Chapter Three
He was sleeping now tucked up in her bed. She had gotten the bleeding under control and had wrapped his wounds. They had looked bad. One to his left upper thigh, this one wasn't as bad and had been treated. The other however had been made by a blaster to his torso; it had seemed to be have done at close range and just left. It had looked like he had tried to patch it by himself and not real well. It was a few days old at least possible around a week. His bleeding had been caused from the wound being reopened. An infection had settled in and she was worried. She only had so much medication and if she didn't get his fever down, well then she didn't want to think about the alternative. She had kept true to her word, treated him as best as she could and then high tailed it out of there.
She currently was hovering on the back side of yet another small moon but in a different system. It had been two days and the general hadn't woken up yet. He needed medicine and a real doctor. She had been to this particular place before and knew she could get some black market goods, or at least she used to now she wasn't so sure but she needed to do something. She finally formed a plan and landed her ship on the very edge of an outpost on the moon below. Flying under the cover of darkness she knew she had a better chance at going at it this way. After her landing she checked on her passenger one more time. He was still feverish but had fallen into a deep sleep. She hoped it wasn't a coma. She looked down at him, taking in his very pale skin and for once peaceful look on his face. At that moment he looked years younger. She brushed his hair away from his forehead begging him to stay alive then she ventured out into the unknown.
It was a moonless night, nearly pitch black, not her favorite but it offered a great cover. Making sure everything was secure and checking on her general one more time she gathered a bag that she crossed over her shoulder, her blaster to her hip, and a small hand light she set out on her mission. This time of night not much stirred but she wanted to be prepared. She knew the village was not far off and she knew the local medicine man kept his shop right at the edge of the village. It was by design so that he had unlimited access to the woods they lay behind, the ones she found herself in now. It was here that he would gather herbs and plants for his many elixirs and remedies. Not one that you would classify as modern medicine but something could be said about these old timers and their home grown concoctions. Sometimes it was even better, something she knew from personal experience. She had met this particular medicine man a few years before. He was a kind old man willing to help those in need no questions asked. She just hoped that this was still the case.
As she approached the village she made sure to stick to the shadows and crept along. It was eerily quiet but she put that to the back of her mind as she moved on. She told herself that it was all due to the late hour but that didn't quite sit right. She approached the front of the darkened building minding her steps and her surroundings and went to knock on the door only to find that it was already opened and empty. She gently pushed the door open and walked inside on alert. She had a bad feeling about it so she took her blaster in her hand and slowly walked in. The place was a mess. It had been ransacked and by the looks of it recently. She needed to do this and quick. She wasn't sure where the medicine man was and she didn't want to wait around to see who had looted. She quickly made her way to the back of the hut to find it equally trashed but if luck was on her side there may have been one place the looter hadn't hit. She knew that this particular medicine man always kept a secret stash in case of situations like this. She found the loose floor board and pried it up. Jackpot! Quickly shifting through it she found what she needed and then some. Quickly she filled her pack. She hated just taking anything but she had her general back on her ship in desperate need of it. This was literally a case of life or death.
She had just shouldered the bag and getting ready to leave when she heard a sound. It wasn't loud, a light shuffling. Someone was outside and if she had to guess it wasn't going to be the friendly sort. She quickly and quietly made her way around the room toward the back of the hut listening ever so quietly for any more sound. There is was again. She needed to find a way out but it wasn't going to be the same way she came in that's when she looked up. If she could get up into the rafters she could make it to the roof. Looking around she found a ladder and made her way up. From there she was able to get to the rafters and low and behold there was a roof hatch. Most people in this area always had more than one way out of their homes. Pulling herself up into the cool night air she found herself on the roof and slowly peek over the side. Three men all dressed in dark clothing were sneaking around the side of the hut. If she had to venture a guess they were looking for the same thing as she was but for entirely different reasons which would make them very dangerous.
"Not sure there's much left here Boss. Looks like it's already been hit." One of the men whispered to another.
"We still need to check it out. Places like this usually have a secret stash" They disappeared into the hut. They were drug runners she realized and once they had disappeared she made her move. Jumping down , her feet landing on the ground softly. If she could make it to the woods unseen she could circle back to her ship. On silent feet she took a deep breath and ran. Unfortunately that was at the same time that one of the men decided to come out of the hut. She didn't wait to see if they actually saw her she just took off in a sprint. She had to rely heavily on her other senses to get her to where she needed to go due to the darkness. Besides her erratic beating of her own heart she heard crashing and yelling behind her. She had almost made it to the edge of the clearing when she stopped and crouched down. Looking around she found no one in the vicinity of her ship. There was no moment, no noise which told her that they were out there waiting for her to make a move. She knew she had to, her generals life depended on it. If she could time it right she could make a run to the ship, open the door just enough to slip in and lock herself in. Once she was in they wouldn't be able to reach her the think was built like a tank and nearly unbreachable. She just had to be fast, really really fast.
Looking around she decided to make her run. She took out her remote for the door, secured her bag around her a bit more and took out her blaster. Without another thought she took a deep breath and ran fast and hard. Her feet thumping in the dirt as she speed across the clearing. Her ship getting nearer and nearer she was almost there. She gripped the remote even tighter and when she reached about 100 yards she pushed the button, the door slowly started to come down. Almost there she told herself. She was almost home free when suddenly something slammed into her hard knocking her to the ground causing her to loose both her remote and blaster. Two vice like arms wrapped around her puling her up from the ground as she fought and struggled against the restraints. She kicked, squirmed and wiggled only to be lifted up off the ground causing her to just kick air.
