“What time is it now?” He scanned the room again. There were no windows or clocks. He didn’t know if it was the middle of the day or night.
“Nineteen-sixteen local time, on 11.1.42, by the galactic standard calendar.” Five days? It had been more than five days, and Jenna had never shown up?
“Can I get up?” Jimmy asked the computer anxiously.
“A med tech has been notified that you are awake. Please lie down and wait for medical evaluation before getting up,” the hologram preached—rather sternly for a computer, Jimmy thought. Of course, it was a hospital holo. Sternness was practically required. He sighed and laid back. He would have to try the feeds and hope for some information. As soon as the med tech cleared him, he would pump Grier for details. Surely he knew where Jenna was.
The med tech arrived while Jimmy was avidly watching a newsfeed stream about the trouble in the Red Zone. The reporter had aerial shots of the attack on the QE, video of gun battles in the streets, and clips of several buildings on fire. There were plenty of rumors, too, that various local bosses had been involved. The reporter repeated a rumor that Quintan-Forrest Enterprises had sustained a serious loss of life and property, but then switched to an interview with Lev Quintan, shot inside the grand casino of the QE, which was bustling with patrons and QE employees.
“All of our patrons were completely safe during last week’s unfortunate violence. There was no interruption of service at the Quintan Edge Resort of any kind. We reaffirm that Quintan-Forrest Enterprises is securely in control of our holdings and that business is proceeding normally.”
Jimmy snorted. Proceeding normally! Doubtful. Not with the Edge gate blown to rubble. Lev had probably spent all day in emergency meetings. There was no mention of any involvement by Zane, but that was not a surprise. Lev would keep that one a deep, dark secret between himself and the ill-fated rival boss who had dared to supply Zane with nanospeed. The most encouraging part was the lack of mention of the death of a certain admiral’s daughter. Surely if the child of a high-ranking Armada officer had died mere feet from the Armada soldiers surrounding the Red Zone, there would have been mention of it on the feeds. For the irony factor alone, if not for speculation about the political ramifications.
The med tech who had entered went straight to scanning and probing, checking his vitals and then inspecting beneath his bandages.
“You are lucky, Mr. Forrest,” she explained. “That much blood loss could have quickly been fatal.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Jimmy agreed.
“Well, we still have a few nanobots in there working on repairing nerve damage. My scans show that the femoral artery has been satisfactorily repaired. You won’t be able to walk unassisted for quite a while, though. We’ll fit you with an airbrace for a few weeks, and then you’ll need some physical therapy to regain your muscle strength.”
Jimmy groaned, but he didn’t complain. He was glad to be alive. “And my shoulder?” he asked.
“That was a pretty simple repair. We removed a bullet, and the nanobots finished mending any tissue damage yesterday. Projectile gunshots are often so much easier to heal. You’re lucky your assailants weren’t carrying diffusing lasers or atlatls.” She removed the bandage. “See? It’s scabbed over, and in a week or two, you probably will have nothing but a small scar to show for your pains.”
“Yep, looks like I can go back to my job as a stripper,” Jimmy agreed. The med tech smiled, but it was a bit starchy, like she wished she could roll her eyes at him but it wouldn’t be professional.
“There’s a guy named Grier waiting for me. Could you send him in when you’re finished, please?” he asked, as politely as could be managed. “And how long do I have to wait until I’m discharged?”
“We’ll fit you with the airbrace in just a few minutes, and then you can review your hospital charges. Once you have your postdischarge care instructions and you’ve authorized the payment from your medical emergency account, you are free to go. I will send your friend in while you are waiting for the airbrace.”
She was true to her word. Within a minute, the door chimed and Grier entered, his face grim and stormy.
“If I wasn’t paid to protect you, you arrogant mule, I’d give you a real reason to be lying in that hospital bed,” he growled. “How dare you leave your brother and run off like that!”
“Hello to you too, Grier,” replied Jimmy pleasantly. “If you hadn’t saved my brother’s life, I’d kill you myself for dragging us both out of the Tower the other night and leaving Jenna in the hands of a drugged-up madman.”
