That night I dreamed. The dream was a good one—a comforting one. I was held against a broad chest while gentle fingers stroked hair back from my forehead. My love, they cannot take you away. Not ever. Do not fear, my pretty one. You are safe. I slept a dreamless sleep after that.
The women who'd come with us were laughing, talking and stowing away many bags of purchases as they boarded the transports to return to the outpost. When all passengers were settled in, Delvin right next to me just as before, we drove away from Crown City, heading toward the desert.
Perhaps we'd traveled for two clicks, more or less, while the sun beat down upon our vehicles and we saw nothing growing in the desert except the occasional succulent plant. I imagined that there were stinging insects and snakes in abundance and had no desire to find these things out for myself. The transports were cooled with solar power and we were comfortable as we made our way along. I was drifting off to sleep when we were hit. The first two transports didn't survive the blasts—all aboard were killed immediately. Our transport was tossed into the air and landed hard on its side, knocking all of us around, even though we were strapped tightly into our seats. Most of the windows shattered as our transport slid for several ticks on its side before coming to a complete stop. The six women on the transport with us were screaming or crying. At least it meant they still lived.
Unbuckling my harness as quickly as I could, I climbed out of Delvin's way as he lowered himself to the opposite side of the transport, which now lay on the ground. Bel, Aris and the other Rangers were all getting out of their seats as well. Hish was holding his hands up and I saw light form around him—I learned later that he was placing a shield. It was a good thing, too, as another explosive landed near us. We might" have been destroyed in the second attack without Hish's quick thinking.
Commander Aris did something with his hands, blowing the front windows out of the transport before striding purposely out of it—as if that were his normal way of exiting any vehicle. The Rangers followed him, except for Hish, who was still holding a shield around us. I went to the women to see if any of them needed assistance. A rudimentary knowledge of medical aid was all I had, thanks to my military training, but a few cuts, bruises and scrapes were all that needed immediate attention. A medkit was supplied on every transport, so I grabbed it and treated what I could—washing out the deepest cuts first and then wrapping them to stop the bleeding. I heard additional blasts outside while I worked and hoped our Wizard contingent was safe. I didn't know what we could do without them, stuck as we were in the middle of the desert, halfway between Crown City and the outpost.
* * *
"Reah, do you know how to fire a weapon?" That was Commander Aris' question to me as I finished the last of my patch jobs—a couple of the officers had come to me after I'd treated the women. They'd gone without treatment, waiting for the women to go first. Altogether, there were nineteen of us aboard the third transport and Aris, when he'd returned with the others, announced that our communication devices had been blocked somehow, rendering them useless.
I was too frightened to go outside and see the damage done to the other transports. One of our officers had peeked out and come back inside, shaking his head. Forty-one others, dead in an ambush. Our driver, whose head I'd wrapped, looked to have a concussion but I didn't want to mention it and upset him more than he already was.
"Yes, Commander, I know how to fire a weapon," I whispered my answer while packing unused supplies inside the medkit. Who knew if we'd need it again?
"We have enough weapons for all aboard, but the other women don't have any skill. The Rangers and I will carry two weapons each in case they're needed. We should get away from here as quickly as possible. We'll have the women carry water and foodpacks. The rest of us will take what we can."
Aris' golden-brown eyes were concerned and I almost reached out to touch his face. Almost. I held back. I'd never had the urge to touch any man before and it frightened me that the idea had come now. It wouldn't have gone unnoticed, either; everyone inside the overturned transport was looking to our Commander for direction. Commander Aris had us drink from the water tank aboard the transport before we left it behind. We loaded as much water and as many foodpacks as we could carry into the backpacks stowed inside the emergency supply cabinet. The medkit went into my backpack.
I had a ranos rifle slung over my shoulder as we made our way into the blazing heat of the desert. The blasted hulks of the first two transports were left behind when we walked away. Two more clicks remained until sundown and we were walking in as direct a line toward the outpost as we could, Aris leading, Bel and Delvin coming behind the rest of us. I was positioned in the middle, walking next to the women. All of them seemed weary already.
* * *
I will likely never know how Aris found the outcropping of rock where he stopped us for the night. I had become more and more frightened as we walked through blistering heat, worried that we'd be spending our night on the sand of the desert with nothing surrounding us for protection. Aris found the impossible. Perhaps it was tied to his Wizard's ability—I knew now that he had it, just as the Rangers did.
The driver was nearly delirious by the time we stopped, and that was another concern. Would he make it through another trek? It would take us at least two more days to reach the outpost if help didn't come looking for us, first. The women, too, didn't appear to be holding up well. I was used to the heat of the kitchen, but this heat was inescapable and would be followed by a shivering cold during the night.
"Reah, can you stand early watch?" Bel was there this time, asking the necessary question.
"Yes, Ranger Bel." I nodded, just as any good recruit should.
"Take the southeastern side," Bel instructed. That would be the direction from which our help would come—if they came at all. I nodded, allowed the ranos rifle to drop into my hands and went off to do my duty.
