoe behind in a state of need pained him beyond words.
With systems back online, the Jemison engaged engines and began evasive maneuvers. Victor had felt uneasy with the previous stillness of the ship and took reassurance from the familiar thrum of power coursing beneath his feet.
Medical personnel moved back and forth between patients, tending to those injured during the attack. Wounds ranged from mild bruises to second degree burns. Victor and the other doctors had their hands full.
“Stay away from that viewport, Hart. It’s small, but if movies have shown me anything, it’s that we should never leave a blasted thing to chance,” Victor told her.
“Agreed,” Oshiro said from the mouth of the corridor that led into their open lounge. He and Davis approached from the examination rooms.
Hart reluctantly stepped away from the small window. A few other members of the medical team nervously shot glances at the translucent portal to the world beyond their ship. Occasional bursts of cannon fire lit the open void of space like a thousand stars all combusting at once.
“How’s our traitor?” she asked Oshiro.
“Properly secured under an armed guard in the treatment room,” he replied.
“Hogwash is what it is. The bint hobbled our ship, killed one of our men, and now we’ve got to play nice with her?” Davis demanded.
News on a ship spread like wildfire. Saskia’s arrival under guard in medical had started an entire slew of rumors and accusations. It didn’t take long for the story of her betrayal to make the rounds.
Victor shook his head. “Trust me. She won’t find anything nice about what happens to her next, once our ship is in the clear.”
“Yeah? What’s happening, Commander. What can you tell us?” Fairchild asked eagerly. “You’ve always been straight with us.”
“Yeah. About that. I don’t actually know what’s happening next. With the commodore on the bridge directing the battle, I’m honestly in the dark, too.”
Their expressions deflated. Just as Victor opened his mouth to apologize for his lack of information, Jem’s voice blasted over the public channels, “Red alert status has ended.”
Hart sagged in relief against him. He leaned against her in return.
“Thank God. I’ve never been in an actual battle before. That was terrifying.”
“Very,” Lil agreed quietly from her work station. The young woman didn’t show her fear, but Hart had glanced at her often enough to indicate that she picked up on her emotions.
“Now I’m going to the viewport,” Hart announced. She and Davis fought over it. The result of their squabble was that both women ended up cheek to cheek, peering through the small window into the outside world. The Jemison used its tractor beam to anchor and draw the deactivated ship toward them.
“They’ll board the ship,” Oshiro stated calmly. “We must be prepared for more injuries.”
A doctor’s work was never finished. They had work t
o do.
Chapter 24
Rendered completely harmless, Saskia lay upon an examination table with little more than a modest sheet covering her. Medical staff had secured her safely with restraints.
“How long do you suppose she’s been on their side?”
“Impossible to tell,” Ethan replied to Victor. The man crossed his arms against his chest. “I want to throttle the little bitch for what she’s done, but we’re waiting for Nisrine to begin the interrogation.”
“Hopefully we will receive answers for this travesty,” Oshiro said. The older man shook his head and quietly observed.
“How’s Raines?” Ethan asked suddenly. “She’s earned herself a promotion as far as I’m concerned, stopping this traitor before she escaped.”
“Lil patched her up and sedated her to ensure she got some rest before we arrive for the mission. She’s fit for duty, if that’s what you’re asking,” Victor said.
“No, I simply meant–”
The doors hissed open and cut Ethan off, heralding the arrival of their intelligence officer. Nisrine approached the CO with her chin held high. Her reddened, puffy eyes told the story they already knew.
She and Lopez had dated casually on and off for the year before Victor arrived on the ship, but in recent months Lopez had begun to consider the relationship more seriously. He kept a digital photograph of Nisrine in his datagram. Whenever their shuttle touched down, Lopez opened it for a glimpse of her that his squadmates weren’t supposed to notice.
The memory infuriated Victor anew.
“You good for this, love?” Ethan whispered to her. His blue eyes searched her weary face.
Nisrine nodded and turned away from the three officers.
“As you won’t willingly give over the information we seek, it appears that I shall have to retrieve it all myself.” Nisrine strolled up to the table.
“You can’t do this to me. There are bloody laws prohibiting–” Saskia struggled against her restraints.
“You seem to forget something, DuPrie. You’re a traitor and this is my ship. A good man is dead because of you,” Ethan spoke out in an even voice. “You won’t receive an ounce of pity from us.”
