“Please don’t. If you tell him now he may go into a catatonic shock at thinking he murdered someone as he was starting to do when I stopped you, we will all die because he will not only not be able to help but we will have to take care of him.” Jack grimaced. “I am sorry I did that to you but you must wait until we are out of this mess if you must ruin the rest of his life with the guilt and shame simply because you are to week to bear the burden.”
“I must tell him some day but it can wait while I help you.” Though she was not so sure anymore. She had not realized that the truth could ruin the rest of his life. She was going to have to think about that.
Jack looked at her. “Good though I don’t see how you can help me right now.”
Pan let go of Jack and backed up a couple of steps and the pain and suffering flooded back over him again. She stood there for a few seconds as Commander Glenn looked back through the hatch at them baffled at the delay. Then Pan stepped back and put her arm around Jack and the flood fell to a trickle. “We Dumonts with concentration can bend feelings enough over an area to calm people and crowds. Make them feel comfortable, peaceful and get their full attention to stop riots and make giving them orders easier. To influence the basic primitive part of their minds. We cannot stop, make or even tell anyone to do anything on a higher level. I can sooth but I must use my training and skills as an Overseer to argue, cajole and reason with those I command to accomplish anything. Right now I am projecting soothing feelings onto you to counter act all the pain and suffering around us. I cannot tell anyone that they are not in pain. I cannot direct their minds that are concentrating on their pain elsewhere to lessen their perceived pain but you can I believe. I am going to back off again. Try to focus your mind on projecting as you did to me but using more peaceful suggestions for those in the compartment to think about to get their minds off the pain that is slowing their recovery by keeping them from sleeping so their bodies can repair themselves, no matter how exhausted they are.”
Pan took her arms from around Jack again and backed up behind him. The pain and despair flooded back making Jack wince. He tried to think happy thoughts out across the compartment but it did not seem to help.
“Be more specific Captain. Paint a picture in your head of someplace or thing that makes you happy and concentrate.”
Jack tried for several minutes but nothing lessoned the volume of the pain hitting him.
The Nurse came back out of the passageway between bunks and suddenly Jack felt the fear and hate being directed at him. Hate that started to grow as the crewmen around her found something to blame for their pain and suffering.
“Now this I can handle.” Pan said as she stepped to one side of Jack raising her arms.
Jack looked over as a peaceful feeling settled over him in waves that grew and receded as Pan raised and lowered her arms and hands palm out.
Pan started to talk. “You need not fear us, we are here to help. We are your friends.”
Puzzled as the strength of the feelings of calming peace grew powerful each time her hands were level between his head and hers. Flipping up his helmet again and darkening his visor it only took a few seconds for Jack to see a light flash across his eyes and a few more to see the waves from that light wash over the compartment in a line from her eyes across her hands and out across the compartment. The hate and fear lessoning each time the wave washed over the nurse and the crewmen around her though the pain and suffering remained.
“Captain Turner!” Commander Glenn said from the hatch. “We have to go now.”
Jack shook his head and frowned. She was right every minute they wasted here the more likely that they would be found by a patrol or the alarm given. Folding back his helmet, Jack concentrated on the pain and suffering shoving it into a side compartment in his mind as he had done during the Mind attack from the clones so he could function. Then stepped over and grabbed Pan by the arm and pulled her toward the hatch. “Come on Pan we have to go.”
The pain and suffering faded after a few feet down the passageway though they passed several more compartments just as bad. They dropped down to the next deck and the Sickbay. Jack was almost floored at the hatch before he could even enter as a scream of pain hit him and then subsided. Staggering through the hatch, Jack was hit again. In panic Jack shoved the pain into the back of his mind tuning it out as much as he could with the next wave of pain as his eyes fell on the screaming woman on a table in a side room with a man cutting into her arm with a scalpel.
Jack ran across the compartment into the operating room. Taking in the details he could not see from outside Jack stopped himself from decking the man with the scalpel working on an arm strapped to a brace to keep it from moving as the woman screamed again trying to break her bonds strapping her to the table.
“Damn it Doctor! Use some damn anesthetic or something!”
Without taking his eyes off the scalpel deep inside the arm he said. “What anesthetic. That damn Commodore is keeping that for himself for future use.” Glancing around as the scalpel froze for a second. “Just who the hell are you! It doesn’t matter get out now.” The Doctor turned back to his work and the scalpel moved sending another wave of pain as the woman screamed again and tried even harder to move raising her head desperately as the nurse tried to soothe her.
Jack reached out without thinking placing his hand on the woman’s head. “Stop!”
The woman stopped screaming though sweat continued to run down her face as she turned to look at Jack with desperate pain filled eyes.
“Think of your family.” A picture of her kids and husband appeared in Jack’s mind. “Yes you have a wonderful family. Take them on a vacation. Take them away from all of this.”
As scenes of vacations flashed across Jack’s mind and then birthdays and X-masses and the looks on faces opening gifts and making love to her husband and then pain flashed through his mind again. And Jack remembered how Pan had said it was like hypnotizing someone but with his mind. Remembering the Hypnotist side shows he had seen. The books and movies showing people being hypnotized. “No pain. You feel no pain. Just the loving caress of your husband.” Jack stroked her head. “Relax. You feel fine. You are going to be Fine.”
