Chapter 5 - Toxin and Steel
Dr. Sterling slowly raised his hands, stepping back against the stainless-steel counters of the mobile unit. "Avery, listen to me! You don't know the whole story! Your father was going to shut down our research! He was going to expose the entire private medical contract!"
"I don't care about your politics, Sterling," Avery said, stepping up to her father’s bed. "I care about my patient."
She quickly holstered her weapon, pulled out her penlight, and checked General Vance’s pupils. They were pinpoint, completely unreactive to light. His skin was gray, covered in cold, clammy sweat.
"He’s in cholinergic crisis," Avery diagnosed rapidly. She looked at the IV lines running into his arm. "You were dosing him with succinylcholine to keep him paralyzed for the scan, weren't you? You idiot! That accelerates the organophosphate toxicity!"
"We needed him motionless!" Sterling protested.
Avery grabbed a bottle of atropine from her medical vest, snapped the glass top off with her thumb, loaded a heavy syringe, and injected it directly into the central line port near her father’s neck.
Outside the ICU glass, the gunfire suddenly stopped.
A heavy silence settled over the hangar.
Avery looked through the glass wall. Commander Kane and his men were standing in a circle, their weapons raised, surrounded by ten fresh Apex mercenaries who had entered through the rear flight line.
Stepping into the center of the room was Director Moreau, holding a heavy revolver pointed directly at Commander Kane’s head.
"Drop your weapons, gentlemen," Moreau said smoothly, wiping rain from his forehead. "You're outnumbered, outgunned, and your little rescue operation is off the books. No one knows you're here."
Moreau walked toward the glass ICU unit, looking inside at Avery.
"Colonel Lennox," Moreau said, his voice amplified by the hangar’s acoustics. "I must admit, I am impressed. You traveled three thousand miles in four hours to save a father who banished you from the military two years ago."
May you like
Avery stood over her father’s bed, her hand resting on the injection port. "He didn't banish me, Moreau. I left because I couldn't stand watching men like you turn medicine into a butcher shop."
"A noble sentiment," Moreau sneered. "Now step away from the General and let Dr. Sterling finish the retinal scan. Do it, or I order my men to execute Commander Kane right now."
