Tinaree: Trial By Inferno (Shadows Of Peace Book 1)

by Nic Plume

  "Here. It’ll help you with his treatment and any other injuries you come across." As she tested the med-scanner’s functions, he turned back to the cabinets. "Let’s get a med-kit together for you." He opened doors and pulled out supplies. "Do you have room in your backpack?"

  She retrieved her pack from the hallway and rearranged its contents to fit the supplies he laid out for her. By the time she was done, Taylor was awake and trying to sit up.

  "Whoa, buddy." Mitalius pushed him back down. "Let’s take it slow."

  Taylor stared at him blankly but didn’t fight the doctor’s motions.

  "We need to do this one step at a time."

  Using the med-scanner he’d given Kaydeen, Mitalius had Taylor sit up, then stand, and then walk around the room, scanning him every step of the way.

  Taylor flinched a few times, but that was to be expected. X-3 reduced the pain enough to allow full function but not enough to allow him to forget he was injured.

  "I’m linking these readings to establish a bio ID for him," Mitalius explained. "Verify it is selected before scanning him, so everything syncs correctly, and make sure the medical facility gets this data." He handed the scanner back to Kaydeen. "It’ll help them purge his system and get him back on his feet."

  He turned to Taylor. "Take it easy. Even when you feel like a hero, don’t be one, or you’ll pay for it later."

  Misreading Taylor’s frown, he launched into a detailed explanation of how X-3 worked. As the team’s backup medic, Taylor knew X-3’s stats. But he didn’t correct the doctor’s misinterpretation of his expression.

  He continued to frown, his attention turned inward. While they’d covered X-3 during their training, they’d never had cause to use it. Taylor didn’t like what he experienced. As Mitalius finished his explanation, Taylor looked up and nodded at him. His gaze met Kaydeen’s. No, he didn’t like what was going on inside him. Kaydeen motioned to Read him. He shook his head.

  "I’m fine."

  He wasn’t, but she didn’t argue.

  Taylor pulled on the shirt Mitalius handed him and then walked into the kitchen where the others were preparing to leave. His breathing came ragged at first, but soon settled and only caught when he moved abruptly or rotated his torso. He quickly adopted the habit of keeping his shoulders in line with his hips, rotating his whole body to turn. Other than that, he gave no indication of his injury.

  Tonee studied him and then looked at Kaydeen. She nodded. He nodded in return and then closed his pack.

  "All right." He stood, "We’re going to travel at night and stay out of sight during the day. That gives us thirteen hours to get to Tortiga Plaza and find a place to hole up."

  "We shouldn’t have that much further to go," Taylor noted.

  "No," Tonee nodded, "but we’re going to take it slow. I’m not carrying you again." He grinned.

  Taylor didn’t argue. Injured, his time to lead was over. He acknowledged Tonee’s decision with a nod and stepped aside. Tonee continued his briefing. Nitus and Salayla would take the lead, Tonee and Leer the rear, while Kaydeen and Mica would stay in the center to cover Taylor. He went over their route and possible rest points and made it clear that their priority was to keep under the radar and get to the rendezvous point. They would avoid contact with anybody but Intergal, if possible.

  As he talked, Taylor’s gaze wandered across the group, coming to rest on Leer. Leer dropped his gaze. Taylor looked at him a moment longer and then returned his attention to Tonee.

  "I can be productive," he said when Tonee finished, "I’m moving fine."

  "For now," Tonee nodded. "We’ll see how it goes. But the moment it changes, I want to know."

  It would be typical for Taylor to push through the pain and keep going, but X-3 wasn’t the drug to do that on.

  Their gazes met.

