“Bring it,” he grinned wiggling his fingers.
“No implants,” she growled. He snorted. She backed him into the wall near the door and then stood on her tip toes to kiss him. A tech nearby paused to look and then whistled softly.
She gave the others in the hall a leering mischievous look and then backed through the opening door to her quarters. They tumbled onto the carpet in a heap. She couldn't stop giggling at his oof. "My someone's frisky tonight." He laughed. Her lips engulfed his once more and coherent thought went out the window after that.
The Admiral kissed her neck and shoulder. She smiled a coy smile, loving his touch. He could be firm, or feather light and gentle. He knew all the right places. Decades of practice no doubt. He stroked her form under the sheets. She purred. He chuckled softly at that.
"Making more promises?" she asked throatily. Her eyes danced in the dark. He smiled.
"Any time, anywhere," he said, eyes twinkling as he admired her form.
"I just may take you up on that,” she said, fingertips stroking his cheek and jaw. “Though if we did it in the galley or the bridge I think it would raise more than one eyebrow," she laughed a throaty laugh.
He chuckled and his fingers touched her sides then went to more intimate areas.
"My you are a naughty boy," she gasped slightly and smiled a little smile as sensations ran through her body, all pleasurable. "Damn that feels good," she softly said as he half caressed, half massaged the area.
Sprite checked in and then out fast. He didn't even blink as she shook her head on his HUD and rolled her eyes as if to say 'what again?'
Sprite checked the node and then turned her attention to engineering. She was bored. She started to trace the wiring around the room the Admiral was in, comparing it with the ship's plans just to keep busy.
"Wait, stop," Proteus said over their internal link. "Accessing."
"What?" Sprite asked.
"Pressure build up." Their joint focus narrowed on to the pipes just on the bulkhead a dozen centimeter's from the lover's bodies. The AI's focused the Admiral's sensors onto the patch. "Something is seriously wrong. Possible breach."
"Admiral get out of there now!" Sprite said urgently.
"What the hell?" Irons said looking up as Defender spun his shields up to full. He looked up just in time to see the wall by the bed burst.
Superheated plasma slammed into his shield as it was forming. April shrieked in pain and terror as it tore into the bed and bedding. Both ignited in a fireball. She writhed in his arms, tormented eyes looking up at him before her pain centers overloaded and she fainted. "Extend the shields damn it!" Irons snarled, wrapping his arms around her.
"Working," Defender said. Irons lunged forward into the breach.
"Main engineering is attempting to cut it off but it's not working Admiral. The cut out is welded shut and the software bypass is locked out," Sprite said quickly.
"You need to get out of there," Defender said. "Move. Shields are at fifty percent and failing. They can't handle the extra body and direct impact."
"Override. All power to shields. Get me a bot in here. Alert medical," he snarled. He maneuvered so he was back on to the plasma coming out of the wall. April's quarters were an inferno. Fortunately she was mostly shielded.
The woman was badly burned and gasping for breath. Her beautiful red hair was a shriveled mess on her head. He shot her a glance but couldn't shift his attention. At least, not yet.
"Cut the fuel. Get it down stream if you can't get the lock out. Starve it."
"Admiral the plasma in the room is going to burn through the bulkheads," Sprite said. "Ship's crew is responding. They are evacuating the area. Unfortunately the crush of people is delaying the response team."
"Crap," Irons grimaced. He turned back to the burst.
"What are you going to do?" Sprite asked.
"Something stupid." He reached into the cavity with his right hand and grasped the burst plasma conduit then squeezed. Hard. Metal and composite material shrieked then folded inward.
"Shields at ten percent. Withdraw your hand Admiral," Defender said.
"Not going to happen," Irons grimaced. "Anything below this deck?" he asked.
"Evacuation underway. Cargo bay," Sprite responded.
"Fine. Increase gravity by a factor of ten. Get the plasma out of the air and onto the deck."
"Admiral it will eat through the deck," Proteus responded.
"Air exchangers are off line. Some of the plasma ribbon was sucked into the system and shredded or spot welded," Sprite said. "Atmosphere is toxic."
