Page 191 of Pets in Space 10

Kari couldn’t find Luka. She stood in the middle of the station frantically searching for any sight of him. Men in gray battled those in orange. Alarms sounded overhead.

Another vessel entered the bay, the ramp coming down before it completed landing protocols. USF officers raced from the open door, weapons drawn. Behind them, walking at a slower pace, medals gleaming on the chest of his black and gold uniform was a face she’d recognize anywhere.

A command rang out through the station speakers. “Halt by order of the United Space Fleet!”

The fighting stopped in unison. The armed USF soldiers moved quickly and cuffed the combatants.

“Admiral on deck,” someone yelled.

She ran over and stopped abruptly to salute. “Admiral, sir.”

His brown eyes gleamed with relief and the lines of his shoulders lowered so slight only someone who knew him well would have noted the tell.

“Lieutenant Ma’are, your team reported you missing.

Per protocol, your tracker was activated and vital signs began transmitting.

Unfortunately, both ceased working before we arrived. ”

She blinked, fighting back her tears at the terror he had to experience with her disappearance and then her tracker failing. The same would have happened to her if she’d received a similar message regarding his disappearance. “I’m well as you can see, sir.”

He offered a clipped nod, but she didn’t miss the softening of his cheeks as he shifted his gaze. She followed his glance. Everyone was on their knees, hands cuffed behind their backs with the USF soldiers guarding them.

She searched for one dark head in particular. Scurrying across the floor, Zsusa headed for her with leaping bounds intermixed with a limp. Alarm whipped through her. Where was Luka?

Zsusa leaped into her arms, the gathos’ keening cry painful to hear as she huddled against Kari’s chest. She nuzzled the shivering animal and whispered, “Where’s Luka?”

Instead of answering, Zsusa attempted to burrow under her shirt and released a forlorn wail telepathically. Holding the shaking bundle close, Kari took a step in the direction she’d last seen Luka.

“Kari, where are you going?” her father asked, forgetting to use her title in public.

She scanned the area and her gaze fell on a dark form laying on the ground. A USF soldier kneeled next to him with a white medic case. Panic took over and she rushed toward them. “What’s wrong with him?”

Blood covered Luka, saturating his shirt and pooling around him. The soldier didn’t answer as he worked. Her father came to stand next to her. “These are members of the Rudurian and Atoro. I recognize a few faces. Are they the ones who held you?”

There was no missing the strum of violence in his voice.

This wasn’t just an admiral’s anger, it was a father’s wrath at those who’d taken his daughter.

She dropped to Luka’s side, her free hand hovering over his still body.

She glanced at the soldier injecting him with something. “Is he…is he going to be alright?”

Not glancing up, the soldier shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m getting some weird readings on the medical scanner. He needs immediate attention. More than I can do for him here.”

A knot lodged in her throat. She stroked Zsusa beneath her shirt, hoping to soothe both of them.

“Lieutenant, you will explain yourself. Report to the Aranea immediately.” Her father turned on his heels and marched away, calling out, “Place all of these men in detainment while we investigate the abduction of a USF fleet member.”

Two hours later, showered and in uniform, Kari worked to coax the gathos hiding under her bed to come out.

Zsusa had dodged straight there once in her room and hadn’t ventured out.

No amount of cajoling had convinced the feline to reveal herself.

Kari wouldn’t be so worried if not for the continuous whimpers and cries the animal hadn’t stopped making.

“Come on, sweetie. Don’t you want to see your…master?” she grimaced as she knelt near the foot of the bed.

‘No master,’ Zsusa wailed telepathically.

Kari stilled. What did Zsusa mean? Had Luka died?

Before she could process the thought, images flashed through her head. Luka on the ground. Zsusa attacking Gubu’s men. She studied the rapidly moving replay of events Zsusa shared, unable to believe the damage the animal did. Men were left a bloody mess, trying to catch the gathos.

None of it answered her question. She’d tried to reach her father, but his aid insisted he was busy and couldn’t meet with her until later. “Zsusa, is Luka alright?”

In response, the wails increased in volume. The sound hurt Kari’s heart. The animal clearly mourned the man who’d acted as a parent for her and nothing Kari did seemed to ease the grief.

Pushing back her own fear, she sat on her heels, hummed under her breath a lullaby her dad sang when she was little. She unwrapped the meat stick she’d taken from her food storage bin and waved it in the air a few times to entice, but nothing. With a sigh, she set the stick on the floor.

“I’ll be back, Zsusa.” Firming her lips, she rose. She needed to get to the medic center. Enough time had passed and someone had to know what happened to Luka. Thinking of something he’d shared about the gathos, she added, “Please don’t tear up my room.”

The repair crew would flip if they had to undo damage from claws and teeth. At the door, she keyed the lock and made her way down the hall with brisk strides. The infirmary was two levels below.

She arrived to white clad figures working in an orderly fashion.

Three doors lined the hall on the left and an attendant sat behind a circular desk at the front.

She approached the man and waited until he looked up to speak.

“I’m here to see one of the prisoners from the attack on the Pega station. ”

The man picked up a tablet and asked, “Do you have a name? Most of them aren’t allowed visitors and are pending a video trial for sentencing.”

“Luka Bashir,” she said.

His eyes widened. “I’m sorry, that patient is flagged. You’ll need approval to see him.”

She clenched her fists at her side and leaned forward. “Are there charges for Bashir?”

