I have returned! *celebratory party of 1. Anyway, many thanks to DracoLoverTrini3 for their reviews, they made me smile. Also a big thanks to ScarfySorty for offering to put my fic on their website - . I would suggest you check it out! Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed.
Sirens blared and red lights flashed on and off along the walls, the voice of the Rear Admiral rang through the speakers and Rangers ran to and fro carrying out their orders. The normally spacious Starship was now chock a block with panicking Mid-Shipmen, running to their supervisors, trying to handle the situation of a red alert. Up marched along the corridor from the drop pod zone - dodging the odd medical intern and group of Ensigns - entering the bridge and heading straight over to his commanding officer.
"Rear Admiral" he saluted as former Commander Cole turned to face him. "What is this about an evacuation; the second sweeper team have barely touched the ground"
"I understand Up, but we've received scans from intelligence and things don't look good. This planet has been left uncharted for a reason" Cole explained, men and women pushed by her as they went about the evacuation protocol.
"And what dead-Goddamned reason would that be?" Up snapped.
"A Starship crash landed here ten years ago when the G.L.E.E was looking for outside help in the Robot Wars, they never returned and we're only finding out why now" Up nodded encouraging her to continue. "I can't tell you everything; I'm a little fuzzy on the details myself. Apparently the planet is inhabited by, what appears to be, the most dangerous and deadly animals that man has ever come across. From the Captain's log we've discovered, there are several highly deadly species of snake, toad and spider, many different and unheard of types of large cat and dog – wolves, lions and tigers, and such. It also showed the distinct outline of a bat-like creature hovering in one frame" Up raised his eyebrows, it was like something out of a child's fantasy – that or Ice Age 3.
Even with the scary, deadly animals, they were still Starship Rangers and a couple of bad ass tigers should be call for red alert, "Forgive me ma'am, but I don't see why this would call for immediate evacuation"
"We normally wouldn't, if it weren't for what this planet was heading towards" Cole picked up a remote from the Captain's chair, a view screen showed a very real, very close black hole. "This planet is hurtling towards it, and if we don't evacuate now we'll be sucked in with it"
Up sighed staring at the gargantuan collapsed star they were heading towards, he ran a hand through his greying hair, "How long will we have?" He asked, turning his back on the view screen.
"To get out of the atmosphere of the planet and to attain a good distance from that Hole, perhaps a half hour or so – we would have an hour before it becomes critical, but there's no point in taking risks" Up nodded to the Rear Admiral, who in turn shouted out commands to those working the bridge. Up watched as Rangers scurried across the room, lights and buzzing noises from the machinery filled the air, covering up the soft hum of the engines and odd trickling sounds from the piping system. He stood silent as various lower ranks hurried past, some brushing his side accidentally as they squeezed past and others trying to keep a distance, either from fear of his height or in awe his namesake. Several intercom messages blurred together over the speakers, the calm, robotic voice explaining over and over about the evacuation process, as if it hadn't been drilled into their heads since their Academy days.
There was a series of plinking noises from the intercom and a bushy haired boy, fresh out of the Academy no doubt, turned and stuttered something about the drop pods docking with the ship. Cole nodded and ordered an Ensign to meet them.
Up turned to look back at the view screen, the planet turned slowly in its atmosphere, large islands of green floated on oceans of deep blue. It was like those pictures of earth in the really old history books, the time before the G.L.E.E decided to build those dead-goddamn robots.
"Rear Admiral Cole, ma'am" Up looked over his shoulder at his senior officer, as the Ensign marched towards them, saluting "The second squad of sweepers have returned ma'am, but there's only a handful of the first"
"What do you mean Ensign?" The Rear Admiral quizzed, Up came to stand beside her, brows furrowed and listening intently.
"Ma'am, the Lieutenant tells me that one of his crew decided to disobey orders and took several others along with her" The boy fidgeted slightly with the hem of his uniform, eyes darting nervously between the two senior officers before him.
"It wouldn't by chance be a certain Ensign you would know, would it Up?" The woman glanced over at him, eyebrow raised. Had the situation not been as life threatening as this, Up may have cracked a smile. But it wasn't, so he didn't.
"If you mean Ensign Lopez, ma'am" Cole nodded, gesturing for the young man to continue, "Yes, it was. The Lieutenant informs me that she was, I quote, 'Bored'"
A moment of silence from the higher ranking woman, clearly contemplating the situation "Get Lieutenant Yogov up here right now, I want a word" She finally said turning her back and moving towards the controls of the ship.
