Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
“They should be out by now,” Rehz muttered as he paced the platform outside the portal. “It’s been over a week.”
Kai’s expression looked as grim as Rehz felt. “I agree, but there’s not a fucking lot we can do about it, is there? The government has politely requested their release, and there’s nothing else we can do except threaten to bring in the troops.”
“Which would probably fuck things up entirely.” Rehz’s com bleeped and he read off the screen. “Government has been assured that the arrival of the Tributes at the portal is imminent.”
He walked over to the control panel. “Yeah, finally. Less than sixty seconds until we open that baby up.”
He was more nervous than he’d ever been before. All the trainers could sense it. His fear for Anna Lee was almost unbearable. He’d never forgive himself if she’d died in there, and if she’d survived, she’d never forgive him for what he’d had to put her through. It was a fucking mess.
But if she’d survived, he’d see her through the first few weeks. That was nonnegotiable, even if she did hate his guts. Trainers took care of their own, and she was still his responsibility.
The red lights around the portal flashed, and Rehz set the controls to automatically open the door to reveal the pink-walled space within. He forced himself to wait as the doors finished opening. There was nothing there, but he knew from experience not to panic quite yet.
The far wall shimmered and two curled-up, almost human forms slid out onto the floor like babies being reborn. Rehz waited tensely as the probes and tentacles were retracted and then waited some more as the process was repeated.
“Five,” Kai breathed. “We got five out of fucking six. That’s the best ever.”
“Okay, when the Ungrich retreat, let’s go in and get them out.”
The six of them started forward in a line, trying to identify their naked, slime-covered trainee, but willing to pick up whomever they reached first and carry them out beyond the portal.
Rehz held back, his gaze on the still-undulating walls as his fellow trainers each selected a body and scooped it up, bringing it out onto the steel platform.
“Clear.”
Rehz backed out too, ignoring the pressure in his head as the Ungrich communicated among themselves. Once you’d been in their space, it seemed you never forgot the sound of them, or they you.
“I’m sealing the portal.”
As soon as the doors shut, a crowd of medical personnel, one team for each body, converged on the platform.
Rehz caught a glimpse of blonde hair and went over to the third fetal form, his heart shaking as hard as his knees. He came down beside Anna Lee, barely avoiding the trauma doctor who was hooking her up to a variety of instruments.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes, but she’s weak. I’m giving her nutrition and energy and something to dampen the shock of return. Her heart is racing so hard; I don’t want her to go into cardiac arrest.”
“Good.”
Rehz touched her soaking wet hair with fingers that shook. “Keep her alive, okay?”
“We’ll do our best, Commander. If she survived the Ungrich, she’s a pretty tough female.”
Rehz stood up and looked over to see that Malke was standing to one side, his expression somber. He went across to the man, stepping over the various bodies and the controlled chaos of preparing them for transport to the top-secret military hospital where they could be monitored constantly.
“Trent didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry, Malke.”
His friend’s face twisted. “He was a mouthy, opinionated bastard, but no one deserves to die like that.”
“When we’re able to debrief this group, we’ll find out exactly what happened. Every death helps us understand what we need to avoid when we select the Tributes.”
“I know that it works. It still sucks, though.”
“You did your best. We’ve all been there. You are not at fault.”
Malke patted his arm. “Thanks.”
Rehz stood guard until the five trainees had been loaded into the medical vehicles and taken away, followed by the rest of the trainers. He turned back to the portal to make sure everything was shut down and sent a last message through to the Mitan government and the Ungrich.
“Tributes received.”
There was nothing else to do but go to the hospital and wait.