by JC Cassels
“You’re going to spoil him if you keep that up, Marissa,” Chase said.
Bo looked over her shoulder. Stress and fear had carved deep lines into his face. He looked far older than he had in the mess tent… Had that only been this morning?
Chase folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his seat. “My brother will do anything for attention. Don’t you know he’s faking this whole thing?”
“Is he?” she said, her tone lighter than she felt. “Well, I knew he was a good actor. I didn’t realize he was this good.”
Bo turned her attention back to Blade who tried another smile. The painkillers must be kicking in.
“I have to say you’ve had me fooled. Too bad there aren’t any holocams around. You’d win an award for this performance for sure. Maybe Chase is right and I need to quit coddling you.”
Blade closed his eyes again. His chest heaved with a small sigh. Bo’s forced amusement faded and she looked to the monitors for reassurance.
“It’s alright,” the medic said. “He’s resting. He’s stable and strong. If we had any doubts about his condition we’d have put him into medical stasis for transport. The Hanira is kicking in. He’s finally getting a little relief from the pain.”
Bo nodded her understanding and looked to Blade once more. His eyes still closed, the hiss and click of the ventilator marked his even breathing. Tears welled in her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand. She closed her eyes and struggled to gain control of her fear.
Clothing rustled behind her. Chase’s strong arms went around her, pulling her close. Bo opened her eyes and looked up at him, only to see her own roiled emotions playing out on his features. A fierce gleam lit his eyes and he held himself so tightly in check Bo was afraid his bones would snap with the force of it. He shook his head at her.
“Not yet,” he said through clenched teeth. He gave her a little shake. “Do you hear me?”
Bo nodded her understanding.
“Not yet,” he repeated.
She drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Lifting her chin, she met his gaze squarely. “Not yet,” she said.
There would be time for breaking down later. With one last reassuring squeeze, Chase released her and resumed his seat. Through sheer force of will, Chase would keep his brother alive and well if it came down to it.
The shuttle docked with the medship and a hard-looking, square-jawed young man with dark hair met them at the airlock as the medical transport team pushed the gyrostretcher through the open hatch. His dark eyes flicked over Blade, dispassionately assessing his condition. He turned his scrutiny to Bo and his eyes narrowed before he dismissed her and offered his hand to Chase.
“Agent Ian Kendall,” he said. “First Sector IC. I’m here to ensure your brother’s safety.”
The two men shook hands then fell into step with the medical team rushing Blade through the passageway towards surgery.
“I appreciate your quick response, Agent Kendall,” Chase said. “Marissa said you’d get here fast, but I wasn’t expecting you to be this quick.”
“Marissa said that?” Kendall glanced back at Bo before dismissing her again. He returned his attention to Blade, the medical team, and Chase.
“I’m sorry,” Chase shook his head. “I’m Chase Fossey and she’s…”
“I’ve been briefed.” The IC Agent tried a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “I know you’re technically the next of kin, but I’m afraid because of his position with the IC, I’m going to be assuming responsibility for all decisions regarding his care.”
“The hell you are,” Chase said.
The medical team burst through the doors to the surgical suite and Kendall stopped Chase with a hand to his chest.
“This is as far as you’re authorized to go,” Kendall said. “There’s a lounge around the corner where you can wait.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Chase growled, knocking his hand away. “Not until we get this straight. I don’t know you. You’re not making any decisions for my brother.”
“I’m afraid it’s not up for debate,” Kendall said. “My orders come directly from Lord Marin. If you’ll excuse me…”
He turned towards the surgical suite, but Bo stepped in front of him.
“I’m sure what Agent Kendall meant to say was that while he is legally responsible for the decisions regarding Blade’s care, he won’t do anything without first consulting with you, Chase,” Bo said. “Isn’t that correct, Agent Kendall?”
Kendall shook his head and tried to step around Bo. “I don’t need this…”
“Tread carefully, Agent Kendall.” Though she smiled, her tone was low and dangerous. “Anything happens to that man in there and not even Lord Marin is going to save you from me. I’ll kill you myself and I’ll take my time about it. Copy?”
Agent Kendall’s eyes narrowed again as he studied her. He nodded. “I copy.” Without further comment, he stepped around her and disappeared into the surgical suite.
Bo started to follow him, but Chase took hold of her wrist and pulled her away.
“Come on,” he said, tugging her after him. “I don’t like it either, but it won’t do us any good if you get us kicked off the ship.”
Bo growled at the closed doors one last time.
“Why does Lord Marin care what happens to Dev?”
Bo sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “He always changes the subject when it comes up.” She stopped resisting Chase and let him lead her to the lounge.
It was a small, cramped room with too many uncomfortable chairs and too little ventilation. The décor hardly inspired confidence. The sticky plastiform seat cushions were an unnatural shade of yellow that reminded Bo of the bile she’d spewed earlier, shortly after she’d listened helplessly to Blade’s transmission from Biller Pass as he’d deliberately laid down his hovercycle. The memory sent her stomach into revolt and she closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her lips, willing her nausea into compliance. A thin sheen of perspiration dampened her upper lip before she regained control of herself.
