“We’re moving you to the clinic,” Ashton said. “Up you get.”
Anna groaned, but she allowed herself to be lifted up. All four of us moved her, making sure her back remained straight to cause her the least amount of pain. As we entered the compartment, the automatic lights flashed on.
We eased Anna onto the bed. I took off her boots, setting them to the side. She closed her eyes, drawing shallow breaths.
“Hurts like hell,” she said. “Can hardly breathe.”
Ashton nodded, turning to the rest of us. “Let’s give her some space, huh? This shouldn’t take me long.”
“Is it bad?” I asked.
“Alex, I’ll be fine,” she said. “Go.”
We left the clinic. Ashton began to ask Anna some questions, but I couldn’t hear the words because we had already reached the wardroom and were on our way to the bridge.
“Broken ribs can take a while to heal,” Samuel said. “And sometimes, there can be more serious issues.”
“Like what?” I asked, stopping.
“Sometimes, the ribs can pierce a lung or an artery,” he said. “But don’t worry. If it was that bad, we’d know by now. She can at least breathe, even if it’s painful.”
“She needs to see Char,” I said.
Samuel nodded. “I agree. One thing is clear: she’ll be out of action for a while.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Six weeks, minimum.”
Samuel continued on to the bridge. I just stood in the wardroom, shocked.
Michael placed a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Alex.”
Stunned, I followed Michael back to the bridge. Six weeks or longer. That meant Anna couldn’t fight anymore. In six weeks, we’d have either fought our final battle, or we’d all be dead.
I wanted to go to her, but Samuel pulled me to the bridge.
“Come on, Alex. Keep your head in the game.”
Once we reached the bridge, Makara turned her head.
“We have a problem. Augustus wants us to come straight back to L.A., but we also need to get treatment for Anna. The only person I can think of to do that is Char.”
“There’s not much you can do for a broken rib other than let it heal on its own,” Samuel said.
“Well, I need to talk to him, anyway. He’s still in the dark about what happened in Wyoming.”
Makara fiddled with the dash until it had attained the proper settings.
“Char. You have a copy?”
The dash sizzled with silence. After another long moment, I was starting to get nervous.
“Char. Marcus. Do you read me? This is Makara, aboard the Perseus spaceship.”
Again, there was no answer. Char always had his radio on him and was quick about answering.
Finally, a voice answered, and it wasn’t Char’s gruff voice. Instead, it was slimy, weasely laughter.
Laughter that could only come from one person.
“Why, hello, Makara,” Jade said, with a snicker, drawing out the middle syllable of Makara’s name. “Long time, no hear.”
“Jade,” Makara said, with venom. “What did you do with Char?”
The Weasel chortled a bit before answering. “It’s been so long since our fearless leader has checked in. The people were getting antsy. Someone had to restore order.”
“What are you talking about?” Samuel asked.
“Just what I said,” Jade said, with a giggle. “Someone had to take control.”
“Jade,” Makara said, working to keep control, “you will step down immediately, or I’ll personally see to your execution when I get back there.”
Jade was laughing, now. “Oh, Makara, you have no idea how the tables have turned! I’d always dreamed of this moment. We thought you were dead, but this is even better. Because at least now, you know the Lords of Vegas are nothing to be trifled with.”
“You’re not alone, then?” Samuel said.
Jade paused, just a moment, before he giggled again, unable to restrain himself.
“Do yourself a favor, Makara,” the Weasel said. “Stay away. There’s nothing for you here. Because if you come back…”
We all waited for Jade to continue. After a long moment, he finally did.
“…I’ll kill you.”
Chapter 9
Jade had taken over Bunker 84. The thought seemed impossible. Jade had always been the least of the gang lords, the one the others had taken shots at.
Now, he was the one calling the shots.
After a while, Emperor Augustus’s voice arose from the dash.
“What’s the status? Why was the line busy?”
“We have an issue,” Makara said, her tone saying that it was the understatement of the century.
“What issue?” Augustus asked.
“We lost Bunker 84.”
Augustus was quiet for a moment. I had no idea what the Emperor was thinking, or if he even knew what Bunker 84 was. From his answer, he apparently did.
“How? What happened?”
“One of the gang lords rebelled,” Ashton said. “A man named Jade.”
Augustus grunted, saying nothing more. “And I assume you want to go rescue that Bunker — the few of you against whatever hundreds they might have?”
“That’s right,” Samuel said.
“We have friends there,” Makara said.
“Your place is with the Empire in Los Angeles,” Augustus said. “You’ll all get yourselves killed if you leave now. Besides, we had a bargain.”
“I know we did,” Ashton said, “but if we can save the Bunker, your troops will have reinforcements. There are probably a lot of Angels still loyal to Makara.”
“That’s if,” Augustus said. “I gave you that spaceship, and you need to repay me.”
“I’m sorry,” Makara said. “Things happen.”
The Emperor hadn’t planned for this, and for that matter, neither had we. And there was nothing he could to stop us from going besides outright shooting us down.
“We’ll return soon,” Samuel said. “And we’ll have a force to help you against the Reapers. We might even be able to set up a flank and overwhelm Black’s troops.”
“You say you’ll return soon, but we had an agreement. You’re abandoning an ally on the field of battle.”
“You outnumber Carin’s army five to one,” Makara said. “How could you even say we’re abandoning you?”
“We are abandoning him,” Ashton said. “Because it’s not just the Reapers that Augustus is up against. There is the entire swarm moving from the east. If Carin Black drags out the battle long enough, Augustus will be crushed between the two sides.”
That shut everyone up. It meant that if we were going to Bunker 84, then we had to get back in time. Augustus and his legions would be dead if we didn’t.
“How long do you think we have?” Samuel asked.
“A few days, at most,” Ashton said. “The dragons can be there in half a day, maybe. The rest of the swarm will arrive in the next couple days. That’s all speculation, though.”
I had no idea if we could save Bunker 84 in that amount of time, but we had to go back. Our friends were there: Char, Marcus, Ruth, Grudge, along with all the others we had saved from Las Vegas and the Community. We couldn’t abandon them, especially now when we had the ability to rescue them.
“Go,” Augustus said. “You can take no longer than two days.”
Makara didn’t need more encouragement. “It shouldn’t be long.”
Makara steered the ship north, the acceleration causing me to stumble from my standing position. I steadied myself on the bulwark.
I had no idea what awaited us in Bunker 84, but we would soon find out.