Cold seeped into my bones after sundown so I walked back and forth to keep from shivering, my eyes always on the area I was watching. I could see Delvin off to my left and Hish to my right. The other Rangers and Aris were stationed at regular intervals around our small camp. No fires were lit—I wasn't sure if Aris was expecting an attack to come but it certainly felt that way.
Officers were scheduled to relieve us later; they'd eaten first and then slept as well as they could around the boulders Aris found for us. The tall rocks were a blessing, holding the heat and radiating it out to those huddled around them while the rest of us stood watch.
Silence surrounded us for the most part—I heard the occasional skitter of some small animal or other at times but nothing more. When four pinpoints of light appeared in my sight, however, I stopped walking and blinked, making sure I wasn't imagining things. The pinpoints were still there and man-high. Clicking my tongue in the way I'd been taught, I had three Rangers beside me in moments, silently watching what I was seeing. More points of light appeared. Commander Aris came.
"Don't fire recklessly," he ordered. "Aim for the lights on my command and don't miss."
Chapter 6
"Fire." Aris' command came. Sleeping officers had been wakened and now they stood with the rest of us as we shot at our targets. As quickly as one set of lights went out, they were replaced by others. I wanted to shake and shiver, but there was no time and it would have been foolish anyway. Had I ever thought as a recruit for the Alliance that I'd see combat? Even my superiors had said it was unlikely in the extreme, yet here I was, standing on an alien world, shooting at an enemy that defied logic.
Exhaustion set in and still the lights came. I was on automatic—sight a set of lights. Aim. Shoot. Another set of lights—aim and shoot. Perhaps it was a click or two before dawn when Commander Aris told us to stand down—the last of the enemy was finally gone. I was ready to drop where I stood. Wearily I followed the others to the rocks—I no longer felt cold; numbness had taken over instead. A foodpack was shoved into my hand so I sat and ate, not even tasting the mush i
nside the plastic. The others were doing much the same, eating and then falling asleep where they sat. The officers, fresher than the rest of us, took the daywatch while we rested as long as we could.
* * *
Little love, wake now and eat. We must go on. The voice inside my mind woke me with gentle words. I almost jerked awake—my sleep had been dreamless and silent until then. "Here," Bel handed another foodpack over—he sat nearby as I rubbed my eyes and accepted the plastic tube of sustenance that he gave me. It was just as tasteless as the other had been. I was hungry, so I emptied it.
Our driver died during the night—we'd been engaged elsewhere so the poor man had likely died alone with no one to tend him. The six women had huddled together beside the boulders when the shooting started, never thinking that their help might have been needed. I could see the guilt in their eyes now—they hadn't realized they might have helped the poor man.
As it was, Aris ordered the body left behind—we had no shovels or tools to bury him and no rocks small enough to cover his body. He would be left to the desert scavengers. Hoping that his family never learned the truth of his death and what came after, I shouldered my rifle and my backpack, swinging into the line of trudging people as we made our way into the blinding light and heat of Mandil's desert.
"Demons like the night best, and they certainly don't like the heat," Delvin said beside me after a while. "Commander will call a halt soon." He nodded to two of the women ahead of us; both were walking drunkenly. I nodded at Delvin's assessment—I'd already gotten the two to drink some water while we walked. Heatstroke was a dangerous probability, making me think we could lose more of our party before we reached the outpost. All of us were using the white caps in our emergency backpacks to cover our heads, keeping the sun off as much as we could. The caps shaded our eyes; mine had stopped watering from the brightness long ago—a lack of moisture was likely responsible. I admit I was more tired than I'd ever been when Aris called a rest break. Nothing was available to shade us as we sat on heated sand, drinking a ration of water and lowering our heads.
We were set to guard again once we stopped for the night, but Bel and Commander Aris came to me after only a click had passed. "We think one of the women is dying—this was too much for her," Bel said softly, taking my ranos rifle away. "Can you make her last few hours more comfortable?"
"I can try, but there's not much in the medkit for this sort of thing," I sighed, following the Commander—Bel was taking my place on the perimeter.
"Reah, the killshot is in the kit," Aris informed me quietly. I stopped at his words and he did, too. The killshot was for those who were in a hopeless situation or were dying anyway, with no help or the possibility of getting any. The killshot sent them on their way as painlessly as possible.
"Aris—Commander," I stammered over my slight, "I'm not sure I can do that." My hands trembled at the thought of administering the drug.
"Reah, it will be a mercy. The poor woman is already hallucinating. How much agony is enough before you do what is right?" I gripped my bottom lip in my teeth to keep it from trembling. Lowering my head, I nodded at the Commander's words. Perhaps the gods—if there were any—would have mercy for me as well. "Good girl," Commander Aris patted my shoulder and led me toward the dying woman.
It took two clicks of the woman thrashing and moaning before she became extremely feverish and comatose. The time had come—she was suffering and there wasn't anything else we could do for her. I spoke softly to her as I pulled the syringe from the kit. Enough killshot syringes were in the medkit for all of us, if needed. I desperately hoped they weren't needed. This was the limit of my brief medical training—I slipped the needle into her upper arm and pushed the small plunger. It didn't take much—only a minute amount of the medicine would ease the pain and bring the sleep from which she wouldn't wake. I wiped tears away as I placed the used syringe in a box inside the kit. In less than a click, the woman was dead. Two officers came to carry her to the edge of the camp—the other sick one was feverish but still lucid and they were giving her as much water as they could, cooling her down with wet strips of cloth. It was a kindness—I didn't think she would last through the following day.
