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

“Then do it!”

Taylor shook her head, not taking her eyes off the display. “The med lab’s not set up for this.”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“No, we don’t. I have to get that shard out and the hole closed up.” Taylor turned to her medical kit. “I’ll give him an infusion while I set things up.”

“I’ll get someone here to move him.” Breeze stood.

“No, can’t move him. It’s a miracle his heart isn’t already cut to pieces.” Taylor looked up at Breeze. “We’ll have to do it right here.”

“We?” Breeze held her hand to her chest. “I’ve only got basic emergency training, nothing more.”

“I know. Dr. Maldonado will have to assist me.”

“What?”

“You’re the robotics expert. I’m sure that covers micro-components as well as warships.” Taylor pulled out a bag of artificial blood and handed it to Breeze. She pulled out an IV kit and focused her attention on getting a vein. “I’ll need extra hands on the instruments when we extract the shard.”

Taylor connected the IV and sat back. “Think you can control your emotions enough to do this?”

Jayda wiped tears from her face. “I’ve never done surgery.”

“I’ll do the surgery. You’ll be stabilizing the heart’s position.” She stood up, heading out of the lab “Keep him still. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Breeze held the IV bag, staring down at Jayda. “Can you do this? Set aside this love-hate thing going on between the two of you?”

Jayda glared back at the pretty young pilot. “Can you? I’ve seen how you two huddle up together.”

“What?” Breeze shook her head.

“I’ve seen you together!” Jayda hissed. “I’ve seen how he touches you.”

“Oh, my God! Ewww….noooo. No, no, no. Nick’s my uncle.” Breeze rolled her eyes. “Maybe the two of you should try talking to each other.”

Jayda looked down at Nick, then up at Breeze. There was no resemblance at all except they were both tall.

No resemblance at all, until Breeze smiled that same half-crooked grin. “His sister married my father.” She jerked her chin towards Nick. “Can you do it?”

Jayda dared to stroke his cheek. “I have to.”

Boots echoed through the open doors, Taylor returning. Both women watched as the doctor returned with two other crew and gear. “All right, let’s do this.”

The techs brought in the robotic unit and Taylor finished cutting off Nick’s shirt. She wedged surgical towels around Nick’s upper body, then poured disinfectant over his back and chest, washing away some of the blood.

Taylor went to the robot and called Jayda over. “I know this is scary. Really, you won’t have to do much.” She uploaded a scan of Nick’s chest, pointing at the display. “I’m going to insert the arms here. We’ll come up on the shard and the gripper arm will secure it. The paddle arm will brace against the heart. I’ll come in over here with the surgical arms.”

She pointed out the micro devices on the robot’s central shaft, all protruding from a small tube. “When I tell you, you will start to withdraw the shard. I’ll be doing the repairs.” She picked up a pair of goggles, urging Jayda to put them on.

Jayda slipped them over her head. Taylor held two hand controls out for her. “Left grip is the clamp, right grip is the paddle, get familiar with how they twist and turn. You can see from their perspective what you’re doing. Split view, left, right, tip your head. Forward, back, to each side. See the movement ratio lower center of your view? You shift the control a centimeter it moves a millimeter.”

Taylor let go of Jayda’s hands. “Play with those a minute.”

The devices were in clear plastic sheaths, protruding from a flexible rod. The two other tools remained motionless, controlled by the other handsets. She stopped when Taylor returned. “It’s time. We need to position the robot.”

Jayda got out of the way as the techs moved the robot to straddle Nick’s body. Taylor worked the computer. “All the scans are fed in. Robotic scans will correlate information and verify mapping.”

The robot did its own final adjustments, rolling back and forth, then locking itself to the decking. “Unit has identified foreign object.” A robotic voice announce.

“It’s time.”

The techs slid chairs over as they took their places at the controls. Taylor pulled off the final sterile covers and the instruments retracted into the metal arm. She buried her face into the console’s main viewer. The arm with all the instruments spun around and down.

A larger clear tube dropped itself down over the arm, settling against Nick’s side, pressing into the flesh. A mist sprayed the skin and turned orange after a moment, another disinfectant. Then one of the arms slipped down, computer guided. A bright blue-white laser opened the first layer of flesh, then cut deeper and deeper.

There was no immediate blood, but Jayda didn’t hold out hope to avoid it. Once Taylor had the multiple arms in place, she’d have to put on her goggles and see Nick from the inside. It was a terrifying thought. One she pushed into that dark place in her head where she hid all her bad dreams.

Jayda closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, listening as Taylor talked herself through the intrusion into Nick’s body. “Arm four clamp in place. Shard stabilized. Arm three, clamping paddle stable. Arm one clamping paddle stable. Arm two laser entering Aorta… Just a bit further.”

Though she still had her eyes closed, Jayda visualized the process.

“Dr. Maldonado, if you’d join me?” Jayda peeked at Nick, looking not much different, except for the tube stuck in his side. She glanced up at Taylor, who tipped her head out of the viewer. “I won’t release control to you until we’re both ready. Remember your ratios. The computer will smooth out your reactions if you’re a bit jittery.”

“Yeah, that helps.” She pulled down her goggles and took the controls as Taylor handed them to her. Another breath, a silent gasp to see Nick’s heart, the shard tip buried deep. Blood seeped from the wound with