"Tell me something I don't know," he snarled looking around. The gravity field kicked up and the plasma drifted down to the deck.
He squeezed on the end harder. "nanites have welded the breach Admiral. You have a temporary fix," Proteus responded.
He looked around. The room was an inferno, everything flammable including the paint was on fire. He was at the center of plasma ball that was tearing everything apart around him. It was only a matter of time before the constant wear on his shields drew his energy levels down to failure levels. He was at one of the worst places to be, the heart of an artificial sun. "Good." He pulled his hand out then shook it. Dribbles of plasma were shed by the shield. The shield was sparkling around him. "Status?"
"Screwed!" Sprite said, voice rising. "Admiral, when the deck goes you're going to fall with it. I estimate less than a minute actually."
"One thing at a time. Have engineering set up force fields to contain and redirect the damage." He looked up to the ceiling. "Only way is up."
"Admiral your energy reserves are low. Below nine percent. Miss O’Neill is out of air."
"Then we better make this count." He looked down at the badly burned woman. No time for that now, he had to act fast. He pulled the unconscious April up to his chest then raised his right arm. "Engage drive. Get us off the deck."
His legs began to glow as gravity emitters changed from shielding him to lifting him off the molten deck. "You're airborne. I take it you're going to blast your way out?"
"No choice. Clear?" he asked.
"It is clear. Modulating weapon," Proteus replied. "If you give me a moment we can tear the ceiling out while avoiding critical systems. Limit the damage."
He looked down at the girl and grimaced. "No time. Do it."
"Very well." His arm morphed into a blaster and a fat bolt of purple energy shot out. It blew the false ceiling to shreds. Debris rained down, bouncing off his shields.
"Rising."
"Again," Irons adjusted his aim slightly to the left and forward to avoid hitting another plasma line. His shot hit the water line. Water sprayed out. He rose into it. The water bounced off his shields and fell into the hissing plasma below.
"That's not going to put a plasma fire out Admiral if that was what you were planning," Sprite said.
"One thing at a time," he said as they drifted through the floor. "Medical personnel?"
"Outside the door. Which is locked down," Sprite said. He frowned. "And now it's not. You need to get out fast or the air will cause a blast."
"Roger." He felt his feet hit the deck and he carried the girl to the door. Her skin crackled and flaked off in his hands. He winced as he smelled blood and burnt flesh. "Open."
He went through the door and practically threw her onto the waiting gurney. "Get her to sickbay now," he snarled to the wide eyed medic.
"Sure ah..." Bryan glanced at the girl, gulped then dived into his profession. "I need back up here! Prep for incoming! Plasma burns, severe, level three sixty, no seventy percent of her body. left arm is gone at the elbow... left leg and hip are as well... severe lung damage..."
"If she's going to live it won't be for long. We don't have the facilities for this sort of damage," Sprite told him quietly.
"Prep a stasis pod," he said, grimacing. “Do it now.”
Bryan looked up at him, nodded then looked down, getting the trachea tube in place. "Lets
move people!" He pushed the gurney as fast as he could. the other medic pulled. Irons followed.
In sickbay he turned and grabbed some scrubs from a wide eyed nurse and put them on. He ran a hand through his hair, then watched the team at work.
"Admiral, you need to recharge."
"Not now," he said.
"Admiral...."
"I said. NOT. NOW."
"Override priority," Defender replied. "You will recharge now."
He grimaced. "You what?"
"I am over riding your over ride. Energy reserves are at two point three percent. If anything happens now you will be dead. Recharge. NOW," Defender said, moving him to the nearest wall outlet.
"Damn it. Fine," Irons snarled resisting at first then giving up. He fumed, watching his right arm plug into the port. "Just don't mess up the equipment."
"We will be careful Admiral. Power reserve climbing 1% per minute," Sprite said softly. She pulled a camera view onto the HUD so he could still see April. "There is nothing you can do for her. I know what you're thinking, but all your nanites are engaged in repairs."
"Crap."
