Alien (19 page)

“I’ll remind them as soon as they are done with their
patient. They should be finished any moment if you want to wait.”

“Thanks, but the sooner I get to the bay, the quicker I can
finish and leave.” Giving her a quick hug, he left at a jog, obviously trying
to hurry.

Within minutes, Tamin and Rodin walked from the exam room
with the warrior who had been in for his physical.

“Thank you for your time, Doctors,” he said with a swift
bow. Nodding once to Andi, he left the med center.

“We are through with patients for the afternoon. I will tell
Nixon that Izzie will be finished any moment. Once they leave, we can close
medical and go to our apartment,” Tamin said. He swung by as he was walking
past and kissed her on the top of the head.

“You guys had a slow day today,” Andi said as she checked
off boxes for items they needed to reorder.

“It was very quiet,” he agreed as he walked closer to loop
an arm around her waist. “I need to remind Tamin that we should wait a few days
until she has another treatment. Today’s session in the bed was too long for us
to schedule another anytime this week.”

“Go on, I’m just finishing up the little tasks that need to
be done. You better catch him so he doesn’t log her appointment or else I will
have to go into the system and fix it later,” she pointed out, waving her hand
toward the door.

Giving her one last squeeze, he hurried to the room where
Tamin was most likely doing exactly what she was afraid of.

As she was working in the main entry room, she was startled
when a loud alarm sounded. Jumping to her feet from her place at the desk, Andi
cupped her hands over her ears. Red lights illuminated a signal on the ceiling
every ten feet and were blinking rapidly.

Tamin, Rodin and Nixon all ran into the room from where they
had been. Izzie was curled into Nixon’s arm and he was holding her protectively
to his chest with a wide-eyed look on his face.

“What the fuck is that?” Andi yelled over the blaring siren.

Tamin and Rodin both moved to her in unison, partly
shielding her and also so she could hear better when they spoke. Their
closeness still required them to yell since the alarm was so loud. Rodin
quickly read the message center on the wall.

“It’s the ship’s defense alarm. It only sounds when we are
under attack!” Tamin yelled for her to hear.

As the men read the codes on the screen, she stared at Izzie
with panic-filled eyes. Never in her life had she expected an attack on the
ship. The structure seemed larger than life and impenetrable from her point of
view.

Moving quickly and efficiently, Rodin yelled to Nixon, “I
need you to stay here in medical. There will be warriors wounded who will be
transferred. If it seems life-threatening put them in a regen bed and hit the
button for it to close. It will automatically start from there.”

“Where was the attack?” Nixon asked, nodding as he agreed to
follow orders.

“The docking bay was hit. The reports state that there was a
large explosion with several casualties. We have been ordered to report there
to assess the men injured,” Rodin said, rushing to the door with his medical
bag in his hand.

“Wait? The docking bay?” Andi repeated, stunned at what was
happening.

“Yes. We have multiple warrior bands’ readings. Some
injuries are life-threatening.”

Panic rushed through her body. “Oh my god.”

As her face paled and she covered her mouth with a trembling
hand, Tamin ran forward to catch her in case she fell. “What is it?”

“Zane was called into work,” she whispered, with dread
filling every ounce of her voice, blinking at the hot tears that threatened to
spill past her lids. “Zane is in the bay.”

At Andi’s stricken expression, Tamin ran out of the room
with his bag in his hand. Rodin turned around with fierce determination in his
eyes. “We will find him, Andi. I promise.”

“Go. Just go. Hurry.” Andi started to cry silent tears.
Sinking into the chair next to her desk, she barely felt the hand pat her
shoulder.

“All will be well,” Nixon soothed. Andi glanced at Izzie
nodding her head from where he had set her down.

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” The words were
whispered, but Nixon heard her clearly.

“You need to stay here and out of danger. We have no way of
knowing if the assault has stopped,” he argued.

Andi was torn. She knew that she could assist Tamin and
Rodin in the bay. Sometimes an extra hand was able to save a life. Distracted
from her thoughts, she jumped to her feet when the door slid open and a man
walked in, dragging an injured warrior.

Panting, exhaustion plain on his face, the warrior started
speaking quickly. “I ran into the doctors in the corridor. Rodin said to put
him directly into a bed.”

Nixon, who had quickly moved to help him prop the man up,
took charge and moved him into the first exam room. The warrior who had carried
the injured man started for the door once he had been relieved of his burden.

“Are you going to the bay?” Andi’s voice came out in a rush
as she stood in front of the doorway.

“Yes, I will be moving the injured along with help from some
of the others,” he explained, obviously annoyed that she was blocking his way.

“I’m going with you.”

“But Andi—” Izzie started to speak only to be shut down
quickly.

“I’ll take a med bag with me. The men will most likely run
out of supplies before long.” She snatched a prepped bag from the closet at the
speed of light.

