Alien Skies, page 20
part #3 of Wakanreo Series
“That makes sense, in a twisted kind of a way.”
“Jared,” Kamuhi asked, “where was Perduay until this morning?”
“Zanliun,” Jared said, naming the largest city on the next continent. “He was working in the transit system as a repair technician.”
“We have to think about the geography of the plan. How would they get him together with Yulayan? Would they bring him to her, her to him, or would they meet somewhere in the middle?”
Jared thought about it. “They must have known Yulayan was back on Wakanreo. Once her grandfather died, they just waited for the memorial service. That was one time when they knew where she’d be.”
Kamuhi nodded. “Yes, and it was a public place, not like the base at Yiangliun or like Kuaron’s house. There was no hi-tech security system to worry about. So they had to snatch her from Wisuta right after the service. Perduay had to wait in Zanliun until they were ready. They probably suspected he was under surveillance. If he had left sooner, you might have warned Yulayan.” Kamuhi could stay still no longer. He got up and started to pace. “But the place for the surgery must be determined by the surgeon. Doctors can’t just walk into a hospital and ask to use the facilities. They have to be associated already.”
The console in the middle of the table flashed. Jared leaned over and pressed a button. “Harlengin here.”
“Commander.” The security chief’s face appeared on the screen. “We’ve finished matching the lists. There are only three surgeons on it with any known leanings toward the qatorglynai.”
“Where are they?” Jared asked.
“One is here in Wisuta, one is in Jitsin, and the third is in Huquaj. Each of them is affiliated with a hospital that does micro surgery.”
“Isn’t Huquaj near Zanliun?” Jared asked.
“It’s about three hundred kilometers from Zanliun, sir.”
“That’s damn close compared to how far Zanliun is from Wisuta,” the commander said.
Kamuhi couldn’t hold back his dissent. “But Jared—Commander, the qatorglynai have been most active here in Wisuta. I never even heard of any organized qatorglynai activity in Huquaj. How would these particular qatorglynai have made connections with a surgeon there?”
Jared cocked his head to one side. “You think Wisuta is a better bet?”
“That or Jitsin, sir. Jitsin’s only an hour by flyter. They could be there already.”
Jared turned back to the screen. “All right, Chief. Assign a team to Huquaj. Put them on surveillance of the surgeon and of the hospital. Do the same for the doctors in Wisuta and Jitsin, and then stand by.”
“Yes, sir.” She started to break the connection, but then she held up a hand. “Just a moment, sir, I’m getting some news.” She looked down as if she were studying another screen. “We’ve picked up the transponder signal, sir. It’s coming from right outside of Wisuta.”
“Good,” Jared said. “Just in case, still assign the other two teams. but be ready to move on the hospital in Wisuta. Also, find that doctor!”
“Yes, sir.” This time the screen went blank.
Jared stood up. Kamuhi moved to follow him but Jared held up a hand.
“One thing before we go,” Jared said. “And this is a direct order, Ensign Hailoaka. If you come with us, you follow orders. You go where I say, and you do what I say. You go off half-cocked or pull any stunts, and I’ll have you stunned on the spot. And when you come to, I will personally nail your hide to the nearest wall. Do you understand?”
Kamuhi nodded, but it didn’t satisfy Jared. “That was an order, Ensign.”
“Yes, sir,” Kamuhi said, “I understand the order, sir.”
“Good,” Jared said. “Now let’s move.”
Chapter Fourteen
They boarded a large, armored transport. There were seats on either side against the hull, and the space in the middle was filled with hi-tech equipment. Captain Drushachh and her team sat down against the far side. Kamuhi looked around for a seat while Jared gave orders to a lieutenant who appeared to be in charge of the craft.
“Take us up out of visual range, Lieutenant,” he said. “I want to be able to listen in without anyone noticing we’re there.”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant moved forward to convey the order to the pilot. Jared went and stood behind a technician.
