Page 15 of Trusting Warik (Hissa Warrior #9)

Chapter 15

Warik

It was only when Nisha and Malk hurried into the Decanting room that Warik truly relaxed. He wasn’t surprised when she only gave him a quick smile before rushing to the first tank and started talking rapidly to Shift.

“Stats look healthy,” she said as one of the droids rushed to Nisha’s side. “It seems they’ve been following the base one refeeding protocols, so that’s good.” She looked over and addressed Shift’s droid. “Can you integrate with the monitoring computer?”

“On it!” Shift announced as another droid wheeled over to a large and complex unit sitting to the side of the vats.

“It’s good to see you’re well,” Malk said as he moved to stand next to Warik.

“Thanks, it’s nice to know someone cares,” Warik answered.

Without looking up from a vat she was examining, Nisha huffed. “I watched everything through the vid feeds and Shift’s droids. I knew you were fine. It was so easy; I could’ve come with you!”

Warik scowled at that. “We got lucky.”

“It wasn't luck, it was because of me!” Shift said. “I didn’t say anything to cause us bad luck, so we had good luck. You’re all welcome.”

Malk looked confused. “Uh, thank you, Shift.” That made Nisha laugh, and Warik crack a smile. Malk smiled too, obviously pleased that he’d made several people happy. “What can I do to help?”

Nisha pointed to one of the giant piles of trash. “Clean this place up, it smells like a garbage collection unit!”

“Good idea,” Warik agreed. There was no one to fight, no strategy to plan, and he wasn’t going to be any help with the Decanting units, so cleaning up the room was a good use of his time. “Come on Malk, I saw where they keep the cleaning supplies. Let’s get this room cleared, then we’ll start organizing the rest of the station.”

By the time they got the room looking and smelling better, Nisha had finished her inspection of the twenty-five vats. Warik and Malk were standing near the back wall, trying to decide if they should move the empty tanks out or leave them.

“It looks like all the babies will be ready to Decant in about…” her voice trailed off as she tilted her head. “Did you guys hear that?”

Warik took a step closer, listening hard. Once he was almost in the middle of the tanks, he caught the sound of faint scratching.

He looked up. “I think it’s coming from above.”

“I’ll go investigate,” Shift said as one of the droids moved to leave the room. At the same time, Nisha’s eyes went wide, and she sprinted to intercept the droid.

“No, Shift, don’t let the door open!” she screamed, but it was too late. Shift’s droid triggered the door to slide open. It only got halfway before a fireball erupted from the hall. Nisha and the droid were thrown back, but Shift was able to force the door shut before anyone else was affected.

“Nisha!” Warik screamed, running to her side. It all happened so fast; he didn’t get a chance to do anything. Nisha lay on her back, the front of her clothes mostly burned off.

He knelt next to her, taking in the damage. The parts of her body that hadn’t been protected by the clothing looked as if they’d been melted. Even worse, smoke was coming from her mouth.

Her lungs were burned. Without access to a fully staffed and state of the art med bay or Raleen’s phenomenal healing ability, Nisha was doomed. Her life could be counted in breaths now until her lungs completely failed, and she left him.

“Warik!”

He’d failed her. He didn’t understand how it happened, but he’d failed her.

“Warik!”

If he hadn’t loved her, maybe she would’ve survived. He never told her he loved her. He thought that would protect her, but it hadn’t.

“Warik!” Shift screamed as one of the droids ran into him, knocking him away from Nisha. “Warik, get up. I need your help to save Nisha.”

“No one can survive this,” he said, trying to find a place where he could touch Nisha that wasn’t burned to some degree. “Let me be with her for these last moments.”

“We can save her!” Shift yelled so loud it echoed in the room. “Do as I say, and she’ll live, you big dumb, green bastard!”

“Warik, let Shift help,” Malk said.

“How?” Warik asked, looking over at the closest droid.

“Get all her clothes off,” Shift directed. “I know you're going to have to peel some skin off with them but do it. Malk, come with me.”

Willing to do anything to save Nisha’s life, Warik did as Shift ordered. Thankfully, Nisha was unconscious as he was forced to pull clothing and skin from her body. No sooner was he done than Shift and Malk were back.

“Pick her up,” Shift ordered. Warik gathered Nisha in his arms and stood.

“Over here,” Shift said and led Warik to where Malk was standing next to an open Decanting vat. It was one of the extra ones they’d been debating about moving out of the room.

“Put her in there, feet first. Be ready to kind of squeeze her in there. It’ll be tight, but she’ll fit,” Shift said. Even as she spoke, a droid pushed him from the back, urging him toward the tank.

“How can a grow vat help her?” Warik asked as he stumbled forward. Malk was quick to help him ease Nisha’s limp body into the tank’s viscous liquid.

“In the same way it grew her to begin with,” Shift said. “When Nisha was growing up, Mom figured out how to use the tank for repair and healing even after someone had been Decanted. It’s really not that different than programming the tank to grow someone. We never had to try it until now, but I know all the right codes.”

With Malk’s help, they got Nisha in the tank. As the thick liquid covered her head, Warik fought the urge to pull her out. “She can’t breathe in that.”

“She won’t need to,” Shift said. “Her body will remember how to draw what it needs from the gel.”

That didn’t make sense, but if there was any chance of Nisha surviving, Warik was willing to try.

“Add more gel, Malk,” Shift ordered. “There can’t be any air in the tank.”

Malk picked up a container and poured it in until the tank overflowed.

