The Lost Aria (Earth Song Book 3) Page 30

  “Huh?”

  “A single cat almost tore both my legs off half a year ago,” Minu explained, “because all I had was a knife and no gun. The cat has six limbs with more than a meter long reach, each holding five razor sharp claws, and a set of fangs.” In a blur she drew the sword and pointed it at Chris, less than a millimeter from his nose. “Call this an equalizer. We don’t even have sharp teeth.”

  Chris swallowed and nodded. “Sure, but it’s clumsy.”

  “I'm still working on the best way to carry it. These training missions are useful for more than just proving you aren't ready to be deployed. We've field tested a lot of equipment on Deep Blue.”

  A short time later they linked up with the rest of the misfits and checked the area. No more signs of the Vampires were to be seen. There was an hour before their planned return so she found a quiet corner and talked to them as a team.

  “I'm pleased overall with the way you've come together, and I'm close to making my final recommendation for your readiness for service.” Minu looked around them and saw excitement from each.

  “When?” Minu wasn't surprised it was Tanya who piped up first. Her tall frame was leaned against a wall as she'd listened, her eyes intent on the older Chosen. Of them all, she was the best in almost all areas and Minu wished often that she'd push hard enough to make herself the leader of the misfits. It was obvious that she resented being saddled with the others and believed if she'd found a different group she'd already be assigned as an active scout.

  “Soon.”

  “Why can't we know more precisely?” Orlando asked.

  “Scouts don't often have that luxury. You could get called to a mission on only minutes’ notice. So self-train, I’ll clear it for you to take range time, and be patient.”

  Minu finished logging in her Shock rifle along with the misfits then checked in with the range officer. As she’d promised she left an authorization for them to continue using Shock rifles for training without having to check with her each time. Afterwards it was to her office in the training branch to write the incident report from her trip to Deep Blue. Coming across Vampires in a formerly 'safe' place was worthy of a high priority report. She left off the part where her misfits opened fire on the Vampires without provocation. It was a minor incident and she’d decided to skip over it.

  “Just being a scout is dangerous,” she mumbled as she typed the report. And she was certain they would have never made scouts without her intervention. While she was typing her communicator beeped. “Chosen Alma.”

  “Bored training the brats yet?” asked a familiar voice.

  “From day one, Gregg. How's things with the Rangers?”

  “Complicated,” she heard him sigh. “This crap with the mercenary contracts is getting crazy.”

  “How so?”

  “The Akala have filed a complaint with the Concordia war council because we refused them a contract.”

  Minu thought for a moment. The Akala were a senior species, but not high order. Fairly rich but not aggressive. And that didn't mesh well with their belligerent nature, so they liked to hire others to do their fighting. “So I'm sure they wanted to use us to stomp on someone.”

  “Oh, without a doubt. Jacob might be greedy, but he's not stupid. Only took a little digging to find out the Akala and the Mok-Tok are having a dustup just now.”

  “Wow,” Minu whistled, “last thing we want is to get tangled with the Mok-Tok right now.”

  “Absolutely. But they're still crying to the Concordia. Jacob is thinking about giving in to a limited contract to keep from pissing anyone off.”

  “We can't play all sides of this thing,” Minu replied with a sigh, “he should have known this would happen. What can I do to help?”

  “Can you come to the next strategy session?”

  “I doubt I'd be welcome,” Minu explained.

  “I know, but you might be surprised. Several on the council have asked me to invite you.”

  “Really?” she said, honestly surprised. She'd been unaware of that development. “Sure, I can do that. I have a couple days before leaving for Herdhome.”

  “Thanks Minu, I appreciate it.”

  Later that afternoon, Minu met with her new workout team. Cherise and Tamara Komatsu had been training with her for weeks now. And they were the reason for the sword she carried. What she'd first seen Ojanbique doing in the desert had jelled with the input from Tamara into a new close combat style incorporating the sword, knife, and a specially reinforced vambrace on both arms.

