Chapter 24

Ger sat on the log, looking up at the night sky.

He had traveled through that. He, Ger, son of Val and Py. He ... had traveled in space. Already it seemed like another life, so long that day had been. Would he ever get back? And ... did he want to?

Amanda moaned. Flexing his shoulders, trying to stretch sore muscles, Ger stood and walked over to where she lay. The painkillers he had shoved into her had kept the girl out most of the day. Probably the best thing for her, all things considered. And him. The longer he could put off looking her in the eye ... No, no. That wasn't it. He had done his best. Nothing he should be ashamed of with her.

But ... how could he tell her?

Kneeling down, he unzipped the stretcher bag and examined her. The tourniquet was still tight on her upper arm. That was good. He had no idea if it had to come off at some point, but there was no way he was playing with that with his limited medical knowledge. The bandage on the end of her arm, above where the elbow use to be, had dried blood and assorted fluids staining it, but seemed to be holding. He decided to leave that, too.

Ger sat down on the ground next to her. Looking at Amanda's face, he sighed. He wasn't a medic, let alone the surgeon she probably needed. That she was alive at all was most likely pure accident. Hell, if he had been given time to THINK about what he was doing, cutting what was left of her trapped arm off, he probably couldn't have done it. He almost thanked the gods for that Fed fighter buzzing the crash site.

Amanda shifted in front of him ... and opened her eyes.

"Trees ... night..." Her head rolled towards Ger, and he saw wonder in her eyes."I ca-COUGH!" She gave a dry hack, and Ger was up in an instant looking for a water bottle. He was back beside her in moments, water pouring into his cupped hand.

"Here ... slowly..." He raised his hand to her dry lips, letting the clear liquid drip into her mouth. She coughed again, and he gave her some more. Amanda's dirty left hand came up and grabbed his, controlling the flow of water better. Ger refilled his hand cup, letting her drain it again. Shuddering, as if the warm water was a shock to her system, she lifted her left arm up over her head where she could see it.

"I've ... wanted to move so badly for forever." She rolled her head back and forth, testing. Then ... with great hesitation ... she looked at her right arm. She started to lift it, and Ger quickly put his hand below her shoulder, to gently, but firmly, hold it down.

"No, not yet. Just ... leave it. For now." Her blue eyes focused on his face in the moonlight, biting her lip.

"How ... bad is it?"

Ger thought for a moment. Everything he had planned to say, was gone.

"You ... you will be fine, Amanda. Despite my bungling, you'll make it. Your arm, though ... it's gone."

She closed her eyes.

"It hurts. How can something not there hurt so much?"

He reached down and petted her hair, stroking her soft cheek.

"I'm sorry. I don't have much painkiller for you. I tossed a ton into you today, and we have to ration it from now on. You understand?" She nodded, her remaining hand coming up to trap his against her soft cheek. "I ... I'll give you one a day. I'll let you decide when you need it. Do you need one now, to sleep?"

"I'm not ... sleepy..."

Five minutes later, she was back asleep.

Amanda opened her eyes.

Green leaves passed over her head, blue sky peaking through now and then. She could hear birds, as well as the constant sound of a weight being dragged over dirt and rocks.

Her weight.

Amanda took an inventory. She swallowed. Mouth, dry. Pain? As soon as her thought turned to that, a horrible stabbing pain came from seemingly her whole right side. Damn it! Her mind must have been suppressing those nerves, adjusting to her body's new reality, and she had to go reopen old wounds. So to speak. Was it bad enough to bother Ger, or could she wait and just deal with it?

"Ger! Hurts!"

It came out as a croak, and the movement stopped instantly.

"Just a second!" Ger quickly was at her feet, and lifting her head slightly she saw he had tied their few supplies to the end of the, well, giant sleeping bag she was in. About a half minute later he had what he needed and shuffled up to her head. Unzipping the bag, he ripped what looked like a large square bandage off her shoulder. She grunted at the pain, mostly from the adhesive. She hand't even known that was there! Tossing the used pad behind him, Ger brought a fresh one up, stripping the paper from the sticky side. He paused a second, re-reading directions, then placed it about where the old one had been.

