Chapter 9 [I Will Not Bow]

Capricorn 20/2261 2:11

Silence. I opened my eyes, not noticing I had closed them. The metal interior of the ship stared back at me. I laid there for a second before realizing what was wrong. I jolted up. Fire screamed through my body, forcing me to lay back.

"Ow ow ow," I muttered. I dropped my hand off the bench and braced it on the ground before slowly rolling off. I landed on my knees. Everything hurt. I slowly raised my head and looked around. Legend sat on the bench across from me, watching me sit up. I scanned the rest of the room. "Where's Greflin?"

No answer. Not that I expected one. He bowed his head. I pulled myself on the bench and looked down at myself. My right hand and wrist were under a mountain of bandages. My left sleeve had been cut off, and the bullet burn was wrapped. I was also missing my right sleeve, and my shoulder had been bound as with my left hand. I felt bandages moving under my shirt, telling me he had wrapped my back wound as well.

"Where is he?" I repeated, looking back at Legend. Embarrassment filled my face, making my skin red. He raised his head. His hands moved so fast I almost missed it. I frowned slightly, staring at his hands as he repeated the movement. Gone. "Gone? How? That was our entire mission. You let him get away?"

He stood and walked down the ramp. I stood on shaking legs and followed him. Raven leaned against some crates near the ramp. She saw me and gave a quick grin.

"You look like shit." She stated. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around. Before Raven could answer, I realized we were back on Lexi.

"Home. Come on, the medical department is waiting for you." Raven stood and took my arm. I followed her on stumbling legs. "They were gonna come here and grab you, but we figured you would wake up and get mad."

"Thanks," I muttered. We walked to the medical wing. Isabelle took me to a surgery room. Her bright blonde hair was tied back in a bun. The short woman worked fast to remove the bandaging from my right wrist. By the time I spoke, she was already x-raying it. "I'm guessing surgery."

"Yep," Isabelle said. She took the picture and put it on a screen on the wall. I stared at the holographic display, trying to understand the picture.

"That looks bad." A doctor I didn't recognize entered the room. Isabelle prepared a syringe before putting it into my hand. "What happened?"

"I got thrown," I answered. Isabelle stared at the clock above the door. The green numbers blinked to the next minute.

"Okay, we can remove the bones. We will use a titanium implant until the new bones are grown." Isabelle told me. I nodded, turning my face away from the wrist. I really did not want to see them dissecting my arm.

It didn't hurt, not really, but I could still feel the cold blades in my arm. It took about two hours, and four shots of anesthesia before Isabelle could wrap my arm up. The doctor left, leaving just the two of us.

"Okay, girly. Speak." Isabelle commanded. I met her cold blue eyes and kept quiet. "Lately, after every mission, you're here. Are you trying to get hurt on these missions? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I was trying to protect your brother," I muttered. She tilted her head, not looking at all surprised. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head. "You've been talking to him."

"You think he's wrong, don't you?" She asked instead of answering. She finished with my wrist and let me go. I looked at the ground while I thought.

"He has to be," I answered. Isabelle sighed before nodding.

"Because orders are orders?" She asked. My breath caught. I closed my eyes and didn't answer. I grew up on those orders. I followed them as long as I felt they were right. But now... I couldn't tell which was right and wrong. Isabelle clear her throat. "Your wrist cut through some nerves, we did our best to repair them, but for now it's up to your body if you'll be able to use your hand again."

"I could lose the use of my hand?" I asked. I opened my eyes and stared at her. She bit her lip and nodded. I slowly turned and stared at the bandages. Isabelle turned and headed to the door.

"Be careful NightStorm. A lot of people will be hurt without you," she said as she left. I took a shaky breath. Her words ran through my brain on repeat. She was wrong. More people would benefit without me. I stood, rubbing my wrist and sending new fire to my elbow. I left the medical wing and took the lift up to my lab.

I scanned the barcode on my wrist, silently thanking Isabelle for making sure it was uncovered. The grey door slid open. Inside the lab lit up. The walls glowed a soft green as the lights above turned on, flooding the medium-sized room in white light. Counters lined the walls with another in the center of the room.

"You're back," Vix said. Her holographic form appeared standing in the middle of the center table. Her blonde hair was cut short to her jaw. She was thin and wore white clothes, but her skin had a darker tone. Her eyes glowed bright green, the only tell that she was a hologram. She crossed her arms behind her back and tilted her head at me. "I was looking through the medical files. You had an 80% success chance on the mission, reduced from 100 because of your new partner. I found that you had been hurt but not killed."

