Zack's first thought was "Custodian," and Ariane spotted the danger at almost the same time he did. She fired a burst of pulses at the alien and dove to her right, still clutching the box. Several pulses from her wild volley hit the upper portion of the creature's armor but didn't appear to do any damage. However, her attack distracted the creature enough that the shot from its impossibly powerful plasma projector, missed her to the left. A swatch of the rubble where she had just been was melted and slumped from the blast of the potent weapon.
Erik and the three Soviets fired at the armored beast until it advanced to a position putting them in danger of hitting one another. Their shots, though accurate, had no noticeable effect. With Ariane between him and the Custodian, Zack didn't have a clear shot at the creature either and was forced to play the role of helpless spectator to the next series of events.
Ariane rose about half upright and fired another series of pulses, several more of which impacted the Custodian's armor. With the creature again disoriented, she attempted to run for the cover of a nearby storefront. Her luck had run out, this time the weapon's blast hit her left side. She let go of the box and spun completely around before going down on her back. She made no attempt to get back up.
In the meantime, Zack, Erik and the three Soviets had taken out all but a few of the creature's supporters. As the Custodian swung its weapon towards him, Zack drew a bead on it with the grenade launcher slung underneath the projector of his pulse rifle and managed to get a shot off a fraction of a second before the creature could fully target him. The grenade impacted front and center on the alien's armor and violently exploded, tearing a jagged opening in the armor and blowing the creature over backwards.
Zack took down several more members of the now-fleeing mob before he got another shock. Astoundingly, the grenade strike hadn't killed the Custodian! The damned thing was still moving, though it did appear to be stunned or wounded or something. The deadly plasma projector had been torn from its grasp but, as Zack watched in horrified fascination, the creature seemed to shake off the effects of the blast. It rolled over and rose unsteadily on its walking legs before staggering sideways towards the plasma projector. Zack rushed the creature, pumping pulses into and around the opening in the alien's armor which slowed it some, but it was obvious the pulse bolts would not be enough to keep it from retrieving its weapon. If it succeeded, all bets were off.
From a range of less than three meters, Zack targeted the damaged area of the Custodian's armor and fired another round from his grenade launcher. The deadly projectile penetrated the rift and detonated inside. The explosion tore the incredibly stout armor open and splattered bits of it and the creature inside all over the landscape.
Erik and Zlotnik took out several more human bandits with well-placed pulses. With their alien champion down and their enemy proving to be far more formidable than they had been led to expect, the remaining natives were in full retreat. Zack, his heart in his throat, dashed back to check on Ariane. When he reached her, he found her sprawled on her back, not moving, limbs splayed out in all directions. The precious box lay on the ground next to her, apparently undamaged.
He approached from her right side and, going to his knees, unlatched and removed her helmet as gently as he could. He laid the helmet to the side before sliding his left hand under her head to lift and hold it up off the ground. A panicked, cursory examination revealed the damage to her armor was hopelessly extensive. There was a sizeable blackened breach in the left side of the armored-suit and it was immediately obvious she was badly, perhaps mortally wounded. As bad as it was, the damage could have been even worse. It actually looked as though the box she'd been carrying had shielded her somewhat.
To Zack's astonishment, she was partially conscious.
"Is...is everyone okay?" she asked weakly, without opening her eyes.
Still cushioning her head with his left hand, he took her right hand, the one on her uninjured side, in his own and clasped it against his chest. "We're fine," replied Zack. "Don't try to talk."
"That...thing was a Custodian wasn't it? Sorry, Zack, I...took a hit. I should have been more careful."
"You did good," said Zack. "Now be quiet, we'll take care of you."
Her eyes squeezed even more tightly closed and she arched her back, unable to suppress a low moan of pain that nearly broke Zack's heart, before she lost consciousness.
With a supreme effort, he forced his feelings aside to concentrate on meeting the immediate crisis. The team was still in a dangerously exposed position and more members of the local tribes were certain to show up any second.
Not to mention the possibility of more Custodians.
He scanned their surroundings, looking for some kind of shelter, his eyes coming to rest on a corner building twenty meters to his right. The brick building looked to be in fairly good condition, considering how old it was and how long it had been neglected. It was also the tallest structure for several hundred meters in any direction. Mercifully, the attack appeared to have stopped, at least for the moment. A desperate plan began to form.
"Erik, help me get her inside that building," Zack shouted. "We have to get her under some kind of cover. Pasternak? Grab the box."
The Soviets provided cover, firing back in response to the pulse bolts that still came sporadically from the ruins around them. Erik and Zack carried the limp, unconscious form of their companion as carefully as they could through the ruined doorway and into the building. The others followed, Pasternak carrying the apparently undamaged box.
After he and Erik stretched Ariane out on the floor, Zack used the link between their suits to remotely access the telemetry of her battle armor, which was somehow still working in spite of the extensive damage. On the display inside his helmet, his eyes flashed desperately over the readouts. He was relieved to see her vital signs were better than they ought to be -- for the time being, anyway. Apparently her ghastly wound hadn't included anything immediately vital.
