Resist the Red Battlenaut (21 page)

 

Finally, Scott went to the medicenter. He had his orders, and he had nowhere else to go. He couldn't get to the Red prisoners, so he might as well get his checkup out of the way.

The door swept open and he crossed the threshold. Looking to his left, he saw the privacy curtain around Donna's bed, pulled all the way around.

On the far side of the room, Nurse Tourmal looked up from a patient and grinned. "Corporal Scott!" He adjusted the antigrav I.V. bag floating alongside the patient and hurried over. "Good to see you, sir. Glad you could make it."

Scott wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "I didn't have much choice. Major Perseid and Captain Rexis both ordered me down here."

"I'm sure they had a good reason, sir." Tourmal kept grinning and rocked on the balls of his feet. "I think you'll understand soon."

"I already understand," snapped Scott. "They wanted me out of the way."

"I'll bet it was for your own good," said Tourmal.

Scott was getting annoyed. "You think so?" He cocked his head to one side. "Is that your expert opinion?"

Tourmal caught on and raised his hands in front of him. "Well, it is, but that's not...what I mean is..."

"Forget it." Scott slashed a hand through the air, cutting him off. "I'm done here." He was sick of Tourmal, sick of the medicenter, sick of being there instead of the brig...and he felt his temper rising. If he didn't leave, he might say or do something that he'd regret later.

Whipping around, he headed for the door.

"No, wait!" Tourmal chased after him, landing a hand on his shoulder. "You've got to stay!"

Scott shrugged out of his grip as the door swept open. "Like hell I do."

Then, suddenly, a soft voice called to him from behind the curtain. "Solomon?"

And Scott froze.

"Solomon?" said the voice...a woman's voice, weak but familiar. "Please stay."

Scott's heart pounded in his chest. He turned from the doorway, and his eyes flew to the curtain. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard and what it meant. "Oh my God."

Tourmal grinned and slapped Scott on the back. "See why everyone kept trying to get you to come down here? It
was
for your own good, after all."

Scott pushed past him like he wasn't there. He felt like he was in a daze or a dream, drifting toward something that was wonderful and impossible at the same time.

Stepping forward, he took hold of the end of the curtain at the head of the bed. As he slowly pulled it aside, the metal rings clattered along the antigrav track, clacking together as the curtain bunched up.

And there she was, just as he remembered--except her eyes were open. And she was smiling.

And speaking with that voice he'd once thought he might never hear again. "Hello, Solomon. Long time no see."

Scott stepped through and pulled the curtain shut behind him. Then, without a word, he bent down and kissed her softly on the forehead.

When he pulled back, her eyes were closed, and he felt a twist of panic in his chest...but then they opened again and lighted upon his face. "Did you miss me?" she said.

"Yes." Scott didn't even have to think about it. "I missed you a lot."

Her smile widened. "I already knew that." The cuts and bruises that had littered her face after Shard were all healed now. She still looked fragile, but she had a pale glow and a sparkle in her eyes. "I hear you stopped by a bunch of times while I was out."

Scott shrugged. "I needed to get away from Trane and Abby's snoring."

Donna giggled softly. "I think I heard it in my coma, even."

Impulsively, Scott took her hand and kissed it. "We should've moved them in here from the start. Then maybe you'd've woken up sooner."

"Or just gone down deeper," said Donna. "Though I was pretty deep already."

"So you weren't just pretending to be comatose to get out of duty, then?" Scott kissed her hand again. "Because that's what everyone was saying."

"They were right." Donna winked at him. "That's exactly what I was doing."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to end the fake coma," said Scott. "I'm glad you stopped being so damn lazy."

Donna watched through half-lidded eyes as he kissed her hand once more. "Oh, Solomon." Suddenly, the snarky tone was gone. "I feel like it's been a hundred years."

"I know." Scott held her hand against his lips and breathed the words between her fingers. "Me, too."

"I wish I could...I didn't..." She looked over at the green crystalline cast on her left arm, then the one on her right leg, both suspended from antigrav nodes. "I wish this hadn't happened." When she looked back up at him, her eyes glistened with tears.