"Thanks, Vix." I pulled a stool from under the counter and sat down. I tapped on the wall, and a holographic screen pulled out. It glowed a soft green. Behind it, the wall turned white in the same sized square as my screen. I pulled my hair free from its ponytail. It stuck up funny. I gave my head a shake before combing it out with my fingers. "Can you pulled up the satellite imaging for Minerva from the time I was gone?"

"Searching..." Vix said. Her eyes glowed even brighter. From under her skin, a greenish glow peered through. "Found. Accessing... connected. Here it is."

A video stream appeared on my screen. I traced my lips with my nails as I watched it.

"How are the simulations going?" I asked Vix.

"No luck with the 70 milligrams solution and different measurements of buffers. The immune system destroys it before it can repair." Vix explained. I tapped on the walls beside me and brought out another screen. A tap at the corner of the hologram made it tilt towards me. Vix projected the simulation results of my own HCDS. I chewed on the skin around my nails as I thought.

"Make it 90 milligrams of the solution and fifty percent buffer," I commanded. The simulation began playing on that screen. I spun back to the video on the other. It showed the ruined forest from above. Within the burnt trees I could see two figures moving. I zoomed in on the pair, then clicked on them to tell the video to follow it.

"Simulation failed," Vix said. I glanced at the other screen. The simulation window flashed red. "Instant cell death."

"80 Milligram with fifty buffer," I commanded. The new simulation loaded. I glanced at the video and saw it was before I was thrown by the rocket launcher. "Reduce speed."

"On which one?" Vix asked.

"Right, sorry. On the satellite." I explained. The video slowed to half speed. I touched the screen with two fingers and widened them, zooming the camera in even more. The Legend ran with me right behind him. "Slow more."

I glanced back. In that second, the Legend paused and darted back towards me. Even in slow motion, he was incredibly fast. By the time the rocket hit the ground, the Legend had his arm around me and pushed me forward. The explosion hit him full force. My lips parted slightly as I watched both of us get thrown forward. While I was on the ground trying to recover, he was already up and crouching over me.

I zoomed the camera in even more. Sparks of energy flashed as the energy bullets hit his back. He raised his rifle and fired at them. When they dove for cover Legend darted around and touched my face before helping me up. Then he pushed me in front of him.

"That is impressive," Vix said. I glanced at her. She met my gaze with a calm look. "If he hadn't done that, you would be dead."

"I noticed..." I muttered. The screen beside me flashed red. I turned to it.

"There was a fifty percent death in the cells," Vix told me.

"Increase the buffer to 70 percent," I commanded. The new simulation loaded. I turned back to the video. "Fast forward the video, twenty minutes."

"Done," Vix said. The video showed me jumping off the wall. Legend and Greflin ran into the trees, hidden in a thick section of burnt branches. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. If I wanted to see what happened, I would need the video feed from Legend's helmet.

The video continued to slow the pair reappearing and climbing the trees. At this point, I was standing in the middle of the courtyard. Ethan and Leo rained down fire on the Legion. Legend jumped down and cut through the rest. I watched Greflin's figure to see when he would leave. Instead, I saw him climb down and climb over the wall. Legend picked me up and climbed up a crumbling section of the wall to meet him. They said something then Greflin vanished into the base. Legend watched him leave before jumping the other side of the wall and carrying me away.

"Vix, is anyone trying to look at this?" I asked. Vix was silent for a moment.

"Someone at the base just logged on." She said. I leaned back and nodded.

"Corrupted it," I commanded. "Don't let anyone see this."

"Alright." Vix nodded. The screen flickered. The video became grainy and darkened. "Shall I sign it?"

"Yes." I nodded. Within the grains, two lines appeared. They bent inward at the middle until they crossed over and formed a diamond in the center. An ancient Viking symbol meaning 'where there is a will, there is a way.' The Lexian base would set Cleo to hack the system and repair it. I knew she could, but if she saw this symbol, she would know to leave it. "Thank you, Vix. Now call Cleo."

"Calling," Vix said. I closed the old window as a new one appeared. I turned to the other screen and typed in a new formula for the simulation. Increasing the buffer to ninety percent. "Call connected."