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Another nod.
“I’m going to give you something to help you sleep until then. Your heart rate is very elevated.”
She shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but you should feel it already.”
Her eyes grew heavy, unfocused. Reaching for the white jacket the woman wore the lapel was all she felt before the world faded again.
“I’m afraid that the other Praetorian is in worse shape than we thought,” a decidedly male voice said.
Her limbs were numb. The mask had been removed. She couldn’t move. Kira focused on one finger. She tried to curl it inward.
“You don’t think he’ll make it?” Bre, she recognized the soft-spoken female voice.
“The burns were quite extensive. We’ve removed as much damaged tissue as possible, but if we take anymore, there will be an almost complete loss of function. Bearson feels like it would be best to just allow him to go instead of making him suffer even more before it inevitably happens.”
“I’ll have to break it to her.”
One finger, then a second, a fist formed.
“I don’t envy you that one.” The man sounded indifferent.
A second fist.
Bre clicked her tongue. “You have no regard for what they suffered at all. How you’re still working in the medical field, I don’t know.”
“You’ll get there one day, just you wait.” Thick footsteps indicated he left.
Eyelashes flickered.
“Oh, you’re awake.” Bre was at her side, pushing back a piece of her hair. “We can try to sit up again if you’re feeling up to it. The surfactant should be working well now.”
It was painstaking work. Sweat broke out along her forehead as she got into position. The adrenaline of earlier worn off. “I need your help.” Kira took to the woman like a lifeline, gripping her like that.
“That’s what I’m here for.” Bre smiled reassuringly, that sort of polite customer service expression.
“Good.”
“Where did you go?” Watson drew her back to reality. He’d done an excellent job of matching himself, down to a small mole on the curve of his cheek. The beauty mark an exact copy of his prior self.
Her knuckles were white as snow gripping that pillow. “I was just remembering.”
“Well, how about you remember to come launch the ship and do rounds?” That all too familiar grin struck her.
“Rounds upon rounds upon rounds,” she joked. The levity was missing, but she still followed him out. The ship could have run itself, but there was a comfort in the familiarity of eyes on everything, checking and rechecking to make sure the systems were running smoothly, that they were in order as they should be.
“Can you check on the departure paperwork again? Please, Watson? I submitted it a week ago, it should have been approved.”
“Looks like it still needs West’s sign off.”
“That slimy little-” Kira stopped herself. “Bring it to his attention please, with an urgency notice.”
“Done, Captain.”
“Thank you.”
Approval was a gesture of goodwill and not a matter that needed proper clearance. The Eikos was not a proper station that ran by military standards. Submitting the notice was more of a gesture to give warning of their intent to clear the spaceport. Cutting ties with the Eikos and dropping into hyperspace was child’s play in order of procedure. They were on the docket. She’d made sure of that, but she did not expect West to be petty on top of ignorant.
