Omega Games (30 page)

Reever studied the image. “You could not find a way to stop or restrain her?”

“We tried, but she’s too strong. She knocked me out with one punch.” Cat touched the large, dark red bruise mottling the side of his face. “We sent the dreds in after her, but she tore them apart with her bare hands. The other domes have not been able to stop her, either.”

The Omorr uttered a humorless sound. “We shot her a dozen times, on full burn. The wounds they made had no effect on her. She didn’t even flinch.”

“Why is she killing them and
then
looking at them?” I asked as I watched Lily discard another body. “Maybe she’s admiring her work,” Mercy said. “Who cares?” She tossed my medical case at me. “Have you got something in that bag that we can use to knock her out?”

“If she hasn’t already taken a counteragent, neuroparalyzer should render her unconscious.” I took out a syrinpress and dialed up the strongest dose I dared administer. “I will have to get close enough to infuse her in an artery.”

The access way darkened and then lightened as a ship flew over it. I looked up at the belly of the
Renko
, so close I felt as if I could reach up and touch it. “Davidov, dropping his monthly care package,” Mercy said. “Too early for that,” Cat argued. “He’s not due for another two weeks.”

“I’ll make a note to complain later.” Mercy frowned at the device in her hand. I looked, and saw Lily drop the body she was inspecting and lift her blood-spattered face. She laughed silently and then hurried toward an access hatch.

“Where does that hatch lead?” Reever asked. Cat swore. “To the drop point.” The four of us donned envirosuits and, along with several battle drones, took an STV out onto the

surface.

“So, what do we do first?” Cat asked, his tone heavy with irony. “Sedate Lily to keep her from attacking Davidov’s ship, or help her get on board?” “She can’t get at anything but the supplies he drops,” Mercy said as she changed the power cell in her

rifle. “You know Davidov won’t land.” “I could fire a few rounds into his propulsion array,” the Omorr said. “That will not disable Alek’s ship,” Reever informed him. Cat gave him a haughty look. “No, but I’ll still enjoy doing it.” “Which side of the platform does that hatch open to?” Mercy demanded as she drove up the side of a

small incline and stopped, shutting down the engine to survey the landscape. While she and Cat were debating how best to approach the drop point, I turned to my husband. “If you

can distract Lily, I will administer the neuroparalyzer as a mist, through her air supply hose. It should take effect a few seconds after she inhales it.” “You are staying in the STV,” he advised me. “I will give her the drug.” “I don’t see any sign of her,” Mercy said, scanning the area under the ship with a long-range viewer.

The
Renko
descended until it hovered a short distance from the transport pad, and opened its cargo panel.

“Oh, shit,” Mercy whispered, spotting something. She dropped the viewer and shouted,
“Hold on.”
The transport pad exploded upward, enveloping Davidov’s ship in a bloom of dust, energy, and rock fragments. I saw the shock wave heading toward us a second before Reever grabbed me and covered my helmet with his arms.

The STV flew into the air, higher and higher, until I thought we would be catapulted into space. Mercy swore viciously and pounded on the panel until the engine restarted. Something flared, and the surface vehicle turned and fell with languid speed until we crashed into something that crumpled the roof frame and blew out every view panel.

When the dust settled, I used my glove to clear off my helmet shield, and saw that the STV had landed upside down between two rock formations. I saw that the
Renko
had also gone down, a few hundred yards away, its hull partially covered by rubble.

“That was a shaft charge,” I heard Mercy say over the suit com. “How the
hell
did she get hold of the explosives? Cat?
Cat
. You’d better not be dead, you stubborn, one-legged son of a toothless Omorr slut, or I’ll kill you myself. Wake up. Wake
up.
”

“Mercy,” the Omorr said, pressing his gloves to the sides of his helmet. “I survived. I’m conscious. And I’m not deaf. So will you for the love of Jovah
please
stop
shrieking
in my ear?” “God, I love you,” Mercy said, hugging him. Reever stirred and then came to with a sudden jerk, turning in his harness to reach for me. “I’m not injured,” I told him. “Are your seals intact? Mercy, are you and Cat all right?”

“We’re fine,” she said. “
You’re
fine,” the Omorr snapped. “
I
am in pain. A great deal of pain. I think my head has finally cracked in half.”

“So your head hurts. Christ, what did you expect? We just got blown up. You could have . . . ” Mercy reached over and slung her arm around his collar to hug him again.

Cat held her and closed his eyes. “What was that about my mother?” “She was a paragon of virtue. Like you.” Mercy straightened and turned her helmet back to regard me and Reever. “Omorr are such crybabies.”

Seeing the tears of relief running down her cheeks made me smother a laugh. Cat sniffed. “You’ll speak differently when you have to deliver my eulogy, Adorlee.” “Stuff it, Adoren. Damn it. My harness clip is jammed.” Mercy took out a blade and began to saw at the

straps holding her to the seat. “Reever, can you and Cherijo get out through the side view panels?” My husband glanced past me. “Yes. Is the STV transceiver still functioning?”

“Contact Drefan and tell him to send help.” Reever unfastened my harness, easing me down to the crumpled interior of the roof, and clipped a tether to my belt before releasing his harness clip. “We will need transport for the wounded.”

