A gigantic boom erupts from near the fort, and I look as smoke starts to rise. Jensen's communicator beeps and I pull it out, opening it. “Jensen! It's Tauren!”
“This is Kelbara, Jensen's badly wounded!” I call back. “We need immediate evac!”
“We'll get there as soon as we can. You're upslope, and we....” Tauren's voice replies, before a large crackling roar fills the channel, and I can see another explosion tear through the fort. I'm worried for a second, but then his voice comes back. “Five minutes!”
“He might not have five minutes!” I scream back. “Move your royal ass!”
There's no response, but I leave the communicator on, setting it on the ground as I keep checking on Jensen. I can't do anything for his leg right now, but I watch him breathe, glancing every few seconds around to make sure none of the mercs have tried to get a last minute shot at revenge.
Two more explosions come down from the water, and I guess another couple of mines have gone off. I'm not upset, I want every merc in the fort to burn in the stars for hurting Jensen, and I give a cheer when I see the partially setup multiplexing antenna fall over in a crashing of metal. “Take that, fuckers!”
A rushing sound whirls past us, and I see a shimmering blankness in the sky blink into the shape of a shuttle, the same shuttle that Mogar brought in our supplies last night. Was it just last night? It seems like I've been through a lifetime since then, but it's been less than twenty-four hours.
The shuttle settles down, and the side door opens, a Lancer medic coming out with two more Lancers who take defensive postures on the edge of the hillock. “Help me get him in the shuttle,” the medic says. “Lift him by the hips.”
I grab Jensen under his hip, my stomach turning when his left leg hangs limply, bending in too many places and Jensen groaning as the pain goes through his weakened body, but he's lost so much blood that even the pain won't wake him up. We hurry, getting into the shuttle and laying him on the bench where the medic directs me. Immediately the door closes, and I see that Mogar's at the controls of the shuttle. “Hold on, takeoffs are rough in this thing.”
I can feel a deep thrumming in my feet as the fans spin up again, and Mogar takes us straight up at full speed. The medic kneels, maintaining as much balance as he can while he uses his kit to scan Jensen, trying to figure out the worst of his problems. He grabs a knife and starts cutting, first getting Jensen's armor off before slicing his hydrosuit shirt off. “Help me turn him! We don't have a lot of time!”
I swallow my tears of horror as we turn Jensen, his leg still flopping with every shake of the shuttle. Up front I can hear Mogar muttering to himself, cursing as he takes readings of the halnocite interference levels, until he starts to feed power into other systems, and the ride levels out. “We're on hover, I'm bringing us to the capital.”
“We don't have time!” the medic says, reaching into his kit and taking out what looks like a pair of pliers. “I have to meatball this thing!”
“Do it,” Mogar calls back, applying forward thrust. With hover re-established the normal systems start to take over and I barely feel the change in direction, I'm just trying to help the medic as best I can. The medic pulls my bandage off and immediately shoves the pliers in, rooting around as blood pours out of Jensen's body, but it's not as forceful as it was even when I was bandaging him.
“Come on, where are you fucker,” the medic hisses, gritting his teeth. “Fucking come on.... there!”
The medic pulls out a piece of rock about the size of the end of my finger, tossing it immediately to the side before taking a power injector from his kit and pressing it near the wound. A hiss fills the air, and I watch as the blood around Jensen's wound starts to bubble blackly, turning into a smelly, sticky foam before hardening. “I've got the bleeding stopped, we can get him to surgery, but he needs a transfusion. He won't make it with this much blood loss.”
“What's his blood type?” Mogar asks. “He's human!”
“Fuck man, I know!” the medic calls back, consulting his scanner. “Shit! He's type O positive!”
“Wait,” I reply, pulling my armor off and yanking off my top. I'm naked from the waist up, but it doesn't matter. “I'm type O negative.”
“Bullshit, less than half a percent of Tamarians are O!” the medic replies. “You can't be!”
“Scan me!” I reply, thrusting out my arm. “Scan me and hook me up! That's a fucking order, trooper!”
