The Torid Affair by Laurann Dohner

Chapter Five

 

Jessa hated the unconscious man sprawled on the desk in front of her but that didn’t mean she would allow him to die. Luckily, the medical scan revealed his wound wasn’t fatal but it had bled a lot. Governor Rodney Boyd might not deserve help but she was still going to give it. She was a doctor. It had felt good to sedate him though. The last thing she needed was him to wake up and start berating her.

“We need to get him upstairs to a surgeon as soon as we’ve stabilized him,” she fibbed to the guards.

The bunker door slammed hard enough for it to startle her and Jessa turned, seeing that two more guards and Carlton George had arrived. The jerk appeared shaken as he met her gaze. “Fix him!”

“We have to get him upstairs. He needs a surgeon,” Maith repeated.

“Why is that alien here? I told you to get her. She has to be some hotshot doctor to be in charge of a fleet ship hospital,” Carlton yelled. “Kill that fucking alien!”

“No!” Jessa threw her arms up and lunged to the end of the desk, putting herself between Maith and the guard who’d aimed his weapon at him. “You do that and your governor dies! The Veslor is a field medic. I’m great with a med bed, but not without one.”

“Kill her then.” Carlton pointed at Jessa and sneered. “We only need one of you to save Rodney.”

Maith reached out and jerked Jessa to his side, attempting to shield her. “I don’t know human bodies well. Kill her and your male will still die. You need us both,” he snarled.

Carlton appeared furious as he made a frustrated sound and fisted his hair. “Fix him or you both die,” he finally decided, twisting away to speak to another guard by the now sealed bunker door. “Watch them.”

Jessa pulled out of Maith’s hold to return to the patient’s side but she spoke loud enough for Carlton to hear. “Boyd needs to be taken upstairs. The med beds we brought have more accurate scanners and can perform intricate surgeries. From what I can see, at least one artery was nicked and part of his intestines have been sliced open. I―”

“Shut up!” Carlton bellowed. “If he dies, you die. Shoot them if Rodney doesn’t make it.”

Jessa went back to work on the governor. She ran the scanner again, looking for any other injuries. None showed except some deep bruising on his arms and legs. The guards had probably carried him by his limbs after he’d been stabbed to get him down to the bunker. The pain must have been significant. That may have knocked him out, explaining why he’d been unconscious when they’d reached him. The blood loss might have caused him to pass out too.

“They are crazy,” Maith softly rumbled in Veslor. “And now we’re in an impenetrable bunker with the door shut.” He picked up the sedation injector and handed it Jessa. “Keep him asleep for a long time.”

She met his gaze and nodded. Boyd was a big guy, so she wasn’t worried about overdosing him. Another injection would give them a good six hours before he woke. It would buy them some time.

“They plan to murder us whether he lives or not,” Maith rasped.

Her stomach dropped to her knees…or at least it felt like it. Jessa hadn’t totally mastered Veslor, but she understood the language well enough. Maith seemed certain they’d die regardless of Boyd’s recovery. “That would be stupid.”

“I can hear them speaking,” he informed her.

Jessa didn’t doubt it. Veslors had amazing hearing, far better than a human’s. She activated her own ear enhancement. The voice belonging to the guard whispering to Carlton by the bunker door amplified. At least she assumed that was who she now heard.

“Rodney must have panicked when he was stabbed. It took only seconds to make sure the room was secure after Albert attacked him, but he’d already hit the countdown timer. I told him to shut it off before he passed out, but he just demanded we get him down here.”

“He didn’t panic. Rodney knew what needed to be done,” Carlton hissed. “We have traitors who deserve death! The only way to destroy all the evidence and kill the assholes who turned on us was to go with our exit strategy. And no one is getting a warning. That would mean some could escape. Not fucking happening.”

“We still have good, loyal people up there,” the guard argued, his voice growing louder. “At least activate the call for them to come down here, where they’ll be safe.”

“Fuck them! I trusted Albert and look what he did.” Carlton made a derisive noise. “It’ll be easier for fewer of us to live down here for the next few weeks until all rescue attempts are finished and the fleet finally goes away.”

Jessa’s eyes widened and she stared at Maith in dawning horror. They were going to do something horrible. Something that may harm both citizens and fleet.

Maith glanced at her and continued pretending to work on Rodney. She did the same, cleaning some of the blood off his skin.

