17. Chapter 17
Marissa had been moved to a dark room with a soft bed to recover. They”d offered to take her boots off and she refused. Everything in her body hurt and she couldn”t imagine how much worse it could be if Cooper hadn”t intervened. At least half of the muscle aches were from her body curling up to try and protect itself from a pain that didn”t have an origin.
Ae-cha had reached inside her mind and tried to pull out…something.
Whatever it was, Marissa was sure she wasn”t actually trying for information. The attack had been too blunt for that. Or Ae-cha didn”t know how to be anything but blunt. If that method had worked on other women in the past, they had to have come out more damaged than they started. Or they hadn”t been trying to hang on to whatever Ae-cha was trying to remove.
Because one of the few things Marissa had done instinctively was hold on to whatever she was pulling on as tightly as she could. It had felt like she”d gripped a piece of her soul and yanked. And if Marissa had let go, she would have been letting go of her will to live.
It should have frightened her to realize that it was part of her bond with Cooper but it didn”t. She felt safe knowing it was there, that he was on the other side of it, and she could reach out for him whenever she wanted.
He seemed to need reassurance that she was still there as often as she did because she felt him in the back of her mind every few minutes. Forming words took too much energy but she could acknowledge he was there and how she felt with half a thought and he sent back his own warm and fuzzy feelings.
There were few things about this place that would qualify for the description of warm or fuzzy. Her recovery room was cold and looked like it had been carved into the wall of a cave. Which, to be fair, is probably what had happened. It wasn”t sound proof and, as she relaxed and let her mind float, she could hear the movements in the corridor beyond the door.
Soft voices, carrying half conversations, went with different types of footsteps. The soft hum of some kind of ventilation was so pervasive, she wasn”t sure if she was actually hearing it at first. It created just enough noise that she couldn”t make out actual words when people were talking outside her door and she wondered if there was a duct into the room or if it was outside in the hall.
Every effort she made to move sent her muscles into paroxysms of pain so Marissa laid on her bed very quietly and listened.
Time moved strangely with no way to see how many hours or minutes had passed, though Cooper seemed to check in regularly. Her body wanted her to sleep but she couldn”t. Every time she started to drift, her mind would remind her about the enemies outside her door, and she would strain to hear what the voices were saying.
I can feel your fatigue,Cooper whispered into her mind.
I want to sleep,she admitted. But I can”t. Not yet.
Rest. I will keep them occupied and wake you when they leave here.
What if someone else comes in?
I”ve got the watch, he told her.
She believed him. She wasn”t sure how or why but she trusted him to do what he said he would do. When the welcome wave of sleep washed over her, she could feel him holding her and keeping her safe.
Marissa, you need to wake up.
Cooper”s voice in her head roused her from a dream about the loudest and most off tempo drum line she”d ever encountered. The noise followed her into the waking world and she realized it wasn”t drums she was hearing, it was the rhythmic thump of far-off timed explosives.
Her first reaction was a grin before rolling off the cot she”d been sleeping on. It was a struggle to push herself to her feet but the knowledge of what was coming kept her moving. Every muscle in her body protested and she knew she was going to pay for it later but Major Ozark had a mission and a duty.
They”ve left here and I think some of them are on their way to you, Cooper warned her. They”re not happy about the explosions.
They”re going to be less happy about what comes next, Marissa said, her teeth bared in something resembling a smile.
A check of the door confirmed it was locked and she started looking around the room. The only light was the small patch coming in the door but she didn”t need more than that to see that the only thing in there was the cot she”d been sleeping on.
She expected it to be an alien design and was surprised to discover it was the same cot that could be found at outdoor stores all over the world. It folded down to be more compact and was notorious for the corners not fitting together completely.
A quick check along the edges found a seam that wasn”t welded together so she sat and braced her foot against one leg and pulled on the side. It came apart with a screech and a pop and the rest of the corners let go without the tension holding it all together. She slid the square aluminum tube out of the fabric sheath holding it and tested its weight.
It was far from an ideal weapon but she felt better being armed.
As the sound of suppressed weapons got closer, Marissa had a thought and reached out to Cooper.
You need to look human, she told him.
That”s going to be a problem, he said and she could hear some of the strain in his voice. Some of the pain he”d been hiding leaked through and she understood what he”d been going through while she”d been resting and recovering.
Try to not look like a combatant.Marissa did her best to send him an image of what he needed to do and what would happen when their rescuers got to them.
She could hear people rushing past her door and she gripped the metal pole while she waited to see who would open her door first. The gunfire was slowing down enough that she could make out the groupings of four shots as they got closer.