Amanda's eyes shot open. It ... the pain was gone! Almost as if a switch had been turned off! She turned her face up to Ger, who was looking at her with worry.

"Wow!"

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah! Oh, gods, that's ... amazing!" Ger chuckled.

"Well, don't get use to it. If we don't either get picked up or find supplies within a week, you'll be doing without completely." He stopped. Amanda might not be herself yet, but she saw he regretted telling her even that much about their situation. She reached her left hand, after trying to use her right, up to him, and reluctantly he took it with both of his.

"What's going..." She coughed, and smacking his forehead as if it should have been the first thing he had done, Ger quickly had a handful of water at her mouth. As the warm liquid eased her dry throat, he answered the question he knew she wanted to ask.

"Our situation is ... fluid. We're fucked, but not THAT fucked. It all depends on what else is going on. I can't get a signal through to the ship. I'm assuming there's jamming going on." Amanda knew it could be other things, and glumly he nodded that he knew them too. "Anyway, plan A is to get the hell away from the wreck, which we've done, and hopefully get somewhere that I can set the distress beacon. Before each raid I pick out nearby places that might make good pickup points. As luck has it, we're not all that far from two of them. I'm taking us towards the farthest one, as the other was in the direction of Fed installations." Hand now empty, he refilled it and she kept drinking. "I don't know how long it'll take us to reach there, at this rate. I ... I hate to do this, but we have to get you up and walking as soon as possible."

Taking his now just wet hand, Ger ran it over her face. It felt so good, Amanda was about to ask for more before she realized water, as well as drugs, had to be rationed. Food too, probably.

"Want me to try and walk now?"

Ger smiled down at her, taking his own drink of water before screwing on the cap again and putting the canteen on his belt.

"Not THAT soon. I still have some energy left, so let me pull you some more. Once we stop for lunch, I'll let you sit up and we can see where we stand ... so to speak." She nodded, but protested when he went to zip the bag back up.

"Leave it open! I can't move when it's closed!"

"Well, that's the idea. But..." He zipped it only up to her waist, allowing free use of her arm. "Better?"

"Better." She smiled up at him, and returning it he stood. Rotating his shoulders and stretching, Ger yawned. A few minutes later, garbage picked up and everything closed up and fastened, he grunted and started pulling.

"OK ... upsy daisy ... that's it ... now, stay there until I move this ... there!"

Ger straightened up, looking down at his handiwork. Amanda was sitting up, her back against a large tree, the stretcher bag keeping her bottom off the ground. Her hand went up to her head, and Ger quickly was down on one knee beside her.

"Everything OK?"

"Just dizzy ... whoa."

"All that blood flowing out of your brain. Now, you'll just be as stupid as you always were."

Grinning, he didn't move as Amanda's hand swatted at him. An Amanda that could take offense was an Amanda that would survive. His eyes went down to her right arm. He had changed the bandage before sitting her up, and it didn't look like the change in orientation was affecting much. The tourniquet was still holding. He was sure it wasn't good to have it on this long, but what could he do? Amanda followed his eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."

"You? Trouble? Well, yes, always, but not because of this."

She growled at him, in response to which he patted her on the head.

"Good dog!"

She barked, then whimpered when Ger stood and went to his pack. Rummaging around a bit, he brought out two small items. Coming back, he sat down and handed the survival bar to her. She looked at it with resigned disgust.

"I've always hated these." Amanda moved it a bit, then gave a somewhat hysterical laugh. "I just tried to open it using both hands!" Chagrinned that he hadn't considered that, Ger started to reach for it but she shook her head. Bringing the package up to her mouth, she used her teeth to rip the wrapper off. Spitting the paper out, she took a bite. "Yuck. The paper tasted better."

Ger nodded, although he never had a problem with the taste. By the time you were reduced to eating these, any food was appreciated.

"We'll rest here a bit, then see if you can stand. And walk. One without the other won't do us much good."

