STELLAR: The Portal Connection Book 1, page 8
“Got it,” came Doc’s triumphant cry, and she fell fully onto Hammer’s lap.
He didn’t hesitate, once again scooping her up in his arms, the nurse tucking the sheet around her, while Doc held a clear bag of fluid above her.
“The room, hell, the floor is yours, we’re out of here,” Doc told the others needlessly.
“Thank fuck for that,” someone grumbled.
There was a flurry of motion as several people converged on the area she had occupied, quickly removing the cardboard and muttering about its impact on the ‘sample zone’.
Once they got into the corridor, the nurse dashed in front of them, standing in their way. “Not another step until she gets a gown on,” the woman commanded.
“Sister,” Doc said, condescendingly. “We’re extracting her from this site, there’s already been one attempt on her here, and some harassment. We need her offsite asap.”
“I understand that. I also understand she’s travelling in a humvee with a group of men, not a female in sight, and she’s in shock and got nothing on her but a sheet. It’s raining outside, let’s get her a gown, and a blanket, and wrap her up properly.”
Hammer sighed, lowering her legs to the ground, but his steely arm held her weight as the nurse fussed around her, putting a gown on her and tying it up before wrapping the sheet around her.
“Alright, pick her up,” she ordered.
Hammer did again, and Jacinta breathed a sigh of relief. She was warmer now, the temperature outside of the room she’d been in was much cooler. The nurse, however, wasn’t satisfied. She had one of the light white blankets that had been on Jacinta’s bed earlier, and the nurse tucked it around and under her, making Hammer shift her in his arms until some arbitrary goal had been achieved.
She’d been mummified, but it was an oddly glorious feeling. Like the world’s biggest hug coating her from shoulder to toe. Her feet had been carefully wrapped, completely cocooning her in the soft warmth.
“Now, you’re ready,” the nurse announced. “Take care sweetie, I’m sorry you can’t stay here, but look after yourself, and don’t let these lugs push you around.”
The woman winked at her and stepped back out of the way. Doc lobbed the bag of clear fluid onto her lap, and they were off.
“Thank you,” she called out over Hammer’s shoulder. Once his path was clear, he hadn’t hesitated to get moving. The thanks seemed insufficient for the woman’s care and concern, but it was all Jacinta had to offer her.
Hammer bypassed the lifts, heading straight for the stairwell. Oh no, he wasn’t going to carry her up all these stairs was he?
He must have seen something in her face, because he chuckled. “Sweetie, there’s nothing of you. I bench press twice your weight before breakfast. I hardly know I’m holding you, this won’t be the ordeal for me that you think it is. It’s like carrying a kitten.”
“Radioactive kitten!” she corrected him, and he laughed even harder, not even pausing for breath at the top of the first flight.
“Radioactive kitten,” he agreed.
At the top of the second flight, Hammer paused and Jacinta looked at him in concern, but the big man just winked at her, his white teeth flashing in a grin. Doc slipped past them and opened the door, the daylight glaring, despite the obvious downpour outside.
“Tell them to go to the ambulance bay,” Hammer said, and Doc nodded, speaking into a small radio in his hand.
They swung away from the front door, heading towards double doors with signs warning people that only essential personnel were permitted past. Doc flicked some sort of ID against a panel on the side and the doors swung open to a relatively quiet area. There were only one or two patients in the many beds around the exterior of the large space, and a central nurse’s station gave them visual access to any bay around them.
Doc wove off to the left, away from the main area and down a short corridor. He hit a green button on the wall, and another set of doors opened out to where a sturdy green vehicle awaited. The back passenger door was flung open, the overhead shelter protecting them all from the rain.
“Here, Hammer, pass her to me,” called a voice from inside. In the dim interior, a pair of hands waited.
Hammer stepped up to the side, sliding her across the bench seat to the waiting man, then he jerked something, and the seat beside her collapsed forward. Somehow, he managed to fold his large frame through the much smaller space, and he was in the row behind her. Jacinta wanted to turn and look, sure she was in for a treat, he had to be packed in there like sardines in a tin, but she was bound up too tightly to do more than turn her head to the side.
“Is he alright back there?” she asked the stranger beside her.
The man chuckled, but before he could answer, there was a loud noise on the other side of her. Turning quickly, she saw the chair back in its space and Doc climbing in.
“Her hands are covered, buckle her up, would you Tones? Lister drives like a nutcase.”
A seatbelt was arranged around her, mummified as she was, and before Doc had even finished buckling in, the car was pulling smoothly away. It didn’t seem like Lister was a nutcase after all. Pity, that could have been fun.
“Hammer is fine back there, princess,” the man beside her said. Tones, Doc had called him.
“He likes the back row because then he gets the entire row, there’s not a seat in this vehicle that’s comfortable for him, but at least back there he can spread out a bit.”
In that moment, Jacinta envied him. A large yawn made her jaw crack before she could hold it back, and Doc chuckled at her.
“Okay, now that you’re a little more hydrated, you can sleep. If you slide down across my lap, you can put your feet up on Tones there. He’s the last of us to meet, by the way. Lister, Bowie, and Sam are in the front, Tones and me here, and Hammer is behind you. We’re now your permanent protective detail.”