During the few seconds it took to examine the readings, however, he could see her vital signs were deteriorating. From years of combat experience, Zack knew immediately that without the services of a well-equipped medical unit, she wouldn't last long. Even then, she might not make it.
"She'll die within the next half hour if we don't do something," said Zack, his soldier's discipline allowing him to hold everything together even though he was on the verge of despair. He grabbed a dispenser of protective foam from the minimal medical kit of his armor and sprayed it over Ariane's wounded side where it foamed up, spread out and congealed. The light, flexible material had some antiseptic properties and would serve to support the wounded area and protect it from further contamination.
"We're only about a kilometer away," said Erik. "Maybe we can get Jamison to take us off the roof of this building with the quadcopter."
"It sure as hell won't hurt to ask," replied Zack. "It's not safe down here. Let's get her up to the roof and make the call." He took another look at the telemetry from Ariane's armor and was relieved to see the foam was doing some good. She hadn't lost much more ground.
With her wound protected and her condition somewhat stabilized, Zack decided they could risk moving Ariane again. Given their precarious position, they really didn't have much choice in the matter. As gingerly as he could, Zack carried her in his arms up the six flights of stairs to the top of the building. The slightly augmented strength of his armor and an overdose of adrenaline allowing him to perform the task without too much difficulty. Erik and the Soviets followed behind, ready to provide cover in case their attackers managed to get reorganized and come after them. Zack laid Ariane down on the roof as gently as he could and immediately called Jamison on his communicator.
"Mom? This is little Timmy. We've completed our mission, and we're ready for pick up."
A reply from Cyrus came about thirty seconds later, "No can do, little Timmy. You're right smack in the middle of the damned city!"
"I know," said Zack.
"But we have a serious problem. Ariane is badly wounded, and we need to evacuate her immediately."
"Ariane wounded? How bad is it?"
"Bad. We're on the roof of the tallest building in the vicinity and a good thirty meters above the ground. From here we can easily cover the only access to the roof."
"Are you under attack right now?"
"Negative. We've killed or wounded at least thirty of the natives, and it should take them some time to get re-organized. Besides that, they won't expect you to land here." Zack intentionally didn't say anything about the Custodian.
"On our way," said Keeling. "Trigger your homing beacon."
Ten minutes later the quadcopter arrived. Without knowing if the roof of the dilapidated old building could support the weight of the machine, Yamato brought the ship to a hover about a meter above the roof while the members of the expedition, with Jamison's assistance, clambered on board. Zack carried Ariane to the shuttle and handed her over to Erik and Jamison who gently stretched her out on the floor of the craft. As soon as all of them had boarded, before the door had even been secured, Yamato pulled the quadcopter straight up to put more distance between them and the ground before heading over to the island.
Chapter 60. Medic.
Earth, Theodore Roosevelt Island, October 16, 2676.
When the quadcopter landed on the island, it was greeted by Keeling and two of his men with an anti-grav gurney. Malus hovered nearby but remained out of the way. Zack and Erik carefully placed Ariane on the gurney and rushed her over to the compound's medical bay, which was another module assembled on site after transport. The facility was fairly well equipped but, to Zack's dismay, there was no autodoc. Nor did the outpost have a doctor. After transferring her to a hospital bed, he was able to obtain information on her vital signs again. To his dismay, the telemetry indicated her condition had greatly deteriorated over the last ten minutes, but they'd had no choice but to move her.
Zack very carefully removed enough of her armor and her ruined clothing to expose her from the waist up. The wounded area looked as much like a blackened and shriveled shark bite as anything. He covered her up with a blanket to keep her from getting chilled and to protect her modesty from him and anyone else who might enter the room. During the procedure, Ariane stirred slightly and let out a low moan. He felt a sharp stab of despair at the heart-rending sound. With the armor gone, he could at least arrange her in a more comfortable position. Zack was desperately sorting through a short list of inadequate options when Malus, who had followed them into the facility, approached him and Ariane.
"What is her status?"
Pulling no punches, Zack admitted, "She's dying." Upon voicing this previously unspoken fear, the stark reality of the situation hit him like a hammer and he came within a hairsbreadth of losing his composure. It took a herculean effort for him to keep it together.
"May I examine her?'
With absolutely nothing to lose, Zack nodded his head numbly. "Go ahead." He pulled the blanket over enough to expose the wounded area. The Hordean approached Ariane from her injured side and, with the tips of two of his manipulator tentacles, very gently probed the tissues near the perimeter of the foam patch covering the wounded area. After examining her in this fashion for about a minute he said, "I might be able to help."
"How?" asked Zack.
"My people have many capabilities we have not yet communicated to you. I have analyzed her and ascertained the biological substances needed to keep her unconscious and without pain. I can also provide some mild stimulants and anticoagulants that should sustain her for a time. I can synthesize these materials and introduce them into her body."
"Do it!" said Zack.
Zack watched, fascinated, as the two manipulator tentacles Malus used to make his initial diagnosis began to alter in shape. Along the terminal ten centimeters of each tentacle, tubules very like the ones covering the Hordean's broad foot began to branch out. In less than a minute, the ends of the two appendages had morphed into forms resembling bird feathers. The Hordean carefully moved closer to Ariane and placed his now-altered tentacles on healthy tissue at the top and bottom of the foam patch. Shortly after they made contact, Zack could see the feathery ends of the tentacles pulsating slightly.
