Chapter 95: Infirmary

  Ellie began, “Is he going to be –”

  Rudy Algreil's eyes, bright electric blue where they weren't bloodshot red, flew open. They almost matched the decor in the Algreil Aerospace sickbay. “Mrs. Hughes,” he groaned.

  She nodded. “It's me, Mr. A... Rudy.”

  He slumped back and sighed. “Didn't really see that. Just a bad dream. Clo okay?”

  Ellie didn't answer.

  Rudy rolled his bandaged head to face her. “She's okay?” A heartbeat. “Right?”

  “Unfortunately,” Avalon said, “no.”

  Ellie closed her eyes.

  “Where,” Rudy growled. Even slurring his words and lying on a medical table, he almost managed to sound dangerous.

  “We don't know,” Ellie said. Her voice sounded weaker than Rudy's, though she hadn't had so much as a concussion when one of the Animus Hunters shoved her aside to get to Chloe, and certainly hadn't lost the kind of blood the young Algreil had.

  To get to Chloe, Ellie repeated in her mind. To take Chloe.

  “She was taken,” Avalon said. “I assume she is in some secure facility in the core, awaiting the judgment of the senate.”

  “Zelph,” Rudy said. “Set up.”

  “We know.” Ellie looked down at the young man, little more than a boy, her daughter loved. She hadn't realized how much until she saw the pain in Chloe's face when it looked like Rudy would die. She hadn't realized how much he felt for Chloe until she saw him now.

  Rudy Algreil didn't even seem to realize he was crying.

  “You must... hate my guts,” he said. “Walked her right into this. Didn't listen. She told me. Her dad told.”

  Ellie reached out and took one of his hands. “No, Rudy.”

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  He blinked up at her. “You're bein' nice,” he said. “Tha's weird. 'm I gonna die?”

  “Probably,” Ellie said, “but only because I expect they'll execute all of us once they're done with Chloe.”

  “That will not happen,” Avalon said. “I swear to you, that is not President Ferrill's intention. She will follow the law, Ellie.”

  “Wha's the law say,” Rudy asked. He gritted his teeth. “Shit. Wha's wrong with me? Gettin' worse.”

  “You're groggy from the Limiters,” Ellie said. “You'd be in a lot of pain without them, though.”

  “Get'm out,” he said. “Gotta save Clo.”

  “No,” Avalon said.

  Rudy and Ellie both looked to him.

  “You are in no condition to attempt a rescue,” Avalon said. “Your injuries are neither deep nor lasting, but they are debilitating. Until you have rested and allowed your company's medical nanomachines to repair your body, you cannot even walk, much less assault Etemenos's core.”

  “Gotta try,” Rudy said. He managed something that might have been meant as more smile than grimace. “Wha 'bout Mili?”

  “They took her, too,” Ellie said. “Principle! That poor kid hadn't even done anything wrong.”

  “Bastards,” Rudy muttered.

  Neither Ellie nor Avalon offered any disagreement.

  “President Ferrill,” Avalon said, “will not charge Miss Kyrillos with any wrongdoing. She has done nothing. Of course, she will be expected to take Limiters to suppress her powers. Even Chloe cannot be charged with more than the unlicensed use of psychic abilities. She hurt no one. While later instances of that infraction carry harsh penalties, the first is merely enforced Limiter use or induction into the Animus Hunter Corps.”

  “Are you actually defending them?” Ellie whirled on him. She didn't want to have an argument in the middle of the infirmary – but by the Principle, it looked like she'd be having one somewhere. “Excusing what they did?”

  “Of course not,” Avalon said. “The Animus Hunters displayed treachery and brutality of the worst sort. They led your daughter into a trap and baited it in Rudolf's blood. They not only acted without the guidance of any sort of decency, they violated the spirit of law by entrapping Chloe.”

  “Then how can you say they'll follow the law now?” Ellie demanded.

  “Because the Animus Hunters are but the enforcers of the law. President Ferrill is its final arbiter, and this case is important enough to come before her.”

  And Avalon did not, perhaps could not, believe the president was involved in Chloe's entrapment. Ferrill had been a mother to him. She had saved his life and she had, in a very real sense, given him a life. Without her, he would have been nothing more than a weapon. Or, more likely, a tiny corpse thrown into the trash to disguise the misdeeds of senates past. Even if he'd escaped, he would never have been treated as a full-fledged human being, much less a great man.

  Ellie was glad President Ferrill had done what she had for Avalon.

  She could only pray the president would be a tenth as merciful to Chloe.