BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 20
 

Before lift-off, Saul asked the rest of the crew to discuss the point that Treena had brought up and their failure to register any kind of cargo manifest. He nodded at the looks from Elias and the rest of the officers as they realized the blunder made.

  “I certainly feel foolish,” the fox said. “There is no excuse for us, for me, really, to have overlooked something as simple as that.”

  “Actually, Captain, it is excusable,” the jaguar said. “You were busy ensuring each of a hundred things were ready for our first launch. It’s our failing as your staff that we didn’t think about this.”

  Elias shook his head. “Well, there’s no help for it at this point. I’ll contact the local SPF field office and log a manifest to them. I figured we’d set a course for Earth via Mars as our next stop. From there we’ll make a run to the Centaurus system and Van Connor nebula, back through Sol, and then onto the Anya star system. From each one we’ll have preset manifests.”

  “Um, I, uh, already did that, Captain,” Saul said.

  Elias looked at his second and the jaguar dropped his head a little. “We’d already talked about heading to Earth and Mars with time spent in the Sol Belt, so I logged a manifest that would explain our lingering in that region of space for a while.”

  “Elias crooked a half smile at his First Officer. “Good show, Saul,” he said, and noted the large feline’s reaction to the praise by standing a little taller with his head up. “So what are we supposed to be carrying?”

  “Earth tends to be fairly self-sufficient, but the humans there love luxury items and things they consider exotic, while Mars and the belt are always in the need of the basics, so I logged our cargo as cybernetic components for Mars and the Belt along with stable demolitions materials, and urka wood from Pomen and twenty bales of Ganisian tobacco for Earth and the Mercury and Gemini settlements of Earth’s moon.”

  “It’s all stuff that the Sol system could use or want, and all have high value, Captain,” Treena said.

  Elias regarded the ocelot, noticing that there seemed to be something different about her. She seemed more…comfortable around the rest of the crew instead of her normal stand-offish air, like she was actually part of the crew now.

  “Excellent. Good work everyone. We haven’t really run into much, but what I’ve seen from all of you has been impressive, very professional, and I think it’s only proper that all of your hard work is properly recognized.” Elias sat on the table surface that he’d been standing in front of and put his hands on the edge, looking at each of the members of his crew one by one. “Should any of you ever decide to return to regular SPF duty, you will find commendations in each of your record files.” He saw the surprised looks on their faces and smiled to himself. “There’s more, though. Because of the nature of this operation, each of you is also receiving a percentage of the salvage from captured prizes and recovered cargos. It might not seem like much at first, but Colonel Brees informed me that at the moment, all of you have garnered 13,500 credits each from the recovery of the Incubus and the Lucky Star. There has also been a payout from the Captain of the SS Mintaka for the crew that rescued him to the sum of 85,000 credits to be divided amongst all of you, and that comes to 8500 credits apiece.”

  Randal, standing behind the rest of the crew and nearest the hatch to the lift, raised his hand. “Begging your pardon, Captain. But that’s only ten shares and there are twelve of us on this ship. I guess what I’m asking is what about your and Cerise’s shares? You earned it as much as we did.”

  Elias shook his head. “Cerise and I opted not to take any of the reward. We discussed this and determined that we really didn’t need it, and that the rest of you more than earned it.”

  “I’m sorry, but I have to disagree, Captain,” Sonja said, standing and supporting the wolf. “You are just as much at risk as the rest of us.” The Spaniel had really surprised Elias and the rest of the officers on the Guiding Angel with her change since she had come on board. She didn’t have to prove herself to anyone here, and it had helped to alleviate the planet sized chip she had been known to carry. “If you aren’t accepting a share, I can’t take mine.”

  “Ditto on that, Cap’n,” Stram said as he worked a bit of greasy grit from under a fingernail with a screwdriver. “If you aren’t takin’ a share I don’t want mine either.”

  The rest of the crew agreed, and Elias felt a surge of pride for the crew that he had. They were really acting like a crew and not just a batch of random individuals thrown together.

