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jacked himself into the chart tablet hanging off the end of his bed.
The file was complete, uncorrupted. It downloaded to the hospital network
in seconds. The surveillance record sat somewhat oddly between the welcome
pack for new arrivals and the public well-wishing forum, but that couldn t be
helped.
He watched with satisfaction as the hospital system crawler found the new
file conveniently tagged general access and important, please distribute
and began to multiply it over all ninety-five hospitals in the network, the very
best in worldwide post-traumatic care.
Fuel low.
Speaking of post-trauma, he needed food.
And then he needed to find Bear.
92 www.samhainpublishing.com
Break and Enter
A quick check of the supply cabinets unearthed some tubes of glucose paste.
The cloying empty sweetness was worse than eating a tub of frosting, but he was
used to it after all these years, and it fueled him in seconds. He put two tubes in
his pockets for later.
Though it killed him to sit still and do nothing while Bear was out there
somewhere in danger, he knew he had no choice. He couldn t risk approaching a
SenTech stooge, and of those there were many on the police force. Time to put
the stupid hospital gown back on, get back into bed and oh, the relief he felt at
that, much as he hated himself for it relock the handcuffs, reattach the monitor
wires and wait for someone to notice the file. Several someones at once, if he
were lucky.
Someones who wouldn t kill Bear, just out of spite, when they realized the
game was up.
www.samhainpublishing.com 93
Chapter Fifteen
Somehow, Cyke slept. He d soldiered long enough to know you took your
rest when you could find it& but you also took it with one eye open. When the
door to his hospital room opened, he was wide awake, borrowed scalpel blade
clenched between his fingers, just in case.
Police. Two officers with that swaggering gait. Both looked around, then one
stepped up to the bed. His partner wandered toward the TV screen mounted by
the cabinets. Had he smelled the blood and pieced the story together?
The policeman near the bed studied him. Major Victor Kellermann?
No. Santa Claus, asshole. If he weren t, he d hardly give his game away like
that. The rank made him pause though. No need for courtesies, surely, if they
thought him a breaker piece of trash.
The cop stepped close, hands out and open. Unthreatening, like he thought
Cyke might bite, even though Cyke s scalpel was hidden beneath the blankets.
Cyke watched, wary but not openly hostile, as the cop released the electronic
cuff. Then the mechanical one. Task done, the man stepped back immediately.
Two steps. Cyke kept the scalpel between his fingers and sat up.
You re free to leave, Major. A slight quirk of the lips, a crack in the serious
facade. Though your doctor recommends against it.
Cyke noticed the other cop playing with the TV remote. Why s that? Not
the second part.
The other cop turned around as the TV behind him came to life. Stock market
news? What the& ?
Break and Enter
Share price of Sentinel Tech Inc. down fifteen percent. Ouch. That was just a
few billion out of pocket. In a bright red box above the running share prices was
Sentinel CTO Arrested on Undisclosed Charges. Above that, looping footage of the
fucker s arrest outside the SenTech building. Head down, hands cuffed, flanked
by police and reporters.
Very hard to not give the asshole a salutary middle finger.
Ah, Cyke said. And they dropped the charges?
Your charges, yes. As for their CTO, there s an internal investigation
pending. They ll want to speak with you. We will too, when you re feeling up to
it.
Cyke felt a grim smile spreading across his lips. I ll be sure to bill the board
at my usual rate. Times four. And maybe some hazard pay. How exactly did one
invoice for torture? He d have to get creative on the line items.
Not exactly his first priority right now, though. Focus.
What about Bear?
Not, mind you, that he thought the cops would even know who Bear was. Or
maybe they did, but that might be worse. After all, they d have no call to know
unless something bad had happened.
Bear? the cop by the TV asked.
Not the medic? said his partner.
Yes. You know him? A flash of jealousy before he could suppress it. An
even bigger flash of fear. Beneath the blanket, his fingers tightened around the
scalpel.
Sure, yeah. Run into his crew all the time.
Cyke shot out of bed and started throwing his clothes back on. Still kind of a
comedy act with one arm screaming and no balance and worse, he had to drop
the scalpel but he couldn t afford to baby himself now. Check on him.
www.samhainpublishing.com 95
Rachel Haimowitz and Aleksandr Voinov
The cop gave him a stare, but clicked his radio. A moment later, Cyke heard
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