Chapter Thirty-Six

Status Report

The bullet was removed from Tolan's shoulder without difficulty, despite the fact that he allowed only a minimum amount of anesthetic and refused any painkillers after that. He was cautioned to wait at least a day before attempting to heal himself by transmuting and advised to take it easy for the next few days. Advice he promptly ignored. He went to his room only long enough to change into a clean uniform before returning to his ship.

Accompanied by the Doctor, Tolan went to the detention cells where his second Lieutenant had been interrogating the intruders in his absence. It had not taken long to find the weak link in the threesome, which turned out to be Blue. Eventually, they were able to get the whole gruesome story.

Dr. Spencer's would be abductors had been given carte blanche to inflict as much damage on the occupants of Starbridge as they liked to make her kidnapping look like a rescue, and further incriminate her. Blue did not seem to know her true identity, as he had only been told to pick up the woman in custody and deliver her to Dr. Legrand at his newest location.

"And where's that?" Tolan demanded.

"Somewheres on Elannia," Blue informed. "He's moved into an old wax museum."

"A wax museum?" the Doctor repeated in bewilderment.

"Yeah. You know, one of them Chamber of Horrors places. He's got it all fixed up nice and proper, too."

Failing to see the point of all this, Tolan threw the Doctor an irritated look before asking, "And after you'd delivered the woman, then what?"

"We'd get paid, wouldn't we?" Blue said in an annoyed tone. Apparently Amanda's condition upon arrival was to be the determining factor in their final payment, the better her condition the bigger their bonus. "He was real specific 'bout how the goods—I mean, the woman, was s'posed to be delivered. Funny that, isn't it?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, exchanging a long-suffering look with the Commander, who patiently asked, "Why's that?"

"He was gonna kill her, wasn't he? Put her on the rack, or somethin'. Least ways, that's how it seemed to me." Pausing, Blue added, "She must be a real bad'en, eh? Seein' as how you both wanna take a whack at her."

The repulsed Time Lord had heard enough and went to the door where the equally revolted Commander joined him. "Get him, Tolan," the Doctor hissed in a quiet, angry voice. "Get him before he kills again."

"Don't worry, Doctor, I will. If it's the last thing I do," the Alterran hissed back, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic edge of hatred. He knocked on the door to have the Time Lord let out.

The Doctor was surprised when the officer did not follow. "Not coming?"

"In a while." Glancing back into the room, Tolan kept his voice low, "I want to see if I can find out how they knew Amanda was here. They don't seem to know about HH. Just her. How did they know she was here?"

"How indeed?" the Doctor muttered thoughtfully.

Upon returning to Starbridge, Tolan immediately sought out Roxell, finding her in the drawing room with Constance. He asked for a status report on the day's casualties and was rewarded with a brief reprimand from the Healer, who was none too pleased that he had ignored her staff's solid medical advice and continued working anyway. The Commander gave her a dark look and repeated his request.

Roxell complied, informing him that two of his men had been treated for minor injuries, his own wound having been the most serious injury to come out of the shoot out. As for the time before, however, that was another story. The Royal Guardsman from Amanda's room had died before anyone could get to him and his body had already been returned to his unit.

After a brief silence, Tolan asked, "And Fane?"

Roxell sighed heavily. Lieutenant Fane's condition was extremely critical. Notwithstanding the misfire, the savage beating he had endured had left him with broken, shattered, and crushed bones, among which were a broken jaw and fractured skull. He also had internal injuries, as well as multiple gashes, abrasions and contusions.

"He's lucky you found him when you did," Roxell remarked soberly. "If he didn't die from shock, he probably would've choked on his own blood." She went on to remark that, in a way, Fane had also helped himself, since his having disconnected the transmats had stranded Healer Turraan, one of the most respected trauma surgeons on Tel-Shye.

By this time the Commander was numbly staring into space, and caused the Healer to repeat her observation that he, too, was suffering from shock and needed to rest. "I'll rest later," he said tersely before asking, "What are his chances, Roxell? Realistically?"

Roxell had a flash of dèjá vú recalling the same question coming from the Doctor. She knew, as with the Time Lord, Tolan would take nothing less than a straight answer, which is what he got. "Realistically, Commander, his chances are virtually nonexistent. I couldn't give him the standard treatment for misfire. He never would've handled the shock to his system it needs in order to work. He's already on full life support as it is."

"Brain damage?"

"Possible. But I won't know until the treatment for the misfire is complete. It's the old fashioned method, and when used in conjunction with an energy bed it slows brain activity considerably."

"When can I see him?"

Roxell's temper flared. "For pity sake, Tolan, he's in a coma! Not everyone's as obsessed with duty as you—"

"I'm not asking as his commanding officer!" Tolan snapped angrily. "I'm asking as his—" Cutting himself off, he threw a quick glance in Constance's direction before saying quietly, "I just want to see him. Okay?"

