[LEGACY VERSION] The Emperor of Time (Book 1 - The Kaireyeh Chronicles)

Chapter 17 - Talina

Talina paced the short corridor outside the surgical chamber, counting her steps under her breath. She wasn't paying attention to the numbers. The doctors had told her Jonas had taken a wound to the chest from a physical blade. Not a tactile holographic blade like was standard issue, but a physical blade. No one in the Armada carried knives anymore.

Roche had narrowed her eyes at that news and gone off to conduct the investigation in private. As far as Talina knew, the ship hadn't changed course. Her mother hadn't shown up or even acknowledged Jonas' injury, and that had been an hour ago. Sickbay was thick with the dread of the crew, and everything was waiting on what happened inside the surgery.

The surgery hatch opened. The ship's senior surgeon, Dr. Giran, came out, followed by a nurse. Giran touched the implants on her wrists to turn off the sterile fields, then wiped her forehead.

Talina ambushed her. "What's the captain's status?"

"He'll live." Giran didn't meet Talina's eyes.

Something was wrong. Talina headed for the surgery hatch. "Is he awake? I need to see him."

Giran dove after her, catching her arm before she could try the hatch panel. "Commander. I suggest you return to your duties. I'll call you when--"

"What's wrong? I'm his wife, I can see him."

Giran hesitated.

"Doctor," Talina said, spreading her hands.

Giran's gaze softened into...what, pity? After a moment she nodded. "Follow me. He's not fully awake--my team is still cleaning up, and the surgical sedative is wearing off. Then, you may look, but you may not talk."

"Fine," Talina said, and was right behind the doctor through the hatch.

Inside, the ozone smell of the sterile fields struck her first. And then there was the copper tang of blood. The deck panels, rubbery beneath her feet, had already absorbed any blood that had fallen on them, to be cycled into the ship's waste reclamation system. But the air scrubbers hadn't quite caught up yet.

Jonas lay on a medical bed in the center of the room. The side rails were up, the back at a twenty-degree angle. His chest was covered in skin tape, and a blanket draped him from waist down. Beyond that, there were no other wounds. No scrapes, no scratches, no bruises. No signs of struggle.

Talina opened her mouth to ask, but Giran silenced her with a flat stare.

Beyond the pallor and bandages, Jonas looked normal, like he was sleeping. How had an attacker got past his Marine guards, and why hadn't Jonas resisted them? There were no signs of a fight. They'd found him in his office on the command deck, the almost impenetrable command deck, with a knife wound, and there were no signs of struggle.

"Shit," Talina whispered. She reached for something to hold on to, grabbed the arm of the doctor, who didn't move to stop her.

Jonas had tried to take his life. And the knife wound? If Jonas was a high-born Caelian, he would have been implanted with one of their high-born weapons at birth, wouldn't he? The halo staffs had blades. Had the doctor connected that much?

Talina backed toward the hatch.

Jonas stirred.

Talina reached the hatch and was back in the corridor before he could see her. She leaned against the bulkhead, staring at the opposite wall.

He'd tried to kill himself. It was the one thing that made sense--unless he'd let someone in who he'd trusted, and they'd tried to make it look like suicide. She seized on that, and looked up as Dr. Giran came out.