Scott felt a shiver along his spine...a shiver not of warning but of strong emotion. Then, though he'd kept her at arm's length for so long, though he'd doubted his feelings and tried so hard to avoid complications, he leaned down over her without a word and did something he'd never done before.

It was something he hadn't done in all the hours they'd spent together or all the nights they'd shared a bed. It was something he'd thought about but not that day, not with everything that had happened.

But as soon as he did it, he knew how utterly right it felt. He wished he'd done it sooner.

Because, as his lips touched hers for the first time, every bit of doubt in his heart and mind was burned away instantly like fog in the light of the sun.

She kissed him back without hesitation or reservation, as if she'd been waiting forever for this outcome. Her lips pressed against his like the petals of a rose, soft and moist and fragrant.

When they parted, she beamed up at him with an expression of pure joy. "Now
that
was nice.
Much
nicer than being in a coma."

"Or fighting my own armor," added Scott.

Donna's expression darkened, becoming sadder. "I heard about what happened on Oberon." Reaching up with her right hand, she touched his cheek. "I'm so sorry they took your grandmother."

Scott nodded. "I'll get her back, don't worry."

Donna frowned. "Do we have any idea where they took her yet?"

Scott shrugged. "Trane and Beauchamp traced the Red viruses to Dornick VII, but I don't know. Just because the viruses' genomes originated there doesn't mean it's Red HQ."

"And that's the only possibility?"

"We have prisoners," said Scott. "Perseid's interrogating them now."

"Good." Donna smiled warmly. "Whatever they know, he'll get it out of them."

Scott looked away. "I hope you're right."

"I
know
I am." Donna pressed his cheek with the palm of her hand, turning him to face her again. "Because now that we're together, everything
has
to work out." With that, she guided him down and kissed him again.

This time was better and more intense than the first. Scott wanted to believe so much in what it meant--that they belonged together, that Bern's rescue and everything else would work out--that he focused every bit of his hope and faith and desire on the touch of her tender lips.

He had waited so long for her to wake up, had wondered so often if it would ever even happen. Now, like a miracle, there she was...like a sign that Bern would come back to him, too.

They parted again, and Donna had more tears in her eyes. "I knew all along." She ran a fingertip along his jawline. "About you and me."

Scott turned his head and kissed her finger. "You were there for me right from the start."

"I never gave up on you, Solomon," said Donna. "And I never will."

A thousand things to say rushed through Scott's mind. There were so many words he could say, so many promises he could make...but the future was uncertain. War was everywhere, chaos reigned. Who knew if they'd survive long enough to live up to a single promise made in that moment.

So, instead of saying anything, he simply kissed her again. He felt the warmth of her love radiate into him, felt the comfort of the connection they shared growing stronger in the midst of all the madness.

And he knew he'd been a given a gift, one that would make it possible to face whatever the Reds had in store for him and so much more besides.

 

*****

 

Hours later, Scott left her there, asleep in the medicenter, and went to the mess to get some coffee. Now that his romantic interlude was over, he needed to get back to work. And as far as he was concerned, he had only one job to do.

Find Bern.

When he was done fixing coffee, he turned to leave for the brig...and Perseid's voice spoke over the intercom. "Corporal Scott, report to the brig. Corporal Scott to the brig."

"If you insist." Scott shrugged, sipped his coffee, and started down the corridor.

When he got to the brig, the same four guards were still posted outside--but this time, they didn't stand in his way.

In fact, the younger one grinned as he approached. "Did you finally make it to the medicenter? Did you get your surprise?"

"Yeah." Scott stopped and smiled. "It was the best thing that happened all day." Reaching out, he shook the young guard's hand.

"We were thinking we might have to lead you there at gunpoint," said the older guard on the other side of the door.

"Some guys just can't take a hint," said another guard standing beside the older one.

"Well, thanks for making sure I finally did." Scott stepped forward, and the door slid open. "It really made my day."

"Happy to help," said the young guard. "I like getting some good news for a change."

"You and me both." With that, Scott walked past him into the anteroom of the brig. As the door whisked shut behind him, three men looked in his direction without smiling: Perseid, García, and Balko.

