While the other soldiers gaped up at the hole, Eliana flipped up onto her feet and swung. Two more fell beneath her blades before the Gathendiens regrouped and renewed their assault. When another tail caught her across the back, she whirled around, intending to sever it.
Blasterfire abruptly lit up the corridor, so much it nearly blinded her.
The hulking lizard-men around her jerked as scorch marks and holes appeared in their armor and on their tough skin.
Eliana turned to face the new threat and swung her swords protectively in front of her.
The blasterfire stopped.
Every Gathendien toppled to the floor.
Not one shot hit Eliana.
She lowered her swords.
Odd splotches of red and black hovered in the air several yards away. Then Dagon, Efren, and Liden flickered into view. Several more men appeared behind them, their shiny armor now peppered with scorch marks and blood splatter the camouflage couldn’t hide.
Damn, they looked good.
She grinned and tapped the button that made her helmet recede back into her collar. “Excellent timing.”
Dagon shook his head as he raised the visor on his helmet. “I told you to wait for me.”
Pain burned through her hip like fire as she stepped over the Gathendiens. More simmered in her back. “My way was more fun.”
Several of the men chuckled.
Dagon didn’t. He frowned as he watched her limp toward him.
“Besides…” She motioned to the fallen aliens. “I think these guys were heading for the escape pods. And there was no way in hell I was going to let them leave.” A wave of dizziness swept over her. Sheathing her shoto swords, she drew her last katana and unobtrusively placed the tip on the ground to help her maintain her balance.
She hadn’t lost much blood in the skirmishes. As far as she knew, she had only incurred the hip wound, the blow to the back, and a few cuts from Gathendien blades she hadn’t been able to evade. Why did she feel so light-headed?
Dagon closed the distance between them, the furrow in his brow deepening. “You’re injured.”
She shrugged, not wanting him to worry. “I’ve had worse.” At least this battle hadn’t left her with broken bones. “But I might try to talk Joral into making me some of your fancy exo-armor for future battles.” Hopefully it wouldn’t restrict her movements or hinder her exceptional speed too much.
“He’s already working on it.” Dagon cupped one side of her face in a cold, gauntleted hand.
“He is?” She smiled, excited by the prospect. Now if there were only a way Joral could make her armor camouflage her the way it did Segonians, she would be unstoppable.
Her whole body abruptly flushed with heat. Beneath her lightweight armor, her skin broke out in a cold sweat. Nausea rose.
She staggered. “Oh crap.”
Alarm flaring in his features, Dagon gripped her upper arms to steady her. “Eliana?”
“Something’s…” Her tongue felt thick. Her words…
Was she slurring her words?
“Something’s wrong,” she managed to work past numb lips. Her knees buckled.
Dagon caught her up against him. “Eliana?”
She tried to speak, but couldn’t.
“Medic!” Dagon shouted as darkness crashed down upon her.
Dagon drew his thumb across the soft skin on the back of Eliana’s hand. Sprawled in the chair Adaos had provided, he fought a smile as he watched her fidget. Whenever Dagon had needed wounds treated, he had found the beds in Med Bay to be annoyingly cramped. But Eliana made this one look large and roomy. Her small form made barely a ripple in the covers.
Or it would if she didn’t move around so much. His little Earthling did not like being idle.
Nor did she like Adaos coddling her as she called it.
“I’m not coddling you,” Adaos murmured as he passed his hand scanner over her.
Expression darkening, Eliana batted the scanner away. “Yes, you are. I’m fine. I don’t need your scans to tell me that.”
Adaos arched a brow. “Well, I do. And I’m chief medical officer, so you have to do whatever I say.”
Eliana turned to Dagon. “Can’t you order him to give it a rest and sign me out already? I’ve been here for two days.”
Adaos spoke before Dagon could. “In Med Bay, my orders supersede Dagon’s unless it’s a security issue.”
“That’s Commander Dagon to you, mister high and mighty,” Eliana countered. “And this is a security issue.”
Again Adaos arched a brow, just to annoy Eliana, Dagon suspected. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Because if you don’t let me out of this bed soon, I’m going to grab some of your fancy stabilizer goo and secure your ass to a chair.”
Dagon barked out a laugh.
She squinted her eyes at him. “You aren’t helping.”
“Yes,” Adaos agreed, his expression surly despite the amusement that sparkled in his eyes. “You aren’t helping, Commander Dagon. Your Earthling is the worse patient I’ve ever had.” He motioned to the bed. “Can’t you climb in there and fornicate with her or something? Anything to occupy her mouth so I can have a little peace? I will happily pull the curtains to give you two some privacy.”
Assuming a thoughtful look, Dagon eyed Eliana and the bed.
Her mouth fell open. “You aren’t actually considering it, are you?” Leaning closer, she whispered an appalled, “They would hear us!”
Grinning, he stole a kiss. “And they would all envy me my good fortune.”
She laughed, all crankiness evaporating, then turned back to Adaos. “I’m a terrible patient.”
His lips turned up in a faint smile as he passed his hand scanner over her once more. “No need to point out the obvious.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just worried about Ava.”
“And embarrassed about fainting?” he asked innocently.
She grimaced. “I did not faint. I lost consciousness.”
He shrugged. “Either way, I’m sure exhibiting such weakness distressed you.”
“Weakness!” she bleated. “Weakness, my ass! I was poisoned, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” he intoned, “which is why you aren’t leaving that bed until I say you can.”
Her brows drew down in a frown as she looked at Dagon. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.” He drew the back of her hand to his lips for a kiss. “Let him run his tests, milessia. You scared the srul out of us.”
She really had. After collapsing in his arms, Eliana had been completely unresponsive. And when he and Adaos had removed her armor, her skin had been cold and damp. A quick scan had revealed bosregi in her system. Apparently some of the Gathendiens had dipped the tips of their spikes in the deadly poison before fastening them to their tails. Their blades, too. Since Dagon and his fellow Segonians had never encountered such tactics before, Med Bay’s stock did not include an antidote.
Eliana’s body had valiantly fought the poison. But dark striations originating in her hip wound had spent hours stretching farther and farther across her pale skin. And her viral count had dropped alarmingly low.