Alien Paradox: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Battleship Chronicles Book 2) by L. Eclaire

Author:L. Eclaire [Eclaire, L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

20

SHIP GRAVEYARD

“Hold still.” Tilae injected a shot of Agora into my neck. The sensation was different than the previous ones—softer, smoother, almost soothing. “Any headaches, blurred vision, or nausea?”

“Just slightly out of breath.” I tapped my lower chest. A large numb patch went from my rib cage to where my leg was supposed to be. “Did you save me?”

“I performed the procedure, yes,” the man replied with the typical air of boredom reserved for doctors and bureaucrats.

“Was it on-planet?”

“Mhm.”

“How?” The silence told me I had finally gotten his attention. “Tech decays fast on this planet, and you must have needed very advanced tools.” Far too advanced to be lying about on a prison planet. “How did you bypass my core’s security?”

Silence continued for six thousand and seventy-six milliseconds. I couldn’t tell whether I had caught him off guard or if he was analyzing me. Knowing the doctors I had experience with, it was most likely the latter. The first doctor I had met since rejoining the Fleet had turned out to be a BICEFI agent, and the second had been even worse.

“All a matter of practice,” Tilae said.

“Did you bring the tech from the station?”

The man ignored me.

“How did you get it here?”

Even with the current developments in technology, more than a field medic kit was needed to patch me up. High-end medical equipment was difficult to come by. Only shipyards and specialized stations had access to it. Even I didn’t have tech of such caliber when I was a battleship. The only possible explanation was for him to have brought it from the orbital station, and for that to have happened, the other occupants of the station had to have let him.

“You brought it here on a shuttle.” That was the only answer that made sense. When had he done so?

I pushed myself upright. The lack of legs impeded my balance, though I managed to compensate enough to remain in a sitting position. The doctor didn’t seem impressed, tapping something on an old-fashioned datapad. Normally I’d be able to make out the words from this distance, but even after the miraculous treatment, my eyes hadn’t recovered fully.

“How did you steal the shuttle?” I pressed on.

No response.

“You aren’t a soldier, so you didn’t steal it,” I probed. A barely noticeable turn of the head suggested I was right. “You had it prepared in advance and you took it.”

No denial followed.

“You know he’s crazy.” This made Tilae turn toward me. “He’s going to get you killed.”

“You’re here.” There was a moment of stiffness in the doctor’s stance. “That’s all we needed.”

“Why? If you had a shuttle, you didn’t need the codes. And you didn’t need to let the colonists go.” One thing was becoming clear—loyalty was a rare commodity on the Scuu front. “How can you be sure that⁠—”

“You’re wasting your time,” Rigel’s voice sounded behind me. As I turned around, I saw he was wearing sound suppressors as well. “Tilae has seen too much to turn on me. Why don’t you explain it to her?”

The doctor sighed, then shook his head.

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