Dominated By Desire (21 page)

She could still hear them wanting to know what was going on, Storm’s voice urgent in its demand. That blow must have knocked out her mike so they couldn’t hear anything she had said. She spotted another problem.

There was a large limb coming at her very fast and she couldn’t move out of the way.

“This is going to hurt.” She closed her eyes and hoped she would survive the blow.

Chapter 12

“Somebody talk to me.” Storm watched the data stream onto the screen. It didn’t explain what caused the bike to explode or the silence from Heather they were now dealing with. Her life signs were still on the screen but nothing else. “What’s happening out there?” Silence filled the command center when the data stream suddenly stopped. No life signs from her, no data at all.

“I want answers. Now!”

“Sir, we’re still trying to get the information for you. All we know is that her bike exploded and she turned her suit up to maximum.”

“I saw that part.” He growled at the man who spoke. “I want to know why. Her bike was supposed to break down, not explode in mid-air. Who loaded her bike? Why didn’t she have weapons? And why don’t I see any medical information coming up on the screen.”

“Seconds before everything went out she took a blow somewhere in the midsection.” The doctor moved data from one screen to the main one Storm was looking at. “It took out the medical reader. That’s why we have no readings.”

“What about the backup? That damn helmet should be giving us something.”

“Your family doctor hasn’t been able to use a backup on her, sir. She keeps killing conventional power sources,” the doctor said. “But the blow she took wasn’t life threatening.”

“And the helmet?”

“Also took a blow. We stopped getting that data about a minute before.

It’s why we aren’t getting any communication from her.”

“Send the team back to where we got the last set of readings. Find her and bring her home.”

****

Heather opened her eyes and found her body filled with pain. “That hurt.” She moved her fingers slowly to touch the armor settings in her wrist and brought it down so she could move. Her ribs hurt like hell. Probably broke as least two of them from the pain she felt. She found her right arm hard to move as well from the first blow.

She reached behind her and found the suit intact. That was good.

Everything else seemed to be in working order. Standing, she found simple moments excruciating and set the medical setting on her suit to help take the pressure off her body. It tightened around her ribs which made her lose her breath for a moment before she was able to adjust. It also immobilized her shoulder so she wouldn’t do any extra damage to it until she could be examined.

Storm had to be going crazy. All of her readings had stopped flashing inside her helmet when she hit the branch so she knew they had no idea what happened to her. Her medical reader was gone too. She had no idea where it could be.

Time to get to work. She checked the perimeter for traps and parts of her bike. Somewhere on it should be a beacon and a med kit. If she could find the right part. Then she’d be able to assess the damage she did, maybe repair enough to take some of the pain away.

A sound to her left stopped her in her tracks. Since she hadn’t taken her helmet off yet she put the uniform in camouflage mode and moved into some low hanging foliage. Not knowing who she could trust in this exercise had her trusting no one.

One of the other soldiers stepped into the perimeter. Part of her wondered if this was also part of the mission. She not only had to make it to the safe house, but not get caught along the way. It would make perfect sense. So she remained hidden and allowed her stalker to get in front of her.

Whoever this was wasn’t very good. He wasn’t using any kind of stealth mode. What did he think would happen? She’d blithely go along with him capturing her?

Ten other cycles flew over her head, heading toward where the explosion happened. Everyone was looking for her. This just got a lot more complicated. Should she go back and let them know she was living proof the suit worked or finish the mission as expected? It took her seconds to make the decision.

****

Storm waited for their initial report. It seemed to take forever.

“Sir, whatever hit her bike totaled it. There are fragments everywhere.” The images they were recording filled the screen.

“Any sign of Heather?” Shrapnel covered the ground. There was nothing left. How the hell did she survive that?

“Nothing. We have found prints that fit her height and mass. Oh, that medical device that she wore? Mangled like the bike. Must have gotten caught in something during the fall. Found it under a large branch that shows new damage. She probably hit it on the way down.” That went along with what the doctor said. She had taken a blow to the mid-section. Now she was out there and wounded and knowing her she was going to finish the mission.

“Sir? Did you set up a tracker as well?” One of the men asked as they showed another set of footprints in the area.

“Yes.”

“He’s been here.”

“He shouldn’t have been.” The sergeant he assigned never went against orders. “He was told to wait near the site where the bike was to become disabled, this is too far back.”

“Could he have seen the accident and gone to help her? Because there is definitely another set of footprints here.”

Storm turned to one of the communication officers. “Did the tracker alert us to the explosion?’

“No, sir. He’s been silent as you requested.”

“Contact him.”

The communications officer did as commanded.

“Any sign of the lieutenant?”

“No, sir, but I was told to give her up to an hour to pass by here in case the bike broke down a little early. As per your orders.” The kid was right, that was what he had told him. “Any unusual activity?”

“Only the cycles going overhead twice. Wasn’t aware they were to double back during the mission.”

And they weren’t supposed to either, but that meant he didn’t know about the explosion.

“Wait. I have movement.” Silence filled the room for a moment. The next few words were whispered. “Sir? Did you assign a second tracker?

There is another guard, in uniform, and the height and mass is all wrong for your mate.”

“No one else was assigned. Take out that target.” He wanted to climb through the mike to stop the danger he now knew Heather was in. Danger she wasn’t aware of.

He heard the release of a blaster.

“Sir.” The voice came from the doctor. “He’s been hit. I’m losing vital signs.”

Everything was spiraling out of control and he had no clue where she was.

****

She knew the safe house was to her right a little. The same direction the soldier was heading in. As long as he stayed in front she should be okay.

Something caught her eye and she spotted another soldier. He just seemed to be standing there as the first one took aim and fired. She watched in horror as the man’s face shield shattered before she saw a spurt of blood shoot out from his face.