The boy stepped forwards, "Ma'am what about the others?" Cole stopped, her shoulders seemed to slump slightly as she turned to face the pair.
"We leave in half an hour" Up blinked, stunned at the way she seemed to brush off the conversation. The Ensign opened his mouth, possibly in protest, but was silenced by the Rear Admiral, "Half an hour, Ensign" The boy closed his mouth, saluted once more and ran out of the room. She turned to look at the taller, greying man whose face was stony and cold, blue eyes narrowed slightly, accusingly. "Up, I don't want to hear it" Cole sighed and turned her back on him.
"But there are still people down there" Taz is still down there, his mind reminded him, "You wouldn't just leave them"
"It's their fault for disobeying orders" Came the sharp reply.
"So you're giving them a death sentence?"
"Are you questioning me, Commander?" She whipped around, her glare shooting him down. Up fixed his frown with hers, both daring the other to back down.
He glanced away, "No ma'am"
"Be sure you don't" She nodded, casting a brief look over her shoulder as she stepped closer to him "You are a good soldier Up, I would hate to have to demote you for disobeying orders" The man looked back into her face, void of emotion but anger still present in his eyes, "And I do not want you setting foot on that planet, that is an order. Do I make myself clear?"
Up felt his hands ball into a fist as he breathed in slowly, "As crystal, ma'am" he answered as calmly as he could. Turning and marching out of the room, a plan already forming in his head.
Cara flew through the dense jungle of trees and bushes in the warm undergrowth they had trekked across no more than an hour ago, sharp leaves struck against her pale skin and branches pricked her arms and exposed legs. Jumping over a fallen log, she didn't dare to stop and look back as she darted through the crowded collection of wood and needles. She had only caught a glimpse of the creature – whatever it was – after that stupid Latina had received an evacuation notice from the ship. It was all her fault, Cara had decided the second she had begun running; she was the one who was bored, the one who forced them away from the Lieutenant. Her fault, all her entire fault. "Fucking Mexicans" she muttered under her breath as she hopped another log, coming to a sudden halt and backing under the large object as the creature leapt over it with ease and raced on. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cara leant back against the moss, reflecting how exactly she had gotten into this mess.
She sat on the roots of a tall oak-like tree, watching the others pace quietly, some sitting on the cold, brown earth and chatting together to pass the time, a game of poker was set up on a flat rock and one of the older Ensigns she had forgotten the name of was watching for any sign of trouble. It was quite peaceful, the gentle breeze blowing through the dark green leaves, brightly coloured flowers blossomed under her fingers and the sounds of birds fluttered down from the trees.
Well, it would have been peaceful if a certain Hispanic brat would shut up for two seconds.
"Just another half a mile, what difference will that make?" Taz walked beside the Lieutenant in charge.
"Quite a significant difference, Ensign" He huffed, turning his back to the smaller girl.
Taz glared and pulled him back round, "It's not like she's tracking us! We could go another few meters"
"The Rear Admiral specifically said to keep within a one mile radius of the drop pod until she gave the order to continue" the man turned his back once more on the quarrelling girl and moved over to check on the group near the edge of the clearing.
But Taz wasn't giving up, "Dios Muertos, you're such a butt-trumpet Howard" This stopped him in his tracks, Cara saw Taz smirk lightly as the older man whipped around.
"I am not!" He defended, crossing his arms like a child.
"You have to admit, your arse sounds well bad" Declan chortled over by the rock, he clenched his fist in a 'shaka sign', placed his thumb near his mouth and called out "Toot-toot! Toot-toot!" Others who had looked up from the game joined in, and Cara giggled at the reddening face of their Lieutenant.
"That doesn't sound anything like my butt!" Howard marched over and slapped Declan over the back of the head. The younger boy stood, easily towering over his officer "Stop being so immature or I'll tell the Rear Admiral!" The Lieutenant stuttered slightly. The various groups of Ensigns and lower ranks rolled their eyes and cat-calls of 'Oh, we're so scared!' and 'Geez, lighten up Howard' made the older man huff childishly. "I will lighten up when the whole lot of you come to your senses and realise this isn't a game. We are here to do a job and to follow orders"
"But these orders are so estupido" Howard turned back to the youngest of the group, Cara could see he was losing his cool slightly, if he had any to begin with – the man was so uptight, they sometimes swore he had a meter ruler running up his spine.