"What're you doing?" asked Zack.
"I am introducing the anesthetic and stabilizing reagents.
Zack watched in astonishment as Ariane's vitals, which had been steadily declining, stabilized and then very slowly began to improve.
"What the..." said Zack.
Even though his ministrations appeared to have been effective, Malus remained in contact with Ariane. After another two minutes, he said, "I believe I might be able to partially heal these wounds. At least well enough so she can be transported off planet."
"How?"
"We have the ability to influence biological systems to some extent. Human biochemistry is similar enough to ours that I believe I can use this ability to purchase some time for our colleague. I will need to proceed slowly and with a great deal of care, but I believe I can perform the necessary procedures."
"Do whatever you need to do," said Zack. "I... We can't afford to lose her."
Malus expanded the feathery ends of his tentacles to include the foam patch over Ariane's wound. As tubules branched out to entirely engulf the temporary bandage, the solidified foam began to rapidly dissolve. After about two minutes, a network of modified tentacle branches had basically taken the place of the foam, covering the wound and providing the Hordean with direct access to the damaged tissues.
Even though the wound looked as though it was completely covered by the alien's tubule complex, the feathery ends of the tentacles continued to branch out. Within seconds, several thousand new branches had enmeshed with each other and with the burned and mangled flesh of Ariane's horrific wound, creating a dense net-like structure obscuring the wounded area and several centimeters of the healthy flesh around it.
The very terminal tubules were so small Zack couldn't see them, but some of the slightly larger branches were large enough to be visible and had walls so thin as to be almost transparent. Through those walls, Zack could see that fluids were being exchanged between their wounded companion and the alien. Darker materials were being siphoned off and nearly clear fluids were being slowly pumped in. The feathered ends of the modified tentacles continued to branch even further into smaller and smaller tubes as the activity of the fluid exchange increased in intensity. Soon the network of tubules blanketed the entire wounded area with a sort of fine organic mesh.
As Zack watched in disbelief, the blackened flesh around the outside of Ariane's wound began to dissipate. Over the next five minutes, the wound gradually closed over, and a new skin or membrane of some kind now covered the wounded area. Throughout the fantastic procedure, Ariane's breathing had gradually become more normal, and her heart rate had stabilized.
Malus finally disengaged and backed away, leaving the new membrane behind. All of his usually vivid colors had faded by several shades, and he seemed to almost stagger as he withdrew. Over the next thirty seconds, as Zack watched, the Hordean's network of tubules was reabsorbed and his two tentacles resumed their normal, familiar shape.
Zack moved closer to examine the results of the alien's work. To his utter astonishment, all of the burned and blackened tissues around Ariane's wound were gone. Where they had been was a strange looking patch of soft, finely pebbled, pinkish-green material fading smoothly into the undamaged tissues around the wounded area.
Even through the translator, Malus sounded utterly exhausted. "I have been able to stop the bleeding and make a few internal repairs. The crisis period has passed. However, she still has extensive internal damage, and I will need several days to completely restore her."
"You can do that?"
"I believe I can, but we have no time to waste. You have the item you came for. We must get her to my ship as soon as possible."
With hope somewhat restored, Zack left to
alert the others. He returned within a few minutes to find Malus standing motionless, still close to Ariane. His entire body seemed to be drooping slightly, like a plant in need of water.
"Are you alright, Malus?"
"I have exhausted nearly all of my energy reserves, but I am in no immediate danger. However, I too must get back to my ship as soon as possible."
"We're leaving in twenty minutes," said Zack. He crossed over to Ariane's limp form and put his hand on her forehead. Her temperature felt normal and her color had improved considerably.
"I don't know how to thank you," said Zack.
"We are allies, and allies help each other," replied Malus. "She is a vital part of our group and our effectiveness would be much reduced by her absence. I will also admit that I view her as a friend and I would be greatly saddened by her death."
"Do you need anything?"
"Just a little time in a pedolith bed with some of my companions."
"We'll get both of you back to your ship as quickly as we can."
Erik came into the medical module and he and Zack transferred Ariane onto the antigrav gurney before taking her out to the runway and onto the aeroplane. Once there, they secured the gurney to the rear bulkhead of the passenger compartment, right next to Malus who, like before, had entangled himself into a curtain of cargo netting.
The rest of the expedition members boarded, and ten minutes later they were off the ground and on their way back to Keeling's spaceport in Florida.
Chapter 61. Return to Orbit.
Earth, on route from Washington DC to Key West, October 16, 2676.
Ariane rested more or less comfortably on the journey back to Key West. When the aeroplane landed, the group wasted no time boarding the orbital shuttle. Cyrus had called ahead, and preparations for launch had already been made. After adjusting one of the acceleration seats near the rear bulkhead of the passenger compartment to full recline, they gently strapped Ariane into it. Malus once again secured himself inside a cargo net from a location where he could be close to her. As soon as his patient had been strapped in, the alien gently probed the sealed wound with a partially-expanded manipulator tentacle.
The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2 Page 31