The guard spoke again. “My brother is up there! He’s assigned to the delivery doors near the kitchen. He’ll be in the blast range when the mansion blows. Let me at least contact him and have him join us. He’d never betray us.”

Carlton relented. “You can tell Freddie to leave his post and go have an early dinner down the street. He’s got a little over thirteen minutes left. No one else.”

“Thank you.”

Jessa’s mouth dropped open and she snapped it shut. Maith appeared furious as he leaned over the governor, seeming to study the wound. He spoke rapid Veslor in low growls, too fast for her to follow, but she caught a few words. He was warning his grouping of bombs in the mansion, to get everyone out.

“Have you fixed him?”

Jessa flinched as Carlton painfully screeched in her ear. She quickly deactivated her sound amplifier, her ear aching. She hadn’t noticed his approach, too stunned by what they’d learned.

“Boyd needs a med bed,” she managed to say. She masked her features and turned to Carlton, wishing she held a laser scalpel for protection. Then again, she might stab him with it if she did. He was one life she’d be tempted to take. She was that upset.

“He’s not getting one.” Carlton moved so close, his body brushed her arm. “No one is leaving this bunker. We have a madman on the loose who attacked our governor. That door isn’t to be opened until he’s been apprehended and brought to justice.”

Jessa jerked away as Carlton grimaced over the governor’s exposed wound. “What’s that foam shit?”

“A sealant. It’s temporary to stabilize him for the time being. He needs surgery,” she lied.

He moved around her and stood at the end of the desk. “Rodney? Wake up!” He reached out and lightly slapped his face.

Jessa was glad that Maith suggested she sedate their patient deeper. The first dosage had been mild to help with pain and to keep him calm. The second one had him completely down for the count. Carlton tried to shake him next by the shoulder.

“Stop! You’re going to restart his bleeding,” she informed the idiot.

Carlton glared at her. “Why isn’t he awake? He got stabbed in the gut. Not the head.”

“Trauma and blood loss. It is common,” Maith answered. “His body has suffered a great shock.”

“I need him awake, goddamn it. He’s got information I need. If he dies…” Carlton slammed his fists on the desk, barely missing his boss’s head. “Fix him!”

Jessa opened her mouth to respond as Carlton suddenly lifted a hand, almost as if he were going to hit her. She cringed, but he didn’t make contact.

“Don’t you dare mention a med bed one more fucking time! You said the alien’s a battlefield doctor, and you’re some genius bigwig for the fleet hospital. One of my staff overheard some guy talking about you being a specialist and having a ton of degrees or some such shit. Rodney can’t die. He’s the only one who matters.” Carlton stepped back and motioned to one of the guards. “Watch them.” He stomped away, heading back toward the guard still by the door.

“Will they have time?” Jessa switched to Veslor. She didn’t know the word for evacuate.

“They will do all they can to save lives,” Maith growled.

“That’s enough of that. Speak standard,” the guard watching them ordered, waving his weapon again.

Jessa turned her head and shot him a dirty look. “We need to operate. He’s asking me questions about human anatomy. Some words don’t translate from his language to ours,” she lied. “Do you want your boss to live or not? His intestines have been perforated. In a Veslor body that’s where their bladders are located.”

Maith shot her an amused look for her blatant falsehoods but hid his reaction quickly. “Got it. Pissing out is not the function of this organ,” he said in English.

“I fucking hate bitches and aliens,” the guard grumbled. “Don’t try any shit or I’ll shoot you both in the head.”

“We must play operate,” she growled, knowing her pronunciation was terrible. The human vocal cords could only do so much with Veslor.

Maith met her gaze. “Play?”

“Still learning,” she muttered in English before switching back to Veslor. She didn’t know the word for “pretend” in his language. “Lie operate.”

“Agreed. They will kill us when they learn this male will live.”

She glanced up at the ceiling, still shocked that the mansion was rigged to blow. Then she met Maith’s gaze again.

He growled softly at her in Veslor. “We need to kill to survive. Us or them. Understand?”

That’s what she was afraid of. She’d taken an oath to save lives, not take them. Then again, Jessa didn’t want to be murdered. That was exactly what would happen as soon as Carlton George got whatever information he wanted from the governor. He’d no longer have a use for her or Maith. All the humans in the room were also willing to murder everyone in the mansion. There would be no help coming from them.