"Well, that was fun," the chief said wiping his brow and pulling his mask up off his muzzle. Fortunately he hadn't needed a full vac suit to oversee the fire fighting. He was also glad they had trained for just such an emergency. It was just bad luck for the section chief that he'd been in the area and had responded before just about anyone else. "Anyone hurt in this mess?" he asked, looking around. A couple of the guys were resting, leaning with their backs against the wall. A few had sunk down to sit on the floor. Fighting a plasma fire was something they all trained for but highly dreaded. His crew didn't look at him. "What? Spit it out already."
"The Admiral was in there," someone further down said.
"He okay?" the chief asked shaking his head. "He's tough. I don't see him around though."
"He's fine. But the woman he was with isn't," Harry said grimacing.
"Oh," the chimp said softly, grimaced, and then tugged at his ear. That changed things, he thought. His heart went out to Irons. Damn, that well and truly sucked.
"How bad?" he asked after a moment. From the look and sound of his people it wasn't good.
Harry looked bleak. That was all Bailey needed. He sucked in a breath. "Bad. Not much left of her from what I heard."
"Crap." He shook his head and turned away. He wondered how John was taking it. Damn it as soon as this cluster fisk was sorted out he was going to damn well go find out... you know what? Harry was here. Screw it. He owed Irons that much. They all did.
"Hey, where are you going?" Harry asked as the chimp turned and moved off down the corridor.
"Sickbay," the chief said looking over his shoulder. He indicated the fire and damage, robots hovered around, some scanning, others already cleaning up the damage. "Keep on this. I'll be back in a bit."
He came into sickbay and looked around. The Admiral was near a wall outlet, left hand gripping his right bicep, frowning. He was wearing a poorly fitting smock. There was a bit of red to his skin, some soot and burns, but they were fading fast. If looks could kill, everyone around Irons would be a smoldering heap. Irons was seriously pissed. He could understand why. If anything like that had happened to Galiet, Sylvia, or Clennie...
"Admiral ah..." the chimp said coming over, rubbing the back of his head. He tugged on an ear again, not sure what to say.
"Got the fire under control chief?" Irons asked, eyes on the trauma door. His face schooled into a cold neutral mask.
"Yeah. It's all contained. I sicked Harry on clean up," Bailey said, wringing his hands.
"He must love you for that."
"How bad is April?" the chief asked, pulling a stool over and sitting down.
"Bad."
The chief sighed. "I keep hearing that, but no details. How bad is bad?"
"Bad, bad. As in she lost most of her left side. Arm, eyes, hair. Legs... he didn't want to think of what had happened to her gorgeous legs. Massive burns, internal injuries. Her lungs were practically cooked."
"You're not doing so hot either Admiral," the chimp said waving a hand over his face. "No offense but you stink and your hair is a mess. Have you been checked?"
"I'm fine. nanites are cleaning out the damage to my lungs now," he said.
"Oh." The chimp hunched his shoulders. He'd suspected the Admiral had nanites, but it hadn't really been confirmed until now. "They say what they are going to do?"
"Stasis is the only option. They need to get her stable though," the Admiral sighed.
The chimp winced, then shook his head. "Damn man, I'm sorry." He slapped the Admiral gently on the shoulder. His fingers clenched and unclenched on the shoulder a few times.
"Yeah. Thanks," he sighed softly. "Any word on the investigation?" Finally Iron's gaze turned down to the chimps and then back to the door.
Bailey shook his head scowling. "Just starting. But it's pretty damn suspicious."
"Yeah, that it is."
A thought finally soaked into his tired brain. Bailey stared forward biting his lip but then temptation got the better of him and he had to bring it up. "Stasis... shit, she's going back to Pyrax..."
"And I'm not," Irons said jaw tightening. "I know. I can't tell her good bye either. She's out. Doc put her under to do some repairs to what is left of her airways and lungs.
"Shit."
"My shields couldn't protect us both. The bedding was to much. It was inside my shield."
"Oh."
The Admiral's face was cold and distant. "It ignited. Plasma got past my shields and caught her before I could get in between it and her."
Bailey's eyes closed. He could just image the hell the Admiral had gone through. "Damn. I'm sorry."
