Mateer Read online

  The air was clearer here and he exhaled, then drew in more oxygen.

  Shouts from his flank alerted him to danger, and he wheeled as Jordah and his squad ran into view, firing wildly. He targeted the captain first but wasn’t sure he’d managed to hit the man, as smoke swirled. A blast came too close to hitting him and he sought cover. He needed to get to Megan, who’d gone silent, but he couldn’t leave Jordah alive at his six as a continuing threat. Slinging the pulse rifle, Mateer took another deep breath, testing the air, searching the captain’s scent. Pinpointing the location with difficulty due to the smoke, he moved silently and low to just short of the place where the Khagrish was waiting to ambush him.

  Talons out, Mateer launched himself at the three men, all but decapitating the one closest to him.

  Swearing in Khagrish, a blood spattered Jordah retreated, pulse rifle aimed at Mateer’s gut. Reaching out, Mateer grabbed the third man and held him as a shield, deflecting Jordah’s next shots. The captain bolted in the opposite direction. Flinging away the body he was now holding, Mateer sprinted after him, closing the gap with ease and bringing his enemy to the floor with a single leap.

  Jordah had a knife and managed to get in one swipe along Mateer’s ribs before the Badari clawed his heart out, saying contemptuously, “You’ll never touch my mate again.”

  Fighting against the blood fury he was in after vanquishing Jordah, he rose and moved through the main corridor. Megan? What’s the situation? I’m nearly there.

  I’ve been giving him as much trouble as I could until he threatened to drug me. He’s copied a bunch of files from his AI interface and now we’re heading for the landing field. Hurry!

  Are you still near the medlab?

  Yes.

  Mateer burst through the doors of the medlab complex and stopped short. He was facing Lampergg and Dregsorm with Megan sandwiched between them. The scientist had evidently been preparing to flee through the very door Mateer had come through. Lampergg retreated a few feet, keeping his hold on Megan’s arm.

  “You can’t get out of here,” Mateer said, aiming his pulse rifle at the scientist. “My people hold the landing field.”

  “I’m not an idiot in these matters. I have a private flyer in a camouflaged annex,” Lampergg said. “Which is where I’m going. Stand aside, 802.”

  “Not with my mate, you’re not.”

  “Give him the woman,” Dregsorm urged, tugging at Lampergg’s arm. “He’ll let us go if we surrender her.”

  Lampergg studied Mateer, his gaze lingering on the Badari’s arm. “No bracelet, eh? Too bad. I’d love to take both of you with me. My finest experiment.” He sighed and gave Dregsorm a contemptuous glance. “You’re a fool—if the Badari get their claws on me, they’ll tear me apart. And treat you the same way no doubt. These animals have no sense of justice, no concept of science. She’s my best insurance of escaping alive, unlike my late colleague Cwamla, slaughtered at her lab.” He dragged Megan with him as he retreated toward another exit located beyond the lab bays.

  Suddenly Dregsorm blundered between his boss and Megan, tearing her loose from the scientist’s hold. She fell to the floor as the two Khagrish flailed at each other briefly.

  Megan crawled toward Mateer, who launched himself in her direction, placing himself between her and the two Khagrish.

  Lampergg released the lab tech, shoving him aside.

  “I helped you,” the lab tech said to Mateer, eyes wide and pleading. “Please let us go.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t. You’re both guilty of committing unspeakable acts against my people and hers. I’ll have to hold you for my alpha. I’ll speak for leniency for you.”

  Lampergg smiled. “I told you it was no use,” he said to Dregsorm. One-handed he yanked open his lab coat, to reveal a device strapped to his chest. “I wanted to take as many of you mangy animals with me as I could, if my escape was cut off. You and your mate will do.”

  “Bomb!” Dregsorm grappled with his boss again, perhaps in a vain attempt to remove or disarm the explosive device.

  Lampergg triggered the bomb. Mateer flung himself on top of Megan, and she’d barely begun to process the pain from where her elbows and head hit the floor, with his weight on top of her, when there was a deafening noise, a flash of intense heat and a shock wave. She thought she must have blacked out, and when she regained consciousness, she was pinned under Mateer. Disoriented and confused, she turned her head and saw what was left of Lampergg sitting against the wall, head bent at an impossible angle, chest ripped open. Dregsorm lay in a similar state a few feet away, obviously dead. Debris littered the floor and flames licked at the walls.

