The Blood Service Trilogy: The Capital Adventures by Ivers Allen

Author:Ivers, Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

Part 3

Scars

20

Eden

“Solomon, you are unbelievably lucky,” Eden said, as she smeared the last of their medigel over his gut wound. “Half an inch to the left and you’d have bled out in minutes.”

Imperial rifles and pistols both fired thirty caliber Horus—jacketed rounds designed for cavitation. The bullets actually shattered inside their targets. Solomon caught a piece of the bullet that went through his human shield, making his wound far less severe.

It had lodged in his back, trapped in the muscle fibers. She’d have to wait to have access to a decent surgical bed to remove it, but for the time being, the round was done moving. Solomon was stable. In theory, he could spend the rest of his natural life with that shard in his back, provided he didn’t bleed out or get an infection.

Nora held aloft a chemical flare, lighting Eden’s work. The Jergad tunnel was a thing to behold. The critters worked as small packs, grinding forward through compressed dirt and slate rock like a cooperative drill bit. With their combined strength, they had chewed through at an impressive pace.

And yet—not one of them had come back down into their tunnel.

Solomon stared down the tunnel. “Where are they?”

They. The Jergad.

Nobody had any theories, none that they were offering. Maybe the big brutes were occupied on the surface, engaged with the Imperial Army proper. Maybe they’d gone home a different way. Or maybe they’d been summarily wiped out. Who knew?

But the lost little Capitals were on their own.

All they had was this impressive tunnel, nearly twelve feet wide and tall enough for Nora to stand at her full height.

“We shouldn’t hang out,” Nora said.

Aisling chuffed at that, her brow slick with sweat. “The Imps have their hands full right now.”

“Yes,” Nora conceded. “But they’re not going to keep to the City.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, skullcap,” Aisling snapped, “but I can’t walk, she’s got a bum leg, and the skel’s got a hole in him big enough for a tea cup.”

“I’m fine,” was all Solomon said.

“See? He’s fine,” Nora said.

“You are not fine,” Eden scolded, her face inches from his.

She could feel the anger radiate off of him like heat, but his body held the unnatural stillness of the dead. “Step. Away.”

“We won’t get five hundred feet,” Aisling warned.

“We’ll take shifts with you and hobble our way out. This tunnel’s gotta go somewhere.”

Eden stared into the black. “I hope.”

“Leave me.” No one was expecting those words. The pilot pushed herself up against the wall, wiping the dripping blood from her head. “You’ll never stand a chance hauling me.”

Nora’s eyes were wide with shock. “Not happenin’.”

“You have to.”

“We’re not!”

“I’m luggage, lady! Look at me.” Aisling’s voice was tinged with panic. “My orders were to get you out—”

Nora brushed that off. “We’re a rebellion. We’re not big on orders around here.”

“Shut up.” She intended that to be a bigger denouncement but she didn’t have the energy. “My line of work…this is how it was always going to go.”

Solomon looked around them.

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