"Ward, you've disappointed me..."
John Garrett lay in the base, barely clinging to life. When Lena left, she said she would be right back and that they could work together again sometime, but not only had she left, she had also removed every trace of the Magic she had left behind, as if she were afraid others would discover that she had worked with him.
John Garrett understood that Lena had no intention of returning. Otherwise, she would not have been so thorough. But he had no time to pursue the matter now, because once Lena removed her Magic, the effects of Hellfire left by Melinda returned, torturing him terribly.
Moreover, Lena's Magic had merely been like an anesthetic. It had only blocked the pain caused by Hellfire; it had not healed it. Thus, the flames had continued to damage Garrett all along. Now, weakened and tormented at once, he could feel that his days were numbered. Death would likely come within the next day or two.
His only hope of survival was to inject the miraculous Tahiti drug. To avoid rejection, he needed not only the composite agent but also all the data on the hard drive Skye had encrypted. The composite agent had already been delivered, but Ward had brought back bad news: he had failed to bring Skye back, which meant the hard drive could not be cracked.
Facing Garrett's rebuke, Ward looked thoroughly innocent. "You have no idea how dangerous it was. There was an agent from the Black Badge Division there. He took down the Death Warrior in just a few moves and left him unable to take care of himself. What was I supposed to do?"
As if to prove Ward's words, the Death Warrior lay nearby undergoing major repairs. His weapon systems had