Chapter Twenty-One
What Happened?
Pax had never doubted Ansel’s ability or skill. But after fourteen hours of straight reconstructive surgery with synthetic skin and bone manipulator, he was in awe. Vivra’s beautiful face was back, and the last parts to be healed would do so while she slept off the drug concoction that Ansel dripped into her IV.
Yon had healed and left hours ago.
Ansel said Vivra would be fine when she woke up, but the effects of the medicine would keep her asleep for a few hours. He had no problem staying.
Shady knocked on the door before opening. She peered in at Vivra. “She looks good.”
Vivra would never notice or feel the synthetic bones in her face. Nor would she know what she’d looked like before the surgery. Pax doubted she would forget it happening, but he had experience with nightmares, he would be there for her.
“Come in and shut the door.” Once the door shut, Pax began, “On Brica, I specifically remember telling you to follow me, to trust me, and to do as I say, not to make up your own rules and follow your own courses of action. I didn’t say that as a suggestion. I made my stance very clear. And yet you gave orders in the hangar and even berated Lynn.”
Shady didn’t flinch or even offer a justification for her actions.
“I am recommending that you take another position on a different ship. Specifically, somewhere you have more authority.”
At that, Shady blinked.
“You have the knowledge, but you lack the ability to follow. I lead my team, but I also follow Captain Rannn. No matter what, I do as he commands. You don’t follow orders that way, and it’s something I don’t see changing in you, especially in someone so young. Someone who’s determined to break down barriers, challenge authority, and present yourself as an asset.”
Shady didn’t move, didn’t blink.
“What ship would you like to be placed on? I will recommend you, and I can promise they will take you. You saved Vivra’s life. You deserve a good position.”
Her light hazel eyes turned away as if she were thinking. “I want to be with the best ship in the Federation. That’s the Garna.”
“Garna’s mine. I’m commander of W&T.”
“I don’t have to be W&T. I’m willing to take any position.”
Pax’s eyebrow rose in an arch. What a persistent little hellhound. “I just told you, I want you off my team because you can’t follow directions. You will have the same issue in any other position on this ship.”
“If you say I deserve to be on a good ship for saving Vivra’s life, then find me a position here.”
“Why is this ship so important to you?” Pax asked while folding his arms over his chest. The hellhound was digging in her claws, and he needed to know why.
She didn’t answer right away. That pleased him until several moments passed, and she still hadn’t answered. So, it wasn’t just a personal thing, it was a deeply personal thing. “Answer the question, Shady.”
She swallowed. “My dad didn’t stick around after I was born.” She swallowed again, keeping her eyes averted. “My older brother raised me and helped my mom until he was old enough to join the Federation as an engineer. He sent me a letter every Sunday. He joined because he wanted to help my mom save money to buy me my cybernetic arms—I was born without the limbs. But in his letters, he talked about how cruel some races were. How they treated him as if he didn’t exist because he was Terran and from Marnak so he didn’t even have any contact with Earth to get the good stuff.” Pax noticed her breathing slowing.
“Then, one day, he told me that he’d fixed something in Captain Rannn’s cabin. Said that Rannn talked to him like a man. Talked to him as if they were on the same team, focused on the same goal. In his letter, he told me that if I didn’t have the money to get new arms, I should get them from a Verrain specialist and sign up for the cyborg program where I could work off my debt. And then he told me to join him, that he would follow Rannn wherever he went.”
Tears, unshed, beveled at the corners of her eyes.
“And my brother did, follow him that is. He was on the battleship that went down. I read the reports. He died in the crash, and you sent my mother a letter explaining how much my brother meant to you.”
One tear dropped from her eye and fell down her pale cheek.
“I don’t know if you meant that, but the words helped my mother in her grief. She never knew how much my brother hated everyone else on the ship. But there was one person he respected, and that was Rannn. And so, I chose the Garna because that’s where my brother’s hero is. And that is where I will stay unless that person transfers. I owe my brother my life. He was the only person aside from my mom who loved me and never treated me differently. You can try to take me off this ship, Commander, but I swear I will find a way back on.”
Tears flowed freely, but Pax knew they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of honor. Honor, and family pride.
He remembered her brother. Or rather he remembered the name of the male Terran in engineering that he’d sent the condolence letter for. “Foss.”
