Caught by Menace (41 page)

woman raised her weapon and aimed right at Naya.

Before he could even shout the word no, Naya took

three to the stomach. The world went stil around him.

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He choked on

his gum as his instinctive swalow puled it down his

throat. Awash in horror, Menace watched Naya fal

backward into her brother’s thin arms.

Blood soaked her shirt and spiled onto her hands.

He’d seen enough stomach wounds to know that she

didn’t have much time. They had to get to her. Now.

“Breach! Move! Move!” Pierce shouted the order.

“Cipher, blow that back room.”

On autopilot, Menace ran forward with his team.

Smal, controled explosions rocked the facility. Tunnel

vision took hold. His only thought was of reaching Naya

in time. The reality that she could die alone clawed at

in time. The reality that she could die alone clawed at

him. If she died without knowing how much he loved her,

Menace wouldn’t be able to live with himself. It would

be too cruel for her to leave this world without knowing

the warmth of his love.

Two explosions Pierce’s men had set took out the

doors and granted them access to the building. They hit

the factory hard and fast. The sight of Naya in a pool of

blood in the center of the floor made his heart leap into

his throat. Bloody streaks marked the path she had been

dragged. Rapid gunfire and plasma bursts rocketed over

her writhing, hemorrhaging body.

Raze and Venom were pinned down on one side of

the room. Hazard had a shield with him but he was too

far back. Every time he took a step, he drew heavy fire.

Frantic, Menace looked around for something, anything,

to use as a shield so he could pul her out of harm’s way.

“Hang on, Menace. I’m coming for you.”

The shock of hearing Terror’s voice in his ear left him

momentarily stunned. In another instant, the Shadow

Force operative was at his side with a heavy shield.

Terror grabbed his arm. “Let’s move.”

He didn’t even ask how Terror had gotten there. He

didn’t care. This was his only chance to save Naya. He

didn’t care. This was his only chance to save Naya. He

was grasping it with both hands.

Bulets and plasma bursts ricocheted off the heavy-

duty and specialy coated shield. They kept low and

moved quickly. Pierce shouted commands over the

radio, ordering Venom into a sniper position. Whether he

would get there in time to help Menace and Terror

extricate Naya was anyone’s guess.

Menace dropped to his knees next to Naya. Her eyes

widened at the sight of him. He shook his head. “Don’t

talk. Conserve your energy.”

“We don’t have much time, Menace. Work quickly,”

Terror grunted as he kept the shield in place, shifting it

ever so slightly to provide the most coverage for Naya.

Menace grabbed a trauma dressing from the med kit

strapped to his thigh and pressed it hard to her bely. She

cried out in pain. Blood dribbled from the corner of her

mouth. “Just hold on, sweetheart.”

She gripped his wrist. “I’m sorry. I should have told

you but—”

“Don’t,” he cut her off before she could finish the

apology. “None of that matters now.” He caressed her

face. “I love you, Naya. I love you. Just focus on that,

face. “I love you, Naya. I love you. Just focus on that,

sweetheart.”

Her pained, panicked expression softened. “I love you

too.”

“Touching as this is, we need to move.” Terror

glanced over his shoulder and frowned at them. “Get her

up, Menace.”

Even though he worried lifting her would cause even

more damage to her internal organs, there was no other

choice. If they stayed here, she was going to die. She

screamed in pain as he gathered her in his arms. Her hot,

slick blood coated his hands and soaked his uniform. The

bitter scent of it made his stomach churn.

With Terror at his back, Menace ran toward their

team, who provided constant suppressive fire. Up above,

Venom picked off the enemy one by one. Finaly

unpinned, Hazard rushed out to join Terror with another

shield, providing enough coverage to fuly protect Naya’s

wounded body. Bulets whizzed and snapped by them,

but the two men ran them out of the factory.

A second ship, this one a so-caled dart, often used to

evacuate medical casualties, waited near the ship

Menace and the team had used. Was that how Terror

had gotten to the surface? Even though the dart could

had gotten to the surface? Even though the dart could

make the surface-to-
Valiant
trip in less than an hour, it

was stil too much time for Naya.

Halie came running out of the bigger ship where she’d

been waiting with Cipher. Her pale face said it al. Two

medics ran out of the dart and hurried to assess Naya’s

injuries. Menace carefuly placed her on the stretcher.

Unconscious now, she was barely breathing.

“Take the dart, Menace,” Terror urged. “Get her to

the
Mercy
. She won’t make it to the
Valiant
in this

shape. The medical instalation is stil in lower orbit. It’s

fifteen minutes tops.”

Menace nodded and rushed after the two medics who

carted her to the safety of the dart. Inside, the pilot was

already prepared to take off and was in the process of

radioing the instalation to let them know a critical patient

was incoming. Both medics attached tether cords

hooked to harnesses on their jumpsuits to clips dangling

from the ceiling to minimize their jostling and the effect of

the upcoming gravity loss as they worked. The second

her stretcher was secured, the pilot lifted off and began

the rough, fast ascent.

One of the medics pushed Menace into a chair to get

him out of the way. As he buckled his safety belts, he

him out of the way. As he buckled his safety belts, he

stared at Naya’s limp body. Blood poured onto the

floor. Vents strategicaly placed under the stretcher

clamps drained it away so the medics had a safe working

space.

