by Celeste Raye
Hours passed, and he barely noticed. Every time he thought he had seen the worst case, a new one presented itself.
He and Jenny split up at one point because they had come across almost an entire room of patients who just needed minor care and who were in desperate and dire need of food and water along with that. When they finished in that room, they met again in the hallway. Jenny leaned against one wall. There were lavender half circles below her lovely eyes, and she said, “Marik, I don’t know how much more I can take today.”
He said, “No more.”
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes going back to the patient’s huddled in the room. “I can’t believe this happened. I can’t believe so many are so hurt. All I want to do is scream, I’m so mad. Is that normal?”
He nodded his head. “Yes, of course it is. You have every right to be angry. These are your people. They are suffering and dying all around you. If you are not angry, that would not be normal.”
She gave him a tired smile. “Thank you. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with me.”
He said, “The only thing wrong with you right now is that you need food and sleep. We both do. There are other healers here, and they’ve been working all day too. Unfortunately, you and I absolutely have to go rest now. We can’t tend to them if we can’t think, if we can’t even keep our eyes open to care for them.”
Jenny lifted a hand to her hair. During the long day, it had come loose from the coil that she had put it in earlier. Little tendrils of blonde hair waved all around her face and along her brow. She sighed heavily. “I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right.”
He said, “I think Talon and Jessica have made space upstairs for us and the crew. Let’s see if we can find them.”
They started up the stairs. Marik’s entire body ached with fatigue, and he stumbled a few times. Jenny’s hand came out and went underneath his elbow. He looked over at her, and she gave him a wry smile. “To be honest, if you really did fall, I’m not sure me trying to hold you would do you any good at all but it makes me feel better.”
To his surprise, he was still able to laugh. “It makes me feel better as well.”
They went upstairs again. On the second floor, far to the left, they finally found Talon and the others. Talon was seated before a table, his face wearing a thick scowl. Jessica lay on the floor under a single cover, her face turned toward the wall and her weapon cradled in her arms.
Talon said, “Bad news. The Rovers that we evaded have begun to draw closer toward the side of the city. It seems they have looted all that they could over by the western edge of the place. They’re either hungry enough to be desperate or violent enough to just want blood. Either way, they may be something we have to fight.”
Marik pointed Jenny toward a corner and a blanket, and she went towards it gratefully. He saw her settle in and he watched her for a moment before turning back to Talon. “The ship is still circling?”
Talon said, “I don’t dare leave her at the dock. I don’t truly dare to leave her up in space either. At least not in this solar system. Those are my only options though. I keep her on the planet, they’ll try to take her. If I keep her in the sky, there may be ships up there that will try to take her. Also, if we have to escape really fast, we may have to wait until she can dock again. It’s a no-win situation, but it’s the only situation at hand, so there you go.”
Marik spoke softly. “We have been in far worse situations.”
The smiles that they exchanged were grim. It was true enough. A light snore came from the side of the room were Jenny lay and Marik shot her sleeping figure an amused glance before saying to Talon, “I can see why you care.”
Talon’s eyes met his. Then Talon’s eyes slid over to Jenny. “I can see why you do as well.”
Marik looked down. The truth of the matter was Jenny loved someone else, and humans were strange. Once they decided they loved somebody, they could often be completely illogical when it came to that person. They would completely disregard all others for the most part in the hopes of having that one person.
Talon said, “After this, all I want to do is go home. I want to help because Jessica needs this. The truth of the matter is that the Federation is going to have to be either disbanded completely or they’re going to have to step up and do the right thing.”
Marik snorted. “What are the chances of the Federation actually doing the things they promise? I never understood why the Federation managed to broker so much trust in the people that it overtook.”
One of the humans, Cliff, came over and sat down. His fingers drummed on the table top. He said, “I don’t know how they managed on other systems, but here on this planet, a very long time ago, at least according to history books, people would actually choose their leaders. There was some sort of system where they would go to these little houses and pick them. The leaders were always liars. The leaders told the people here that they worked for them. Only they never really did. They always just worked for themselves. They took everything they could get and left the people without. The funny thing is that people just kept doing it.”
Talon said, “They would not be the only race to do such a thing.”
Cliff said, “I don’t ever want to live here again. This to me is nothing but bad memories. It’s not great anywhere in the universe, to be honest, and I think a lot of that does have to do with the Federation and its rules. I personally vote for overthrowing them permanently.”
Marik looked down at his hands. “That would mean more war. A galaxy-wide war that would never end. You could win it in one solar system but never in the other. The Federation will never back down, and they are way too powerful.”
And he was tired of war. All around him, even in this room, he saw the disastrous results of war. His heart was no longer in battle.
Cliff said, “You’re probably right, but I think it will happen eventually anyway. Maybe not this century or the next, but more and more planets have started to realize that the Federation has lied to them and broken them in order to make their own profits. As more and more races become aware that the Federation is outdated and archaic, and filled with only those who think themselves above everyone else, those that crave power and wealth, I think they will rebel.”
