by J Palliser
Aiden was half dragged, half carried to a different chamber this time. He guessed that Tanweer had exhausted all the possibilities of the interrogation chair.
It was a sterile looking room, the walls, floor, and ceiling a harsh white. It was brightly lit and smelled vaguely like a medical facility. There were consoles in the room as well, but they had all been pushed to one side and looked like they hadn't been used in a while.
In the middle of the room was a metal table at least a meter and a half in length and just wide enough to accommodate a body. He recognized the table from the couple of times he had been in morgues. It was where they performed autopsies.
Aiden tried to fight the two troopers who dragged him onto the table, but what little strength he had wasn't nearly enough. They lay him face down, his already bloodied and bruised wrists and ankles bound with thick straps at the four corners of the table. His arms were stretched out so tight that he could hardly breathe, and it felt like his shoulders would dislocate if he moved. The table was cold and hard his bare skin, sending a chill though him. His flesh puckered at the touch of the metal, or perhaps at the thought of what new torture they were about to inflict on him.
As the troopers finished binding his ankles, Aiden closed his eyes and attempted to take in a deep breath. He also tried to clamp down on the growing terror he felt. He didn't succeed at either. Tanweer had been working on him for several days, and he knew his body was close to its breaking point. Hashir had done his best to help Aiden, but he didn't have the medical equipment or the time he needed to completely heal him. The Lieutenant had begged Samra to let him dunk Aiden in a Loraca tank, but he had refused. So he had been trying to heal him the traditional way.
But it had now reached a point that nothing Hashir did could ease the throbbing in Aiden's belly and chest. Even the concoction he had given him the night of the party no longer helped to dull the pain. Aiden knew from experience and basic medical training that he most likely had internal bleeding and without proper antibiotic treatment would eventually bleed to death; if Tanweer didn't kill him first.
He grunted as another wave of nausea and anxiety pulsed through him. The only position that he found could help make him a bit more comfortable was to curl up into a knot, lying on his side and bringing his knees up to his chest. But stretched out the way he was, there was nothing he could do. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm him, and he no longer had the energy to fight it.
A noise somewhere behind him brought his attention back to the room and his present predicament. Although the door wasn't within his field of vision, he heard Tanweer enter the room and dismissed the two troopers with a barked order. She approached Aiden from the bottom of the table, running her hand along his back as she advanced towards his head, but he still couldn't see her. Because his arms were stretched out tight, his left cheek was practically pinned to the metallic surface of the table.
"Commander, we meet again." Her voice was cold, taunting. He had figured out in some of his more lucid moments that not responding to her seemed to upset and frustrate her, so he remained silent. She circled around to his right and leaned down so that he could see her merciless face. "You may have noticed that we are not in familiar surroundings, Commander. I have something new planned for you today."
Something in her hand reflected the light in the room. It took Aiden a moment to realize that it was a sharp looking curved blade. Some kind of medical instrument, he thought. He swallowed hard and tried not to imagine what she planned to use it for.
"I see fear in your eyes, Commander. That is good. It is a place to start, at least."
She disappeared from his view again, and he expected her to continue with her sneers, but there was only silence. He quickly lost track of where she was.
It was then that he felt the slight pressure of a hand on the exposed skin of his back. It was almost immediately followed by intense pain as the knife made its first slice into his skin.
***
Hashir had gone to meet with Ru Larado earlier in the day at the Watering Hole. She had given him the details of the scheme that they had put together, but only as far as it concerned him. He knew why she couldn't tell him the whole plan. He was an Khawarij Lieutenant, after all. They would only trust him so far. But he couldn't help but think that by keeping him out of the loop he could cause more problems than he could solve.
At that meeting she had also introduced him to two men who were working for her. "Hashir, these two are Wulf and Duke. They are here to help us free Commander Hunt." She turned back towards the two men. "This is Lieutenant Tahir Hashir. He's the man on the inside that I was telling you about."
