by Mason, Jolie
*****#*****
Warriors disappeared into the green foliage as soon as they reached the perimeter fence of the compound. Squat utilitarian buildings that had once been warehouses had been converted into containment for slave shipments. There were two guards on the gate, each carrying rifles loosely in their grip, relaxed as the guarded the gate.
Na’len leaned into whisper in Ra’dan’s ear. “Only two.”
“How many should there be?” He’d said only, implying there was usually a larger force on the gate.
“Usually, more. Let’s get those rocket drones into position”, he said into his comm. Ra put a hand on his arm signaling for the rockets to hold while he checked in again with Luca.
“Box is inside the port. Just say when.”
“Do you have a clear visual on the port?”
“Affirmative. There’s a little activity on the launch pad.”
“To be expected. Hold position.”
He nodded at the rebel’s leader who spoke softly into a comm. Less than a few seconds passed, when a flare of light shot from the trees and exploded at the gatehouse, obliterating the guard shack, the wired fence and both guards. Another drone rocket flared and fired at the secondary entrance. It was a classic flanking maneuver, and they had enough men to make it work.
On two sides of the camp, Sorian warriors surged out of the trees destroying every human between them and their people. The slave units were kept in a central warehouse. That was the target.
Ra’dan fired his rifle carefully picking off positioned sentries on the roofs of nearby buildings. “Stay to the cover. Let the mechs plow the road.” He spoke the words into his comm even as he lined up another successful shot. He peeked around twice, noticing the men were doing just as ordered, and the mechs were amazingly effective. The friend/foe targeting system allowed the mechs to move freely through the compound picking off large groups of fighters, as the tech confirmed the targets to avoid hitting the captives. Firing when he left cover, Ra’dan and the others traveled in the wake of destruction left by the mechs. The two units would travel separately along vertical lanes toward the warehouse where they’d come together to clear the building, while the mechs and a small contingent continued clearing the rest of the compound.
It wasn’t far into the small camp that they found the massive warehouse that had been converted into a processing facility for the slavers. The rockets fired one last time to blast through the large hangar doors on the east end of the building. Twenty or more of the Sorian fighters were already in position waiting for the doors to blow when Ra’dan got there. He heard Na’len bark,”Do it!”. Then, the hangar splintered open with a deafening sound. Ra barely had times to cover his ears. Caden had been right when he said the mechs were a necessity. These were only the first three, and they’d tipped the scales. Ra’dan had never seen mechs in action before, and he was thankful he was seeing them from this side. He’d hate to be on the other side right now.
They all took positions on left and right of the doors and folded into the dark, open space. It was cavernous and silent which was all wrong. Ra moved right, speaking into his comm. “Something’s off. Clear the ground floor quickly.”
The majority of the pulse fire seemed to be coming from outside with the exception of a sporadic pop of a pulse pistol here and there in the building. He reached the back side of the large hangar without firing another shot from his rifle. Na’len reached him minutes later. “They aren’t here”, he said dismayed. “Where are they?”
Ra’dan gripped his rifle in his left hand, eyes widening, as he realized where they had to be. “Luca, what’s that activity look like now?”
“Looks like preflights on the cruiser, if you ask me.”
He turned to Na’len. “They’re loaded. They’re on the ship, loaded at the port.”
Na’len stared at him in horror a moment before rushing out for the door with Ra’dan yelling his name and running after him. Out on the street, he lost Na’len and cursed. “Luca, hold on detonation. Is the ship launching?”
“Yes”.
Ra squeezed his eyes tightly closed and hissed. He had two choices. Destroy a ship full of innocents to avoid the slavers’ escape, or he could let the ship launch. They’d be slaves, but they would be alive. He scrubbed a hand down his face. No one would win today.
“Let it go, Luca. Detonate when they clear the launch area.”
If they were breathing, there was hope. He’d made it back home. Maybe, they could too.
