“Your own Council may feel otherwise after we have our say,” she said confidently.
“That remains to be seen,” the Captain replied sharply. “Until then, your actions against the Interface and against innocent civilians are still regarded as terrorist activities, and you and your companion will be processed accordingly.”
Sinza replied hotly, “And as I said before, we are not terrorists, and we didn’t attack any structures or civilians. Our actions against the Interface were an attempt to benefit every man, woman, and child in this world, as well as our own. When the inevitable happens, and you and your associates are shown to have done nothing, our actions will be vindicated. But of course, that would be small consolation, if both our worlds are conquered.”
“We’ve got company sir,” Salvador Means called out, interrupting the argument.
“What is it, Corporal?” Captain Asamodai asked tightly.
The young man touched his earpiece.
“It’s Sergeant Briggs and his men, sir. They made it back and are passing through our perimeter as we speak.”
The tattooed officer nodded. “Excellent! Sergeant Chun?”
“Yes, sir?” Hanzoh answered.
“Are you prepared to receive Specialist Hull?”
“Recharged and ready sir. I’ll get him back on track.”
The door burst open, and in rushed the remaining scout patrol, with Sergeant Major Cyrus Briggs and Walter Boyd holding a pale and nearly unconscious Nathan Hull between them.
“Sergeant Chun,” Briggs began. “Something happened to Hull as we made our way back. We had him stabilized for travel and he seemed to be fine when we first set out, but over time he began to sweat profusely and grow pale right before our eyes.”
“Set him down over here,” Hanzoh said, directing the men to set Hull face down on a nearby work table. The tall man groaned weakly as his body settled upon the rough surface.
Everyone in the large storeroom watched them with interest. Galicia Hawks, in particular, focused her attention on Hanzoh as he prepared himself to work. The Aeternus Initiator took a cleansing breath before activating his special glasses. Tapping on his virtual keyboard, he released a small stream of CCE and readied his healing sequence. First, he delved into the man’s internal organs using a process that a layman would probably describe as x-ray vision. Hanzoh could clearly see the knife wound, and the path the sharp metal had traveled into the Specialist’s body. The blade had traveled through the muscles in his back and sliced a tiny groove on one of the vertebrae as it passed. An inch or so to the left and the spine would have been severely damaged, leaving the Specialist paralyzed. Hull had been very lucky.
Expanding his vision, the sergeant suddenly gasped. Hull was bleeding internally from multiple areas, and the blood had begun to pool inside of his body. His right kidney was an even bigger problem. The small organ had been nearly severed in two by the knife stroke, leaking impurities into his system, causing his condition to deteriorate. The Specialist was also going into shock, complicating matters further.
Sergeant Chun had treated field injuries before in his time, but most of those were either minor or involving a single major problem. He certainly wasn’t prepared for this. Still, he had to act soon before Hull’s condition declined further. Tapping the air in front of him, he sent his power into the man in an effort to staunch the bleeding. Nervous sweat broke out on Hanzoh’s brow as he concentrated on repairing the severed arteries and capillaries. He soon realized that attempting to hold back the flow of blood while knitting tissue at the same time was not an easy task. It didn’t help that the damaged kidney was oozing toxins into Hull’s system at the same time.
Galicia, meanwhile, watched intently as the Aeternus officer worked. Even though she was bereft of her special eyewear, it didn’t take a genius to see that he was clearly having difficulties. One long look at the patient told her instinctively that unless he worked quickly, they would lose him.
She made a decision and walked over to where the two white-haired soldiers were standing. Then Galicia pointed to Hanzoh as she spoke.
“Your soldier’s injuries are serious, and it is obvious that your Initiator is being overwhelmed by their sheer magnitude. Without help, he will not succeed, and your man will die. If you give me back my Visor and allow me to recharge my Initiator powers, I can help him save your man.”
Lieutenant Gavrael was all for it, and his desire shone on his face like a beacon. Asamodai however, had other ideas.