She looked down at her body. She ... should be OK. It was just her arm, the rest was OK. Well, apart from some bumps and bruises, and the back of her head seemed to have taken a good whack. Apart from that, she was fine. Chewing the disgusting bar, the thoughts that she had been trying not to think of came to the fore. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the tree.

"Did ... did the Feds know we, my brother, were coming? Were they waiting for him?"

"No idea." She opened her eyes and looked at Ger. He had never lied to her, that she knew. When she was in the shuttle, waiting for her brother, he always spoke the truth. Always kept her spirits up, yes, with a joke or some such, but he never sugarcoated things. Amanda liked him for that.

"They didn't hit us until we were heading away from the drop zone, so it's very possible they didn't notice our little stop. They should be OK. Assuming," Ger added, looking down at the half eaten bar in his hand, "Lessa knows we've been shot down and sends Craig with our last shuttle to pick them up."

"And ... if not?"

"Then your brother does the same thing we're doing, only probably much better." He looked at the sky. "I thought I heard a large explosion far in the distance last night, so there's a good chance they completed the mission. Don't worry," he said, turning to the blond, grinning, "I'm sure Kine is in much better shape than we are!"

"Oh, now THAT is reassuring!" She threw her now empty wrapper at him, which he picked up and put in his pocket. "I don't know why Sirenia lusts after you."

"And who do you lust after?"

Amanda's face turned serious.

"Lust is silly."

Ger raised an eyebrow at her, and she looked away, blushing. There were times he forgot how young she was, and other times that he forgot how old she was. Amanda was in that between, where nothing fit. He reached a hand out, and put it on her head.

"I agree. Lust is silly. Fun, but silly, and should be kept in its place. Love and friendship, though ... those are important." He stroked her hair, her eyes closing as her body relaxed. Ger's own eyes found themselves looking at her face, taking in every cute detail. Shaking his head, he berated himself. Jenny and Hanna had offered him a home, and more. No need to even think of taking advantage of a hurt friend. If she needed someone to hold her, a shoulder to cry on ... that was one thing. But, he would do nothing more.

Why, then, couldn't he keep his eyes off her face?

The first attempt at walking didn't go well. With her back against the tree, Ger helped pull Amanda to her feet. She almost immediately collapsed down again, forcing Ger to grab under her right shoulder to keep her from tumbling over as he eased her back down to a sitting position. This jostled her arm, and despite the meds caused some pain. Her chest was heaving from the exertion.

"OK, that's it," he said, looking at her with concern. "I'll pull you for the rest of the day." She looked up with eyes that reminded him of her brother.

"No! I can do this! You can pull me later, but if I can walk, even if I'm leaning on you, we can make much better time! Right?"

Sighing, Ger nodded. They could double their daily speed if she could walk for even an hour or two. Given they had no idea how long the Liberty would stay in orbit trying to find them...

The second attempt went better. He held her up while Amanda stretched protesting legs. Taking a couple short steps, Amanda managed to keep her balance without support. It took effort, though, and there was no way she'd be able to walk that way. Moving her back so she was leaning on the tree again, Ger quickly broke camp and packed everything up. He tied the pull straps of the stretcher bag to his waist, enjoying how light it felt without her weight, then gathered the young girl to his side.

"You ready to learn to walk again?"

Despite the obvious strain on her face, her eyes twinkled with her usual mirth.

"Goo Goo!"

"That's my little baby!" Without thinking, Ger leaned over and kissed her on the nose like he use to do with a young cousin. Amanda giggled ... then stopped giggling. Her eyes regarded him with a seriousness that ... he found himself returning.

They both seemed to come to their senses at the same time. Ger flexed his shoulders and got the kinks out of his body, then tightened his grip on her.

"On the count of three! One, two ... walk!"

They were off.

Amanda was dominated by two trains of thought. The more important parts of her mind were focused with all they had on her two feet. Left, right, always moving forward, always keeping under her body so as not to get off balance. She could do it, especially if she kept her mind off the throbbing pain just under the surface of the pain killers. She had maybe a couple hours before things got too bad, and she fully intended to spend every moment of that on her feet. She could rest later. Hell, there was no reason for Ger to be struggling to pull an Amanda that was in any way awake!