  “You must be kidding,” Cherise said the first time she saw the getup. But after a few minutes of easily holding the much taller woman at bay with a wooden practice sword Tamara called a Bokken, Cherise was forced to admit Minu was onto something.

  After weeks of work the basics were finished and now Minu was concentrating on learning some real elements of style with the sword from Tamara. The lithe Peninsula tribe woman could move with almost superhuman speed with a sword in one hand or both. Even with Minu and Cherise both trying to attack her at the same time the results were consistently a defeat for the two old friends, and Tamara laughing at them.

  Once that day’s session was finished and Cherise on her way, Tamara came to Minu with a gift. “What's this?”

  Tamara smiled and held out the long thin case. “The results of a friend’s brainstorming.”

  Minu cocked a head but opened the locks on the case. Inside was a katana, obviously brand new and slightly different than what she'd been working with. She carefully removed the scabbarded sword then drew it with a flourish. The blade was about ten centimeters shorter than a regular katana and with less curve. But the blade itself was of the most interest. It had the familiar blue sheen of a dualloy wrought blade, and it felt as light as a feather.

  “The blade is magnetically forged dualloy, made by the master smith who made my blade,” Tamara explained as she braided her waist length hair. “But the edge is unique.” Her hair finished, she fished into a duffel and removed another sword. This one was crude and in poor shape. She drew the blade and held it at point guard, tip aimed at Minu's neck. “Deflect the blade,” she told Minu.

  Minu shrugged, took a two handed grip and swung at an upward angle as instructed, deflecting the other blade away from her neck. There was a high pitched 'CHING!” sound, and half of the other katana blade spun away to embed point first in the wall. “Shit!” Minu barked, taking a step back and reaching for the blade she held.

  “No, wait!” Tamara yelled and Minu's hand recoiled as if stung. “The blade edge is monomolecular. It can cut through a one centimeter bar of dualloy.”

  “Damn lightsaber!” Minu chuckled. “So how do I keep from cutting my own leg off or beheading the Chosen standing next to me?”

  Tamara grinned and took out a little device, handing it to Minu. “Clip it on your belt.” Minu did as instructed. “Now try to cut your hand.”

  “After what that just did to a dualloy sword?”

  “Trust me.”

  Minu swallowed and gently ran the blade along the palm of her hand. It felt kind of sharp, but only in the way a butter knife might. She experimented and put a little more force against it. The edge stung, but still didn't cut. Tamara still held the split sword. She leaned over and used Minu's sword, the same one that wouldn't cut bare skin, to slice off another twenty centimeter chunk off her blade.

  “Okay, I'm impressed,” Minu said, “how does it work.”

  “The belt pack is a very low powered shield. The sword also has a shield in it, the two react to each other like a pair of positive magnets.”

  “So this won't work against anyone with a shield? That defeats the purpose of the sword.”

  “No, these shields are of a unique polarity, opposite of the ones we use for energy weapons defense. There's also one in the sheath so the sword doesn't chop that up as well.”

  “How long do the batteries last?”

  “Months?” Tamara said, cocking her head and
thinking. “Maybe years.”

  “This is amazing,” Minu whispered, trying out a few practice moves with the sword.

  “I had it made shorter after you bitched about it on deployment.” Minu shrugged. “Here's a harness the smith made, it works like a shoulder holster over the back. That should keep it out of the way, and ready for quick access.”

  “I'm flattered. So how many Peninsula tribe sword smiths know how to make a monomolecular edge dualloy blade?”

  “None. The smith made the blade, but Bjorn created the edge and the defensive system.”

  “You've been busy.”

  “Just trying to help. Just try it out, see how it works, and give me feedback. Imagine all the Chosen and Rangers with these?”

  “Yeah, I can imagine that.” Minu sheathed the sword and let Tamara show her a few features, including how she could flick a control on the box and deactivate the self-protection feature.

  “The blade should be good for quite a bit of brutality before needing to be resharpened. But Bjorn is still working on a way to do that in the field. He's pretty sure he'll figure it out.”