  Taylor’s health wasn’t the only thing on the line, as Leer’s display of disobedience had shown. Salayla and Tonee had a long conversation with the boy while Mitalius had treated Taylor. Leer had been repentant for having been the cause of Taylor’s injury, but not for his actions leading up to it. He had seen no evidence that anybody was in the plaza, and Taylor had refused to explain why crossing the plaza was too dangerous, or what was making it so dangerous. Leer had thought that Taylor was making it up. And he still did. Though, by chance, that time, Taylor had been right. Tonee had wanted to beat Leer but had restrained himself. Taylor’s gift, as Salayla had called it, was, after all, an uncanny but extremely accurate sixth sense. He couldn’t explain it, but the teammates knew it worked, it had proven itself often enough. But Leer had no such experience, or proof. From his point of view, Taylor’s decisions had been capricious. Mitalius had sensed the tension, even commented on Leer’s downtrodden mood, but they hadn’t told him more than that Taylor had been shot while pushing Leer out of the line of fire. For all Mitalius knew, Leer’s repentance was survivor’s guilt.

  While Tonee, Salayla, and Kaydeen had worked things out with the boys, Taylor hadn’t been part of any of the discussions, which made him an unknown quantity in the boys’ eyes. Would he react with anger, like Tonee had? Would he treat Leer differently, blame him for his injury? And the big question, clearly visible in their expressions—would he accept Tonee’s lead?

  For a second, Kaydeen saw the same doubt cross Tonee’s mind as his gaze locked with Taylor’s.

  It was amazing how different yet so alike the two were, and how much they needed and fed off each other.

  "Remember our convo after I busted my ribs in the mine?" Tonee said quietly. "You told me that when the time came, I would know what to do. I would pull you through." He frowned. "Did those words have substance, or were they only warming the air?"

  He paused to allow Taylor to answer. Taylor did, although not with words. Tonee understood him loud and clear.

  "Then let me do what you said I would," Tonee continued. "You carried us for six months. In many ways, you still do—"

  Taylor frowned and slowly shook his head.

  "Hey." Tonee grabbed him by the crook of the neck, stopping the movement. "I got you, bro," he emphasized. "I will get you through this."

  "I know."

  "Good." Tonee nodded and handed him his pack. It was mostly empty, carrying a blanket and a bottle of water. The rest of his supplies were divided among the team. Taylor checked its contents and then pulled it onto his back without comment.

  They were back in the alley ten minutes later.

  21

  Complications

  Mitalius had said the alley had no lights, but Kaydeen hadn’t realized how dark a city could be when its power was reduced to emergency use only. Her helmet, or at least her eye-pro, with its night vision, would be handy right now.

  The street wasn’t as dark as the alley, but it was equally deserted. Without lights, the city’s inhabitants preferred to stay within the safety of their homes. The team traveled without difficulty—the deserted streets made it easy to spot and avoid patrols and checkpoints, and they made good time even while taking regular rests. At least, for a while.

  The first signs were subtle. Slightly stiffer movements, an aborted inhalation, a slower pace…they were enough to alert Kaydeen so that when Taylor stumbled a few minutes later, she was in place to catch him. Yet, she was unable to prevent him from dropping to his knees. Mica was by her side instantly and helped her to settle Taylor’s trembling body against a wall while Tonee alerted Salayla with a low whistle and then gave Leer a crash course in the finer art of perimeter security. Kaydeen pulled out the med-scanner and indicated for Mica to retrieve the X-3.

  Salayla appeared with Nitus a few moments later and relieved Tonee.

  "What happened?" Tonee asked as he knelt next to Kaydeen.

  "Increased pain, decreased coordination, and a few minutes later, he stumbled," Kaydeen replied. "I thought I had him, but he turned into so much dead weight, I couldn’t keep him on his feet." She shook her head. "The progression of symptoms is right, b
ut they happened way too fast."

  "Did he crash?"

  "No. But from the readings, he came pretty close."

  "It’s only been two hours," Mica pointed out.

  Kaydeen acknowledged the boy’s concern with a curt nod. "The first dose has to initiate the repairs, so it always expires earlier than subsequent doses. I simply expected a little more warning."

  It was more complicated than that, but going into details of how the command module monitored and programmed the nanobots would only invite more questions she didn’t have time to answer right now.

  "He’s conscious," she continued in Tonee’s direction, "but unresponsive." Seeing Tonee’s eyes tighten, she added, "And actively blocking my access."

  She swapped the scanner for the injector Mica held ready and ignored Tonee’s deepening frown. She had no answers for him. At least, not yet.