“You’re going to have to explain all these names at some point,” she told them, but already she was angling towards Doc’s lap.
He pulled off his jacket and bundled it up, putting it under her head. It wasn’t exactly soft, but the angle was just right. Tones lifted her legs up, and she pulled them into her butt. It didn’t feel right to stretch out across a stranger, although technically Doc was one too.
“Just relax, princess, we got you. It’s going to be a boring couple of hours, isn’t it Lister,” he said, raising his voice at the end.
There was a noncommittal grunt from the front seat.
“Lister won’t do anything to put your life in danger, especially when you’re lying across the back seat.”
There was another grunt, accompanied by a smacking sound.
“Yes, ma’am,” Lister said grumpily. “Very sensible driving. You’ll sleep like a baby.”
The easy banter between the men relaxed the last of the nerves that had been jangling inside her. Trussed up like a veritable kidnap victim, she didn’t really have much of a say in things, but the fact that they were trying to make her feel good about it anyway, helped. These men were her safety net, her barricade, her saviours. At some point, she would have to give in and trust them.
Going to sleep right now? That seemed a good way to start. She closed her eyes and let her fatigue claim her.
Chapter Ten
JACINTA
“Sweetie, we’re here,” said a voice.
Something touched her cheek, a hand. It swept across to her ear, gathering her hair from her face.
“I promise you can sleep all day once we get inside, princess, but if Hammer doesn’t get out of the back soon, he’s going to go all ‘hulk smash’ on us,” teased a voice from near her feet. He gave them a squeeze, before pushing them down to the floor.
Groggily, Jacinta opened her eyes as they propped her upright. Her right cheek was a little damp, and she was embarrassed to note a wet patch on the jacket Doc had given her for a pillow.
He followed her gaze and chuckled. “Jack, after what you’ve been through the last couple of days, I’m surprised we could wake you at all. A little bit of drool never hurt anyone.”
The door beside him opened, an imposing figure holding onto it. “Get your ass out, Doc,” one of the newer guys said. She thought his name was Lester.
Or was it LeStat? No, that was a vampire, right? Whatever, it was something like that.
Thoughts trickled through her head like sand through an hourglass. The more time that passed, the faster things became, until everything finally settled and the world made sense. Well, except for the fact she was still mummified. Why was she still mummified?
“Can I get out of this?” she asked.
Tones unclipped her belt and slid her across the seat.
“Jack, you’re wearing a hospital gown and nothing else, hang on until we can get you some clothes, okay?” Doc said as he pulled her towards him. Between the two of them, they got her out.
Hammer didn’t wait for Tones. He leant forward over the seats and pushed a button, the seat he was leaning on flew forward and launched him into the back of the driver’s chair.
“Serves you right, impatient bastard,” chuckled Tones, while Hammer grumbled.
Doc stood patiently waiting until the giant was free and had stretched. Then Hammer leaned forward and took her into his arms. When she looked back at Doc, he shrugged.
“You’re not heavy per se, but it’s much easier for Hammer to carry you than me. Besides, I think he’s adopted you.”
Hammer grumbled something under his breath, it kind of sounded like shut’fuckup, but his rumbly voice made it hard to understand.
It was only then that she noticed that Sam and Bowie were gone.
“Where are the others?” she asked.
“Gone ahead to check us in. Nothing like this happens without a fucktonne of paperwork. Bowie’s the boss, Sam’s good at filling in forms. It works.”
Outside the car, the air was cooler, and the cheek not pressed against Hammer’s hard chest was cold. Jacinta shivered and tried to snuggle deeper into his embrace. In response, his arms tightened around her.
“She’s cold, let’s get her inside at least.”
The five of them moved towards a neat brick building, Tones holding open a single glass door and ushering the others inside. Sam stood at a bench with a tablet in front of him, rapidly tapping away at the screen while Bowie hovered over him. A bored looking man sat behind the bench, his gaze brightening with interest when they entered.
“And who do we have here?” he asked cheerfully.
“My protectee,” Bowie growled, frowning at them all.
“Hammer needed to get out, and it’s too cold for her outside,” Doc said with a one-shouldered shrug.
“Why is she all wrapped up like that, and why is there an empty drip attached to her?”
Jacinta looked down to her lap, and sure enough, the bag of fluid was now empty. It explained the rather full feeling in her bladder.
“She just finished an event, and we had to leg it. We took turns holding the bag up while we travelled here. It’s why we really need this sorted quickly, she needs to rest.”
The man rolled his eyes. “Well, I can’t just find her an apartment and a job at the snap of your fingers, but I can certainly assign your barracks—that was approved a week ago.”
“Is there enough room for her too?” Bowie asked.
The clerk returned to his own computer and tapped away at the screen, frowning. “No, there’s not, but the portal accommodation is quite close. I can slip her in there for three days before I need the room for the local portals. We’ve got a few due to cycle through here.”
Now that was good news. Other portals, people like herself. Someone to talk to about all of this freaky shit.
“Is there anyone there right now?” she asked, hopefully.
The clerk examined her for a moment. “You’re new?” he finally asked.