  “I'm sure he will too.” A few hours later she was back on her little island and ready for a couple days off before rotating to Herdhome. Unfortunately, rest wasn't in the cards. Instead she woke the next morning and continued to work on her big plan. Late that afternoon her communicator went off again. “Chosen Alma.”

  “Miss Alma, this is Dr. Evan Martin at the Tranquility Hospital, coma care wing.”

  “I remember you, doctor, what can I do for you?”

  “Miss Basil requested you be contacted.”

  “Who?”

  “Cynthia Basil.”

  “Oh, right, Pip's girlfriend.”

  “As you will. She requested we contact you if Pipson Leata's condition should worsen...”

  Minu sat up straight in her chair. “What's happened?”

  “He's reached the end of his body’s tolerance of the life support systems.”

  “But you said another year or more last time we talked.”

  “I know, but the situation has changed.” The doctor spent a minute talking about degenerative nerve failure and immune-suppressive drug resistance.

  “How long doc?”

  “Hours.”

  “Don't do anything, I'm on my way.”

  “His family is coming too,” the doctor said, but Minu was already running towards the landing flat behind her cabin.

  She pushed the aerocar to the limits, and beyond. By the time she dropped from cruising altitude and banked towards a landing at the Tranquility Hospital there were two warning lights flashing on the cars control boards where she'd never seen them before. 'Impeller Over-Temp', and 'Check EPC Coupling' both glowed bright yellow. Minu ignored them as she landed and jumped from the car. Minutes later she was running from the stairs (too long of a wait for a jump-tube) onto the coma wing.

  As soon as she turned the corner to the coma unit she saw Dr. Martin, dressed in white hospital fatigues and wearing stylish dualloy framed glasses, he was talking with a middle aged couple who had to be Pip's parents. She only knew they lived far from Tranquility and could not afford to travel to visit their son very often. Minu had never met them to date. The woman was looking at the floor, tears dripping down her cheeks, while the man listened as the doctor talked. For a second, Minu feared she was too late.

  “You must be Minu Alma,” the man said as she approached. Minu almost tripped at the man's thick Rusk accent. Could this really be Pip's father? “Our boy, Pipson, told us a lot about you before he was hurt.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said. The woman lifted her head for a moment and spoke a few words Minu didn't understand.

  “I'm sorry, Aliana doesn't speak much English. She comes from the Trablinsk region, and there it is a matter of pride that the villagers only speak Russian.”

  “It is not a problem.” She chewed her lip for a second before continuing. “Please don't take this wrong, but Pip never said he was Rusk.”

  “No, I don't imagine he would. Our family was allies of the Malovich clan, long, long ago. It is a very long story, but suffice it to say our two families had a parting of the ways, and for many years now we've been on the opposite sides of events as they proceeded.”

  “Pip didn't even have an accent!”

  “He spent hours on end watching movies, on the computers, reading to himself, doing everything he could to learn to speak without an accent. He knew what people would think if they knew his racial heritage before they knew him as a man.”

  “It wouldn't have mattered to me,” Minu said, the lie tasting vile on her tongue, “very much,” she softened the statement. She turned to the doctor. “So what is Pip's situation?”

  “He's continued to deteriorate since we talked,” the doctor explained and gave a quick synopsis. From behind him Minu saw Cynthia, Pip's long term girlfriend even through his coma, walk out of his room. Her face was red and swollen from crying, and still more tears fell. “The family was about to make a decision.”

  “Let me ask something first,” she said and got all of their attentions. “How long does he really have?”

  “Two days, maybe a week at the most. One organ after another will shut down until he has a catastrophic episode. At that point it’s all over with.”

  “I need a month, maybe two weeks.”

  “For what?”

  “There might be a way to save him. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but pretty damn sure. Is there no way?”

  “Not on basic life support, but we have another way. We have a few Stasis Pods. As long as the patient isn't brain dead, you can toss them in and it holds them at deaths door until you can treat them. We used them to good effect during the Tanam war to save quite a few lives.”