“Quick, close the top,” Shift ordered, and Warik slammed it shut. There was a burble then a hiss as the vat sealed. One of Shift’s droids pushed him aside. It was holding the cylinder Nisha always had. It must be made of something that couldn’t be damaged by fire.

As he watched, the droid shoved the end of the cylinder into a data port on the tank. The tank machinery started humming. He and Malk silently watched the tank, even though they couldn’t see Nisha any longer. What else was there to do?

***

Nisha

Nisha woke up coughing.

No, that wasn’t accurate.

She woke up trying to cough but couldn’t because when she tried to pull air into her lungs, it was all liquid. Panic made her start struggling only to find she was squished into a tight dark space. Her knees were tight against her chest, and her arms were trapped in front of her with her hands on either side of her head.

Nisha, calm down, Shift said, her voice sounding a lot like Mom. She did that when Nisha wasn’t thinking straight. I know you think you can’t breathe, but your body is fine. Relax and listen to your body.

It was hard, but Nisha stopped moving and closed her mouth. Her brain was giving her conflicting urges. Part of her was demanding she try to breathe while the other part seemed perfectly fine. She dove deeper and found that she was absorbing everything she needed from the thick liquid around her.

You’re in a grow vat, submerged in nutrient gel, Shift explained. I’m describing how to pull you out to Warik and Malk. It’s going to be a few more minutes so I need you to stay calm.

How had they managed to cram her into a grow vat? No, that wasn’t what she should be asking. Why they put her in here in the first place was the more important question.

She tried to remember what happened but got nothing. They’d successfully secured Assist. She and Shift had checked all the Decanting vats and found the children were in good health. That was the last thing she could remember. Whatever happened must’ve been bad enough to land her in a vat.

Shut your eyes, honey, Shift said, using Mom’s favorite endearment. They’re opening the top now. Try really hard not to breathe. It will be a little uncomfortable, but you need to let the guys clear out your lungs first.

Nisha knew that, but it was good that Shift reminded her. The pressure in the tank changed and then many hands grabbed hold of her. She remained limp as they gently extracted her. She immediately felt cold so she pushed her body to burn more fuel and warm her up.

“You’re safe, Nisha,” Warik said as she was laid out on a soft surface. She couldn’t talk so she tried to raise a hand to give him a little wave instead. “No, don’t move yet, let us do everything for you.”

Something was placed over her face at the same time someone started drying off her legs. “Open your mouth so the breather unit can clear your airways. Shift said this would feel uncomfortable, but it won’t hurt.”

Nisha was familiar with how the breather unit worked, although she didn’t have any memory of when it had been used on her as a brand-new Decanted baby. Hard suction pulled everything out of her lungs through her mouth and nose. Her lungs felt weirdly compressed as everything rushed out of her. Shift was right, it didn’t hurt, but she'd be happy to never have to do it again. It was over in only a few seconds and the pressure stopped.

“There, you should be able to breathe now,” Warik said. “Give it a try.”

Cautiously, she pulled air into her lungs. It felt good to expand her chest, like stretching after being still too long. She could taste the medication in the air she was breathing, keeping her airways open and suppressing her coughing reflex.

Easing her eyes open, she was relieved to find they’d dimmed the lights in the room. She was lying on a cot in the same room as all the grow vats. She remembered it being a lot dirtier and with trash piled against the walls. Warik and Malk were both looking down at her with concern.

“What happened?” she asked. Her voice was muffled by the breathing unit mask, but Warik still heard her. He and Malk looked at each other.

Warik looked back down at her. “You don’t remember?”

She glared at Warik. “Would I have asked if I remembered?”

“It was my fault,” Shift said from one of the droids. Nisha craned her neck to see a droid standing next to Warik.

“No it wasn’t,” Malk argued. “You couldn’t have known there was a leak in the stabilization rebalancing system.”

“I was in the ship’s computer; I should’ve noticed the lack of pressure. I’m the one who sent a droid out of the door and triggered the blast,” Shift said. “You almost died because of me. I’ll never—”

“I was the one who stood like an idiot while Nisha rushed to the door,” Warik said, cutting Shift off. “I’m strong and fast. I could’ve grabbed her and got us both to safety.”

“I was closer to her. I should’ve covered her body with mine and taken the damage,” Malk said.

“Enough,” Nisha said at the highest volume she could manage. It was loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “No one is guilty, just tell me what happened.”

“You heard a scratching sound,” Malk said.

“I heard it too,” Warik added. “But only after I’d gotten closer to you.”

“You realized what the sound was and tried to stop one of my droids from opening the door,” Shift said. “You put it together before any of us, even though I should’ve known.”

She was mostly following what they were saying but still couldn’t remember anything. “What did I put together?”

“To put it simply,” Shift’s droid said, “the way I manipulated the environmental controls caused a critical failure in the stabilization rebalancing system. You knew it would flash fire down the halls at any moment and tried to keep my droid from opening the door, but you got caught in the blast.”

“Were you able to fix the system?” Nisha asked, glancing over at the grow vats. “Do we need to evacuate Assist?”

“You almost died, and your first thought is for the babies?” Malk said, looking like he was trying hard not to cry.

“The system can’t be fixed, but we’re in a high orbit with slow degradation,” Shift answered. “Warik’s people should get here long before there's an issue.”

“Oh, that’s good then,” she mumbled, suddenly feeling exhausted. Knowing everyone was safe, she let her eyes drop closed. “Give me a moment to rest and then I'll help.”

“Sleep,” Warik said, grasping her hand and holding it to his face. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”