AN: Well I hope you are all still enjoying the ride - I would love to hear what you think :)

Dr Cody stopped in her tracks when Sartoris' group entered the infirmary. There were only five members of the original ten; but most surprising of all was the tiny figure Jareth Sartoris shoved toward her.

"Here." He scowled and rubbed his fingers on his temples where the headache of the morning had returned with a vengeance. "She's your problem now. Greeley and Vesek need your attention now. Austin's not much better." He turned and stomped out of medbay before Zahara could utter a word.

"The urchin glared at the departing officer before adroitly jumping out of the way as Greeley vomited again.

"Waste, let's get them into beds and see what's going on." Zahara stopped long enough to see that the droid was following her instructions before returning her gaze to the young girl in front of her, "What's your name?" Zahara crouched in front of her, taking in the blood-stained clothes and almost emaciated frame.

"Sera." Sera said in a cracked voice, clutching her backpack to her chest, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the room. If what she feared was happening was indeed coming, she was getting very scared.

Zahara smiled and pointed to the bed next to Gat that had previously been occupied by the Dug Waste had 'killed'. "Hop up there and I'll come see you once I've seen to the others okay?"

Zahara stood and crossed to one of the cupboards, pulled out a spare pair of surgical scrubs and handed them to the girl. "There you go Sera, just pull back the curtain when you're changed." The very serious child took the clothes with a hint of a smile as disappeared behind the privacy curtain by the bed. "Gat," Dr Cody went to stand by the Devoronian, "keep an eye on her for me will you? Just 'til I get back okay."

Gat nodded once, still fingering the stump of his broken horn. "Sure thing Doc."

Zahara, finally answering the whining from ICO Austin, left them to it.

Sera tried to tune out the sounds around her, feeling inexplicably alone, despite being surrounded by dozens of people for the first time in almost three standard months.

Although there hadn't been a chance to visit a refresher; it was divine having a complete set of new clean clothes! She pulled the white scrub top over her head and pulled back the curtain. Sera squeaked and flinched as the Devaronian in the next bed stared at her. Heart pounding, she sat down, and started to roll up the sleeves of the tunic. As she started on her left sleeve; Sera screamed as the red-skinned man leapt across the space between the bays and grabbed her arm in a tight, painful grip. "Where did you get this?" He growled and glared at the embossed leather cuff tied around her upper arm.

Sera looked up at him with huge, frightened green eyes and forced herself to speak. "What's it to you asshole?" She spat in almost perfect Devaronese.

'Remember that little voice Sera? The one that says think before you speak?' She had time to think before she was physically lifted from the bed by the Devaronian who bared his sharp teeth in what she hoped was a smile.

He replied in the same gutteral language, "Who taught you Devaronese little one?" before setting her down on the bed beside him. "You don't look like one of us Devish."

Sera glanced at the pretty doctor who had started to move toward them at her scream. She tried to relax and sighed when one of the guards who had been on the Vector started to argue with her and the older woman turned back to her patients seeing that Sera was in no immediate danger.

Sera ran her bruised fingers over the deep brown hide, "A friend taught me. He also gave me this before..." She stopped and started to untie the rawhide laces, "Ra'at was my best friend. He-"

Gat's huge hand swooped down and plucked the cuff from Sera's hands, he rubbed a thumb over the family crest and Sera could have sworn that he was fighting some strong emotion. She felt that funny feeling inside her again and decided to just throw caution to the winds.

"Do you know Uncle Blacknerf?" Sera asked, switching back to Basic; she tilted her head and was shocked at the sudden way all colour drained from his face.

"Is Ra'at - is my nephew still up in that ship?" Gat's voice was almost too quiet to hear over the increasing volume as more of the search party were succumbing to whatever sickness they had been exposed to.

