Falcorans' Faith (39 page)

“Arrest him, and don’t let him out of your sight,” Gray said, his eyes glowing with fury.  “You are responsible for him.”

“Yes, Admiral,” the eldest Katre said as his two younger brothers lifted the man off the floor.  Each of them wrapped one hand around a wrist, effectively shackling him.  He’d never break free. 

“If Faith is harmed,” Gray said, leaning forward to stare directly into the man’s eyes, “even the smallest bit, you will pray to your Gods for death for a
very
long time before it is granted to you.”

Gray had the momentary satisfaction of watching the blood drain from the man’s face.  Then he heard his brother’s roar, distant and faint, but clear.  He spun around and was gone.

“Whoever you are, you made a very large error in coming aboard the
Eyrie
,” the eldest Katre said as he stepped in front of Eric.  He held up one hand, transformed it into a huge paw with long, hooked claws, then used it to tear the shirt from Eric’s body, revealing several knives and two hand guns tucked into a body harness.  Two quick swipes and the harness lay on the floor. 

Eric tried to tell himself that dying in the act of avenging his sister was worth whatever they did to him.  For some reason, he wasn’t having much luck with that.

***

Tristan and Jon reached the elevators on Deck One just as the doors opened.  They stood frozen as the scent of Faith’s blood hit them like a wave, their minds struggling to decipher what their eyes were seeing.  Tristan roared in fury, already beginning to shift, when Jon stepped in front of him and grasped his arms firmly. 

“She needs us,” he said between clenched teeth, fighting his own blood rage.

Tristan nodded tightly, then took a deep breath before pulling free of Jon’s grip and stepping into the elevator.  Bubbles had already leapt from his shoulder and now sat on Faith’s shoulder, her eyes sad as tears dripped down her tiny face.

“Vox the
Vyand
,” Tristan said as he knelt down beside Faith, her blood immediately soaking into his pants.  “Tell them to get Doc over here now.”

Before he finished speaking Jon was making the call, watching as Tristan carefully turned Faith over, searching for the injury responsible for all the blood.  They both saw the hilt of the knife protruding from her abdomen at the same time, forcing them to struggle even harder to maintain their human form.

“Yes?” Jon heard Ran Katre say into his ear, a welcome distraction.

“Ran, get Doc over here,” Jon said.  “Faith’s been stabbed and it’s bad.”

“We’ll be right there, Jon,” Ran said, then disconnected. 

Tristan stared at the knife, offended by the sight of the cold steel protruding from Faith’s body.  She was still alive, barely, and he feared that removing the knife might kill her, so he gritted his teeth and left it in place.  He slipped his arms beneath her as carefully as he could, then lifted her from the floor, wishing that their Water magic was strong enough to do more than heal small wounds and put people to sleep.  But the three of them, even working together, could never heal the horrific wound caused by the knife in Faith’s body.

He stood up and pulled her close, making certain that he didn’t touch the knife.  When he turned around, he saw Gray standing beside Jon, his eyes glowing.

“Lead the way to the infirmary,” he said sharply.  Gray spun around and disappeared.  Tristan followed as quickly as he dared, Jon bringing up the rear.  By the time they reached the infirmary seconds later, Doc was waiting with Darlene, Ran and Loni Katre.

“Put her down here,” Doc said, moving to one side of a high exam table. 

Tristan did as Doc said, sliding his arms out from beneath Faith as gently as he could.

“Son of a bitch!” Doc exclaimed as they all got a good view of the heavy steel hilt protruding from the center of her abdomen.  He gave his head a single shake, then got to work.

“Darlene, we need to get this top off of her,” he said.  Darlene stepped to the other side of the table, a pair of shears already in her hand.  “I hope one of you can take the
raktsasa
, Tristan, cause I don’t think my losing an arm right now would be the best thing for your Arima,” Doc said, eyeing Bubbles carefully.

“Bubbles, come here to me,” Gray said.  “They’ll take good care of her.”

