Gunship (50 page)

“Yes,” Tiny replied soberly. “That’s the problem with using emotion as a linkage in the programming. It adds an impulsive element that is very dangerous. The operative tends to be more reactive than proactive in various situations, relies on emotion instead of logic, which can cause them to instinctively follow the drive to protect the ones they love, even if it costs them their life. Any threat to him”—Tiny gestured to the still-unconscious Duv on the floor—“and Seth will react, even if the threat isn’t real. If Seth believes it to be real, then he will attempt to intervene and stop that threat. The program compels him to action.”

“And Razam Welch and Crazy Ray—they both fit that threat criteria, don’t they?” Reilly asked.

Tiny nodded. “Yes, ma’am. But only one of them is a primary target on Commander Zain’s list right now.”

Reilly and Chang stared back at the Gaiden, finally understanding what she was telling them. Zain had made an assassin out of Seth. He was planning to use him to kill Razam Welch.

Reilly found herself walking the ship in a daze. The rest of the meeting had been a blur as she and Chang shared information on the ledgers and how they had cracked Welch’s code. Reilly described Welch’s xenophobic campaign targeting Zain. Tiny filled them in on Welch’s efforts to implant the military and his alliance with the aliens, while Trace updated them on the strength of the ISU forces that remained free. When she looked up, she realized she was outside the door to the officer’s quarters again. Jeremy’s door. Her door was across the hall. She hadn’t been back to her room since boarding the ship, except to get some clean clothes. The rest of the time she had been either healing up or watching over Ty.

She shook her head with a small smile. Even now, she still came by his room to talk things over. Jeremy would’ve known she was coming, too. She would’ve pushed the door in like she always did, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the small table while they discussed what had happened, the next strategy, the next battle. Today was a bad day. He would’ve known it before she said a word. Today she would’ve been cussing up a storm. They would’ve talked or not, depending on how she felt. He would have made light of the situation and she would have gotten mad at him for not being serious enough, and then he would have shot her that stupid crooked grin of his and stolen a kiss. Instead of walking the halls with her ghosts right now, she’d be asleep by his side, lying warm in his arms, the best place in the whole galaxy to be. She leaned her head against the door, the pain of his loss washing over her.

Someone cleared their throat, and Reilly jumped, half-drawing her blaster as she turned. There stood a slightly damp Trace Callum on his way back from the showers. He eyed her quizzically, a towel draped over one bare shoulder while his shaving kit bulged out of his cargo pocket. His blaster was loosely slung on his right hip.

“Don’t shoot!” he joked, half-raising his hands as she sighed and pushed her blaster back in place.

“Sorry, you just startled me. Didn’t think anyone else was up.” Reilly felt a flush run up her face, embarrassed that a stranger had caught her in a private moment. She turned to go.

“So, do you always roam the hallways at night listening at your guest’s doors?” Trace looked amused as he pushed open the door.

“What?” Reilly looked flustered. “No, I just thought I heard something…odd. Mechanical problem or something…” She trailed off. She hadn’t realized he had been staying on board, but it made sense, since he had been working shifts with Duv. She mentally kicked herself. She should’ve known he’d have been in the spare officer’s quarters.

Trace seemed unfazed as he waved her in. Reilly stood in the doorway, not wanting to cross the threshold. She hadn’t gone into the room at all, not since she had come aboard. She shook her head as he glanced back at her, setting his gear in his locker. He shot her a calculating look as he pulled on a tac-shirt.

“I was having a hard time sleeping myself. Figured I’d get a shower and some coffee. Care to join me?”

Reilly just stared at him.

“For the coffee, I mean. Already got the shower done—but I could’ve used an extra hand,” he mused as he grabbed a lightweight tac-jacket and pulled it on. “Always this one spot in the middle of my back I can never reach.” He looked up and shot her a grin.

Reilly stepped back, off balance. For a moment, she was looking at Jeremy. She felt out of sorts, almost lightheaded. She shook her head and turned to go.

“Hey!” Trace stepped quickly across the room and grabbed her elbow. “Are you all right?” His eyes were once again concerned.

Reilly summoned up a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just been a crazy day, that’s all. I need to get back down to the medical bay. Shifts with Tiny, looking after Sergeant Ty.” She pointed down the hall as she started to walk away.

Trace looked at her doubtfully. “All right, well, if you change your mind, I’ll be in the common room.”