“When we get in position, Sergeant, I’m going to want to do an auditory scan of the hospital. Do we have the layout on file?”
“Yes, sir,” the technician said.
“Good. Concentrate on the operating rooms. The people we’re looking for are planning some really heavy duty surgery. They won’t be able to do that just anywhere. Also, use the life sign scanners and look for someone who varies from Wakanrean standard life signs. The person we’re trying to retrieve is half Wakanrean and half Terran.”
“Very good, sir.”
They were over the hospital in minutes. Kamuhi watched as the technician manipulated the controls of the auditory scanner, a long range listening device. They could hear voices, male and female, many different conversations running together. The technician would adjust the controls so that one conversation was intelligible and then move on when Jared signaled him to continue scanning. He had to vary the depth of the scan, as the hospital was several stories tall. Occasionally, they would hear other noises—mechanical sounds, machinery, and electronic beeps. Most of the people were speaking in Wisutan dialect, but occasionally they would hear Standard.
They heard two doctors discussing an elderly patient, a technician arguing with another technician over who was working a particular shift, a mother admonishing a small child, and other inconsequential conversations. Over and over, Jared signaled that this wasn’t what they were looking for, and the technician slid the dial a little more.
Finally, they heard two female voices speaking in Wisutan dialect.
“You didn’t tell me she was a parundai,” one woman said. She sounded angry. “You may have removed her heicha, but I know it must be her. It’s in the news reports.”
“That’s it!” Jared said urgently. “Keep that in focus and get us a position on it.”
A second technician started working on the directional scan while the first kept the sound scanner focused on the conversation. Kamuhi fought the urge to jump up and pace the floor. If he let himself lose control, Jared might order him to stay on the transport after it landed.
“What do you care if she’s a parundai?” asked the second voice. “You said you could do it. It won’t hurt her.”
“There’s always a risk,” the first voice almost hissed. “I’m taking enough of a chance doing this on someone who hasn’t asked for it, let alone a parundai!”
“You know it’s an abomination,” the second voice said. “You’re doing her a favor. She was meant to be shahgunrahai with a qatorai, not living with that fijazhai. Do you think if Paruian were alive today, she would be pleased to see one of her own blood spurning shahgunrah to mate with a fijazhai as this woman has done?”
“We have it, Commander,” the second technician said. He displayed a plan of the hospital on his monitor. A blue point of light blinked in one corner. “There! That’s the room.”
“They’re on the second floor, right next to an operating room,” the first technician said. “And I’m picking up a slightly strange life sign reading from within the operating room. It could be the half-Wakanrean.”
Kamuhi was concentrating on the conversation from below. The first voice had continued to argue while the second voice coaxed and cajoled. The surgeon was allowing herself to be persuaded.
“Chief,” Jared called. The captain came over to where he stood. “Get your team ready. You’re going in right away.”
Captain Drushachh nodded and went over to where the uniformed security team waited in their seats. She pulled up the hospital floor plan on an overhead monitor and outlined the plan of attack. They would enter by a side door and go immediately to the operating room. The first objective was to secure Yulayan. The second was to take the surgeon and the qatorglynai leader into custody, along with anyone else who appeared to be involved.
The team members were all wearing protective armor—suits and helmets that could repel the charge from most hand-held weapons, whether they fired energy beams, like a laser or stun gun, or projectiles. The transport was losing altitude quickly. In less than two minutes, they were setting down right behind the hospital.
Jared was listening to the end of the briefing when Kamuhi spoke. “Commander, can I go with them?”
Jared stared over his shoulder at the younger man. It seemed to Kamuhi that he wavered for just a second, but he shook his head. “No, Hailoaka. You stay here, and that’s an order.”