“Copy.” A wealth of understanding flooded that one word as he and Luca shared what was an impossible moment. He had abandoned hundreds to slavery in a breath. She would send hundreds more to the afterlife in moments.
He felt raindrops hit his face slowly as he stood listening in the oncoming storm. Lightning cracked just then, startling him. He raised his eyes up to the sky where the cruiser was just disappearing above the storm clouds. He saw the flash as it broke atmosphere, then he heard the port blow, a massive cloud of fire and noise shaking the ground around him.
“Report.” He waited for Luca to respond. Not really because he needed a report, but because he wondered how she was handling it. “Luca”, he said again more forcefully.
“Here. Captain...”, her voice subdued she reported. “Port target destroyed, Captain.”
“You okay?” He wasn’t her Captain. He was a friend. It didn’t matter what she said right now. He knew she wasn’t okay. It was why he hadn’t wanted her on the shuttle.
She cleared her throat once. “I’m fine, Captain. Returning to rendezvous.”
He sighed. “Acknowledged.” She’d be back at the village waiting for him. He would check on her then. Ra turned to make his way back to the warehouse and help with the clean up. The plan was to raid this facility. Take anything of value and raze it.
All areas had checked out clear, and, as he rounded the corner of the large warehouse, he saw men were already in process of loading speeders and moving supplies out to different settlements. Thereby scattering their forces, effectively distributing the goods and disappearing their army in one swoop. Each speeder took two men. Na’len was nowhere in sight.
Ra felt his brow crease in worry. He could only pray Na’len hadn’t gotten to the port prior to the detonation. That was, of course, his only possible destination. It had been a mindless, instinctive reaction that may have cost him his life. Ra’dan hoped it did not.
He stopped and spoke with the man in charge of the supply distribution for a moment or two. There was nothing for him to do now, but wait. Wait for these men to do what needed doing. He thought he’d be useful while he waited and would go stand guard with the force at the entrance which would free up another man for speeder duty.
Ra’dan followed the path that had already been cleared on entry. He remained watchful as he dodged debris and the dead in the street. He could see what used to be the guard house from where he was. As he approached, he heard the crack somewhere above them, and he spun, rifle raised looking for a target for just a moment before impact. It took seconds, then he felt it.
The sensation of an explosion contained in his abdomen then a searing burn in his lower back. He jerked at the impact, but caught himself. His body seemed no longer his own. He dropped to a knee, heard the clatter of his weapon on the concrete. Distantly, the men were shouting and more pulse fire erupted around him, but he could barely hear it. Then, the pain. He inhaled on a gasp. He’d never felt pain like this. Like someone poured brandy in his intestines and dropped a match.
Hands pulled him by his shoulders. It hurt. Then he heard, “We have to seal it!” He watched a Sorian he didn’t know grab a long tube filled with seal gel. “This is going to sting”, he said. He was such a liar. This was going to kill him, he thought.
The medic poured the sealing gel into the wound causing pressure and the most excruciating pain, he’d ever experienced. Too much for the mind to process, apparently, because the last thing he remembered were hands t
ugging and pulling on his body, as though they were trying to hold him to the planet surface.
*****#*****
Nina had triaged all her patients so far. They’d lost ten who made it to the infirmary. Still, they weren’t at capacity, and she was taking that as a good sign. They’d all heard the spaceport blow.
She’d just finished dressing a shoulder wound when she heard commotion out in the main room where her patients were resting. “Dr. Quell!”
Sticking her head around the corner, she saw a stretcher moving toward her fast. She gestured for the other patient to go, and reached for her sterile tray. The men lifted the patient who’d gone far too pale a shade, judging by his visible hand, to be a minor wound onto the exam table. She pulled on gloves and turned to the men. “Where’s the wound?”
A young medic she’d trained in her clinic informed her. “Abdominal wound. Projectile weapon. Appears to have gone through.” He put his hand on her arm. “It’s Sevarus.”
