{Reipon}
Lynn sat back and watched the unsupervised Progeny go at it.
“I’m fine, Tameka,” Andrew argued for the thirtieth time.
Tameka responded logically, “You just died ten minutes ago. Sit. Back. Down.”
Kyle passed his joint to Andrew, who accepted it eagerly as Kyle said, “He died. What good will sitting do?”
Sagan caught Lynn enjoying the show and winked at her, which made her snicker.
It was all light and harmless fun to burn off the nerves of impending Phase II shit. Pablo briefed Bones, Pehton, and Caedes on Triss’ care in the next room while Lynn prepped the nacre disablers with lethal and stun charges. Things really were getting serious.
Despite all their research and discoveries, Imminent somehow learned of the Shadow’s tactics. The last few runs they went on met with nacre-less enemies. That hurt their weapons, but also their defense. Tameka couldn’t drain them dry, and the memory siblings couldn’t overwhelm them. So, at Lynn’s insistence, they started packing heat. Simple 9mm handguns. Tumu had sworn no space tech included projectile weapons because of their futility against nacre-imbued enemies.
Lynn doubted that was entirely true.
In the meantime, she looked forward to the trip back to Earth to stock up on better guns and ammunition. More so than their personal protection, she worried about the colossal Tantamount buried in Iona’s Arsenal facility under the hundred-foot waves off of the Cape of Good Hope. Surely no one could access that vault without her DNA to open the hatch. Hence why Lynn killed all her copies so thoroughly dead during Abresson’s invasion—
“You okay?” Sagan interrupted Lynn’s thoughts.
She smiled at her friend while assembling another weapon. “I’m in prep mode. What about you? How are you doing with this Rayne business?”
The Seamswalker grabbed a gun and loaded it. Softly, she confessed, “I don’t put much faith in the Probability Matrix, but I believe Rayne’s strong enough to ‘end everything.’ Whatever that means. The only other person I think of as powerful enough to do that is standing in this room.”
They both looked over at Tameka, who pushed Andrew back into the bed. Kyle tried to take his brother’s side, but that so wasn’t working. Powerhouse. Fury. Tameka could leave them both unconscious or mewing for their lives without touching them, but she hesitated to use it without more practice. Something about the suns imploding.
It was hard keeping up with the super powered types around here.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
So Lynn and Pablo made themselves useful with weapons and medical care. Everyone contributed. Everything was fair.
Sagan asked, “Are you?”
Lynn blinked up at Sagan and asked, “Am I…?”
The Seamswalker loaded another gun and laid it with the rest. “Are you worried about Rayne?”
Blowing the air from her cheeks, Lynn gave it some deep thought. Eventually, she said, “I worry about all of us, but I think—especially after watching that Iona-29 footage—I think Rayne is the safest out of all of us. There must be some other reason nothing exists after her ‘death.’”
Sagan winced at the word, and Lynn reached out to squeeze her hand. “She’ll be fine. You know if she were here, she’d tell you to ‘Worry about yourself, keep your head in the game, and don’t get dead.’”
“No truer words spoken.” Pablo returned with a smile for the room. “Everyone, I must ask that you leave my patient now because my head can’t take anymore of it.”
On their way out, Tameka stopped to ask, “Hey Doc, do you mind joining us for a training session? I’m worried—”
He made a soothing gesture and nodded along. “Of course. Of course. I’ll be there. Lynn, you wanna come with?” The little wretch licked his full lips, standing in the doorway looking delicious in those oxblood scrubs he knew she liked.
Lynn waved him off. “Let me get stations ready for testing those Enki nacres from Earth. You can tell me all about it when you get back.”
Pablo blew her a kiss, and Lynn almost dragged him back for a session of their own. Instead, she continued working while musing about her husband and how lucky they were. Twelve guns prepped. One nacre station ready to hold about five test samples. They needed to access all the banks and functions. They might need Kyle for the memory—
“Dr. Suarez?” Triss called from the next room.
Lynn tried to reinforce her stomach to poke her head in. “Yes?”
Despite the pain tightening her striking face, Triss slipped into her cool and proud facade she wore like an armor. “Is the doctor in?” One fist gripped the sheets where she lay helpless in the queen-sized bed.
With a heavy sigh, Lynn stepped into the room, explaining, “He stepped out. What do you need?”
“Nothing from you.” Triss faced forward, averting her eyes.
Unfortunately, Lynn saw the wince she hid. The woman was in pain and very pregnant. For a baby conceived only a few months ago, she looked full term. Pitiful and exhausted from the agony that kept her awake.
Hands on her hips, Lynn said, “Okay. You can be rude, but I’m about to pump you full of Yu juice to knock your ass out unless you tell me what you want. I won’t have my husband upset with me for not seeing to you while he’s out.”
Staring forward with a stubborn set to her jaw, Triss rolled her eyes before asking with a sigh, “May I please have some water?”
That probably hurt. Such a powerful warrior reduced to hospice-level care.
“Sure. No problem. Cold or room temperature?”
Something must have spasmed because Triss’ faced contorted in pain, and she breathed sharply through gritted teeth. Lynn poured a half liter of both temperatures and brought them to Triss, eager to leave the woman’s side. Guilt and hatred tasted bitter, and she found it unpalatable for this long.
Lynn was almost through the door when Triss hissed through the pain, “Thank you.”
A coward, Lynn closed it to avoid witnessing that woman writhe any further. Forehead to the door, she fended off conflicting emotions when a substantial weight settled on her foot. She looked down to find Thubgy, looking up with his tongue lolled out.
A welcome distraction from the worsening situation behind her.
“Hey, fella.” Lynn bent to pet the Hellkitten, who no doubt came looking for food. “You know what, little man? Me, too.”
Horrified by herself and the situation, Lynn left the infirmary, closing the door on the pregnant woman’s screams.