AN: Thanks to all who have been patient with me! The next few chapters after this are proving fairly hard to write, so it might be a while. But the feedback I've gotten for this story has been AMAZING, so thank you all so much!!

Chapter VII

Signal Fire

The midday sun sparkled off the water, bouncing off its surface and into the porthole of the infirmary, blinding everyone inside. Baz shut the blind and turned on a light, casting a strangely gloomy feel over the room. Matt crossed his arms and tried to keep from pacing.

This wound wasn't life threatening. She had lost a lot of blood, but nothing major had been hit and Luke looked like he was cleaning it well. What terrified him was their isolation – their lack of resources if something were to go wrong. And although he trusted Luke a little – because Kate trusted him – he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with fear as he looked at her incredibly pale face.

"How's it coming?" Baz asked quietly, saying Matt's words for him. He knew his friend's throat had closed up.

Luke looked up and wiped his forehead. He smeared a bit of blood there, and Matt winced.

"It's coming along nicely, actually. Now that I've gotten all the dirt out I think I can start to stitch it up." Matt went to stand at Kate's other side, her uninjured side. She had passed out a little while ago, either succumbing to blood loss or just the drugs they had given her. Nervously, he ran his hand over her shoulder, her cheek, her hair.

There was nothing he could do for her. Gazing at her face, he felt helplessness and frustration well up inside of him, threatening to close over his head and drag him under. He swallowed and looked away from her, blinking quickly.

--

Luke's arm was covered in her blood, and he had to take his glasses off to actually be able to see. Matt was no stranger to injury or blood, but he felt like vomiting at the sight of Kate's.

Baz put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Matt turned and gave him a tight smile but turned back to the two forms on the table, one moving very quickly an the other not moving at all.

--

She was so pale. He had never seen her skin so incredibly lacking in color.

Baz lifted the blind a little to peer outside. "It's a little past noon, I think. I should head up to the bridge and talk to Hull and Gavin. Check a few things." Matt nodded, glad he was taking over. He didn't think he could handle responsibility right now.

Luke put down the needle and thread.

--

Some time later, Kate woke up. She blinked groggily at the ceiling, and Luke leaned over her, anxious.

"What…happened?" Her voice was raspy.

Luke went to the tiny sink and filled a glass of water for her. He helped her sit up a tiny bit and take a few sips. "You're going to be fine. I patched you up."

She smiled a little quizzically. "You patched me up?"

He shrugged modestly. "I was going to be a doctor until I read a certain article that made me want to be a biologist."

"Well that was lucky," she said, surprised.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "A certain article about these fantastic creatures – part cat and part bird."

Kate laughed and then began coughing.

"Ugh, my arm feels like it's on fire." She leaned back against the pillow Baz had put behind her.

"I can give you a little bit more pain medication, if you want. I think I did fairly well stitching up your arm. You'll have impressive scars, though." He filled her glass again and stirred in the powder, handing it to her guiltily. "I'm not good enough not to leave scars."

She drank it, making a face, but gave him a reassuring look. "Luke, if you hadn't been here, I might be dead." Her smile slipped and she reached out to take his hand. "Thank you."

Now he smiled. "Not at all a problem, Miss de Vries."

She chuckled a little, full of irony. "The funny thing is, if Landon had come, he would have been able to help."

Luke gave her a funny look. "Landon? He never would have come on this trip."

"He – " she began defensively, but stopped. "No, I don't suppose he would have." She sighed and then glanced at the door. "Where is Ma – are the others?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"I had to force him to leave your side, but someone needed…something up on the bridge. I didn't understand what he meant. Some airship jargon. I made him leave, barely." Kate smiled a little. "This may be a terrible time, but Kate…" He plucked up his courage. "What happened between you and the Captain?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it again. "It…was a long time ago. He gave up, and I moved on." Suddenly, she blinked slowly. "I think the medicine…" Luke watched her eyelids droop as she slumped back against the pillow and fell asleep.

--

A soft rustling of fabric made Matt jerk his head up. He had fallen asleep in a chair next to the makeshift bed, and wiped his hand quickly across his tired eyes. Kate was moving around a little, finally awake. He stood and she turned to look at him.

"Matt?"

"Hello," he said, and instantly felt imbecilic. He swallowed and wiped suddenly sweaty hands on his trousers. How was it that this girl – woman – could make him feel like a volatile 15-year-old all over again just by looking at him.