He stuttered, the tablet trembling in his fingers. “Th-th-there are charges for all of them—assault, destruction of property, abduction of a fleet officer.”

“I’m the fleet officer.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest. “I also know Luka had nothing to do with my abduction. As for assault, any video footage will show self-defense. Destruction of property is no fault. So, either you let me in to see him or I notify the admiral who I know is onboard now.”

Rarely did she use her father’s name for power, but in this instance, she’d do anything to see Luka.

“Let me check with the medic assigned to his case.”

Moments later, a tall man with blond hair, amber colored eyes and a frown approached. “Lieutenant Ma’are, glad to see you well after your experience.”

She nodded. “I’m here to see one of the patients brought in.”

“I know.” He sighed. “Bashir is listed as a high-profile individual of interest.”

She started to argue when he held up a hand. “I’m happy to let you see him, but I must warn, he hasn’t regained consciousness.”

That wasn’t something she expected. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Follow me.” He gestured at her and moved toward the second door in the hall. As he opened it, he murmured, “As to what’s wrong with him—we aren’t exactly sure.”

Pulse racing, she went inside the room and went straight toward the bed and the lone figure laying there. Luka rested on white sheets, chest bare and arms at his sides.

Seeing him like this brought a surge of anguish. During the time they were together, he was a force to be reckoned with. Now, he lay unmoving. Tentatively, she reached out and stroked his hand closest to her. His fingers twitched and her gaze flew to the medic.

“He responds to physical stimuli, but his vitals are slowly failing. His wounds are healed, yet we can’t decipher the reason for his decline.”

She stared at the pale features relaxed in repose and her brows drew together. “Blood.”

“What?” the medic asked.

“His race needs blood to survive.” Adrenaline spiked and she knew she was right. Confusion twisted the medic’s brows and his gaze narrowed. She didn’t care what he thought. Straightening her shoulders, she dropped Luka’s hand and faced the medic. “Get him blood now.”

Drawing a deep breath, he exhaled slowly. “As his assigned medic, I’ll order the transfusion but don’t get your hopes up, Lieutenant. His blood volume was fine, his labs and panels all came back in range.”

After he left, she drew a chair close to Luka and clasped his limp hand in hers. She leaned forward and whispered, “Zsusa’s alright. She’s in my room and I won’t let any harm come to her.”

His lack of response chilled her. If there was anything he’d respond to, it would be the welfare of the kit he’d raised. She sat in silence. Techs came in and out. One connected lines to the port running into the back of his hand. Blood flowed in a steady stream.

Minutes past and the monitors remained the same. The door opened and the medic returned. She held her breath. He shook his head and she blew out a breath roughly.

“It has to be that. He…” she broke off and recalled the method Luka had taken blood from her before. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Do you mind if I sit with him a little longer?”

“You have fifteen minutes. A message came from the admiral himself to remind you of your meeting with him on the officer’s deck.”

“Right. Thank you.”

The moment the door closed behind him, she stood up and climbed into the bed with Luka, careful not to jostle him. She hovered over his prone body and said, “You need to take my blood.”

She pressed her wrist to his mouth and his unmoving lips brought tears to her eyes.

Holding back a sob, she scrambled to her feet and frantically searched the room.

An opened container filled with blades rested on a counter.

Hurrying over, she opened one of the sealed packets and withdrew a three-inch sharp.

If she thought about what she was about to do, she’d hesitate. With a slash of the blade over her wrist, she winced and ran back to the bed, her hand smashed to Luka’s mouth. Blood ran in trickles down the side of his jaw into the creases of his neck.

Unsure what else to do, she begged, “Please, Luka. Drink.”

Just when she thought her efforts were for naught, light suction pinched at her skin. She held her breath to see if she’d imagined it. Another draw and his mouth sealed over the cut she made as he sucked firmly.

Laughing, she swiped her other hand over the tears on her face. “You so owe me for this.”

***

Blood gushed into Luka’s mouth. His senses came alive and he greedily drank the rich substance filling his throat.

“You so owe me for this.”

The whisper reached him through the deep fog clouding his brain. He knew that voice. Memories flashed through his mind.

Kari.

Zsusa.

Gubu.

His eyes flickered open and he took in the sterile white room and the woman leaning over him, a shaky smile on her face. He swiped his tongue over the pulse thumping in her wrist and pulled back.

“What happened?” his voice was hoarse to his own ears.

“Long and short, everyone got arrested,” she said with a wide grin. He swallowed past the dryness in his throat and she shoved a tube to his mouth. “Drink. It’s water.”

He took his fill and relaxed back against the pillows piled behind his head. “My second will take care of any legalities regarding my role in the event.”

She smirked. “An expected neutral response from the head of the Atoro.”

He shifted to push himself upright in the bed and grimaced at the soreness in his upper body. Running a hand over his chest, he detected no injuries. “How long have I been here?”

She sat in the chair next to his bed. “Only a few hours. Due to the severity of your injuries, you were brought to the infirmary. Gubu and members of the Rudurian as well as some Atoro are in holding cells. We’re onboard the Aranea, if you couldn’t guess.”

That didn’t sound great, but Harlo would take care of any charges. He and his men would walk free with no arrests to their names. Self-defense might be a stretch, but Harlo was a legal whiz and could handle it. “I need my comm.”

Glancing around, she said, “Not sure where it is. Probably secured for now.”

The door swished open and he tensed. As soon as the older man entered, he knew who he was. Kari glanced over her shoulder and frowned. “What are you doing here, admiral?”