The medic does as I command, whistling when the results come in. “The guy's mighty fucking lucky,” he mutters under his breath, digging into his kit and pulling out a length of tube that's connected to a miniature pump. “You have any diseases or STDs?”
“No.”
The medic takes me at my word, we don't have time for a full scan, and he ties me off, getting a vein that he hits on the first try with his large gauge needle before going to Jensen. He's lost so much blood he has to do an emergency cut down to get a vein, but he gets it, turning on the pump as soon as it's taped in. Sitting back, the medic studies Jensen, then checks my IV needle. “I'll shut it off after it's taken a pint.”
“You take whatever you need,” I whisper, laying down on the floor of the shuttle. “Take all of it if you need. Keep him alive.”
“We'll be in surgery in fifteen minutes,” Mogar says from up front, his voice full of concern. “You won't need to sacrifice your life for him.”
“Why not?” I whisper, reaching up and taking Jensen's hand to elevate my IV elbow. “He nearly gave up his life for me.”
“How're you doing?”
I look up from the bed that the doctors are making me rest in, wanting to get out but waiting until the two units of blood are fully in. Audra's in the doorway, her face full of concern and worry. “Still a bit woozy, my Queen. How is Jensen?”
“He's still in surgery,” Audra says quietly. “They stopped the bleeding, the doctors think they got to him in time to repair his leg without needing to go with a cybernetic. Kelbara.... never, ever call me Queen Audra again.”
“You're the Queen,” I sigh, leaning back as my head against the pillow. “Kinda necessary.”
“Not for my family it isn't,” Audra says, coming over and taking my free hand before leaning over and kissing my forehead. “You voluntarily risked your life for my brother. That makes you my sister in my book, and if I need to talk to Tauren about it when he gets back, then that'll be something we'll do together.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, trying not to cry. The battle is over, and the rush of adrenaline's worn off, I can barely keep myself under control. My arm was shaking so much when they went to check my IV to put in the two units of blood that I'm currently hooked to that they had to strap my arm down to make sure I didn't tear out the line. “I don't feel worthy of the honor though.”
“We'll talk about it after you get some rest,” Audra says, stroking my hair. “First, you get some sleep, the docs say you're as much exhausted as you are suffering from blood loss. You're going to have a busy few days.”
“Why?”
Audra smiles, leaning over to whisper in my ear. “My brother is going to need a full time nursemaid until he wakes up. Think you know someone I can ask to help me?”
I nod, squeezing her hand. “I've heard your new sister's available.”
“Good. Then get some sleep, and we'll wait for Jensen to wake up.”
Chapter 14
Jensen
It's quiet. And I'm warm.
Wait, what's going on? I try to open my eyes but I feel like my eyelids are glued shut, and I groan, wondering what the heaven and stars is going on.
“Shh... take it slow,” a concerned voice says, and I feel a warm, damp cloth being wiped over my face. “You got sweaty for a while there, seems that you had a bit of a reaction from the transfusion that they had to deal with. Probably gummed up your eyes a little.”
The cloth wipes over my eyes, and I can open my eyes slowly, blinking in the dimness to see Kelbara standin
g over me, her smile soft and full of concern. “An angel.”
Kelbara blushes, shaking her head. “You're definitely feeling better if you're making bad jokes. Or maybe you're still hallucinating.”
“Maybe,” I whisper, my throat dry. “Where am I?”
“You're at the palace, and it's three days after the battle. You've been recovering for a while now. Hold on, let me go get Audra and King Tauren. They said they wanted to know as soon as you're awake.”
Kelbara runs to the door, turning around to give me a worried but grateful look. “You saved my life. I'm never, ever going to forget that Jensen. Relax, I'll be right back.”
I'm too tired to point out that she saved my life as much as I may have saved hers, so I say nothing. Kelbara leaves and I lean back, slowly letting my body wake up. I do feel refreshed, although my left leg aches a little. Considering what I remember, I guess I can understand why, and I lift my sheet to see that while I'm wearing some boxer shorts, the rest of me is pretty much naked. There's no visible scar on my leg that I see, but that doesn't mean anything with modern medical treatments. I flex the leg carefully, and while it moves I'm definitely going to need to exercise some of the stiffness out of my knee.
