Children of Steel (26 page)

I whistled, "Wow how many did they execute
anyway?"

"About two hundred animen, mostly males, and
another thirty human men too."

"We figure there may be another two hundred
people in the forest," added Katrine, who had been sitting by
quietly talking with Herza, "a lot of non-combatants made it into
the forest during the initial raid. We're trying to find them and
bring them back, but they spread out pretty far trying to get away
from the people who were here."

"So the population is down to about eight
hundred right now," said Gabe, "and this place normally has over
twelve hundred. They do a lot of mining here."

"What do they mine that's so valuable
anyway?" I asked

"A lot of what used to be called 'rare
earths' like titanium and such," supplied Balizar, "also platinum
and even some diamonds and other gemstones. This place is a mineral
bonanza, lots of raw materials that are used in high tech
applications. I think the company is going to have to increase the
amount of troops in these types of operations. These new guys
aren't paying any attention to the unwritten laws, but then they're
a movement, not a company."

"More like a bunch of fanatics, and if
there's anything that I believe it's that every fanatic should be
given the immediate opportunity to meet his god!" I growled hotly
thinking about their colonel again.

"Hear, hear!" said everybody in earshot and
giving me a strange look.

I was shocked by the vehemence in everybody's
reply, even the anger in myself. Balizar was right; they had broken
the unwritten rules. The first was you didn't kill needlessly and
when you had lost, you folded. Hell, people were money; we were
bought and paid for. Also it was bad for morale, companies may be
out to do each other in, but those of us in the trenches were just
doing our jobs. The second was you treated prisoners like guests,
because you never knew when the shoe would be on the other foot.
Sure corporate warfare was dangerous and often deadly, but never
more than it absolutely had to be. I had a sudden premonition, that
we hadn't heard the last of this group.

Once we had finished, everybody had duties to
attend to, including Herza. I told her I could wheel myself around
and she could go. Truth was I wanted to stop being an invalid; it's
no fun to be pushed around and treated like you're helpless. I bet
it was less fun if you really were. Well I wasn't, and I was going
to start pulling my own weight.

I got directions to the gym and wheeled
myself down there. Once there I did some light leg work, and even
some light work with the other weights. I did take the doctor's
advice and took it very carefully, but I wanted to be back on my
feet
now
. There was also an attendant at the gym who
wouldn't let me overwork myself. I got the distinct impression that
the hospital kept them informed about people like me.

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I
got back to Herza's room. But I had worked the stiffness out of my
limbs, and though my leg was still tender, I was able to walk some
of the way, using the chair like a walker. I'll never be able to
figure out why your body is so weak after major surgery, even
though most of it's untouched. It just didn't seem right.

I got into the room, got my clothes off and
collapsed on the bed. I was asleep in a minute, and slept somewhat
peacefully except for a nagging feeling that there something bad on
the horizon. In my dreams, everybody seemed to treat me like I was
made of glass, like they were afraid I'd shatter.

I awoke the next morning to Herza's
administrations; though this time she finished by getting on top
and bringing us both to a satisfying conclusion. I walked to the
showers with her and was even able to make it most of the way to
the cafeteria without leaning on her.

"Another day and you'll almost be your old
self again." said Herza as I ate breakfast. This time I was able to
eat more than I normally did.

"I do feel a lot stronger today. You can
return that wheelchair too; I'm not getting into it again." I said
adamantly.

"I don't blame you; it's no fun at all." I
noticed that look again; the one Gabe gave me last night. "I'll get
rid of it tomorrow, when I'm off." she finished.

I suddenly realized my dream, my friends were
treating me differently and I didn't know why, almost like they
were afraid to hurt me. As soon as I realized it, I knew I had to
know why. I looked around at the people in the cafeteria; they
weren't paying me any extra attention. I looked at Herza, and I
could see she was starting to look concerned, I wrapped my tail
around her, tight. She was on my left side, next to my good arm and
I used it to grab her hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked looking straight at
her.