  She pushed at Mateer. “You can let me up now.” He didn’t respond, and she stared stupidly at her hand covered in blood before frantically wriggling out from under him. He was bleeding from a number of wounds, and she could see pieces of shrapnel from the explosion embedded in his back. “Lords of Space.” After a rapid assessment, she ran into the nearest medlab, hoping to find bandages to staunch the bleeding from the worst wounds, but she knew he must have internal injuries as well.

  If she could get him into one of the medlabs, she could use the equipment to help him. She’d seen enough while she was Lampergg’s prisoner to have confidence the Khagrish stocked the right tools and supplies for her to do effective surgery. Taking a deep breath, Megan tried to rouse Mateer, to no avail. She couldn’t move him either, as he was so much larger and heavier than she was. Trying to drag him by one arm, she was able to move him only a few inches.

  Wiping away tears, she looked around frantically but uncovered nothing she could use to get him into a medical bay. She couldn’t operate on him while he lay on the unsanitary floor in the middle of a fire.

  The staccato sound of pulse rifles firing caught her attention. She steepled her fingers at her temples and closed her eyes to focus. How do you contact someone you’d never met? Remembering Mateer had told her the entire pack could hear her if she didn’t think specifically of him first, she let loose a mental yell.

  Hey! Hey you, Aydarr!

  A cool, deep voice answered. Megan? We’re fighting our way into the complex and will be there soon. Stay put.

  I need help now—Mateer’s injured and he’s going to die if I can’t operate. Send us help. She let all her frustration and fear pour into her demand.

  Silence. She leaned against the wall, trying to quell the shaking in her limbs.

  Where are you in the complex? The alpha’s tone was calm in her head.

  Medical, on the west side. There’s been an explosion—we’re in the debris field. Lampergg blew himself up rather than be taken alive. There’s a fire, but we’re not in imminent danger from the flames.

  Sending a squad, hold on, Megan.

  And the link closed.

  “Great.” Although she hated to leave Mateer, Megan forced herself to push through the mess again, bypassing the first medical bay where she’d found bandages. The room was full of dust and debris and not any better for doing surgery than the floor where he lay. “Nothing here will be usable.” Returning to what was left of the hall, she did a rapid check of Mateer’s condition then worked her way into the next bay down. This one hadn’t been affected by the localized blast.

  Running back to Mateer, she heard shouts, her name and his. “Here, we’re here,” she yelled as loudly as she could, not pausing as she tried to stop the blood loss.

  A group of four Badari worked their way through the debris. The soldiers were armed to the teeth. One man fell to his knees next to her and reached for Mateer. Instinctively, she blocked his hand. “Hey, this is my patient. I just need help getting him into the medical bay.”

  “I’m Timtur, the Badari healer. I want to assess his condition. We heal rapidly, you know.”

  Recognizing the name from something Mateer had once said, she moved aside grudgingly. “Yes, I’m well aware of your amazing recovery times, but he can’t heal from so many internal injuries with pieces of shrapnel inside his body. I need to operate. I’m a doctor.”

  A faint green glow emanated from Timtur’s hands. “I’m trying to stabilize him.” He yelled over his shoulder. “Reede, Pratym, we need help getting Mateer into the medlab.”

  One of the other warriors came and, between them, the two Badari managed to carry Mateer to the lab Megan indicated. She gave them crisp instructions for getting his clothes off and bathing the wounds with disinfected instruments while she cleaned her own hands and assembled the medical supplies she needed.

  “I can’t stay.” The one named Reede peered inside the medlab. “Jamokan says the remaining Khagrish forces are trying to break through here, maybe in an attempt to rescue Lampergg or recapture the two of you as bargaining chips. Pratym and I are needed on the perimeter.”

  “Go then,” Megan said, already making an incision and preparing to extract a jagged piece of shrapnel. “Timtur, if you’re going to stay and assist, suction the blood from the wound with the device at my elbow. Mateer’s got no time to waste.”