“It’s no use arguing.” Walking to the entry, she gave a
quick glance behind her. “Hurry the hell up already.”

He gave her a glare that was part exasperation and part
admiration, and followed her out the door.

“We need to run. Can you keep up?” he asked as he started to
move faster.

“I have no choice,” Andi said, breaking into a run beside
him.

The closer they got to the bay, the more Andi could see
smoke hanging in the air. The smell of it was so incredibly strong Andi
wondered if something was still on fire. Shielding her mouth with one hand, she
breathed in the acrid stench while trying to keep up with the running man
beside her.

Andi was panting by the time they reached the docking bay.
The scene in front of her resembled something out of a movie. Black smoke was
billowing from objects that had been a part of the explosion. Men were running
around the debris, putting out the flames that were still burning. Groups of
warriors were busy dragging others from underneath piles of the blackened
rubble.

She spotted a warrior only a few feet in front of her, lying
still, obviously injured. Blood coated his abdomen. As Andi started to go
toward him to evaluate his condition, she was stopped abruptly by a hand on her
arm keeping her still.

“Do not approach that one,” her escort said, his voice dark
with anger.

“Why the hell not?” The question came out harsh. Andi was
furious that the man might be dying and she had been told to stay.

“He was one of the Verge warriors who attacked.” Pulling her
by the arm so she had no choice but to follow, her guide moved her to another
man who was moaning on the floor. “Help this one.”

“How do you know he’s Verge?”

“The men in the green tunics were the ones who attacked,” he
explained with fury in his voice.

“What exactly happened?” she probed. Multi-tasking had never
been an issue for Andi. She was able to evaluate and treat as she carried on
full conversations with those around her. As she quickly took vitals and
pressed on the injured man’s abdomen, she waited for an answer.

“A pair of shuttles docked. Both of them were using codes that
were recognized and accepted. After the men walked off the ship, they must have
detonated bombs as soon as they were clear of the blast radius.” Shaking his
head and wiping his hand across his sweating face, the man knelt down to see
what she was doing.

“Keep going. How did that warrior get injured if they were
clear of the explosion?”

“When we realized what was happening, security managed to
get some shots in before a majority of the invaders made it past the bay.”

“Wait a minute, they were trying to hijack the ship?” She
stood, stunned at the chaos around her.

“Some of them were able to board. The explosion caused too
much confusion and we were unable to stop them all. We have security officers
searching for them as we speak.”

“This man may have some broken ribs. He needs to be
carefully moved to medical to avoid further injuries, but he can wait to go
into a bed until we see if someone else needs it first.”

Nodding quickly, her escort bent and hefted the large
warrior into his arms as if he were a child. “Find Rodin and Tamin. They will
most likely be closer to the main explosion areas. That is where the more
heavily injured men are.”

“Got it,” Andi said, already making her way closer to the
still-smoking rubble.

As she hurried around obstacles, she kept her eyes open
along the way for anyone who might need her help. Seeing a green tunic, she
paused for a moment. Her medical training was screaming at her to check his
condition and see if there was anything she could do. Walking to the man, she
nudged his leg with her foot to see if she got any response. Getting down onto
the floor beside him would be foolish if he happened to be playing possum.
Creeping closer, she saw that from the front he had no visible injuries.

“Where are you hurt?” she asked loudly, trying to see if he
was conscious enough to respond.

Receiving no acknowledgement of her question, she watched to
see if his chest was rising and falling. It was dead still. The relief at that
observation made her feel immediate shame. She shook it off quickly. These men
had come here and attacked. It might be cold to think it, but she was happy
they had got what they had coming to them.

Without getting any closer to the prone body, Andi skirted
around him. Keeping an eye out for others who might need her help, she scanned
the room. Sweeping her gaze from side to side, she spotted Tamin and Rodin,
both leaning over a familiar figure.

Her stomach dropped when she recognized her best friend.
Zane was lying on the floor, unmoving. He was bleeding heavily from a wound
caused by a piece of what appeared to be the ship lodged in his abdomen.

“Dear god no.”

The plea was whispered but Rodin heard her and glanced up.
Surprise and anger lined his features as he pressed a hand to another open
wound on Zane’s side.

“I will yell at you later for not staying in the medical
center,” Rodin said in a low voice. “For now, I need you to hand me the sealant
in my bag. I am not able to remove my hand without him bleeding heavily.”

Andi moved quickly even though her hands were shaking and
her legs felt week.

Zane’s skin was almost gray in color, his lips taking on a
white cast as he struggled to breathe. Andi found what she was hunting for and
handed it to Rodin. Kneeling beside the man she had once been matched to, she
gripped his hand in hers and was surprised at the strength with which he
clutched back.

