The marine blinked himself awake and was dimly aware of being dragged across the deck and up the loading ramp into the Rig Halo. People were shouting, though he couldn’t tell who, and soon the sounds of their voices became the roar of the ship’s engines.
Narek’s powerful arms hauled the marine’s limp form into a corner where two walls met. It took Samuel a moment to realize he was in the rudimentary medical infirmary on board the Halo. There were enough workplace injuries that medical facilities were a must, only he wasn’t sure why he was here. As the marine attempted to get up he realized his hands had been zip-tied together, and he was still woozy from Narek’s sucker punch.
The panic at such a cascade of revelations was enough to clear some of the fog in his mind, the rest of it parted like clouds before the sun when Narek stepped aside, allowing Samuel a clear view of the single patient bed in the center of the infirmary.
Time slowed to a crawl as Samuel’s eyes took in every minute detail of the scene before him, the ringing in his ears from the thunderous blow to the head making it difficult for him to clearly make out what was being said.
Sura lay on the bed, her duster missing, and blood soaking her body from the chest down. Yanna was using medical scissors to cut away his wife’s shirt, slicing it open from the bottom to the collar, and that’s when he saw the knife. The handle of a blade jutted up from Sura’s chest, and from where Samuel knelt it looked as if it was near her heart, if not close enough that removing the knife without care would damage the vital organ.
Captain Dar leaned in close, his face, streaked with blood and worry, his face right next to Sura’s as they held each other’s hand. Samuel could see the weak smile on Sura’s lips and the light that flickered in her eyes when she opened them to behold the captain.
The marine looked away, knowing that he was an intruder upon what could be her last moments.
It was clear at last who she wanted to spend those moments with.
Samuel’s movement caught Narek’s eye, and he turned around just enough to move the muzzle of his battle rifle in the marine’s general direction to communicate the implied threat.
Behind him, Garn moved up beside the bed and put his hands on Sura to keep her body steady while Yanna held the woman’s shoulders. Captain Dar’s hand closed around the handle of the knife, and Samuel realized what they were trying to do.
He saw Sura nod and run a hand down Dar’s cheek, leaving a smear of blood as it fell onto the table. The captain took a deep breath, jerked the knife out of her body. The instant he did, Sura began to seize, and blood began pumping strongly out of the wound. The knife clattered to the floor as he dropped it, using his other hand to shove the tip of the medic’s multi-tool into the wound.
The device reminded Samuel of the device he had carried a lifetime ago when he was the medic for squad Taggart. Right now the device would be flooding Sura’s wound with fresh cells, boosting the body’s natural coagulants, in addition, to rapidly growing new tissues to heal the wound.
Samuel could see that they’d already hit Sura with several adrenaline stims, and even if she did make it off the table, they would have to seek high-grade medical facilities as soon as possible to keep her heart from burning itself out as it tried to function on whatever parts were not damaged.
After that, the only sound was of Sura’s labored breathing as Yanna gave her a sedative so that she wouldn’t move accidentally and further damage herself. They strapped her down despite her being unconscious, and one by one everyone left the room except Dar, Narek, and Samuel.
“Who did this?” Samuel finally said, his mind gradually clearing up enough that he was able to get to his feet, pointedly ignoring how Narek kept his gun on him the entire time, the former battle trooper not attempting to hide the threat now that there were fewer witnesses. “And where is my son?”
“Jayce Rinn came to collect a bounty that’s been put on your head, he wanted to kidnap and ransom your family to get you,” snarled Captain Dar, his former look of concern for Sura replaced swiftly by anger, he clenched his fist and at first it looked as if he was going to attack Samuel, before slamming his fist into the wall instead. “Corbin hauled me and Sura halfway to the ship before I realized I hadn’t finished him off. If I ever get my hands on that son of a bitch he is going to die slow.”
The captain winced at his now injured hand and began taping it up as he continued.
“Grotto bond recovery agents had the same idea,” said Dar as he finished up and turned towards Samuel to pull a data tablet out of his blood-splattered jacket. “Whatever crew tried to hit you on the cargo platform must’ve just thought they’d come straight for you.”
Narek took the offered tablet from Dar and read over it, and Samuel could see the warring reactions of greed and anger as the former battle trooper finished what was there. When the man held it out for Samuel to read, the marine understood why the world had suddenly turned upside down. The Anointed Actuary Kelkis Morturi had issued the acquisition order himself, the very same man that had sat across the negotiating table with Samuel, Lucinda Yulanti, and Wynn Marsters during the Reaper Strike.
Captain Dar spat out a re-telling of the fight on the station, about the bond recovery agents and how they whisked Orion away before he could stop them. Samuel knew that the captain was attempting, in his own way, to apologize for losing the boy. He also knew that the captain would stop at nothing to get him back, not just because he was in love with the boy’s mother, but because Orion was part of his crew, part of his family. The marine did not need to hear the captain say such things, and though the man did say them, Samuel wasn’t really listening.
The marine’s mind was consumed by the gravity of the Anointed’s order. For Grotto to make such a bounty public, to float it across all channels corporate and independent, was a tremendous risk of reputation and resources. No expense would be spared in hunting Samuel Hyst to the edges of the universe and beyond. They wanted the Gedra beast that he’d hidden years ago, before leaving Longstride. Until they had him, there would be no rest and no peace for the crew of the Rig Halo, for anyone who was an associate of Samuel Hyst, much less his own blood family.
In a flash of harsh clarity, Samuel understood what he needed to do, and hated himself for not having done it years ago when the slavers first appeared. He should have known then that necrospace would never let him go. He was entangled with it to the very core of his being, from derelict ships to alien ruins, and it would follow him no matter how far he ran. Perhaps, for once, he thought to himself, he should charge instead of fleeing. He might not be a Reaper any longer, he might not be much of a father and even less of a husband, but he was a marine, and it was time to act like one.
“Hyst? Are you hearing me? Corbin and I barely survived. Braden is dead and Sura won’t last long if we don’t get her back to civilization, which will be crawling with mercs and enforcers, ” asked Captain Dar, snapping Samuel out of his reverie, “We’ve got some choices to make here.”
“There is no choice, Captain,” said Samuel, his voice confident and steady. “Keep your channel active and those recovery agents will reach out. They’ll give us a location to meet, and I’ll go with them. Sura and Orion become the owners of the Hyst share in the Rig. You keep them happy and safe as long as you can.”
Narek and Dar looked at each other and then back at Samuel, their faces showing a mixture of surprise and sudden respect.