Page 23 of Caldar
Venturing further down the maintenance duct revealed the general neglect of the ship. Exposed wires hung from the ceiling. Smudged fingerprints, dirt, and other filth coated control panels, rendering them next to useless. The dim lighting could be due to an unstable power source or just a byproduct of Suhlik preferring low-light environments. He had never seen a Suhlik ship in such poor condition. The more he saw, the more he was convinced this was not part of the Suhlik invasion fleet but a rogue ship.
The tunnel branched. Caldar took the path most likely to lead him to a communication hub.
Voices drifted through the ventilation system. Caldar held still, listening to two males chatter.
“Back on duty?”
“I never left.”
“That is two shifts.”
The two males grumbled about the lack of down time. That was interesting but not what Caldar wanted to know.
“How many specimens did we scoop up this time?”
“Not enough. The doctor goes through them too quickly.”
“We would have acquired more if someone had held fire on the ship. Once the shields were down, continuing to fire was wasteful.”
The two voices murmured in agreement.
“We recovered emergency pods in the debris. Hopefully, that will sate the doctor’s thirst.”
The voices drifted away, leaving Caldar to turn over what they disclosed.
That was interesting. The presence of a doctor collecting specimens pointed to this being not a warship but a research vessel.
For the first time since the first missile struck the cruise ship, Caldar felt that he could triumph in this situation. He had always felt confident that he and Sonia would survive, but the survival of the other passengers had been in question. He had many skills, but he could not pull a miracle from a blackhole.
He could not do this alone.
After removing another ventilation covering, he climbed into an unoccupied room with a comm link. The unit had a security panel, but it was nothing he could not bypass with time.
A door opened.
“What are you doing—”
Caldar did not allow the male to finish his statement. The pry bar applied liberally to the jaw made sure of that. The unconscious male fell to the floor, and Caldar returned his attention to the comm link.
He was unsure who to contact.
A pragmatic male, he collected favors. A debt owed was another type of resource, after all, and favors were so wonderfully flexible. They could be anything and collected at any time. However, the list of those who owed him an outstanding favor who could help in this particular situation was short.
Extremely short.
Perhaps Relyn, the foundling Caldar adopted. Relyn had matured into a skilled male. Caldar would be glad to see Relyn again and to have him at his side.
Doubt crept in. Despite Relyn’s skills, this was a Suhlik warship. Relyn was one male, and Caldar’s injury impaired his ability to fight. Additionally, Relyn was no medic. If Sonia or another of the passengers required medical attention, the best he would be able to do would be to rummage through a med kit and hope for the best.
Unacceptable.
His own medical needs were a distant concern. While he had exaggerated his innate healing capability, his injury would heal. His body would push out the foreign matter. Eventually. He had told Sonia that it would be a matter of rest and perhaps a day of recovery.
Lies. The process would take weeks without a medic. Healing slowed as a warrior aged. Now that he was into his second century, he noticed that he tired quicker and recovered slower. It was frustrating.
Caldar should count himself fortunate that the Suhlik had not known about his presence on the ship. They had been equipped to capture civilians. If they had suspected a Mahdfel of being on board, they would have used different munitions with toxins designed to permanently injure a warrior.
As inconvenient as it was, Caldar had been struck with an ordinary projectile. It would heal in time and not even leave a scar.
