Knowing that there was nothing that she could do for Hawkes, she left him under the watchful eyes of the two Security officers and went to check on Owens and Nang.
She was surprised to find Nang in better shape than Owens. Both were unconscious, but Nang was coming around. An angry scrape ran the length of his left cheek. Devereux suspected that it would develop into an ugly bruise before morning unless Hope treated it soon.
Blood ran freely from Owens’ nose. Possibly from his mouth as well, Devereux decided. It was difficult for her to tell for certain without a closer examination. She was reluctant to move either of them, for both had experienced strong blows to either their head or neck. Carefully, she checked for a pulse at Owens’ throat.
She found it, although it seemed to be slow and irregular. Although his uniform covered most of his muscular bulk, Devereux suspected that she would discover at least a half dozen serious bruises forming. He would be in serious discomfort for several days, she guessed. Without removing his uniform tunic, there was no way to be certain. Not that the idea was not tempting for other reasons, for he was superbly muscled, but she felt safer leaving such an examination to those with more thorough medical training.
A series of loud banging noises came from behind her, from somewhere in the direction of the hatchway.
“Elizabeth,” she said. “See if there’s anything you can do about the lights or the door.”
“Yes, Captain,” her First Officer replied.
Elizabeth headed back toward the hatchway, back into the darkness of the cargo bay.
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