  As she returned the injector to its slot, she switched the command module’s alert system from tactile to audible. It was a calculated risk. The sound might alert nearby enemies, but since Taylor was either ignoring the warnings or couldn’t feel the vibration and she didn’t have the proper gear for a direct comm link with the module, that was preferable to the alternative.

  Tonee acknowledged her choice with a nod and stood to discuss the added complication with Salayla. When they moved on, Salayla kept them off the main thoroughfares as much as possible. Her paths through the bowels of buildings or inner courtyards of the blocks weren’t always the shortest routes and often required the team to wait while she verified a particular alley or series of courtyards was clear before they proceeded, but they had the benefit of adding short rest periods Taylor would otherwise argue against.

  The Command Module shattered the silence of the alley they were passing through approximately two-and-a-half hours later. It wasn’t the short chirp Kaydeen had expected to hear first, signaling that the nanobots were starting to reach the end of their lifecycle, but the ascending riff warning that the nanobots approached critical levels.

  Kaydeen studied Taylor. The pain had set in again.

  "Why didn’t you say something?" she chided as she moved to his side.

  "It just started." He slumped against the wall of the alley they were in and looked at his trembling hands.

  She frowned. That made no sense. The physical symptoms were supposed to appear gradually and before the audible alerts. She administered the third dose and downloaded the nanobot activity log into her scanner. Analyzing the concentrations of nanobots would give her a better understanding of the state of his injuries.

  Taylor was back on his feet a few minutes later. He moved fine again, although as they continued, his attention was more often introspective than situational.

  The next two doses also lasted two-and-a-half hours each, which was shorter than Kaydeen would’ve liked, but at least the symptoms and alerts followed a more standard progression. Her larger concern was that Taylor took longer to recover from each consecutive injection and never fully regained his previous level of vitality.

  While the team waited for Taylor to recover from the latest injection, Kaydeen initiated a Reading. "What are you doing?" Mica asked.

  He’d been watching her every move.

  "Reading him."

  "You can read his mind?"

  Kaydeen smiled at the common misconception. "More his emotions than his thoughts."

  "What are you reading now?"

  "Pain and confusion."

  "What’s he confused about?"

  "The foreign substance invading his body."

  "You’re talking about the X-3? I didn’t know you could feel it working."

  "You can’t." She looked at Taylor’s hunched-over form. He was sitting against a wall with his knees drawn to his chest and his forehead resting on his crossed arms. "At least, you shouldn’t be able to. X-3 works on the molecular level like your immune system. They’re no bigger than T-cells, and you can’t feel those working and moving inside you."

  Salayla looked at her, then moved closer and laid her hand against Taylor’s neck. Taylor moved his head and opened his eyes to look at her. Salayla’s eyes defocused as she initiated the Reading. A moment later, her eyes refocused with a start.

  "A battle is taking place inside him and both sides are drawing on his energy reserves, draining him."

  Kaydeen nodded.

  "That is what’s killing him. Not the damage to his body, but the X-3 and his immune system fighting each other."

  "Then stop giving him X-3!" Mica exclaimed.

  "I can’t." Kaydeen smiled sadly. "He wouldn’t survive the shock to his system."

  "But it’s killing him."

  "Yes, but at a slower speed, buying us time to get him to medical."

  Taylor didn’t comment. He was fully aware of what was happening, and how much it slowed their progress.

  A little under two hours later, Taylor stumbled, hissing in pain as he threw out his arm to catch himself. His shirt was wet. Kaydeen was already by his side when the alert sounded from the Command Module.

  "I need to take a look," she told him.

  He nodded and turned to give her access to the med patch Mitalius had placed over the wound. It was discolored with blood seeping from its edges.

  "Well?" Taylor said.

  "The nanobots are failing early."

  Mica looked at them. "What does that mean?"

  Taylor studied Kaydeen as she administered the injection and then turned his gaze to Mica. "Nothing good, but it doesn’t matter. We need to keep moving."

  Kaydeen didn’t argue. The bleeding had already stopped, so they might as well continue while Taylor was able to do so.

  About an hour-and-a-half later, the critical level alert sounded again without warning. Kaydeen injected the X-3 and then looked at Salayla. "We need to find a place we can stop for a while."