The two men nodded. Hashir assumed that Larado had hired them on to expand her team of local resistance.
The tall man spoke to him first. "How's Aiden doing?"
Aiden? Could they be more friends of his? "I haven't seen him since this morning, but he's going downhill fast. Without better equipment, I can't make a complete diagnosis, but I am pretty sure that he's still bleeding internally, perhaps some organ damage, a number of bruised and broken ribs, and he's had at least one concussion. I've been able to get some antibiotics for him, but until you can get him to a proper medical facility, he'll continue to weaken."
Duke looked concerned, but the handsome man beside him seemed to be able to hide his emotions extremely well. He thought for a moment then spoke. "Are you a doctor?"
The question caught Hashir by surprise. "I used to be, a long time ago. Samra knows that and I think that's why he had me assigned to looking after him. He knew that if he let Hunt die, Tanweer would probably kill him."
Wulf looked over at Ru. "From what you've told us, I don't think there's much chance of us being able to get Aiden out of the garrison. I think our best bet is still to go after him at the ceremony."
"He's right," Duke continued. "Even if Hashir could get us into the complex, I can pretty much guarantee that we wouldn't be able to get back out without being discovered. Then getting off the planet would be next to impossible, especially with Aiden in such a weakened condition."
Ru looked down at her smart-pad "If we do this at the ceremony, we're going to have to go full scale, taking the palace and the garrison. We're going to need a lot of troops and even more fire power."
Duke's face brightened as a thought occurred to him. "Do you have any explosives?"
Wulf laughed and Ru looked at him, confused. Once he managed to contain his mirth, he explained. "I'm sorry. I'm just surprised it took Duke this long to ask that question."
Duke frowned. "The way you talk, you would think that I sleep with explosives under my pillow."
"You mean you don't?"
He gave Wulf a toothy grin. "Not since Kyra came along."
Now Hashir was certain that they were friends of Aiden. They all had the same deranged sense of humor. He guessed they must have been sent by the Reich and weren't mercenaries as he had previously thought. I guess that's why I wasn't assigned to Intelligence. "I'm sorry to break this up, but we do have work to do. I should be back at the barracks before they return Aiden to his cell."
Duke looked at him. "Sorry. What I was thinking before Wulf rudely interrupted was that if someone could get me some explosives, then maybe I could get into the plaza and rig something up that could be detonated by remote. Nothing fancy, just enough to cause a little confusion. The way I see it, we have to keep their forces off balance long enough for ground troops to arrive and take over."
"I think I can get my hands on what you would need for that." Ru made a small notation on her smart-pad and showed it to Duke. A broad grin spread across his face.
"Ru, if you can get your hands on that for me, I could blow half the garrison into little bits."
"I thought you might like it."
Wulf tried to lean over the table to see what it was that she had shown Duke. "What? What is it?"
Duke shoved him back into his seat. "People who make fun of me don't get to know my little secrets."
/> Wulf just stuck his tongue out at him.
"What is it that Aiden does to make his pilots into such children?" Ru demanded, exasperation coloring her tone.
"Hey, I think we've just been insulted," Duke said to Wulf.
"Does anyone have any other ideas?" Ru asked, purposely ignoring Duke.
Wulf looked over at her, then back to Hashir. "I have an idea, but it will all depend on Hashir here."
"What is it?" Hashir asked.
Wulf told him.
Hashir stood up so fast that his chair tipped behind him. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Wulf joked.
"If you get caught, I won't be able to protect you. They'll kill you and most likely me as well."
"I think it's a chance that we have to take to make sure that we get Aiden out of harm's way before they can kill him."
Duke stooped and picked up Hashir's chair for him. The Khawarij Lieutenant sat down again. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Not really... but again, it wouldn't be the first time." Wulf smiled, and Hashir knew they were all in real trouble.
To Be Continued...
***
Knight Squadron will return in: Knight Squadron: Ambush II