Bubbles raised her head and looked at Gray with such sadness it brought tears to his eyes.  She raised up and pressed her tiny black nose to Faith’s cheek and gave her several popping kisses, then leapt to Gray’s shoulder. 

While Darlene cut Faith’s blouse, Doc prepared the scanner over the bed.  “It would be best if the lot of you waited outside,” he said.  “None of you are going to enjoy watching what happens next, and I can’t be worrying about a Jasani blood rage.”

“All right Doc,” Ran said.  He turned to the Falcorans and gestured toward the door.  Tristan hesitated, then forced himself to turn around and leave, Gray, Jon, and Loni following behind him in a line. 

“What happened?” Ran asked when they were all standing in a small waiting area up the hall from where Doc and Darlene fought to save Faith’s life. 

“We aren’t sure,” Tristan said.  “A human male did this, but we don’t know who he is, or why.”

“Or how he got on board,” Gray added.  “I left him with the Katres in engineering.”

“Perhaps now would be a good time to learn answers to our questions,” Tristan said, already turning. 

“No,” Loni said, his firm tone pulling Tristan up short. 

“No?” Tristan asked, his eyes narrowed on the Katre.  Loni was dangerously close to crossing a line that Tristan was in no mood to tolerate.

“You will go into a blood rage and kill him,” Loni said.  Then he shrugged.  “I agree his death is imminent.  But you will regret killing him before he gives you the answers you seek.”

“You are correct, Loni,” Tristan said, unable to argue with Loni’s reason.  “What do you suggest?”

“Allow me to take him to the
Vyand
,” Loni said.  “I give you my word that you will have the opportunity to question him when you are in a better state of mind.”

“That’s a good idea,” Tristan said.  Loni bowed, then took one step sideways and vanished.

“Tristan,” Ran said, his voice low and even.  “Perhaps it would be helpful for all of you if you cleaned yourself up.”

Tristan looked down at himself.  Ran was right, he realized as he saw the blood covering him.  Faith’s blood.  “I’m afraid to leave,” he admitted as he stared at his bloody hands.

“My friend,” Ran said, then waited for the Falcoran to look up.  “Do not forget that, if necessary, you can save her by transforming her.”

Tristan nodded slowly, hope rising within him.  He wasn’t altogether sure that Faith would agree to such a thing, but it was, at least, a hope. 

“I’ll be right back,” he said, then turned and headed toward his room, his head down as he contemplated a future without Faith.  If Doc couldn’t save her, and she didn’t wake up, what would they do?  Or worse, what if she did wake up, and refused the transformation? 

An hour passed, then two, and still there was no word from behind the closed doors of the emergency treatment room.  Finally Doc stepped into the waiting room, his face drawn and tired.  He sat down in the first chair he saw, then rubbed his face with both hands.  “The news is not good,” he said, meeting Tristan’s gaze directly. 

“We have a healing tank on board, Doc,” Gray said in a low voice.

Doc nodded.  “If all we had to worry about were the injuries caused by the knife, she’d already be in it.”

“I don’t understand,” Tristan said.  “What else is wrong?  Was there an injury I didn’t see?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Doc said.  “The knife blade was coated with a poison unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  It entered her blood stream and began acting like an acid, eating away at everything it touched.  Her heart is all but destroyed, as are the veins and arteries that the poison got to before I slowed down her circulation. I’ve got her on a machine right now that’s pumping new blood into her, bypassing her heart.  The poison is still working its way through her, though I’ve slowed it down some.  She doesn’t have much time left.”

“Will transforming her save her?” Gray asked.

“To be honest, I don’t really know,” Doc said.  “If she could regenerate the damage the poison is doing, that would help, but whether or not a Jasani body is capable of neutralizing this poison, I just don’t know.”

“Test it,” Tristan said.  “Test it on me.  Right now.”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t,” Doc said.  “But there isn’t time, Tristan.  She’s got minutes, not hours.  I’ve bio-electrically isolated most of the pain centers in her brain and neutralized the medications we gave her to keep her unconscious.  She’ll wake up in a minute or two.  You have about that much time to talk to her, then she’ll slip into a coma.  She won’t wake up again.  If you’re going to do anything, you best do it quick.”

