Chapter 9

Tess wished she hadn't woken up the second did. She was surrounded by pitch black, and there was so much pain she had trouble for a moment identifying where it was coming from. Blinking, she shook her head a few times, trying to remember where she was. The satflyer ... we were on a planetary... She sat up at the memory, and the sudden motion caused a wave of further pain to wash through her, making her almost vomit. Leg ... the pain is definitely coming from the leg. After the Drake attack Tess' broken leg had been healing at a rapid rate, but the mind-altering pain indicated that her two week healing process had been for naught.

Careful not to move the damaged limb as much as possible, Tess adjusted her seat, trying to make out her surroundings, hoping that her eyes would adjust to the darkness soon. She could hear faint muffled noises, but no matter how she strained all she could see was blackness around her. For a heartstopping moment she wondered if she had lost her other eye ... but no, the pain pulsing in her leg told her she wasn't numb, and her head felt just fine. Disoriented or not, I'd notice the pain from a missing eye.

Even in the haze of pain and the disorienting darkness, Tess recognized Julia's voice when she started scream, even though it was muffled.

"Oh my god, Tess? Tess! Where are you!"

"I'm here, I'm okay!" she tried to respond, but her mouth was so dry her voice came out somewhere between a croak and a cough. Sounds of metal and plasticine shifting echoed through whatever chamber she was trapped in, and a shaft of weak light broke in.

"Tess? Please god Tess can you hear me?" Tess could hear the others calling her now, but Julia's voice was frantic.

"I'm fine, I'm okay. I think I rebroke my leg but I'm alright."

"Oh thank god Tess, hang on we're going to dig you out."

It took the efforts of Julia, Marcus, and Preston to carefully remove pieces of rubble and broken walling from where Tess had been trapped. She barely recognized the twisted pieces of wreckage as the radar station. Alex stood a little ways off, clear of the junk, scanning the trees around them with a pistol in her hand.

"Alright," Preston spoke as the three of them set her down with care, "we're all safe at least, that's something to be thankful for."

"Thankful?" Julia's panic seemed undiminished, but Tess tried not to take it personally, "thankful? We've been planetside for two hours, and we're stuck planetside! You were at the briefing Preston, Terrans attack the ground team within the first handful of hours, and the ground team doesn't have a fucking satellite crash to broadcast their location! We didn't survive the crash, we just postponed our deaths!"

Tess reached up to take Julia by the arm, but Julia shook her off, jostling her leg in the process. Wincing and gritting her teeth hard, Tess spoke.

"We're not dead yet Julia. The calmer we can stay, the greater the chance we'll have to survive."

"That's fucking stupid," Julia spat, "the Terrans won't spare us because we're calm."

Don't let it get to you, Tess took a few deep breaths in the face of Julia's attitude, she's not angry at you, she's lashing out due to stress. Shaking her head and keeping the hurt from her face, she turned to the others.

"She is right on one count though. The crash is going to attract them; we need to get as far away from her as possible, as fast as possible."

"Agreed," Preston nodded, "Marcus and I have been salvaging what we can get from the wreckage, but I think it's time to make tracks."

"Did you find a crutch?"

"We found pieces. If your leg is rebroken one of us is going to have to carry you."

"I don't want to slow us down," Tess looked around her, but there was nothing in sight that would support her weight. Reluctantly she let Marcus lift her onto his back, not complaining when her leg was banged in the process.

Alex led the way, silently, followed by Marcus carrying Tess. Julia and Preston brought up the rear, carrying two heavy packs of supplies. The ground was uneven and rough, and every ten steps or so Marcus would stumble, sending Tess' leg cracking into his back, but she didn't voice her pain. Thick trees surrounded them, cutting down their visibility, and Tess tried to gauge how far away they would be able to see an attack coming. They had been hovering almost directly over the ground team, but their scanners hadn't picked up any Terran activity before they had crashed. If hostile forces had started moving as soon as the satflyer's scanners went down, they had about an hour from the crash before they could expect company.

"How long was I out?" Tess murmured quietly.

"Took about a half-hour to find you," Marcus grunted, hoisting her to a more stable position on his back.

"Supplies?"

"All the sleeping bags, three pistols, food and water for a few days, emergency flares, a tent. Not much."

Not enough, Tess interpreted his grim tone, not unless rescue is right on our heels.

They traveled in silence for an hour before they had to take a break, ears straining to listen for sounds of pursuit the whole time. Even with Preston, Julia, and Marcus carrying burdens, they had been able to keep up a jogging pace, and Tess silently thanked Captain Appet's required physical training routine. It had kept them ahead of their pursuers.

For now.

"We'll take a three minute break, then get moving again," Preston panted as the squaddies removed their loads and caught their breath.

"We should take it in shifts to keep track of time," Tess commented lightly, as Preston checked the time on his subdermal clock, the numbers lighting just under the skin of his wrist, "since we won't be able to charge them until we get back."

"We're not fucking getting back," Julia snapped, and Tess winced. She knew they were all thinking it, but she had been trying to keep spirits up.

"Look, Julia I understand alright? I'm just as scared as you are, and even less mobile." Julia crossed her arms and leaned back against a tree, but she wasn't interupting so Tess continued, "but we can't just give up. If we're done, we're done, but I'm not just going to lie down and die, I'm going to fight for as long as I can."

Julia didn't respond, but she did seem a little calmer. Tess counted it as a win.

