Crack in the Kill Code (AmpCore #2)

56 - I'll Raise You Mine

The corporate 'copter landed with a bump.

Piper was out of her seat in an instant, her heart slamming inside her chest as she looked at the dark medical cradle. Odiye lay within it, hooked up to a dozen drug-drips and with two corporate field medics fussing over him, checking readings on the in-built holo screens and speaking in short, clipped bursts of medical jargon that she couldn't keep up with.

A hiss of hydraulics sent the boarding ramp down, and the medics virtually threw the medical cradle down it, spherical wheels rolling soundlessly into the night. Piper darted after them, trying to keep a reign on her rising panic as they piled into the emergency surface access lift – a thing she had no idea even existed until today – to fling them down below the streets to the people that could actually save Odiye's life.

Toran and Arrow were right on her heels. No-one spoke as they bundled into the elevator, almost shoulder to shoulder, and it took all Piper's self control to keep her mouth shut, a thousand demanding questions on the tip of her tongue that she knew would only distract the techs. She bit her lip; dug her nails into her jacket.

She felt Arrow move closer, their shoulders touching together. She felt their tremors of anguish, worry, anger, all burning together in a violent cocktail that felt like it might spill out any second and blow every nearby system to smithereens.

She didn't need to be close to Toran to know how he was feeling. She could see it in the tightness of his stance, one elbow cupped in the opposite hand and pulled taut across his body, his left knee twitching constantly and his jaw clenched as he stared.

The elevator seemed to take years. Piper wanted to pace back and forth, but there wasn't space. The nervous energy inside her just boiled and boiled until she could feel its sting. Finally the doors slid open and the medical crew exploded into motion again, moving at a near sprint – as fast as they dared propel Odiye's cradle through the hallways.

Her feet pounded the floor as she followed them, all of them moving as through Odiye had his own gravity, dragging them through a series of sharp twists and turns until they came crashing into the academy's medical wing. The scent of smoke wafted down the passage to meet them, and she spotted Dr Carstairs, AmpCore's resident un-augmented physician waiting for them, a cigarette clamped between his teeth and his face set grimly.

"Bay four," he growled as the medical team approached. "Get him under a bloody scanner!"

The medics didn't break stride, racing past Carstairs through the open door. The doctor pivoted deftly to bar the way once they were through, holding up a hand. Piper skidded to a halt, only just avoiding clattering into him.

"Odiye – he's my friend," she panted. "He's hurt."
"Don't you think I know that?" Carstairs hissed, making a flicking gesture with his hand. "Stay out. All of you. Let me and my people work. I don't need twenty extra hands blundering about the place."
"But-,"

"No buts. If you want your friend to live, stay out of the way."

Then he disappeared through the door, and it clamped shut behind him. Piper's mouth flapped helplessly for something to say, but words couldn't come.

"He's right," Arrow managed after a moment, taking a hold of her elbow. "We can't help him."

Piper allowed herself to be led aside, boiling with frustration, but knowing logically that there was nothing she could do. They moved over to the narrow window into Carstairs' surgical suite, the glass soundproofed and leaving her cut off. She rested her forehead against it, as though she might be able to hear the vibrations of the voices within.