"Hey Boss!" A voice shouted behind her. "I caught a live one!" She yelled at him to let her go only for him to tighten his grip.
"Get off from me!" She shouted.
"There there little mouse. Where do you think you're going?" The third man approached coming to stand in front of her, a sickening smile on his face that caused her blood to run cold.
"What shall we do with her Boss?" He asked the last of the men come into the clearing.
"Search her and then I don't care." That statement alone terrified her but she used that moment to get the upper hand as the one in front of her moved to get a better look at her.
"Hold her still." He demanded to his friend. As he approached she used the grip that held her as leverage and quickly brought her feet up to kick the guy in front of her in the face. She was met with a very satisfying crunch as he wheeled back in pain. This caused all three of them to tumble to the ground.
"The bitch just broke my nose!" He howled. She tried to crawl away from the tangle of arms and legs still trying to pin her down. She was suddenly pulled back by the leg and flipped over. The man that she assaulted was above her nearly sitting on her chest. Blood was streaming down his face and his nose sat at an unnatural angle. He hit her in the face causing her lip to split and leave a ringing in her ear. She knew a bruise would soon show itself as well.
"I'm gonna kill you!" He screamed in her face as his hands found there way around her neck. She tried to scream, tried to kick it away but he held her tight and squeezing. He was going to kill her but she would be damned if she was going down without a fight. She scratched and clawed but she was too busy fighting for air. She couldn't breath, couldn't focus and black spots started to dance across her vision. She was just on the verge of giving into the darkness when suddenly the pressure lifted and the man was suddenly gone. She rolled to her side coughing and gasping as she willed herself to breath again. Her only thought was to get up and get to her general but right now she could hardly move. That is until she felt arms around her once again and she tensed up only to relax when she heard a familiar yet raspy voice behind her as he turned her around so that she was looking at him.
"Karis, dove. It's me, you're safe now."
"Ari?" She blinked up at him as his still slightly unfocused eyes caught hers, Had he just called her dove? He brushed her hair aside gently and then placed both on her cheeks.
"Don't try to talk just yet." She looked into his eyes disbelieving that he was there and completely broke down sobbing as he pulled her to him. She was never one to cry but after so little sleep the past week along with what just had happened she couldn't hold back.
He pulled her closed against his still fevered body as he stroked her hair telling her that it was alright. She felt him tremble as he tried to keep himself upright. This shook the shock from her body and she quieted her tears tears and she took a shaky breath. He still needed her help. She pulled away not wanting to meet his gaze just yet as she scanned the area around them. Three bodies lay around them blaster holes in each of them. She didn't realize how shaky she was until she felt his hands rub up and down her closed her eyes and gave into the feeling relaxing slightly. She felt his lips on the side of her head a feeling she had never felt ran through her.
"You're safe now." He whispered in her ear and he turned her face to look at him. He traced the bruise on her face slightly with a look of both fury and worry. She took his hand in hers just then and really looked at him.
"Thank you." She said her voice barely a whisper due to her throat being sore and swollen. She opened her mouth to say that they needed to move but he stopped her again.
"Save you voice my dove but I think I know what your going to say and I agree. We need to leave this place so lets help each other out, yes." She nodded her head in agreement as both very carefully, painfully and slowly helped each other into the ship. Once they were in she took him right to the bed that he had been occupied for the last three days and he dropped unceremoniously onto it. She went to step away but he held onto her hand looking up at her. He looked exhausted and on the verge of passing out. She dropped to her knees silently as she checked his wounds. Finding the one on his chest inflamed and oozing. This worried her as she also felt his forehead to see that he still held a fever. How he had done what he had done she would never know but he had saved her so now it was her turn to save him. That's how they seemed to work. They took turns saving each other time and time again. She reached into her bag and pulled out the medicine that would hopefully help him. It was both an ointment and a pill. Giving him the pill first he looked at it then her slightly confused until she gestured once again to take it. Handing him the water that she also carried he nodded as he swallowed it. "So that's where you were." He stated as she opened the jar with the healing ointment. She gently removed the bandage once again and ever so lightly applied it. She was so afraid of hurting him again and he caught on to this gripping her wrist lightly looking at her in encouragement. "Its okay Karis. Just do what you need to do." She looked at him nodded and continued. He flinched a few times but never made a sound. She knew it had to hurt like hell but he held it in. It made her want to cry all over again. She capped the jar but was stopped when his hands covered hers. He sat up slightly causing her to look at him. "Its your turn dove." She looked at him in surprise and tried to shark her head to tell him she was alright but he wasn't having it. "No let me help you." He gently took the jar from her and opened it warming the ointment in his hands before he softly applying it to the bruising on her neck. She tried not to flinch as she was reminded of how she had very nearly lost her life. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice him moving the the bruising on her face once more or how he brushed away the tear that ran down her face. She met his eyes again, eyes that told her that it was going to be okay. She nodded again to his unasked question and went to move but once again he stopped her. "Stay please." she didn't hesitate as she quickly crawled into bed neck to him curling her self around him. He tucked her head under his chin and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. For the first time in a while both slept soundly.