The Doctor looked up as she stopped squirming and jerking the muscles in her arm. “You should have shown up a half hour ago. I would have been done already with half the damage.” Grabbing a curved needle and thread off a tray he started sewing the muscle back together. “Every time I got a few stitches in she would tear them out again and I would have to start over.” His fingers worked almost too fast for Jack to watch. “Just give me a few more seconds and we will be finished.”
Jack had a thousand questions but he did not want to disturb the Doctor as his hands and fingers flew.
“More 3, O, damn it.” He said to the nurse on the other side of the tray that had been staring at Jack. The nurse turn and started digging into a drawer. “Damn who uses damn stitches anymore. Damn Commodore keeping the fucking medical glue locked up.”
Another nurse grabbed Jack by the arm and turned him around. She slid a surgical gown sleeve up the arm she had grabbed and then up the other, pulling it up over the front of his armored suit then pushed him back up against the head of the table tying it in the back and adjusted a sterilization light more directly at his head and face. Jack went back to stroking the woman’s head for anything better to do as the Doctor worked.
The woman on the table looked up at Jack and smiled half asleep. “I didn’t want to fight but they made me go anyway. Please don’t make me go back.”
Jack smiled. “Hush. No one is going to make you fight anymore. Go to sleep and dream about your wonderful family and wake tomorrow without pain.”
She closed her eyes and slept.
Jack had been feeling the pain from the next Compartment and turned from the sleeping woman. He found a recovery room with half a dozen beds. Feeling overwhelmed Jack stood frozen in the hatch as the pain washed over him.
Pan slid up taking his arm from behind. “That was a good thing you did for the patient in surgery. Now you must do the same for the others.”
Jack swallowed and stepped to the first bed. The man grabbed Jack by the arm pulling him closer. “I will do anything the King wants. I will join his fucking guard. Just give me something for the pain.” He begged.
Jack raised his free hand to the man’s head. “You don’t need to join the Kings crap. You are no longer in pain. You feel fine now. You can sleep now and wake refreshed. You won’t feel any pain until the doctor says you are fit for duty and then it will be only a distant memory. Now sleep.”
The man relaxed back into his pillow, closed his eyes and started snoring. Jack let his hand slide down over the man’s body and noticed that he could see deep into the man’s body where his hand was. He stopped his hand over the bandages wrapped around the man’s stumach and wished he hadn’t at the sight of the man’s eviscerated and patched intestines. Though he could not believe he was seeing such without his visor down and blackened but then this was different and not like the blood vessel and nerve bundle streaked body he was used to but as if he was seeing a three Dee model of the intestines up close. Shaking his head he turned to the next bed.
Jack went from bed to bed with Pan and Krump smiling while Red kneeling to one side, Lt. Shepperd and Captain Glenn watched and wondered what was going on.
Suddenly a crash came from the outer ward and Jack who was closest, stepped to the hatch and froze. A dozen men and women in black suits came rushing through the just blown hatch with laser and blast guns at the ready.
Jack knew that with the ward packed with casualties they did not dare fight here. Turning to the others. “We have to find a way out the back fast.” Pushing Commander Glenn back into the recovery room as the Doctor came out of the operating room.
“What the hell is going on here?” The Doctor said baffled. Did you blow up something?
“No. The ass holes out there did.” Jack said pointing back out into the ward. “Is there a back way out of here?”
“Aaa, yes. Just follow the passageway that way. Down past the offices and store rooms. There is a hatch on the other end.” The Doctor pointed to the passageway next to the operating room.
“Good. Go everyone Go. You first Glenn.”
Commander Glenn started off down the passageway as the others followed.
“Thanks Doctor, help is on the way just hold on until they get here.” Jack stepped to Red who was waiting for Jack. “Get going Red I will follow.”
“No Captain I will bring up the rear. You go. We cannot lose you.”
“Damn it Red I have a pistol and you don’t now go.” Jack grabbed a hold of her arm but even with suit power she did not budge from her crouched position next to the passageway.
Two men, one with a laser the other big guy with a Gronk Assault gun that looked small in his hands appeared in the hatch from the ward. “It’s a damn Red monster shoot!” Shouted the one with the laser.
They started to bring up their weapons at the same time. With the surgical gown on Jack could not even get at his laser pistol. As the weapons rose to point at Red Jack stepped toward them raising his hands and said. “No! Stop!”
The two stopped with their weapons pointing at Red but not quite into firing position on their shoulders.
Jack could not believe that they had stopped, seemingly frozen as both their mouths opened in shock. Swallowing Jack continued in desperation. “She is not a monster. Just a big beautiful harmless human with a lot of green tattoos.” Jack took a couple steps toward them. “Yes. Yes. AAA… She is the most beautiful human you have ever seen. Look at her big wonderful boobs.”
