Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (23 page)

              Before Evan could say anything the mess hall door opened up and a soldier hustled in. He looked around until he spotted Liam then quickly approached to stand in front of him. Flashing a quick salute he then spoke quickly.

              “Commander Brennan, I have been sent for you. I am to bring you to the medical center,” the soldier said urgently.

              “What is it? What has happened?” Liam demanded.

         “It is Dr. Johansin; he has fallen ill and is requesting your presence.

December 26
th
, 2013 5:50pm

Olympus

Medical Hospital

              Liam burst through the door to the hospital, only hesitating long enough to locate the information desk. A heavy set woman sat at the desk eating what looked to be several people’s lunch. Briskly walking, Liam quickly closed the distance to the desk.

              “Excuse me, could you please tell me what room Dr. Milton Johansin is staying?”

              Without even looking up the woman simply lifted a hand and pointed to a sign in front of her. It read “Gone to dinner, be back at 6:00pm”.

              Not deterred by the rude woman’s attitude, Liam spoke again.

              “I apologize for interrupting your dinner but if I could just have his room number…” Liam asked.

              Before Liam could finish the heavyset woman looked up with a scowl upon her face.

              “Listen, I am well aware of all the patients in this facility and I can assure you mister that none are in any danger of dying anytime soon. So you can wait ten minutes minutes while I finish my dinner,” the receptionist said angrily.

              Taken aback for a second, Liam had to suppress the anger he felt rising. Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself enough to speak without any of the anger showing in his voice.

              “Again, I apologize for the inconvenience but I can assure you this is an emergency to me so if you….”             

              The shriek that came out of the woman made Liam think every cat for miles around would have been running for cover.

              “I AM HAVING MY DINNER SO YOU WILL SIT DOWN AND WAIT TILL MY BREAK IS DONE!”

              At this point Liam patience had worn thin. Before he could remotely begin to calm the boiling anger from within, Liam reacted. Focusing upon the large tray of food, Liam used his new ability to send the tray flying across the room into the wall. As the woman looked up, her look of anger quickly transformed into one of horror as a scream escaped from within her. With very little concentration, Liam lifted the woman from her chair and not so gently pushed her up against the wall behind her.

              “I have tried to be friendly with you but my patience has reached its limit. You will tell me now what room Dr. Johansin is staying in or so help me you will know terror!”

              In retrospect this was probably the wrong choice of words to use because at this point the woman began to scream louder.

              The sound of hurried footsteps came from behind Liam.

              “Put your hands up and get down on the floor!” commanded a man’s voice.

              Turning only enough to be able to see the men, Liam saw two military police standing behind him, roughly ten feet away, both had their weapons trained on him. Liam began to focus on the two soldiers weapons when a voice shouted from behind him.

              “No David! That knight is
ArchAngel
, you owe him.”

              Liam turned enough to see who the voice belonged to and was surprised to see that the young messenger from the mess hall. It seems in Liam’s haste to reach the medical facility he hadn’t realized the young man had followed him.              

              Looking back to the two soldiers Liam now saw that one of the soldiers had lowered his weapon and was looking at Liam with curiosity.

              “Could you please release the woman?”

              Breaking his psychic hold on the woman, she dropped with a resounding thump into her chair before she slipped sideways and fell to the floor.

              “I know who you are here to see and I can take you to him. Please follow me sir.”

              Clear that Liam wasn’t going to cause anymore harm the other soldier lowered his weapon and exited out the way he had come. David, as the young messenger had called him, stood and waited for Liam.

              Liam turned and looked over to the messenger.

              “What’s your name, private?” asked Liam.

              “Mine...uh...its…well…its Erickson, Private Daniel Erickson sir,” stammered the young man.

              “Thank you Daniel, if there is anything I can ever do for you feel free to ask.”

              The young man smiled at hearing this as he snapped to attention and saluted Liam. Returning the salute Liam then turned and followed David.

              They walked in silence for several minutes before Liam’s curiosity got the best of him.

              “What did Private Erickson mean when he said you owe me one?”

              David was silent for several moments as he appeared to be thinking over how to answer the question.

              “Do you remember back when the Shenkar invaded last year and some assaulted the first base?” David asked, looking sideways over at Liam.

              Liam nodded an affirmative.

              “You entered the base and personally killed the invading force, including the leader.”

              “I wasn’t alone; two other knights were with me.”

              “True, but from what my wife said you made the difference.”

              “Your wife?” asked Liam.

              Ignoring the question, David began to fish in his breast pocket for something. After a few moments he withdrew a small photo which he held out to Liam. Taking the photo, Liam examined it. The picture was of a woman and a little boy, both smiling broadly.

              “They were in the bunker that day, down in the deepest section. An area we thought would be the safest in the event of an assault. I was stationed on an upper level when the attack began. The fighting was fierce and many of my fellow soldiers were killed. It was nerve racking to hear the fighting off in other sections, slowly growing closer. One second we were readied for the attack and then the next second the Shenkar were upon us. We kept firing but they kept coming. I remember a Shenkar vaulting the barricade and driving his plasma sword through the chest of the man next to me. I was knocked back and I must have hit my head upon something because the next thing I remember was waking up to a medic bent over me, waving smelling salts under my nose.