"Corporal." Perseid looked and sounded tired. His black uniform was rumpled, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He wiped his hands on a dark cloth as he spoke. "How was the medicenter?"

"Great, thanks." Scott nodded once. The mood in the room was grim; no need to be effusive. "How were the Reds?"

Perseid kept wiping his hands. "Difficult." He looked at García and Balko, who both nodded in agreement. "Stubborn. At first."

Scott folded his arms over his chest. "And later?"

"Talkative." Perseid didn't sound like he took any joy in saying it, or doing whatever it was that he'd done. He just kept wiping his hands on the cloth like a mechanic who'd just crawled out of a Battlenaut's guts. "One of them, anyway."

"So what did he say?" said Scott. "What do we know?"

Perseid looked him in the eye. "We only got it from the one man. We need you to confirm it with Cairn Barrie."

Scott scowled. "What makes you think he'll give us anything?"

"Your history. Your rapport." Perseid shrugged. "He told you about Oberon, didn't he?"

"I can try." Scott wanted to help instead of sit on the sidelines--but Cairn was a game-player. It was true that he'd told him about Oberon, but only when it had been too late for the Diamondbacks to stop the attack there.

"You'd better do a lot more than try." Perseid stopped cleaning his hands and stuffed the cloth in a hip pocket. "According to the prisoner we broke, a core Commonwealth world is about to be attacked by the Reds."

"Which one?" Scott searched his mind, running through the list of core worlds:
Archibald, Balustrade,
Corazon
,
Tian
anmen
...

"Tack." Perseid's voice was icy as he said it. "Our prisoner claims that Tack is the Reds' next target."

Scott stiffened. "Are you sure?"

Perseid ran his thumb along the scar across his throat. "Our Red was convincing. We had to dig deep to get it out of him...deep enough that I doubt he was lying."

Scott was still reeling from the news about Tack. First the Reds had taken his grandma, now they were planning to strike his homeworld. "Why Tack?"

"A beachhead in the heart of the Commonwealth," said Perseid. "A strategic location from which to strike the other core worlds."

Scott thought of all the people he knew on Tack--all the friends and relations, distant and close. He thought of all the places he knew there, from the town of Tisserie where he was born to the Iridess Chasm where he'd died. And the more he thought of the Reds running rampant through those places and slaughtering those people, the angrier he got.

"Bastards." The word was a hiss when he said it. "Have you already notified Command? Are they sending in the fleet?"

Perseid shook his head. "I want confirmation. There's still a chance the intel's bad, planted to draw us away from the real target."

"Cairn's a tough nut," said Scott. "Why not interrogate him like you did the other Reds? Get your confirmation that way?"

"Because that way, things get rough." Perseid looked at Balko and García. "And there's a hell of a bomb in his head."

Scott knew better than to ask for more details. Some things, he just didn't need to know. "All right. I'll talk to Cairn."

Perseid stepped aside and gestured at the door to Cairn's cell. "The sooner the better," he said. "The clock's ticking."

Scott nodded. "Tell me about it." He could hear that very ticking in his own head, louder than ever. And only a twisted enemy who despised his every breath could help him in his race against time.

Scott hesitated at the door, inhaling deeply. Then, committing to his course of action, he clenched his jaw and typed his pass code on the keypad.

"Good luck, Corporal," said Perseid.

Scott didn't answer as the door slid open before him.

 

*****

 

When Scott entered the cell, he thought at first that he was under attack. Cairn, who'd been squatting on the cot, leaped off it suddenly and charged across the room.

Scott tensed instantly, ready to fight back...but Cairn stopped less than a meter away. "There." Grinning, he moved his head in a circle, staring at Scott's face. "There it is. Just like I expected."

Scott had no patience for games, but knew he had to play along to get anywhere. "What's that, Cairn?"

"The look on your face." Cairn pointed at him and chuckled. "The one I was
dreaming
about. The one that happened when you realized just how
bad
things are and that there's nothing you can
do
about it."

"I think you're seeing what you
want
to see," said Scott. "I'm feeling just fine."