Shady’s chest jerked. She covered her mouth and walked out. Her brother’s name was Foss. Pax was sure of it. He also knew that he’d just found his new second in command. She would be a hellhound to train, but she had everything a second needed. The personality, the drive, the diligence. And most importantly…honor.
Pax uncrossed his arms, pushed off the bed, and walked out of the room. Shady leaned against a wall. She had wiped the tears from her face.
“So,” Shady said, her voice rough with emotion. “What is my new position?”
Pax didn’t answer her. Instead, he asked, “What’s the status of the last mission?”
Red letters crossed her eyes briefly. “The Merimore was too large to fit in our cargo bay, so it has been navigation-locked to the star carrier and they are holding seven hundred and twelve non-glowing slave miners. The rest glow and non glow miners have been transferred to the ship, registered on the manifest, assigned rooms, and given rations. The on-board rations took a hit, so I made an emergency order with Clalls’ permission. They will arrive in another twenty hours. The injured have been seen, some are recuperating in the medical beds.” Shady paused to take a stuttered breath.
“Transporter 806 was found and returned. I suspect we will be taking off to Marnak soon.”
She looked down to add, “I’ve also contacted and sent letters of condolence to Byalo’s family and the families of all those on his crew.”
Pax was now sure that he’d made the right decision with Shady. She was going to be a most annoyingly brilliant hellhound.
“Not sure if this is relevant, but one of the miners is hiding behind the cabinet. And has been since I walked in. Would you like me to escort her to her room?”
He turned and only saw a cabinet.
“I have infrared vision,” Shady said.
Ah. “No.” He could only think of one miner who would be hiding. Yelena. “Yelena. Come out here.”
A small head popped up. “I just wanted to see if Vivra was all right.” Yelena pushed herself up and then took a few steps from behind the counter to the side of it, though she didn’t seem inclined to step away from it.
“Vivra is sleeping, but she’s recovering,” Pax answered.
Yelena touched her hair and pulled it forward. “Um. Do you think I can see her whenever she’s okay to talk?”
“Absolutely,” Pax said, realizing that he was talking to one super shy and passive Allus. Interrogating her to find out what had happened with Vivra was not going to work. Not that he’d ever planned to actually interrogate her, but asking too many questions might even go poorly.
“Have you eaten anything? Are you thirsty?” he asked her.
Yelena shook her head. But he saw the fear of his question hit her. It was almost as if something bad would happen if she answered yes. With his Demon instinct, he also saw her on her knees, bent over as if she were unworthy of his time.
Turning eyes to Shady, he told her, “Go get her some clean clothes and rations. She can stay here with me until Vivra wakes up.”
Obediently, the cyborg turned and walked toward the exit.
“I’m really not hungry. I don’t need anything.”
“You can hold onto the rations until you are, and the clean clothes are because you’re in a medical facility. We need to keep things sterile.”
“Who are you talking—?” Ansel asked as he walked by then stopped when he saw Yelena. “Oh. Hello.”
Yelena looked at him, noted his nails, and Pax would never forget the look of sheer terror on her face before the Allus grabbed the nearest needle gun and aimed it at Ansel. “Numan,” she hissed.
Ansel’s head dropped, and he raised his hands. “I am with the Federation. I have vowed to heal. Never to hurt.”
“But you did once. I know you did. You must have. You’re Numan.”
This was going all sorts of wrong. Pax inwardly cursed. “Put the needle down, Yelena. Ansel is a friend of mine. He’s also the one who helped Vivra.”
“Helped how?”
Pax pointed at the door to the private room. “See for yourself.”
Yelena didn’t put down the weapon, but she did move to the door. She opened it and turned quickly but then checked to see if Ansel had moved. Then, suddenly, she dropped the needle and rushed into the room.
Pax found Yelena on her knees next to Vivra’s bed, touching her own face. “He really did help her.” The words were soft, almost to the point where he couldn’t hear them.
“He’s a good guy.”
“I thought Veeda was good, too.”
Veeda?
“Did you say Veeda?” Ansel was suddenly behind him.
Yelena’s head turned, and he assumed that she was looking at Ansel. “She offered to help me. But when I showed up, she put me in a plastic tube…like everyone else. Then I ended up like this.”
