Warfare: Rise Of Mankind Book 2 (15 page)

              “Let’s get up there.”

              Laura turned on her medical scanner. “Download your readings to me,” she ordered, taking position near the patient’s head. She began her own diagnosis, running the device over his torso. He’d been shot three times and a good half pound of shrapnel seemed to be lodged in his left side. A broken leg added to his list of injuries and considerable blood loss put him in a bad spot.

              “Max, call ahead and find out how much blood we’ve got on hand. He’s going to need a transfusion. I’m sending his type to your scanner.”

              “On it, Ma’am.” Max drifted into business mode, no longer giving her a hard time.

              “You’ve done a good job stabilizing him,” Laura said, “but he’s got a long way to go. We have to get the shrapnel out, find out if there’s any ordinance still in his body and do a lot of stitching. Sandra, I want you on this. Between the three of us, we can keep this man alive.”

              “Ma’am, my team and I are supposed to head back out there.”

              “This is a high value patient,” Laura replied. “This takes priority. Besides, there are over two dozen search and rescue crews in operation right now. I think they can afford to sacrifice one.”

              “Yes, ma’am.” Sandra turned to her team. “I’ll see you back aboard as soon as I can.”

              “Negative,” Laura pointed at the rest of her team. “There are plenty of people you can help here. Get down to triage two and pick up the pieces there.”

              She divided them up then focused on their patient, getting them aboard the elevator. All the readings they gathered gave her plenty of data to start his treatment plan. Unfortunately, their first order of business involved trauma surgery. Infection already started to spread through some of his wounds, likely as a result of the metal stuck in him.

              The scanner estimated an hour of surgery if done at a regular pace. Laura guessed the captain wouldn’t want to wait that long for whatever information the man had, especially if it meant their survival. She began running simulations to find a quicker way to stabilize him without risking his life.

              The computer brought back a variety of options, a few within acceptable risk levels. The percentage chance of his death appeared next to each and she opted for the one in the high eighties. Not perfect, and certainly not to her liking but she understood their needs. Now, to make it happen and ply every ounce of skill she possessed to save him.

              Back in the medical bay, they hooked him up to an IV and all the systems required to keep him alive. She washed her hands, put on her gloves and prepped herself mentally for the task ahead.
Let’s get you through this as quickly as possible, sir. Whatever you’ve been through, you’ve more than earned your chance to live.

              Clea’s chest ached as they approached the reactor, her heart hammering so hard it made her ears ache. Sweat soaked her skin, making the clothes under her armor incredibly uncomfortable. Those around her seemed to be in a similar state as the misery of constant motion worked them over.

              Technicians no longer had any more terminals to download from. What they gathered was all they’d leave with. Vora complained, stating they were going to lose years of work but Hoffner didn’t care. He didn’t even entertain her comments and shut her down whenever she tried to speak to him.

              “He’s a priggish man,” Vora said to Clea. “How do you deal with him?”

              “Far more respectfully than you.”

              They all came to a halt before massive doors and one of the techs rapidly entered his clearance code to gain access.

              Vora turned to address them all. “Beyond these doors lies the reactor core. If you are truly desperate to destroy half this continent, then we’ll have to disengage the failsafes and set the core to blow. Once we’ve initiated the process, it cannot be stopped so I hope you genuinely have a way off the planet and quick. It will be…thirty minutes.”

              “Before it blows?” Hoffner asked. “Jesus…”

              “Yes, if we’re not out of here in twenty five minutes, there’s a good chance we’ll all be dead. We’ll do the math, but it may ignite the atmosphere which, as I’m sure you understand, will mean the end of all life here.”

              “I see.” Hoffner turned to Clea. “Opinion?”

              “We don’t have a choice about destroying it all,” Clea replied. “All the data we didn’t get is still in storage banks which can be accessed by anyone with a proper connection. So ultimately, it’s a risk we have to take…regardless of how regrettable.”

              “We’re pretty cavalier about a whole planet,” Hoffner said. The door opened and they all filed in. “Can this be jammed shut? Buy us some time?”

              “I’ll make it happen, sir.” One of the technicians saluted. “They won’t get through without heavy ordinance.”

              “Don’t talk too loudly,” Walsh muttered. “They’ll probably pull some out of their asses.”