She stopped her prep and looked over at the patient for the first time. Ra’dan lay motionless on the table, his shirt cut open and away. Sealing gel filled the wound. Her mouth went dry. Her ears buzzed like insects nested in them.“Doctor!”, the medic shouted. “Can you do this?”
She met his eyes, saw dismay echoed back at her. Slowly, she nodded. “I must”, she whispered. No one else could. There was no one with her level of training in the clinic. She waved everyone who didn’t need to be there out of the room. Then, she tried to take herself out of the room. He needed her to be a doctor right now, not his wife. “Let’s get a look at the exit wound”, she said, and they tilted him to let her see. “Let’s get some scans before we remove that gel.”
For the next age, she worked to determine the severity of his injuries. She almost wept when he showed no sign of internal bleeding. She’d treated him for potential infection, and she’d dressed the wound. Now, she stood beside the cot they’d placed him in closest the exam room, and she marveled at how lucky they’d been. A fraction to the left or right and she’d be lighting a pyre tomorrow.
It was growing late, and the camp was eerily quiet, even though the work of the day was far from over. Men were organizing hidden caches from the weapons they had captured and women were stocking food stores. Guards were keeping watch for patrols through the night. Perhaps, that was part of why Nina couldn’t just go to sleep on an available cot. She was so aware of all that needed to be done.
She checked Ra’dan’s old school IV. She had already received her own supply crate, thanks to the Imperium’s pet slavers. Nina felt a cold kind of rage when she thought of them. They’d almost taken him. There was no hell bad enough for them.
Ra’dan moved on the cot, and Nina pulled a rolling stool toward his bedside and sat.
She watched his yellow-green eyes open, shutter a moment, and then open again. She whispered a small thanks to whoever ran the Universe. His eyes searched for hers. Nina just stared at him. Goddess only knew what expression she wore. Her mind and heart were so mixed up with too many emotions and experiences to process.
He grimaced on the bed when he tried to sit up. “I didn’t pass inspection, did I?”
“No, Captain, you did not”, she’d meant it to be a joke, but her voice came out tight and angry. He reached for her hand, and she let him have it.
“Are you very angry?”
She sat a moment, and then said softly, “I am. Yes, I think I am.” Then, her face folded into tears and she leaned carefully over to rest her face in his shoulder as hers shook with sobs because he’d almost died right under her hands. His hand curled around her head, and he kissed her forehead repeatedly, whispering inane, silly things and small comforting noises.
Nina had exhausted herself, and she knew it. Still, she cried and cried. There was a nurse in the ward, a midwife really from the village, but she knew enough to handle the night shift. Nina felt her hand on her shaking shoulder. “Nina, you must rest. Let me bring a cot here beside your mate. You can sleep here, yes?”
She looked over her shoulder and nodded. Wiping her eyes, she stood and went to help her move the small cot and adjust the IV rack to accommodate the beds closer than the others. When all was in place, Nina stretched out beside Ra’dan and sighed. Her hand stretched out over the short distance to lay against his shoulder. He smiled weakly and kissed the finger closest to his lips.
“When did I become this needy?” She asked mournfully. “I’m really afraid now, Ra’dan. Who would I be if you’d gone?”
Hoarsely, he said, “You would be yourself, Star. And, I would never go anywhere.”
She scoffed. “You gave a good imitation of it today.”
He gave his head a little shake. “You do not understand. My people, don’t believe there is a place you go. We believe our spirits stay right here with the people. I never believed that until now. Until you. Nothing would make me leave you. They could take my body, but my spirit is always yours.”
Her hand toyed with his braid, and the tiny shining jewel that he wore for her. “Please, be more careful with this body, Ra’dan. I’m not sure I have the same kind of faith you have.”
“I will be as careful as it is possible to be. I have no wish to be a ghost just yet. We have many things to do.”
“We haven’t talked about it.” She acknowledged that they’d left so much unsaid. “We could leave Brin.”
“But, you don’t want to leave Brin, Star.”