A decision had to made. It all came down to her promise to her sister. She needed to live in order for them to be together again as a family one day. The fleet and medical board wouldn’t punish her for her actions. It would be deemed self-defense. A hostile situation meant she was permitted to take lives to save her own.

“I’m in.” Her big sister would understand…and probably encourage her for what she was about to do.

She glanced around as she removed her gloves and put on a new set from her kit. There were eight guards that she could see, and Carlton. Plus the woman huddling by another desk. That was bad odds, even if she doubted the woman would be much of a threat.

Her gaze flicked to the ceiling and the memories from her childhood made bile rise. She swallowed hard. No way did she want to be buried under rubble ever again when an explosion happened. She silently prayed that the bunker had been built strong enough to withstand something like that, if they weren’t able to get out in time.

“Jessa?”

Maith’s raspy voice drew her attention.

“We need to cut their [something or other] before it happens.”

She filled in the gaps of the unknown Veslor word. “Numbers,” she muttered in English. “On it.” She grabbed a blood tester out of her kit and tagged it against Rodney Boyd’s arm. “Um, Mr. George?”

Carlton stopped softly plotting whatever horrible things they planned to do to turn her way. “What?”

“We need a blood donor right away. Your governor has lost too much already. He’ll die during the surgery for certain if we don’t give him a transfusion while we operate. I need to test a few of you to find a match.”

Carlton gave her a horrified look. “Not me.”

She glanced the guards. “Does anyone here know their blood type?”

The guards shook their heads or just appeared confused.

“I can test you, and we should find a match with this many people.” She grabbed her tester, walking to the largest of the guards.

He glowered at her and backed away, keeping his distance. She paused.

“Let her do whatever she needs,” Carlton demanded. “Rodney can’t die. He’s the only one who has access to—” He abruptly stopped speaking. “Just do it!”

The large guard removed his weapon and passed it to another. Jessa silently gave him credit for not being an idiot. He walked closer to her and she ran the tester over his skin. It beeped. It wasn’t a match, but he looked like the biggest threat. “You’re a match. We already have a winner.” She deleted the results quickly before anyone could get close enough to see his blood type. It wasn’t like she planned to actually do a transfusion.

She spun away and returned to her kit, opening another compartment and pulling out the smallest tubing rig she owned. The large guard still seemed hesitant.

“Grab a chair. It’s best if you’re sitting down for this. Drag it up by the governor’s head and get comfortable,” she told him politely.

He hesitated. “How much blood are you going to take?”

“Not enough to hurt you,” she swore truthfully. That wasn’t her plan. “Just take a seat. Of course, a med bed would be a lot better. We store donor blood in them.” She looked at Carlton.

“Get on with it,” he responded. “Do whatever it takes, Dean.”

“Don’t be a chicken shit,” one of the guards snickered. “Go on, Dean. You’ve got this.”

“Fuck you,” Dean muttered, but he got a chair and dragged it over, settling his big frame into it. He paled as Jessa flashed him the biggest IV needle she had with the smallest tubing. She was betting on none of them having medical training.

Jessa hesitated. “This might be a little painful, since I have to improvise. Do you want something to numb your arm?”

“Yeah.” The guard nodded.

“Only his arm,” Carlton added.

“Of course.” She rolled her eyes, letting the jerk see. “I need untainted blood or it will transfer to my patient. Mr. Boyd is in critical condition. The last thing his stressed heart can handle is narcotics of any kind, including a sedative.” She reached inside her kit again, grabbing an injector loaded with batches of her special alien virus vaccines. She tapped it, looking for the right one. She always kept emergency doses for common ailments with her whenever visiting a planet.

“This is going to numb your arm and give your immunity a boost,” she told him, walking closer. “Ready?”

The security guard turned his head away as she lightly pushed the device against his upper arm and injected him. She glanced at her fleet-issued wristband to check the time. Within two minutes, it would take effect. He wouldn’t be knocked unconscious but while her rapid-acting vaccine engaged with his immune system, he’d be out of it mentally and his body would feel as if it weighed a thousand pounds. The vaccine also contained a muscle paralytic mixed with anxiety meds to combat the normal symptoms of Regilla virus. Those included fierce convulsions and paranoia that could cause a patient to become violent.

