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

by Nic Plume

  "You’re obeying my orders. The consequences will be on my shoulders. I don’t allow others to pay for my decisions.”

  Dean signaled ‘Comms off’ in SF hand signal. Mason paused and then nodded at his teammates. He pulled off his helmet and deactivated the comm.

  “An unknown person for unknown reasons rigged our systems so that these people wouldn’t be IDed by our normal scans. Until you manually entered their names, they were another set of civilians that were collateral damage in a war zone. I will find out who and why, but I can’t do that if they’re lost again.” He paused. “They will not go to a general medical facility, but straight to the Cartage.”

  Mason considered his words, then nodded. “What do you need from us?"

  "Be ready for my call.”

  Mason nodded again. "You heard the man." He put his helmet back on and got on his comm. "Where are those stretchers?"

  Dean turned back to Taylor. The young man's half-closed eyes fluttered open to meet his gaze.

  "My team," he whispered.

  "We got them," Dean said as he crouched beside the bed again.

  "Are they...?" Taylor trailed off.

  Dean smiled. "They'll be fine."

  Taylor's eyes tightened. "They're my—" he broke off, drew a raspy breath and then started again. "Their status? Sir."

  Dean studied him. He was dying, and probably had to depend on them to get this far. Yet, he considered their well-being his responsibility, although he had neither rank nor seniority over them and was spending possibly his last energy to verify that they were okay.

  "They were knocked unconscious defending your position, but suffered no major injuries." Dean glanced at the medic for verification. Receiving a nod, he added, "It won't take long for them to be back on their feet."

  Taylor nodded and allowed his eyes to lose focus, mumbling, "But they're not home yet."

  Dean smiled and lightly patted Taylor's shoulder. "They will be shortly, son, thanks to you.”

  He turned to the medic, who had pulled a collapsible smart litter from his pack and unfolded it onto the floor beside him. After verifying the litter's med vial storage slots were empty, he slid Aksel's med scanner into a side pouch and made the appropriate connections to sync the scanner's data with the litter.

  Following the medic's instructions, Dean helped the three SF to load and secure Taylor onto the litter and then maneuver it through the hole in the wall. Once on the far side, and his assistance no longer needed, he keyed his comm.

  "Robert," he said, "Get the shuttle ready for takeoff. We're taking on wounded for direct transport to the Cartage."

  "Roger, " his assistant replied. "Doing so as we speak."

  Dean wondered how Robert knew, but bit his tongue to keep from asking the question aloud. He looked at his comm's timestamp. It showed that he’d authorized an open comm line with Robert shortly after he left the shuttle—but he hadn't. Although it would've been a good idea.

  "You wanted to keep me in the loop, right?" Robert asked, seemingly reading Dean's mind.

  Dean smiled and shook his head as he moved down the hallway. I had to pick a psychoanalyst as my assistant.

  Ten minutes later, the four litters were loaded onto his shuttle and secured. Taylor was still conscious, but Dean couldn't tell if he was coherent enough to be aware of his surroundings.

  "Do you want my medic to tag along?" Mason asked.

  Dean looked at him, then the medic who stood behind him.

  "Is the litter online?"

  "Yes, sir," the medic said. "It's logged into your ship's comm and tracking his vitals. The MOs up top can access its data anytime to check his status."

  "You left the med slots empty."

  "Yes, sir." The medic nodded. "His system is flooded with X-3. Until you get him topside and they purge the X-3, there is nothing else we can give him."

  "So, what can you do for him if he crashes before we get there?"

  "CPR."

  Dean considered his words, then looked back at Mason.

  "Thank you for the offer, Commander, but we are fine without him. I am qualified in CPR, as is my assistant. So, your medic's more advanced skills will better serve you than us."

  Mason nodded and took his leave. He and his team would collect the last of the evidence at the apartment and then try to backtrack the path Taylor and his teammates took from Tortiga Plaza.

  Robert closed the ramp and fired up the engine. They were in the air seconds later.

  Dean commed Commander Liegus, the Medical Officer In Charge of Cartage's Medical section, to verify that he’d received Taylor’s status report and was tracking the shuttle’s estimated arrival time. Then he turned to Taylor.

  The young man’s eyes were still half open. Dean climbed out of his crashseat and moved to the litter. Taylor’s eyes fluttered but never fully opened or focused, but Dean was sure Taylor was awake. He glanced at Taylor’s teammates, who were still out cold, and then back at Taylor. The young man’s eyes fluttered again. And then again, a few moments later. Dean looked back at the other three and realized they were within Taylor’s field of vision. Dean smiled. Even barely conscious, the young SF was checking on his team.

  Dean touched Taylor’s shoulder as he leaned closer.

  “They’re fine, son.” He spoke quietly. “We’re in the air.” He paused for a moment to consider his next words.

  “You’re bringing them home.”

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for coming along on this adventure and exploring the world Taylor, Tonee, Kaydeen, and Salayla live in. If you liked what you read please drop me a note and help spread the word. The number of reviews an ebook receives has a big impact on how well it does, so I would appreciate it if you would leave a review. It does not have to be very long, just a few lines would be more than enough.

  If you would like to know more about me and my books, and keep up to date on when the next book comes out, you can sign up for my newsletter by visiting my website at www.nicplume.com where you will also find personal anecdotes and story related pieces, like short stories and background info.

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  See you next time,

  Nic

  Acknowledgments

  A BIG THANK YOU to all the people without whom this book would not have come together:

  To my Beta Readers, Rita, Brooke, Charles, Nathan, Ian, Davis, Mark, Jamie, Paul, William, Eddie, and Victor, for helping pinpoint inconsistencies and typos, and making this story the best it can be.

  To my early helpers, Julie G. and Melissa W., for lending me your ear as I was figuring out what this story was all about and how to go about getting it out of my head.

  To my technical advisers, Marty P., Paul P., and James P. for giving me ideas for my tech, and verifying its feasibility.

  To Becky P., for always having an encouraging word to keep me going and being my sounding board as I worked through ideas - Remember, three bottles the first night; two, the second.

  To Brooke B., for helping me work through the non-writing side of the biz, her never-ending patience to help a non-planner make a plan, and for not yet having banned me from touching my social media and email accounts.

  And finally to Isaac Hooke, for being an inspiration, mentor, and never-ending fountain of knowledge, and a willing victim of my repetitive game of twenty questions.

 

 

 
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