Read Online Worlds Away by Valmore Daniels - Free Book Online Page B

down like an
animal.
    Instead of shooting Michael, the soldier who had killed
Kenny reversed his rifle and hit him with the butt square in the head. Michael
fell to the floor in a heap. His head exploded with pain, but the blow hadn’t
knocked him unconscious.
    “I see you continue to test my resolve,” Chow Yin said.
“Perhaps we need to repeat the lesson.”
    Michael slowly looked up; any action sent waves of agony
through him, and a sickening nausea gripped his guts.
    “Leave him alone,” Alex said. “I’ll cooperate.” A moment
later, he added, “On one condition.”
    “Yes?” Chow Yin asked.
    “Send them all home.” Alex, who had knelt beside Michael to
check on his friend, stood up. “Send them back to Earth. I’ll give you what you
want.”
    It took Michael a moment to understand the words. “No,” he
said in protest, his voice weak. “Don’t give the bastard the satisfaction. I’d
rather die than give him that kind of power.”
    “What you fail to realize, my dear Mr. Sanderson, is that
the power has always been mine. Alex’s decision was inevitable.” Chow Yin
turned around on his biomechatronic legs and walked away.
    ∞
    Michael was brought back to the infirmary, two soldiers on
either side of him grasping him by the arms. The blow to the head had been hard
enough that he didn’t have any fight left in him now, even if he’d wanted to do
anything.
    The soldiers led Alex and Yaxche in a different direction,
while several other guards brought in a gurney on which they loaded Kenny’s
body.
    The suddenness of the young man’s death was almost too much
for Michael to process. He’d only known Kenny for a short time, but the two of
them had worked very well together. The younger man was extremely intelligent,
and as far as Michael was concerned, he would have had a brilliant career ahead
of him.
    Grief and regret edged into Michael’s consciousness as he
realized he didn’t even know whether Kenny had any family. He should have taken
the time to get to know the other man better.
    Chow Yin. Michael couldn’t wrap his mind around it. How had
he escaped the penal station? How had he enlisted so many to his mad cause? How
had he managed to wrest control of space from the nations of Earth? There were
a hundred other questions he had. Ignorance was as big an enemy to Michael as
Chow Yin. Without more information, Michael was at a complete disadvantage; he
was at their mercy.
    After strapping Michael onto the infirmary bed by the
forearms and ankles, the soldiers stood guard until Doctor Naysmith returned.
    “Back so soon?” the doctor asked, with that same innocent
smile on his face. “Oh, it looks as if you’ve had an accident.”
    “How can you work for these animals?” Michael asked. “They
murdered Kenny right in front of me.”
    “Sad to hear it.” The doctor pulled out a tray from one of
the rolling cabinets and extracted a few sheets of medical absorbent cloths. He
stood over Michael and examined the head wound.
    His voice low in a growl, Michael said, “Chow Yin is a
madman who wants more than to rule the world; he wants to rule the entire
universe. If you work for him, you’re just another traitor.”
    While he gently placed the cloth on the injured spot to soak
up the excess blood, Doctor Naysmith leaned in and said, “My life is medicine.
It’s all that matters.” He continued to work on Michael, maintaining his smile.
“I took an oath: ‘I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality,
race, gender, politics, socioeconomic standing, or sexual orientation to
intervene between my duty and my patient.’ Everyone has a right to medical
treatment, Mr. Sanderson, even madmen.”
    Doctor Naysmith reached into the tray again and retrieved a
laser suture gun. He pointed it at the gash on Michael’s head and pressed the
trigger.
    There was an uncomfortable pulling sensation that grew more
painful as the skin on his forehead mended. Just when Michael thought he