Kamuhi debated about arguing, but said nothing. There was a slight jolt as they set down. The door opened and the security team filed out at a rapid pace. Kamuhi wanted desperately to follow them to where he knew Yulayan must be.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Jared turned back to watch the overhead monitor. The security chief was wearing a helmet cam so they could see what the team saw as they made their way into the building. Kamuhi looked back at the transport door, still wide open behind him. For a few seconds he thought seriously about disobeying Jared’s order, but he didn’t do it. When he looked back, Jared was watching him.
Kamuhi said nothing, and Jared turned back to the monitor.
On the monitor, Kamuhi could see the point man for the team making his way through the hallways. Startled doctors and other staff were flattening themselves against the walls to get out of the way. The team was moving at a run, now rounding a corner, now taking the stairs. They were making for the second floor operating room and in a few seconds they burst through the doors.
Kamuhi heard the muffled voice of Captain Drushachh shouting orders. A medtech was standing by the operating table checking the instrument panel. She looked up when the team burst in through the door, and she started to shout; Kamuhi couldn’t distinguish she was saying. The security chief came across the room and the medtech tried to stand between her and the patient on the table. Two of the team moved her out of the way. The figure on the table was clearly visible now.
“It’s Yulayan!” Kamuhi almost shouted.
Jared reached up and pressed a button on the monitor. “Chief, we have a positive ID on the victim. You’re authorized to do whatever is necessary to secure her person.”
There was a crackled acknowledgement from the captain. She turned her head and Kamuhi saw a door opening. Two Wakanrean women, one in a doctor’s tunic, were coming in from the next room. When they saw the scene in the operating room, the doctor turned to flee but the other woman reached inside her jacket. If she was pulling a weapon, she was too slow. Kamuhi and Jared saw the point of a stun gun flash into the view of the helmet cam and the woman crumpled into heap and slid to the floor. One of the team grabbed the doctor before she had gone more than a few meters.
The view on the monitor became very jerky as Captain Drushachh moved rapidly back and forth checking out the room. She was all over the place talking to each member of the team. Jared reached up for the button again.
“I’m coming in, Chief.” he said.
“Very good, sir,” she replied.
Jared started for the door. “Come on, Hailoaka. Let’s get moving.”
Awash with relief, Kamuhi surged to his feet.
Jared waved to a third person, a young woman in uniform with lieutenant’s bars on her collar, and they went out the door at a run.
They followed the same path the Security team had taken, except now the halls were almost empty. The hospital staff were most likely waiting behind closed doors.
When they came into the room where Yulayan still lay unconscious, the scene looked a good deal more ordered than it had on the monitor. The security chief had both the doctor and the unconscious Wakanrean woman in restraints. The team had secured the two rooms.
The young lieutenant with them went straight over to Yulayan, with Kamuhi right behind her. He noticed she was carrying a medical pack, and he realized she must be a doctor.
“Is she all right?” he asked the lieutenant.
She was staring intently at the medi-scanner she held over Yulayan, but she nodded. “She looks fine, Ensign. She’s been pretty thoroughly sedated, but we’ll have her up and around in no time.”
The lieutenant took a quick blood sample to confirm what medication Yulayan had been given and then gave her a hypospray. In a few seconds, Yulayan’s eyes fluttered open.
“Yulayan!” Kamuhi cried. “Are you all right, Yulayan?”
“Kam, is that you? Where am I?”
Yulayan tried to sit up, but the doctor pushed her back down again.
“Wait a few minutes, citizen,” she said. “Take it slow.”
“Oh, Kam, I was so afraid.” Suddenly Yulayan put a hand up to the back of her neck. “Did they—”
Kamuhi shook his head. “No, it’s all right, guisha. They didn’t do anything. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”
Jared came over to see how they were doing. He smiled when he saw Yulayan was conscious. “You’re looking good, Yulayan.”
“Thank you, Jared,” Yulayan said, smiling back at him. “You seem to make a habit of rescuing me?”
“Let’s hope this is the last time,” Jared said, “I’m getting too old for this.” He turned to the captain. “Okay, Chief, we’re ready to move her out.”
