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Manny lost the arm.
Despite Lucia’s quick action, his left arm was too far gone by the time he made it to a hospital for it to be saved. Lucia took this very hard, and it was difficult to tell if she hated herself or Fox more for it. He found her in a waiting area, pacing like a caged animal.
When Roland arrived at the clandestine Dockside medical facility, battle-scarred and in obvious pain, Lucia’s eyes grew wide at the sight of him. Then they filled with tears, and she threw herself into his arms where she promptly started to cry. “It’s my fault!” she sobbed the accusation into Roland’s chest.
Roland was singularly ill-equipped to handle this much raw emotion, but he did his best. “No, it’s not,” he said helpfully. “You didn’t shoot him, Fox did. He presented this reality as if Lucia was not already in possession of that knowledge. Even the obtuse old soldier recognized how stupid it sounded. As was his fashion, this recognition occurred only after the words had escaped his mouth.
“But I led him in there. I didn’t secure Fox. I didn’t do any of the stuff I should have done!”
“Lucia.” This would not be one of those times where his pep talk made her feel better, but certain things needed to be said. “This is what command is like. You make a choice. You execute a battle plan. Then people on your side get hurt or die. If you learn something from it and it makes you a better commander, then figure out how to be okay with that part of it.”
She probably needed to hear something entirely different. Perhaps something more supportive or more insightful. Roland did not know because he was terrible at this sort of thing. What was apparent was that she was not quite ready for his blunt assessment just yet. “That doesn’t help that poor boy in there, does it?”
“No,” he agreed, “it does not.”
“I need to have Dad adjust these things in my head,” she sniffled. “I’m too goddamn confident and too fearless right now. Dad’s right... It’s not normal.” She took a breath, getting control of her voice, “I was only thinking about the mission, and thinking about getting Fox. My body was on complete autopilot. I didn’t... feel... anything until Manny got shot. But oh, man! When I was trying to do first aid? It was like it was at the beginning when I was first learning about my augmentations. Every second it was all I could do just to not have a panic attack.”
“New stimulus,” Roland agreed, “The ‘bots didn’t know what to do with it.”
“That’s how it should be, I think. I never understood it before, but I get it now. I’m supposed to be afraid sometimes. When I was in there dealing with security and kicking down doors though?” She shrugged, “I felt nothing. That’s why Manny got hurt.”
“Then let’s have him look into that. But don’t blame the nanobots and don’t blame yourself. Combat is chaos. You got your men out alive and that means you did fine.”
“Then why do I feel like shit?”
“Because you’re still human. Hold on to that. Now, let’s go in and see how he is doing, OK?”
They pushed through the door to the operating room. Manny was on a flat nondescript hospital bed, sitting upright and smiling weakly at Mindy. The buxom woman was fussing over him like an overprotective sibling. The behavior was bizarre in how incongruous to her personality it was. Manny, in turn, was swatting at her like a child who just wanted to be left alone.
“Jesus, Mindy. Leave him be,” Roland grumbled.
Mindy tossed him an eloquent scowl, “I’m just making sure Manny here is comfortable is all.”
“Taking a shine to our little scout, Mindy?” Roland teased.
The tiny blond was unfazed. “If you’d seen him waltz through a high-end security system like it wasn’t even there, you’d want him back on his feet in a hurry, too.”
“Hey, boss lady,” Manny croaked weakly from the bed. “Mindy says we got that fucker.”
“Yes,” Lucia replied, struggling to put a happy face on, “Mindy uh, handled it.”
“Fuck yeah I did! Pushed his chest bones right through his rotten heart!” Mindy pumped a fist in the air while everyone stared at her as if she had grown horns or some other equally ridiculous feat.
“What?” She whined, “Can’t a girl celebrate a righteous kill anymore?”
“You are one seriously unstable bitch,” Manny huffed from the bed. Mindy stuck her tongue out at him.
The young scout looked up at Roland, “I did my part, man. Were you serious about yours?”
Lucia answered for him, “Roland is serious about everything. So, yes, we will help you with your Red Hat problem. All we ask is that you wait until we have Dockside sorted out and running smoothly.”
“Certainly,” he nodded. “But I will have to move on soon. The Hats will find me before long and I can’t afford to be lying in bed when they do.”
“You can’t go anywhere until you are healthy and we get that arm sorted out,” Mindy blurted.
Manny gave her a measured look, “I’m healthy enough, and even with what you guys owe me, I still can’t afford a new arm. It’s okay. I’m resourceful, and at least when I go this time, I’ll have some money in my pocket.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Manny,” Lucia sounded as reluctant as Mindy to let the boy go. “My father is probably the best biotechnologist on Earth, and as a company we offer a very comprehensive health care plan. We will get you an arm unlike anything in the galaxy.”