Heather inched her way over to the guard, keeping her eye on the shooter who had begun to move on. Everything just got a whole lot more dangerous. This guy was playing for keeps and she had to be careful or a few damaged ribs could be the least of her worries.

The soldier just turned and continued on the path he had been on. That was strange.

Keeping a low profile caused the pain in her ribs to intensify but she didn’t want to be detected. She made it to the side of the young man hit and pressed her hand to his neck. There was a slight pulse. He was critical but still alive. First she activated the med seal on the uniform so he would go into a suspended animation until he could be worked on by a doctor.

The next thing she looked for was a working weapon. Since this guy wasn’t acting normal she wasn’t sure what to think. If she didn’t know better she’d swear he was artificial intelligence.

She recognized the young man. He hadn’t spoken to her but once or twice, but Storm said he was one of the hardest working men he knew.

The weapon she found on him worked and would give her a little extra protection. She sure hoped the doctor would be able to help him.

Keeping the other soldier in her line of sight, she continued to the safe house. After following him for a while she was sure it was an AI. It didn’t move like a human. Kept in a straight line and when it made changes to its direction it was done like a computer. Hopefully, she would be able to overtake him before the safe house was compromised. She bided her time, watching and waiting for just the right moment.

The small house didn’t look like much and she sure hoped the people who lived there knew about this little wrinkle. The soldier walked to the front door and smashed its way in. She could hear shouts and blasters going off but the soldier hadn’t stopped.

Heather closed her eyes for a second. She didn’t know what type of weapon she had or if it would do any damage to the AI but she had to do something. Hoping she would do more than just alert the thing to her presence, she got as close as she could before aiming her weapon and shooting. This had better work.

****

“Fridon should be fine.” The doctor stood as the paramedics took the young man into the transport. “I’m not sure who turned on the suit, but they saved his life.”

Storm nodded. This shouldn’t have happened.

“Sir?” One of the communication officers stepped out of the ship for a moment. “She has made it to the safe house.”

Relief washed over him.

“Let’s go.” Personally, he didn’t care if everyone made it back onto the ship, he needed to make sure she was okay, but he had to give his people time. This was the first time he found his personal life taking over when he needed to keep it under control. The ship seemed to crawl to the house where she was. He knew it was moving fast and they would be there quickly but he hated the waiting.

He was the first one off the ship. Trying to keep himself together he walked into the farm house. All he wanted to do was to see with his own eyes if she was all right.

Heather stood near one of the walls. She held her right arm against her body and he could tell her shoulder wasn’t sitting right but everything else looked fine. As much as he wanted to touch her to be sure he wasn’t dreaming he had to remain professional. “Doctor.” The doctor nodded and pulled out his equipment as he crossed in front of Storm to run a diagnostic on Heather. “Three bruised ribs and two broken ones. You have also dislocated your shoulder.” He opened her uniform and placed one piece of equipment on her ribs then the second one on her collar bone. “Give this one about a half an hour.” He tapped a few places on the small piece on her shoulder. “That one will need about five hours.” He programmed the one he set at her ribs.

“Just snap my shoulder back into place and I’ll be fine.” She tried to move her arm and grimaced at the pain.

He placed a hand on her arm when she tried to lift it above her head.

“Give it a moment and you should feel relief.”

The device made a strange whir before there was a loud snap. Heather found she could use her shoulder without as much pain. “Thank you.”

“Both devices will heal all the tissue so you won’t have any tenderness once we remove them.” He checked the information his system picked up. “Once the one on your shoulder is done you will be able to have full movement but until then please don’t push it. I’m also giving you a sedative to help with the healing.”

She nodded. Heather hadn’t really acknowledged Storm standing in the room. She knew if she did a part of her would want to run into his arms and cry her relief. She had a point to prove to all these people and there was no way she was going to ruin it by following her instinct right now.

Next she spoke to two of the officers that came in with him. “I have a present for you.” She pointed to the beheaded AI. “I don’t know where it came from but I sure would like to know if you people are responsible for him.”“Not ours.” One of the officers responded. “But we will check it out.” She nodded again. Once she was sure she had done her duty she walked right at him. She kept her body ramrod straight, wrapping her professionalism around her like a blanket. “Why did you make the bike explode?”

“We didn’t.” As unprofessional as it was he couldn’t stop his hand from touching her cheek. He needed to be sure it was really her. “It was sabotaged.”

“And the creepy AI?” She stepped back from him. Her eyes begged him to treat her like a professional right now, not his mate.

“Like they said, not ours.” He held himself in check. As much as he wanted to pull her into his embrace. He had to be mindful of her injuries and the injury he could cause to her ego if he followed his instincts. “I did plan on making your bike go down, but I would never put a soldier’s life in danger like that. It was supposed to just stop working and coast to the ground.”

“And Fridon? The young man I found?” She found the world around her started to spin. Her knees grew weak and she knew they were about to buckle. The sedative started to work.

“He’s going to be fine, thanks to you.”

“Glad to hear it.” She said it softly. Everything went fuzzy and her body went limp.

He moved fast, grabbing her before she fell to the floor. He nodded to the doctor who got two of his staff to help get her to the ship. He still had a few questions to ask. He had noticed the splintered door. “Did the system not stop that thing before it could enter?”

“No sir. Must have had a jamming device. Your student had it all in hand though. She somehow had gotten a blaster and tried to use it. The stun setting neutralized it long enough for her to kick the head off to stop it from doing any more damage.” He handed him a small stick. “As a precaution she pulled the memory out of it so if it had a failsafe it wouldn’t remember its program.”

Storm took the stick. Once he was sure everything was secure he headed to the ship and had it head back to base. He checked on Heather and found her resting comfortably. He started barking orders to get everything secured before they landed.