"We should get moving," Alex had been pacing around the area they rested in, peering into the trees. It was the first sentence Tess had heard her speak since they had crashed, and the tension in her voice was almost palpable. I guess we're all displaying fear in our own way...

"Take my pack Marcus," Julia said brusquely, "I'll take over."

Grateful as she was to Marcus for carrying her as far as he did, Tess was more comfortable as the group started moving again. Julia held her closely pressed against her back, and being able to bury her face in Julia's golden hair was somehow comforting to Tess.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into the other girl's ear. Even though they hadn't talked about what they were, and had only slept together a handful of times, Tess liked to think of Julia as her secret girlfriend, and she tried not to do anything that would upset her. Some of her squadmates found Julia prickly or bitchy, but Tess could see through the act she put on. Julia's defensiveness was to hide how fragile she could be at times. Tess tried to keep that in mind as she spoke, "I'm sorry Julia but I just don't want to see us giving up here. Not when there's still a chance."

"It's fine," Julia's response was terse and tight, clearly not 'fine', but Tess didn't argue.

There was no incident for the rest of the day, moving at a fast pace through seemingly endless forest. The silence was oppressive, but none of the rookies dared speak too much. If we're really going to die, it would be horrible if these were our last moments. Tess thought glumly, Silent. Afraid.

"We should probably make camp before we lose too much light," she finally broke the silence.

"I was thinking the same thing," Preston agreed quietly, glancing up at the dimming sky. Marcus slung the pack from his back and began rummaging inside for the tent and supplies, while Alex and Preston started a slow patrol around the clearing that would become their makeshift camp.

Julia set Tess down near the closest tree and began fiddling with the sealing clasp on her pants.

"What are you doing?" Tess winced as Julia's motions nudged her leg.

"We have to do something about this," Julia replied shortly, carefully pulling Tess' pants down and off. The cool air felt good against her swollen leg, even though Tess noticed Marcus glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She leaned back as Julia wrapped her leg with sealant bandages that would harden overnight, and tried to ignore that she was sitting on the forest floor only wearing panties.

"You know I love you, right?" Julia said quietly. Tess looked at the other girl in surprise, but she was focusing very hard and avoiding her gaze.

"I ... I mean, I suspected..." Tess stammered,

"Well now you know," Julia kept working, efficiently and quickly, "and I know I act like a bitch, and I don't want us to die without telling you how I feel." Tess felt her face grow red, even though this was not how she pictured this conversation happening.

"Julia, we're not going to die," she began, but Julia leaned forward and silenced her with a kiss.

"I love you," she whispered, and Tess didn't argue any further.

The tent was small, but it held the five of them. Julia set up the sleeping bags, attaching hers and Tess' together with a defiant look as if daring anyone to make a comment. No one did.

"We'll keep watch in shifts," Preston was slowly starting to take command of the group, but Tess didn't mind, "I'll take first watch, then Julia, Alex, Tess, Marcus."

"Tess shouldn't be taking a watch," Julia protested.

"Sitting still with a gun? It's about the only thing I am good for," Tess replied.

"We might as well conserve our energy," Julia sighed, "If the Terrans attack when we're asleep we'd probably be better off just dying without the moments of fear beforehand." Despite Julia's vote of encouragement, the squaddies crawled into their sleeping bags while Preston stepped outside to keep watch, a pistol in each hand.

Tess woke up suddenly to Julia crawling into the bag, her skin cold against Tess'.

"Sorry," Julia whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

"Why are you so cold? It was so warm earlier," Tess wrapped both arms around Julia, shivering as she tried to warm her.

"That's what I thought, hence the decision to stand watch in my sleep gear," Julia whispered, "but it really drops in temperature during the night." She nestled her head under Tess' chin. The action warmed Tess in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature, and she haltingly began running her fingers through the other girl's blonde hair.

"Mmm that feels nice," Julia's breath on Tess' collarbone was making it very hard to fall back to sleep.

"I can hear your heartbeat," Julia murmured, "it's pounding."

"How long is Alex standing guard before it's my shift?" Tess asked

"Enough time," Julia said, a smile in her voice. When Tess looked down questioningly the other girl's lips met hers, cold and firm.

Tess melted into the kiss, all stresses and worries forgotten for a time. Julia's mouth opened too eagerly, and Tess smiled through the kiss. She lifted a leg over the other girl, meaning to climb on top of her, but the action sent a burst of pain through her leg, and she winced, drawing a sudden sharp breath.

"Don't," Julia gently pushed her back down on her back, "just let me." Cold hands ran through her hair as the kiss resumed, Julia leaning over her and pressing her body against her side. Tess closed her eyes and relaxed, and Julia's kisses moved down her neck and over the loose shirt she wore. It was pleasant, the feeling of cold hands roaming up and down, caressing a clothed shoulder, sliding across an arm, lightly scratching against her bare stomach. Even so, Tess couldn't help but think of how much more she wanted.

As if reading her mind, Julia lifted Tess' shirt, pulling it up to her shoulders in one motion, then stripping it off when Tess rose. The younger girl's hair, faintly shining gold in the dim light of the tent, brushed back and forth across Tess' naked breasts, and the light touches made her nipples grow hard.

"I don't want you to think that I..." Julia started, her face showing more emotion than Tess could remember seeing before, " ... I don't want you to think I don't care about you. I love you. I love you more than ... more than I thought I could love someone."