"You're full of
plang
." Cairn snorted and snapped his fingers a few centimeters from Scott's nose. "I can see right through your lame-ass façade. I know you
too well
, Sol."

"Well, good for you," said Scott.

"By the way," said Cairn. "You're
late
."

Scott frowned. As usual, Cairn was trying to keep him off-balance. "Late for what?"

"You missed the deadline," said Cairn. "The deal's off the table."

"What deal?"

Cairn looked at him as if he were a total moron. "If you'd joined the Reds before we got to Oberon, I was going to stop trying to get payback, remember?" He threw his arms up in a gesture of exasperation. "But you didn't join up before Oberon, so the deal's off. So much for us
working
together and being
friends
again."

"Damn it," said Scott. "I've been so
busy
lately. Can't you give me a little more time to think it over?"

"One last chance to join the winning side?" Cairn sneered and leaned closer. "Why not? You have until you walk back out that door." His eyes flicked to the door of his cell, then back to Scott's face. "After that, you're
cut off
, you dumb son of a bitch."

Scott nodded and tapped a finger against his lower lip. "You know what might help me make my mind up? A gesture of good faith."

Cairn laughed. "What
kind
of gesture?"

Scott locked eyes with him. "Tell me where they took the Marine Commandant."

Cairn met his gaze with a steely glare of his own. "Now why the flux would I do that? So you can be a big
hero
?"

Scott wondered how much he should say--then decided, since they were playing for such high stakes, to go all in. "So I can bring home my
grandma
." This time, he was the one who leaned forward, pushing Cairn back out of his way. "The Commandant's my
grandmother
."

Cairn's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. Then, his features settled back into a cruel sneer. "Now
that
is rich."

Scott badly wanted to punch him in the face but held himself back. "So what about that good will gesture?"

Cairn turned and strolled back to his cot. "I'll tell you, but it won't have a thing to do with good will. Because I
guarantee
you'll be too late to
help
her, just like you were too late to stop the attack on Oberon."

Scott's heart sank when he heard that, but he knew he had to keep pushing. "Then go ahead. If it's too late anyway, go ahead and tell me."

"I did warn you it would be like this, you know. Back when you first visited me here." Cairn lay down on the cot, drew up his right knee, and crossed his left leg over it. "I
did
say that
I'
d
the one doing the screwing this time, and
you'
d
be the one paying the price."

"Enough already," said Scott. "If it's too late to help the Commandant, tell me where she is and get it over with. Or don't you want to see me hopeless and defeated?"

"Are you kidding? After the way you left me to Vore and the other wolves?" Cairn looked at him with a glare of pure, perfect hatred. "I can't wait."

In spite of what he'd said, the room was silent for a long moment after that. As Scott waited with the clock ticking ever louder in his head, he wondered if grabbing Cairn by the throat and choking the hell out of him might speed things along.

Finally, Cairn broke the silence with a single word, a single syllable. "Tack."

"That's where they took the Commandant?" asked Scott.

"Wouldn't you?" Cairn laughed. "It's where the first major offensive will be launched against the Commonwealth's core. Correction." He cleared his throat, pretended to check a nonexistent chronometer on his wrist. "
Has been
launched."

Scott's heart was pounding. He had the confirmation that Perseid needed, but he might not have gotten it in time to save Bern, Tack, or the Commonwealth. He needed to get back to Perseid without delay and get the wheels rolling.

Whirling, he started for the door...then paused and looked back over his shoulder. "You're okay with this? Doesn't it matter to you that Tack's your homeworld, too?"

Cairn laughed louder than ever. "Why do you think I
picked
it? I
want
the place to go up in flames!"

Scott shook his head and turned away.

"So what's your decision on my offer to join the winning side?" said Cairn. "Remember, it expires as soon as you walk out that door."

"What the hell. Sign me up," said Scott. "I'll be right back to take the Red oath."

"Now that's what I expected to hear," said Cairn. "I
knew
you had it in you to turn traitor and betray the trust of those who depend on you. I know it better than anyone else, don't I?"

"I guess you've got it all figured out," said Scott, and then he opened the door and marched out of the cell without looking back.