by Chele Cooke
“Me?”
“Got a situation down the Way.”
While it wasn’t the first time someone had burst in on them early in the morning, it was certainly the first time the person coming in had not been looking for Keiran. Generally, people didn’t know that she stayed there, so anyone coming to the shack was looking for the Belsa sergeant. Yet Wrench was aware of her fondness for the man lying next to her, so he would have known where to look. The other medics knew about her home in the camps with her family, but that was a two-hour walk—too far to travel in an emergency. It was much easier to find Jaid or Keinah who lived with their partners in the nearby tunnels.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
She sat up, holding the blankets against her chest as she carefully manoeuvred herself over Keiran, who groaned as her elbow hit his stomach.
“Found Si,” Wrench explained, giving her a hard look.
Georgianna pursed her lips into a frown.
“And?” she urged, glancing up at Wrench.
“Not entirely sure, he’s rambling something bad,” Wrench explained. “But from what Jaid says, he’s been gone more than three days, and from the looks o’ the burns, he’s been out in the sun for most of it.”
“Shit,” Keiran groaned, pushing himself up onto his elbows.
Georgianna echoed Keiran’s moan as she waved her hand towards Wrench. He was shifting his weight anxiously back and forth, but quickly turned his back as Georgianna began reaching for her clothes.
Someone who had been out in the sun more than a few hours without proper protection would most likely be suffering in some way or another, but three days was sure to have caused lasting damage.
“Who’s down there?” she asked.
“Just Jaid at the moment. I was on guard down the black line and she was bringing him past, asked me to get you and meet her there.”
“I thought Keinah was…”
“Jaid sent her off,” Wrench interrupted. “Didn’t want her close if he gets upset.”
“If Si’s been out there that long, we might need to restrain him,” she agreed.
Behind her, Keiran was moving about, wrestling his way into his trousers. Georgianna threw his shirt over her shoulder.
“What was he doing out there for three days?” he asked.
“Don’t really know,” Wrench answered. “Most of the stuff coming out of him as she took him down there was nonsense. Jaid said he’d gone over the Adveni quarters on a regular job, but never came back. Figuring something happened over that way.”
“Why would he be in the Adveni quarters? What kind of job takes a Belsa over there?” Georgianna asked. “Seems a bit of a dangerous place to send one of you guys.”
“You’d have to ask whoever gave him the job,” Keiran said quickly, getting to his feet and stepping past her, reaching for the tyllenich rifle. “Lots of jobs go down without the rest of us knowing, best way to stay safe if someone’s caught.”
Georgianna nodded. That made a good deal of sense. She got to her feet and grabbed up her bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder.
“Come on then, let’s go,” Keiran nodded.
Wrench pushed back the tarpaulin, waiting somewhat impatiently until Georgianna had slipped out of the shack. The two Belsa followed in her wake.
They hadn’t even made the turning onto the Way when the first scream came echoing down the tunnel. Glancing at Keiran and Wrench, Georgianna broke into a run, holding her bag tight against her hip. Behind her,Wrench and Keiran’s boots pounded into the tunnel floor. Another female cry was followed by an angry shout.
Skidding to a stop outside the first car, Georgianna launched herself inside, falling forward in her haste. But the sight that met her stopped her in her tracks.
Jaid sat on one of the makeshift beds, her back braced against the wall as her husband Si leaned over her. Her arms were stretched out, hands pressed against her husband Si’s chest, but this wasn’t enough to stop the knife that was being pressed against her throat. She was shaking her head, words streaming so fast from her lips that they were almost unintelligible. Si, however, obviously understood what she had been trying to say as he shook his head, his long, ratted hair slapping against his reddened, raw skin.
“You’re lying!” Si growled.
“I’m not, I’m not!” Jaid cried, tears streaming down her face. “You’re my husband, Si. I love you. I would never sell you out to them!”
Wrench pushed past to grab Si. Turning his head, Si’s eyes widened in fury as he pointed the knife at Wrench for a moment before returning it to his wife’s throat.
