Recon Marines III: The Marine's Doctor (32 page)

****

Molly stumbled through the next two
hours in a daze. Hector, Kory and Andy hugged her, prompting some
tears she’d held back for a long while. She told them over and over
again how glad she was to see them alive. The pain relief ordered
by Hector contributed to her circling thoughts. “Where’s
Mak?”

Hector urged her back into her seat in
the medical ward. “He’s helping Captain Edow round up the traitors.
Now let me have another look at your shoulder and drink this
nutrient bottle or I’ll stick a needle in your arm and replace your
fluids that way.”

“
Yes, doctor.” Molly
lifted the bottle to her lips and once she started drinking she
couldn’t stop. Her body craved any kind of caloric intake. “Tell me
how you survived. Helen told us you were dead.”

Hector sighed. “I still can’t believe
she’s behind all this. I’ve known her for years, but as I look back
there were long periods of time when I didn’t see her anywhere
about.” He put a cool pack on Molly’s aching shoulder before
continuing. “We made it through the minefield. The ship Mak stole
for us had some kind of command device to deactivate the space
mines in our path. Kory did a great job piloting. Mak had warned
his men to expect some kind of attack ship lurking out beyond the
minefield. Kory flew and Andy directed his evasive maneuvers. I’ve
become so used to those boys being nothing but our escorts and
assistants, I forgot they’re actually soldiers. Mak has influenced
them in a good way. We lost them and flew far enough to call for
help. They wanted to head back right away but Captain Edow was
nearby. Apparently your father sent him out here in case you ran
into trouble.”

“
We did run into trouble.”
Molly’s thoughts had cleared though she felt like she could sleep
for at least an entire day. She gestured at her shoulder. “This was
my fault. If I hadn’t stayed behind with some crazy idea of helping
Mak, Helen would never have caught him.”

“
Well, I don’t know about
that. But I do know that the two of you prevented them from
escaping.”

“
Have you checked Mak’s
injuries?” Molly hadn’t seen him since he’d handed her over to
Hector’s care. He’d hurried off to report to Captain Dane Edow, a
fine officer Molly had met before at military affairs.

“
I couldn’t get him to
stand still long enough for me to ask him.” Hector laid some neatly
folded black clothing on the exam table beside Molly. “The shower
is through that door. By the time you’re done, I’ll have a hot meal
ready for you. I’m not sure where the captain will berth you, for
now sleep in one of the beds here in the infirmary. No arguments.
Doctor’s and captain’s orders.”

Molly wanted the shower but her need
to know Mak was safe and Helen captured warred with her desire for
personal comfort. “I’ll get a shower if you find out what’s going
on outside while I do.”

“
Mak is fine, Molly. Edow
has more than enough men to handle the capture and arrest of Helen
and her men.” But Hector headed out the door as she walked to the
shower.

Molly dumped her dirty clothing on top
of her boots outside the shower door. The feel of hot water,
moisturizing soap and shampoos for her hair kept Molly in the
shower for longer than she’d planned. The ache in her shoulder
finally chased her out. The clean clothing hung loosely on her, a
good thing since no bra was included, but it felt good against her
skin.

Hector had yet to return so she sat on
one of the cots to wait. Her heart wanted to worry about Mak and
the other soldiers chasing down Helen and her minions, but her mind
insisted the superior numbers of Captain Edow’s soldiers meant they
would safely prevail.

They would be weeks sifting through
Helen’s laboratory notes and computer records. Molly would insist
her father assign Mak as her military guard for the project. She
slid into sleep and dreamed of Mak’s arms around her.

****

Captain Edow knew the business of
soldiering. Mak had met the man before when Edow helped the Queen
of Giroux and in turn the Recon Marines. The captain had already
sent a force of thirty soldiers to secure the hangar and the
laboratory beneath it. They’d reported minimal resistance from a
half dozen guards and as many scientist types. Two of the giants
had been secured in the sick bay. The only remaining problem raced
across the plains beneath the circling star cruisers.

