The pain that radiated outfrom Sean''s fractured ulna and radius had suffused his entirebeing, until he drifted in and out in a haze of agony. The hypodermic shot from theArmy medic hadn''t kicked in yet. Sean had screamed and thrashed when the medic attended to his fractures and it quicklybecame apparent that surgical intervention was necessary to set right bone fragments that had dislodged when Sean had rolled away from the onrushing drones. He watched through pain dulled eyes as more soldiers screeched to a haltin open-top Hummers. The vehicles were mounted with Javelin anti-tank missile tubes pointeduneasily at the milling Cereborgs that were starting to depart the area now that their target was neutralized. Nothing like hindsight to teachus our vulnerabilities, Sean grimaced.A squad jumped out and ranto the downed Huey, getting to work with jaws-of-life cutters and fire suppressant foam. A throbbingroar heralded the approach of another Huey that set down a respectable distance away, and departed a short while later withits cargo of the woundedon stretchers. Sean watched it go, hoping all three soldiers would make a full recovery.
When his own ride descended from the sky, it took him a while in his pain induced stupor to realize that it wasn''t a police or Medivac chopper but Richard''s helicopter withthe Fuller Dynamics logo. Their flight path roseover the factoryand then trackedthe shoreline. Sean caught a last glimpse of the yatch that had ferriedthem here, a palestreak on dark waters, and then closed his eyes as the painkiller mercifully took effect. When he opened his eyes the chopper had landed, and his mother was waiting for him at the Fuller residence helipad. Winona''s face wilted when she saw him, and Sean suddenly felt more sorry for her than himself. He must look a sight, butat least there was no bleeding. Elliot was there to receive and conduct him down to the basement bunker, all gleaming steel and chrome in post-apocalyptic decor, where a surgeon waited with an anesthesiologist and a nurse. The nurse setup an IV feed with quite efficiency while the surgeon, a tall silver haired man who introduced himself as Dr. Sinclair, clucked in disapprovalat the Medic''s handiwork.
"Recent medication?" queried theanesthesiologist, a young woman with dark hair tied into a bun. Sean pointed to a notethe Medic had scratched on his makeshift sling, and the woman nodded readying and injecting the dose Dr. Sinclair ordered into the IV. Sean sank into blissful sleep.
#
The agony had thankfully subsided into a dull throbbing ache when Sean woke up. His left arm was in a new sling. He was reclining comfortably in one of the upper floorbedrooms probably reserved for guests by the looks of it.Abedside lamp was on and Sean felt a sense of deja vu as he noticedhis mother sitting at the foot of the bed staring forlornly through the window at thegibbous moon rising in the night sky. Her gazesnapped toward Sean even ifhe hadn''t made a sound.
"Sean, how are..." her face twistedwith anguish.
"I''ll live, mom," Sean spoke quickly, belatedly regretting his choice of words, "not to worry."
"I hope you are not going to make a habit of this," Winona''s face tightened, "getting into life threatening situations, I mean. Your dad''s going ballistic... just got off the phone with him. He saw the news in Pennsylvannia even before I did. He''s driving back home. The news channels are going crazy... claiming its a prelude to an all out attack. What the heck happened exactly? How many GORGON attackerswereinvolved?"
Sean winced, glad for once that his dad''s work had taken him out of town, "Attackers? No, they just managed to hack..."
There was a brief knock at the door which opened to admit Richard and Susan Fuller. Richard walked in pulling out a chair from a writing desk and seated himself beforeSean''s bed while Susan simply stood behind her husband. Richard looked tired with new worry lines on his face. His eyes weren''t smiling now. Sean almost felt sorry for him.
"That could have gone a whole lot worse," Richard spoke after regarding Sean in silence.
"Relax, mom," Sean spoke asWinona''s face hardenedwith anger, "He''s right... it could have been a lot worse. I''m very glad someonethought of taking out the rogue drone using the others."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"That was Kaitlyn''s idea," Richard''s eyes crinkled, "she was holleringfor new drones to be launchedto protectyou, right off the bat. Not the first thing I would think of to be honest... after all we do not usually deployour drones againstother drones. It took a while to retargetthem. You can thank her when you get the chance... she is a hero."