  Timtur did as ordered, then started an intravenous line to provide fluids.

  “How much training have you had?” Megan asked as she concentrated on retrieving the next piece of metal perforating what seemed to be Mateer’s equivalent of a liver. She could suture then and move on to the next most critical area.

  “The Khagrish taught me the rudiments of battlefield care,” he said. “Other things I just…know.”

  “The ancestral memory?” Megan concentrated on the operating field, continuing her rapid efforts to save Mateer. “Damn, this vessel’s a major bleeder. Suction, dammit.”

  “You work fast.” Timtur sounded admiring as he assisted her, responding immediately to her detailed instructions.

  “I have to or his tissues will heal but try to encapsulate the jagged shrapnel and tear open again, which isn’t a viable situation.” She surveyed Mateer’s lower back and began the delicate work of removing fragments and repairing the damage to the highest priority area. “Hey, if your power enhances healing, can you use it to slow his tissue regeneration speed a bit for me? I’m fighting a losing battle here.”

  “I’ve never tried hindering the process.” Timtur sounded dubious. “Let me see what I can do.” Carefully, he placed his hands on Mateer’s shoulder, where he wouldn’t be in Megan’s way, and the faint green glow reflected over the healer, Mateer and herself.

  Reede stuck his head in. “The facility is secure, and we’re evacuating the humans now. Gabe’s team is flying them to the valley in shifts. The mop up squad is moving through the complex without encountering opposition, and the salvage team is working like demons to save what we can use. Aydarr wants to know how much longer?”

  Megan was glad the alpha hadn’t contacted her directly. She didn’t want any distractions. “I’ll be closing the incision here in about ten more minutes. He needs a blood transfusion before we move him—he lost a lot of blood.” She eyed Timtur. “You have any idea who among your pack would be a safe donor?”

  “Any of us. We’re all the same blood type. That I can do for you, doctor.”

  Timtur stepped aside to locate the proper equipment and began work to prep for the blood transfusion.

  Reede strode into the medlab. “Aydarr says MARL detects incoming, should be here in half an hour or less. The Khagrish authorities must have decided it was time to try a counterattack. We’re going to have to move Mateer in ten minutes, max.”

  Megan cursed but kept working. She was closing now, hopeful she’d managed to extract the shrapnel and suture the worst of the wounds. Mateer’s Badari physiology was going to have to do the rest. “He has to have blood. Go ahead and do the transfusion prep, Timtur, and we’ll move him while he’s hooked up to the donor. Not the best choice but we’re out of time, apparently.”

  She made the last gesture with the suturing apparatus and stepped away. “He’s all yours for the moment,” she said to Timtur, who remained intent on what he was doing. “I’ll go scrounge an antigrav litter.”

  “Already procured for you, doc,” said Reede. “Right here. We’ll move him when you give the word. Aydarr’s on his way to us.”

  Feeling superfluous now her work was done, Megan stepped aside so the Badari could move Mateer onto the stretcher while maintaining the flow of blood from Timtur to her mate. This was one surgical patient she was not going to walk away from after the procedures were completed, not ever.

  Trembling from delayed reaction, Megan wobbled and searched for a better place to sit than the floor.

  “Hey, doc, you look a bit pale,” said a new voice as she was caught in strong arms and carried to a chair. “Do we need a litter for you as well?”

  “I—I can walk. I need to monitor Mateer. I can’t afford to be down for the count—his vitals are stabilized, but he could crash if I missed anything.” She frowned, realizing the voice was familiar. “You’re Aydarr?”

  “Indeed I am and pleased to meet you, although I wish the circumstances were better.” He laid a hand on her shoulder as she attempted to rise. “The litter is coming.”

  “I said I didn’t need—” She glanced at his face and fell silent, mesmerized by the golden glow of his eyes. Not arguing with this guy. What did Mateer say? Dominant over everyone else? I wonder how Jill handles him?

  “Mateer would never forgive me if I didn’t take proper care of you while he was out of action,” the alpha said with a disarming smile. “Your sister would give me even more grief.”

  “Ready to move,” Reede said.

  Two Badari soldiers guided the litter holding Mateer into the corridor. Timtur walked beside his packmate, still donating blood, braced by another Badari male she didn’t know, who was even bigger than Mateer.

