“Colonel! I didn’t realize—”
“No, of course not!” Steiger said, furiously. “Congratulations, Harris. You’ve just disarmed and captured Capt. Finn Delaney.”
Harris paled. “Capt. Delaney! Sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize—”
Forrester groaned and rolled over onto his back.
“Oh, sweet Jesus Christ,” said Steiger.
Delaney was at his side in an instant. “Oh, God. Don’t move, Moses,” Finn said. “Don’t just stand there, somebody get a goddamn medic!”
Forrester looked like he’d taken a nap on a barbecue grill. His face and skull were crisscrossed with blackened laser tracks, not bleeding because the heat had cauterized the wounds. There was a hole in his right cheek where a beam had gone in at an angle, exiting through the neck just below his jawbone. Part of an ear had been neatly sliced off. His fatigues looked like they’d been shredded in places and there were numerous pinholes in his shoulders and arms. Miraculously, none of the vital organs appeared to have been hit. He groaned again and tried to sit up.
“Don’t move, Moses, help’s on the way,” said Delaney.
“Screw that,” grunted Forrester. “Help me up.”
They gently pulled him up to a sitting position on the floor.
“Anyone left alive?” he said.
“I don’t know,” said Steiger.
“Well, check, God damn it!”
“Harris!” Steiger snapped.
“Yes, sir!” Hams rapidly detailed several men. “You, you, and you, come with me, on the double!”
“Somebody give me a cigarette,” said Forrester, leaning against Delaney for support.
Steiger got him one and put it between his lips , lighting it for him. Forrester inhaled deeply and then slowly blew the smoke out. The smoke coming out through the hole in his cheek was disconcerting.
Harris came back into the room. His face was ashen. “They’re dead, sir.”
Forrester looked stricken. “All of them?”
“I’m afraid so, sir.”
“Where the hell were you?” said Steiger, his voice barely under control.
“Sir, we responded the moment the alarm went off,” said Harris, “but there was someone in the tube …” He broke off awkwardly when he realized that the someone he was referring to were Steiger and Delaney.
“Yeah, that was us,” Delaney said. “Don’t blame Harris, Creed. They were incredibly fast. Whoever trained ‘em certainly knew what he was doing.” He glanced at Forrester. “Next time I warn you about keeping those antiques of yours, do me a favor. Kick me. But why the hell didn’t you use a plasma gun?”
Forrester grimaced and pointed at the gaping hole where the floor to ceiling window in the far wall of his penthouse used to be. “That’s why,” he said, wryly. “I don’t see the point in shooting sparrows with a cannon. Besides, bullet holes are a lot easier to fix. Jesus, look at this place!”
The medics arrived and pushed their way through. As they started administering first aid to Forrester, one of them turned to Steiger and said, “We’ve got to get him to a hospital right now”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Forrester began, but Steiger interrupted him.
“The hell you’re not,” he said. “Doctor, are you willing to certify this man unfit for duty in his present condition?”
“You’d better believe it,” said the medic.
“Right,” said Steiger. “As of right now, I’m assuming command. “
“The Hell you are!” thundered Forrester. “You’ve got a mission –”