“We’re well enough to walk to Beta Dome from here,” Mercy argued.

“That charge caused damage to the
Renko
’s weapons array and engines,” he informed her. “But the hull is intact.” “There will probably be some casualties,” I added, “and the survivors will need to be evacuated. ” “I should let them freeze their asses off,” Mercy grumbled as she sent the signal. After we worked our way out of the wreck of the STV, I enabled my suit weights and rechecked my

seals before doing the same for Reever. “How many crew members does Davidov have on board?”

“His usual complement is seventy. He may have hired more to help maintain the blockade.” Reever had one of Mercy’s pulse rifles under his arm. “Stay behind me.” The four of us approached the dust cloud slowly settling around the
Renko
. Through the haze I saw that

the exterior systems and emitters weren’t functioning, but the view panels displayed both light and

movement inside the ship. “There is an emergency access air lock below the navigational array on the starboard fuselage,” Reever said. “We’ll board the ship there.”

“What if they decide to shoot us as soon as we’re inside?” Mercy wanted to know.

Reever shrugged. “Then they will blow out the air lock and the ship’s atmosphere, and we will not have to evacuate anyone.” It took a few minutes for my husband to access the air lock from the exterior control panel, which had

been damaged in the crash. He also insisted on going in first, by himself. “They will probably be armed,” I warned him. “Don’t get yourself shot.” Mercy fussed over Cat’s now-bleeding facial contusion while I watched Gamers. Several STVs emerged

from the dome and began moving toward us. A small army of drednocs followed them. “Once Reever gives us approval to board, I will triage any wounded and prep them for transport,” I told

Mercy and Cat. “If the survivors are not already wearing envirosuits, keep them busy putting on their gear. Don’t provoke any confrontations.” Mercy gave me an innocent look. “You mean, don’t kick Davidov’s ass into the nearest mine shaft?” “Especially don’t do that.” Reever opened the outer panel and waved us inside. Once the air lock had equalized its atmosphere with

the
Renko
’s interior, we removed our helmets and stepped through into a loading dock. Wounded crew members littered the deck and lined the hull walls. Most appeared ambulatory, but I spotted three unconscious men covered with bloodstained thermal blankets.

“Can you help my son?” The being pointed to a smaller version of himself under one of the thermal blankets. “He was caught under a cargo pallet.”

A female limped over to us. “Are you a healer? I think my knee is broken.”

Reever carried another man out of the next cabin and placed him beside the other seriously wounded crew. It was Davidov, who opened his eyes and said something to my husband, and then went limp.

I stripped off my gloves, pulled a scanner from my case, and went to work.

Seventeen

We were able to evacuate the entire crew of the
Renko
by the early-evening hours. Drefan initialized the simward program at Gamers for the wounded, and sent Keel and several other staffers to serve as my nurses.

Mercy took some of the unharmed survivors back to her dome, but the rest stayed at Omega Dome. To keep the colonists busy and away from the crew of the
Renko
, Reever took charge of the ship’s cargo and worked with the colonial security to transport and divide among the domes the supplies recovered from the crash.

Drefan supervised the search for Lily, who had disappeared during the crash.

None of the
Renko
’s crew assumed that they were guests of the Trellusans. They were treated with courtesy, but they were also immediately disarmed and put under drone guard. Fortunately none of them chose to challenge the colonists.

Broken bones, internal hemorrhaging, and head wounds comprised most of the serious injuries among the survivors. I arranged with Drefan to use one of his largest air locks as a surgical suite, and with Cat again assisting, I performed surgery on two of the crew to repair their damaged organs.

“Is there anything you can’t fix?” the Omorr asked as he watched me close the chest incision I had made on the second patient.

I glanced over the edge of my mask at him. “You are assuming that these patients will survive. Medicine, like doctors, is not perfect. After surgery, there is always the possibility of infection or another complication. ”

“You mean, go through all this, and then still lose them?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Life is precious,” I said. “That I perform surgery to preserve it is no different than Drefan sending recovery teams out to the
Renko
, Mercy giving shelter to the survivors, or you ignoring your own injuries to serve as my surgical assistant. We all do our part, Cat.”

We transported our patient to the simward, where Keel helped us put him on monitor. Most of the ambulatory patients had been treated, and I saw to Cat before making rounds of the rest. I had nearly finished when Mercy signaled me on my wristcom.

“Cherijo, I need to talk to you. Alone.”

I stepped out into the corridor, which was deserted. “I am alone now. What is it?”

I smothered a yawn. “If you have more wounded, send them to Gamers. It’s best we keep them all in one area. If it’s another encrypted signal, I can guarantee that there is no one left on the
Renko
to receive it.”

“You don’t understand,” she said, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I found Lily.” “Don’t approach her,” I said quickly. “Contact colonial security and tell them where she is.” “I can’t.” Her loyalties were going to get her killed. “Mercy, I know you care for her because she worked for you,

but she’s too dangerous—” “Cherijo, I found only her skin.” I muted the signal and looked around before responding. “Where?” “Not far from the drop point,” Mercy said. “Near the entrance to the old mine. And that’s not all. One of