“That was her first event,” Doc answered for her.
Bowie had stopped looking over Sam’s shoulder and was now focussed on the man at the computer.
“Look, I didn’t tell you this, okay? Michael Collins is there, which isn’t a secret, but the guy is an asshole. He hasn’t adapted well, and he’s taking it out on everyone. Fresh meat like her? He’s going to terrify her with stories about how awful it is.”
She snorted. “I woke up with the hangover from hell, lying in a puddle of tar that then set against my skin, and they had to use paint thinners to get me free. I don’t think my legs will ever need waxing again, I’m pretty sure Doc pulled out my pores.”
The clerk’s jaw sagged open. “She’s a tier two?” he asked, shocked.
“We think,” Doc said, while Bowie frowned at him and shook his head.
Jacinta looked back and forth between them, but nobody said anything else.
“We’re going to need some more paint thinners,” Doc said, changing the subject. “I didn’t get all the plastic off her legs, and her hands are covered too.”
“It was plastic? And just step back a moment, what does that mean, I’m a tier two?”
Doc looked at her for a moment, considering, then nodded to himself. “Jack, do you remember going into the chamber?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit vague, but yeah.”
“Do you remember lying on a mattress?”
“Yeah, I remember Hammer holding me and waiting until you had it. What happened to that by the way, it was gone when I woke. So were all my clothes. What happened, did you have to come back in and change me or something? Did I make a mess on the mattress?”
Doc looked at her, one eyebrow cocked, and she waited.
After a tense silence, Doc sighed. “Jack, you burned your clothes away in your event, and the black stuff? That was the mattress, the leads that were attached to you and some of the machinery monitoring you. It was hot enough in that room that you melted everything in it.”
“That’s classified,” Bowie snapped, looking at the clerk.
Jacinta looked at the man, horrified. Her team wouldn’t tell anyone, she trusted them that far, but this man? He already had the air of the world’s biggest gossip. His shoulders sagged as she glared at him.
“Honey, do you know the best way to keep secrets without people knowing you know something? You hide them in plain sight. I know so much shit that I shouldn’t, it’s not funny, but anything incidental, I pass on. I’m known as a great source of inside drama, but it’s always stuff that half the base knows anyway. Confidential? Classified? I’ve got that shit locked down tight, and nobody knows. They all think I’m a fucking air-head, and I’m fine with that, because I know who I am and what I’m worth.”
“Well, you just blabbed all of that to us,” growled Bowie.
“Because she needed to know she’s safe. I don’t think she’s had a lot of that in her life, and the only person in the room she was worried about blabbing was me, which means she trusts you. If she’s got that trust in you already, as soulful as her eyes are, then that’s good enough for me to tell you that much. But if you think you’ll get more out of me, think again, because I now hold something over you. It’s a two way street man. You want her safe, and so do I, so let’s keep it that way, hmm?”
It wasn’t the most ideal of situations. He held all the cards, but something in the clerk’s voice and mannerisms set her at ease. He was telling the truth. Somehow, she knew it. This man was a vault of secrets, and nothing was going to get past his lips that he didn’t want to.
“I trust him,” she said aloud, and the man beamed at her.
“Good call, honey. Now, if you need anything, you come see me. Don’t go to requisitions, they’ll take a fucking year. You come to me and I’ll get you whatever you need.”
“We don’t need back door deals,” Bowie growled.
“Oh honey,” he said, looking at Jacinta. “You’re going to need to work some magic on this one, he's an asshole all the way.”
She snickered, and the man grinned back at her.
“I don’t know your name,” she told him.
“Well, where are my manners?” He jumped up from behind the counter and came around the side, walking right up to her with a hand extended. “Corporal Leo Witherspoon, at your service.”
He looked down in confusion. “Honey, do you even have a hand in there? They’ve got you wrapped up like a little caterpillar.”
Jacinta grinned at him, she could see through his bluster. He put on a good show, but she’d met people like him before. Leo was a deep pool of pain, and he hid it behind a bit of surface tension. She could almost feel it pulsing within him. After all, like called to like.
“They’ll let me out in ten years on good behaviour.”
“Well then, you’re fucked, aren’t you?”
Laughter burbled up her throat and out her mouth before she could stop it. Hammer’s arms had tightened the closer Leo had got, but when she laughed, they loosened again.
“Ha!” he shouted triumphantly. “You don’t even have a hand to slap across your mouth to stop that, do you?” His gaze sharpened. “Good. You need to laugh more, honey.”
He spun on his feet in a snap kind of step and went back behind his desk.
“You boys want her near the access points, or in the center?”
“What?” Bowie asked.
“Her room. I’ve got several, one near the front access, one near the rear access, and several along the hall. It’s only for three days, but you’ve got your pick.”
“Central,” Bowie said, at the same time she responded.
“Front,” Jacinta spoke over him.
Leo looked between them, waiting.
“You can’t run from us, Jack,” Bowie told her. “The only reason you need to be near the front door is to smoke, and you don’t. So that only leaves running, and it’s not happening.”
Well, she hadn’t thought of it like that. Jacinta just wanted to be able to get up and go, and not have to, you know, people.