  As the vocalization of refusing to take the reward if it wasn’t shared out equally to all of them rose in volume, Elias held up his hands for silence. “All right, all right. I get the picture. Then, as all of you seem so adamant about this, what if we were to take the money and establish a ship’s fund? I know we have funding for this operation from Joplin, but if this becomes something of a standard occurrence, we could use monies of this nature to become more self-sufficient. I know the Colonel would appreciate that with the budget issues the SPF is suffering from at the moment, and it would show the bean counters in Central Headquarters that operations like ours can take care of themselves if given time.”

  The crew batted this about and finally agreed that it would be acceptable. No one individual would get more than the rest and it would help sustain a mission that they all believed in.

  “Is it all settled, then?” Elias asked and nodded once everyone signaled agreement. The fox used a remote to drop the lights and brought up a display on the viewport turned vidscreen. “All right. Now then, as already mentioned, our next few ports of call are in the Sol system. We’re going to be taking a round-about course as if we were coming in at the most economical approach that will take us to the Europa colony, the Sol Asteroid Belt, Mars and eventually Earth’s moon and the planet itself. There has been some activity in the Belt region with raiders hitting small independent mining operations and taking everything that’s not bolted down. The Terran Navy is having a hard time protecting these areas, especially the independent Belters because they are so spread out. They’re a hard breed and very self-reliant, but they also tend to be the most friendly when help arrives. They won’t ask for it, but they do appreciate a helping hand when it shows up. They are also the most tolerant of other species, so some of their trading posts have amenities established specifically for furs. Our course will bring us in just past Saturn here…”

***

  It was four days since the Guiding Angel lifted from Crescentis, and Cerise sat in the infirmary as Lemuel ran several tests. She had been working at a letter to her family on the terminal in the cabin she and Elias shared when the unit locked up. Instead of re-initializing, she had flown into a fit of fury and put the bottom of her boot through the screen.

  She had never before suffered feeling of such anger before and to lash out like she had was so out of character that it frightened her. Then there was the incident of irrational fear when Elias had decided to pursue the Shiva. The vixen was losing control over her emotions, and it frightened her. What was wrong with her? To top it all off, she was starting to forget things, and that was something that had never happened before along with feeling rundown and lethargic.

  Suppressing a shiver, Cerise hugged herself as she sat on the edge of the medical bed and waited for the tiger to return.

  An uncomfortable tightness developed low in her stomach, and Cerise patiently sat through it and it vanished after a few moments. It must be nerves, she told herself. Then the tightness returned, and quickly turned into a sharp, burning pain that doubled her over. She fell off the bed, gripping her belly, tears of pain oozing past her tightly clenched eyes and a sad whimper escaped her throat.

  There was a brief moment of relief, then the agony returned tenfold. Cerise gasped for breath, her entire torso seizing up, her muscles cramping with a fierceness that curled her into an even tighter ball.

  “Doctor!” she managed to whimper through her strangled throat.

  Hearing her plea, Lemuel Anders darted into the primary examination room to find the tiny female in distress. “Where’s the pain?” he asked, then yelled, trying to get through to her, so great was her agony. He got her into a sitting position and saw that while she couldn’t speak, she was clutching her lower stomach, trying to get enough breath into her lungs so that she could speak, but that effort only yielded enough air for her to whimper again.

  With a combination of speed and surprising gentleness, he scooped the female up in his arms and placed her back on the bed instead of letting her lie on the cold deck. Even as he raised the safety rail, his other hand shot out and opened a drawer in the medical cabinet next to the bed. He quickly retrieved a pressure syringe and ampoule of medication, loading it and dialing in the dosage as efficiently as others onboard would load a pistol. Lemuel then placed the nozzle at the juncture of Cerise’s neck and activated the unit, a tiny hiss delivering a strong sedative and painkiller to the vixen’s blood stream.

  He waited a few moments for it to take effect, speaking soothingly until her eyes fluttered closed. As soon as Cerise was out he took her pulse and hooked her up to a monitor. The tiger retrieved a thick blanket and placed it over her as the machine began to beep softly with the petite female’s rapid pulse and shallow breathing, Lem tripped the intercom to the bridge.

  “Bridge, here,” came the voice of Saul Reese.

  “Saul? It’s Lem. Turn us to the nearest world with at least class two medical facilities. Now. Time is vital.”

  “Roger that. Closest would be Pomen from here. Travel time is fourteen hours,” the jaguar said. “What’s wrong, Doc? Who’s hurt?” The worry was clear in the First Officer’s voice.