Chase’s voice broke through her misery. “Are you alright?”
Opening her eyes, Bo found him studying her, his handsome features drawn with concern. She pressed her lips tightly together and nodded, still not trusting herself to speak.
“I’m worried, too,” Chase said, softly. “If you’re going to break down and cry, you’d better do it now where he can’t see or hear you. Not much gets to my brother, but he can’t hardly stand it when you cry. He told me so.”
Bo tried a smile, but her trembling lips fought her. “Who are you fooling? You don’t like to see me cry either.”
“No, but it’s not my heart you’re walking around with.”
Unable to hold still, Bo prowled the small room like a caged animal. Chase wasn’t much better. He tried sitting, standing, leaning, and sitting some more. Giving up, he shoved his hands in his pockets.
“I’m gonna go find some stim tea or something,” he said. “You want something?”
Bo shook her head. “Not unless you can find some Gallis Rye around here.”
A small smile touched his face. “Good one,” he said. “A Joy Babe drinking that stuff.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “I’ll see what I can find. Are you going to be alright?”
Nodding, Bo hugged herself, rubbing her arms to ward away the pervasive chill in the air. Without a word, Chase shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised.
Idly, Bo picked at the sponsor’s patch on his jacket, running her fingers along the Pintubo Racing logo. Like Blade’s racing leathers, Chase’s jacket bore slashes of white and black punctuated with strips of green and red in the team colors. She ran her fingers along the thick seams of the sturdy garment. She had never been very good at waiting. Her com-implant signaled an incoming transmission. Bo reached up and tapped the implant. “Edge?”
“Yeah, it’s me, brat,” her brother’s voice came over the device. “I’ve been monitoring the situation. This is the first time you’ve been by yourself since it happened.”
Bo closed her eyes as a warm wave of relief washed over her. “I was beginning to think I was completely alone in this.”
“You’re never completely alone, Bo. I’ve got some kind of sensors on you just about all the time when you’re off your ship unless you’re here on Altair.”
She smiled. “If anyone else told me that I’d think it was creepy.”
“Just call me an overprotective big brother,” he said.
“How is he?”
“His injuries are pretty bad, but he’s fighting. If that IC agent makes one wrong move, I’ve got a medical droid ready to dose him with enough tranq to drop a full-grown gantor. Heck, I may do it just for fun.”
Bo chuckled. Her anxieties unraveled, just a little.
“I don’t like you being so exposed up there,” Edge said. “It’s one thing when you’ve got Blade backing you up, but you’re minimally armed, hanging out in space, and you don’t have a lot of escape options. I’ll be watching the situation closely. The first sign of anything I don’t like, I’m scrambling Sundance and getting you out of there. If you need anything, just open a channel. Sundance is forwarding your com-implant directly to me.”
Bo nodded. “Good to know,” she said with a small smile. “Any news on Tese and Gena?”
Edge laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about them if I were you. You’re talking about two party girls at a testosterone-loaded event. I doubt they’ve noticed you’re not on the planet.”
“But still, I brought them. I’m responsible…”
“No, brat. You’re not responsible for them. They’re grown Kiara. They don’t need you or anyone else trying to take responsibility for them. Besides, they’re Aunt Misou’s headache, not yours.” He sighed. “We’ve got to clear your name before you try to take responsibility for the Commonwealth itself. You have an overdeveloped sense of duty, you know.”
Bo folded her arms across her chest and stared at the floor, suddenly feeling more than twice her age. “You’re not the only one who keeps telling me that,” she said, all humor fled at the thought of Blade.
“Hey, I’m plugged into every system in the surgical suite. He’s doing fine. It’s going to take some time because he’s pretty banged up but Lord Marin’s involvement has everyone jumping.”
Her head snapped up and she frowned. “Is Lord Marin really involved?”
“Yeah, I can’t get too many details on it, but this IC agent, Kendall, was already at the Catarrh with a team on direct orders from Marin.”
Bo considered that for a long moment. “Interesting.”
“I thought so, too,” Edge said. “Looks like Chase is on his way back. Remember, I’m just a click away.”
“Thanks, Edge.”
Bo tapped her com-implant again and it clicked off. She turned as Chase came through the door with a large insulated cup in each hand. He looked around, a slight frown on his face.
“You alone?”
She nodded.
“I thought I heard you talking to someone.” He handed one of the cups to her.
Bo smiled and shook her head. She ran her fingertip along the rim of the cup. “I was talking to myself…praying.”
Chase nodded and lifted his cup to his lips, then lowered it, untasted. “I’ve been doing a lot of that myself.” A distant look crept into his eyes as he stared at the open doorway. “Have you heard anything?”
Bo cleared her throat. “So far so good,” she said. “They expect he’s going to be in there a while, though.” She took a long drink of the stim tea.
She hated lying to him, but Blade was adamant about protecting his brother. The less Chase knew about his IC career and her real identity, the better. At least he could in all honesty deny that he knew she was a wanted traitor. She had no doubt Chase could be trusted with her secret, but Blade felt that the information would only make his brother vulnerable. The better she got to know Chase, the more she agreed with Blade’s assessment.
