Chapter 12
Corey shoved past the warriors in front of him at the entrance to the building where the healers were supposedly located. He noticed that a man was lying on the ground with several other men kneeling next to him with medical equipment. Looking around the room, he didn’t see Nix, and that bothered him greatly.
“What happened?” he demanded.
The Drastans looked at him in surprise. They weren’t used to a human speaking so forcefully with them. Fortunately, the warrior that had brought him, Warrior Davens, backed his authority up immediately. “This is Warrior Nash. He’s been training on the command ship and is here on Commander Estro’s orders.”
Corey repeated his earlier question. “What happened here?”
The healer on the floor mumbled as he was pulled to a sitting position. He looked up at Corey in confusion. “Are you working with Lieutenant Saber?”
“Yes, I am. Where the hell is she?”
“I was getting ready to take her to see the patient that came in yesterday who had been sedated and needed monitoring for another night. When I stepped out of my office, the lights went out and I was hit in the back of the head. I didn’t see who hit me, but I could hear scuffling going on behind me. I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop them from taking her.”
Fuck!Corey ran a hand through his hair. His stomach was rolling with anxiety. Someone had taken Nix. He needed to keep his emotions under control, think clearly. Flipping out won’t help the situation, it wouldn’t save Nix.
“Did anyone see a woman being dragged away?” Corey looked at the men surrounding him.
One of the warriors stepped forward. “The lights in this area went down for about ten minutes. By the time we were able to repair the lights and get the power back on, she was gone and there was no trace of who took her. I will send warriors out to question the humans but...most likely, they won’t speak up out of fear.”
Corey agreed that the people in the tribe might not speak up, but there was always a chance someone would be brave. There had to be some other way to find out what happened. If the resistance was just going to kill her outright, the Drastans would have found her body already. God, the thought of her lying somewhere hurt or possibly dead caused a sharp pain in his chest.
“What about cameras? Do you have a security feed that might show us something?”
Warrior Davens pulled out his handheld computer immediately. “Yes. I’ll see if it caught anything.”
“Great, but we need to send out a team of warriors to search for her. If the resistance has her, there’s no telling what they might do to her,” Corey told them. By the looks on their faces, they agreed with his assessment. When the warriors just stood there staring at each other, Corey went into action.
“Look, I’m searching for her no matter what, with or without your help.” He stepped past the warriors next to the entrance to the building.
“Warrior Nash!” the warrior who had spoken earlier objected. “You need to follow my orders, I’m in charge of security in this section.”
“My orders come straight from Commander Estro and supercede yours. We don’t have the time to waste, we need to find her now!” Corey held the other man’s eyes until he nodded, accepting Corey’s authority.
“Come with me to review the feeds. The rest of you separate into three teams of two and start searching while you question the tribe,” Warrior Davens ordered. The men finally began to move into action.
Corey began to follow Warrior Davens but paused to turn back to the healer who was being helped to his feet. “Is that patient still here?”
“I’m not sure. According to our digital records, he hasn’t been released by the healers yet.”
“Show me where he’s supposed to be,” Corey ordered. If the injured man was still there, he might be able to give them information on where Nix had been taken.
There were two large open areas with beds lining the walls, five beds against each wall. Corey spotted a man laying down on his side with his back to them. As they got closer to the bed, he couldn’t tell if the man was sleeping or not. Corey kept his hand close to his blaster just in case.
One of the healers walked closer, then stopped short. “He’s not hooked up to his monitor.” The healer leaned over him then glanced up with shock on his face. “He’s dead.”
What the fuck? Corey moved around the bed to get a look at the man. “He has the same build of guy we’re looking for, and he has the same injuries as one of the three men that attacked us. We need to get that search party going right now. If the resistance has no problems killing one of their own, they won’t hesitate to make an example out of Nix.”
“Come with me,” Warrior Davens said, moving quickly back down the hallway.
Corey followed Warrior Davens into the healer’s office. Davens looked over at Corey as he took a seat. “Do you have a computer?”
“No, we came down with limited equipment, and when we were attacked up top, our communicators got messed up and we lost our computer.”
“You were attacked aboveground?”
“Yes. Nix wanted to proceed with our mission by trying to locate the men who attacked us first. Then we would examine the progress and issues in rebuilding the tunnels. She had planned to notify Commander Estro after we had more information for him.”