  “Well, there you go! Toss him in that and I'll be back in a few weeks.”

  “No so quick. We've never used one more than thirty six hours, the time it took to fly in a surgeon from halfway around the world.”

  “But it could last weeks?”

  “Theoretically, sure. We don't have our biological codex to load into the pods computer. But its system is very flexible with most life forms. It’s worked flawlessly, except on one of your soldiers. It wasn't the worst injury we've put in one, but the thing just got brain lock and let him die. The techs never figured out why.”

  “So the odds are the same either way?” she asked and got curious looks from the doctor. “Look, if it keeps him alive until I get back, we could save his life. If not, it doesn't affect the end in any way except maybe he lives a few more days. Am I right?”

  The doctor looked from her to the family. Both the Leatas and Cynthia had a look on their face Minu hadn't seen since she arrived; hope. “It would be up to the family,” he told her. So Minu left them alone and went down to the waiting room. She didn't have long to wait. Less than ten minutes later a pair of burly orderlies came up the lift with a gurney. On the gurney was a shiny white cylinder covered in computer controls. She followed them down the hall where the doctor stopped the orderlies to give instructions, and the Leatas met her.

  “We appreciate what you’re going to try and do,” he told her. Minu just nodded her head. “Especially since it is probably against the rules.” Her head came up and he saw the twinkle in her eye. “You love him that much, and that is what helped make up our minds. If you bring our son back, that would be wonderful. If not...well, we said our goodbyes years ago.” He looked over his shoulder into the room where the orderlies were setting up the pod. Cynthia sat next to Pip, where she'd sat for so many years now, gently stroking his hand. “I only wish they could have married before he was lost. Such a nice girl.”

  The doctor turned from the work on the pod when she came in the room. “We'll put him in it at the first sign of trouble, before anatomical damage becomes irreversible. Probably a day at the most. At that point, the clock is ticking.”

  “What kind of power does the pod use?”<
br />
  “Power? A self-contained EPC, I don't think it uses one recharge for a month of use all added up.”

  “So it's self-contained?”

  “Yes, the built in computer takes care of all the details, and it transmits on a standard Concordian network that the hospital can read. Why do you want to know all of that?”

  “Scientific interest,” she said distractedly. He gave her a queer look and went to oversee the final setup. Minu moved over and sat in a chair next to Cynthia.

  “I want to believe you,” the other girl whispered, “I want to share that hope. I can't remember what his voice sounded like,” she cried. Minu took the heavyset girl in her arms and let her cry. “Please bring him back to me?”

  “If it's possible, I'll do it. I swear.”

  Chapter 12

  January 5th, 522 AE

  Coma Care Ward, Mercy Hospital, Tranquility, Plateau Tribe, Bellatrix

  “Three days,” she mumbled to herself as she raced down the hall, med techs and doctors dodged madly out of her way as she all but ran. It was only the night black jumpsuit that kept them from saying anything. If a Chosen ran in a hospital, there was probably a darn good reason.

  On the garage roof she jumped in her car and keyed it to life. Immediately it began warning her that she'd likely damaged the gravitic impellers and partially depolarized the EPC coupling. She dutifully noted it, offering an apology to her faithful car, and took the control to leap into the air. In acknowledgement of the damage she'd caused she kept the speed below normal cruising velocity as she raced towards Steven's Pass. She needed a few hours to work anyway. Her personal tablet was interfaced with the cars more powerful network link and she went into the Chosen system.

  Years of working with the system gave her an in depth knowledge of the ins and outs of that system. What it could do, what it couldn't do, and most importantly what it could do if you didn't care how much trouble you eventually got in. She knew through Cherise how the chain of command worked for requisitions and materials moving. In particular, that for expediency any three star could order a consignment of goods relocated and the approval be signed off on prior to the goods release. She deftly initiated a supply order she'd stored in her tablet months ago.