Chapter 12

Rude Awakening

~ Haden ~

Twelve solars later, Haden arrived for his work shift to find no drones working. Three members of his crew were pacing back and forth in front of their work station.

Approaching them, he stated anxiously, “Greetings, my brethren.”

Jakor turned to face him with a worried look on his face. “You are late.”

Shifting his eyes to the very alarmed man, Haden replied cautiously. “I am not. This is my scheduled arrival time. Is something wrong?”

Jakor glanced worriedly around. “We are unclear how to proceed.”

“Unless you give me specific information, I cannot help you.” Jakor was the one drone in the ‘verse he tried to never have conflict with. Haden owed him a life debt because Jakor’s twin spawn mate was one the men he killed when under the control of the transponder.

The drone waved a hand toward the injector containment unit. “The injection relay is clogged.”

“Unclog it.” Why were they acting so panicked?

“It has started a chain reaction in the injector assembly.”

Forcing himself to remain professional, Haden responded. “Simply flush the containment unit. Once you vent the plasma—”

“It has been cycling all night.”

God of chaos! The entire unit was in danger of overloading. If it blew, it would depressurize half the ship. Running towards the junction, Haden yelled. “Bring an injector repair kit.”

Standing over the opening to the softly glowing housing unit, he could feel heat coming off it, even though it was seated all the way in the rear of the enclosure. Grabbing the injector kit, he jumped down into the unit.

Trying not to think of the very real possibility of getting caught in a hot wave of heated steam when he released the pressure valve, he pressed on. Grabbing the valve opener, he quickly leveraged it against the proper seam and slowly pushed back the injector cover. He heard a soft thud behind him just as the assembly shot forward, releasing the plasma into the proper vent. A shield came down in front him as the hot vapor shot out of the unit. It hit the shield with such force that both drones were thrown back flat against the far wall. Recovering quickly, Haden called up to the other drones. “The unit flushed properly, restart the relay.”

Turning to the drone who saved him with the shield, he found it was Jakor. The man had a strange expression on his face. Glancing down, Haden saw the reason for the man’s grimace. Quickly pulling the strip off the leg of his uniform, he stuck it to Jakor’s chest and activated the stasis field. Trying not to break down, Haden walked back over and picked up a cutting tool to remove the induction rod jutting through Jakor’s body. As he worked, two more drones dropped into the unit. As they helped him pry their Maruvian brother free, Haden felt numb to the horror of what he was seeing.

Accidents happen all the time. Though drones were brought up being taught that they were highly expendable, Haden wished a thousand times over that it had been him impaled on the rod rather than Jakor. Jakor couldn’t die. How could he face Jakor’s sire, knowing he’d cost the older drone two of his sons? One son would be enough to break the older drone, two was unimaginable.

They carefully took him to the healing unit on a hover board and explained to the healers what had happened. The healer’s grim expressions told him that Jakor’s chances weren’t good. Haden stayed in the healing unit for three long days and nights, watching over his fallen brother. The healers performed multiple surgeries, grafted tissue, mended bones, but in the end nothing held together.

Watching the healers finally give up, Haden couldn’t get rid of one reoccurring thought. How could he let this happen? He’d killed Jakor’s spawn mate along with several other drones. He’d allowed Jakor to be injured so extensively the healers could not repair the damage. He was unfit to lead. That was a fact he could no longer ignore. What use was a drone who could not protect others?

His mind drifted to the beautiful queen, waiting even now for him to return to his quarters. If he allowed her to claim him, she’d eventually pay the price for that poor decision, just like everyone else in his life. Looking down at Jakor’s lifeless body, Haden imagined his queen one day laying on a healing platform taking her last breath. Something in his brain locked into place. He would not allow that to happen, not ever.

Turing towards the door, he ignored the healers calling out to him to and headed to his quarters. He’d gather his belongings and move into another room. No matter what his queen said to soothe his grief, he would do right by her. As much as he hated to let her go, it was the only way. He was a total fuck up and could not be trusted with a queen. He knew deep down in his soul she would be far safer with another drone.