"What do you mean?" She gave me a straight
poker face, but I remembered my own mistakes and looked at her
tail, it was twitching like crazy. She followed my gaze.

"Herza, something's wrong, I can feel it. I
may still be weak but I'm going to freak if you don't tell me." I
looked at her very closely, "What's wrong?"

She looked away from me then, and I could
feel her stiffen up.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you, at least not
yet. The Doctor felt any major shocks would be bad for you." she
said quietly.

"To hell with the Doctor!" I yelled, I could
see heads turning, and I was getting upset.

"One of your sisters is here, she's messed up
pretty bad and the doctor's aren't letting any one see her."

I had a very disturbing vision for a
second.

"Which one?" I hissed.

"Kali," she said and I relaxed a little, if
it had been Cassandra I know I would have gone berserk. "But that's
not all," she stopped and took a deep breath, "Your brother Nepal
was here. They executed him."

That struck me to the core. I could feel
myself tensing up, I wanted to just destroy the place, find those
responsible and kill them. Slowly. To die in battle is one thing,
or even an accident, but to execute somebody just because of what
they are? I was going to kill somebody, there wasn't any doubt
about that, but they weren't here. I growled deep in my chest just
thinking about that…

But my sister was here, she was hurt and I
had to see her. Revenge would have to wait. I took a deep breath
and started to get control of myself, and then let my breath go. I
realized I was still holding on to Herza, and rather tightly at
that. I let go of her wrist.

"Damn Raj, I though I was going to have to
fight you there for a second." She brought her wrist to her mouth
and started licking it; I could see little beads of blood from were
my claws had sunk in.

"I'm sorry Herza, I know it's not your
fault," I said a little strained. I noticed several of the troopers
sitting back down; I guess they thought I was going to go berserk
too. "But you know my family means a lot to me."

"That's why nobody wanted to tell you just
yet." she mumbled around her wrist, still licking it.

"Just be glad it wasn't Cassandra, or I'd be
pulling the place apart." I gave her a hug, "Now, where's my
sister?"

"The Doctor's aren't letting anybody see
her," she said sliding away a bit.

"I'll be the judge of that," I said
dangerously, "Now where is she? I am her closest kin legally and I
have a right to know."

She hesitated a moment and looked me over, my
arm was still in a sling, and I know I was a little on the thin
side still.

"Herza, if you don't help me, I'm going to
get
really
pissed." I said quietly a little warning growl
creeping into my voice.

"She's in a special ward in the hospital
wing. But you better promise me something right now Raj, or I'll
trash your sorry ass right here and now!" she hissed back at me
suddenly.

"What?" I asked taken aback by the change in
her behavior.

"That you'll keep yourself under control
dammit. If you go berserk in the Hospital, they'll psych your ass
on the spot for sure."

"I'll behave." I promised.

"You damn well better, I've never seen anyone
go off the deep end and I sure as hell don't want it to be you.
Come on."

She led me off to the hospital wing, and I
followed as fast as I could. I had to make her stop a couple of
times, so I could catch my breath. My little episode had tired me
out some.

"So, is this why you wanted to keep the
wheelchair around?" I asked.

"Pretty much, your sister kept saying that
either we'd better be able to run real fast, or have a couple of
stun rods ready." Herza looked back at me as we started walking
again. "She also wanted to tell you while you were still restrained
and drugged in the hospital bed. Said it was safest for the rest of
us."

"It's nice to know I'm getting mellower in my
old age." I said.

"This is mellow?" Declared Herza
surprised.

"Remind me to tell you about the time I got
into a fight with four tigers at the crèche." I said as we
continued.

"What did they do, pull your tail?"

"No, they were teasing one of my sister's and
made her cry."

"I'm afraid to find out what happened. Here
we are." She held the door opened and I walked in.