Shouted instructions to get down were followed by screeching pleas for mercy that Marissa couldn”t help but take some sense of satisfaction in. She could just make out someone shouting her name and ”over there” before something hit the door.
Certain it was her rescue and not one of her captors, Marissa dropped the bar and laid down with her hands covering her head where they could see her as soon as they opened the door. She hoped they”d kick it in but on the off chance they had to blow it open, she wanted to minimize her chances of getting hit with shrapnel.
A few more solid thumps had the door bursting open with bits of the door frame flying into the room.
”Major Ozark?” one of the men asked.
Marissa lifted her hands and raised her head to answer. ”I”m here.”
They rushed into the room and she felt a knot in her chest loosen when she recognized them. Sergeant Burke pulled her into a sitting position while Major Lafferty started asking her questions and the medic checked her for injuries.
”What”s your name?”
”Major Marissa Ozark.”
”High school mascot?”
”Miners.”
”What”s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?”
”African or European?” Sergeant Burke swallowed a grin and Major Lafferty nodded.
”Can you walk?”
”I”m willing to try,” she said, and let the men behind her pull her arms back and into a set of restraints. It wasn”t personal, it was procedure, and she was doing her best to be helpful. ”We need to get Cooper.”
She could still feel him in the back of her mind but she couldn”t focus enough to talk to him and he wasn”t helping.
”Cooper”s the one that grabbed you?”
”It was a cultural miscommunication and I had talked him into coming back to base with me when we were taken prisoner. There should be a record of the call.”
The Commander nodded and two of the men guarding the door took off while they pulled her to her feet. Every ache and bruise made itself known as they started to move out the door and down the corridor. Nobody was around to try and stop them aside from the robed bodies that lay where they”d fallen and Marissa knew they wouldn”t be getting up again.
She heard the shouting down one of the halls before Cooper contacted her.
I don”t think they”re happy carrying me, he said wryly.
Marissa tried to turn her head to see what was going on but stumbled forward instead.
”Burke,” Major Lafferty snapped.
”On it, boss,” Sergeant Burke said before he spun her around and lifted her over his shoulder without missing a step.
”Damn, Burke, try not to make me lose my lunch,” Marissa protested when her stomach hit his shoulder.
”You puke on me, I”m making you do my laundry for a month,” he retorted.
They turned a corner into an opening that looked like it had just been installed via explosives and plunged into a corridor lit almost entirely by the lights they were carrying.
”What was wrong with using the front door?” she asked.
”Our key didn”t work,” Burke answered. ”Thought we”d do them a favor and make a new one.”
Major Ozark had a million questions but sat on her urge to ask. She”d find out what happened once they were out of danger. If she ever found out. There”d been a strange lack of suppressed fire on their way out and she wondered if they were running into an ambush.
All the lights went out and she fought the scream rising in her throat. The bouncing lights as they ran though the series of caves had been eerie and nauseating but the sudden absence of anything had her fighting to get away.
Sergeant Burke dropped her and she landed on her hip and shoulder, her arms screaming in agony behind her. She struggled to her feet, certain she wasn”t screaming, but terrified of the frantic panting she could hear echoing off the walls around her.
Strong hands grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet while someone called her name.
Marissa.
Cooper”s voice rolled through her brain like a cool breeze and she could breathe again.
”Talk to me, Major Ozark,” Major Lafferty was saying inches from her face. ”We”re almost out, are you hurt?”
She shook her head and gulped. ”I”m fine, Sam. Get me out of here.”
He turned her and propelled her forward, his hand holding her bicep to keep her moving in the right direction, and suddenly they were running into the brightest lights she”d ever seen. Her feet hit a metal ramp that started moving while her eyes adjusted to their surroundings.
”Why are we on a space ship?” she asked.
”Some of our allies offered to help retrieve you,” Sam told her. ”Is it going to be a problem if we keep you separated from Cooper while we get back to the base?”
”I don”t think so,” she said.
”Good,” he said, and stopped next to an open doorway. ”Your accommodations, ma”am.”
Marissa stepped inside and looked around. ”What, did you retrofit a closet?”
”Yep,” Sam said. ”You”ll want to be seated when we take off but I”ve been assured they can put you back together if you try and make a run for it.”
The door closed and Marissa snorted. She wanted to demand they remove her restraints but knew it wouldn”t do any good. If they”d had somewhere secure to debrief her, they probably would have taken them off after they”d confirmed she hadn”t been turned. A space ship, even one operated by an ally, maybe especially one operated by an ally, wasn”t exactly secure.
With a sigh, she got as comfortable as she could and tried to get in touch with Cooper.