Scent of Treachery by Smith, T.L. (free books to read txt) 📕

let out the breath she’d been unconsciously holding. Slowly she turned around, then wished she hadn’t.

Blood smeared the floor. That sick feeling she’d had in her stomach from the moment she’d seen Nick’s face returned full force.  They were all hurt, because of her, especially Nick. Visions of the past flooded over her. The agonizing cries of wounded, the heat from the explosion ripping Jack from her, ripping her world apart. Now it was happening all over again.

Jayda squeezed her eyes closed as Breeze joined the two crewmen ripping Nick’s shredded clothes from his body. “We can’t remove this, not without a scanner to see if it struck anything vital. Damn! Do you have anything here? Any medical supplies? JAYDA!”

Being yelled at snapped her back to the present, to the sight of a large wound on Nick’s back. A chunk of metal still embedded deep. “Just the basic kit.” She slipped around the edge of the room, pulling the red medical box from a cabinet. “Not enough for… this.” That knot in her stomach was only getting bigger. “I need to get over to medical for something better.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen.” Breeze took the kit, flipping it open. “Yeah, this isn’t near enough. You’ve got nothing else in here?”

Jayda went back to the cabinets, opening doors and drawers. “Some towel packs, a change of clothes... everything is in medical… except my prototypes.” She pulled out the experimental samples, piling them on the counter. “I need to get over to medical. Tell me what you need.”

“And how do you think you’re going to do that?” Breeze snapped at her, trying to get a good scan from a device never meant for serious wounds.

“The maintenance shaft.” Jayda dragged herself along the counter. Her suit still hadn’t rebooted. “It’s meant for the internal bots, but I can fit.” She reached down and slipped her fingers into a depression in the floor. The panel slid aside.

“The sections are connected?” One of the men stuck his head into the hole. “Geez, that’s a tight fit.” He pulled himself up again and looked at Jayda’s legs. “You can’t maneuver that narrow space, not in the shape you’re in.”

“Well, you’re not going to fit.” Jayda snapped at him, looking at the team, real walking wounded now. “None of you will, not even Capt. Breeze.”

“If it’s made for maintenance bots, use them.” A voice chimed in. Lewis.

Breeze rolled her eyes. “That’s why we put someone on the sidelines, to be our ears and eyes, and clearly brains.” She turned to the group. “Alright, assess wounds. Use the towels as temporary bandages, rip those clothes into strips to secure them. Not too tight, in case there’s debris in the wounds.”

She got up, grimacing. “Lewis, tap in Taylor so she can start putting together a package for us. Dr. Maldonado, get on-line with your computer and start giving instructions, or whatever you need to do.”

“Yeah…” Jayda forced her legs to move, still no servos.

“Why can’t you walk? Were you hit?”

Jayda twisted around to check her legs. No blood, but she could see several gashes up and down her legs. “My suit might be damaged.”

“Long as you’re not wounded. Carter, help her.”

As much as she hated anyone touching her, he settled her at the control console. Writing the commands was easy. The bot in the tunnel made scheduled laps of the tunnel, making sure the infrastructure of the core kept running, independent of the rest of the station, delivering air, water and power.

She interrupted the bot’s schedule to limit it to direct pathways to and from medical. “Okay! Taylor, do you hear me?”

“Yes, I’m on. Lewis filled me in that you have multiple wounded. I have a fast pack ready, full scanner, bandages, instruments… I’ll pull together whatever else you want. Breeze, set up your comm for visuals and I’ll talk you through anything complicated.”

“On it.” She was back at Nick’s side. “The boss took the worst hits. He’s not looking good.”

Jayda’s tight stomach turned to nausea. “First cycle coming your way. Your portal is on the back wall, under the workstation. When the bot reaches you, reach down and touch the red button. It will release the magnetic locks and you can slide it back up the tube. Tie the bag of supplies to the rear arm, then reactivate.”

“Which way? Push it left or right?”

“Left.” Lewis answered. “Your bubble is nestled between us.”

“Here it is and…got it!” Jayda could hear Taylor huffing through the open line. “Okay, bag secured. Unit reactivated.”

Jayda gave it an order to return her direction, turning back as Carter went to the hole. It only took a minute before the bot rolled up to the hole and stopped.

Carter carried the bag to Breeze. Together they laid out the supplies. “Looks good, Taylor. Starting scans. Are you picking them up?” She went straight for Nick’s back wound.

There was a moment of silence before Taylor responded. “You’re right, Breeze. That shard went deep. Looks like it penetrated his heart. If you try to remove it, he’ll start bleeding internally, more than he is already. I can’t talk you through this. He needs surgery. He needs to be here.”

“Not helpful. We’re pinned down.”

“Keep him immobilized. There’s pain killers in the pack, knock him out. Then make sure he can’t move around. At this point any movement can dislodge the shard.” There was an audible sigh from her side. “Finish your scan so I know if there’s other injuries.”

“No, fix them first.” Nick whispered. His eyes opened as Jayda turned around. He rolled his stare towards her. “Do what you have to.”

He was pale, barely conscious, but he was focused on her. Jayda slipped out of her chair and crawled over to him, leaning close while Breeze continued her scans. “You heard the doctor. Don’t talk. Don’t move.”

Her heart felt like it was the one with a shard jammed through it. How had she let herself fall for this man? She couldn’t let him die. This time she