Chapter 7

"Man down! We're coming in! We need covering fire!"

Mel was screaming into her headset as the raiding party fled back through the forest. She was hysterical, a state Kine was willing to allow her. The weight of Ken's body over his shoulders, as he staggered as fast as he could, kept his mind focused on the task at hand. The teen was still moaning in pain, which Kine figured had to be a good sign. Much better than dead silence.

There was a sound behind them. Lessa wheeled around, dropped to one knee, bringing the pulse rifle up to her shoulder. She let go with a long burst into the trees, a faint cry coming back. She was on her feet again, catching up with the others a moment later.

A break in the trees ahead showed the grey bulk of the shuttle, their pace increasing in unspoken unison. The top turret spun towards them, letting go with a ten second spray of fire over their heads in a ninety degree arc. It swept back in the other direction, the sound of wood exploding behind them more frightening than comforting. The shuttle's side hatch opened, Amanda standing in the doorway frantically waving them in. Her relief at seeing that it wasn't Kine that was hurt instantly turning into horror as her brother burst past her and all but dropped Ken to the floor. Mel and Lessa were right behind him, Lessa slamming the butt of her rifle into the hatch controls as she passed.

"Go! Go!" Not caring if she was heard, Lessa tossed her rifle on the floor and dropped down beside Ken. Med kit out, she grabbed the first painkillers she saw and slammed the needle into him. Mel dropped to her knees on the other side of her friend, hands touching his face while softly chanting his name. Ken was still grimacing in pain. As Lessa ripped open his shirt, Mel looked at the charred torso and wailed in despair. Lessa didn't even know where to start...

Kine tossed his exhausted body into the copilot's chair next to Ger, grabbing the radio. As the shuttle made a full power takeoff, causing those in the back to quickly grab something, Kine paused a second to gather his thoughts.

That, as his sister would say, never took long.

"Teddybear to Liberty! Man down! Have aborted! Request you level target!" Ger looked over at him with an uncomprehending gaze.

"What the hell happened?"

Two missiles passed over the ship, heading down. Flipping on the rear camera, Kine and Ger saw a square kilometer of forest go up in flame. A moment later, a series of secondary explosions erupted in a line due south. Kine let out a sigh, slumping down in his seat. Gods...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

He was instantly out of his seat and in the cabin doorway.

Ken's face was contorted into a horrible scream of pain, eyes open, but it was obvious that for him the pain was over. Lessa sat back on her heels, another shot of pain killer in her hands, unneeded. Amanda leaned against the exterior hatch, head bowed, crying. But it was Mel that his eyes focused on. The half bald young woman was sitting with Ken's right hand clutched in both of hers. Even from a couple meters away, Kine could see the tears literally flowing off her face, puddling on the floor. She just kept chanting.

"Ken, my love, my Ken..." Finally, the black of space replacing the blue of sky around them, she gently released his hand and placed his limp arm down next to his body. Leaning down, Mel placed a gentle kiss on Ken's cheek, and sat up. Her left hand going to her side, she drew her weapon and placed it to her ear.

Lessa was at her instantly, one hand going for the gun, the other Mel's elbow. She barely made it, twisting the teen's wrist until the gun fell from her fingers. Mel was knocked to the ground, Lessa half on her, half on the dead boy, trying to pin the struggling girl's arms to the ground. Kine was quickly over, grabbing her wrists, while a shocked Amanda grabbed the gun. Mel screamed in rage, legs kicking out frantically.

"Let me die! Get the fuck off of me and let me die! My Ken!"

Eventually, Mel stopped struggling, collapsing into a crying, exhausted heap. She curled up, almost in a fetal position, next to her dead friend. Kine and Lessa slowly struggled to their feet. Kine sighed.

"We were going to lose someone sooner or later."

Lessa closed her eyes, almost falling back against the smooth cabin wall.

"I ... I've never lost someone I've tried to save before. I've ... seen so many I've known die, and killed so many, but..." She looked down at her hands, hands covered with streaks of blood and charred skin. "Why is this the first time my hands have felt dirty?"