  "We need to keep going," Taylor rebutted.

  "You need rest," Tonee replied.

  "It hasn’t helped so far." Taylor lifted his hand. While the last injection had decreased his pain and increased his coordination, it hadn’t eliminated the tremors as the previous doses had. "So, we might as well get it over with."

  Tonee grabbed his shaking hand. "We’ll get you home. I’ll carry you, if I have to."

  "Not quite yet," Taylor smiled, "but you will."

  Tonee’s eyes tightened. He looked at his hand grasping Taylor’s, then touched Taylor’s neck with his other. "Kaydeen, he’s burning up."

  Kaydeen pulled out the med-scanner and took a reading. She frowned. "Fever is not a standard side effect of X-3."

  Tonee looked at Salayla. "Find us a spot to rest."

  Salayla nodded, indicated for Nitus to stay with the others, and disappeared.

  "I’d prefer to keep moving," Taylor insisted.

  "Understood." Tonee looked at him. "But not happening."

  Taylor snorted. "At this pace, we’ll miss the RV."

  Salayla returned a few minutes later to lead them to a hidden alcove in a back alley.

  Kaydeen sifted through the med-scanner’s data for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what she was missing. The X-3 cartridges were dosed to last three-and-a-half hours. Of course, the severity of the wound and the drug tolerance and metabolic rate of the injured could affect that timespan in either direction. Adding the uncertainties of a battlefield and the importance of avoiding a crash caused the medical establishment to set the recommended interval of administration at three hours. So, logically, the window for each succeeding injection was two-and-a-half to four hours. But two, or even one-and-a-half? Plus, X-3 was designed to lose its effectiveness gradually, so the medic had more than a few minutes to administer the next dose. After all, X-3 was designed for the battlefield, not the med ward.

  A thud pulled her attention from the screen to where Salayla and Leer stood watch. Leer returned her gaze sheepishly as he straightened from picking up the bottle he’d dropped. Behind him, Salayla shook her head with a
smirk. Luckily, their security wasn’t dependent on silence, or they never would’ve made it this far. Kaydeen smiled ruefully. The teen was trying hard to do everything right. All three were.

  Mica, Nitus, and Tonee sat against the wall a few meters away, leaning against each other with their eyes closed, although Tonee wasn’t relaxed enough to be fully asleep.

  Kaydeen’s gaze wandered to Taylor, lying curled into the boys’ latest attempt to improve his comfort. This iteration resembled a nest more than a bed, but it got the job done. Taylor finally slept, something he hadn’t done during their previous breaks. His disheveled black hair lit up in blueish-black hues as the morning sun found its way across the alley floor via the city’s ingenious architecture. Some strands hung over his eyes, almost long enough to reach the tip of his nose. She liked the look. It gave him a less stark, more approachable air. His skin was still glistening, but now with a gray-tinted paleness that belied his peaceful expression. No, it wasn’t peacefulness she saw, but stillness—deadly stillness.

  Kaydeen rolled onto her knees toward him and touched his cool and clammy skin. He didn’t react. She shook him. No reaction. She initiated a Reading.

  Nothing. No resistance, no block…only emptiness.

  "Oh no, you don’t." She shook him harder.

  "What?" Tonee opened his eyes, fully alert.

  "Salayla," Kaydeen’s voice rose an octave with each syllable. "I can’t reach him."

  She ripped off his covers with her free hand and dug for the X-3 pouch in his leg pocket.

  Salayla crashed to her knees by Taylor’s head and wrapped her hands around his neck. As her presence permeated his mind, Kaydeen was finally able to sense him—barely. He was so far away.

  Salayla reached for him with brute force, her gift reverberating through him like an unrestricted torrent. Kaydeen wasn’t the target, yet still she felt battered and bruised as Salayla’s will latched onto Taylor and snatched him back.

  Taylor’s eyes flew open with a gasp. The two stared at each other for unending moments. Finally, the panic-filled swirls calmed, returning his eyes to their usual green pool. Salayla rocked back onto her feet and leaned against the wall beside Nitus.