Son of Tesla

SON OF TESLA: Chapter 47

PETAR TOOK A DEEP breath and gagged as the lingering black mist sucked into his lungs. He swiped a hand across his face and only succeeded in smearing the oily fluid across his skin. Beyond a barrier, the battle raged unseen. Judging by the shouts of the soldiers, the vucari was winning.

Petar rolled and saw Jem lying on his side surrounded by a potpourri of gleaming objects. Some were drenched in blood. A thin, rasping breath climbed into Jem's lungs. Petar could hear it catching.

Petar crawled toward Jem over the bits of metal and glass. Blood was pouring out of the cut on his side. It was thick and dark, sticky on Petar's palms. Dark blood, Petar knew, ran in the veins. The fermion bolt must have severed the renal vein, judging by the position of Jem's hands on his side.

Petar pulled up beside him and tried to pull Jem's hands away. They were as red as if someone had dipped them in a bucket of paint. His shirt clung to his skin, outlining the ruts of his ribs. Petar peeled the shirt away and, with both hands, ripped the fabric to give him a view of the wound. It was a thick, ugly gash that had gone black at the edges already. Even as Petar watched, a viscous stream of blood oozed out of it. Jem groaned at the movement.

"How ya doin', buddy?" Petar asked, echoing his tone from earlier. Jem moaned, tried to work his lips. They looked dry.

"That's good, don't try to talk. I'm just going to patch you up. It's going to sting for a moment, but soon you should feel something warm on your side." As he talked, Petar worked. First a binding foam from the tip of his finger that would fill the wound and expand to push out air pockets. It was bio-centric to allow cell communication between the torn tissue. Then a thick layer of boson film to quell the nasty side effects of the fermion charge.

Only nothing happened. Petar tried again, swiping his thumb across the back of his pinky's middle knuckle. Above the wrist, silver metal glinted through the melted holes in his forearm. The LEDs were dark.

This was bad, but there was no point alarming the boy. So Petar just smiled and said, "You feeling okay now?"

Weakly, Jem nodded.

"Okay, that's good. Now I'm going to lift you up gently. Do you think you can put your arm around my neck?" Faint grunt. "No? That's fine. I'll do it for you." Petar leaned in and lifted Jem's arm behind his head, then gripped Jem's fingers where they hung down over his chest. With his other arm, he supported Jem around the waist. He slowly lifted Jem to his feet.

Petar looked around warily. So far, their little corner of the lab was still quiet, although it was only a matter of time before something stumbled across them. A loud wail bounced off the walls and ceiling. Only two rifles were firing now. The fight wouldn't go on much longer. Then, it would become a hunt.

Petar pulled Jem over the debris past where the wall had been. There was now a thin space at the edge of the stack of rebar that they could slip through. Beyond it was the far wall of the lab, and that wall should have a door to the oscillation test chamber.

Jem was light enough that walking with his entire weight slumped on Petar's side wouldn't have been a problem if not for the equipment littering the floor. He went as quickly as he could without risking a slip. Jem was conscious and doing his part by lifting his feet whenever they bumped into something hard, but he didn't seem capable of putting any weight on them.

Three things were worrying Petar.

First, the Koschei had been alone. Koschei never hunted alone. That meant its partner was around somewhere. Since they were using deflector fields to stay out of sight, the second Koschei could be anywhere.

Petar's ankle rolled on a ball bearing. He stumbled and Jem's arm tightened around his neck. He mumbled something.

"What'd you say?" Petar asked.