I looked around for a nurse; it was pretty
busy so I just ended up grabbing one. I was very conscious of Herza
standing behind me, probably ready to sucker punch me if I got out
of hand.

"Excuse me please, but could you tell me were
Kali Rakir is, and who her Doctor is?" I said as politely as I
could

"Why? Who are you?" She asked
suspiciously.

"I'm her brother, I was just released from
the field hospital and I want to see her." I tried to be as sweet
as possible.

"I'm afraid that's not possible." she replied
firmly.

"Then could you tell me who her physician is,
and where I might find him please?" I was having a harder time
being polite, but I think I still managed.

"Oh that I can do. She's Doctor Crenshaw, a
black bear. Her office is down that hall and to the right." She
pointed out a corridor.

I thanked her kindly and started walking down
the hall, I found the office without too much trouble, but the
Doctor wasn't in. I looked up and down the hallway, there wasn't
anybody there, so using my advanced training that I had paid so
much for, I picked the lock and let myself in.

"Raj, what the hell are you doing?" Hissed
Herza quietly.

"Just keep watch, or I'll tell Balizar about
that bar you took me too." I replied quietly.

I looked at her files, they were
alphabetical, so it only took a moment to find 'Rakir', it said
room B-3 intensive care. I put it back, and looked at the fire exit
map on the wall by the door. I picked out the proper stairway and
then left the room, closing the door behind me.

"Come on let's go," I said.

"Where?" asked Herza warily.

"To see my sister of course," I smiled.
"Didn't Lisa tell you that'd be my next step?"

"In graphic and gory detail dear. She thinks
you're a monster or a tank, I can't figure out which yet."

"Well we never did get along very well.
Except when she was in trouble of course."

I found the stairway and we went down. I just
walked around like I owned the place and nobody even looked twice
at me. I probably looked like a patient with the sling and all. I
found the room I was looking for, there weren't any warning signs
on it, so I grabbed the computer slab and walked in.

I could see why they hadn't wanted me here,
She was a mess. Both her legs were gone, and her body was a mass of
tubes, wires and bandages. I looked over her chart to see what I
could understand.

Her legs had gangrene, and had to be
amputated. New ones were going to take two months to grow. Her back
had been broken in three places, but fortunately there was no nerve
damage. Most of her intestines had to be removed due to severe
damage, and a lot of her body had been carved up pretty well. I
couldn't believe she was still alive. Obviously somebody had done a
lot of hard work keeping her alive, more than who ever had tried to
kill her.

I handed Herza the chart and walked around to
her head. I pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. Kali had
always been everybody's favorite; she was the most beautiful of all
my sisters. We all treated her like a queen and she never took
advantage of our devotion. I started to stroke her head carefully,
I could see the heart monitor jump then, so I leaned over and
started to whisper in her ear.

"It's okay now Kali, it's Raj, I won't let
anybody hurt you anymore dear, you're safe now." I continued on
with more of that, trying to calm her down. I know from my own
times in unconsciousness that sometimes you can hear and understand
people around you, and I wanted to do my best to reassure her. I
watched her heart monitor slow back down, and I took her hand in
mine, and gave it a little squeeze.

"What the hell are you doing in here! This is
restricted!"

I had never heard anybody convey so much
authority in a whisper before, I was impressed. It was a black bear
so I guessed it was the Doctor.

"That's his sister." Herza answered
defensively, hands held up, from her post by the door.

"I don't care who he is out!" She looked at
Herza, and Herza beat a quick retreat out the door.

"You too, Mr. Rakir!" she said from the
doorway.

"In a few minutes, I'm not done with today's
visit, and I don't want my sister to think she's here alone and
forgotten." I replied.

"You'll leave now or else!" she
threatened.

I looked at the monitor, the heart rate was
up a little. I looked back at the doctor, who had followed my
motion.

"I'll be back tomorrow dear," I whispered in
her ear, "somebody just needs a little persuading."