“
Where do they think to
go?” Edow muttered to Mak.

Mak shared the six man transport craft
with the captain and his officers. “They’ve shown little knowledge
of combat strategy, sir.”

“
Do you think they’ll try
to fight their way free even though there’s no escape for them?” a
lieutenant asked.

Mak noticed the attention of all the
officers on him, the usual combination of fascination and suspicion
of soldiers when they first met Recon Marines. Only Edow treated
Mak like any other soldier. “I didn’t have any real interaction
with the guards so I don’t know how loyal they are to Shear. Hired
mercenaries aren’t likely to give their lives to serve someone who
will never be able to pay them. The big men Shear created with her
experiments fight with a blind determination that makes them very
dangerous though ineffective against real military forces. I don’t
know what they’ll do, but Shear vows they have unswerving loyalty
to following orders.”

“
So it might all come down
to whether or not Shear orders them to resist.” Edow cursed. “This
entire project of hers proves she’s a psychopath.”

“
It doesn’t matter unless
you want to take them alive,” Mak said.

“
We have two of them alive
but injured in the lab’s sick bay,” Edow said. “I’m not endangering
any of my men to capture them but I want to take Shear alive so she
can face justice and answer questions. Maybe find out if anyone
else is involved.”

“
I thought Vin caught them
all.” Vin’s vengeful quest had brought about the downfall of more
than a dozen military and political figures.

“
No one knew about Dr.
Shear. There could be more in the medical and scientific field who
contributed to this travesty.”

More than a mile ahead, Edow’s men had
encircled the fleeing enemy. A dozen transports like the one Mak
rode on and holding armed men contained the smaller hovercraft. Mak
counted three of the giants, one without a hand, seven mercenary
guards and Shear.

Edow took a speaker as one of his
officers flew their transport in between two others. The captain’s
voice carried well over the plains, easily heard over the low hums
of all the hover vehicles. “Step off your hovers and put your
weapons on the ground. Then drop to your knees and put both hands
on your heads. I will not ask again.”

The men inside the cordon all looked
toward Shear. She spoke to them and then turned off her vehicle. It
settled into the short grass. One by one, the others followed her
lead. The big men flanked her as she walked toward Edow. The
mercenaries obeyed Edow’s order and sank to their knees.

Shear didn’t look like a vanquished
enemy. Her killers surrounded her like a protection detail, forming
a triangle with her in the middle.

“
Be alert.” Mak unslung
his rifle from his left shoulder. He’d rearmed as soon as he’d
handed Molly over to Dr. Loren’s care.

“
I will surrender if you
promise not to hurt my soldiers,” Shear shouted as her little group
halted a hundred feet from Edow’s hover.

“
Stay where you. There
will be no promises,” Edow answered. “This is an unconditional
surrender. I will order your men shot if they take one more
step.”

Mak put his rifle to his shoulder.
“Front man on the right.”

One of the other officers in the
transport spoke into a radio and ordered soldiers to target on the
other two giants.

Shear glared at Edow and then swung
her cold stare toward Mak. Mak doubted the other soldiers with him
could discern the doctor’s facial expression. Not even Mak could
hear the orders she gave her men but he guessed what it was. The
big men charged.

Mak shot his target in the temple,
knowing how Shear designed them to have thick skulls. The big man
stumbled forward three steps before his knees folded and he slammed
to the ground. Mak swung his sights to the next man on the right
but wounds already sprouted from the giant’s torso and legs. He too
fell. So many shots hit the last man that they threw his big body
backward.

Dr. Shear continued walking, stepping
high to get over the twitching body of one of her men. Edow gave
the order to hold fire and for men to take the mercenaries into
custody.

She stopped only steps from the
officers’ transport. “I couldn’t let you take my boys alive so you
could put them through all kinds of terrifying tests.”

