Black Hole Sun (2010) by Gill David Macinnis

Author:Gill, David Macinnis [Macinnis, Gill, David]
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-01-14T19:17:03.390000+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Hell’s Cross, Outpost Fisher Four

ANNOS MARTIS 238. 4. 0. 00:00

“Jenkins,” I say through the link. “Keep eyes on that viaduct. Shoot any hostiles stupid enough to come back.”

“Heewack!” he booms, and the feedback zaps my eardrum.

“I’ll take that as an affirmative,” I say, wincing. I start to jog over to the basement to get the kid, but Fuse pings me.

“We need you here, chief,” he says, breathing hard. The rescue effort has taken his wind away. “Stat.”

I glance at the basement door. The girl will be okay for a minute. On the way, I grab Áine and take her with me. She doesn’t need a gun to help now.

When I reach the rail truck where the Bramimondes have taken cover, I find a dying man. Ebi leans over him. The Dame stands a meter away, a gauzy kerchief pressed to her lips. Although she isn’t crying, her eyes are wide with shock. She watches Fuse as he kneels down and tries to resuscitate the man. Ebi is pressing a makeshift bandage over the wound, but each time Fuse pushes on the man’s chest, blood seeps out below the bandage.

Femoral artery, I say to myself. Plenty of soldiers have survived battlefield wounds to the thigh, but not when the main artery is hit.

“His vitals are fading,” Mimi warns me.

I stand back to let Fuse do his job. A moment later he glances up. Shakes his head slightly, confirming what I already knew. It’s useless to continue trying to save a life that’s beyond saving.

“Fuse,” I say. “Stand down.”

Ebi hears me but doesn’t argue. She steels herself, her spine erect. Battle school training.

“We’re done here,” Fuse tells Ebi, who stops applying pressure to the wound.

They both stand, then Fuse tells her to go wash up using the anti-pathogen wash in his med kit.

“What?” Dame Bramimonde says. “Keep trying! You cannot stop now!”

“Mother,” Ebi says flatly as she cleans blood from beneath her nails, “he is dead.”

Dame Bramimonde’s knees bend, and I instinctively reach out to steady her. But she slaps my hand away.

“Do not touch me! Do not lay a single filthy finger on me, you traitorous wretch. It’s your fault he’s dead—all of you!”

“Our fault?” Fuse says as he drapes a work tarp over the body. “The only reason you’re still alive is because of us.”

I shake my head no at Fuse. “Dame Bramimonde, why did you come here? Who is this man?” The words are no sooner out of my mouth than I recognize him—a silver-haired man in a brown, plain tunic. It’s the servant who took me to see Ebi.

“The man’s name, Chief Durango,” she says, almost spitting, “is not important now. What took you so long to come to our defense? Why did you not respond to our distress calls?”

I look to Vienne. The look on her face is clear. There were no distress calls. “Mimi?”

“No distress calls, cowboy.”

Why would Ebi lie?

“Mother,” Ebi says, sticking out her chin, “I am a Regulator. Regulators do not ask for help.

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