Blink: Interdiction (Book 4)

22

Their return to the Karpa Luna military base was a triumphant one. Throughout their time in the Haze worry had grown steadily in Amber's gut over whether the ends justified the means; whether they had pushed too far in the name of capturing the man leading the resistance movement. Now those doubts began to fade. It had been a tense few weeks, but Darien, harsh as his logic had been, had seen them through it.

She marvelled sometimes at the knife-edge he seemed to teeter on, millimetres from total disaster but always keeping himself from slipping. He might have been returning from a lengthy suspension, but the prolonged absence hadn't blunted his natural sharpness. Even Vass seemed to have grudgingly accepted that fact, keeping any scathing remarks to himself since the successful operation in the Haze. Despite the weight of emotions that she now let run free, Amber allowed herself a glimmer of pride.

Although the assault teams hadn't come back unscathed, they'd largely avoided any major injuries. The only exception was Whikker, who'd been caught by a full spread of bullets. Most of them had been stopped by her armour, but three had penetrated into her leg and torso. Vandal's medic along with Hekket had managed to stabilise her on site, stopping the bleeding and patching her up as best they could. Now the field hospital at Karpa Luna base was ready to receive her, with a cadre of military surgeons standing by to operate and remove the bullets. According to the two medics, as long as she received swift treatment she would make a full recovery, eventually.

And trading one badly wounded operative for a prize like Parker? Even Amber couldn't deny it was a worthwhile exchange.

The Blink contingent trooped onto the base, ragged, exhausted but with heads held high. Daylight was breaking as they returned, casting a burning orange glow over the gun-metal grey buildings as the sun rose large and lurid on the horizon. Two members of Vandal Squad carried Whikker on a field stretcher – she was awake and in good spirits, all things considered. Parker accompanied them too, frogmarched between Idas and Uther, cuffed and with a black bag over his head – the prize for over a month of hard graft in the harshest environment Ravine had to offer.

Amber smiled with relief as they handed him over to the dragoons. They'd held up their end of the deal and captured someone that had been running rings around the local authorities for months. A quartet of soldiers dragged him off into the bowels of the base and she didn't even bother speculating on the unpleasantness that surely awaited the rebel leader.

A moment later a team of medical staff arrived with a state-of-the-art trauma cradle, its stark white exterior standing out violently against the dark functionality of the base. With the speed of experience they transferred Whikker from the stretcher and in less than a minute they were dashing back off across the concourse, exchanging swift, clipped observations on their new patient.

She saw Darien having a quiet word with Taggs as the medical staff guided Whikker away on the hovering trauma carriage. Vandal's leader was still giving the effort of a smile, but she could see the tension in his face. Darien leaned close and then, to her surprise, pulled the other operative into a hug. She couldn't hear the words that passed between them, but after a moment Darien pulled back, clapping Taggs on the shoulder.

Then Taggs and the remaining operatives from Vandal set off in pursuit of their injured squad mate. Darien understood that their companion's well-being meant more to them than any debrief from their commanding officer.

"Bring it in, people," Darien called as Vandal Squad disappeared in pursuit of the medical staff. The remaining squads gathered around him expectantly.

"I'm proud of you," he continued. "That was a long op – longer than any of us are used to, but every single person here pulled their weight and more. I can't tell you how much longer we're going to be stuck here, but every time we hit our mark, we bring everyone one step closer to the end of all this. So stick with it." Then he allowed himself a smile, unclipping his carbine from his chest. "So right now I've got one more order for you. Go and relax. For the next twenty-four hours you are off the clock."