Page 7 of Bradi

“But my supplies. I need my bag! The injured will need my attention.”

Bradi growled and ran a hand through his long black hair. “Fine. But I’ll grab it. You’re hurt and I need to know you’re somewhere safe. The medic area is pretty damaged. I went their first looking for you before I caught your scent coming from the direction of Peter’s quarters.”

Caught my scent?

She didn’t ask for clarification and she didn’t try to argue more with him about accompanying him. He ran off in the direction of the medic chambers, leaving her standing there. Bradi was the ship’s lieutenant commander and wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone but Peter or the captain himself. She still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to get to his position. He stood in direct opposition of everything the Commission required an officer to look and act like. His hair hung just past his shoulders. He had a goatee, and he gave no regard to the number of times he was reprimanded for drunken brawls while on leave or layovers.

“Marisa!”

“Peter?” She spun around to find Peter racing down the corridor toward her.

He put his hand out and seized hold of hers, pulling her body in a way that made her very aware that Bradi had been right. Her side and her arm were injured. “We need to get you somewhere safe.”

Sparks flew over their heads as the ship’s life support systems began to systematically blow out. Peter slammed into her and took her to the ground. Rolling, he pinned her body beneath him, protecting her from debris. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but didn’t feel okay. Another rumble started and Peter’s eyes widened. “We’ve got to get to the release PODs now.”

The door to the med unit opened just as another explosion went off. Bradi glanced at them as an overhead beam swung down behind him.

Time seemed to slow for Marisa as Peter rolled off her and tackled Bradi to the ground. The beam crashed down onto the men and Marisa pushed up hard and fast to get to them.

Fire shot up around them. “No!”

She kicked the beam with all her might. It moved slightly before wedging itself in the med unit doorway. She covered her mouth as she saw the two men lying lifeless. Holding her hand out above Peter’s back, she closed her eyes and accessed her internal chip.

“Diagnostics.” Instantly, Peter’s vitals appeared. He was still alive, but something was wrong. Moving her hand to the left, she found that his injuries were series. Scanning further, she realized that part of the beam must have struck his head, rendering him unconscious.

A deep moan caught her attention right before another explosion went off, this one shaking the entire corridor. “Pete?”

“Bradi?” Marisa called out as she tried to get the beam off them, but failed.

Dark lines covered Bradi’s face and at first, Marisa feared that he’d suffered burns from the fire. He brought his hand up and wiped his face, removing the soot. As Bradi opened his eyes, Marisa let out a small breath when she found them uninjured.

She put her hand out and went to access her built-in chip again. Bradi shook his head. “I’m fine, baby. Worry about Pete.”

Marisa’s jaw tightened. “You will shut up and allow me to worry about you, too.” She accessed her chip. “Diagnostics.” Running a quick diagnostic test on Bradi, she discovered that aside from a nasty bump on his head and a few minor cuts and bruises, he was fine. The second she felt another headache coming on, Marisa stopped her scan of Bradi.

“I can’t get the beam to budge. I can’t get you out.”

Bradi winked at her again and then stunned her by thrusting the beam off he and Peter like it weighed nothing. She knew it was possible for adrenaline to cause incredible bursts of strength, but she’d never seen it in action before.

Tears of relief burst free from her and she found herself reaching for Bradi, rather than Peter. Bradi came up and off the floor in one fluid motion, lifting her gently as he did. He held her close to him as she shook.

“Pete will be fine,” he said. “We’ll get him to safety.”

“His injuries are severe. I don’t know what equipment will be available at the other site, but Bradi, even with all of it, it might not help.”

“Shh.”

She gave into tears. “I saw the beam about to hit you and I thought it would kill you.”

“Hopeful?” he asked in a light tone, the British accent still there.

She knew he was trying to help the dark mood surrounding them. She cried harder. “Gods no!”

He gave her a gentle hug and she sank against him, feeling dizzy once more. He snarled. “Doc, I can sense how badly you’re hurt.”

“Peter is hurt worse. We need to get him out of here.”

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