              I saw the death around me and immediately went to bunker where the civilians had been. I can’t possibly explain to you the relief that I felt at seeing my wife and son alive. They are everything to me so therefore I owe you everything for what you have saved me. The least I can do is help you get through to Dr. Johansin’s room.”

              The pair walked in silence the rest of the way, neither feeling a need to further the conversation. They had ascended to the third floor before David led Liam, past the nurse’s station, down the hall to the last room. At the entrance to the door, David stepped aside and waved a hand towards the entrance.

              “Dr. Johansin’s room, if there is anything else you need just buzz the nurse.”

              David snapped a salute, holding for Liam to respond in turn. Liam snapped a quick salute but before David turn and walk back up the hall, Liam offered his hand. Surprise shown on David’s face but he recovered quickly and took Liam’s hand.

              “Thank you,” Liam said quietly.

              “Thank you as well.”

              With that David turned and walked back up the hallway. Not waiting to see if David remained on this floor, Liam turned and entered the room.

December 26
th
, 2013 6:18pm

Olympus

                              Medical Hospital

The scene was worse than Liam had expected. Milton lay upon his bed, hooked up to several machines. It had been roughly a week since Liam had last seen and spoken with Milton but the change was severe. Milton had suffered a dramatic weight lose, his body taking on a skeletal visage. Dark shadows encircled his eyes and his sunken face gave him a deathly look. His breathing was irregular and clearly labored.

Liam quietly walked up to stand beside the bed. A steady beeping emitting from a nearby machine was the only sound within the room.

Liam just stood there thinking of the last time they had spoken.

Milton had wanted to get some lunch. They had gone out to lunch and spoke of current affairs. Liam had told Milton of his engagement to Leah, which brought a big smile to Milton’s tired face. Several times Liam had asked if Milton was feeling all right but the elderly man had just stated he had been working long hours and it was nothing for Liam to concern himself over. They spoke at length of training and how Liam was handling his newfound abilities. As usual Liam managed to avoid the subject. Now Liam had wished he had talked over how he had been experimenting in his off time.

              Slowly Liam reached out and took one of Milton’s frail hands. Liam immediately noticed the lack of warmth typically found in a healthy person.

              “Oh, Milton, why didn’t you tell me you were sick,” Liam whispered to himself.

              To Liam’s surprise Milton answered him.

              “Because I knew you would worry and would probably try and remedy my situation,” Milton said in a low voice.

              Milton’s tired eyes opened and looked over at Liam.

              “Remedy your situation? And what is wrong with you?” Liam asked, puzzled.

              “Like you did for Leah, when she was stabbed by that Shenkar, you used your nanites to repair her wound. As for what is wrong with me? I have cancer.”

              “And that would be so bad? To cure you of the cancer?” Liam asked.

              “You are not God my son, you can’t decide who lives and who dies. Nature must take its course and now is my time.”

              “How is cancer a natural course? It is an early, wasting way to die. You easily could still have another twenty years ahead of you.”

              “It is what it is my son, it isn’t your place to play God. If you start using your abilities to change how nature takes its course there could be ramifications.”

              At this point Milton began coughing, his whole body shaking with each cough. Once the coughing subsided Milton indicated a pitcher of water sitting on a nearby table.

              “Could you pour me a glass of water, please?” Milton asked with a scratchy throat.

              Liam quickly grabbed a plastic cup and poured some water into it. After Milton had drunk from the cup, he seemed to relax into his pillow. Liam took the cup and set it aside.

              Seeing the sadness in Liam’s eyes, Milton lifted a shaky hand and rested upon one of Liam’s.

              “I am sorry, I would love to be there to see you and Leah get married but I can’t be selfish. If you use your abilities to cure me then it would have to be explained. You would never know a moment’s peace as people would constantly be requesting you to cure them or a loved one.”

              Liam understood why Milton was asking this of him but he still wanted to cure Milton. Unfortunately, Liam knew he wouldn’t be able to change Milton’s mind so he let the subject go for the time being. For the rest of the evening Liam just sat and spoke with Milton.

December 27
st
, 2013 1:38am

Olympus

              Liam was tired but couldn’t bring himself to go to bed. He had spent a good majority of the evening at Milton’s bedside. The health of the man continued to gnaw at Liam’s gut but at the moment he would respect Milton’s wishes and not interfere.

              However, this wasn’t what was preventing Liam from returning to his quarters. After leaving Milton’s room, Liam had gone to the building where the Meshtrell were housed. Liam still hadn’t had a chance to question Jaera on the “
Brood
” comment and was troubled by how much fear he had heard in Jaera’s voice. Much to Liam’s surprise not one Meshtrell was present. True enough, they required very little sleep and on most occasions could be found in the science labs but there was usually at least a few of them present at any given time. He wasn’t troubled until he reached the science labs and discovered the usual Meshtrell presence wasn’t there either. Concern growing, Liam contacted several other locations he knew to be Meshtrell hangouts but still came up dry. Now with real concern, Liam headed to the main control center for
Olympus
base. Something was very wrong if all the Meshtrell had disappeared and Liam was determined to get to the bottom of the situation.