Ouroboros Episode One

  Chapter 8

  Carson Blake

  "Come on, Carson," Travis said from the couch, "she clearly doesn't want to talk to you. Just leave her alone."

  Carson turned over his shoulder to shoot Travis a silencing glare. "She is injured," Carson said clearly.

  "She's always injured," the woman called Bridget laughed. "Travis is right. She'll be fine."

  Carson looked at them both, then he promptly turned around, jammed his thumb into the intercom button by Cadet Harper's door, and asked to be let in again.

  "Carson, come on," Travis tried as he finally got up from the couch.

  "Nope," Carson answered clearly. "You guys can go, but Nida is injured, and needs to go to the med bay. Plus, after the accident today, I owe it to her to check," he added under his breath.

  "What accident? You mean the one in the training center? Did that happen to her?" Travis asked conversationally.

  Carson didn't bother to reply.

  Then he heard something.

  A thump.

  A loud one.

  It came from Harper's room.

  He stood back sharply.

  Then he snapped forward and jammed his finger back into the button. "Harper, Harper," he snapped, "open the door. What happened? Are you alright?"

  "She probably just tripped over," Bridget tried from behind him, but her voice wavered.

  Travis now walked quickly to his side.

  There was another resounding thump from Harper's door.

  "Okay, this isn't right," Carson breathed quickly.

  Then he did something he probably shouldn't.

  He invaded Cadet Nida Harper's privacy by overriding the lock on her door.

  It was easy, especially with his level of clearance. All it took was several codes typed into the panel on the wall.

  The door opened.

  With a swish.

  And Nida flew out.

  He had time to duck to the side, furling an arm out to grab her around the middle.

  Her torso slammed against his grip, as something propelled her forward.

  Everything happened so damn fast.

  He kept his arm around her, but he had to use every gram of his strength not to let her go.

  Then, with a crack that sounded like bone snapping, something erupted from her hand.

  Small and black, he realized it was a training cube. The tiniest and easiest of the training cubes in fact.

  Well, it sprung from her grip like a bullet, then shot across the room.

  He had barely a second before it changed direction abruptly and headed straight back for Nida, traveling at blinding speed.

  Travis jumped forward, grabbing the cube as he did, his right arm exploding in yellow energy as he turned his TI onto full.

  Though he managed to catch the cube, he couldn't stop it, and it dragged him forward, his boots squeaking dramatically across the floor.

  "Turn it off," Carson commanded, spitting his words desperately.

  "I can't," Travis spoke through clenched teeth, tension making every muscle in his neck protrude outward. The tiny training cube in his hand kept pulling him forward, right toward Harper.

  "Turn it off," Carson now screamed. He still had an arm around Harper. She was practically limp in his grip, her right arm hanging loose against his, blood covering it and splashing against his boots.

  "I can't," Travis said, yellow energy cascading up his arm, indicating his TI was at full capacity.

  It would ordinarily take little effort for someone like Travis to turn off a TI cube, let alone such a small one.

  But he couldn't, and he clearly gave it everything he had.

  The cube kept dragging Travis forward as it forced itself toward Harper.

  If or when Travis let go of it, the little cube would punch forward with such speed, it would likely rip through Harper's chest.

  Realizing that in a cold wash of dread, Carson thrust Harper back and through her open bedroom door. Then he reached up and closed it.

  He watched the doors swish shut with a whispered hiss.

  He stared at them.

  He had barely a second to turn toward Harper. She lay still, his free arm still pinning her to his side.

  She was awake and breathing erratically, but her right arm was a bloody mess against her stomach.

  Before he could reach down to check on her, something slammed into the closed doors, forcing them to buckle forward.

  He jumped, doubling back.

  He watched the metal bend and twist as a small cube-shaped dent appeared in it.

  The training block was forcing its way in, right through the closed, reinforced doors.

  He swore loudly, then snapped his attention back to Harper.

  She couldn't be doing this. Not only did she have precious little ability with her TI implant, but she was also practically out cold, and yet the block was still moving.

  He stared at her quickly, realization dawning on him.

  Her implant.

  It had to be malfunctioning.

  It was the only thing that could explain what was happening and what had happened earlier today.

  He reached down, just as the doors gave a groan.

  As quick as he could, with sweat covering his brow and building up between his fingers, he pushed the top of her singlet down.

  All TI implants were embedded just below the throat, and he quickly found hers with trembling fingers.

  He then commanded his own implant with a quick and powerful thought, sending a pulse of yellow energy through his palm. It pushed down against the small, round, silver implant that was flush with her skin.

  He would try to turn it off. And if that didn't work??Christ, he'd have no option but to rip it from her throat.

  It wouldn't kill her, but unless he stopped that training block, it would rip through her like hail through a spider web.

  He waited, unable to breathe, barely capable of thinking, and poised with so much tension raking his body his bones could have shattered.

  He waited for the implant to turn off. With a click, it did.

  But the block didn't stop.

  He turned his head in a snap to see the doors still buckling under the cube's force.

  He stared at the sight, surprise ripping through him.

  Then, just as the doors threatened to give way, the groaning stopped.

  Silence filtered in.

  He heard Travis swearing from the other side, and with a heavy breath, Carson realized it was over.

  "Are you alright?" Travis screamed at him.

  "Fine," Carson shot back.

  Then he turned.

  And he stared at her.

  She was still awake, but only barely.

  She was on her back, her body twisted in an uncomfortable arrangement, her head lolled to the side as she stared at her bloodied right palm.