“Let’s get you all set up.” She inserted the IV needle into his arm quickly, using the flow micro machine to start drawing blood. As his blood streamed into the thin tubing, she quickly pretended to attach the other end to her patient. She capped the end and turned the flow machine off once the tube had filled with blood. They’d assume it was still drawing blood…she hoped. “There we go. We’re ready to start operating, Maith.”

“Of course.” He checked her kit, grabbed a sterile bag, and began to drape the wound.

Jessa changed her gloves for fresh ones. “What now?” She growled the words in Veslor, staring at him over their patient.

Maith turned his head a little to glance at the guard hooked to the IV, then gave her a confused look.

She had no idea how to say what she’d done in Veslor, to convey that Dean was no longer a threat. She had to choose her words carefully. “Ignore. No danger.”

“Sleep?”

“No. Confused and very slow.”

The corner of his lips curled for a split second before he made a production of taking more small packs out of her kit. They weren’t for surgery or anything they’d actually use. “I need a distraction.”

“Stop snarling at each other. You’re not an animal, even if he is. Act like a goddamn human,” Carlton snapped. “What are you saying to each other?”

“We’re discussing the best way to deal with Mr. Boyd’s perforated intestines. I need to pump up his immune system to fight infection.” She grabbed her pain injector and tapped it, upping the dose to a deadly level and setting it to not stop at one injection. It beeped at her in warning but she overrode the safety.

“What does the beeping mean?” The annoying guard who kept his weapon pointed in their direction moved toward her.

“I’m low on doses of antibiotics and need refills. See?” She turned, holding it out with one hand.

The guard stepped closer to look at the device even as Jessa used her other hand to grab hold of his laser rifle. She shoved the barrel to the side to keep him from shooting her and slammed the device against his exposed neck, pressed her thumb down to dose him.

Then all hell broke loose with a roar that she knew came from Maith.

Something crashed loudly, probably a chair going over. It wasn’t like she had time to do more than guess. She wasn’t even sure what her next move was going to be…until the guard started to collapse, releasing his weapon. She tore it away, managing to keep hold of it as another guard grabbed her from behind.

Strong arms painfully squeezed around her waist and she was jerked off her feet. She glanced down, seeing pale skin, and didn’t hesitate to press the injector against the arm over her stomach. She tapped the release and dosed him. He cursed and viciously squeezed even tighter before his arm started to go slack and he stumbled.

Jessa kicked her feet wildly and hit him in the lower legs. He dropped her. Then the jerk nearly took her down with him as he sank to the floor, unconscious.

She jumped out of the way and watched in awe as a large alien panther—ripped fleet uniform still clinging to his shifted legs—leapt to take down two guards. They screamed as his massive paws tore into their bodies. Blood sprayed the walls and floor.

One of the guards lifted his weapon, aiming at Maith. He fired but accidently hit another guard, who was trying to stab Maith in the back. The shot took that guard out and he was probably dead before he’d even landed on the Veslor.

“Dickhead!” Jessa threw her injector at the guy who’d just killed his own man. He had to duck to avoid being hit in the face and bumped into boxes nearby. She fumbled with the guard’s weapon, aimed, and fired. It wasn’t a killing shot, since her aim was crap, but it tagged him in the upper arm, the force of the blow spinning him around, and he went down.

She rushed toward him but the woman she’d previously discounted suddenly jumped in front of her, fists up. Terror distorted the woman’s features but there was also determination in her eyes.

Jessa blocked a fist headed toward her face with her arm and bashed the woman on a shoulder with the side of the weapon. Her opponent screamed and went down instantly.

Jessa rushed toward the guard she’d shot, who was struggling to twist onto his back and raise his weapon to shoot. She fired first, that time nailing him in the face at close range.

Bile rose and she gagged at the sight of what she’d done, but she didn’t have time for that. The guard was no longer a threat.

A scream filled the air, and she watched as Maith’s battle form proved exactly why Veslors were such fierce, deadly fighters. He’d taken down three of the guards and was currently killing a fourth.

Carlton George was trying to open a door she hadn’t previously noticed, hidden behind some of the boxes stacked against the wall. He had knocked them over to gain access. His back to her as he frantically punched something into the pad beside the door…

Just as a huge boom sounded.

The violent force of an explosion above them made the solid floor beneath her feet pitch enough to toss Jessa sideways. The lights went out just as she slammed painfully against the floor.