"Why?" He looked at the soot stained chimp for the first time. "It's not your fault chief."
"It's not yours either John," the chief said softly.
Irons sighed heavily. "Isn't it? If I hadn't gotten involved with her, she'd never have gotten hurt."
"Maybe. But life is full of what if's. We have to take the hand we're dealt," the chief said as he shrugged. He winced when the doors opened and a harried engineer came in coughing.
"Boss."
"What?" he snarled. The man backed up, hands up. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder back the way he had come.
"Sorry boss. Harry wants you. Something about control runs and something about the investigation."
"Right," he sighed and got off the stool. "No rest for the weary."
"Or the wicked," Irons snarled. "At least not yet." There was something there, a clash of distant thunder in his voice...
"We'll catch 'em. Just don't..." The chimp grimaced a simian grimace at Irons who was looking at him coldly. "Don't go off half cocked okay?"
"Yeah. But if I catch the person responsible..."
"You'll put them out the nearest airlock. If I don't get to them first. Kicking and screaming if at all possible," the chief said nodding. "Deal!" He turned.
"All right, what the hell can't wait five fracking minutes!" He snarled walking out the door.
Bryan came out and looked at him. His smock had caught a lot of the blood and burnt... he shook his head. He didn't want Irons to see him like this but he was pretty sure the Admiral had seen and been through worse. Sometimes this job well and truly sucked. He wiped his brow with one arm and then sighed, shoulders slumped. “I'm sorry Admiral.”
“Not your fault Bryan, you've got to work with the tools on hand.”
“Still...” Bryan turned back to the observation window and sighed again. He waited a moment and then clenched his hands on the rail. “Do you want to talk to her?”
“She's not conscious,” Irons said, eyes locked on her form. A med tech was adjusting the stasis pod nearby.
“You're in the equipment?” Bryan asked. “What am I saying, of course you are,” he said shaking his head. He had no intention of kicking Irons out. He owed the man far too much. “Not that I blame
you in the slightest.”
“I'll...” Irons tightened his jaw and clenched his hands behind him for a moment. “I'll record a message for her when she wakes.”
“I don't blame you for not wanting...”
“I've seen worse Doc. Believe me,” Irons turned to the medic. His eyes were distant with remembered pain. “I've been worse. I'm not worried about the memory of seeing her like this. I can deal with it. I'll be here until she's in stasis.”
“Oh.”
After a few moments the tech looked up and nodded. Bryan straightened and rolled his shoulders. He turned to Irons. “Is there anything you can do? I mean...” he indicated the Admiral's right arm.
“What this?”
“I heard about what you did with Chief Logan in sickbay,” Bryan said.
Irons thoughts flashed to that brief moment. He'd been called to the Anvil sickbay by the doctor who was desperate for help. She had shown him Logan and he had helped repair the old man's heart and stop the blood clots before they could kill him.
The Admiral looked at it for a moment and then shook his head gently. Bryan's face fell. “I can help get her stable if you need to, even repair some of her minor damage, but she needs a trauma unit and a lot of cloned parts. That I can't help with.”
“Oh.” Bryan grimaced. “Sorry.”
“You don't learn things unless you ask Bryan,” Irons said softly.
“Thanks.” Bryan turned and backed into the door and through. He washed up in the sink and then turned to the waiting tech and SBA's. “Okay people, let's do this.”
Irons turned away, feeling intense guilt. The truth was he could rebuild her with his nanites. He could set them to tearing into her, rebuilding her with the sickbay equipment supporting his efforts. But he wasn't a medic. He wasn't sure how to go about something like that with such extensive damage.
There was another thing too. He couldn't reveal his true abilities. Not to Bryan, not to anyone. Not this. A few trusted people knew he had nanites. But they didn't know what they were capable of. He couldn't reveal that, his orders prevented it. He looked with sad eyes the way the medic had gone. He was torn. A part, the human part, wanted to just throw it all away, to rush in and save her. But... he sighed, rubbed his brow and rested his arm on the door jam and made himself watch silently.
Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) Page 40