“Stay back!” he screamed. “I’ll do it, I will!”
Georgianna grabbed Wrench’s muscled arm with both hands, yanking him backwards with all her might. Wrench stumbled back into Keiran who braced him, both hands on his shoulders.
“George,” he murmured, glancing between Georgianna and Si.
Georgianna could guess what Keiran was thinking. It wouldn’t be too difficult for the two of them to restrain the Belsa. The risk was whether they could do it before Si slashed at Jaid’s throat, one Georgianna wasn’t willing to take. Even if Si didn’t do any lasting damage, he would never forgive himself for hurting Jaid in a moment of madness.
Georgianna shook her head. She slowly reached up, lifting her bag over her head and lowering it to the floor. She kept her gaze locked on Si’s panicked, bloodshot eyes.
“Si,” she whispered.
Jaid gasped at the pressure of the knife against her skin. A drop of red blood slipped smoothly down the metal blade and dripped into her lap.
“Si, look at me!” Georgianna said, a little louder this time. “Si, you don’t want to hurt Jaid.”
“Sold me out! Told them I’d be there,” Si rattled, his gaze flicking around the car too fast for Georgianna to spot what he was focussing on.
Lifting her hands and keeping them open towards Si, Georgianna watched him as calmly as she could, trying to keep the panic and fear out of her face. She could feel her blood pulsing through her ears, but she shook her head.
“Why would she do that, Si?” she asked.
Glancing to the side, Georgianna waved Keiran and Wrench back again. The two men had been inching forward. Reassured that they were staying put, Georgianna turned back to Si.
“Why, Si?” she asked again. “Jaid loves you, you know that. She wouldn’t have done anything to harm you.”
“You’re lying! Someone told!” he cried desperately. “It was safe. We were safe and then…”
“And then what, Si? What happened?” Wrench asked, his voice gentler than Georgianna had ever heard it. “Tell us. Maybe we can help.”
Si looked to Wrench, and for a moment the knife came away from Jaid’s throat allowing her to gulp in large breaths until sobs overtook her, choking. He hesitated, the knife hovering an inch away from Jaid’s neck as he watched Wrench suspiciously.
“No help,” he muttered, shaking his head. “No help. No one to know.”
“Si, you’re hurt,” Georgianna urged. “Let me help you. You’ll feel so much better. Please, just… just give me the knife so I can help you.”
Si’s reaction was instant. He leapt back away from them, swiping the knife fruitlessly.
Keiran and Wrench didn’t wait any longer. They surged forward past Georgianna, past Jaid, towards Si and the knife. As soon as they were past Jaid, Georgianna reached forward and tugged Jaid from the bed. Jaid let out a choking sob and buried her face against Georgianna’s shoulder, holding herself tightly against her.
Si let out an angry scream, slashing the knife as Keiran and Wrench closed in. Keiran swore loudly, his hand coming to his arm as blood sprayed across the floor of the car. Georgianna choked back a cry and hugged Jaid all the tighter. Wrench and Keiran wrestled Si to the ground with a heavy thump, the knife clattering away underneath one of the beds.
It took another few minutes for Wrench and Keiran to secure Si, Wrench kneeling across Si’
s shins and Keiran pinning his arms above his head. Keiran was still bleeding, blood dribbling down his arm and soaking through his shirt from a slice near his elbow.
Georgianna let go of Jaid, handing her a cloth to wipe off her face as she placed a small dressing against the cut underneath her jaw. Jaid gave a weak smile and held the dressing in place for a moment before pulling it away to check how bad the injury was. From the look of it, it had stopped bleeding already; it would probably just sting for a day or so.
They didn’t use the restraints often as there was rarely a need for them. Georgianna couldn’t remember the last time she’d used them, though she knew exactly which box to open to find the long ropes. Jaid took one of them, helping Wrench to attach the cuffs around Si’s ankles, tears sliding down her cheeks throughout. Keiran held Si’s hands in place as Georgianna attached the cuffs around his wrists. Keiran let out a huff and rubbed the slash in his arm once he’d secured the ropes to the bed.