Jack turned to Red as the Doctor backed back into the operating room with his hands raised. “Go damn it. Now.” Jack started to turn to follow and stopped as the Dumonts came back out of the passageway with their arms up followed by Shepperd and Glenn both with their hands up.
Red moved quietly duck walking back into the corner of the recovery room trying to take out her long blade.
Jack shook his head, seeing several other black suited men coming down the passageway with their weapons pointed at the group. “No Red. Put it away and leave the power off. This is not the place for a battle.”
The two men at the ward hatch stepped in and moved to the side pushing Jack back between two recovering patients. “Out of the way Doctor.” Then motioning toward the rest. “Out into the ward! Now!” The one with the blaster pointed at the group coming from the passageway said turning his back to Jack still in his surgical gown.
Glenn, Shepperd and the Dumonts walked and glided to the hatch without looking at Jack. As the four black suited men walked out of the passageway one of them saw Red still crouching in the corner and shouted. “Monster!” As his eyes got big. “Kill it fast before it charges.”
All four black suited men started swinging their guns toward Red as Jack tried to grab his pistol knowing that if he didn’t kill them they would kill Red but the surgical gown got in his way again. Only after trying to get at his pistol for the second time did he remember the hypnotism trick and started to raise his hand to say stop.
As they turned their weapons on Red, Jack suddenly heard the now familiar bark of a blaster on full auto with the flashes in the corner of his eyes from the muzzle and then the explosion at point blank range tearing up the Blacksuits in front of them as the men were first blown in half and then the halves blasted apart as they fell back along the passageway.
It only took a second and the four closely spaced Blacksuited men were in pieces scattered back along the passageway with body parts attached. The big blacksuit with the blaster walked up to the gore covered entrance to the passageway and yelled down at the scattered heads and arms. “That is for cheating me out of a thousand credits at cards last night you puke faces.”
The blacksuit with the laser gun did not even give the passageway a second look as he turned to the four with their hands still up in the air. “Keep going or I will cut you all in half too. You think the King did not know you would come for your Captain. Though why you insisted on coming here is beyond me but then we had the outer hull covered too.”
The Blacksuit with the blaster turned to Red licking his lips. “Now I am going to have some fun with your monster boobs big momma.” He looked at the big light green Bigfoot with her suit open down the front to her navel and one breast hanging out into the open with a bright red nipple. The long blade hidden behind her. Placing the big assault blaster on the counter against the bulkhead he pushed the patient on the recovery bed next to him with a scream of pain off onto the deck with a thud as she hit her head knocking her unconscious in mid scream. He unfasten the belt with the blast pistol holster hanging at his side and placed it on the counter over the assault gun. “I am so much going to love fucking you big momma, green tattoos and all.”
Jack having frozen as the bodies were blown apart with his hand half raised started to turn toward Red.
Then as he watched Red swept her now shining blade out from behind her and over between the Blacksuits legs and then strait up cutting him in half from his crotch up between his eyes splitting his head in half in one fast sweep. The shining micronic blade able to cut steel like butter, did not even slow down.
As the body halves fell to the deck the blacksuit with the laser gun whipped his head around as his face turned to shock and immediately started bringing the laser assault gun around. “Monster!” he said.
Jack already had his hand up, simply turned and finished saying “NO! Stop!”
Momentum finished turning the man around but he stopped when he could, making Jack start to panic until he froze in place staring at Red with the laser Assault gun pointing between Jack and Red.
“Drop the gun.” Jack ordered. As the man dropped the gun making the patient it fell on grown Jack turned to Commander Glenn. “Close the damn hatch to the ward and lock it.” Then to the blacksuit in front of him. “H
ow did you find us so fast?” Jack suddenly knew. “Of course, where is the tracker?” Pulling the laser pistol out from under the surgical gown finely.
“Fuck off.” The man said allowed and then in Jack’s mind. “You fucking moron. You think I have the only tracker.” A picture of a palm pad appeared in Jacks mind.
Jack looked down and then grabbed the palm pad off the guy’s belt and pushed him over to Shepperd. “Take his pistol belt and then go lock the operating room hatch to the ward and bring the doctor here.” Turning to the recovery room hatch with Captain Glenn peeking through the small port. “How is it going out there? Any alarms?”
Glenn turned to glance at Jack. “No alarm. They are checking the patients and rapping a couple.”
Jack approached the Commander following the icon on the screen to her butt.
Shepperd finished taking the gun belt off the blacksuit and then pushed him over to Krump. “Take care of this scumbag, find some tape and bind his hands behind his back.” Then she went through the hatch to the operating room.
The Doctor came out and glancing at the mess in front of the passageway and beyond. The Doctor went to the patient that had been pushed off the bed. “Help me get her back up on the bed.”
Red bent over the bed and picked her up in her two arms with the Doctor’s help and placed her gently back on the bed. One of the nurses that had been cowering at the head of the beds started reattaching lines. Pulling a scanner out from the head of the bed the doctor ran the screen over the patient and finally sighed with relief. “Not even a concussion.” But then the deck was impact foam (hard and solid to walk on but soft and giving when impacted under the easy to clean antiseptic surface).
Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer) Page 40