Tristan nodded.  He felt his brothers’ shock, grief, and fear, but he blocked them from his mind as much as he could.  Faith did not have time for their emotions.  He stood up and left the waiting room, moving as fast as he could.  If Faith had only minutes left, he didn’t intend to waste a single second of it. 

***

Faith opened her eyes slowly, the confusion in her mind so thick it made her dizzy.  She blinked, trying to focus.  At first all she saw was bright light, then she realized she was looking up at a white ceiling.  She heard humming, and focused on it.  Machines?  She frowned and started to raise her head.  The pain that had been floating at the edge of her consciousness, vague and distant, was suddenly very sharp and very real.  She gasped softly, tears springing to her eyes.  She was no stranger to intense pain, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.

“Don’t move,” Tristan said as he bent over her, a dark shadow.  She focused and his features slowly began to clear.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice coming out in a whisper.

“You were attacked, stabbed,” Tristan said.

Faith struggled to remember.  It took a few moments, then the memories came back to her in reverse order, as though she was watching an old entertainment vid backwards.  “Eric,” she breathed. 

She didn’t notice Tristan’s start of surprise.

“How bad?” she asked.

“Bad,” Tristan said, his voice tight.  “Very bad.”

Faith thought about that.  She’d avoided death so many times that she’d often wondered if it was her fate to die young, as Grace had, and she’d been keeping one step ahead of it by pure luck.  Apparently, her luck had run out.

She saw the fear in Tristan’s eyes, and felt tears sting her own in sympathy.  She didn’t want them to be hurt, and tried to tell herself this would be better for them.  Maybe one day they would find a woman that was whole.  One who could give them children. 

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Tristan said, reading the acceptance and resignation in her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Faith said.  “I’m okay with this.  I’ve been shot, stabbed, burned, raped.  I’ve had enough, Tristan.  Honestly.”

“You haven’t had enough
good
, Faith,” he argued.  “Let us give you that.  Don’t give up.”

“It’s too late,” Faith said tiredly.

“No, it’s not, not yet,” Tristan said.  “There’s still a chance.”

“What chance?” Faith asked, only mildly curious.  Her body was beginning to feel light, almost transparent.  It was an interesting sensation and her attention kept drifting toward it.

“We can transform you,” Tristan said. 

“Transform?” she asked, confused. 

“Make you our Arima in truth,” Tristan said.  “It will change you, and save your life.”

“It’s too big of a sacrifice for you if it doesn’t work,” she said, her attention now almost entirely focused on the floaty, bodiless sensation.  “I can’t let you take that risk.”

“Please, Faith,” Tristan said, begging now.  “Let us do this.  We love you.  We need you here, with us.  Give us permission to do this, Faith.  Please.”

Faith forced herself to focus on Tristan this one last time.  “I’m so tired, Tristan.  So tired of running.  Of being scared.  Being hurt.  But I’m not afraid of this.  Not any more.  It’s all right.  You guys will find someone else.”

“If you die, we will die,” Tristan said.  Faith smiled sadly at him, and he realized she didn’t believe him.  He wished they’d just told her about themselves rather than giving her that damned book to read, but it was too late now.  She truly did not know what would happen to them without her. 

“Take care of Bubbles for me,” she said.  “Promise?”

Tristan nodded, unable to speak around the lump in his throat. 

“I love you,” she said, her voice so low now that he heard it only because of his falcoran hearing.  “All three of you.”  Her eyes closed gently and her body relaxed.

Tristan looked up at Gray and Jon who stood on the other side of the bed, then he turned to see Doc and Darlene near the door.  “If you will excuse us, Doc, we’d like privacy for what we are about to do.”

Doc let out a relieved breath.  He understood what they were going to do, and approved wholeheartedly.  “I’ll be outside if you need anything,” he said before leaving with Darlene at his side.