              “I want three marines to go with a tech and find the passage up. Secure it. The last thing we have time for is a firefight on our way out of this place. The rest of you guard this entrance. Anything starts to happen, you report in. Clea, organize the destruction of the facility. I trust you and Vora can handle it?”

              “We’re on it.” Clea nodded. “Come on, Vora.”

              “You don’t have to give me orders,” Vora scowled. “The first one’s over here. We have five to take down. When we get to the last one, we should ensure your transport is on the way and everyone knows to fall back or we won’t have enough time. I trust your ship is close enough to get here when we emerge?”

              Clea nodded. “It’ll be a hot extract but we’ll make it. I have faith in these people.”

              “That’s where you and I differ.” Vora scowled over her shoulder. “They’re little more than primates.”

              “Where does your prejudice come from?” Clea gave her an incredulous look. “I truly don’t understand. Our parents did not raise us this way. What’s happened? How were you wronged or does it go deeper than all that?”

              “I have researched these people and many other races besides,” Vora replied. She approached a terminal and started entering a sequence of numbers. “I’ve seen which are superior and which have failed, which deserve to survive and which should never have raised their heads and looked at the stars. Humanity, your so called assignment, are one such species which we should not have intervened on the behalf of.”

              “You’re so wrong…” Clea shook her head. “I wish you had seen them the way I have but even if I hadn’t, I would never condemn an entire species to death. No group has ever warranted
every one
of them to perish. Every teacher we’ve ever shared agrees with me so what’s your excuse?”

              “Our people live and die helping inferior beings.” Vora scowled as she moved to the next terminal. “If you saw how they lived, understood their history better and watched their social growth, you’d agree.”

              “I’ve
lived
with them, Vora! Up close and personal on a daily basis. They are flawed, but so are we. Surely, you don’t think we’re perfect? I can’t believe you’d be so foolish or vain.” Clea gripped her arm. “Tell me what happened.”

              Vora shook free. “Nothing
happened,
little sister.” She initiated the next code. “Understanding breeds contempt sometimes and I have developed plenty. Do you think I’m happy to have been stationed in the middle of nowhere researching weapons to fight an enemy we cannot defeat? Do you think this pleases me to see my potential wasted?”

              “Wasted?” Clea couldn’t believe her ears. “But…Vora…you’re a genius. You’ve done so much with the time you’ve been given and these developments may save many lives. How could you think, even for a moment, that you have not been useful? Sincerely, I don’t understand. I’ve always looked up to you…admired you despite your sour ways.”

              “That’s not my fault that you have false expectations.” Vora finished the next code and turned to the other technicians. “Hold off on the last one of those. We have to arrange our escape after all.” She motioned at Clea. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

              “We’ll talk about this again.” Clea pointed at her. “While we’re en route to safe space, you’re going to explain to me why you’re like this and if I don’t like the answer, we’re going to keep at it.”

              “Time’s running out, sister.” Vora walked away.

              “Captain,” Clea called to Hoffner, shaking off her frustration. “May I contact the shuttle to come get us?”

              Hoffner nodded. “Make it happen. Once they’re in the air, get an ETA…we’ll throw the switch to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the surface.”

              “Got it.” Clea tapped into the com signal for the shuttle. “Shuttlecraft, this is strike team, do you read?”

              “We read, strike team,” the pilot replied. “You ready for a ride?”

              “Quite. How long before you can get here?”

              “ETA of fifteen minutes. Can you hold out?”

              “Yes, but we’re going to have to make it a hot extraction. This facility is going to explode.”

              “Understood. Shuttlecraft out.”

              “They’re on their way,” Clea shouted. “We need to sound a retreat for the me on the ground, to pick up the other soldiers.”

              “I’m on it!” A tech replied, smacking a button on his communicator.

              Two marines approached, huffing. “We found the ramp leading out. It’s a steep incline and running it’s going to be a real bitch.”

              “Okay,” Hoffner said. “How long to get to the surface?”

              “Ten minutes at a fast pace…but these people, I’d say they’re not going to make it in less than fifteen.”

              “That’s cutting it damn close.” Hoffner contacted the shuttle and put it on speaker. “Once you get us, how long to break atmo?”

              “No more than five minutes, sir.”

              “Shit.” Hoffner took a deep breath. “Once we hit that button, we’ll have thirty minutes to get off this rock. That’s fifteen to get to the surface, say five to board and another five to get out of here…that is if we don’t have a lot of slow pokes. We’ll be off the surface with less than five minutes to spare. Pretty damn close.”