Grier exhaled noisily. He continued to meet Jimmy’s eyes for only a second before dropping them. “I was just doing my job,” he muttered. Jimmy believed him. Grier was the consummate professional. It was the only reason Jimmy had decided not to hold a grudge against him.
“Jax is fine?” Jimmy confirmed.
Grier nodded. “Back in his lab, unaware that anything is wrong and with a whole squad outside his suite. Other than he keeps asking for his brother,” he added with more heat.
“As long as he’s OK, he can keep asking for a little while longer. It won’t kill him.” Then Jimmy asked what he needed to know most of all. “Where is Jenna, Grier?” Jimmy demanded. “I know you know. Is she OK?”
Grier pursed his lips, his eyes guarded. “If I tell you, you must promise not to act rashly,” he hedged.
Jimmy’s chest started to seize up. “What do you mean, I can’t act rashly? What happened?”
“After the attack on the Tower, Ms. Donnell contacted the Omphalos emergency services. You and her roommate, Ms. Armenta, were retrieved by emergency responders and brought here,” Grier said.
“How is Lilah?” Jimmy interrupted eagerly.
“She’ll live,” Grier answered. “They wouldn’t tell me more than that for privacy reasons.”
That was reassuring, at least a little. Who was Lilah’s listed next of kin? One of her brothers? Or maybe Jenna? She had to have a listed contact as well as an emergency medical reserve account, or they wouldn’t have taken her to this hospital. She would have been admitted to one of the charity hospitals instead.
“And Jenna?” Jimmy questioned, returning to what concerned him most.
“Ms. Donnell, however, remained with Quintan Security,” Grier explained reluctantly.
“Why? Lilah and I are two of the closest people to her in the world. She would have wanted to be here with us.”
“Well, Mr. Quintan thought it best if only the Quintan med techs evaluated her. It seems Mr. Zane sent her to Marah and back before the destructive incident,” Grier said.
“What?” Jimmy gasped. He knew exactly what Grier was getting at. Somehow Zane had used Jenna as a test subject and sent her to Marah through the gate.
“Is she OK?” he asked, more nervously this time. The gate had never been tested on someone living before. Not Jax’s gate. There was no knowing if there would be any long-term effects yet. In fact, Jimmy was certain that Lev had built the West resort primarily as a way to test the effect of local gate travel on people over time. There would be reams of paperwork and years of testing and leagues of bureaucratic tape to plow through, even on a frontier planet, to get the gate approved for use under normal Union rules. But in the Red Zone he had a free hand. As long as people wanted to use it, there was nothing to hold him back.
“She is not injured,” Grier said. But there was something in his tone that made Jimmy’s eyes narrow.
“But?” he prodded.
“They have done a full scan, and there were a few surprises.” Grier paused for a second and then continued on. “I guessed some time ago that you and Ms. Donnell were involved with each other,” Grier explained obliquely. Jimmy sucked in a breath, though he really shouldn’t have been surprised. Grier followed him everywhere. “Mr. Lev Quintan knew as well, of course, since it is his responsib
ility to know what is going on in the lives of those with whom he has,” Grier hesitated before finding the right word, “a familial relationship. I do not think he worried about it too much because he still intended that Mr. Zane and Ms. Donnell would marry, and he believed that this was just a fling that would keep her entertained and free from problematic attachments until Mr. Zane’s issues were resolved.” Jimmy swallowed thickly. Lev had figured that Jimmy was just a player and that when the gate was finished he would move on and leave Jenna free to marry Zane.
“It wasn’t until the medical scan discovered a marriage chip that Mr. Quintan learned that your relationship was more permanent than expected.” Grier glared at him. Jimmy smiled back a bit sheepishly. Why was everyone so surprised that he really wasn’t just an irresponsible playboy? “Anyway, Mr. Quintan did not take to this wrench in his plans very well. He does not like his plans to be thwarted, and I’m afraid as a result he’s been a little more thorough in Ms. Donnell’s evaluation.”