The chief nodded and two men came over with an anti-grav lift pad. They slid it under Yulayan and lifted her right off the table. Yulayan tried to protest that she could walk, but no one paid her any attention.
They were down the stairs and almost to the side door of the hospital when an interior door flew open and two Wakanrean men burst into the hallway. One of them was short for a Wakanrean, with a black head crest and a series of newly healed scars across his face. The other was much taller. Kamuhi recognized him immediately. It was Inchauro Perduay.
Inchauro was screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs. The other man never said a word. They both made straight for Kamuhi. Drushachh shouted for everyone to get down.
Kamuhi didn’t have time to plan, he simply reacted. When Inchauro came at him with a scalpel in one hand, Kamuhi grabbed the Wakanrean by the wrist, twisting and applying force at the same time. Inchauro dropped the scalpel and slid to the floor. The other man had a dagger and Kamuhi’s left hand shot out to knock it out of his hand. He miscalculated and the blade ripped a shallow gash along his forearm before he succeeded in knocking it out of the other man’s hand. The Wakanrean dropped to the floor, also, and Kamuhi turned to see the captain lower her weapon.
The security chief looked mortified. “I’m sorry, sir,” she said to Jared. “It was my mistake. I thought we had secured this floor.”
Jared nodded. “It’s okay, Chief,” he said. “It’s a big place and there are plenty of innocent people milling around in it. It’s hard to sort them all out, especially because that one,” he pointed at the shorter Wakanrean man, “was probably getting treatment for what Yulayan did to him.”
The rest of the team were putting the two attackers into restraints. The lieutenant quickly put a pressure bandage on Kamuhi’s arm to stop the bleeding.
“Let’s get out of here before any more of them pop out at us,” Jared said.
They got everyone back on the transport without further incident. When the door closed, Jared gave orders to go straight back to Headquarters. He leaned back in his seat and gave a sigh of relief. “I really am getting too old for this.”
The trip back took even less time since they were no longer worried about observation. Once they disembarked, Jared told Kamuhi to go to the infirmary to get his arm treated.
“It’s barely more than a scratch, sir,” Kamuhi protested. “It’s not even bleeding anymore.”
Jared raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, sir,” Kamuhi said hastily.
Jared made Yulayan go to the infirmary, too, but the staff there wouldn’t let Kamuhi see her for a while. He had to lie down with his arm under a healing accelerator for several minutes. Jared came in while he was lying there.
Kamuhi started to sit up but Jared held up a hand. “As you were, Ensign.”
“Thank you, sir,” Kamuhi said, relaxing.
Jared came over and looked down at him. “Let’s see that arm, Ensign.”
“It’s nothing, sir, really,” Kamuhi said. “If I hadn’t been using my left hand, I’d have gotten the knife away clean. As it was, he marked me a little. I need more practice with my left hand.”
Jared nodded. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Ensign.”
Kamuhi had a sudden foreboding. “Commander, why are you still calling me Ensign instead of Liaison Officer?”
Jared grinned. “You really are quick on the uptake, Hailoaka. As of about an hour ago, you ceased to be a Liaison Officer, and you became the second in command to our Security Chief here in Wisuta.”
Kamuhi stared at him. “What?” He started to sit up.
“Ensign, have you been told to stay on that bed until further notice?” Jared snapped.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then do it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jared turned to go but stopped in the doorway. “Come see me when they let you get up. I’ll be in my office. I have to placate countless Wisutan officials plus one very irate hospital administrator.”
Kamuhi was still lying there when Yulayan came in.
“Yulayan, should you be up?” he asked anxiously. He noted she was still not wearing her heicha.
“I’m fine, Kam,” she said. “Right now it looks like I’m in better shape than you are?”
Kamuhi shrugged and then reached out his good arm to take her hand. “I don’t see why they’re making all this fuss over a little scratch. It’s nothing really. It didn’t even bleed that much.”