"They're there for a reason, Ensign"
"But I'm bored!" Taz pouted, walked around the perimeter of the clearing and sat down on the roots of a tree opposite Cara, "There's nothing to do!" she complained.
"Well occupy yourself" the other snapped back.
Taz leaned against the tree, eyes pointed to the sky, silently contemplating what she should say next, "How about I go walk that way" she gestured in the general direction of a largely wooded area, "You can stay here with them" her other hand motioned to the rest of the team, "And I won't be in your hair, sound good?" she shrugged her shoulders, hands raised upwards in a question.
"No Taz" the girl groaned and put her head in her hands, "I can't let you go off by yourself just because you can't follow a simple order"
"Well then I won't go by myself" she stood and walked to the centre beside Howard, "Who wants to go?" she asked the crowd at large. There was a pause and out of the corner of her eye Cara watched as Declan and several others raised their hands, after half a dozen others had done the same, Cara raised her own. Taz smirked softly and turned to Howard with a look of victory.
"The answer is still no, Taz" her face fell at the officers answer.
"We've been here forever!" Howard's eyes followed Taz as she paced around the clearing once more.
"It's only been an hour"
"And the second squad will be dropping down at any minuto, meaning we can go" Taz stopped and turned to glare at Howard, "So how 'bout we go ahead" she motioned to those who had raised their hands, "And you can wait for Cole to give the go ahead, so you're not disobeying her preciosa orders" the Latina placed her hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised.
Howard pursed his lips, really not wanting her to go ahead but not wanting to argue with her again, "Fine! Go, I don't care anymore!" The group cheered and picked up their zappers, jumping over those who had chosen to stay with Howard. Cara nodded to Taz as she slung her large weapon over her shoulder. As the group ran off into the trees, Cara glanced over her shoulder as the Lieutenant yelled at their retreating backs, "But if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you for this!"
Cara blamed Taz entirely.
They had been on the move for little over half an hour, covering nearly five miles of dark land that resembled what history books had called a 'rain forest', when Taz' communicator had bleeped. Howard's face popped up, informed them that there was to be an immediate evacuation of the planet. Apparently they were heading towards a black hole, which would destroy the planet and proceed to 'swallow' the dust and ordered the group to be at the pods in ten minutes. The team froze, what else could they do? Ten minutes to cover six miles of dirt covered floor ridden with roots and hidden potholes designed to trip anyone going to carelessly. They were doomed.
"Aw man, we're gonna die here, aren't we?" one of the more excitable Ensigns wailed pathetically.
"Stop being such a girl," Declan hit the boy over the head, "No offence, like" he muttered turning to the group of calmer looking females. "I mean we'll find a way out of this, right Taz?" Cara was slightly shocked to see him turning to the Latina for help, after over three years of cat-calling and bullying attitude to the younger girl; Cara was slightly stumped by how much he seemed to have grown up.
When the only thing the girl could mutter was an 'I don't know', the Ensign became even more excitable and started crying, "We are gonna die here!" This seemed to snap Taz out of her reverie.
"Hey, escúchame we are not gonna die here, you understand?" she pulled the boy down to her height by his collar, "We are gonna figure something out and I don't need you crying to your mama while we do, vale?" she snarled, the Ensign quickly bobbed his head up and down. Taz released him and backed up slightly, "Alright, now here's what we're gonna do. All we gotta do…" she was interrupted by a low growling noise from behind her, Taz' eyes widened and looked down beneath her feet. A long, black tail was trapped beneath her boot, the creature that own said tail came slowly into view from beneath large clumps of bushes, sleek fur and whiskers a dark, midnight black and teeth as sharp as razors. They watched holding their breaths as it moved closer to the younger girl; visible clouds of carbon dioxide were emitted from its nostrils and onto the back of her neck, she shivered slightly. Taz suddenly raised her foot and stamped on the cat's tail, causing it to yowl in pain, once again showing it pointed incisors. "Run!" she yelled. They pelted in every direction, some splitting into pairs and others trying to outrun the things that had come to the large feline's aid. Cara must have only been running ten seconds when she heard breathing and heavy footfalls behind her, glimpsing back as she darted around a tree she caught what looked to be a mix between a bear and a lion.