Pax turned when Ansel rushed to the nearest Minky screen. His hands frantically moved over the screen, scrolling for the captain. He pushed the ping to initiate a video call. On the second ping, Rannn answered. “Ansel.”
Shaking his head, he urgently said, “We can’t leave.”
“I know.” Rannn sounded a little smug. “We’re waiting for the ration shipments.”
Hands in the air as if to stop Rannn from talking, Ansel added, “No, I mean, we can’t leave until I get the proximity bombs out of the slaves.”
“What did you say?” Rannn asked.
“Yelena, a Brica slave, just said that she was experimented on by a Numan named Veeda. I know Veeda, and I know she always chips her experiments with bombs so that at the end of the contract, she can get rid of the evidence.”
Yelena held onto her neck, looking shocked and scared.
Ansel turned to her and held out his hand. “Don’t worry, I will get them out, and it will be totally painless.”
“Will you have to put me to sleep? I don’t want to wake up being something else again.”
Ansel shook his head slowly and spoke softly. “I am not going to turn you into anything. I will only remove the little chip that is probably in the back of your neck or in your brain stem. I remember Veeda liked to put her signature there.” Ansel winced. “I mean, she likes to have some way to control the experiments even after they leave her lab.”
“By blowing them up?” Pax asked.
Ansel shrugged. “If payment wasn’t made, or if she only leased them out for a time, she refused to let her products be reused.”
“I’m not a product,” Yelena said in a stern whisper.
Ansel bowed his head again. “I’m sorry. I misspoke.” But Ansel was smart enough, Pax noticed, not to rephrase the comment. “If you’ll step to the medscanner, I can get a lock on the chip and remove it.”
Yelena didn’t move. “What about everyone else?”
“I will remove everyone’s chips and make sure those still on Brica can be de-chipped.”
Yelena licked her lips before scanning the room. “Where do you want me to go? For the medscanner.”
Ansel pointed to a small, half-vertical dome. “It’s just there. If you will step in…” Yelena timidly moved to the scanner and checked out the sides as if it would somehow lock her inside. Her fear was palpable. Touching her thighs, she stepped in but avoided touching anything. Then she turned to face forward.
Her chest was rising and falling faster than it had been seconds ago.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Pax said, hoping it would calm her.
She didn’t respond.
Ansel touched something on the Minky screen, and the scanner walls lightened. A blue light spiraled from the top down before the machine powered off, and Ansel told her she could step out.
On the Minky screen was an image of her scan. Ansel was lost in the picture, widening and searching all parts of her until he smirked, pointing, “Veeda never changes. It’s right there, and easy to remove.” To Yelena, he said, “I could numb the skin and pull it out. No going to sleep.”
“Thank you.”
Shady walked back in and held out the rations and clothes she’d been sent to retrieve. Yelena took them and then asked Ansel if she could shower in one of the private rooms.
“Of course.”
Once she was in a room, Pax told Ansel, “I want to ask her what happened to Vivra.”
Ansel’s eyes dramatically widened. “Not a good idea. She’s been a slave for too long. She has the mentality that everyone’s trying to hurt her. But something about Vivra has made her cling to her. Honestly, she’ll probably shut down if you question her.”
Pax waited a half-second to see if Shady would chime in.
“The Cerebral is up. He can just scan her memories and tell us.”
Ansel scowled. “That’s not how it works.”
Pax liked Shady’s idea, but he also didn’t want to spook the Flourg.
“I’m here,” Sci said, walking into medical with Sasha’s hand clasped in his. “And I can tell you what I’ve seen so far.”
Sci told the story of Vivra’s face being smashed in, Yelena huddled in a corner, terrified and hating the sound of Vivra’s screams. Then, while on the ground, Yelena saw a small handgun. She picked it up, crawled out of the corner, and pointed it. It took two tries before she hit the side of Mish’s head, killing him instantly. She dropped the gun and rushed to Vivra, realizing that she was too late. She believed she’d let her die because she was a coward. Now, she’s afraid of being sent to the disciplinary barracks for killing him.
Sci didn’t mince words, and as soon as he finished relaying the tale, he pulled Sasha out of the medical bay, and Pax was left with Ansel and Shady in silence.