Page 78 of Star-Crossed Captive
Mace glanced at his vambrace, watching for any unknown life signs as the first of the tyros and warriors climbed over the railing to rappel. Nia’s light moved toward the evacuation bay.
The last of the tyros repelled over the edge. He and Grey followed. Wind whistled lightly as they flew down the rope. Mace’s feet hit the deck, his gun up in the next second as he scanned the area for threats. He jogged over to the tyros in defensive positions at the edge of the deserted main level vendors.
Mace signaled the group to move out, but Grey stopped abruptly, turning. Mace felt it too: a heartbeat of absolute quiet.
Enemy fire burst through the atrium.
Chapter twenty-eight
AssoonasNiahad arrived in family medicine, she didn’t have a minute to herself. It had been the same at all her former posts. One day would be quiet, the next non-stop. Unfortunately, Kessy had the day off, making the day even more challenging when dealing with Faas and Mayra’s enduring antagonism.
On the positive side, the bustle didn’t allow her even a second to examine how her relationship with Mace had changed over the past day—and what that would mean for the future.
Because she really couldn’t deal with that right now.
Frowning, she ran a scanner over her patient, a baby with a fever, one more time. Such a wee thing. Nothing conclusive emerged on the screen, frustrating her. Give her a broken bone or a lacerated appendage any day. Maladies like these, especially on one so small, were always a guessing game.
“Where are you hurting?” she murmured to herself, then looked at the mother. “Maybe it’s a growth thing?” The woman didn’t look happy at the vague explanation. “I’ll lower her fever, then maybe it’s best to keep her here for observation.” It was the only thing she could think of.
Thiswas why she shouldn’t have been placed in family medicine. It annoyed her to no end that she would have to ask Faas or Mayra their opinion.
Turning, she sought to make eye contact with one of them, when the deck rumbled beneath her feet. She tensed, hands tight on the scanner.
Another rumble, and a collective gasp echoed through the med bay. Nia’s eyes flew to Elec whose focus was on his vambrace. Then his other hand reached for the weapon at his thigh.
Boom. The blast rocked everyone to the side. Shouts of alarm collided against the bulkheads; supplies cascaded off the shelves to the deck. Her infant patient cried. The mother curved over her baby in a protective cocoon. Children whimpered in fear. Her heart racing, Nia tightened her hands on the med bed, trying to keep her balance.
Another blast roared through the space. Nia pitched to the side, hit her elbow on the med bed, and fell to the deck. People screamed. Above the ringing of her ears, the metal around them groaned with strain.
The lights went out and the emergency lights turned on, dim and red. Using the med bed for support, she staggered to her feet.
“Everyone to their evacuation zones and get off the station,” Elec shouted to the people in the bay. “Hurry!” he added when everyone seemed frozen. “CORE are boarding.”
Cries of fear and dismay echoed as everyone hurried to the exit. One more explosion rumbled farther away, then the station stilled.
Nia’s heart pounded hard in her head as she clenched the edge of the med bed. The CORE were here. She grabbed her locket and squeezed it tight. They’d finally come.
But instead of the thought elating her, dread swirled in her chest and her head felt disconnected from her shoulders.
Elec gripped her elbow. “We need to go.”
“Where’s Mace?”
“We’ll meet him at the evacuation bay.”
She nodded, her stomach roiling in fear. Elec cleared her bonds to leave, and they entered the corridor. The dim, flashing lights made it hard to see. Shouts resounded further along, people giving orders, others panicking. Elec hurried her forward, her elbow in his one hand and weapon in the other.
“We can’t take the lifts,” he said, gesturing to where others entered an emergency hatch. “We’ll need to climb up to deck forty-two.
They waited at the back of the line, and she recognized some of the patients from the med bay climbing inside the hatch ahead of them.Evacuation zones. They’ll get off safely.She swallowed against the dryness in her mouth, her heart feeling like it was trying to escape through of her throat.
It took forever before it was their turn.
“In you go,” Elec said as he helped her inside the emergency shaft where she stepped on a ledge and grabbed hold of a ladder rung. Her stomach jumped into her throat. The space below her plummeted unendingly like it had in the engine core. She looked up, could see the outline of the people climbing above her in a tube about the same size as the lift. A baby cried, the sound bouncing within the bulkheads.
Elec followed close behind when a shout down the corridor made him turn. Laser fire erupted, blinding against the dark of the shaft.
“Climb, climb, climb!” Elec shouted before he shut the door behind her, sealing her inside and him out.
