CHAPTER 21
l don’t know how long l’ve been
out, but a thump jerks me out of a fitful sleep.
My heart thuds as I
take stock of my surroundings: cots, cupboards, various bits of
equipment. Right. Med Bay, Emry Station. I
find Vel at the workstation, zipping through files that mean
nothing to me.
“Did you hear
that?”
“Yes,” he answers. “I
am trying to get external cameras online, but it is not working. I
have no idea who—or what— is out there. And I cannot seem to open
the door.” He pauses with certain ironic inflection. “Dr.
Solaith.”
“Yeah, well.” I roll
off the narrow bed, feeling somewhat better.
Jax? Open the door, baby. It’s me. I’m all
right.
A rush of relief
nearly deposits me on the floor. I didn’t realize how scared I was
until this moment. This silence might have lasted forever. Even as
I go to the terminal to deactivate the quarantine, my knees still
feel weak.
“Saul Solaith,” I
tell the computer. “Requesting override. Access to medical facility
now permitted.”
Vel cocks his head at
me. “Are you sure?”
I don’t answer.
Instead I turn toward the door and key it open to find March there
with a small body in his arms. Jael stands a few paces behind, and
they both look as though they’ve been to hell and back. I have no
idea how he knew I’d be here, but I’m so happy to see him—
“You dick!” Not the
first words I thought to speak, but it’s what comes out. “I can’t
believe you worried me like that. Thoughtless asshole.”
March shakes his
head. “I’ll explain later. Right now, I need to help her.”
That’s when I notice
the child’s chest rising and falling. They managed to save someone?
A miracle. March heads straight for the
med-bot. After he programs it, the droid goes to work on the girl.
The tiny little thing can’t be more than four years old. At
present, she’s dirty, her hair matted with webs. I can’t tell
anything else. Maybe Surge and Kora will foster her.
“March found her.”
Jael sounds as if he’s been strangled. He drops down heavily on the
cot I just vacated. “Weirdest fragging thing I ever saw. We went
through the vents for hours. He’d stop and listen, and then go on
again, like he was homing in on her somehow.”
Yes. That’s exactly what he was doing. And why he
couldn’t touch base with me. If he stopped focusing on her
thoughts, even for an instant, he might’ve lost her. He couldn’t
take that risk, particularly not to reassure me. Sure, I was scared
shitless, but I was safe, unlike this poor girl. Once again, March
proves he’s a bona fide hero. My anger melts away.
“They cocooned her,
but the eggs hadn’t hatched yet,” March says then. “She’s
terrified, dehydrated, and malnourished. Can’t imagine what it was
like for her.”
Vel studies me for a
moment. Once he has some time to reflect, he’s going to put the
pieces together about March’s ability. I just don’t know what he’ll
do about it.
“I’ve been studying
the station grid,” the bounty hunter says. “And I’m going to the
sys-control room. I’ll open the interior docking door and purge the
vents. Then I’ll head back to the ship. We’ll bounce a message
out.”
“Are you sure you’re
strong enough? Do you need me to go with you?” Just a few hours
ago, he passed out on me. But maybe the synth-blood he received
provided more of a boost than I realized.
“I can handle this,”
Vel assures me. With that, he slips out.
Jael has closed his
eyes. He seems inert until his lips curve into a faint smile. “This
is the first crew that ever made me feel
normal. Thanks.”
That doesn’t seem to
require a response, so I cross to March’s side. He watches the
little girl with pained tenderness. I get the feeling he doesn’t
really see her at this moment. He’s picturing all the people he
failed to save. I fucking hate that expression, so grim and bleak.
It hurts me just looking at him.
“Is she going to be
all right?”
He shrugs. “She has a
shot now. That’s more than she had before.”
“Good work out there
today.” That seems to register where nothing else has.
“Thanks. You, too.
You did exactly as I hoped you would. You got Vel medical attention
and kept safe.”
“You scared the shit
out of me,” I admit, low.
March turns to me
then and pulls me into his arms. I drop my head onto his chest,
even though he’s covered in dried blood. “I know. I took my turn,
trust me. You must’ve been asleep when I started trying to find you
again, Jax. It was like . . .” He pauses, and I know he’s thinking
of when Vel took me. When he thought I was dead. “I’m sorry I put
you through that, but I couldn’t—”
“I know,” I say
softly. “I just thought, well, I was afraid—”
“You didn’t let me
down.”