“I’m here, Zane. Everything is going to be okay now.” She
leaned close, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Andi…” His voice came out choked, blood starting to leak
out of the side of his mouth.

“Shhhh. Don’t try to talk.” She held his fist to her chest
as if clutching the cool flesh would keep him with her longer.

“I didn’t expect it to end like this,” he wheezed, his eyes
wide with panic.

Andi soothed him as best she could while staying out of the
way of her men. Whispering to him to stay strong made him relax and the
stricken look on his face fade to one of calm. “Everything is going to be okay,
Zane. Hang in there for me.” She kept repeating the mantra, knowing that he
needed to hear her.

Both Rodin and Tamin worked furiously over his abdomen.
Their efforts seemed futile when more blood poured out of his body to the beat
of his slowing heart, the bright liquid pooling on the polished floor beneath
them.

“Zane, please…” she whispered, her tears trailing down her
face and onto her chest like melting wax. “You have to fight, Zane. My men will
fix you but you have to fight, dammit!”

Zane pulled his arm weakly away from her chest. With their
fingers still linked, he brought her hand to his mouth. Feeling his cool lips
kiss their joined hands, Andi started to sob. Her heart broke as she realized
he was trying to say goodbye.

“Be strong,” she pleaded, her throat closing up when she
observed Rodin shake his head at Tamin. The men both set back on their heels,
exhaustion and pain on their features.

“What are you doing?” she asked furiously. “Don’t you dare
give up on him!” she yelled at Rodin. Seeing the defeat on his face caused a
lance of pain to hit her chest.

Turning her streaming eyes to Tamin, she begged, “Please. I
love him. You have to be able to help him.”

“Andi—” Rodin started.

Gazing down at the man who had been her beloved friend, Andi
saw a small smile grace his almost colorless face. The trail of blood dribbling
from the corner of his mouth told Andi he was not going to make it.

“What, Zane?” She turned all her attention to his still
figure, brushing back a lock of hair from his forehead.

“I found out that I was matched today. I have a bride.” His
smile was wide for a moment with the happiness he had felt at the thought of a
future before it drooped with the reality of the situation. “I was going to
surprise you tonight.” Zane wheezed again, a tear rolling from his eye.

The vision of her strong, funny friend crying made Andi sob
even harder. He was one of the strongest men she knew and he was crying.
Looking away for a moment, she swallowed hard. Tamin and Rodin were blinking
rapidly as if trying to control their own emotions.

“Oh, Zane.” She tried to smile at him through her tears. “I
bet she is great. I can’t wait to meet her.”

Trying to distract him from any pain, Andi asked, “Do you
think she’ll like me?”

“She will love you, Andi. Just as I do,” he said quietly,
the life starting to fade from his voice. “I love you, Andi. You are my sister,
I cherish our time together…” His voice trailed off as he struggled for air,
coughing as his damaged body protested.

“Zane?” Andi tensed when he didn’t speak or open his eyes
again. Panicking, she gripped his fingers harder, her knuckles turning white
with the tension.

Leaning close to listen for his breathing, she was surprised
and relieved to hear him whisper, “Remember what I told you. You came here to
live. Listen to me…for once.”

With one last breath, his body became completely still. Zane
was gone.

“Tamin!” she cried to the man at her side. “Do something,
for fuck’s sake.”

Yelling at him, she clung to Zane’s weighted hand. Her grip
seeming to be the only thing keeping her grounded.

“Andi, the damage was too severe,” Rodin said in a soft voice.

“But he has a bride, Rodin. He doesn’t deserve this. It’s
not fair. He can’t die,” she argued.

“He is gone, sweetheart.” Tamin tried to pull her into a
hug.

Andi resisted for a moment, feeling a need to stay close to
her dear friend. She wanted one last hug from his large, laughing figure. One
more joke that he told, laughing at the punchline before even getting to it.
One more ridiculous eyebrow wiggle while he teased her. All the animation that
had been so apparent, even when he was standing still, had disappeared from the
man lying still in front of her.

Realizing that he was truly gone, she nodded her head like a
zombie. “Why?” she whispered brokenly.

“There is no reason.” Rodin crawled to her other side,
gripping her tightly, his hands and fingers stained with the blood of her
fallen friend.

“Andi, we must keep treating the wounded,” Tamin said
firmly, interrupting her grief. Scrutinizing the room, he visually catalogued
where they were needed next.

“Yes.” Moving as if she were a robot, Andi leaned down to
kiss Zane’s cheek. Settling his hand across his chest, she stroked his hand.
She took in a deep breath. “Let’s do our job,” she said in a voice that was
stronger than she actually was.

There were others there who needed their help.

The group took turns assessing the rest of the fallen
warriors. Overall, the Phaeton had lost four men in the attack. At the end of
the day, Andi’s heart was broken for one in particular.