And that was how she came to be here, stuck under a fallen log, cursing the Mexican girl under her breath as she panted and shook from the adrenalin. She stood slowly, grabbing hold of the thick moss that covered the log and looked around trying to get her bearings. She pulled out her issued Data-Pack and flicked a switch on the side; it beeped several times before flashing up a map of the area. According to the map she was only half a mile from where the drop pods had been, but it had been nearly twenty minutes since they had received that message. The ship would probably be long gone.
A movement to her left was caught in her peripheral vision, Cara turned to see a snake reminiscent to that of a cobra raising its head, the creature's monstrous body was longer and thicker than textbooks had described the earthly creatures. But this wasn't earth, she remembered. Backing up slowly as it slid nearer, she froze as it hissed and was given a split second to try and escape as it flew through the air, sharp fangs glinting deathly white.
Cara howled in pain as the pearly teeth sank into her quadriceps, she could feel the bone being brushed by the giant's teeth as the buried deeper into her leg, drops of blood sliding down her leg. She fell back against the fallen tree, writhing and swinging her leg in an attempt to make the snake let go. Pain filled sobs hitched in her throat and tears streamed down her face, her life flashed before her eyes as her brain tried to think of a way to stop her from dying.
The answer came with a war cry, one she had heard once before. The snake suddenly stopped moving, the fangs remained attached to her leg and the blood continued to stream down the sides of her thigh, but at least it had stemmed the pain. Cara felt another body beside her, a hand shook her shoulder and a voice told her to open her eyes. Light blinded her and forced them closed again, the voice told her once more to open them, Cara blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the relatively dim light. She looked around groggily, focusing on the face in front of her; the girl's voice sounded like it was coming through a tunnel. She shook her head and listened again.
"...n you hear me?" she repeated, Cara coughed out something like a 'yes' and the head nodded. "Okay, I need you to hold still, its head is still attached to your leg. Just try not to move, okay?" Cara nodded not really understanding, she yelled in pain as the teeth suddenly moved upwards and away from her thigh. There was a soft pressure placed on her leg and a firm hand held her shoulder as she squirmed under the other's hold. "Stop moving, you'll hurt yourself even more" the other held on as Cara sobbed quietly, her sense of sight returning along with her hearing. The Mexican girl stared down at her leg, her knife cutting along the microfibers of Cara's trousers, pulling the fabric off and tying it tightly above the two small, red circles pierced into her thigh. Cara hissed in pain as the other sprayed disinfectant over the wound and wrapped the swelling area with crepe bandage. She watched as the smaller girl wiped her sweating hands against her off white top, riffling in the small medical bag given out by the ship and held out a tablet, opening Cara's mouth and popping it inside. She swallowed with difficulty, it ran down her scratchy throat but she felt the effects of the medicine lessen the pain around her leg.
Cara watched with blurred vision as her companion stood, picking something off the ground. Focusing closely at the object, she found it to be the head of the snake; its body lay a few feet from them. She watched the Latina pocket the head and replace her blade in its holster, before crouching down next to Cara. "We need to move, vale?" Her brain slowly processed the message, shaking her head at the thought of moving. "Escúchame, I gotta get you outta here, there's too much mierda down here for a rescue team to find us"
"Rescue?" she could hear the slurring in her voice, she sounded so weak and helpless.
"Sí, they're coming back for us. So you need to hold on, you hear me?" Cara nodded slowly. She felt strong hands under her armpits, pulling her upwards onto her feet and putting her weight on the smaller woman as she wobbled, nausea causing her to sway hazardously.
Taz slung one of the girl's arms over her shoulders, supporting both her own weight and equipment as well as her injured charge. Trudging through the rough undergrowth of the labyrinth of tree was hard on your own, but supporting a body almost twice the size of your own was no easy feat. Cara winced every time her foot brushed against a root or bush, Taz was continuously glimpsing over to her right every time the girl took a sharp intake of breath. The air was dense and haunting, low beeps issued from the Data-Pack attached to Taz' belt pointed them in the right direction and the slightly eradicated breathing of the blonde girl where the only sounds.
But there were still things out there, Taz had no idea how many but she was assured that there were more of those evolved creatures, whatever they were. Creaking of the trees and snapping of twigs underfoot had the young Ensigns senses heightened, eyes darting around as they pressed forward, ears strained to catch anything sneaking up on them. Her arm ached as Cara slumped against her, eyes clouding over in exhaustion. Taz shook her gently, "Hey, don't you go falling asleep on me" she muttered, loud enough to be heard but careful not to let certain creatures pick her voice up.