  “Don’t worry about that right now. Just get us there. As in yesterday. Understand?”

  “Got it. I can shave off a few hours by declaring a medical emergency. We can be there in about ten hours.”

  “I would prefer it to be sooner, but that’ll have to do. Infirmary out.”

  Instead of calling for Elias over the intercom, the tiger pinged a message to the fox’s DataCom. It was less than five minutes before Elias arrived at the hatch to the medical section.

  “Is something wrong, Lem?” the Captain of the Guiding Angel asked. Then his eyes fell upon the supine and unconscious form of Cerise, and he let out a cry as he rushed to the bed. He took her hand and brushed the hair from her face. The pain of seeing his mate like this clear in his blue eyes.

  “What’s wrong with her, Lemuel?” Elias whispered, his eyes never leaving Cerise’s unconscious form.

  The tiger took a seat and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed for a moment. “She came to me this morning after she had…an accident. She told me that she was suffering extreme discomfort and emotional swings and wanted an examination. Do you know how long she’s been suffering these mood variations?”

  “The only time I saw her act out of character was back when we were waiting for the Shiva. She was almost irrational. That’s the only time that I remember. What does it mean?”

  “I thought it might have been something routine,” the tiger said picking up a dedicated medical DataPak, and brought up a file. “By routine I mean pregnancy as vixens and other canine species tend to get a little high-strung during the first few phases. Instead I found this.” Lemuel slid the small pad so that Elias could see it. “See this. And here? These are like cysts, but it’s actually deteriorating matter. It’s affecting her glands, her reproductive organs, liver, and the digestive tract. It’s causing them to go septic and it’s killing her.”

  Elias looked horrified. “Cancer?”

  “No. This is far more insidious,” the tiger said, looking his Captain squarely in the eyes. “Elias, Cerise has been poisoned.” He took the DataPak back and shut it off. “I’m waiting for the tests to finish. There are a few toxins that will do this, but they take a really long time to cause this much damage.”

  “How long?” the fox asked, anger beginning to mix with the dread and fear within him.

  “Months. Almost all poisons of this nature are heavy metal based. Most require constant dosing to do damage, otherwise the body discharges it in the normal manner it does all wastes. This stuff, though…That’s why we are en route to Pomen. Fortunately that world has the best hospitals in the entire Planetary Alignment. This has been in her system for a while, but we have a little time. Just a little, but we’re headed to the world with the best facilities and staff to take care of this.”

***

  The Guiding Angel was given immediate landing clearance, more to Elias sending an SPF override code than the fact they had a life-threatening medical emergency onboard. Before the ship was even fully shut down, Elias was in the cargo bay with the Doctor, Randal, and Melise wheeling Cerise, still unconscious, on the medical bed outside so that she could be loaded on the air ambulance that was waiting for them. Elias and Randal accompanied the vixen to the hospital along with Lemuel Anders, and it wasn’t long before she was undergoing treatment to leach the toxins from her body.

  During her induced coma state to slow the onslaught of the poison, Cerise had noticeably lost weight, and looked thin and fragile as she lay under an oxygen tent, various machines circulating her blood through special cleansing processes while others added nutrients she was in dire need of, or keeping her hydrated while still another introduced therapeutic stem cells to help repair and rebuild the damage that was done.

  Through it all, Elias never left her room, and even openly wore his sidearm. No one would harm his mate if he had any say in the matter. The rest of the crew took turns staying outside the room, concern and worry evident on their faces. At first the hospital security force tried to refuse Elias’ entry into the hospital with his wife, but soon found themselves facing a number of armed and angry individuals. When the local police were called in, an extremely tense situation was disarmed by Randal, who quietly, and with accompanying secrecy contract, informed the officer of the watch, and his superior, of the nature of their mission, and the reasons for their behavior. The entire crew was then given some leeway, but with the understanding that planetary authorities wouldn’t tolerate an abuse of their trust.

  The poison was identified as seditarol, a substance that was common on Dennier for the control and elimination of vermin, and almost exclusive to that world. As they hadn’t been anywhere near Tanthe, the only other planet that used the same substance for the same reasons, it narrowed the field of investigation substantially.

