Free Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match by Ron Francis Page A

landed. The medics had been able to stabilize Ariel, but she was in no way out of the woods. She was going to have all the protection he could give her. The medics quickly pushed the hover gurney as Manny called out orders to the protection detail. The ten remaining bodyguards from the hotel were joined by Jason and the eight men that Manny had brought with him. They made a perimeter around the gurney. As it moved, they moved with it. People stared and scurried to get out of the way as the procession made its way inside.
    A doctor was waiting for them, and had the portable diagnostic unit in his hand ready to check all of Ariel’s injuries. She had more injuries than he had monitors, but the two that had him really worried were the damaged lung and the internal bleeding. They were going to have to open her up, and stop the bleeding before they could get her into the recovery pod.
    “How does it look, Doc?” Manny asked as the doctor began prepping for surgery.
    “I’m about to operate to try to stop her internal bleeding. If I can’t, she’ll die. After the operation, we’ll get her into the recovery pod to take care of her other injuries. The wound on the side of her face is too deep for the pod to heal completely, so we’ll have a specialist ready to stitch her up so that you won’t even be able to see the scar. She has to survive first, of course. Are your men going to be here the whole time?”
    Manny could see the apprehension in the doctor’s eyes, and hear the anxiety in his voice, but there was nothing he could do about it. “Yeah, sorry, Doc, but this was an assassination attempt and she is still a high value target. I’ll make sure they stay out of your way, but they’re not going anywhere.” Manny said that last line in a tone that told the doctor it was not up for debate. He didn’t have time to argue anyway if he was going to save his patient’s life. He pulled on his gloves, pulled down his visual enhancement unit, and turned up the magnification enough so he could clearly see what he needed to do. His nurse handed him his scalpel, as he looked through his VUE. The first incision was made and the operation had begun. He noticed that Manny’s men had indeed given him a wide berth and soon forgot they were even there as he concentrated fully on saving the life of the battered young lady before him. She had taken a lot of punishment and the medics had done well to even keep her alive. This was not going to be easy.
    Manny received a transmission from Nina, as she was getting ready to enter light space. “Hey, Manny, do you have any updates for me?”
    “Nothing yet, Nina, she’s in surgery. Going in, the doctor wasn’t sure she would make it. We won’t know anything for a while. She’s a mess. She had more injuries than the doctor had monitors. I have eighteen men guarding her right now, with an additional six on the way. She’ll have two dozen guards, twenty-four seven, until further notice. Jason managed to kill the assassin, but we still don’t know who he was. We have his body and we are hoping that the police can make an ID.”
    “Alright, we will be entering light space momentarily. It will be a three-hour journey. We should be at the hospital in three and a half hours.” Nina hated that it was going to take her that long to get to her cousin’s side. She needed to be there now. She needed to hold her and reassure her and do everything a big sister should do. Just like Jesse, she considered Ariel more of a little sister than a cousin.
    “I’ll be here, have a safe trip.”
    “We will, and thanks. Manny, if you hadn’t gone after her, she would have already been dead.” The transmission ended, and Manny went back to the operating room to keep an eye on Ariel. He didn’t want to accept any thanks. If he had been quicker, this would not have happened. If she lived, he was going to be apologizing, not looking for applause. If she lived! He couldn’t bear to think about how Jesse