Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [71]
‘Where is the Baronessa Mira?’ said Djeserit in panic. She struggled to look over Trin’s shoulder, nearly overbalancing them both.
‘Keep still,’ Trin ordered. His arms had begun to grow numb with the strain of carrying her light body. Pain stabbed the muscles across his shoulders. He lowered his mouth to her ear. ‘The Baronessa is close by. But I must get you away from the sunlight. In the Carabinere office there will be spare suits.’
She fell back against him, exhausted. The skin on her cheeks had erupted in ugly bubbles of fluid and the movement of her neck gills was sluggish. If she stopped land-breathing he doubted that he would be able to revive her.
Gripped by urgency, Trin pressed back through the crowd and along the viuzza. The redcrete outside the office was deserted. He placed his finger in the authenticator and carried Djeserit and the ‘bino inside. The korm followed them, making odd noises. She leaked blood still from the puncture wounds on her arm, as though the blood refused to clot.
‘Quiet!’ Trin made a stern face, stifling a desire to shout at her. He’d seen what the korm could do, even injured and exhausted.
She chittered, unhappy about something.
He placed Djeserit onto a chair and laid the infant on his desk. Its arms flailed in fear of abandonment but it didn’t cry.
Trin shortcasted to the Carabinere. ‘It’s Trin Pellegrini.’
Christian answered from the compound. ‘Where have you been, Pellegrini? Your negligence has cost us ... I will personally discipline you for desertion.’
‘Not desertion, Capitano—Nathaniel was on duty,’ Trin countered.
‘Later I will find the truth of this but now we are evacuating. We have been recalled to Pell.’
‘Si. I have been down at the compound gate. Seb Malocchi told me to go to the office.’
Christian made an impatient noise. ‘Come to the inner gate of the service yard. I will let you through.’
Relief was like a first mouthful of wine: Trin had feared that Christian would refuse him. He raced into his tiny room and collected his few belongings into a valise, then ran back to Christian’s office and removed the medkit. Thumbing through it he found the coagulants used for stemming blood flow in wounds. There had been more of them yesterday, he was sure.
Rummaging in the kitchenette he found a tray of leftover dried carpaccio—Nathaniel’s meal, perhaps—which he pressed into Djeserit’s hand. She took two slices and gave the rest to the korm.
While they devoured the food, Trin pasted analgesic from the medkit on her leg around the wound. ‘We have a chance to leave here now. We must take it or perish. You need proper medical attention and the ‘bino needs food,’ he said.
Vito began to mewl at the smell of the meat. Djeserit reached for him and let him suck the taste from her finger. He screwed up his tiny face and coughed; a heartbreaking look of disappointment.
Tears leaked from Djeserit’s eyes and she brushed them a way with unsteady bloodstained fingers. ‘Where is the Baronessa?’ she asked. ‘Why hasn’t she come?’
‘Mira Fedor has others who will help her,’ Trin reassured her. ‘Now you must put this on.’ He held out a spare Carabinere fellalo.
As Djeserit repeated his words to the korm, Trin showed her how to wrap the cloth and thread the fluid tube. The korm listened to her intently, her crest inflating and flattening as if she was agitated or unsure. But when Trin lifted both Djeserit and the ‘bino into his arms and headed out through the coldlock she followed.
Christian opened the connecting inner gate. ‘Pellegrini—what in Crux’s name—’
‘Please?’ Trin held out the ‘bino.
Christian took the ‘bino with bare, trembling hands. His face was sweating and his pupils had contracted to tiny pinpricks of darkness.
‘Trade visitors. Th-they were staying at the Villa Cabuto,’ Trin lied. ‘Jus Malocchi ‘casted to say they were in trouble. That’s where I went. Their aide is dead and the female is injured.