The Healer nodded and quickly apologized for having overlooked the fact that the officers might also be friends. "He's in the critical care unit. You can see him now, if you like."

The Commander nodded. "And Amanda. Where's she?"

"In my office with Turlough. Sleeping, I hope. She was in shock, too, so I gave her a sedative."

"But otherwise she's unharmed?"

"Yes."

Tolan was thankful for a least one piece of good news and sat thoughtfully a moment, holding his aching arm. Could this mess possibly get any worse? Rising to his feet, he headed for the door.

"What about Fane's family?" Roxell called. "They need to be notified of his condition."

Tolan stiffened visibly, exchanging a long, meaningful look with Constance before turning to the Healer. "According to his file," he said slowly, "Fane has no family, except for HH, who happens to be his guardian. And I doubt you want to trouble him with this."

"He must have somebody," Roxell insisted.

"Perhaps, but we're still under a security blackout," Tolan said evasively. Turning, he added, "Anyway, I have to talk to Amanda."

"You take it easy on her, Tolan!" Roxell ordered. "She's still pretty shook."

"She's not the only one," the Commander replied darkly before vanishing through the door.

Roxell was incredulous. "I don't believe that man. Does he have no feelings at all? Blackout or not, somebody needs to—" To her utter astonishment, Constance burst into tears. Realizing that she too might be a friend of the injured officer, the Healer apologized again. "I just thought somebody out there might care about him."

"Oh Roxell, you don't know what you're saying," Constance moaned. Even Fane himself did not know that she and Tolan were his biological parents. He had been raised to believe his family had died on an obscure outpost. Only a handful of people knew the truth, one of them being Prince Jason, who had acted as physician during Constance's miraculous and extremely risky pregnancy.

After a long, agonizing silence, Constance told the astonished Healer the truth, swearing her to secrecy at the same time. "I realize you need to know because you're treating him," she said shakily. "But please, if this ever got out…"

"Your secret is safe with me," Roxell replied softy. "Now, why don't you go see him too?"

Tolan had gone directly to the critical care unit. He checked in with the duty nurse before crossing to the energy bed. Hesitantly he lifted the cover finding very little of the injured Fane visible, his body covered with bandages and life support equipment. The largest amount of exposed skin were the swollen fingers on his hands. Tolan took hold of one of the hands, the skin completely white, the signature sign of an energy bed radiation conversion.

"I don't know if you can hear me," he whispered, "but…I just wanted you to know, I'm very, very proud of you."

Tolan could feel himself losing control and quickly closed the cover, asking the duty nurse to notify him of any changes before hurriedly leaving the room. He had never been one to make an open display of his emotions, and this time was no exception. Tears were already coming to his eyes when he stepped from the room and he was grateful to find the hallway empty.

Tolan took refuge in an unoccupied examining room to get control of himself. When the door opened unexpectedly he looked up sharply, only to relax visibly when he saw it was Constance, the only person he had ever been able to completely open up to. "Oh, Connie," he moaned, "he's so…so…"

"I know. I know," Constance whispered, weeping herself. She took him in her arms and held him for several minutes. Even though Tolan did not want to be comforted, he found he could not resist. As everyone suspected, he was on the point of exhaustion, both physically and mentally, and finally broke down, weeping bitterly over the child he could not acknowledge openly.

Knowing there was nothing more she could do, Constance waited until the officer could pull himself together. When he did, he cursed himself for becoming so emotional on duty. This brought a sad smile to the face of the woman holding him and she touched his cheek and kissed him. "I suppose it would be useless for me to tell you to take it easy," she observed quietly. "It's bad enough your going off to fight an invasion without telling me. Now you have to go and get yourself shot."

"It's nothing, Connie. I'm fine."

"Dammit, Tolan, I love you," she snapped angrily. "I don't want to lose you both. I couldn't bear it."

Tolan smiled self-consciously and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll try not to scare you like that again."

After a minute, Constance drew a deep breath. "Tolan, I…told Roxell about Fane—and us."

The appalled Commander looked up sharply. "What!" He was prevented from saying more by a finger to his lips. "She had to know, Tolan, she's his Healer. Anyway, she won't tell anyone. Doctor-patient confidentiality, remember."

Tolan smiled weakly. Then, to her utter astonishment, he said, "We should've told him the truth, Connie. It's not fair what we did. Not to him, and not to HH."

"Now I know you're tired," she observed, kissing him again. "Now, go have your talk with Amanda. And after you're done, you'd better be in your room resting or I'll have you arrested myself."

"Where will you be?"

"I'm going to see our son."