Empire of Dust by Jacey Bedford

Author:Jacey Bedford [Bedford, Jacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780756410162
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 21864071
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2014-11-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

TRIAGE

The veterinary team, led by Lee Gardham, was emerging from a flitter. The casualties, human and animal, would have the best treatment they could provide. Cara hoped it was good enough.

Rhinager limped toward her. He held a stark white pad to a wound on his forehead.

“I’m glad to see you’re still on your feet,” she said.

“There are plenty of poor bastards who aren’t.”

“Where’s your captain?”

“I’ve not seen him. Injured, I think; maybe even dead. I don’t know.” He shrugged as if to say he couldn’t do much about the fate of one man. “We could use some help with the beasts.”

Cara flashed a message to one of the crews that hadn’t been assigned yet and followed Rhinager to where animals were milling about, held in one area by five Dee’ells. They couldn’t completely pacify such a large number of animal minds, but they could plant a boundary and keep the beasts that had not fled during the storm all together in one place.

Lee had recruited half a dozen able-bodied settlers to separate out the injured animals. She was already starting work and there was a sharp crack as another of the badly injured creatures was slaughtered. The stench of death was thick in the air.

Horses and ponies milled in a tight circle and set off the oxen. A Shire snorted and backed into a Cleveland Bay; the beast turned and snapped, causing a chain reaction. One of the Dee’ells turned to calm the ruckus and, using all her concentration, was slower on her feet than she should have been. A riding horse reared, staggered backward, and went down in a flurry of hooves, taking the young Dee’ell with it.

A scream knifed though Cara’s brain, and pain seared her chest, spine, and legs. She staggered and reached out to block the signals. The pain abated, resonating as aftershocks. As the dust cleared, the horse rolled and lurched to its feet and skittered off into the herd again, leaving a still body on the ground. Cara ran, arriving by the stricken girl as the four remaining Dee’ells gathered to push the animals to safe ground.

Lewis Bronsen ran over from the opposite direction. “Fliss, are you all right? I felt . . . Oh . . .” He dropped to his knees beside the girl.

At first Cara thought the young woman was dead, but her eyelids flickered and she groaned faintly.

“It’s all right,” Cara said gently. “Fliss, is it?” She looked at Bronsen for confirmation of the name.

He nodded. “Fliss Ruffalo.” He took the girl’s hand.

“Lewis?”

“I’m here. Where does it hurt?”

“Nowhere.”

That was a bad sign, Cara thought. One leg was twisted beneath her and her voice was weak, but the worst of it was the flashing red light on her suit cuff. Internal bleeding, probably crush injuries.

“The doc is on his way.” Cara tried to sound reassuring. “We’ll take you to Landing and patch you up.”

“I don’t think so. I can’t feel anything below my neck, and I don’t think I can move.

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