There's an itch in my back and I reach back, rubbing my fingers up and down until I feel the scar, it's not very wide but it's definitely there. I can remember a little bit of the pain, but there was so much over my entire body that I can't even be sure I remember where I was hit, I guess this was it. For there to be a scar though... it must have been pretty bad.
I hear boot steps in the hallway and the door opens, Audra pushing her way in first to run over and wrap her arms around me in a hug. “You stupid, courageous, wonderful asshole!”
“I love you too Audra,” I gasp as she squeezes me. “Let off, let off! Or else I'm going to be in bed even longer!”
Audra laughs and let’s go, stepping back. When she does I see the tears in her eyes, and I wonder how bad I actually was hurt. Tauren's right behind him, his smile genuinely happy to see me. “Good to see you up, my friend. How do you feel?”
“That depends,” I whisper. “Can I get some water?”
“Oh, sorry,” Kelbara says from behind Tauren, immediately coming around and pouring me a cup from the pitcher that's next to my bed. She hands it to me, holding it carefully. “Here, let me help you. It's not just water, but it'll help.”
She's right, the water's slightly sweet and tangy, like a delicious juice, and it's hard to just sip at it. I'm sure there's some sort of sugar and electrolytes in the drink, but it's not syrupy or thick at all. It feels great in my throat, and I sigh gratefully, leaning back. “Thank you, Kelbara. Really.”
“You're welcome sir,” Kelbara says, her voice getting thick. “I... I....”
Kelbara turns and leaves, and I watch her, shocked. “What happened?”
“She's been worrying about you a lot, big brother,” Audra says, taking a seat before reaching over and clasping hands with me. “Ever since she let them take the transfusion from her for you...”
“Wait, what?” I ask, sitting up. My head spins and I sit back, still shocked. “I needed a transfusion?”
“You did. And the shuttle Mogar used to pick you up didn't have any blood supplies,” Audra says softly. “You got very lucky, in that a shuttle with three Tamarians, you were with the one half of one percent who does happen to have Type O blood. It wasn't a perfect match, you had to deal with some side effects the past two days, but yes... she saved your life.”
I shake my head in wonder, looking at Tauren. “And you?”
“I got a nice set of bruises on my torso from the HALO grav pods, but that's it,” Tauren says. “Remember, I used to be a Lancer too.”
“You used an air drop to get around the lack of hover tech,” I muse, nodding. “Impressive. Grav pods worked though?”
Tauren nods, lifting his shirt to show off a still brownish purple band that crosses his chest in a V shape that disappears into his pants. I don't even want to know what his balls feel like. “They're so local that they still work near halnocite. A parachute would have left us sitting ducks, and I wanted people inside the fort as quickly as possible before the assault vehicles could get into a heavy fight. So we used an idea that the Lancers had experimented with a few times, the idea being that we set the specialty grav pods to activate at a hundred meters over the fort, ramping up so that we were supposed to hit the ground weighing exactly one kilogram, although the pods failed at a meter off the ground. It was a bit of a tough landing, but we were able to hit with our powerlances out, firing as soon as we touched down.”
“Impressive,” I comment, offering him my hand. “Thank you.”
“Thank you, that was the most fun I've had in months,” Tauren says with a chuckle. “What do you say once this is all over, you and I go do it together?”
“Not unless you want me to shoot you both with a plasma charge,” Audra growls, still smiling slightly. “Heaven and stars, the two of you both nearly got yourselves killed!”
“She has a point,” I chuckle. “Okay Audra, you get to come with us. So, after the baby's born?”
Audra rolls her eyes, then nods, blowing air out her nose in exasperation. “After the baby's born. If I come with you two, just to make sure one of you doesn't try to turn it into some sort of exo-atmospheric speed jump.”
“In just our underpants,” I joke, and Audra can't hold it back any longer, she starts laughing.