              “We’ll make it,” Clea said. “I think everyone here’s motivated to cut that fifteen minute time frame down.”

              “Fair enough.” Hoffner turned to the rest of the assembled people. “I’m sure you just heard what we’re talking about. We’ve got a real finite window to get out of here alive. If you want to make it and live, you gotta push yourself harder than you ever have before. Getting up that ramp and to the surface is literally the only hope we have. Are you all with me?”

              Everyone cheered but Clea felt more fear than excitement. Each person standing around them faced the end of their lives. One false move, one mistake and their time would run out. And that was if the reactor behaved. Overloading devices didn’t always follow mathematical protocols. Instability meant unpredictable.

              She took a moment to check the long range scans, using the surviving satellites to see what was happening above them. The Behemoth and Crystal Font were quite a ways off and there were only two enemy ships left. Fighters carried on massive battles as they roved the area, taking on threats in every sector of the system’s space.

             
Chaos rages all around us and we’re about to make it even louder
.

              On the surface, she watched her scanner depict another major battle. The alliance forces were being routed and the enemy must’ve been flooding the front doors already. Something began hammering the door to the reactor chamber, something strong or very angry. Hoffner shouted for the marines to follow him.

              “It’s time to flip the switch,” he called. “We’ll make it up by the time the shuttle’s here then we’re out. Let’s move it, people! This is the run of your very lives! Make it count.”

              Clea took a deep breath and steadied herself for the exertion to come. She already suffered from extreme exhaustion, this particular situation just threatened to make it worse. Pushing her body way past its breaking point hadn’t been on her list of activities for the day but now that she was in the thick of it, she summed up a little more energy for the final push.

             
Whatever it takes, I have to survive. For my family, for the Behemoth and for the alliance. Let’s do this, Clea. You can make it
.

***

              Clea and Hoffner stood together by the entrance to the tunnel leading to the surface. She slung her rifle so it wouldn’t encumber her run, but it left her hands empty. Clenching and unclenching, her fists, she battled nerves in her head, struggling with her throbbing heart and the tension forming in her muscles.

              “It’s just another run,” Hoffner said.

              “Excuse me?” Clea asked.

              “Don’t let too much ride on this. It’s just a run up an incline. Think about getting through it but not the implications. They don’t matter. The only thing you should be worrying about is making it to the surface. Everything else, just put out of your mind. None of it matters.”

              “Is that how you do your job? How you saved the man from the plant?”

              Hoffner shrugged. “I don’t know how I do what I do. I just do things and hope for the best. It’s not how I advise my soldiers though. As you know, everyone’s different. What motivates us or gives us hope, everything is different. The key to surviving in the military, especially on the ground, is discovering what you care about and holding on to it.”

              Clea smiled. “Thanks…I’ll keep that in mind.”

              Hoffner turned and Clea followed his gaze, looking at the others who gathered around them. Vora continued to wear a sour expression but the rest of her techs appeared relieved. They were getting out of there after all. She believed they cared more about surviving than they did the data.

              She wondered if her sister truly wasn’t worried about dying. Would she have sacrificed herself to try and keep the facility intact? It made no sense. Whatever conversation they had on their way back to alliance space would be difficult but it had to happen. If they didn’t work together, then they’d lose any bond they possessed as sisters.

             
Not that there was much of one to begin with
.

              Their relationship, fragile as it may’ve been, seemed to have taken quite the licking since they parted years before.

              “The final failsafe is disengaged!” A young man with blue hair rushed up, panting. “We need to go!”

              A loud hum emitted from the reactor as the metal shields began to rise. “Also,” Vora added, “We don’t want to be in this room when the core is exposed. The radiation is enough to kill.”

              “Well, we’re not staying,” Hoffner motioned to the tunnel. “Get moving, guys. Jenks and Walsh, point again.”

              “Jesus, we’re always on point.” Walsh jogged into the tunnel with Jenks close behind.

              “Everyone else, get on their six and
do not stop
.” Hoffner took a deep breath. “I’ll take up the rear and make sure no one falls behind.”

              “I’ll stick with you,” Clea said. “You’ve steered me right so far. I’d rather make sure I don’t mess up now.”

              “Fair enough.” The techs filed into the tunnel, moving around them quickly. He glanced at the reactor and gestured. “I don’t really want to see that thing in all its glory so let’s go.”