Jimmy sat up straight again. “No way. That ends right now. He can’t take out his frustration on her. Besides, there was zero chance that she would have married Zane. Even if she hadn’t married me, do you think she would ever, ever look twice at Zane again after what he put her through the other night? He almost killed her!”
“Maybe Mr. Quintan believed she would forgive the extenuating circumstances, given enough time and the right incentives.”
Jimmy snorted. Right. Quintan didn’t know Jenna at all, for all his spying on their lives.
“As soon as I’m discharged, we’re heading right over there,” said Jimmy. Lev Quintan didn’t back down from much, but Jimmy was sure he was holding the right kind of cards in this hand.
23. The Declaration
The terminal screen was limited to five feeds, and Jenna had no control over any of them. It randomly cycled every hour, which meant she was periodically treated to shows on cooking, old documentaries on Union history, syrupy novellas from the planet Majella, or weather from any of the Union’s inhabited planets. No news. No outgoing comms accepted. No way to get in contact with anyone or know what was going on outside her ascetically spare room. She had been a “guest” of the Quintan Edge infirmary for five never-ending days. The med techs claimed it was only a precaution, since she had traveled through the gate twice and they had no idea what effects that might have on her body that hadn’t shown up yet. Plus they kept hinting that she might develop signs of psychological trauma after everything she had been through that night. Personally, she felt like her only psychological trauma was caused by being imprisoned for a week by the father of the man who had shoved her halfway across the world against her will. She just wanted to go home.
She just wanted to see for herself that Jimmy really was OK.
The security officer who had come to question her had assured her that Jimmy and Lilah had both survived and were recovering nicely in a hospital in Omphalos. But he hadn’t agreed to pass on a message to either of them, nor had he agreed to let her comm her parents. Her father would be crazy with worry, and her mother . . . well, she didn’t even want to think about her mother. Her mother couldn’t handle losing the last of her children. Jenna knew it. She had to get word to her parents before her mother snapped completely. Even though she hadn’t seen a news feed since she’d been stuck in this hole, she knew that an attack on Quintan Tower would be a big deal, certain to be reported all over the place.
She stared morosely at a weather report of a large hurricane obliterating the small fishing enclaves on the coast of a continent on the planet Mullanur. Did this count as news? Maybe if she was lucky, there would be some noteworthy weather on Zenith and she might get a glimpse of what was going on outside on her own planet.
Bored and anxious, she snapped off the terminal and laid back down on her bed just as the door chimed. She bolted back upright, swinging her legs off the bed. She’d had her full body scan and fluid draws only an hour ago (during the cooking slot), and the med techs were doing that only three times a day. This had to be something new.
It was.
Lev Quintan strolled through her door, first followed by the same security officer who had questioned her about the night of insanity and then by another figure who moved stiffly and slowly through the door. Jenna shoved off her bed, stumbled clumsily, and then practically threw herself at Jimmy. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her warmly in greeting.
“Are you OK?” she asked worriedly, glancing down at his braced leg.
“Well, the doc says I’m supposed to rest easy for a few weeks,” Jimmy reassured, “and fortunately, it seems like I was recently promised a week-long vacation in bed.” He wound his fingers into her hair and pulled her head to his, his kiss sending a shiver of anticipation down her back.
A slight cough reminded her suddenly that they weren’t alone. She broke away from Jimmy and turned to face Lev Quintan, her face warm. Mr. Quintan stood only an arm’s length away, studying them with a thoughtful expression.
“Kozel, would you please notify Dr. Maclin that she is needed here? Then stand guard outside and see that we aren’t disturbed.” He spoke calmly to the security officer without even glancing in his direction. Jenna turned to Jimmy, wondering if he had any idea what was going on, but he merely gave a tiny shake of the head. He smiled confidently, though, and took her hand. She took courage from his touch. Whatever Mr. Quintan’s reaction would be to their secret marriage, at least they were facing it together.