The shuttle Teddybear was slowly drawn inside the Liberty. The outer doors had barely closed before the cruiser's main engines ignited, breaking it from its orbit around the moon Revell. Air was recycled into the small bay around the craft, the inner door rolling back to exposing the shuttle to the large hanger that filled the bottom of the cruiser. As hydraulics pushed it father into the hanger, allowing access to all sides, teens seemed to appear from nowhere to converge on the ship. It had barely stopped before the side hatch opened, revealing Kine carrying Ken. There was silence, apart from the winding down of various motors and the usual hum of the spacecraft, as the crowd parting for Kine and the others as they came to stand on the deck. Mel was held up by both Lessa and Amanda, oblivious to all.

Two young fourteen year old twins, dressed in white medical staff outfits, cut through the crowd pushing a stretcher on wheels. Their grey eyes were wide, horrified, on seeing Ken. Lessa waved her new staff over, impatient at their delay. Kine carefully lay the body down on the stretcher as soon as it was close. He took his light jacket off, covering Ken's face.

"Take him to that small room with the bunk beds in the back that we never knew the purpose of," Lessa told Bell and Bella. "I think we can now guess what was to be stored there." She shifted a bit to lift Mel up, as the girl was starting to feel heavy. "And bring another stretcher for her."

"No ... no ... I'm ... OK." Mel raised her head, removing her arms from around Lessa and Amanda (much to the relief of the twelve year old, who had been getting crushed but didn't feel right saying anything) as she stepped forward. "I'll walk with them."

Lessa nodded. Slowly, the three girls started to push Ken across the bay towards the elevators. As he passed, comrades reached out to touch him, others standing at attention in salute. Most had one thought foremost in their mind:

"It wasn't me this time."

Lessa looked up and saw Don entering the bay. He stopped and let the funeral party go by, face expressionless, before walking over to the still gathered crowd. Shelly was with him, distraught. Lessa wanted to tell her this wasn't her fault ... well, not much her fault. That would have to wait. Don spoke.

"Everyone ... spread out and find somewhere to sit. Kine, Lessa ... Brat..." This broke the tension a bit, drew out some chuckles, as well as a "Fuck You!" from Amanda. Don went on with a nod, and slight smile, pulling over a box of parts to sit on. He sighed.

"You three have a seat and report. Are you OK? Need anything?" Kine waved away the drinks two boys had rushed over, and sat on the deck leaning back against the shuttle. It was still cold from space, and that seemed to wake his mind up a bit. He felt Amanda sit and press her body against his, leaning her head against his shoulder. He put an arm around her, and with Lessa leaning against the ship, drink in hand, he looked at Don and started.

The month since leaving Xanth had been rather successful, on all fronts. Between Don's cautious audacity, the tactical skills of Kine, the combat abilities of Lessa and others, and Sean's contacts and picking of targets (as well as his natural hatred of risk), they had managed to keep themselves going while restocking the ship, with gold to spare. Their numbers had even increased by ten over what they started with, although some of those were of questionable utility. After visiting a couple of the other moons of Xeres, they had struck out for the heavily contested world of Baal. In the extreme rear of the front, behind Rebel lines on that world, there was rumor of a sex slave camp. As well, on Baal's smallest moon Revell, Federation controlled for the most part, they also had word of an abandoned camp. The slavers had pulled out when the Rebels withdrew from the moon, or so the story had gone. Don had decided, before doing anything foolish, they should case it out so as to know what the active camp might be like.

"Abandoned, my ass," Kine spat. "It was occupied alright."

"But we just!?!" interjected a boy, eyes widening.

"No, no," Kine reassured, "there were no slaves there that we saw. That's one reason we got in so much trouble: with no one to guard, there were no guards or patrols. We walked right in only to finally notice the parked vehicles and people coming out of the mess hall. Our fault, totally." He looked at Lessa apologetically. "We should have done a perimeter sweep first like you wanted, but I wanted to save time..." Kine shrugged. "Lessa left us for a bit to draw them away and buy us time, but we hit a group on the way out and lost Ken."

Don sighed.

"You did your best, probably much better than I would have." He looked down at his legs. "I still can't run worth shit." This drew some laughs, the non-athletic nature of their leader a running, if respectful, joke. "But," he continued, "did you at least get a good look at the place? Could we hit one like that fully guarded, with some chance of actually rescuing kids alive?"

Kine thought for a moment, but it was Lessa who looked Don in the eye and answered.

"Yes, if we hit them hard with everything we have."