“Negative,” he said. “While I applaud your ingenuity, I can see through your thinly veiled attempt to escape our custody.”
“I‘m not trying to escape,” Galicia replied firmly. “I’m trying to save a life!”
“Is that so? Forgive me for being skeptical of the intentions of a known terrorist,” the Aeternus Captain countered cynically.
While the two argued, Gavrael walked over to his aide’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“How are you doing, Hanz?” he asked with concern.
“Do you want the honest answer?” Hanzoh replied with a touch of frustration. “I’m doing my best Gav, but I’m afraid it’s not good enough. Hull has a severely lacerated kidney and has suffered massive internal bleeding. It’s all I can do to slow the process down. I’m a specialist in emergency first aid Gav, not a Medic, and Hull needs a Medic. ”
“What if you had help?” Gavrael inquired.
“You mean Galicia? Definitely! If she could even slow down the bleeding, I’d have room to start knitting tissue and repair the damage to his body. Is she willing?”
“She is, but Asamodai is dead set against the idea.”
Hanzoh wiped a glaze of sweat from his forehead, before turning to look his friend and superior in the eye.
“You’ve got to get him to change his mind, Gav,” he said with finality, “or Hull is a dead man.”
The white-haired officer read the urgency on his friend’s face and sighed heavily. This was going to be difficult. Asamodai, while being a good man, was known to have a very large streak of stubbornness, especially once he had made a decision. That was made even more evident by the mocking tone he heard in the officer’s raised voice, as he refused to give the woman his consent. It was going to take some doing to change his mind. Squaring his shoulders, Gavrael strode with purpose over to where Asamodai and Galicia were arguing and confronted his superior.
“Hanzoh says he can not do this alone, Captain,” he began. “There is too much internal damage for him to fix by himself. He is convinced that he can heal Specialist Hull with her help. I know this goes against your way of thinking, but the fact is, we need Galicia Hawks.”
“Are you sure about that Lieutenant? “ Asamodai asked sternly. “I doubt putting one of my men in the hands of a terrorist is an acceptable risk. There must be another way.”
Gavrael shook his head firmly.
“There are no other alternatives Asa. Time is against us, and we lack qualified medical personnel. Without her help, you condemn Hull to a slow and certain death.”
Asamodai’s expression was one of genuine frustration. He didn’t want to allow the terrorist to recharge her powers, but there was Hull to consider. He also knew Hanzoh’s limitations, and while he was a good man, he was not a trained Medic. The woman however was. He had read her dossier, and in addition to her other talents with energy manipulation, her medical skills were considerable.
“Damn it all!” he spat.
He had already lost too many men. He didn’t want to risk losing another. He was stuck, and the expediency of the situation forced his hand.
“Alright Lieutenant, you win. Here is her Visor. Take the woman and get her recharged, but only enough to get Nathan patched up. Also, I want her under guard at all times. Assign three men to the detail and spread them out. If she as much as sends one wisp of power toward anyone other than Hull, I want her shot on sight! Do I make myself clear?”
“Understood sir!”
“Then get to it, Lieutenant!”
Wasting no time, Gavrael grabbed three SpecOps soldiers, Jace Avant, Dietrich Goethe and Cole Jaxon, and charged them with Asamodai’s orders. Then he took Galicia by the arm and led her over to the makeshift Recharge station that Hanzoh had restored, and allowed her to reenergize her Initiator powers. The young woman donned her Visor which Gavrael had returned, switched it on, and pressed a few keys on her virtual keyboard to tap into the power source. Her coloring improved dramatically as her body drank in the raw energy from the conduit. While she recharged, the three men moved to various locations within the cavernous room and trained their weapons on the female Initiator.
Galicia once again experienced the feeling of being enveloped in the comforting sensation of warm blankets and cocoa, as she absorbed more and more of the power from the energy conduit. Every molecule of her body seemed to wake up in response and began to soak it up like miniature sponges. The desire to take the power in as quickly as possible was almost overwhelming, but after an admonishment about the risk of detection from the Lieutenant, she willed herself into control.