“Okay, okay. Rest for another hour or two, and when the doctors say you're able to get out of bed, come to the meeting room. We'll debrief you on the mission, and on what's happened since.”
I nod, clasping hands with Audra. “Agreed. And Tauren?”
“Yes?”
“Kelbara.... she was an amazing partner on the mission. Don't let her tear herself up about me getting hurt.”
Tauren exchanges looks with Audra, then looks at me. “We'll let you and her talk about that later.”
The meeting room is filled, and the borrowed clothes are a little bit baggy since Tauren's taller than I am, but this is a full meeting of the Noble Council, which while I don't exactly like I can understand. Tauren has to show that I've recovered if I am going to maintain my position within the nobles.
“The mission was a success and a failure,” Tauren says, briefing since he was the mission commander for the final assault. Besides, he's the King, he gets to talk if he wants to. “While we were able to eliminate the multiplexing array before completion, our three main targets were not among those dead or captured.”
“You mean?” I ask, sighing. “We missed them?”
Tauren nods sadly. “It appears so. While Lady Kelbara did sight Ambaris, there were no signs that Tauria or Cassell were at the fort, other than what you overheard. We suspect she and Cassell weren't at the fort when the attack occurred. Ambaris also escaped during the attack.”
“How?” one of the nobles, Lord Cavanant, asks. He's middle of the road on the slave issue, but he's staying with Tauren's government simply because he thinks it's a better chance of him maintaining his estates and titles than if he went with the Slaver Rebellion.
“Satellite imagery from the battle site notes that there were two boats that survived the mining trap that Lord Jensen and Lady Kelbara laid out. However, the Lancers under King Tauren only captured one. It seems that Ambaris bugged out as soon as the air drop troops hit the ground,” Mogar says from his seat. “We have intelligence units working on tracking where they may have gone as we speak.”
“Most likely they'll head to the far continent,” Kelbara says. “Cassell has extensive land purchases on the far continent, and he'll be able to work with allies more closely there.”
“How was it that you were unable to stop them, Lord Jensen?” another noble, Lady Pellum, asks pointedly. “You had plenty of weapons.”
“Plenty of weapons? We had four powerlances and two people to go against a fort, six boats, five ground vehicles an
d around forty men,” Kelbara growls back before I can say anything. “If you are suggesting that you could have done better than Lord Jensen did, I invite you to try, Lady Pellum.”
I have to chuckle as Pellum pales slightly, especially as I note that Kelbara is sitting on Audra's left, in a position normally reserved for the Queen's most trusted advisor. For my sister to have Kelbara sitting in that seat speaks volumes to the amount of trust and influence the petite young woman has gained within the palace in a short amount of time.
And Pellum knows it. Her family might be able to trace its place on the Noble Council all the way back to the founding of Tauren's dynasty and even before, but the one thing I've picked up in my three months as a 'Lord of Tamaria' is that Pellum's family has always been known for being timid, more than willing to criticize the efforts of others without actually getting off their asses to do much on their own.
Mogar, who's sitting next to me, leans over, chuckling under his breath. “My student seems to have found herself. How did the kitten sharpen her claws so quickly, hmmm?”
“They were always there, Mogar. I think if you ask her, she'll tell you how she came to have them. They were just sheathed before.”
“Well, I happen to like this Kelbara. Let's see what else she's grown in.”
Tauren gives us a glance, and I turn my attention to him before he continues. “In any case, Lady Pellum, we have every resource available. In fact, tomorrow we will be starting another search of the fort and the surrounding area in order to determine if we can find any clues as to where Ambaris or Tauria are.”
Joren, who's sat quiet, studying a flexi in his hands through everything so far, raises his head and looks at his son. “If you find her?”
Tauren's eyes are hard, and I can understand why. “If she can be captured, she will. If she can't, I'm sorry Father.”
Joren nods, wiping at his eyes. I see the flexi better, it's a picture of him and Tauria taken years ago, when they both looked young and actually in love. “If you'll excuse me, I think my presence wouldn't be very helpful right now.”
Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2) Page 11