Desperate Times (Lost Planet Warriors Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

manner damaged our bodies.
    Medical nanites were introduced soon after. These machines would repair damage to our bodies. They were programmed to repair not merely the damage caused by the other nanites, but also other injuries, illness, poison, and even slow aging.
    But this Terran didn't have nanites. Her injuries were well beyond the ability of her body to repair on its own. From what the doctor was saying, I doubted the Terrans even had the technology to heal her at all. Which would leave that task up to us. Up to me.
    "What can we do, Idris?" I asked.
    "I don't know!" he snapped back. "I'm sorry. I just don't know enough about her biology yet. I'm learning more every minute. She's stunningly similar to us. But what she honestly needs is a set of nanites of her own."
    "And we don't have that here," I said.
    "No."
    Not on a combat ship. Everyone aboard would already have their infusions. There was no need to carry extras on board. Each nanite would replicate itself as needed to replace those which had been damaged or lost. The medical nanites we needed so badly had died with my home world.
    "What about a transplant?" I asked.
    "It could work," Idris mused. "I do not have time to recode the nanites to her genome. If we are similar enough, it might be enough to save her. Or it could kill her."
    "She is dying anyway, yes?" I asked.
    "Yes, but..."
    "Is there any other way?"
    "Not that I can think of, no," Idris said. "But who will we get to donate their nanites?"
    I didn't hesitate. "I will."
    Idris stared at me a moment, gaping. His shock was no surprise to me.
    "Sir, you cannot! She will need fully half your nanites if this is to have any chance of success," Idris said. "You'll be weakened for days. And if you were injured, you might die. The risk is too great."
    I'd already considered all of those things. Once I knew how severe the Terran's injuries were, I knew there would only be one way to save her. I also knew that I had to be the one to pay the price for her survival, if it could be purchased.
    "How well do you think the Terrans will react to our request for help, if we have allowed one of their own to die while aboard on a diplomatic mission?" I asked.
    "Irrelevant," Idris scoffed. "Sir, if they balk we can simply take what we need from them."
    "Yes, we could," I replied. It would take longer. It would be much harder. I had the feeling that overwhelming these humans would not be as simple as Idris seemed to think it would be. Our time was too short to waste any of it. If the Skree that had snuck aboard had activated now, it had to be because there was a Skree vessel closing on us. The enemy could exit jump space at any time. I didn't feel like explaining all of that to the doctor right now, but it was vital he understood how important this Terran was to us. And to me.
    "She saved my life, Idris," I said, my voice soft. "I owe her a life debt."
    Idris sucked in a breath. "She's not Cymtarran, Bran. By the law you owe her nothing."
    "By my honor, I do."
    He locked gazes with me. Idris was old. Much older than I. How many years had he been serving? Since before I was born, most like. I could feel the weight of all of those years bearing down on me now. The strength of will that had let him live through all that time, centuries perhaps, was focused through his eyes.
    My eyes were still young. I was a decade away from seeing my first hundred turns of Cymtarra around our star. No one had ever been promoted to my level of command so young before. But then, no one in the Cymtarran fleet had ever been me, before I came. I was right in this. I knew it. I would not yield.
    He blinked first.
    "Very well," he said, looking down and away. "I will make the preparations. We'll need to extract the nanites from you as soon as possible, if we're to do her any good."
    He wouldn't meet my eyes again, now. He felt shamed for having questioned me, and shamed further for having lost our little battle of wills. It was a battle that I could not