Grabbing up a larger dressing from one of the crates, Georgianna moved to Keiran, slipping the dressing through his cut shirt onto the wound and holding it in place with a bandage wrapped tightly around his arm. He might need a stitch or two, but she’d be able to look at it more closely once they’d calmed Si down and treated his burns.
“No!” Si screeched, tugging against his bonds. “No, Alec! Got to get Alec!”
Georgianna froze. Her fingers remained tangled in the bandage around Keiran’s arm where she’d been trying to tuck the end underneath. Her gaze shot to meet Jaid’s. Jaid looked back at her, confused. Georgianna looked away.
“What?”
“Get off me!”
Si pulled at the bonds, rocking his hips one way to the other in an attempt to throw Wrench off him. It was no use, the bonds holding him down were strong enough as it was without the fact Si had been out in the sun for three days, probably without much to eat or drink.
“Get Alec! He’ll tell you! He’ll tell you they sold me out!”
A pain tightened in her chest as she held back a dry sob. She’d fought so hard to forget, and now here Si was, bringing him up like he would walk through the door any minute.
Georgianna didn’t know what to do. She knew that there was no chance of giving Si what he wanted. She returned to her bag, opening it up and taking out a couple of small cloth bags, opening each until she found the ones she needed. She took out a pale yellow pill and dropped the rest of the packets. Moving to stand next to Keiran, she looked down at Si.
“Si, I need to give you a pill. It’s medicine, it’ll help,” she told him softly. “We’ll sort your burns and I’ll send these guys to get Alec for you, alright?”
Her voice cracked around his name.
Si looked at the pill in her hand and shook his head violently, his cheeks slapping against his arms. Keiran frowned at her for a moment, questions in his gaze that he didn’t put voice to. He shook his head, moving forward and grasping Si’s chin, prising his mouth open. Si’s protests slipped into an unintelligible gurgle of sounds as he struggled against Keiran’s hold.
Georgianna dropped the pill into Si’s mouth and pinched his nose hard as Keiran let Si close his mouth, holding his hand over it until he saw the motion of swallowing move down Si’s throat. Si began coughing, shaking his head again. Grabbing up a cantina of water, Georgianna returned to Si, placing the spout near the man’s lips.
“Water, Si,” she said.
Si reluctantly accepted the water, gulping down a half-dozen mouthfuls before he began spluttering and Georgianna pulled the cantina back, screwing the lid in place. There was nothing to do but wait and sure enough, within minutes Si had begun to relax.
“You’ll get Alec,” he murmured. “Get Alec, he’ll tell you.”
Leaning over Si, Georgianna nodded.
“We will, Si. We’ll get Alec. He’ll be here.”
She felt horrible lying to him, but she could see no other way out. Whatever had happened to Si, the sun had made him delusional. Maybe, for the moment, it was better to play on his delusions and keep him calm than to tell him the truth and risk his anger.
Georgianna checked that Jaid was okay before they set to work. She was definitely shaken, and Georgianna couldn’t imagine the pain the other woman felt knowing that her husband believed her to have sold him out in some way, but Jaid was a hard worker, and quickly assured Georgianna that she was fine before setting about treating the burns on Si’s arms.
“Jaid, do you know what happened?” Wrench asked, taking a seat on the bed opposite.
Jaid shook her head, glancing over towards Wrench for a moment before turning her attention back to her husband. She collected up some dressings and placed them next to her before grabbing a jar of pale blue powder and pouring a large amount into a clay bowl.
“Every ten days or so, Si goes off on some job the marshall gives him,” she explained. “He won’t tell me where it is or what he’s doing, just that it’s really important. The last time he came back, he said he had some great news and he had to tell the marshall straight away.”
“What was it?” Keiran asked, looking up from where he’d been peeking underneath the dressing around his arm.
“He wouldn’t say,” Jaid answered. “He said it could change things, but he needed more time and information before he would know for sure.”
“So, what changed?” Georgianna asked.
