Chaos Theory (33 page)

“
We told her to lie,” Creighton whispered. “Delphians don’t
react well to the shot.”

“
She’s a pureblood
?”

“
We didn’t think so, but we wouldn’t take the risk. Not with
Kali.”

Kenshin blinked rapidly. Another problem. No solutions.
“
Creighton is
right. She won’t be able to deal with hostile bacteria with
her immune system so weak regardless of how much antibiotics we
pump into her bloodstream.”

“
Then we take her back,” Max said shakily. “The Novae are
smarter than us. They’ll know how to save her.”

“
Save her?” Creighton said bleakly then sagged; not having to
say aloud the reason she was like this was because of
them.

The vibe of the room nosedived.

Chills of despair cut past Lara’s mental defensives and sank
into her bones. She took the time to look up and take in the room.
Kenshin showed signs of buckling under the pressure. His breathing
was laboured, his face a shade too pale, but he was fighting it.
Creighton appeared nanoseconds away from complete psychological
breakdown, and the verity Christabella wasn’t babbling hysterically
in a corner was as near of a miracle as Lara ever thought to
see.

Blue’s back stiffened. There was doubt he’d heard the
conversation because his aura wobbled dangerously. The instruments
strewn around the medical bay rattled as his panic seeped into his
telekinetic abilities.

The trays shook.

The lights flickered, and the walls of the room
groaned.

Lara wasn’t the only one to notice the psychic residue and its
effect. Igor tensed and shot his Omicron a nervous look. The humans
shivered, but were otherwise unaware of the danger they would face
if Blue lost control of the energy gathering inside him. It could
disturb the spaceship’s flight capabilities, and they would drop
from the sky. Too intense a psychic explosion could knock them all
unconscious, and Kali would die before any of them came around. If
too much residue leaked from Blue’s mental barriers, and broke
through the defensive shields it would act as a spotlight and allow
the Novae to pin point their location.

“
Cosmic,” Lara breathed, knowing if someone didn’t keep it
together everyone would freak.

She was the oldest Hybrid present, and built to function in
situations like these. Weapons and explosive devices were her
primary concern, but she also absorbed knowledge of military
logistics. Kenshin’s knowledge had to be delivered to Kali, so she
could survive. She had to fix any disruptions to the girl getting
the medical help she needed and supervise the delivery of that
care. Lara could think of nothing more disruptive than an out of
control Blue. She had to facilitate success. Right now, Kali living
equalled victory. Failure was an option she didn’t want to
contemplate.

Lara wanted to live to see tomorrow. “What else can we try?”
she prompted.

Kenshin struggled to answer. His stomach roiled, and his mind
was a jumble of information he desperately tried to streamline into
a logical flow. He was tearing into pieces between fear for his
friend, and the terror of making the wrong choice that would aid in
killing her. He was the Hybrid built to absorb medical knowledge,
and now it was needed to save a life.

The pressure was immense, and the chance of failure the most
frightening thing he’d experienced.

“
Ken,” Lara urged. She held his gaze, lending him her strength.
“There’s no time for doubt. You have the knowledge. Use
it.”

He opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. Kenshin’s
Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed thickly, and on one breathe
he said, “Blood substitute. Blood type doesn’t matter that way, and
they are free of contagion.”

Lara exhaled
shakily.

If Kenshin choked, they were finished, but if he kept himself
focused they had a chance.

Signalling to Max with two fingers, Kenshin led him to the
refrigeration unit. Cylindrical tubes hung in suspended animation.
He pointed to a cylinder with a luminescent liquid. “That one. Grab
the transfusion gun as well.”

Items in hand, Max rushed back to the table and slotted the
cylinder into the gun chamber. It loaded with a tinny click and
made a soft sound of decompression as the air was forced out. “Now
what?”

“
Inject the crease of her elbow, see the vein there?” Kenshin
pointed to Kali’s arm. “Do not touch her skin, you’re not
decontaminated. Don’t worry about the gun needle it’s
sterilised.”

Max delivered the shot and watched the hoary liquid drain.
“What is this stuff?”

The cuts and patchy bruises on Kali’s face and body began to
glisten with a silvery sheen.

“
Bio-engineered blood plasma.” Kenshin redid the BioScan and
reviewed Kali’s vitals. His eyes squinted at the innermost corners
as he interpreted the results. “It’s crammed with oxygenated
erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets, glucose, epinephrine, and
albumin. Its equivalent is a transfusion of three litres of super
charged blood.”

Out of his depth, Max’s lips pressed into a thin line as he
held back his anger, anger bred from helplessness.

“
There wasn’t enough blood in her body causing her heart to
race then fail. The red blood cells in the substitute are
overloaded with oxygen.” Lara explained. “They’re saturating her
deprived body buying us more time. The white blood cells will fight
infection, and the platelets will clot the wound until Ken can get
around to repairing it. We’ll shock her with the defibrillator and
get her heart beating at a regular pace. The adrenaline will have
dilated her air passages, so she’ll be able to function without us
breathing for her.”

Max nodded
frantically. “She has enough blood now?”

“
Maybe,” Kenshin replied, “The albumin will counteract her low
blood pressure. The rest is down to fate.”

“
Maybe?
Fate?
” Max held up the empty
syringe. “We fixed the problem.”

Igor fitted his mouth over Kali’s. He held her nose and
breathed in such a way her chest rose.

Lara pushed the air out in a series of short jerks. “The
substitute
should
fix the problem, but system has to
accept
it.”

“
The odds are not favourable,” Kenshin said. “Most patients’
bodies reject it outright. If her body assimilates the compound,
Lara and Igor’s resuscitation attempt will no longer be in
vain.”

The hologram
tinkled and Kali’s heart beat erratically.

