Lone Wolf

The Detour

"Brace yourself," he warned.

Kella scrunched up her face and shut her eyes. She wanted to get this over with quickly.

"On second thought, wait a minute," he muttered.

Kella heard the creak of leather boots as he leaned back onto his heels. She slowly eased one eye open. "What are you waiting for?"

Mando was crouched on the floor next to her. He had one glove off and was removing the other. "This is going to be tricky. I want to make sure my hands don't slip." He dropped the gloves on the floor and repositioned the small blade between his fingers. "Okay, lay your head back down."

The delay was doing nothing to calm Kella's nerves. She looked at his narrow helmet visor with reservation. "Are you sure you can see well enough with that thing on? Maybe we should leave the chip in for now and look for a surgeon to remove it."

Mando sighed. "That signal blocker I put on you won't last forever. We need to remove the chip now. And this visor—" He tapped the side of the helmet. "—allows me to zoom in and get much better detail than the naked eye. Believe me, I can see better with it than without it."

Kella shifted nervously onto her elbows. She'd been lying facedown on a cargo container that served as a makeshift operating table. She eyed the knife uncertainly.

"Are you sure that's the smallest knife you have? It's much bigger than a scalpel."

Mando rested a calming hand on her shoulder, and she stilled at the feel of his skin on hers. It was strange seeing his bare hand instead of a glove, and it struck Kella that this was the first real glimpse of him she'd ever had.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. His voice was quiet but intent.

Kella stared into the void behind his dark visor. How did he always manage to sound like that? Without needing to think about her answer, she nodded. "I do."

"Everything is going to be fine," he assured. "I've had enough medical training to know what I'm doing. Lie down and turn your head. This won't take long."

She did as she was told and turned the side of her neck upward.

Just before Mando touched the blade to her skin, his hand slipped and nearly dropped the knife. He breathed a sigh of relief that Kella's eyes were shut so she missed the fumble. Placing a hand at the base of her skull, he made the tiny incision. She didn't flinch, but he kept a firm hand there to keep her still if needed. Covered in blood, the chip would have been almost invisible if it hadn't begun blinking brightly.

That can't be a good sign. Mando swallowed a silent curse and drew out the chip with the edge of the knife. The light flashed faster and continued to pick up speed until it became constant. Accompanying the light was a high pitched whine that would have driven a dog mad. With a flick of his wrist, Mando dropped it harmlessly into the bowl he'd prepared. The moment he set the bowl on the floor, the chip burst into a ball of blue electricity and blew apart with a pop. A tiny wisp of smoke drifted into the air.

Kella twitched and looked around. "What was that?"

"Nothing," said Mando. "The chip is out." He removed the now useless signal blocker.