  “Be sure we take a few bags of the infusions as well, in case we have to administer any meds or do a hydration on the flight,” she said. Timtur waved a hand to acknowledge the order. “I have to be with my mate.” She pushed to her feet, Aydarr’s hand under her elbow. “He needs me.”

  “Humor me? Ride a litter to the flyer,” Aydarr said. “We can move faster.” Without waiting for her consent, he lifted her into a stretcher held in place by another soldier. “Stay down and hang on.”

  She closed her eyes and clutched the side rails as the litter lurched into motion. Her exit from the Khagrish lab was a blur as she was bundled into a flyer idling on the landing pad, which took off straight up even before she’d been placed in a seat.

  Aydarr and Reede exchanged glances and laughed. “Gabe can’t help himself—he flies this thing like it was a fighter.”

  “I thought you said there was incoming,” Megan reminded them. “I applaud this Gabe person’s sense of urgency.” She shoved past them unceremoniously so she could reach the bow of the craft and check on Mateer. Reaching for his hand, automatically taking his pulse and finding it strong, she leaned over and brushed a kiss on his forehead. “His color is better,” she said to Timtur. “On the other hand, maybe I’d better take your vital signs because you don’t look well. Are you having dizziness? Any nausea?”

  “I used a lot of energy on the healing and giving the blood.” But Timtur’s face bore lines of exhaustion, and there were circles under his eyes. “I’m Badari – I’ll recover fast. No need to check my vitals.”

  Megan sank into the empty seat next to the healer. She tried to reach Mateer through the telepathic link, encountering nothing but formless mist. I’m here, she said anyway. You saved me. Now don’t you dare die!

  Timtur smothered a grin and hastily averted his eyes hastily as she directed her attention at him again. Megan figured she’d forgotten to broadcast to just Mateer, but she was too tired to care. Craning over her shoulder to find Aydarr, she said, “Where’s Jill? And Lily?”

  “I ordered Jill to withdraw to the valley once the initial assault was concluded, and we didn’t need MARL’s support as much.” Aydarr moved closer to her. “Under protest, I might add. Your sister is a tough warrior, but I can’t risk her ever being recaptured by the Khagrish.”

  “I met Gahzhing. He’s a scary guy, not entirely sane, if you ask me.” Megan shivered.

  “Are any of them sane?” Reede asked rhetorically. “Could sane people do the things they do to us? To you humans?”

  “No argument from me,” Megan answered. “Gahzhing is definitely holding a grudge, though, so you’re wise to try to keep Jill off the front lines as much as possible. And Lily?”

  “Your twin isn’t a fighter—no criticism intended—so she remained at the valley as usual. She’s in charge of the school for the cubs. Your sisters can’t wait to see you.” Aydarr gave her hand a reassuring pat.

  “I feel like I just saw them yesterday, back on Amarcae 7, but of course that’s crazy—I was in stasis and so much has happened here. And then the whole experience with Mateer.” She accepted a container of water from Reede with murmured thanks and drank. It was a bit overwhelming to be in this flyer with five men the size of Mateer, plus her mate lying on his grav litter across a row of seats. Tentatively, she tried the telepathic link to him, but he was still deeply unconscious.

  Timtur caught her eye and smiled. “I’m monitoring him—he’s doing fine.”

  “Will I ever learn to do the telepathy trick without all of you hearing me?” she asked.

  “Of course,” Aydarr said. “Our cubs learn at an early age so I’m sure you can master it. I wanted to thank you for everything you did for Mateer.”

  “Well, of course, he saved my life, he’s my mate. And I’m a doctor.”

  “I’ve never known him to be so happy as he’s been over you, and the child to come,” the alpha said. “Truly an amazing series of occurrences. The fact the Khagrish set the events in motion can’t be allowed to detract from the happiness. Do you disagree?”

  Megan thought he was making a veiled reference to her earlier doubts about Mateer and herself, but she chose not to address the topic. Her relationship and impending motherhood were her own business. Although she realized what it must mean to the Badari in terms of hope for their future to know she was carrying a half-Badari baby, conceived the old fashioned way.

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