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“If Captain Kila is satisfied.” Nako said it apologetically.
“If his vitals drop. You’re welcome to court-martial me if you don’t like it.”
Zo swiveled on his heel. He stalked to the prolonged care ward, muttering under his breath. No doubt he was calling the two captains every name in the book, but Nako didn’t reprimand him for it.
“Dedicated doctors are a blessing and a curse to fighting ships,” Kila murmured to Nako as they followed Zo to a small room.
“I agree. The blessing part has kept this particular doctor alive longer than expected.”
Kila chuffed laughter. The humor died as he got his first look at Ilid.
The young man had been cleaned up, which should have helped his appearance. To Nako, he looked more wan and depleted than when they’d pulled him out of his charred shuttle. More a vulnerable boy. He lay still beneath the medi-bed’s computer arms, which shielded much of his naked body from view. They fed him medicines and nutrients while tracking his vitals. A containment stasis field shimmered around him.
“I found evidence he was operated on recently.” Zo bared fangs for an instant. “Operated on and left scarred. He’d been healed just enough to maintain a reasonable level of health.”
“What sort of surgery?” Kila’s steps were slow as he approached Ilid’s bedside, as if he could hardly stand to come close.
“As far as my equipment could tell, it looked exploratory, as if he were a lab animal someone was studying. Samples were taken, including from the brain.” Zo brushed Ilid’s hair from his forehead to show the livid scar close to his scalp. “Nothing extreme enough to leave him lobotomized, thank the ancestors. I’d say they were after cell samples. There’s no other reason to go to such extremes, thanks to our scanning equipment.”
Nako swallowed a rush of nausea. Thinking of what Kila had said about the Bi’isils, he asked, “Is this typical of the testing of previous Kalquorian subjects captured by Bi’is?”
“No.” Zo’s stare skewered Kila. “This is nothing like what they did to the prisoners they experimented on.”
“If it wasn’t Bi’isils, then what the fuck was happening on this kid’s ship?”
Kila didn’t answer. Instead, he flashed his dangerous grin, which warned he might resort to violence soon. “Wake him up, Doctor.”
Zo scowled and glanced at Nako. When his captain nodded, Zo forcefully punched buttons on the bed’s computer arms.
The shimmer of the field vanished. “Give him two minutes for the stasis’ effects to wear off,” Zo snarled. He hovered over the controls, ready to replace the field at a second’s notice.
“Doctor, if you insist on remaining, I’ll allow it for this crewman’s sake. However, this is fleet spy business. You are therefore ordered to not speak of anything you hear during this interview. If you or Captain Nako discuss it with anyone, including each other, you’re subject to a court martial and twenty years imprisonment in a military workcamp. Do you understand?”
Seething, Zo showed no sign he was intimidated despite the clear danger emanating from Kila. He’d been around Nako’s tempestuous clan too long to be easily impressed by anyone, even someone as threatening as the bearded spy. Nonetheless, he snapped a nod. “Yes, Captain.”
“Do you acknowledge my warning as well, Captain Nako?” Kila’s intent regard turned to him.
“I do.”
“Good. How much longer until I can talk to him?”
Zo glared at the readings. “Another minute.”
They waited in silence until the head medic’s nod. Kila’s vicious leer disappeared. He stepped forward and gripped Ilid’s shoulder. His voice shockingly gentle, he called, “Ensign Ilid. Dramok, wake up.”
Ilid’s eyes moved beneath their lids. He gasped, and they flew open. He blinked at Kila, then his gaze moved to Zo and Nako. Nako noted how the youth’s focus remained on his face for only a second before shifting to a point over his shoulder. The tension that had appeared the instant he’d woken eased.
“Where am I?” His voice was barely a breath.
“On board a fleet marauder. I’m Captain Kila, assigned to the spy division. My ship had the Bi’is detail before yours.”
Ilid looked at Kila again, then over his shoulder, as he had with Nako. “Did you see them? Did you see the Darks?”
“Is that what you were trying to tell your father?”
“He got it. He got my message.” Ilid managed a smile. A tear leaked from one eye.
“Yes, and he passed it on to the fleet. Tell me of these Darks. Were they blobs? Did they have tentacle-like limbs?”