“That’s right,” he said cautiously. “Slow and steady as you can.”
Two minutes later, the Initiator from the Carbon World began to feel more like her old self again and powered off her recharge.
“I went as quickly as I dared,” she said to Gavrael. “Thank you. Now let’s see if I can save your friend.”
The young woman made her way over to the injured man on the table, followed by the two Aeternus officers. She positioned herself next to the struggling Sergeant who was ministering to him. The three soldiers charged by Gavrael kept their weapons trained on the female Initiator, watching for any errant actions. Standing further back, Cyrus Briggs and Walter Boyd were scrutinizing her every move. Both men’s faces reflected a deep concern for their comrade. Using her abilities, Galicia reached out with her mind and could see inside the injured man’s body. After several moments of assessment, she addressed Gavrael’s aide.
“You’re Hanzoh, right?” she asked tentatively, attempting to make a friendly connection with the man, which she already knew well by reputation.
“Yeah, that’s me,” the Sergeant grunted under his exertions.
“I watched you, and you’ve done a great job of keeping him alive so far,” she conceded. “I’m here to help you now if you don’t mind.”
Hanzoh responded at once. “Mind?” he asked. “Hell no, I don’t mind! I’m just grateful for the help.”
“Good,” she smiled. “I have expertise in this type of treatment. With your permission, if you hold back the bleeding, I will do the knitting.”
“He’s all yours,” Hanzoh replied with relief.
He tapped his virtual keyboard and directed energy to block the errant blood flow, as Galicia settled in next to him. Concentrating on Hull’s nearly severed kidney, she sent her power flowing into it. With precision, she cleaned out the damage, removing several large kidney stones in the process. Using her energy like a small net, she surrounded the impurities and broke them down into liquid form, where they could be eliminated by his body’s normal waste processes. Satisfied, she set about the task of knitting together the tissues of the damaged organ.
Were a normal person able to observe the process, they would be astounded to see what looked to be kidney tissue suddenly growing from out of nowhere. In actuality, Galicia Hawks was systematically drawing the major arteries together one by one and knitting them closed. Once that was done, she focused on the capillaries and sealed them together as well. Finished, she guided Nathan Hull’s body into healing itself naturally by stimulating its ability to bind the damaged tissue together, and then used her Initiator powers to accelerate the process. As the moments went by, the small organ gradually became more whole, until finally, it looked like it had never been damaged at all. She did the same with the muscles and tissue that the Draconian blade had passed through, even taking time out to smooth the small notch in Hull’s vertebrae, before sealing the wound closed.
With the pressure of maintaining a barrier no longer necessary, Hanzoh was free to retrieve the errant blood, cleanse it and direct the fluid back into the normal bloodstream on a microscopic level. Once finished, he gently stimulated the Specialist’s circulatory system, settling it back into its proper pattern. Working together, the two Initiators explored the rest of the injured man’s body, checking for anything they may have overlooked. Finding nothing else out of place, they infused Hull with their power to give him strength. Immediately, the grey cast on his face brightened, as if the dark clouds of death that surrounded him had fled with the approach of the sunlight of life. A sigh escaped the Specialist’s lips as his eyes slowly opened.
“Was I asleep?” Hull asked groggily.
Immediately Walter Boyd shouldered past the two healers, to stand within his field of vision.
“Yeah you were sleeping, asshole,” he growled with mock anger.
“As always, while the rest of us were bustin’ our butts, you’re laying around on your back like an Arena courtesan.”
When Nathan’s eyes went wide with the possibility that he might have done something wrong, the large Specialist quickly put a hand on his shoulder and smiled soberly.
“You were hurt bad Nate. We thought you were a goner.”
“How do you feel Nathan?” Sergeant Briggs asked, stepping forward.
Hull struggled to get into a sitting position, leaning on his two companions while swinging his legs off the table. Once comfortable, he did a self-assessment.