“
She’s back,” Lara shouted.

“
Got it
,”
Christabella screamed. She rushed over with a long tube the colour
of polished bronze. As she held onto it, the metal became
malleable, contouring and curving into a hemispherical shape with
flat ends. The centre of the machine glowed, and the oval pads
emitted a bright blue light. Bolts of electric charge crackled
between them. “How does it work?” Christabella pushed it under
Kenshin’s nose.

“
Get that away from me.” Kenshin kept his hands up high. “It’s
no longer sterile. I need to be ready to operate as soon as Kali
stabilises.”

Max punched the wall. Medical instruments clattered. “Get your
head out of your ass. She’s going to die.”

“
Oh my stars
,” Christabella screeched.

“
Calm!” Lara emphasized her words with a firm blast of mental
power to force submission. The frantic energy in the room dropped
from crazed to edgy. “We can’t keep this up much longer. We’re
nearing five minutes of manual support and her heartbeat remains
irregular. Max, unless you have something helpful to contribute
shut up and stop throwing your weight around. Bella, pull it
together, and stop screeching in my ear. Omicron, swallow the guilt
trip you’re choking on, and get over here. If you don’t, I will
declare you unfit and assume command.”

Blue stormed over and with a burst of power snatched the
suspected Novae defibrillator from Christabella’s white-knuckled
grip. The device slapped into his waiting palm. He swiped his
fingers over its glowing panel. It emitted a high-pitched warble,
the blue light turning white.

The wildness in his eyes settled. “This is it.
Kenshin?”

“
I’ve analyzed the BioScan results and the blood substitute is
working.” Kenshin exhaled in relief. “I can repair the
damage.”

“
Her pulse is weakening,” Igor warned.

Blue stepped forward. “Move.”

Igor and Lara lifted their hands clear from Kali’s body. Blue
was about to touch the panels to her chest when at the last
nanosecond, he noticed Creighton held her. “
Get him off
.”

Face dark with concern, Igor breathed air into Kali’s lungs.
Lara resumed forceful chest compressions.

Beyond hysterical, Christabella grabbed Creighton’s arm and
yanked roughly. “Let go you crazy old man.”

“
Blue, we’re out of time,” Lara rushed. “You have to do it
now.”

Snarling, Blue shoved Creighton, adding a thrust of
telekinesis to the push.

Creighton was launched across the room. He crashed into the
wall of shelves sending glittering shards of crystal skittering
across the floor. Lurching onto his feet, he charged clumsily for
the table.

Max intercepted.

They grappled until Max skilfully subdued Kali’s distraught
father into a submission hold.

Haggard face contorted with pain, Creighton made another
futile effort to escape. “They’ve taken everything from me,” he
mumbled. He stared at the broken body of his daughter, the blood
pooled on the floor turning from red to silver. His eyes flicked
over the aliens moving around her.

Creighton fell to his knees.

His own aura one of defeat, Max loosened the lock he had on
the older man’s body and eased to the floor with him.

“
All clear and we’re on our way.” Zeke’s voice crackled over
the ship-wide ComLink, filling the room with his relieved voice.
Ominous beeps from the control bridge were heard in the background.
“Valiant has full control over flight systems. Push is co-pilot.
How’s Kali doing?”

Her golden skin was bleached of warmth. Red lips were tinged
purple. The dark bruises on her body were highlighted starkly
against her ashen skin. Silver liquid dribbled from the ragged
edges of her wounds.

Blue hovered the metal pads over Kali’s skin before his
face-hardened with determination.

He pressed down.

The sound of discharge was hideous.

The lines of Kali’s wilted body contracted stiffly. The thump
of her rigid torso on the hard crystal slab was disturbing. The
moment Blue pulled the machine from her skin everyone looked to the
hologram projected in the air.

No rhythm.

Blue clutched the machine until his fingers went numb.
“Charging,” he said flatly, the word an order to continue the
effort. The alien defibrillator beeped. Blue shocked Kali
again.

The sound of expulsion was louder, the convulsion of her body
stronger.

All eyes froze on the hologram.

Nothing.

The world collapsed around Blue’s as his heart squeezed. His
palms slicked with sweat, and his breath came in ragged gulps. He
screamed his agony on a mental frequency that made the Hybrids
flinch.

“
Again,” Blue said.

“
No.” Igor moved away shaking his head. “No more.”

The room was excruciatingly quiet except for the machine’s
tinkling as it charged.

“
Omicron,” Kenshin murmured, his voice hitching. “It’s been too
long. The damage to her brain–”

“
If you won’t help back off.”

Pained, Kenshin placed a hand to his heart, bowed, and stepped
away from the table.

Blue scrubbed an arm over his face to get rid of the tears he
felt rolling down his face. “Lara, you and Igor breathed for her
properly?”

“
We did.”

“
Another minute before brain death then.”

Lara studied him. “She has no pulse.”

Ignoring her, Blue blew air into Kali’s body himself then did
the chest compressions. The charging defibrillator was tucked under
his arm. “She’ll wake.”

“
Is everything okay in there?” Zeke repeated over the ComLink.
“Can you hear me?”

Blue adjusted the defibrillator settings and placed the pads
on Kali’s skin.

“
Stop.” Lara grabbed his hand and pulled the
machine back. “
Her heart isn’t
beating
. There’s nothing there for you to
shock. She’s gone, Blue.”

The metal rod clattered on the floor. Releasing his hold on
the webbing he and Lara spun to keep them cloaked, Blue sent his
mind deep into Kali’s, seeking the sparks of life he hoped kindled
inside. His lips hovered a hairsbreadth from hers. “Breathe.” He
grabbed her shoulders and shook. “
Wake
up
.”