  On the third day, Cerise opened her eyes to find a very tired and wore out Elias sitting next to her bed. He had dozed off, but she could tell that he was at the end of his reserves. His normally white fur looked slightly yellow and was matted on both sides of his face. She reached out a weak and trembling hand, clumsily brushing the tear stained fur along his right cheek, the motion hampered by the intravenous tubes that was attached to the back of her hand and in her arm.

  “’Lias?” she said, her voice a harsh and raspy whisper. “What’s going on?”

  The fox jerked awake at her touch, his eyes red and puffy and feeling as if sand were crammed underneath the lids. He didn’t answer at first. He simply grasped her hand and kissed her palm, fresh tears flowing freely from his eyes. She tried to smile, but the expression was weak and seemed to take more energy than she couldn’t spare.

  “I thought I lost you, Love,” he said and put her hand against his face.

  “What happened?” she whispered, already starting to fade out.

  “Worry about that later. Just rest right now, okay?”

  Cerise nodded, the action barely perceptible, but all that the vixen could muster. With a sigh she drifted off while her mate sobbed with relief.

  Later, Lemuel and the doctor that was her primary physician at the hospital, a large grizzly named Paul Halstead with a gray shot muzzle, let Elias know that her waking was the sign that they had been waiting for. “It’ll be a few weeks before she starts to get back to her normal weight and activity level, but she’s out of danger,” he said. “We’ll continue the leeching and stem cell therapy. It looks as if things are healing well, and continuing this process for a few days will ensure that all of the toxins are removed. I expect her to be awake on a regular schedule within the next 24 hours, and hollering for food each time.”

  Elias nodded and moved to shake the bear’s hand. “Thank you, Doctor. And you, Lem. Thank you both very much.” He would have said more, but he began to sag with exhaustion and was caught by the tiger.

  Doctor Halstead looked at the fox, then gave him a cursory exam.

  “Mister Tivnan, you are at the end of your reserves. Let the rest of your people keep an eye on things here. Go get some rest. You’re of no use to anyone here, and you’ll just be a burden if you pass out and crack your head on something. Go on. Get a shower, get some sleep, get some food. Just get it somewhere other than here.”

  Lemuel guided his Captain out of the room and passed him off to the seemingly ever present Randal and Melise. “Take him to the hotel and get him cleaned and into bed. Cerise is going to be fine, but I have enough on my plate taking care of her right now. I’d rather not have to explain to her why he’s in a bed next to her.”

  “No problem, Doc,” Melise said, slipping an arm under her friend to support him. “Randy can help me get Elias to the hotel then come back. Treena and Sonja are on their way back with sandwiches and coffee, so if you need them they’ll be close by and you have Stram to keep an eye out here.”

  The tiger only nodded before returning to the room where Cerise slept while Elias was taken to the hotel that the crew had checked into and rented a couple of rooms. It was only a couple of blocks to from there to the hospital, but Randal had already rented a car for their use and helped the panda pour their wrung out companion into the back.

  “I’m tired,” the fox said as he leaned back against the rear seat and Melise slid in next to him.

  The wolf took the driver’s position and deftly guided the car to the main entrance of the hotel. It wasn’t long before they had Elias in one of the rooms set aside for their use while in the city.

  “I’ve got him from here if you want to head back to the hospital,” Melise informed the wolf.

  “Thanks. I don’t want to leave either of them unguarded until we figure out just what’s going on. Lemuel said he had some information for me as well, and I’m curious as to what it is. Do you want this?” Randal asked, opening his jacket enough to show the butt of a sub machinegun under his baggy leather jacket.

  Melise smiled and held her long coat open to reveal the grips of two pistols and the pommels of several blades. “I think I’m covered,” she said with a grin.

  Randy nodded and left, making sure he locked the door on the way out.

  “Come on, Elias. Let’s get you out of that stuff you’re wearing. You smell.” Melise moved to help the fox disrobe, but her hands were batted away feebly.

  “I can get this,” he said irritably, then stumbled and would have fallen had he not caught the back of a thickly upholstered chair and been caught likewise by his friend.

  “Yeah. Like hell you can. You’re burned out and haven’t eaten or slept for almost four, now five, days. Don’t argue.”