“I can’t afford that, and I’m not really interested in your guilt or your charity, Lucia.” Manny shook his head weakly, “Debt and obligation are very big deals where I come from. You don’t owe me anything but the money we agreed upon, and I’d rather not owe you.” He pointed to the stub of his left shoulder, still wrapped in pressure bandages, “This is not on you. It’s not your obligation. If anything, I owe Mindy a debt for killing the motherfucker who shot me.”
“A deal, then.” It was Roland who broke the impasse. “We’ll get you set up with an arm. I promise you Manuel, if Don Ribiero is making it, then you want this arm. So don’t dismiss the offer. You can work off the debt here in Dockside. Lord knows we are going to need the help. When you are ready, we’ll go to Venus and manage your old friends to cover my part of the debt.”
“That sounds cool, Mr. Tankowicz. It really does. But if I stay, the Hats will come here looking for me soon. They won’t wait for things to cool down, and it will make things harder for you guys. You know how they are.”
Roland did know, but he also knew himself. “So, let them come,” he scoffed. “We’ll send them home in tiny boxes. It will give the rest of the bastards something to think about.”
Manny paused and looked at the strange group crowding his hospital room. He seemed confused by their persistence. “Why are you doing this? None of you know me that well. Why are you trying so hard to be nice to me?”
Mindy answered first, “Because you can waltz through highly secure areas?”
Lucia followed up, “Because you took a bullet for me?”
Roland sniffed, “Meh. I’m growing as a person.”
“Okay, then,” Manny let his head fall back to his pillow, and his words turned drowsy, “I’ll take the arm, and I’ll work it off. But no bullshit and no charity. It’s a Venusian thing.”
“Strictly business,” Roland agreed before Mindy or Lucia could say something nice and ruin it.
“Goody! I always wanted a pet...” Mindy squeaked.
“Or you could just kill me now,” Manny suggested lazily, “starting to sound good, actually.”
“All right Mindy, let’s clear out and let the boy get some sleep.”
The trio left the stuffy room and filed back into the hallway. Billy was waiting for them.
“How’s the kid?”
“Needs an arm,” Roland said. “We’ll get the Doc to set him up.”
“How about you?” Billy pointed to the obvious disarray of Roland’s clothing and the visible damage to his armor.
“I’m going to be in the chair at least a week.”
“I’m fine, too,” Mindy interrupted, “if you cared.”
Billy ignored her. “I’m not sure you’ve got a week, pal. Rodney is setting up a meeting of all the Dockside rackets for tomorrow night. It’s gonna be big, and it’s gonna be a bloodbath if The Fixer isn’t there to keep cooler heads prevailing, if you catch my drift.”
A few hundred Dockside riffraff in one place discussing who was going to be in charge of what, did seem like a recipe for disaster. Especially if The Dwarf was setting it up.
“Where?” he asked.
“Hideaway,” McGinty replied.
“Hell no.” Roland shook his head emphatically. "That’s a power play. We are not doing this on Rodney’s turf. Tell him we are doing this at the Smoking Wreck. Shit. Marty is going to hate that. Ah well, he’ll get over it.”
“Roland!” Lucia snapped. “You will not be ready by tomorrow night! You are swaying where you stand as it is!”
“Call your Dad. Tell him he’s got thirty-six hours to put me back together. He’ll figure something out.”
Lucia rolled her eyes, but pulled out her comm and started dialing.
“Mindy!”
“Jawhol!” the assassin barked with a click of her heels.
“Go to Hideaway and make sure our pal Rodney doesn’t get ambitious during this transitional period. He will try to make some kind of play for control. He can’t help himself. Gently remind him that this isn’t about him. If subtlety doesn’t seem to be working, feel free to be less subtle. Don’t bother Kitty while you are on the clock.”
Mindy’s face soured at that last bit. “Spoilsport!” she huffed.
Roland’s eyes met Billy’s, “Are you ready for this?”
Billy smiled, “Shit, yeah. I know how to do this. But it’s you they trust. They’re already talking about your fight with that big yellow fucker. You’re a hero to them. You’re like a mascot, or something.”
“Great,” Roland grumbled. “That’s all I need.”
“Don’t be a moron,” the redhead scolded, “This whole system has been bullshit for a long time, and everybody knew it. The problem was that no one knew how to fix it. Just our luck, it turns out that it didn’t need fixing. It needed to be broken.”
“I am very good at breaking things,” Roland conceded. “But now you’ve got to build something better. I only destroy, Billy. The rest is on you, and them.”
“Don’t you worry about that, pal. I’ll get it straightened out. But like I said, they need to see you doing what you do more than ever. It’s the only thing that will keep them from tearing each other apart.”
“So, I’ll keep breaking things, then,” Roland shrugged. “I’m a hammer, after all. And when all you have is a hammer?”
“Everything looks like a nail,” Billy agreed with a smirk.