Page 3 of Badari Medic

He eyed the scorched shoulder of his camouflage uniform. “Nah, just a flesh wound. Nothing to speak of. I’ve had worse.”

“Let me see,” she said, moving her weapon out of the way and reaching for her medkit.

Brent grabbed her hand. “We don’t have time. We need to get a lot further away than this before dark. Give me a shot of adrenaphix and I’m good to go.”

“I can’t give you a stim without at least checking the wound and your vitals,” she said, shocked. “And what about a painkiller?”

He shook his head. “Listen, this is about my million and tenth combat mission. I know if I’m hurt or not, know if a stim will help or not. You want to waste my time and go by the rules, you can keep your medinject. And I need my head in the game, gotta stay frosty—no painkliller. Clear?”

With a shocked expression on her face she stammered, “Cl—clear.”

He knew she was only trying to do her job as she understood it and he was all kinds of a rat bastard to take his frustration out on her for the busted mission. With a grunt, he rose and headed out in the direction he’d chosen. Behind him he heardher scrambling to gather her gear and catch up.She’s still your assignment, asshole. You could treat her a bit more nicely.“Storm coming,” he said gesturing at the tiny bit of sky visible through the thick canopy of trees. “Probably hit after dark so we gotta find a place to hole up.” One more complication on this damnmilk run.

CHAPTER TWO

Acouple of hours of hard marching later he found a semi sheltered spot in a rock upthrust where he figured they could wedge themselves in, make a crude roof from woven branches and be relatively safe from the worst of the storm. “Stow your gear,” he told Raeblin, “And come help me cut branches.”

She was a good worker, fast and with an eye for which branches would be flexible enough to weave into the canopy he was planning. As soon as they’d gathered a sufficient quantity, Brent led her to the rocks and together made quick work of creating the shelter. He jammed it into the rocks as best he could, weighed down with rocks and then joined her in the small dry space. The rain was coming in small bursts and the winds were picking up and he figured they were in for it. Ushandirr’s storms were legendary for their severity but usually blew over by morning.

“Did you want a fire?”she asked, handing him a survival ration and a drink pack.

He stared at her. “Seven hells no. Do you?”

“I’d heard humans like to have one at night to give comfort,” she said, blushing.

Brent laughed with genuine humor and downed his drink in a series of long swallows. “Nice of you to ask but I’m not a sit around the campfire kinda guy.” He patted his pulse rifle. “This is enough moral support for me.”

Raeblin stared at him, taking in his lethal alertness, even after the events of the day and all their hard marching. She had no doubts if the enemy showed up in the next five minutes Brent would defend her and given any chance at all, he’d get her to safety yet again. He might not be a Badari but he was a dangerous, deadly man. She was glad he was at her side—she was so out of her depth and lost in the current situation and it was reassuring to follow his lead. She certainly wasn’t a tip of the spear soldier. The thought reminded her he’d been injured and guilt washed over her. She should have treated him hours ago. “May I please look at your wound now?” She injected determination into her voice. This was her domain, her expertise, not his. “You’re not Badari and an infection could be serious if left untreated. The wound could fester.”

He stared at her for a long time but she met his eyes steadily. “This is my job,” she said finally.

“All right but be quick. I’m going to freeze without my shirt.” He stripped off his uniform shirt and his tight fitting black tee shirt with a quick motion and hunched his injured shoulder in her direction.

Fortunately being Badari she had excellent night vision and could examine the wound as well as if it was broad daylight instead of a cold, rainy night. “Not too bad,” she said, opening her kit.

“Told you.” He was as truculent as ever.

“This will take a minute.” Cleansing the wound with a quick pass of the appropriate device, she held him steady with herother hand. Where her fingers grasped his muscular bicep her skin tingled and she had the sudden insane desire to stroke and lick.What the seven hells is wrong with me? Must be in shock from the day’s events.Brent was no Badari but he was taller than she and well built, with a six pack abdomen and muscles which had to be big for a human. Her Badari sense of smell reveled in his scent—masculine, clean, with a hint of musk and an undefinable spice. Her inner beast wanted to roll in the scent and purr. Raeblin couldn’t believe the way she was reacting to him sitting next to her, shirtless. Her predator rarely manifested itself at all and certainly had never exerted itself in this way. Hastily she applied the proper meds and a wound sealer. “Good to go,” she said raising her hands away from him as if she’d been scorched. Taking in a deep breath of the antiseptic to counteract Brent’s scent, she made herself a bit dizzy. “Do you still want adrenaphix? Or a pain killer?”

“Nah.” He craned his head trying to see what she’d done and flexed his arm. “Good as new, thanks. I’ll see how I am in the morning, as far as the stim.”

“All right.” She made a business of repacking her kit. “What do you think happened today?” she asked, seeking to divert her thoughts from the effect Brent was having on her.

With his shirt halfway on, he shrugged., “The Khagrish have been doing enhanced patrols lately. Guess it was our bad luck one was close enough to the facility we hit to come in as reinforcements. Shit hit the fan fast.”

“I didn’t hear anything on the telepathic link,” she said, trying to settle into her small portion of their cramped shelter.

“Nothing on the subaural com either,” he answered, confirming her assumption. “Standard orders are for our guys to bug out immediately.”

“At least we got most of the humans safely away.” Raeblin tried to derive comfort from the thought but she kept seeing thecorpses of the unfortunate humans who’d been with them in the lobby.

“There was nothing you could have done for them,” Brent said in a low voice, squeezing her knee. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Today wasn’t our day to die but their numbers came up. At least they died as free men and women and not under a Khagrish torture device.”

“Cold comfort for them,” she said bitterly, although she appreciated his support.

There was companionable silence for a few minutes. Brent passed her a survival ration and she handed him a drink pack and they ate what was going to pass for dinner. The calories were sufficient but unexciting.

“Did you try calling to the pack?” he asked her.

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