They hooked her up to various monitoring devices,

stuck her with multiple IVs and pumped her ful of

medications. She was intubated and placed on a

ventilator. Trauma dressings were soaked with

synthesized clotting preparations to stem the massive

blood loss. Plasma and units of blood were dispensed via

the overhead med box. It seemed that as fast as they

pushed it into her, it ran out onto the floor.

Needing to feel her, Menace reached out and grabbed

her cold hand. Holding it tight, he dropped his head. For

the first time since childhood, he prayed.

Hours later, Menace sat in the waiting room outside

the surgical unit on the medical instalation
Mercy
. Naya

had been much too fragile to move to the
Valiant
.

Luckily the trauma surgeons on board were fresh from

the front lines and highly skiled. He was glad her life was

in their capable hands.

The papery-thin blue scrubs he’d been given by one of

the medics felt alien against his skin. On the chair next to

him sat his pile of weapons and a bright-orange

biohazard bag holding his soiled uniform. They kept the

place uncommonly cold. He blamed his trembling limbs

on that.

The sound of heavy boots squeaking on the highly

polished floor caught his attention. He glanced to his left

and spotted Vicious and Halie walking toward him. He

didn’t have the strength to stand. Vicious grabbed the

weapons and biohazard bag from the seat and moved

them one spot down before sitting. With a heavy sigh, he

stretched out his legs and leaned back in his chair.

Halie took the empty space on his other side. Always

Halie took the empty space on his other side. Always

so kind and gentle, she grasped his hand in both of hers.

She didn’t ask any questions or try to start a

conversation. She seemed to understand that he couldn’t

talk right now. What he needed was support.

The minutes ticked by as they sat in companionable

silence. An hour or so after arriving, Vicious rose from

his seat and disappeared down an adjacent corridor. He

returned with a bottle of rehydrating sports drink and two

energy bars. Vicious thrust them into his hands. “Eat this,

Menace. You need your strength.”

He didn’t argue. Unwrapping the energy bar, he

noticed the red stains on his cuticles and in his caluses.

Naya’s blood had marked his skin. No amount of

scrubbing in the hospital bathroom had been able to

wash it away.

Halie must have noticed him staring at them. “I’l go

ask one of the medics for some peroxide wipes.”

She left him alone with Vicious. Menace bit the bar

and drank some of the slightly tart drink. He hated the

berry-flavored version but didn’t let it stop him from

devouring the snack. Vicious had been right to insist he

eat something. Naya was going to need him to be strong

eat something. Naya was going to need him to be strong

for her.

“I’m sorry, Menace.” Vicious broke the silence finaly.

“This shouldn’t have happened. I should have done more

to protect you and your wife.”

Menace stuffed the empty wrappers into the drink

bottle and screwed on the cap. “This wasn’t your fault,

Vicious.”

“Wasn’t it? I should have found a way to rein in

Terror.”

“After seeing Terror in action, I don’t think that’s

possible. He may be beyond restraint.”

Vicious wiped both hands down his face. “I don’t

know when it got so complicated.”

Menace didn’t either. He took aim at the garbage

receptacle in the corner and shot the bottle toward it. It

hit the rim and bounced into the can with a satisfying

thunk
.

Halie rounded the corner with two familiar faces in

tow. Venom and Cipher folowed her to the seating area.

She handed Menace the disposable wipes, started to sit

but then counted the open seats. Realizing there weren’t

enough, she glanced at Vicious, who opened his arms

and patted his lap. Vicious slid his arm around her waist

and patted his lap. Vicious slid his arm around her waist

when she perched on there. His lips brushed her temple.

The sight of the couple sharing a tender moment gutted

Menace.

Venom sat in the spot Halie had once occupied. He

hesitated before asking, “How is she?”

Menace shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Venom squeezed his arm. “The surgeons on this

instalation are amazing. She’l be fine, Menace.”

He wished fine had a more concrete definition. The

shots she’d taken had caused a great deal of damage.

Not wanting to think about the awful possibilities, he

changed the subject. “Did you get the guns?”

Venom’s face showed surprise. “Menace, we don’t

have to talk about the mission. Let’s just focus on

Naya’s recovery.”

“She almost died trying to complete Terror’s mission.

I want to know if she succeeded.”

“She did,” Venom assured him. “We got the weapons

cache and a huge amount of intel on the Splinter cel on

Calyx. They’ve already grabbed three of them by

instituting a planet-wide dragnet. One Splinter ship tried

to flee the surface when they got wind of our raid on the

to flee the surface when they got wind of our raid on the

factory. We snatched them up and took them in for

questioning. Dankirk caled in his friends from the free

press to photograph the food stockpile and disseminate

the information to the people of Calyx.”

“She did a great deal of good today,” Cipher said.

“Her bravery saved a lot of innocent lives.”

Menace supposed that was some smal consolation.

“Her mother?”

Venom shook his head. “Pierce tagged her in the arm

and chest but she managed to escape. We’l find her.

With those injuries, she can’t have gone far.”

“And her brother?”

“Dead,” Venom said. “He got hit with friendly fire.

Hazard swears he saw the mother pop him but who

knows.”

Menace wouldn’t put it past the old broad. “She

probably considered him a loose end.”

“With that drug problem? He would have been easy to

interrogate. A promise of Impulse and he’d sing like a

bird,” Venom replied.

“His body?” Menace hated to ask the gruesome