Reilly managed an “okay, thanks,” as she started down the catwalk. She made it to the second deck and slid down the ladder into Ty’s empty bunkroom, closing the hatch behind her. The tears had started almost as soon as she had turned around. She leaned against the wall as the sobs silently wracked her body.

—————

Duv felt like a freighter was revving its engines inside his head. He groaned and opened his eyes to see Chang sitting nearby, staring at him in the dimly lit room.

“I feel like I just got spit out of a garbage hauler. My head is killing me!” Duv sat up slowly, realizing something else felt strange. “Am I missing a tooth?”

“Yup,” said Chang, holding the missing tooth up for Duv to see.

“Damn! My back, my jaw, my gut – everything hurts! What the hell happened?”

“Think,” Chang said, setting the tooth down on a small wooden table by the bed.

Duv went back through his foggy memory. Confusing pieces came back to him. He decided that perhaps White Lightening was not for him after all. He shook his head at Chang.

“So you have no memory of trying to kill a Gaiden and the Captain knocking you out?”

And just like that, it all came rushing back. Seth was a Gaiden. Tiny was a Gaiden. Commander Zain was the enemy. Captain Campbell had tried to stop him, but he was so angry. He had said things, awful things to her. The look on her face came screaming across his memory, and he ducked his head in shame. He had used her pain to take advantage of the moment and he had knifed one of her crew.

“Shit,” was all he could say.

“Yes. That is a good place to start for now,” Chang agreed as he handed Duv a damp cloth so he could wipe the blood that had begun to trickle from his nose again. “You should’ve heard her out. Tiny is not the one responsible for your pain. She has been trying to help Seth.”

Chang filled Duv in on what he had missed after Reilly had knocked him out. Duv’s anger flared as he learned of Commander Zain’s plan to use Seth as an assassin. He stood too quickly, and Chang had to help him sit back down again.

“How is the Gaiden?” Duv asked.

“Tiny will recover,” Chang said, using her name and watching Duv wince. “You put a nice hole in her shoulder, though, and I had a time stitching it back up. Just because she is a Gaiden doesn’t mean she isn’t human. She didn’t choose to be what she is; she was chosen, like your son.”

Duv nodded, grimacing at the notion of having to face her again. Just the thought of her was painful, because it reminded him of Seth. Duv felt broken inside, in a place that he thought had been healing. It was as if he was reliving the massacre all over again, finding the bodies of his wife and his son, and not knowing where Seth was or if he was alive. The anger was there too, cold and fierce; anger at Zain, anger at what he had done, and then shame for his words to the Captain, for his attack on Tiny. Duv reached around for the bottle to dull the pain, then dropped his hand, recalling all the damage that had already been done.

Chang nodded, reading Duv’s expression. “Anger is short-lived madness. They will understand. And the Captain will forgive you. She knows what it feels like.”

Duv hung his head, overwhelmed by the pain and feeling lost. “I need to get rid of the rest of that White Lightening. Maybe you can lock it up until we get someplace we can trade it?”

Chang smiled. “It is no longer within your grasp.”

Duv glanced up to see the old gunny grinning. “What?”

“I put it out the airlock after I had to carry your unconscious ass down here and give you first aid. Think of it as payment for your medical care. Though I don’t do stitches quite as well as Tiny. You’re going to have a rakish scar over that eyebrow that the ladies will love!” Chang grinned even harder until Duv finally managed a small but tired smile.

“Now, rest up. Captain Callum will need Duv Jackson the pilot in the morning if we are to start traveling again.”

Chang sat back down on a chair by the door to read as Duv lay back on the bed. His mind was so full of worry he didn’t see how he would be able to sleep, but he closed his eyes anyway and tried. After a few hours of tossing and turning, though, his light snores could be heard from the bunk. Chang peered over his book at the noise before turning to the next page. He smiled briefly, knowing it was going to be a long night. At least someone on board the ship had managed to find some sleep.

—————

Tiny sat at Ty’s bedside. Reilly had roused her a few minutes earlier to let her know she was going to sleep in her own quarters and to wake her if there were any problems. She seemed worried and distracted, but Ty’s improvement helped to cheer her up a bit. The sergeant’s condition was better now that Tiny had removed the optical blockers and he could see again. But he was still reluctant to sleep and prone to nightmares.

