Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Combat Model

"Nak! Jakish! Look!" Kay used two of his small hands to point at the holoscreen turning to look at Martha Vir in excitement, desperately needing her to know that his mother was on that screen.

Martha smiled, "I know." But the smile on Martha's face was somewhat subdued as she turned her head to look up at Sunny, a knowing expression on her face. As much as she liked knowing they had returned, they had returned earlier than they said they would and without the results they had hoped for. She knew something was wrong.

Kay craned his neck upward, "Tak?" When Sunny didn't answer initially he repeated himself, "Pappa?"

Kay did not see the expression that crossed Sunny's face, but Martha certainly did, and her blood ran like ice through her chest. That expression could only mean one thing. She clutched Kay tighter to her chest, and the little boy squirmed in annoyance, "Momma?"

Sunny did her best to stay calm and collected, keeping whatever agitation out of her voice, "He's not here right now, dzhalka, he's.... Sick." She made eye contact with martha, and saw the woman' shoulders visibly slump in relief. Injured was better than dead but still she got the message.

The prognosis wasn't good.

Kay frowned, "Pappa get bedder." He seemed pretty resolute in that command, and disappointed he would not be able to see his dad.

Sunny took a deep breath, "He will. We're going to do that right now. I'm sorry I don't have more time. I miss you, "

"Miss you." Kay repeated lower lip sticking out in a great show of displeasure to have his mom go. Martha resituated him on her lap, and though it seemed she wanted to ask more questions, questions specifically about her own son, she knew it would not be proper in front of kay.

Sunny had to let them go, and as she did the ramp opened, and they were ushered out into the busy night air of the Tesraki home world, alive with voices and noises and the roaring of vehicles. Neon light glowed from everywhere, while overhead a thick layer of clouds blanketed them in darkness. It was a strange sensation, it had been so long since they had operated in GA friendly airspace. And now here they were amidst the colorful trappings of a tesraki night.

The building that they had landed on had its own private landing pad, and waiting for them were two figures, one human and one tesraki. The man was human with short cropped dark hair and a well tailored suit made in a style and fashion that sunny did not recognize. It must have been the newer fashion circulating from The Europa circuit.

He stepped forward to greet them with a wide smile.

Krill, Ramirez, Maverick and Conn stepped forward with her.

The man looked them over raising an eyebrow, "There are more of you than I thought there would be." He even smiled at Conn, which surprised Sunny. Usually the starborn put people on edge. Any creature that could read their innermost thoughts was more of a threat than an equal being, but this man seemed perfectly at ease, "I remember you saying that this was a matter of life and death, so we can make this quick. Go ahead and follow me."

He turned on his heel and stepped into the building, with the Tesraki quickly hopping at his heels, "It was a heart and a lung you were looking to replace? We have several matching models that you might consider, what kind of activity levels are we considering for the patient?"

"High intensity, very durable...." krill was saying.

"What do you mean by durable?"

They all exchanged a look, "Stab resistant...." Sunny trailed off, but the man did not seem in the least phased by her explanation.