Chapter 27: Death Grip — Part 8

“I’m going to need to strap you to a gurney.” Devon explained.

“The beam came down pretty hard. I can’t feel my legs.” She said, panting painfully in her effort to speak. “Hard to breathe.”

“Just relax. Your back is broken. You shattered at least three of your vertebra.”

“Then I’m paralyzed?” The woman, barely a girl in mind, closed her eyes, as if by wishing it, her heart would stop. “I won’t walk again, will I?” She said.

Her left breast had been crushed, and a couple of ribs under it were cracked, but because of the back injury, she had no idea just how much pain she should be in. Only Baron Thomson’s quick action and raw physical strength had saved her from being completely flattened.

“What’s you name?” Devon asked, calmly.

“Bosh, what’s yours?” The young woman asked.

“Devon. We can’t rebuild your vertebra, so other potentials will be studied. Some are a little extreme, others may be out of the question entirely. After you are given all options, you’ll have to consent to one of them, or none, if that is your choice. For now, however, it is best that you let us stabilize you, and keep you out of harm’s way.” As she listened to Devon’s words, Devon moved the girl onto the transport pad. Devon strapped her in, wondering if Susan would agree to allow a crippled girl to take her chances with the Antansi symbiont. Cybernetics, though excellent for replacing a limb, weren’t advanced enough to replace shattered spinal tissues.

“Will you be with me when all this is going on?” Bosh asked, wishing she could take the smaller man’s hand.

“I reckon I could. But why’d you want me there? I’m not a neurological repair specialist.” Devon said, using his gentle ‘curious but kind’ tone.

“The Baron trusts you.” Bosh said.

By the time Devon had gotten her stabilized, the ship was empty of the other crewmembers. Kris carried the castrated man back to the Intrepid, leaving Devon to work alone with the girl. She was talkative and coherent, smart and young. She was scared to the point of babbling. She was stable, but could slip into shock or a coma at a moment’s notice. She was, for the moment, most probably going to live.

Devon smiled, tightening a few straps. “You were the one he got out from under that structural beam, weren’t you.”

“Yeah, I think so. For a scientist, he really knows how to run a ship.” Bosh closed her eyes, starting to tremble a little as the sedative Devon had injected her with took effect. “And he’s so strong.”

“He is a Baron after all.” Devon chuckled.

Pushing the hover pad through the inter-ship connection, he crossed into the cargo hold, which had well spaced cots set up for the crew of the Baron. Devon wondered just how much trouble Vodia and Antans had gotten themselves into. Riley had attacked with no consideration for hidden strengths or weaknesses of the Coalition. She had attacked because she saw an advantage, and Devon knew that she represented Grison’s Cynosure almost as a mirror represents its owner. Grison’s Empire lurked in the shadows of its established territories, like a bomb waiting to go off. Devon checked the cot straps restraining Bosh one more time, and placed a tach-stasis field over her, then turned to Kris, who was headed to the Baron’s ship for a final, desperate look around for any of the missing bodies or survivors that had been lost when the engine room was blown clean out of the ship’s exterior.

Devon stopped Kris in his desperation, pointed him back to the Command Center. “There is nobody else living on this ship Kris. Looking a second time will only delay our departure unnecessarily. Let’s get to Vodia and help the ones still living.” Devon said.

As Kris turned and went into the command center of the Intrepid, Devon began studying Bosh’s body closely, trying to determine just how much damage had been done.

Jerem observed the girl as keeping out of Devon’s way as he worked the wounds to ensure that she would survive the trip. “Her back’s broken, and her ribs too. Have you spoken to her of the various options.”

“Just that she’ll have some tough decisions to make.” Devon said.

The Baron called out to him, having heard Devon’s voice.

Devon sat down next to him, “Yes, Baron?”

“What will become of my ship?” He asked, the confused emotion in his voice a little unreadable.

“It is completely unrecoverable, Baron. But Susan’s promised to pick up the wreckage and will be waiting for you when you get ready to leave Vodia.”

The Baron paused, taken aback. “I just don’t want the remains to get into Grison’s hands.” He paused, still distracted. “My crew. What’s their status?”

“You have three dead, two in critical condition, and the rest are stable. We’ll need a roster to confirm those lost in the explosion. Except the more serious cases, they should all be healed and ready to leave for home within three or four weeks.”

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