  "It's okay," he dropped to his knees beside her, his palm hovering over her badly injured arm.

  She looked up at him, wheezing as she laboriously turned her neck.

  She would be in incredible pain.

  "A medical team will be here soon," he promised her, then he sat back and screamed at Travis to get the door open and get a doctor here now.

  When he returned his attention to Harper, he saw how strange her expression was. It wasn't twisted in agony, only confusion.

  "You'll be okay. Your implant malfunctioned. I've turned it off. You'll be okay," he repeated, possibly for his own benefit. "Just lie there and try not to think about the pain."

  "It doesn't hurt," she answered, her voice filled with a far-off quality.

  He bristled, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight. "What?"

  "I can't feel it," she mumbled, still breathing hard. "I can't move it," she added, still staring at her hand.

  "You'll be fine. You're just injured," he promised her.

  "It feels like stone," she managed.

  He shivered.

  There was a horrible, so
rrowful edge to her tone.

  "Hey," he leaned down, ducking his head close to hers, trying to distract her, "the medical team is coming. Everything is going to be fine."

  She looked up at him, her hazel eyes wide.

  Her expression stilled him. No, it reached into him and imprinted itself upon his mind. If he closed his eyes, he'd still be able to see her horribly pale cheeks and drawn, thin, blue-tinged lips.

  "It'll be alright," he said one last time.

  "No it won't be," she whispered.

  Then she blacked out, her head slumping to the side.

  He checked her, confirming she was still alive. Then he stood up and stared at the door.

  It was destroyed.

  Completely warped.

  In a second, there was a thump, then another, and it buckled in.

  Travis came rushing through, a medical team just behind him. "What the hell just happened?" Travis stared at Carson with pale shock slackening his usually confident expression.

  Carson placed a hand on his mouth, locking it around his lips. It took him too long to realize his fingers were covered in Nida's blood, and it was only the distinct tangy smell of iron that made him shiver and pull his hand away.

  The medical team set to work immediately.

  Carson was struck with the realization this was the second time he'd seen Harper packed gently on a hover stretcher today.

  This time, however, he was going with her.

  As a thin-lipped doctor surveyed her arm, she stood and nodded at him to get out of her way.

  "Hold on, I'm coming too," Carson announced. Before the doctor could protest, he put his hand up and shook his head. "That's an order," he said simply.

  "What the hell is going on?" Travis breathed heavily as he stood out of the way and let the stretcher and doctor pass. He shot Carson a pleading look. "I couldn't stop that training block. I mean, I used everything. I couldn't turn it off. I couldn't even slow it down."

  Carson tried to nod, but he couldn't. Instead, he stood there and shivered for a moment. "It was her implant. It malfunctioned," he said, but his voice sounded hollow.

  "Implants don't malfunction," Travis croaked back, "not the new ones."

  "Well, this one did," Carson swallowed, his Adam's apple pushing hard against his high collar. "That block only stopped once I turned her implant off."

  Travis looked sickened from his shock, but he finally nodded and pushed a trembling hand through his hair.

  It was his right hand, the one he usually used to manipulate TI objects.

  It probably hurt like hell, Carson realized. "You should get that checked out," he nodded at Travis' hand.

  Travis looked at it, then nodded. "I intend to. But right now, I need a real stiff drink."

  Carson gave a sharp, bitter laugh. "So do I. But it can wait. You stay here and-" he began.

  "Explain to anyone that asks what happened to that door," Travis nodded at the badly warped metal.

  "Yep," Carson nodded. "I'm going to go to the med bay with her. I want to be there when she wakes up," he added needlessly.

  He didn't have to be there when she woke up; Carson barely knew Harper, and their interactions to-date all revolved around her injuring herself.

  But that didn't matter; he wanted to be there anyway.

  Travis shrugged his shoulders and shot Carson a knowing look. "Alright then. You run off, and I'll deal with the aftermath," he mumbled as he poked the warped door with his boot.

  With that, Carson gave his friend a quick nod, then picked his way out of Cadet Nida Harper's room.

  As he did, he briefly glanced around at it.

  It was neat and clean, or at least it would have been before a training cube had smashed it up.

  There were several paintings on the walls, and a holo photo of Nida with a smiling man and woman who were probably her parents. She had a big, friendly grin on her face, and her arms were scooped around the both of them.

  He turned away from the photo sharply, realizing it was an invasion of her privacy, and walked out of the room.

  Alicia and his date - Bridget - were standing in the lounge room, their faces ashen with fright.

  He barely knew them, and he'd only agreed to accompany Travis on this double date because the guy had twisted his arm.

  Still, he offered them both a sedate smile. "We're going to have to cancel," he said quietly.

  "What??what happened?" Alicia asked quickly, her words barely audible as she spluttered through them.

  "Accident," he mumbled, his tone reserved. "Everything will be fine. Harper??is going to the medical bay, and Travis will stay here to clean things up. Everything will be fine," he added needlessly as he backed away through the room.

  "What, you're leaving?" Bridget asked through a quick blink.

  "Sorry, I'm going to see how she is," he answered briefly. He lifted a hand in goodbye, then practically ran from the room.

  Then he headed as fast as he could to the main medical bay of the Academy.

  There he waited as doctors saw to Cadet Nida Harper.

  He had a lot of time to think.

  Yet all he could think of was the moment she'd burst from her door, straight into his arms, blood covering her right arm as her hand had clutched that speeding cube.

  It seemed to take longer than usual for the doctors to fix Harper up, and the hours drew on and on.

  But he didn't leave.

  He just waited until she finally woke up.