  The fox blinked. “Has it been that long?”

  “Yes, you dolt. Let’s go.”

  Melise got him undressed and under a hot shower before depositing his clothing in a receptacle, unsure whether she should have it cleaned or burned, eventually opting for the former. When he almost slipped in the shower, the panda also undressed and stepped in behind the fox.

  “Gods, El. You’re a mess. Gimme that,” she demanded, taking a bottle of liquid soap from Elias’s numb fingers. She squeezed out a generous portion and began to lather the herbal scented green soap into his fur. “Well, it’s been a while since we did this, hasn’t it?”

  Elias said nothing as she scrubbed him down and then rinsed the soap from his fur, his exhaustion causing his mind to float in a detached state. He and Melise had been intimate in the past, and one of his favorite activities with her had been to bathe together. While he no longer had those kinds of feelings for her, Elias was terribly fond of the panda. She was just as lean and svelte as ever, her long white hair fell free and he recalled the times that he held her close to him in either his or her bunk what seemed a lifetime ago. Now, though, he felt the passion that had been a part of their past relationship as a deep and affectionate friendship. He reached out and touched her cheek.

  “Thanks for being there for me, Mel. You’re a better friend than I think I deserve sometimes.”

  She finished rinsing the soap from his legs, stood and pulled the fox into a warm embrace. “I always will be, Elias. I always will be.” She pulled away. “Now then. Let’s get you dry and into bed.”

  “But I’m married,” he said in a sarcastic tone and chuckled weakly.

  Melise smiled and gave a small laugh of her own. “Don’t be flippant. You’re in no condition to protect yourself right now and I might have to thump you.”

  The dryer was effective and Elias was feeling warm and barely aware of his surroundings as his friend led him to the bed. She gave his fur a cursory brushing before pushing him back and covering him up. “Get some sleep, El. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

  Elias nodded once and even as his eyes closed was deep asleep. Once she was sure that he wasn’t going to wake up, the panda again made sure that all of the locks on the door were secure, including a portable latch that added to the difficulty of getting the door open from the hallway. Until they determined what exactly had happened and how Cerise had gotten dosed with the poison, none of them were taking any chances and treating the event as a very direct attack on all of them.

  Laying her portable arsenal on the nightstand, Melise took a chair and sat watching her friend and Captain for several minutes, unconscious of the fact that she was still nude. While a small part of her was regretful that Elias was off limits as a playmate, she was happy for him and the vixen he’d married, and was fond of both of them more than she could articulate. A single tear escaped her eye as she realized just how much she loved these two, and how rich her life was from knowing them. If someone had ever told her during her childhood on Brandt that she could feel this way for others, she would have either laughed in their face, or laid them flat, either reaction having had equal chances of happening.

  Almost an hour had passed unnoticed as Melise sat there in her state of reverie when Elias sat bolt upright, a look of deep fear in his eyes as he woke from a nightmare.

  Cerise!” he shouted as the blankets fell away from his shoulders.

  “She’s fine, Elias. She’s being taken care of by the others. She’s all right. I promise you. Randy and Lemuel are with her,” the panda said, moving to the edge of the bed and soothing her friend.

  It was several moments before the fox calmed enough to lie back down. “By the Maker! I’m strung out,” he said.

  “Just a little,” Melise agreed. Then on impulse, she sent a message to ping her if any of the others needed her via DataCom, but to stay away while Elias rested so as not to disturb him from his much needed sleep. Once that was done, she lifted the covers and slid underneath, pulling Elias close and feeling his arms slide around her as well, needing the emotional support. It was so similar to all the times they had been intimate and at the same time so very different. He was her friend and required comfort, despite the steadfast demeanor he exhibited to others, he had the same needs as any other person, more so because there were so few he could turn to and depend on for support when his main source of strength lay in a hospital bed almost a mile away.

  She felt his breathing deepen and become more regular and steady even as he spoke drowsily. “Thanks again, Mel.”

  “It’s what friends are for,” the panda replied. She wasn’t sure he heard her as he was asleep almost as soon as he took his next breath. “It’s because I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

  A single tear rolled off and onto the pillow as she lay there with her arms around the only decent individual she’d ever really known before signing up for this assignment.

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.