Huh, Sean thought startled, guess I owe Kaitlyn my life.Dammit, the girl was going to be insufferable.
"Dr. Sinclair was able toreset all the dislodged bone fragments," Richard continued, "He has cautioned that your arm might take longer to heal than usual considering the complexity of your fracture. You are cleared to go home in the morning. But please... feel free to rest here as long as you need. And post-operativevisits toDr. Sinclair''s clinicare also covered."
"Thanks," Sean nodded, "And thanks for having your private medical team take care of me. Beats waiting in line at Portsmouth General."
"The least I could do," Richard waved away the acknowledgement, "let no one say the Fuller family wasnegligent in itsduty."
"While we appreciate free medical care," Winona ventured coolly, "the fact that Sean was injured on Fuller Dynamics propertyis hugely concerning..."
"This was an enemy attack, for goodness sakes," snapped Susan, "and premises liability does not..."
Susan stopped and bit her lip as Richard held up ahand placatingly, "Mrs. Cook has the right to pursueall legal channels at her disposal. Just as the Fuller family reserves the right to defend itselfin court alongwith the corporations in which we hold a controlling interest. These are extraordinary circumstances. We deny any legal liability or wrongdoing and my lawyers are ready for any challenge... no matter how long it takes."
How typical, mutteredSean to himself, the rich dude threatening us withbankruptcyif we sue him. Sean wasn''t a big fan of litigation, in principle, except where it was deserved. And hecouldn''tconvince himself Richard deserved it. It was true Fuller had badly underestimatedGORGON, but given the information available he wasn''t sure anyone could have done better. There was something patheticabout suing a rich guy for his money, almost like begging fora handout. There were many who wouldn''t hesitate, but Sean wasn''t one of them... he wanted much more. To rise to be Fuller''s equal by carving out the heart of his empire if necessary. Delusions of grandeur, perhaps? The throbbing pain in his arm while not as bad as before was steadily gnawing away at his composure. Sean did not react well to pain. Andsomething about Richard''s attitude rankled him... the cool confidence that the Fullers had nothing to fear from plebians. Not with their legion of well paid lawyers behind them.
"Earlier this evening, Richard, you claimed that you owed me a debt," Sean retorted, "Do you still stand by it? How much is that debt worth? Ten percent of your controlling interest? Five percent? Give me a rough number."
"What?" blurted Winona, lookingastonished at her son''s outburst.
Richard regarding Sean in surprise for a long moment and then threw back his head and laughed. It was the first time Sean had seen him laugh and it went on and on.
"Cut it out," snarled Sean, the pain in his arm spiking, "that wasn''t a joke."
Richard stopped laughing, the humor draining abruptly from his face. His voice was cold, "You have the audacity to make demands of me? You forget who I am, kid... you may have helped us out of a tight spot and we won''t know until the retrofit goes out in the field. You would have earnedmy gratitude. But you seem to have mistaken my kindness for weakness. Your stupidaspiration, if it can even be called that, is so outrageous thatthe medication must haveaddled your brain. This conversation is over. Elliot will conduct you to the gate at first light."
Richard got up, pushing back the chair.
"I knew he was after something..." Susan blurted, "I know his kind..."
Susan stoppedwith her hand over her mouth, a look of horror on her face. She had meant to say ''his type'' but it had come out a little differently.
"Our kind?" Winona said coldly, as Sean blinked.
"No, I didn''t mean..." winced Susan, "I only meant..." She stopped and sighed, "Anything I say now is only going to get twisted out of context... I''m truly sorry that it has come to this."
"As I am," nodded Winona stiffly. Sean watched with misgiving as the Fullers left the room.
"Well..." Winona glared at her son, "that could have gone a whole lot better... what the heck got into you, Sean?"
END OF CHAPTER