She was smiling. He smiled weakly in return. "Looks like you're getting some color back." Mentally berating himself for sounding so stupid so soon, he looked away from her and missed her fond half-smile. His eyes fell on the window. "Would you like to have to shade open? Some sunlight might be good."

"That would be nice." As he did so, he heard her push herself up into a sitting position. "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours." He looked out the porthole and out at the sun glimmering across the water. It was low in the sky, everything soaked in reddish orange light. It seeped into the room, and when he turned, Kate's face was bright with it. "Luke did a great job of patching you up." He stood on her injured side, looking down at her bandaged arm.

"I feel a lot better," she said. "A little shaky, but good." He gave her a half smile.

"Good."

There was a small pause as she shifted a little, trying to get comfortable. Matt desperately wanted to touch her, comfort her in some way, but didn't know how.

"How did you…fight it off?" She asked, flinching a little as her movement pained her.

Matt looked down and chuckled quietly. "You actually did most of it. Gave me the idea, anyway. You used your camera; the flash scared it off." She smiled a little before her eyes went wide.

"Then…we might have gotten a picture of it." There was a short, weighty silence. "Did you…manage to grab my camera?"

Matt felt guilt lance through his body. "No. I – I didn't even think about it. I was so concentrated on getting you – "

"It's alright, Matt." Even though she was smiling weakly, he could see that she was disappointed. "We…haven't left yet?"

"I – no." He paused, puzzled by himself. He honestly hadn't even thought about leaving.

She laughed a little, raising her eyebrows. "No intentions to whisk me off to medical help?" There was a mix of joking and seriousness in her voice.

"We have unfinished business here."

He said it without thinking, and immediately shut his mouth. Kate's eyes widened a little and she stiffened. He'd meant the job, the pirates, surely. But of course he hadn't. Of course not.

They stared at each other, so close in the tiny, hot room. He thought she was incredibly beautiful, even with her too-pale face and bandaged arm.

Realization hit him in the stomach like a closed-fisted punch.

Her eyes were still wide as he looked down at her, and he wanted so much to touch her right then. She looked a little confused still, but he could see emotion brimming right underneath the surface. The sun set, the light on her face fading to dull orange. He swallowed.

"Kate, I wanted to…I'm sorry. For all this. For everything that's gone wrong." He half meant the cloud cat attack, half…everything else.

For a moment it looked like she might cry. Matt was standing close to the table, his hands resting on the edge, and she reached to brush her fingers against his. He caught them tight.

"It…wasn't you fault, Matt," she said slowly.

There was an enormous pause, and Matt felt some weight fall from his shoulders as he took a deep, shaky breath. The way her eyes were shining with unshed tears let him know they weren't talking about what had happened that day. They had ducked into the past.

He took his hand from hers and brought it up to her forehead, smoothing her hair back from her face. She leaned into his touch.

"Matt, I – "

Before she could finish, Luke poked his head through the door. Matt stepped back from Kate as if she were on fire.

"Matt, Baz says to get up to the bridge immediately. The pirates, they – they know we're here," he panted.

Matt felt a chill run through him. Another image of the Aurora flashed across his mind, broken and beached.

"Oh my God," he heard Kate whisper behind him. Without looking at her, he ran through the door and up to the bridge.

Baz was holding binoculars to his eyes, peering towards the tree line. Matt went to stand beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder to let the other man know he was there.

"Sir," Baz turned. "The pirates. They've got some sort of short-range radio and they called us – "

"What did they say?" Matt interrupted him. Several members of his crew stilled at his words.

"They said a scout saw you and a girl – Kate – in the forest yesterday." Baz shed his nervousness and his face set in a serious mask. "They also said they've got guns trained on the ship, and they'll shoot the hull if we try to pull away." He let out a short, angry sigh. "Not that we could get the lines untied, anyway."

Matt looked down, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands on the edge of the window. "Damn. Damn it," he swore under his breath.

"Sir, they also said that they want to speak with you."

"Me?" he lifted his head, surprised.

"Yes, sir. You specifically, though they wanted the passengers on board to come out too." Baz's eyes flickered to the edge of the jungle again, and Matt's followed. In the falling dusk, six dark human figures walked out of the jungle and across the sand.

NEXT: Things take a turn for the worse.