“Do you two ever
finish your own sentences?” Jael asks.
Shit, I forgot he is
here. If he didn’t look so beat-up, I’d hit him. “Rarely.”
I expect him to make
some wisecrack, but he merely says, perhaps a touch wistfully,
“Must be nice.”
“It has its moments.
I’m going to clean up, Jax. Keep an eye on things for me.” He means
the girl.
I nod. “Of
course.”
Within a few moments,
I hear the san-shower kick in. Until he went quiet, I didn’t
realize how much I’d come to count on his presence, wandering in
and out of my head. Maybe that sounds crazy, but for a jumper, it’s
almost commonplace. I’m used to sharing mind-space.
Time to take a look at our patient. The med-bot
hasn’t noted any problems with her vitals. I suspect she received
some of the sedative saliva before going in the cocoon. I hope it
doesn’t have any lasting detrimental effects on the nervous system
or cognitive functions.
Dammit. At this
point, I’m considering a crash course in medicine. I search through
the database for information. I don’t find anything about the
residual effects of the saliva, though, probably because the Morgut
tend to digest the evidence.
“Why do you have a
Bug with you?”
In a way, I’m glad
Jael chooses to ask about Vel. I’d lie for March, just not sure how
well. “He’s the bounty hunter the Corp
hired to track me down when they were trying to pin the Sargasso crash on me. Fortunately, Vel respects the
truth more than a payday. Plus they pissed him off when they tried
to fry him.”
“I guess that would
do it,” he agrees without opening his eyes. “It was rough up there.
They snapped us up in a web, pulled us into the ducts, but March
still had the blade in hand, so we cut our way out.”
“There were more?”
I’m not sure if I really want to know.
“We killed six up
top,” he says.
“You’re a lot tougher
than you look.” Duh. I pulled something out of his gut and
felt him heal. That may be the stupidest
thing I’ve ever said.
His mouth curves into
a half smile. “So are you.” Jael cracks his eyes open to study me.
For the first time I notice they’re a pale, icy blue, like frozen
rivers in the Teresengi Basin. “I figured you’d freak when we
vanished, but March said no.” He hesitates. “I’ve run with some
tough bitches in my day, fought under a couple who were scarier
than any men I’ve met, but they were mercs. I’ve never known a
civchick to handle herself like you did. You were cool, Jax, dead
cool.”
Is that a compliment?
“I’m not at the top of my game right now.”
His eyes drift
closed. “You should let the bot take a look.”
As I consider that,
the workstation beeps, indicating an incoming transmission. To my
surprise, when I accept the message, I find Vel’s face on-screen.
“I got the comm channel back online, and I’ve sent a message to
Chancellor Tarn, explaining the delay to our mission. He’s promised
to get a cleanup crew out here as soon as possible.” Vel pauses.
“His exact words were: ‘What the devil are you doing at Emry
Station! You’re weeks off course!’ He doesn’t seem overly impressed
with our heroism, Sirantha.”
I snort. “He
wouldn’t.” The man’s a politician. They don’t give a shit about the
welfare of individuals, only electoral points and obscure polls. A
thought occurs to me. “Hey, if he cans me, would you serve with
another ambassador, Vel?”
The bounty hunter
considers. “No. From our past dealings, I know you are honest, and
I could not bring such assurance to my kinsmen about another
candidate.”
“I guess that makes
me uniquely qualified, doesn’t it?” Talk about job
security.
“It would seem so.
Everything all right there?”
I nod. “We may as
well choose quarters and get comfortable. It looks like we’re going
to be here awhile. Did you get in touch with Dina?”
“Affirmative. The
purge is complete as well. Emry should be secure now.”
March steps around
the partition, looking damp and battered, but inexpressibly dear.
“Much better. How’s our girl?”
“Still sleeping. How
do you feel about station life?”
He cocks a brow at
me. “It tends to be slow and boring. Why?”
“Because we’re in
charge until the cleanup crew arrives.”
Jael and March swear
in unison.