“Well Sarge, other than feeling like I just ran twenty miles, I’m fine.”
As the three men conferred together, Hanzoh Chun and Galicia Hawks made their way over to the Aeternus officers, as a roar of laughter erupted from Boyd. The other special ops soldiers who witnessed the outcome clapped the two fatigued Initiators on their backs or responded with words of appreciation and thanks as they passed by. Even the three men who were charged with guarding the woman came close enough to her to nod their approval.
“Hull’s fine now,” Hanzoh began, once they stood before his superiors. “Thanks to Miss Hawks, that is. Her skills as a Medic are outstanding!”
“He needs rest and food,” Galicia chimed in. “He’ll be pretty weak for the next day or so, but he should make a full recovery.”
“Excellent work,” Captain Asamodai said, as he nodded to the sergeant.
Turning toward Galicia, he held out his right hand palm up while tapping towards his temple with his left. Reluctantly, Galicia removed her Visor and handed it back to him. Asamodai eyed the woman for a long moment. He was clearly having difficulty reconciling the fact that a terrorist had saved one of his men, but he recognized that she could be a valuable asset. Caution was still warranted, however.
“Thank you for your help,” he said reluctantly. “Aeternus is grateful for your assistance, and your actions will be taken into consideration once you are processed. How soon will he be able to travel?”
Galicia chafed under Asamodai’s continued suspicion, but she tried not to let it be heard in her voice as she responded.
“He needs at least 48 hours to rest and recover from the Healing.”
The Captain made a cutting gesture.
“Out of the question! We can’t wait that long, otherwise, we might as well give ourselves up to the Dracs right now. I need this soldier to be able to travel in two hours.”
“Are you daft?” Galicia exclaimed. “I just saved your man’s life. Are you trying to kill him again?”
Hanzoh interjected, “Sir, she is right. He needs food and rest, and two hours won’t cut it. However, we also are at risk of discovery from her recharging so quickly at the energy conduit. No doubt a spike registered on their monitors, and sooner or later they’ll send a team out to investigate. I know you’ll want Hull to suck it up and push himself, and he’ll do it because that’s the kind of soldier he is. Be advised, however, under continued exertio
n, he’ll pass out from exhaustion after fifteen minutes or so. He may even lapse into another coma.”
“Dammit man,” the tattooed commander growled. “Listen to me. I have to consider the safety of everyone here. I may seem like an unfeeling bastard, but the fact is we’re in Draconian controlled territory, and we need to move from here ASAP. Every minute we delay means a greater opportunity for them to spot us. Hell, I’m being generous allowing Hull two hours rest!”
He turned to Lieutenant Gavrael.
“Options?”
It was more an order than a request.
“Depending on his condition once we move out,” his subordinate thought aloud. “I suppose we can have him walk between two men who can shoulder him if need be…perhaps make a litter for him if he gets too weak…”
“Briggs and Boyd, yes,” Asamodai mused. “Go on.”
“We need to get him fortified as much as possible, and in the quickest way time will allow.”
“I can give him something to relax him into sleep,” Hanzoh interjected.
“Sergeant, how long do we have before the spike in power is detected?”
“Probably two hours or so,” he admitted. “Their response is a different matter. If they regard it as a curiosity, they’ll send a maintenance crew out whenever they get around to it. However, if someone smart enough puts two and two together…”
The white-haired captain nodded knowingly.
“We can expect a swift military response. Alright, feed the man with as many DuMor’s as he’ll eat, then make him eat one more. When he’s done, put him out. We’ll wait as long as we dare, but no longer. Thank you for your input gentlemen.”
Gavrael and Hanzoh moved off immediately to follow the captain’s orders. Seeing that she was no longer needed, and had in fact been ignored over the last few moments, Galicia Hawks turned away and made her way back to her sister and the other two women. Lil Doro almost bounded into her arms as she greeted her.
Hawks Effect_Dangerous Reunion Page 12