Sera patted the giant next to her and shook her head, "The Imp scientists took him a few months ago." She hadn't expected this talk to ever happen; let alone so soon, or be quite so hard to see a grown man so close to tears. "I'm sorry, he didn't deserve what was done to us." Sera hopped off the bunk and went back to where she'd left her pack and fished out two of the ration bars, she handed one to Gat, "Ra'at wanted you to have that. The cuff, not the food." She took a bite of the sickly sweet dessert, "Does it hurt?"

"What?"

"Your head; you keep poking it."

The Devaronian scowled at the impertinant human child in front of him and swore in his own language.

Sera chuckled. The ruddy youngling had the cheek to laugh in his face! "You do remember I can understand what you're saying right?"

"A kid your age shouldn't know what those words emmean/em even if you recognise them." Gat coughed, shook his head as if to clear it and continued, "how old are you anyway?"

Sera snorted, "No manners, just like Ra'at always told me. I will say that you grow up fast as slicer for a Coruscant street crew." She went back and searched through the pockets of her gore spattered shirt until she pulled out the glass vial she'd retrieved from the medlab.

"I'm probably ten, maybe eleven. How old are you? Like 50?"

"You cheeky brat. I'm twenty three!" Gat had started to sweat; just like Greeley and Vesek before they got really sick.

Sera looked down at the yellowish liquid in the vial in the palm of her hand. "Dr Cody is pretty smart right? I mean, if she had to figure out some stuff on her own she probably could?"

"I guess; I mean she knows most of us are just faking it to stay out of Gen Pop."

"Good." Sera stepped forward and swiftly jabbed the needle tip of the vaccine bottle into his arm.

Gat roared and swore vehemently.

"Calm down you old git; it was just something to stop you getting sick."

-000-

Dr Cody was starting to fret. The engineers were starting to get worryingly sick, Vesek had started to throw up blood, and Austin had started to show signs of nausea as well.

"Waste!" She called to the droid; "Get them all into the contamination bubble now. Run tox-screens on all bloods and someone get Sartoris back here."

Vesek coughed and with an urk turned his head and jetted out a fountain of bright red arterial blood, spattering the other engineer and patients in the beds beside him.

"What happened to the others in your search party?" Zahara asked Austin as she tried to help Vesek through his seizure.

Austin shrugged, "Dunno. They came back before we did."

"No they didn't. Your group are the only ones to have come back."

Waste was helping to move the weaker members of the party into the contamination bubble, and Zahara debated how she was going to break the news to the warden.

nt-size: 14px; line-hA hand came down on her shoulder, making her jump. She whirled to see Gat standing behind her, the little girl less than a step behind him; gripping the bottom hem of his prison uniform tightly.

The Devish was rubbing his arm compulsively, "Is everything okay Doc? I heard you mentioning the bubble."

"Just a precaution Gat."

Gat nodded, "Well just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Dr Cody peered around him to smile at the girl. "Sera, I need you to go and wait in there too please. Just until I figure out how to make them better."

The girl shook her head vehemently; she most definitely did not want to be trapped with a front row seat to the bloodbath that was about to ensue.

Zahara sighed, the child was clearly traumatised by whatever had happened aboard the Star Destroyer, and she hadn't wanted to make things worse for her, but Zahara knew she had to prioritise the well being of the other five hundred souls of the Purge over one. It didn't mean she had to like it though.

"I'll go with you if you like?" Gat's rough voice startled the girl out of her thoughts.

Sera considered for a while and then reluctantly agreed. After all, she knew he shouldn't get sick now and he was just like Ra'at had described him during their time spent in the cells. They'd had nothing better to do than swap stories as the older ones were taken away to become part of whatever the Imps had been doing.

"Gat." Dr Cody's hand on his arm stopped him as he went to collect the girl's things. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Are you sure? I mean I don't know what's wrong with them or if it is contagious. You could be putting yourself into real danger."

The Devish grinned back down at the petite human, "You're smart Doc, you'll figure it out. Besides," the smile faltered for a moment, "someone I knew was on that ship and I feel like someone needs to look out for her. It seems she's had to do it alone all her life."

Zahara stepped back and let him pass, "You're a good person Gat Targon."