“I didn’t. I guess I still don’t, but I’m having to reevaluate. Is it worth losing us? Would it be worth your life? If you want to go, I will.”
“I don’t want to. We have to find Marm, and we have to stop the slavers. Maybe, we can make the planet safe from them for good. This is our home, Nina. It’s where you are happiest. They will not take it from you. From us.”
“Yes,” she said simply and twined her hand in his. It was this way they fell asleep, hand in hand with three feet between them.
9
The suddenly soothing sounds of the ship permeated her awareness slowly. Hushed conversation whispered from somewhere beyond the doors. Bleary and confused a moment, Nina scooted up in the comfortable chair designed for family and crew to sit by the bedside of patients in the Bell’s very advanced infirmary. She remembered where she was.
She’d had Ra’dan transferred up to the ship and the care of a doctor who wasn’t in love with him. Or anyone in the universe, she imagined. Dr. Sillio Zann was, by reputation, an excellent doctor with training in far more modern techniques than Nina had ever seen. Her medical degree was far more biology based. She was good with trauma, but hand her a neural replicator and things could get messy.
Zann hadn’t made her feel welcome yesterday at all, but he was good at what he did. The Bell had equipment that, in the right hands, worked miracles of healing. She remembered the efficient and brusque way the man had looked Ra’dan over and declared him a mess. The doctor had begun the treatment immediately, brushing Nina out of the way.
A noise from the bed drew her attention and had her sitting up the rest of the way in her chair. “Ra. You’re awake.”
She could never seem to get used to the sight of him. His golden green eyes shone like twin suns sometimes, and, right this moment, he looked so rumpled and boyish, so big in the narrow bed. His skin reminded her of foam on the sea today, which was a sign that he’d lost a lot of blood. He held a long arm out and gestured for her.
She moved over to his bed where he disregarded her protests and curled her into his side. “I am sorry I got shot. It was terribly inconsiderate of me.” She laughed.
He’d apologized twice since it happened. The fact that he could joke made the knots in her stomach turn loose a little more each time which was why he did it, in fact. Nina rubbed her nose into his exposed skin, breathing in deeply. His scent reminded her he was real. This wasn't a dream.
“Damn straight. A good husband knows these things. They do not get shot.”
He clutched her close
r. “I really do know how hard this is on you.” He put her hand on his heart. “Connected, remember?”
Nina curled her fingers into the thin hospital garment. “That may be my only regret about us. If I’d been Sorian, I would know what you need all the time the way you do. You didn't get a good deal, Ra'dan.” She hated the vulnerable, childish tone of her own voice. Would she always feel this insecure about being human?
He curled a hand into the crown of disheveled curls on her head. “If you were Sorian, I might not have looked at you twice. Did you think of that, Star? Maybe, it is the fact that you are human that drew me. That your skin is pink and soft, and your body curves more in mysterious places no one but I can see?”
Her heart sped up at the tone he used. Even though it was weak, he kept it seductive. She thought about it a moment. “So, what you’re saying is that by Sorian standards, you are just a little freaky?”
He laughed loudly once, until he grabbed his side and grimaced. “I’m sorry”, she whispered. “Don’t laugh anymore. I’ll be good.”
The door slid to the right to reveal Dr. Zann. The culture of his planet made his people all a little staid. Their evolution had let them remain primarily human in appearance and function for the most part, except for their ears. The ears had elongated and widened, pulling up in a point and a wide flap. They were always going to be noticed which was why so many of his people had them cosmetically altered. Not the doctor, though. He wore his ears in full view under graying brown hair. His rounded face set in hard lines she hadn’t thought a rounded face could achieve.
“How is the patient today?” He asked somberly. He asked everything somberly. Nina had the impression, however, that he didn’t really approve of her. It was something in the way he didn’t address her. His bearing screamed disapproval, not with Ra’dan, his captain, but with her.
“I am fine, Sillio. You can let me walk now.”
