Page 2 of Badari Medic

He saw and felt the tension seeping out of her and she gave him a crisp nod. “I’m good. Thanks.”

He stood aside, closer to Raeblin than Hainn but effectively covering both of them. Brent kept his head on a swivel, checking everything. He hated this feeling of being exposed, out in the open, although the resistance to the Badari appeared to be ended. There were no more shots.

The Badari were bringing out small groups of prisoners from the cells and the labs. Raeblin worked efficiently, moving people along but taking time to speak reassuringly as she did her cursory checks. There were only two or three people she sent over to Hainn as being badly impaired from their treatment at the lab.

“These must have been a relatively new shipment,” Brent said. “Not much damage. Lucky for them.”

“Traumatized though,” Raeblin answered a bit sharply. To the woman she was treating, she added, “It’ll be fine now. Once you get to the valley you’ll be safe and well taken care of.”

Weeping the prisoner clasped Raeblin’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough, you and all these brave soldiers, whoever you are. I saw terrible things here.”

Raeblin gave her a medinject of a tranq and passed her through to the waiting Badari who were escorting people to the flyers. Brent leaned over before the next patient moved up. “We don’t tell them where they’re going. No information, not even in the vaguest terms.”

“I forgot,” she said, biting her lip.

“I’m packing up and taking this next group to the flyer,” Hainn said. “Can you finish the last few and get them to your ship?”

“Sure thing.” Raeblin started a scan on the next person. There were five or six remaining.

No sooner had Hainn and his small group of rescued prisoners moved away with an escort of Badari and gotten out of sight than Brent heard the sound he’d unconsciously been dreading—the blast of a powerful weapon strafing the site from the air, followed by an explosion.

“Take cover,” he yelled, already in motion to grab Raeblin and roll her under the nearest counter, with himself as a living shield. The humans scattered, screaming, but they weren’t his assignment. She was.

The concussion, complete with heat and sound too huge to be properly heard as the Khagrish bombs exploded hit him like a tsunami and he clung tighter to the woman under him, determined to protect her. The instant it was safe to do so he jumped to his feet, holding her arm tight and bringing her with him. “You okay?” He eyed her up and down. She looked shaken but not injured.

“I—I think so. What happened?” Dazed, Raeblin stared with wide eyes at the space they were in, which was full of debris and dead bodies. She held onto her medkit as if it was a life preserver.

“We’ve got to go,” he said, projecting command and urgency into his voice. Not releasing his grip on her, he headed for the corridor leading into the building.

Raeblin dug in her heels and used her Badari strength to bring them to a screeching halt. “Wait, I have to take care of the injured.”

“Sweetheart, they’re all dead.” He’d swept the bodies with a practiced eye and had no doubt on his verdict. Humans couldn’t survive wounds like the ones on her late patients. “We will be too if we don’t move. Now.”

“Dead?” Her voice was dazed and weak. “I should check?—”

“There’s no time.” He pulled her to face him instead of the dead. “Trust me, okay? I’ll get you out of here. That’s the mission now—we’re not losing you.”

She stared into his eyes, her own glowing more and more golden. Her nod was tentative but then she swallowed hard and he could tell she was coming out of shock. “Whatever you say.”

“Good.” He gave her shoulder a gentle thump and pivoted. “Stick close. Weapon hot.” Without waiting to see if she’d gotten her pulse rifle armed, he headed into the corridor. If his survival depended on her shooting the enemy, he was probably fucked. Luckily he was a one man army. He could tell she was close behind. As they left the lobby the ceiling fell in with a huge crash and a wall of exploding flames sent scorching heat against their backs. Brent broke into a run. He knew the layout of these damn labs and there were two choices for a rear door. Lords of Space grant he could pick the right one. Raeblin wasn’t dying or getting captured on his watch.

When Brent reached the rear exit he’d selected, he motioned for her to stay crouched behind a security desk and advanced cautiously to peer outside through the cracked glass of the door. As he’d hoped, there was nothing between them and the dense forest but a strip of cleared land. No one was waiting for them and no action was taking place on the area, although he could hear the buzz of blasters and pulse rifles not too far away.

Giving her the signal to join him, he pushed the door open slowly. Good, no enemy fire. “You’re going first. Remember your training, stay low and run a zigzag pattern. Head for those trees.”

“Why can’t we go together?” she asked.

“Because as a Badari you can run ten times faster than I can and I don’t want you holding back to stay with me.” He flashed her a grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch up soon enough and you can cover me while I get there.”

Raeblin’s eyes flashed and she bit her lips as if she was going to argue but then edged past him and out the barely open door. She kept her eyes on him and the instant he gave the signal she was sprinting toward the trees, moving so fast she was nearly a blur. Brent exited the building and took cover behind a few low bushes, sweeping the area, ready to fire, but there was no enemy action. Raeblin disappeared into the trees and he marked the spot mentally. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself into motion. He was about halfway across the patch of totally bare ground when he heard yelling from behind him and incoming fire made small explosions out of the dirt near his boots.

He kicked it into high gear, surprised to see blaster bolts coming from the forest toward the building.Damn, the girl can shoot.With the help of her covering fire he managed to reach the treeline, taking one glancing shot in the shoulder. As soon as he reached her, he wheeled and threw a force grenade as hard as he could to discourage pursuit. Then he grabbed her and said,“Nice work, medic, but now we gotta make tracks deeper into the forest. I’ll take the lead—I studied the topography last night just in case. Watch our six.”

Face set in a grim expression, she tucked in right where she was supposed to be as the rear person in their small column.

Brent wanted to get as far away from the lab as he could but not in a straight line, so he led her along a rocky defile and then off at a tangent, pushing their way through dense groves of trees and brush. Eventually he called for a break, sheltering behind an outcropping and they sank to the soft forest floor side by side.

“You’re wounded,” she said, eyes growing wide.

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