"Reah, we all have to make terrible decisions at times," Aris brought me a foodpack later as I sat hugging myself and staring out at the darkness. I wasn't hungry, but I might be the next to fall if I didn't eat and drink enough. He handed me a canteen after I consumed my mush, encouraging me to drink as much as I could. I did, shivering as I drank.
"Try to get some sleep—we may need to wake you later to stand guard. Some of the men aren't doing very well either," Commander Aris told me as he stood up and stretched. I blew out a sigh and rested my forehead against my knees. One more day before we could hope to reach the outpost. None had come looking for us, which made me worry about what we'd find when we arrived. If we arrived.
I was wakened before daybreak and took over for one of the men. My eyes felt as full of sand as the desert beneath my feet while I stood my watch. Thankfully, no lights came that night.
The remaining sick woman fell after walking two clicks. She began to convulse so I pulled the medkit out of my backpack and went to her. Aris ordered the others away from us while he watched me give the second dose of the killshot. It didn't take long—she was gone in less than half a click. At least she died peacefully—the convulsions had stopped quickly.
I wondered if we would leave any other bodies behind as I trudged along afterward. The four other women were beyond weariness now, as were several of the men. Aris and the Rangers must have been cut from a tougher cloth—they strode along resolutely. I supposed they all walked miles in the heat on a regular basis. Our skin was reddened now; every bit of exposed flesh was burned. Our caps kept our faces shaded, but our hands and necks were a deep red.
I learned that Hish had kept us from burning the first two days with one of his shields, but he was exhausted now, just as the rest of us were and unable to use his ability. I hoped the outpost physicians were waiting on us to arrive with plenty of burn relief medication on hand.
One of the officers dropped four clicks later, so Aris and I did our duty again, leaving his body behind after a short break. I was beginning to stagger at times, and in my more lucid moments, I was frightened that I'd be left behind like the others. Those thoughts wandered through my mind and at first I believed I was hallucinating when an image shimmered before my eyes.
Only a little farther—you can make it, love, came the voice. Truly a hallucination, I knew. My mind was telling me what it wished to hear. I struggled to keep up with the others.
"Drink the water you have left and drop everything you're carrying except your weapons—the outpost is in front of us," Aris' voice sounded as dry as the sand beneath our feet as he walked down the line. Fifteen of us had made it this far, and it was a miracle that this many had survived. We did as Aris instructed, emptying our canteens and leaving our backpacks behind. It took the better part of a click to reach the outer walls of the post, but we did it. Troops waited inside the gate and they were helping us as quickly as they could. At least half were carried to the hospital on stretchers. The physicians were there, waiting with water, burn relief and other medicines. Our faces were washed with cool cloths, clothing was removed and many of us were slathered in the gel made from the cooling plant.
* * *
"Commander, we were too afraid to venture out—we have been attacked every night for the past four nights," the captain raked fingers through his hair as he paced. "And since we could not contact you, we were worried that everyone had perished."
"You did right," Aris sipping the juice he'd been given while the physician worked on blistered skin. "Physician, are the others going to make it?"
"Your Rangers for sure. Most of the officers. We may lose one of the women—she is not responding well."
"Which one?" Aris almost came out of his chair.
"The tall, red-haired one," the physician repl
ied, causing Aris to relax. "I hear you lost two women and two men in the desert. An amazing feat—only losing four. I'd have guessed at least half would go down before you walked the distance."
"I too, am surprised," Aris muttered.
"Now, you will rest or I will administer a sedative," the physician said, sending Aris to his bed for some much-needed sleep.
* * *
An eight-day. That's how long the physicians insisted I rest before taking up my duties. Others got more time than that to recover. Another of the women died, too, despite the physician's best efforts.
"It happens, at times—they stop fighting to live," the oldest physician—the one who'd treated me for the sickness before—informed me as he examined my burns. My fair skin would show signs of the sunburn for a long time, and I was miserable while it was healing. When I saw Hish in passing on my way to work in the kitchens again, I thanked him for the shields he'd supplied. He smiled and nodded his acceptance. I made the best midday meal I could for everyone when I went back to work. Even Stef seemed happy to see me.
* * *
"The High Commander is coming," Widnal announced three days later.
"I hope he makes it," I slapped a hand over my mouth after the words left it. Too late; by that time, I'd already spoken my mind.
"I am in complete agreement," Widnal nodded at me as we put vegetables on to cook. We hadn't seen any of the locals since the fifteen of us walked out of the desert, and Widnal told me it had been longer than that since they'd come. We had no fresh vegetables or fruits—relying solely now on what was in the freezers. The High Commander was coming with the food shipments from Crown City. The Rangers had gone out again—twice I think, since we'd gotten back. They didn't get as much rest as the others, including me. I felt guilty about that. Aris drove his Rangers harder than anyone else at the post.
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