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I moved to the light screen and ordered the doc sedated and strapped down. “How long do you think we've got before those soldiers realize something is wrong?”
“How long is a piece of string?” Jonas retorted. Then he glanced at me and grimaced. “Sorry, just tense. This has been far too easy.”
“It won't remain that way. It never does.”
“That's comforting.”
I smiled. “Were the doc's quarters in that room, as he said?”
“Yes. There appeared to be an unlocked light screen in there—he must have been on it when we came into the room.”
“Fortunate.”
“Yes.”
He turned and walked back to the room. I shifted back to my own form and then followed, rotating my arm in an effort to ease the ache and keep it mobile. The bleeding had once again stopped—yet another indication that my healing abilities had been fast-tracked by the rift—but I couldn’t afford any stiffness developing. Not with what was probably coming.
The doc's quarters were sparse even by my standards, consisting of little more than a single bunk, a locker, a small autocook, and the desk with the light screen. The screen had frozen on what looked to be the hairy butt of a man. After a moment, I realized there were actually two men and that they were mid-coitus.
“He could have at least chosen a less graphic point to freeze on,” Jonas muttered, and hit the pause button. The sound of approaching sexual gratification instantly filled the air. He pressed the mute button, then downsized the picture. “Right, let's see what this baby can tell us.”
He opened the main drive and began flicking through the various sectors. I leaned my good shoulder against the wall and rolled up the sleeves on the now too-long coverall. From what I could see, there wasn't really a whole lot of information to be found.
After a moment, he grunted. “There's nothing but medical records on this thing. The doc hasn't got any access to get into the mainframe.”
“That's not really surprising.”
“No.” Jonas thrust up from the chair. “I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way.”
“It’d be best if we wait for Cat and Bear to return. They can provide a general layout and tell us where the bad stuff might be hiding.”
“As long as they don’t take too long. The countdown clock to discovery started ticking the minute we took out the doc.”
He walked over to the doc’s bunk and pressed a wall panel at the end of the bed. There was a soft click and then the panel opened to reveal a closet. Hanging inside were several lab coats and two small stacks of neatly folded clothing.
Jonas must have caught my surprise, because he glanced at me, grin flashing. “This sort of setup is common in modern-day military accommodation.”
“Pampered is what you lot are,” I said with a smile. “We had to make do with a footlocker.”
He chuckled softly as he pulled out two lab coats and handed one to me. “Not to one-up you or anything, but we rangers carried everything in backpacks.”
“I guess lockers would have been impractical when you’re trying to sneak up on enemy lines.” I tucked the coat under my good arm, then unzipped the coverall and undid the belt. Once it was strapped back on the outside, I did the coverall back up and pulled on the lab coat.
“Not to mention awkward even when we weren’t.” His amusement faded. “Let’s take out our guards and check the remainder of this floor while we’re waiting for your ghosts to return.”
I frowned. “There’re no cameras here in the med room, but surely they’d have them in the corridors?”
“I didn’t see any.”
“Which doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
“I know, but it’s not like we have another choice.”
That was certainly true. We walked out into the main room and across to the door. I stood on one side, Jonas the other. He glanced at me, eyebrow raised in question. I flexed my fingers and then nodded.
He punched the release button and, as the door slid open, we darted through as one, grabbed the turning guards, and thrust them together hard enough that the crack of heads was audible. It didn’t knock either out but it dazed them enough that Jonas was quickly able to finish them off.
As he dragged the bodies inside, I walked over to the doc, pulled out a knife, and removed his RFID chip along with a good chunk of flesh. The medibed immediately sensed the new wound and instigated healing.