“I don’t know. He went off that evening and everything seemed fine. When he wasn’t back, I just assumed he had other jobs. Wrench and I went around to check for him when I got off shift in the morning when you showed up, George, but we couldn’t find him. And then… that night Marshall Casey came down asking if I’d seen him, saying he hadn’t shown up for his duties nor checked in with him.”
Georgianna glanced at Wrench. He’d told Beck about Si not showing up. Had Beck known where Si was all along? Surely he would have known where to send people looking for him?
“When nobody had seen him, I began to panic. I found him in one of the northern tunnels, rambling to himself.”
Jaid took the cantina Georgianna had used to give Si water and poured a small amount into the powder. Returning the cantina, she began stirring the mixture into a thick paste which would be used to take the heat from Si’s burns.
“Saying?”
Georgianna glanced at Keiran. He was watching Jaid curiously but his gaze kept flickering to Si’s face. Si wasn’t one of the Belsa under Keiran’s command, but Georgianna could only assume he was curious as to this special job and why he hadn’t been told about it.
“Something about taking them down,” Jaid answered, brushing the back of her hand across her eyes. “That taking them down would give us an opening.”
“Take what down? The Adveni?” Wrench asked.
“I don’t know, I don’t think so, or at least it didn’t sound like it. It sounded, the way he was muttering about it, like something that would help against the Adveni, a target to destroy.”
“He didn’t say anything else?”
Jaid frowned and shook her head.
“That was when he started claiming I sold him out. He was so angry I barely got him back to the Way.”
“And Alec?” Wrench asked.
“Belsa,” Keiran explained. “Alec Cartwright.”
Wrench rubbed the back of his thick neck, glancing at Si.
Georgianna shook her head and stepped over to Jaid.
“It’ll be okay. He’ll be calmer when he wakes up,” Georgianna assured her.
Jaid glanced at Georgianna, a sadness in her eyes that showed she already knew how much damage had been done. There were no medicines they knew of to reverse completely the effects that being left out in the mid-heat sun could have on a person.
“I know,” Jaid whispered, putting down the bowl. Leaning down, she kissed her husband’s forehead, her lips lingering against his raw skin.
“But he’ll never be my Si again.”
Georgianna had been right to some exten
t. After waking up from the sedative, with his burns treated and having got some relief, Si was much calmer than he had been before. However, he was still muttering to himself when Beck came down to the Way to check on how things were going.
“You mind giving me a moment?” he asked, glancing around at the different faces in the small car.
They trooped from the car, all except Keiran moving a dozen steps or so away from the opening. Keiran stayed next to the metal shell, his expression twisted in curiosity. Jaid shifted her weight anxiously back and forth between her feet, and when the marshall appeared at the opening, she was the first to leap forward toward the car. She didn’t pause to speak to Beck as she pulled herself past him, vanishing inside.
“Anything?” Keiran asked.
Beck shook his head and jumped down.
“Nothing helpful,” he answered. “Maybe after a couple of days, once he’s settled, he’ll be more forthcoming.”
“So he stays here?”
Glancing into the car again, Beck nodded.
“I’ll station someone at the end of the Way. With the other end blocked, there won’t be anywhere for him to go.”
Georgianna clambered into the car whilst Beck ushered Keiran and Wrench a little further down the tunnel.
Si kept on muttering about Alec, asking where his friend was, and Georgianna could only continue with the lie, telling Si that Alec was out on orders from Beck, but he’d be back soon.
She felt awful about it. Si was her colleague’s husband, she didn’t want to lie to him any more than she would have her own friends. While she knew that it was better to tell the truth, the truth would only hurt him. Georgianna had asked Jaid about it, but she’d agreed: until Si was better, they wouldn’t tell him anything.
Georgianna had stitched the gash on Keiran’s arm before bandaging it again. It hadn’t been long before he and Wrench both had to get back on duty, leaving Jaid and Georgianna to watch over Si for the rest of the day. Georgianna knew she could have left, that Si would be more than safe in Jaid’s capable and loving hands, but she didn’t want to leave the woman alone, not when she knew there was a chance Jaid might need someone to talk to.
