Free Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 by Michael Kotcher Page B

himself back up to his full height, walking proudly forward into the cargo bay, his head held high.  He didn’t know what the pirates, or more specifically, the Armsman had in mind in here, but he knew that whatever it was, he, Eamonn, wasn’t going to like it.
                  The ice in his stomach changed almost immediately to acid.  Quite a number of his crew were here in the cargo bay, as were six of the pirate soldiers, not including the two shoving him from behind just now.  Armsman Gideon Jax was there as well, but his customary smug smile was gone from his face.  He looked as though he was a container of barely controlled fury.  It didn’t, however, look as though he was upset to be here in the room and nor did he appear to want to leave.
                  “Good, you’re here,” Jax said, speaking to the captain without preamble.  “You will bear witness.  You all will,” he barked, raising his voice to the room at large, though everyone was very close nearby.  There was no way anyone could fail to hear him, even those crewmen who appeared to have been roughed up on their way in here. 
                  The crew stood in a rough line and more than a few of them showed cuts and scratches or swelling from soon to be very colorful bruises.  The zheen in the group didn’t show much in the way of injury; their carapace was hard enough to protect against a lot of damage.  But all were clearly anxious and afraid of what the enraged Armsman was going to do, for he wouldn’t have brought them all here just to make a speech.  And if he was going to address the crew, they all suspected that more of them would have been herded in here.
                  “That bitch of an engineer…” Jax began, grinding his teeth, “Murdered twenty-four of my men.  Murdered them in cold blood while they were here, in this very cargo bay.  She just opened the doors and blew them out into the void.”  He closed his mouth and simply seethed for a long moment.  The crewmen in the room all exchanged nervous glances.  The Captain tried to take a step forward, but the guards at his back grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him back.  One of the stuck his sidearm into the Captain’s ribs.
                  “You get to stay right here,” he warned.  “Armsman already said you get to bear witness.  You don’t get to participate.”  Eamonn struggled, tried to break free but they held him fast.  “No, no, boy.  You get to watch.”
                  “No!” Eamonn shouted, pulling hard against them.  It was a futile effort, they were simply too strong for him.  “No!”
                  “I cannot let that stand,” Jax said angrily, though it was clear he was playing for an audience not currently present.  Even through his desperation, Eamonn swiveled his head around, looking for whatever it was that the pirate was speaking to.  Then he saw it.  The internal security cameras that were pointed right at them.  He was obviously broadcasting this farce to the whole ship.
     
                  Tamara sat in the security office, her left arm encased in a regen tube filled with the healing solution for her broken arm.  It was only a centimeter or so larger in diameter than her arm, sealed off just below her elbow, bonded to the skin so as to prevent any leaking of fluid.  The tube went up over and covered her fingers, but it was a cylindrical and smooth surface.  Her whole hand was under the clear plastic, so she no longer had the use of that hand.  Not that she would have anyway, what with the broken bone.  Turan had set the bone and the regen tube acted as a splint.  She’d be wearing it for a week and then she’d start therapy.  By then, the solution would have worked its magic and her arm would be restored.  A couple of days of physical therapy and she’d be as good as new.  Once she was released from sickbay,