Marik hoped that he was not alive to see it. He also knew that Cliff was right. It would happen; when it did, the death toll would be astronomically high. The destruction would be nearly complete. It would not just be one hospital like the one that had been created in this empty and echoing space that would exist, but hundreds of thousands of them on hundreds and thousands of planets and in every single galaxy. His stomach churned at the thought.
Talon said, “How is our healer?”
Marik lifted an eyebrow. “Do you ask about me or about her?”
Talon knew of the implant. He also knew of its necessity. “Her of course.”
Marik said, “She did well.”
They sat there not speaking. There was still much to be done on this trip. Marik said, “I never asked how long we would be staying this time.”
Talon cleared his throat. “I don’t know. The Rovers are getting worse, and I don’t want to abandon these people to them. On the other side of that…”
Talon’s eyes went back to Jessica. “I’m tired. So is she. I know she seems hard and tough and strong, and she is, but she’s just one person. I don’t know how much more either of us can take.”
Jessica murmured, “I can hear you.”
Talon laughed, “Of course you can. You sleep with one eye open and your ears always on listening mode.”
Jessica rolled over and then stood. She holstered her weapon and padded across the room. Marik saw that she had not removed her boots, and his heart ached yet again. None of the people sleeping along the walls of the room had removed their boots. If there was any one real signifier of just how dangerous the situation they were in was, it was that.
Jessica took a refresher bottle and a bar,
and then sat down in a chair. There were lines of fatigue carved all along her face, and she looked over at Jenny and then back at Marik with a troubled expression on her face. “I heard her asking a lot of the patients earlier if they had seen someone that she seemed to know.”
Marik said, “Yes. She was to marry a man here, and she’s looking for him.”
Jessica and Talon exchanged glances. Talon said, “Marik, come with me to stroll around the roof to make sure the perimeter is secure.”
The last thing Marik wanted to do was check the perimeter. He sensed that Talon had zero interest in doing that as well and that his words were a ruse meant to get Marik out of the room and somewhere that they could talk more privately.
He took his weapon and stood. He and Talon walked out of the room into a small anterior staircase then went up it quietly. There was a door that led to the wide flat roof. There was nobody up there, and they went to the farthest edge where the wind blew the hardest. That wind brought more of the stinging grit and dust to Marik’s skin, and he winced. “I don’t really think I like this planet. I feel terrible for its citizens, but I really don’t enjoy this at all.”
Talon said, “You are going to like this even less.”
Marik asked, “What do you mean?”
Talon said, “The man that she is looking for may be a Rover. From what information Jessica gleaned a few weeks ago he may, in fact, be one of the leaders of the Rovers.”
Dismay hit. “Are you sure?”
Talon nodded. “It’s why Jessica was worried when she heard Jenny asking after him. She was afraid that Jenny may be betraying us or that she could possibly betray us if she finds him.”
Marik leaned against the small railing that ran around the roof. His hands wrapped around the cold steel and he leaned into the wind a little bit. His thoughts were chaotic. He couldn’t seem to focus, and he knew that part of that was due to his exhaustion and the other part was due to his concern for Jenny.
Talon said, “I know you feel for her Marik.”
Marik turned to him. “It would not matter what I felt for her as her heart seems to be taken already by him. Is there any way at all that we can prove or disprove that he is the leader of the Rovers, or even just part of them?”
Talon’s grin was humorless. “Yes, we can engage the Rovers in battle. Even if he’s not among them, maybe if we captured one we could find out for sure from whichever one we captured if he is or not.”
Marik spoke slowly. “You are talking about torture.”
“I am talking about interrogation. I don’t torture.”
Marik shook his head. “If he is, then what?”
Talon said, “If he is you will have to put her back on that ship and take her home. You will not be able to tell her what he is. You damn sure have to make sure that he never knows about her as long as she is here on the planet’s surface. Once she’s on the ship and headed home, there’s no risk to us from her.”
Would Jenny betray them for her lover? Did she love him so very much that she would be willing to give him information if he asked for it? Jenny didn’t know much, true enough, but what she did know was valuable.
Marik’s hands balled into fists. “I should have never brought her here.”
Talon said, “You had no way of knowing. If we had known when we first went back to our planet and you put her name in the hat as a healer to come here to Old Earth, then I would’ve told you then, and I damn sure would’ve kept her off my ship.”
Marik knew that the heat and Talon’s voice was due to his being concerned and angry.
“I only just discovered it as well. If I had known that she had someone here that she had been engaged to, I would’ve told you.”
Talon said, “You would’ve had no reason to tell us unless you knew who she was engaged to. And to have known who she was engaged to you would’ve had to have known that he may or may not be a Rover and may or may not be a Rover leader.”
Marik said, “Don’t do that to me. I know damn well that if you did not believe that information was correct and true, you never would’ve spoken up about it.”