Hours dragged on without any word on Blade’s condition. Exhaustion finally took its toll, tempering Bo’s nervous energy and she dozed on Chase’s shoulder. She woke when the head of Blade’s medical team finally came into the lounge.
“Mister Fossey?”
Blinking away the last bit of sleep, Chase came to his feet. Bo was only a heartbeat behind him. His jacket slid off her shoulders and landed on the sofa with a whisper as she stood. She slipped her hand into his and hugged his arm to her.
“Yes,” Chase said. “Is there any news?”
“Agent Devon is in serious condition,” he said. “His injuries were quite extensive. I’m pleased with the way he’s come through surgery. He’s going to be in recovery for a while yet, and I’m afraid it’s going to take some time for him to completely heal from this. If he continues to respond well to treatment, he should be back to normal in a few seasons. I have high hopes for a full recovery.”
Bo sighed in relief. “Thank the Maker.”
“Can I see him?” Chase asked.
The doctor smiled and nodded. “As I said, he’s still in recovery, but I think you can come sit with him for a bit. But I’m afraid…”
“What?”
“Only you, sir.” The doctor said. “Agent Kendall has denied the lady access to the patient.”
Chase blinked hard and shook his head as if to clear it. “He did what?”
Bo’s hand tightened in his.
“Screw Agent Kendall. Which way to my brother?”
Bo drew a deep breath and let it out. She patted Chase’s arm. “It’s fine,” she said. “You go.”
“Marissa…”
Bo smiled. “Think how much faster he’ll improve, if only to put Agent Kendall in his place.”
“I’ll get this straightened out,” Chase said. “This isn’t right.”
“Let me worry about it. You go look after Dev.”
“I’m sorry, miss.”
With one last squeeze of her hand, Chase released her and followed the doctor out. Bo stared after them.
CHAPTER FIVE
Squaring her shoulders, Bo lifted her chin a notch and went in search of Agent Kendall. If she hadn’t been so overwrought and worried earlier, she might have noticed his odd reaction to her sooner.
He lay in wait for her outside recovery. He bared his teeth by way of a greeting.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, uncoiling from his chair. “Come with me.”
Her every sense on sudden alert, Bo glanced towards Blade’s door. No help from that quarter – not this time. She followed the agent into an empty treatment room. The door hissed shut behind them. He pulled a scrambler from his pocket and pointed it at the door.
“That should take care of any interruptions,” he said.
His lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach his dark eyes. He studied her with an unblinking, soulless stare. It sent a chill down her spine. She’d seen the same predatory look on Blade’s face plenty, but it had never been aimed at her.
Her brow furrowed. She felt like a cornered glumrat, just waiting for the felidaen to strike. She didn’t care for it. Her uncle Royce’s words echoed in her ear.
“Whenever you find yourself cornered, keep your head, show no fear, and don’t get defensive. A cool head will let you find your way out of any situation.”
Shrugging off Kendall’s attempted mind game, she circled the small room, placing the exam table between them. It wouldn’t exactly stop him from lunging for her, but it would certainly slow him down a little.
Incremental victories – she’d take them where she could get them.
“What’s this about, Agent Kendall?”
“I’ve had a team going over the crash site,” he said, slowly stalking her. “Devon’s hovercycle was sabotaged.”
Bo misstepped, her ankle wobbled on her high heeled shoe
.
He opened with a direct hit. She had to give him points for that.
“Sabotaged? Are you sure?”
“Very sure.” He paused and folded his arms across his chest.
The air crackled between them with unspoken tension. There was more to it. He was only waiting for her to respond, to make a mistake, before he went for the kill. The two of them stared at each other patiently. It was like trying to navigate a plasma storm with a damaged sensor array. One miscalculation and she’d fry.
Bo trailed her fingertips along the edge of the exam table. “You think I had something to do with it.”
He nodded. “The thought occurred to me.”
Bracing her fingertips on the exam table, she faced him squarely. “Why would I want to hurt Blade?”
“That’s a good question,” he said. “Why?”
“We’ve been together for two years,” she said. “I’ve had plenty of opportunity. Why now?”
“You tell me.”
Bo shook her head. “I can’t think of a reason…but obviously, you have.”
She lifted her eyebrow expectantly. When he didn’t reply, she took a few tentative steps around the table, but halted when he didn’t move.
Bo glanced towards the sealed door. Her chances of getting through it before he caught her were nil. On her person she had two compact throwing knives, one stinger and a pair of stiletto heels she could use as a weapon in a pinch. He outweighed her by a factor of two, was likely armed to the teeth and probably ate sparring partners for breakfast. The direct approach wouldn’t get her anywhere. That only left her wits.
She was screwed.
Wait a minute.
Edge!
Bo reached up and tapped the com-implant behind her ear. The actuator clicked and hummed. She silently prayed that her brother would be true to his word and was monitoring her com signal.
Forcing herself to relax, she gave a throaty laugh and canted her head at him. “Really, Agent Kendall?” She looked him over and smiled. “You don’t strike me as a man prone to flights of fancy.”
“It’s not fancy, Commander.”
Another direct hit, this time square in her solar plexus. This guy was good – scary good.