Once the security officer had left the room, Lev seated himself in her only chair and gave them a pleasant smile. She didn’t return it. Instead, she turned to help Jimmy hobble to her bed so he could get off his leg. He sank onto the mattress with a groan, his leg sticking out awkwardly in its brace. She gingerly lowered herself beside him, careful not to jar him too much.
“Ms. Donnell, I am so sorry for the delay,” Mr. Quintan began, his voice mild. “You have been very patient. I have been rather busy dealing with the unfortunate catastrophe last week and haven’t been able to see you personally.”
Jenna didn’t quite know how to respond to this; after all, she hadn’t been waiting around so she could speak to Mr. Quintan personally. She’d been trapped in this room for days, used as a human pincushion by med techs, and denied contact with anyone in the outside world. Hardly a case of a simple delay!
“I must apologize profusely for my son’s inexcusable behavior,” Mr. Quintan continued smoothly. “I admit that I had learned that Zane’s nanospeed use continued in Marah, and when we discovered that his supplier was connected to the security threats to Jaxon, I consulted with your father, James. He agreed with me that it was worth the risk to you both to send you with Zane in order to infiltrate the hideout of the rivals and eliminate the threat altogether.”
“Really. Father’s a bit overly optimistic then.” Jimmy’s voice was devoid of inflection, but his hand tightened on Jenna’s. She glanced up at his face. His eyes were hard with barely concealed fury. In fact, Jenna didn’t think she’d ever seen Jimmy angry like this. Was that what had started this whole fiasco? Some kind of insane plan on the part of Mr. Quintan to use Jimmy and Jax as bait and attack a rival?
“However, we never anticipated that Zane would involve you, Ms. Donnell, since we were unaware of your, shall we say, particular relationship with James.” His eyes tightened a bit with that admission, but his tone stayed mild. Jimmy muttered something beneath his breath, but Jenna didn’t catch it. Mr. Quintan must have decided the conversation was about to veer into dangerous territory, because he abruptly stood.
“Anyway, I wanted to personally express my regret that you had to travel through the gate before we had proven its safety. I also wanted to thank you for courageously returning through the gate to cut the power here before the bomb was detonated. You certainly saved many lives that night and kept the Marah gate from being destroyed as well.”
Again
, Jenna couldn’t find the words to answer this. She hadn’t risked her life for Mr. Quintan’s sake, but his way of showing gratitude—keeping her locked up like a terrorist—turned this whole conversation into a farce. However, Mr. Quintan seemed to take her silence as an acceptance and smiled broadly, his teeth gleaming white.
The door chimed, and Mr. Quintan clapped his hands together. “Perfect timing! This should be our head of the infirmary, Dr. Maclin. She is the only one of our medical staff who knows the full extent of your recent experience, and I assure you she is very discreet.” The door slid open, and a tall woman with gleaming skin and short dark curls strode into the room. She was dressed in a dark slimsuit and a doctor’s overcoat. She moved forward and shook Jimmy’s hand and then Jenna’s. She didn’t bother to introduce herself but launched right into a speech, looking more at the tablet in her hands than at Jenna or Jimmy directly.
“As you know, Ms. Donnell, we have been monitoring your health all week for signs that the gate jaunt caused some kind of internal damage or side effects.” Here she glanced up at Jenna for a second, as if assuring herself that she was talking about the right case. “You will be pleased to learn that we have not seen any damage at the systemic or the cellular level.”
Jenna sighed in relief. Jimmy squeezed her hand again. She’d believed she was fine, but it was reassuring to hear that all the testing confirmed it.
“However, there is a . . . complication,” the doctor continued with a slight hesitation.
“What?” Jimmy exclaimed. Jenna’s heart started to race. A complication? But if there was no damage . . .
“Are you aware that you are pregnant, Ms. Donnell?” Dr. Maclin questioned, this time meeting Jenna’s eyes.
The Quintan Edge (Roran Curse Book 2) Page 26
