Notes: A little short so you get it early. Thanks so much for continuing to read and hopefully enjoy.
"What the hell are you doing?" the larger of the two intruders asked, lowering his weapon to stare at his partner.
The woman shrugged. "She had a weapon."
"She wasn't pointing it at us."
"Why do you care?" she asked. "She's probably just a damn collaborator, anyway."
"I don't think she is," the man said, moving further into the lab. He gestured at the slain Cardassian lying dead behind the desk. "In fact, I think she just killed Gul Camet."
The woman hurried over and looked behind the desk. "Huh. Well, good for her then. Now, let's just get the damn records that we came here for and get out. The spoonheads have got to have reinforcements on the way by now."
He nodded and accessed the console Camet had been using. "The Prophets have blessed us again. He's got the files already open and downloading for us." He laughed and keyed in a few commands. "Guess he wanted to take his work with him."
"Just hurry it up." She spit on the dead gul and moved back to guard the open door.
He keyed in one last command, retrieved a small disc, and stepped back to fire his weapon at the console. He moved to join his partner but stopped, glancing over to where the unknown woman had fallen. "We shouldn't leave her."
"Are you crazy? She's dead," his partner said. "Let's go!"
He ignored her and crouched next to the bleeding woman half propped up against the wall. "She's a Terran."
"So, we'll say a few prayers of thanks for her when we get back to the ship. Can we go now, please!"
He moved a tangle of auburn hair away from the woman's face and saw her grimace. "She's alive."
"That's not possible." His partner came back in the room and saw for herself that the woman was still breathing. She met her partner's gaze and nodded. "Bring her."
He pocketed the small disc, slung his weapon over his shoulder, and slid his arms beneath the woman's knees and back. She groaned as he hefted her against his chest, but her eyes never opened. He wondered who she was as he followed his partner out of the dead Cardassian's lab.
The Resistance captain strode into the small bay that served as a sorry excuse for a medical bay. Three members of the resistance had died during the raid of the prison facility and another six were injured. Silently, he moved from patient to patient, visually assessing their injuries for himself and probable time of recovery. He was thankful they weren't all from his cell, but for a movement as small as theirs, any casualty was one too many. He sincerely hoped they got the information they'd been searching for. Those records could sway very powerful people to see the Cardassians as the monsters they truly were. They could change everything.
He frowned when he saw the bare feet of a seventh patient lying on the floor past the last of the makeshift beds. He glanced around and quickly recounted that he had, in fact, seen the six injured people that had been reported to him. "Who is this?"
If it was possible, the medical bay became even quieter. He moved around the last cot and saw a bloodied, unconscious Terran female. She looked about as pale as he had ever seen anyone and knew that if she wasn't dead already she soon would be. "Doc! What the hell is this?"
"She ain't one of ours," the old medic replied as he sealed up a wound on a red-headed female resistance fighter. "I'll get to her once I've finished patching everyone else up."
"She'll be dead by then," the captain said, crouching down to take her pulse. It was thready and weak.
"She can have my bed, Captain," a weak but familiar voice said. He looked up and saw Mike Ayala grimacing as he sat up. "I've got a few broken bones that aren't going anywhere anytime soon."
The captain frowned, but agreed that the woman's injuries were more severe. "Doc! Get over here!"
He lifted the woman onto the bed and saw Mike lean carefully back against the bulkhead. "Do you know where she came from?"
"Retrieval team brought her in," Mike answered, being careful not to move too much. "One of Shakaar's men, I think."
"It was Furel and Lupaza," the red-headed resistance woman said, trailing behind the medic as he finally made his way over. "They said she killed Camet."
"Then we owe her a debt of gratitude," the captain said, glaring at the old doctor. "Don't we, Doc?"
The old man frowned as he began to examine her. "If she killed that Cardie bastard, he sure took a piece of her with him." He shook his head at the ragged wound. "Lot of blood loss here, Chief."
Chakotay knew that meant the odds weren't good for her survival. "Do what you can. I think this one is a fighter." He stroked a hand over her forehead, smoothing her hair back. "Keep me informed."
.