Cara groaned quietly and her head lolled to the side, she blinked, swallowing heavily as they clambered over a fallen log, placing Cara carefully on the ground as she got her breath back. The taller girl coughed, spitting a watery red substance out of her mouth, letting it dribble down her chin. Taz watched the blood drip silently down the side of her mouth, "Why didn't you just leave me?" Taz looked up, Cara's grey eyes were tired, drained. "I'm just slowing you down" she muttered, turning her face away, "Why bother trying to save me?"
She gasped as she was picked up, her left arm once again around Taz' shoulders, weight supported by the smaller woman "Because I'm not leaving anyone else behind" Cara stared blankly at Taz, her eyes determinantly facing forwards, water pricking at the edges as she blinked rapidly. She watched the Latina breath heavily and swallow her pain and guilt, Cara felt a sense of pity for her, the girl she had bullied during their school days. The one who had become one of the toughest Rangers around, the one who had saved her ever-loving neck. Maybe she wasn't as emotionless as everyone thought, she was human after all. Her eyes caught Cara's stare, grey eyes blinked as the corner of her mouth twitched in a smirk, as if reading her thoughts.
A rustle, a crack of branches and a dark shadow caused Taz to pull out her dagger, pointing it at the shadow as it came closer, pulling Cara behind her.
"Wait, don't shoot" A voice came from the shadow, Taz lowered the blade slightly and called out for it, whatever 'it' was human or other, to show itself. A man stepped out from the darkness, but he may as well have stayed as it made no difference to his colour. The dark, black man's skin only a shade lighter than the forest he had stepped out of, his clothes were dark green and almost blended in with his skin, the dark coloured hair was a short, military style, dark brown eyes stared down at them. "I here to help. She come to ship?" The man's African vernacular was heavy but Taz understood, he pointed at Cara. "Injured?"
"Sí, snake bite" Taz said simply, her own accent was hard to understand at the best of times. Pulling out the head of the snake and holding it towards him, in case he hadn't understood.
The man nodded, "I take her back, you find others" he carefully lifted Cara into his large arms, the girl whimpered softly as his chest brushed her thigh. Taz handed him the snake head and watched as he ran off through the trees, she followed quickly behind him, darting to the left as she heard yells from outside the forest-like place.
Taz blinked in the blinding light as her eyes adjusted, looking around she found a long runway shaped clearing, and large footprints of animals that must have charged the path lingered in the mud. Lasers and more screams turned her attention to a huge lake at the end of the clearing, she ran towards them. As she got closer she spotted their distress, a giant grey bat was hovering over them, swooping and trying to capture them in its claws, and the lasers appeared to not phase it – instead were making it angrier. She took aim as it flew back down and swiped at another Ranger, who howled in pain as their shoulder was dislodged from its socket.
She was suddenly knocked backwards and her zapper fired into the sky blindly, flying out of her grasp. Taz blinked at the face above her, who in turn stared back dumbly.
"Carlos, what the hell are you doing?" she growled as the boy sat up quickly.
"Running" he panted heavily, looking back over his shoulder towards the trees. "I think I killed it, but just to make sure you know?" he swallowed and Taz shook her head, standing up and pulling the older boy up beside her. "So, what where you doing?" he asked casually, Taz blinked as she remembered exactly what she had been doing. Heavy talons landed between her shoulder blades, lifting her from the ground – digging past the blue uniform and into her skin, drawing blood. She yelped as a foot collided with her leg, looking around awkwardly she found Carlos was attached to the beasts other claw.
"Brillante, now I gotta save your ass as well as mine" Taz rolled her eyes, worn out from carrying Cara. Looking down as the bat carried them back across the trees; a whooshing noise flew past her ear, green laser beams singeing the ends of her hair. Shouts from below and the beams halted. "Idiota" she muttered under her breath. Taz looked up, staring at the face of the grey bat above her, its sharp teeth glinted in the light from the sun, grey face void of fur and its pink nostrils were slits opening and closing as it took in oxygen or whatever the evolved creature used. She had no idea how they would get out of this, the Academy didn't exactly prepare them for this sort of thing, bites and stings yes but giant bats and unidentifiable felines? Their main concern was robots, and most books from the library she had studied were on robot deactivation, not animal control. "Any ideas Carlos?" she yelled over to him, wind whistling in her ears, blowing her voice every direction.