Ty had woken when Reilly left and now lay looking at the door quietly while Tiny worked. He could only sleep if one of them was nearby. Most recently, he had taken to hanging one arm over the edge of the bed, so when they were sitting nearby and he woke suddenly, he could bump them with his hand to know that they were there. The downside of this arrangement was that if he woke in a panic he would grab the nearest object and attempt to beat it to death. Tiny had moved all of the medical gear out of his grasp just to be safe, and she and Reilly had taken to removing their blasters and knives as well.

Tiny was relieved to see Ty’s progress. Ty’s speech had improved, along with his coordination. She had run him through simple motor-skills tests to check for any problems, but so far he had been doing well. In another day, she planned to get him up and walking again. Tiny cued up the computer since he was awake and set up the monitor.

“Sergeant Ty, I need to check your upper-body mobility. Will you please lift your arms like this for me?” Tiny demonstrated and Ty complied, following her directions as she checked the muscle movement in his arms, shoulders, chest, and back for any problems. When she finished, he leaned back into the pillow, watching her type up her notes.

“I think tomorrow you’ll be ready for your first walk,” she noted as she filled in the medical form and read off his vitals.

He nodded. “Great. Maybe you can get me something other than these damn medical gowns to wear so my butt’s not hanging out in the wind?”

Tiny looked at him to see if he was serious. He gave her a sheepish grin.

“I think I have some sweatpants or something in my locker. If it’s okay with you, I wouldn’t mind grabbing a shower either.”

Tiny nodded with a slight smile. “I’ll see if I can find them. We can walk down to the showers in the morning if you feel up to it. Let’s see how your balance is first. I’d like to avoid having you hit your head again.”

Ty grinned and flinched involuntarily at the same time. Certain phrases brought the pain to the surface from his recent trauma. She added a line in the report about this along with a postscript to look into different types of therapies that might help him to deal with the stress.

“Sounds good to me.” Ty paused and then asked, “I will be able to shower by myself, right?

“I can get one of the other men to help you, or if you’d like, we might be able to set up something for you to lean or sit on instead,” Tiny said as she continued to type. “I am also willing to help you if you should need it.”

She glanced at Ty as he sucked in his breath a bit and turned slightly red.

“I think I’d rather it be just me in there. Definitely no other men or you,” he started. “Not that I mind you, I mean since you’re my doc and all, and I guess you’ve seen everything anyway, but it’d just be nice to have a private moment, if you know what I mean,” he finished, rather flustered.

Tiny raised an eyebrow at him. Ty pulled the covers up around his shoulders and rolled over. She smiled to herself, amused that he was worried about who saw him in the shower instead of whether or not he’d be able to even walk that far. It impressed her that he never thought about what he couldn’t do. Instead, he focused on how to get it done. During his first motor-skill tests, his arms were very weak. Instead of focusing on this limitation, he found a way to use the bed to leverage each one to raise it to the level she had asked. Then, when they were done, he continued to work his arms, slowly strengthening them until they could do the task on their own. This was why he was alive now. The man knew no limits. He constantly pushed himself to find a way over, around, or through obstacles. He was a survivor because of his attitude, and she respected him for it.

She turned the system back to monitoring mode, then scooted the chair over by his bed. Like a kid, he spontaneously reached for her hand. She reached back and wrapped her fingers around his, then leaned back, waiting for him to drop off to sleep again.

His question caught her off guard. “Why did you come to get me? I mean, I was a real ass to you when you joined up.”

She eyed him thoughtfully before answering. “The Captain asked me to, and you are part of my crew…and because no one deserves to die like that…except perhaps Alton himself,” Tiny finished bitterly, remembering the seven hundred vids the psycho had proudly displayed for her to admire.

Ty watched Tiny’s face closely and then nodded. “Do you know why I didn’t like you?”

Tiny hid her surprise. “No. Why?”

“I can’t read you. I’m a deception expert, and I can’t read you. It freaks me out. I mean, you showed up and I thought for certain you were going to be the one to try to take down the ship. Not those other two yahoos. You keep everything hidden from everybody. Except for when you got angry, that I could read.”

So that was what had set him off. Her practice of keeping her emotions hidden had triggered his concern. He couldn’t read her, she had skills that were dangerous, and she was an unknown quantity, so therefore a possible threat. Tiny made a mental note for the future to try to show more emotions so that she wouldn’t stand out. That was going to take a bit of practice, especially if she wanted to project realistic-looking emotions that were false so she didn’t give herself away.

Ty rolled up on his side, wrapping the blankets tighter around him while still holding her hand.