Pirate (LGBT - Sci-Fi - Romantic)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven 

Connell waited in disbelief, holding his breath. What was going to happen next? Would Nick send in someone else to hurt him? He could feel his heart beating in his chest and he became suddenly aware again of the pain in his wrists and ankles. He wriggled around cautiously, trying rather unsuccessfully to get more comfortable, if only for a few minutes. 

An interminable time later, the door slid open again and Medic Andrews came in, his face set in disapproving lines.  

Without a word, he proceeded to unfasten the plasfoam ties one by one and allowed Connell to sit up on the edge of the bed. Silently, he handed him one of Nick's shirts to drape over his lap. He examined each wound with careful but impersonal fingers, washed off the blood then sprayed a healing ointment over the broken skin before applying a light plasfoam bandage. He straightened up and tossed a tube of antiseptic lotion onto the bed. 

"I'll let you apply that yourself. Nowak will be here in a minute to take you to the brig so I suggest you get dressed." He gestured to the pile of clothes in the corner. 

"Thank you." Flushing, Connell picked up the tube, even though he didn't need it. 

Andrews tightened his lips but didn't answer. He let himself out as Nowak came in and stood with arms folded, frowning impatiently as Connell got dressed as quickly as he could. 

Nowak didn't know why he had been ordered to take Conn to the brig. Why bother? Why didn't they just toss him out the airlock? If Mars was squeamish, they could always shoot him first. 

The Captain wanted nothing more than to spend the next hour or so punching something, hard, but he had to think. He knew Nowak and most of the crew expected him to kill Conn and disintegrate his body or at least dump him somewhere a long way away, where it didn't matter that he was a beacon signalling his whereabouts every second to the Patrol. But despite everything, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. 

As far as he was aware, Conn was the only other man who knew that he had the nanobots in his own system. Nowak might speculate, but he couldn't know for certain. How long did the damn things keep broadcasting for anyway? He calculated back, Conn had been on board for a month, did that mean he had another whole month to go before his body was clear? Maybe Andrews would be able to tell him. 

He went in search of the medic and found him as usual in the infirmary. Andrews looked up from his com unit, ducking his head uncomfortably when he saw who was approaching. 

"I'm sorry I blurted that out in the common room," he apologised hastily. "I should have come and told you quietly, in private." He knew he had let his sense of outrage overwhelm his reasoning, thinking of nothing beyond exposing Conn as a traitorous spy. He hoped Mars hadn't noticed the jealousy behind the outrage. 

Mars nodded briefly, it was all too late now. "What can you tell me about those nanobots?" he asked. "Do you know how much longer they'll stay active?" 

"I can't be certain, but from the sample I examined, I'd estimate another fourteen or fifteen days. Why?" 

"I'm trying to decide how I can make use of Conn," Mars improvised. "I certainly don't want to kill him unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Killing a Patrol officer would escalate the hunt for us to a new level," he added with perfect truth. "I need to think this through, not just react emotionally." 

Andrews nodded reluctantly, although he, personally, would be quite happy to see the end of Conn he thought Mars was right. They hadn't killed anyone yet in their various forays, it would be a huge mistake to start now with a Patrol officer. 

Nowak was less easy to persuade. He thought Mars was making excuses, if Conn simply disappeared literally into thin air, how could the Patrol ever know what had happened? In his considered opinion, Mars wasn't thinking clearly. He had evidently lost his head over Conn, even after what he'd done, he couldn't bring himself to act decisively, to do what was needed. Mars was getting soft. Nowak frowned disapprovingly, he had some serious thinking to do. 

Mars hadn't yet decided how he could disguise the fact that he had the nanobots inside his body, that even if he went crazy and let Nowak have his way and disposed of Connell, he, Mars, would still draw the Patrol right to them. There was no way he wanted Nowak, or indeed, any of the crew to know that he was infected. The knowledge would undermine his authority and, to be honest, he couldn't be wholly certain he could trust them not to consider dumping him along with Conn. 

Apart from avoiding Medic Andrew's next medical check in a couple of weeks, the easy answer was to keep Connell alive and on board the Zeron, so that they were together in the same location until the nanobots stopped broadcasting. However he suspected Major Rice would know to the exact day when that was likely to happen and would have the Patrol ready to make a move on him well before then. In fact, now that he thought about it, Rice knew where he was right now and could be planning an attack at any time. 

Better be safe than sorry he thought, and gave the order to put the Zeron on high alert until further notice. 

Perhaps now might be a good time for that trip to the Almaaz system. How far did these nanobots reach anyway? Could he outrun Rice? 

XXX 

Nowak lay awake all night considering his options, working out what he was going to do next. In the morning, he went to the infirmary to have a quiet word with Andrews. 

"You've seen the way the Captain was sniffing around Conn, before you found him out. What do you reckon the chances are that he's already been infected with the nanobots? Have you tested him as well?" 

Usually Andrews didn't think particularly highly of Nowak's perception, but he couldn't deny the same thought had crossed his mind. "I'll ask him to come in for a blood test today," he decided. "Just to prove there's nothing to worry about." 

"And if he refuses?" 

"What? He won't refuse, I'm certain. He needs to know as much as we do." Andrews replied defensively. He regarded Nowak's hard face uneasily, he wasn't sure he liked that tone of disrespect he had caught in his voice. No matter that he was jealous of Conn, Mars was still his idol. 

"Of course," Nowak replied rather perfunctorily. Whatever the outcome, he realised he no longer had any respect for Mars, perhaps it was time to move on.

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