Talon’s broad shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I really didn’t want to tell you this now, to be honest. I know how much you feel for her. I also know that she’s probably innocent, but I have to tell you, Marik, if she is captured, things will be bad for all of us. If I have to, if it comes down to the Rovers attacking us and then trying to take her…”
Marik’s hand shot out. His fingers closed tightly around Talon’s bicep. His voice grated along his next words. “Do not even say it.”
Talon said, “I have to say it. You are my brother, and I love you dearly. I know how you feel for her. She probably does not know because you, well, you have always been the silent one. You have always felt more deeply than the rest of us, and you’ve never voiced your feelings. You just hold them all in. I understand how you feel though, because I feel the same way for Jessica. But if it were Jessica in the same situation, I would draw down fire on her too.”
Marik hissed in a breath. “How could you even say that?”
Talon said, “Jessica would understand the reason.”
Marik’s ire spiked upward. “She is no Jessica.”
Talon’s laugh was rueful. “There’s only one Jessica. I don’t know whether to be glad of that or sad over it. She is one hell of a woman, but I am very grateful that she has decided to love me instead of making me her enemy. I don’t even want to think about what may happen if I was her enemy.”
Marik couldn’t blame him for that. Jessica was a killer. He said, “Maybe I should just put her back on the ship. Maybe I should tell her that this is too much for her. Maybe I could convince her to go now.”
Even as he spoke the words, he knew there was no way she was going to get back on that ship until she found her bridegroom–to–be. She had been dragged away from him in a horrible and terrible way, and it was obvious that she had never thought she would get back, but now that she had she was determined to find him.
Talon said, “There is one other thing we could do, but you’re not going to like it.
His shoulders went stiff, “What might that be?”
Talon said, “We could use her for bait.”
Marik snarled, “Over my dead body.”
Talon said, “I was pretty sure that was how you would feel about it.”
Marik looked over the ruined city. None of this was right or fair. Jenny had no idea what had become of the man that she was supposed to have married. There was no way she could have known any of that as there was no way for her to be in touch with those she had left behind.
He said, “I will never agree to allow you to use her for bait.
Talon said, “I was pretty sure you’d say that.”
“We should get some sleep.” Marik yawned.
Talon nodded. They started off back down the stairs that led to the room where they had all slept. Marik’s eyes went back to Jenny. In sleep, she looked even smaller and even younger. A fierce wave of protectiveness hit him and stayed. No matter what, he would not allow her to be used for bait, and neither would he allow her to be taken by the Rovers simply so they could get information from her. Not even if it meant breaking her heart over the man that she loved. Not even if it meant that she would hate him forever.
The truth of the matter was that if she ever discovered the truth of that implant, and she would, it was all just a matter of time; she was likely not to be too happy with them anyway.
Chapter 7
The days had all blurred together. Jenny was exhausted one afternoon as she stepped into a blissfully empty room to catch her breath and try to gather her shattered nerves.
It had been a hard day. There’d been massive shelling on one end of the city, and the refugees had to fight not just those Rovers to get to safety, but the terra-rats, which had begun to break free of the sewer tunnels. There were crews out now, blasting the dreadful things into oblivion and repairing the tunnel
holes where they had found cracks and lifted themselves into the sunlight, but if she never had to see another injury from one of those rats in her entire life, she’d be grateful.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Her head jerked up at the words. Marik stood in the doorway, his face as weary as she knew her own must be. She gave him a smile. “You’re not intruding. I was just catching a breath, really.
“Me too. It’s been crazy.”
He stepped into the door and closed it. Her heart beat harder and faster as he came toward her. He was so strong and powerful, even the way that he moved held power, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
She grabbed at a refresher bottle. “Do you want this?”
He came closer still. “Yes,” he murmured. “I do.”
She made the mistake of looking into his face as he spoke and her heart did a wild dance in her chest. Did he mean the bottle or her? She wasn’t sure. Her tongue touched her dry lips. “Here.” Her fingers trembled as she handed it over and he took it. Their fingers met, and that thrill she always felt when he touched her went spinning along her veins, making her heart pound even faster and her mind close down, making her unable to even speak.
They stood there. Marik tilted the bottle to his lips. Her eyes went to a tiny drop of sweat right at the base of his throat. That salty little drop called her attention to his throat and then her gaze lifted upward just as he lowered the bottle.
His lips shone with moisture, and his intense eyes were locked onto hers, and she couldn’t look away. She knew she should, but she couldn’t. Marik’s long fingers dropped the bottle to a table top, and she swallowed hard, her eyes going to the door behind him.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything. Her pulse lifted higher and faster, and she found herself frozen, rooted into place.
His hand came up and touched her cheek, an innocent little gesture that ignited every single desire she had ever felt for him. He stepped closer, and she sucked in a long breath that lifted her chest high and then dropped it as his mouth came down on hers.