Carlos looked around, he brought his hand to the creatures foot, fingers tracing over the hard exterior. "I think there's a sensitive amount of veins in the foot, if we puncture them it might let go on instinct" Taz wondered where he knew so much about animals, she would ask later. She rotated her shoulder uncomfortably, the claw dug into her back as she gripped her knife and copied Carlos' positioning. "Don't cut too deep" he warned.
"Why not?" she yelled over at him.
"We don't want to kill it," Taz stared at him, slightly dumbfounded. "It's still an animal, it would be cruel" He frowned over at her, Taz rolled her eyes again at how much he could care for something that was going to kill them. She nodded, agreeing not to kill the bat "It's heading towards the lake again," he yelled as the creature swooped in that direction, seemingly heading for the tall mountains in the distance.
"Vale, when I give the word, cut it" Carlos nodded. Taz watched as the bat soared over the trees, the blue of the lake turned slowly darker as they flew across it. "Now!" she yelled, piercing the rough foot of the bat, it shrieked in pain and extracted its claws from her shoulder. Taz plummeted towards the blue water, legs straight and a hand over her nose, diving into the cool lake below. She twisted in the water and kicked at the rocks at the bottom of the pool, forcing herself back to the surface, gulping in oxygen and shaking water off her face. Taz paused and looked around for Carlos, glancing up into the air she watched the bat fly off but no Carlos. Gazing around, she found him still missing.
Bubbles floated to the surface and her eyes widened in understanding. Filling her lungs with air she dived back under the water, pushing against the water as she headed for the bottom of the lake. He was trapped; long tangles of plants had a hold of his legs, tightening as he struggled against them. Taz pulled at the greenery, before taking out her knife and slicing through them, pushing off against the base and pulling Carlos with her. The pair coughed as they gulped in oxygen upon reaching the surface; Taz yanked the other towards the shore where the Rangers were staring, a few cheering.
Taz dragged herself out of the water and felt like collapsing on the shore, hands held onto her shoulders and fists collided with her upper arms in congratulations. She nodded and quietly moved away, the Rangers who had dropped for their rescue were waiting anxiously by the trees. They moved quickly through the clearing, guns raised and ears strained for any other animals that might try to attack, the walk to the pods was silent. Ensigns and other ranks quickly filed into the pods, names were called off, and brief beats of silence followed those who Lady Luck had not smiled upon.
She watched as injured soldiers were cared for at the back of the pods, she found the corners of her mouth twitch upwards slightly, watching as Declan carefully entwined his fingers with Cara's, who slept peacefully.
She caught blue eyes staring at her and Taz' smile instantly faded from view. She looked down at the pair and slowly looked back at Up, her higher ranking officer, mentor and friend. That was all they could ever be and all she would ever need, but something inside her continuously tugged at her every time she caught his eye. Telling her that she wanted more. She pushed it away as silly teenage emotions, weak and unnecessary, something she thought to have been rid of.
He was Up, the Commander – famous for his amazing skill of combat and defeater of hundreds of robots, war hero and legend that all children aspired to become. She was just Taz, ordinary young girl plucked out of Mexico by chance and trained up to become a Ranger, there was nothing special about her. Nothing that would be attractive or interesting to any man alive, let alone to him. And she liked it that way, no flounces, no feathers. Just a daring teen that wanted adventure and excitement, with no one tying her down and no limits.
She squared her jaw and hardened her expression; Taz was fine with being alone. Tabitha wasn't. That was what she had suppressed, hidden from sight. That lonely little niña who had once been her, who had once cried freely and been beaten to a pulp by bullies, picked up the pieces of her own life and moved on. She was still in there somewhere, threatening to appear when she thought things that were too emotionally deep for her tough persona to hide.
Taz glanced over at Up, busy talking with a nurse who had joined them. He had been the one to help hide Tabitha and helped to form the beginnings of Taz. She owed him everything, from saving her life at her fifteenth birthday to the present day; he had done too much even for a friend, he was as much of a father figure as you could find and more. She swallowed as memories tried to push to the surface of her mind, walking away as his eyes glanced over at her.
She sat in one of the off white chairs, gazing through a circular window, waiting to return to the ship.
A/N: To any African-Americans or blacks reading this I meant no racism at all, the speech of the African Ranger was assisted my my friend who himself is African. This is how he speaks, please don't take offence.