The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 104

POV: Lyra

[Still unconscious - narrating from third person observation]

The rumors about the Emperor and High Commander's presence in the medical station spread like plasma fire through the neural networks, and gossipers somehow managed to find out that the future Empress was being treated there. Messages were transmitted. Holo-calls were made. News feeds were updated. Soon, data-journalists started publishing short articles about whatever little they knew from their sources.

When Greg saw the news on his notification display, his eyes widened in shock. He left his hydration at the refreshment station and left the dining chamber in quick strides as he skimmed through the article, trying to find out how I was hurt. When he got nothing from the list of useless articles except for the name of the medical station where I was admitted, he threw his comm-device on the passenger pod of his transport in frustration and drove faster than he had ever driven, bypassing all the traffic signals along the way.

When Greg entered the med-station, he asked a technician where the Empress was before making his way up. He didn't need to read the chamber labels when he saw the whole party gathered outside Operating Bay 1.

Christian was the first to notice his presence, and asked in disdain, "What are you doing here?"

Everyone's heads snapped in Greg's direction. Orion's expression was the most homicidal at that moment. But Orion never scared Greg. The High Commander locked eyes with the cousin he hated before he asked in anger, "What the void happened to her?"

Christian spat, "That's none of your business. Get out of here."

Greg turned to Christian, who he saw as nothing but an annoying pest at the moment, as he said in a low tone, "It's everyone's business. She's our Empress."

"We don't need this to spread anymore than it already has, Greg! Just leave us alone!" Christian shouted.

Greg scoffed at Christian's assumption that he was looking for something to talk about. He tried not to release optical fluid as he said as calmly as he could, "I couldn't care less what you think I'm here for but I won't leave until someone tells me what happened to her."

Just then, the operating chamber portal opened, and the same doctor emerged from it. She then explained, "Your Eminence. Your Excellencies. The Empress is showing positive signs of recovery."

The tearing alliance members suddenly stopped their emotional displays as they cleaned the optical fluid on their faces to concentrate on what the doctor was about to say next. "In the last hour and a half, her vitals were malfunctioning when we started the bio-fluid transfusion. And there wasn't any improvement even with the new bio-fluid we were giving her. We thought that we were going to lose her. But two minutes ago, her cardiac rate started picking up again. We think she may be... healing herself. We don't know how but she seems to be doing it. Just a moment," she knocked on the transparisteel twice, and one of the doctors checked the monitor connected to me before signaling a two-digit number at her.

The doctor outside with them then said, "It's still picking up. It's a good sign. If she continues to heal at this pace, she'll be able to breathe on her own again soon. Uh, Your Excellency," she looked at the tear-stained Annie and asked, "You mentioned that the Empress removed the blade she was stabbed with. We need to contain that blade. Where is it now?"

Annie tried to remain composed as she said, "Sh-She threw it b-back at the male who threw it at her. It stabbed into his lower back. He fell, and I called an emergency transport when I was driving here but I don't know what happened to him after that."

The doctor's eyebrows furrowed. "You called an emergency transport from this station?" Annie nodded.

The doctor's eyes widened, and she took out a comm-device and quickly input a code before waiting for the recipient to accept the transmission. "Dr. Karr, was a male with a blade in his lower back admitted recently?" After a short moment, she said, "That blade is most likely coated with significant Xytherium. Not as little as the team suspects. Tell those in the lab to exercise the highest level of caution. No one is to touch the blade. The concentration is probably high enough to burn right through the protective gear and their dermis! Their optical organs should be at least ten inches away when they're holding it to run tests. We don't want anyone to lose consciousness or optical function."

After she was disconnected by her panicked colleague, Greg's infuriated voice rang through the corridor, "HOW THE VOID DID XYTHERIUM GET INTO HER SYSTEM?! WHAT THE VOID WERE YOU DOING?! HOW COULD YOU LET IT HAPPEN?!" The High Commander's black eyes bore into Orion's.

Orion was already holding onto all that rage at himself in his thoracic cavity for the past hour, and what Greg just said erupted the bubbling inferno as he growled and shouted back, "DO YOU THINK I WANTED THIS TO HAPPEN?! SHE'S MY MATCH! DO YOU THINK I'LL BE ABLE TO SURVIVE WITHOUT HER?!"

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Christian shouted with a growl. He glared at Greg and said, "You wanted to know what happened? Now, you do. Leave."

Greg threw him and Orion another death glare before disappearing from their sight. He took the stairs to the level below, and asked a technician where the male who stabbed me was being treated. He made his way there, grateful that it wasn't on the same level as where I was so he didn't have to encounter his cousins and the alliance members again. He peered through the transparisteel to memorize his face. When a technician emerged, he asked, "What's the status?"

She looked at him in confusion before she asked, "Are you a family member?"

"No." He answered flatly.

"We're not supposed to reveal our patients' information to..."

"How about this? He stabbed the Empress with that blade you just removed from his posterior. I'm the High Commander. I want to know this scum's status."

The technician was surprised as she uttered apologetically, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency. I didn't realize. The male's vitals have failed. We tried to save him with a bio-fluid transfusion but it didn't work. He succumbed to the poison on the blade. We're removing life support from him now. We couldn't save him."

"Where's the blade?" Greg asked.

"In our lab. They're running tests. We just got a transmission that the concentration of Xytherium may be lethal but we won't know exactly how lethal until we get the results, Your Excellency."

Greg took one more hard look at the corpse before he asked, "Have you been able to identify him yet?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. His designation is Harrison Brown. But there wasn't a next of kin listed in his bio-data so we're still wondering if anyone would come claim his body."

Greg nodded before thanking the technician and went on his way. He made a holo-call to a familiar frequency. After two signals, the recipient accepted, and Greg said, "Harrison Brown. Blonde. Six-and-a-half feet. About 165 pounds. I want to know everything, especially who he's been in contact with in the last three weeks."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Greg ended transmission and drove home before consuming two bottles of Andromedan spirits. After that, he let his optical fluid flow, and he threw an empty bottle at the kitchen wall with force before he gave way to his weakening legs as he fell to sit on the floor. His eyes reddened, and he thought about all the things he was going to do to avenge me if his contact told him that Harrison Brown was a hired assassin.

After an hour, his contact sent him a document. And after skimming through Brown's profile and finding nothing useful, he went through the communication history. His contact took the liberty of identifying the callers whom the scum had been in touch with in the past few weeks. But Greg's eyes were only fixed on the one designation he knew. He growled ferociously in his kitchen as he muttered menacingly to the name on his display, "I told you to do nothing. Now, you've dug your own grave."