A Requiem for the Forsaken: A Space Adventure of Starships and Battle (The Blacksword Regiment Book 4) by J. L. Doty

Author:J. L. Doty [Doty, J. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, military, space battles, Space Marines
ISBN: 9781951744281
Publisher: Telemachus Press LLC
Published: 2020-08-07T22:00:00+00:00

20

Narrow Escape

AFTER THREE NIGHTS in the hospital, John was anxious to get out of there. He woke early, showered, shaved, then put on the uniform Carla and May had brought him. Guessing the medical people might still do a little prodding and poking before releasing him, he left the pistol, shoulder harness, and deck jacket in the duffel where they’d be out of sight.

An hour later a Kelk orderly brought him breakfast, and John asked, “I’m scheduled to be released today. When do I get out of here?”

The orderly shrugged. “Don’t know. Doctor’ll probably check on you when he makes his rounds and sign you out then.”

John persisted. “When will he make his rounds?”

The fellow didn’t try to hide his irritation at John’s questions. “I don’t know that either. Ask a nurse.”

John ate breakfast then played cards with Kolbeck. An hour later his doctor showed up, the same common-face who had treated him since he’d been admitted. He did his poking and prodding, then declared, “You’re fit to go. Check in at the nurse’s station before you leave.”

After the doctor left, John strapped on the shoulder holster and pistol, the butcher’s harness and dagger, then pulled on the deck jacket. It concealed the pistol nicely, but not the butcher’s dagger.

When Kolbeck opened the door and they stepped out into the hallway, John noticed that next to the door a small panel displayed the number 409 in both Lingua and Kelk. He wondered if the ubiquitous nature of Lingua irritated some Kelk.

No one had given him directions, so he glanced up and down the hall, saw the door to a stairwell and a bank of elevators on the left, and beyond that, what appeared to be the nurse’s station. With Kolbeck leading they headed that way, but as they passed the stairwell door the dregkraag stopped and John halted beside him.

Kolbeck pointed at the stairwell. “We’ll take the stairwell. That’ll be safer than the lift. You check in with the nurse while I check the stairs.”

As Kolbeck stepped through the stairwell door, John continued down the hallway. He walked past the elevators, and another thirty paces down the hall he approached a long chest-high counter. Behind it sat the same nurse who had walked in on him and Nikaela while she administered his special therapy.

John immediately felt a little hot under the collar, but the woman was focused on a screen in front of her. She didn’t look his way, though she clearly sensed his presence because she held up her hand, indicating he should hold his silence for a moment. Her eyes had that look that one got when listening to something in their implants and trying to take in visual data at the same time.

Off to his left one of the elevators whooshed open, and he heard the words, “. . . Blacksword . . . four-oh-nine . . .”

A female Kelk officer and four Military Constables stepped out of the elevator. They immediately turned away from him and

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