Gravedigger 01 - Sea Of Ghosts Read Online Free Page B

‘Hell,’ he said. ‘At least I’ll take the image of his face to my grave. However soon that’ll be.’
    ‘I said, that’s enough.’
    They found the surgeon in Recovery Room 4. He was leaning over Creedy’s head, feeding gauze into the wounded man’s eye socket. The sergeant reclined on an enormous adjustable chair, clutching a tray full of bloody surgical implements in his lap.
    ‘That looks like a good clean wound, Sergeant,’ Granger observed.
    ‘Hurts like a bastard, sir,’ Creedy replied. ‘But I’ve had worse.’
    The surgeon looked up. ‘I thought it best to avoid the risk of anaesthetic,’ he said. ‘In this case the arrow has cauterized the wound quite nicely.’ He sighed. ‘We don’t see many injuries like this any more.’
    ‘You sound disappointed,’ Granger said.
    The other man made a non-committal gesture. ‘Void arrows make such lovely wounds. Much cleaner than a sword cut. Much less prone to infection.’ He withdrew his bloody fingers from Creedy’s eye socket. ‘Hand me one of those bandages, will you?’
    Granger took a bandage and a couple of snap-pins from a box on a nearby trolley. ‘I’ll finish this off,’ he said. ‘Get yourself cleaned up.’ He wrapped the bandage around Creedy’s head and secured it with a pin.
    The recovery room plumbing had been rudely extended to reposition an array of washbasins a foot out from the wall, away from the brine-riddled stonework. The ceiling plaster along the western edge of the room had collapsed, and glassy brown contusions had appeared around the metal window frames. The surgeon washed his hands in fresh water and shook them dry. ‘I don’t suppose you recovered the arrow?’ he asked Granger.
    ‘It disappeared into the vault wall.’
    ‘Shame, shame. Skywards or seawards?’
    ‘A very slight inclination. It must have passed through the city in an instant.’
    The surgeon nodded. ‘Heading for the stars.’ He turned back to Creedy. ‘Your eye socket will take an implant, Sergeant. I can have one made up in a couple of weeks. Nothing fancy, just clay and resin.’
    ‘I like the hole just fine.’ Creedy thought for a moment. ‘Maybe I can keep something useful in there . . . tobacco, ammunition.’ He laughed. ‘Would it hold a grenade?’
    ‘I have one you could try,’ Banks said. ‘You can have it for free, Creedy.’
    The surgeon made a sound of disapproval. ‘I would not recommend that, Sergeant. Colonel, would you like me to take a look at your shoulder?’
    Before Granger could reply, the door of the recovery room opened, and a young girl walked in. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, but she wore the robes of a Haurstaf cadet and carried herself with all the authority that implied. She approached the colonel and handed him a sealed envelope. ‘Sister Marks asked me to deliver this,’ she said. ‘It’s already in circulation.’
    Creedy sat up.
    Granger opened the envelope and read the note inside.
    24/Hu-Suarin/1441
    NOTICE OF WARRANT(110334)
    Imperial Infiltration Unit 7 (the ‘Gravediggers’ – Cmdr Colonel Thomas Granger) is summarily disbanded with immediate effect, pending investigation of article 118 malfeasance. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the following men:
    Colonel Thomas Granger – RN348384793888
    Sergeant William Patrick Creedy – RN934308459839
    Private Merrad Banks – RN239852389578
    Able Seaman Gerhard Tummel – RN934783898 Able Seaman Swan Tummel – RN09859080908
    Issued without prejudice on behalf of his Majesty Emperor Jilak Hu.
     
    He stared at the note for a long time. His shoulder began to throb with renewed vigour as his heart rate quickened, but he barely noticed it. He felt strangely numb. He looked at the young witch. ‘How did Sister Marks get this?’
    The girl just shrugged. ‘She’s Haurstaf.’
    ‘What is it?’ Creedy asked.
    Granger ignored him. ‘And why is she helping us?’ he said to the witch.
    ‘She—’ The girl suddenly stopped.