Two men jogged out to Shear and tied
her hands behind her back with merciful nylon strips. She didn’t
resist. Her cold glare shifted from Mak to Edow and back
again.

“
You sacrificed them for
nothing, Dr. Shear,” Edow said. “We have two of your men in custody
already. You left them behind, something real military people would
never do.”

Shear swore, words that shocked Mak.
How did a woman know those barrack’s curses?

One of the officers sharing the
transport with Mak laughed though not as if anything amused him.
“True colors.”

As the soldiers half-carried Shear
toward another transport, Mak realized the mission was over. They’d
hunted down the traitors and Molly was safe if not quite unscathed.
Fatigue rolled over him as well as heightened awareness of all his
injuries. So many bruises covered his body that he felt worse than
the time he’d been in a cruiser crash.

The officers talked about prisoner
transport as they flew back toward the battle carrier. Mak let
their words wash by him, noting for the first time how beautiful
the clear skies and waving grasses were. Too bad the peace of the
place had been destroyed by evil people. A wave of dizziness
surprised Mak. How long since he’d ate or slept for more than an
hour at a time?

“
Are you okay,
lieutenant?” Edow asked.

Mak meant to answer but the transport
slipped out from beneath his feet. Then the cool metal deck slapped
into his cheek. His rifle rattled against the floor near his
face.

Edow gave orders somewhere over Mak’s
head and someone placed a folded jacket beneath his cheek. His ribs
hurt in his present position. Mak fought the weakness keeping him
on the deck but his willpower wasn’t behind it. Molly was safe, and
the enemy neutralized. He closed his eyes despite the discomfort.
Darkness greater than resting moved behind his eyelids and then
across his mind. Sleep or unconsciousness? He didn’t care as long
as he could rest.

Chapter Twenty

Molly fussed over Mak while Hector
went for a hot meal. Not that they needed to encourage Mak to eat.
Since he’d staggered into the infirmary escorted by Captain Edow
himself, Mak had eaten nearly nonstop. He took the time to shower
and let Hector rewrap his ribs. A quick scan had confirmed three
broken ribs and a bone bruise on his right scapula. She’d held back
an unprofessional gasp when she’d seen Mak naked but Hector
hadn’t.

Bright red, dark blue, pure black,
shades of purple, and a few other bright colors marred more than
half of the skin on Mak’s torso. Between the bruises and the broken
ribs, Molly didn’t see how he could have kept moving. Not just
moving but fighting with a skill and grace belying even a minor
injury or discomfort. The shot she’d taken to her shoulder told her
how much pain Mak must be dealing with, but he didn’t so much as
wince.

“
Please take the meds
Hector offered you,” Molly said again. She held up the syringe,
already filled with pain relievers and anti-inflammation drugs.
“You’ll feel better.”

He put his hand over hers and gently
pushed the needle away. “I’m fine. A few more meals and I’ll be in
top form.” He lifted his eyebrow in that sexy way that had melted
her heart from the beginning.

“
We’ll test that claim out
later. Captain Edow has given me private quarters.” It would be
enough just to hold him though she wasn’t sure how she could with
all the bruises covering his body. “For now, let me give you this.
It will help you get better sooner.”

“
I want to be clearheaded
when the captain questions Shear.”

Molly set the syringe aside. She
dreaded hearing what Helen had to say at the same time she wanted
to hear the reasoning behind the horrid experiments. “I guess we
both should be there.”

“
Edow called her a
psychopath.”

“
I question my own
judgment to have worked side by side with her for so long and have
never seen this evil in her.”

Hector returned with a tray for the
two of them to share. The infirmary was quiet since Edow had
ordered the injured giants to be held and treated in the hangar
facilities.

Molly found she had no appetite for
the meal but Mak ate as heartily as he had with the last two trays
Hector had provided. The three of them then took a hover for the
short ride to the hangar. They went down into the level below the
lab where Helen waited under guard in a conference room. Edow
waited outside for them.