This chapter is dedicated to Bluefox.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
YOU WERE MY OASIS

Oasis, Ekk Desert
Planet Naa
Delta Quadrant, Sunhd System
11 years earlier:

"Mayday! Mayday! This is First Mate Illa-li Myek of the Flagship Quasar!" The staticky call came in with a screech, suggesting equipment damage or interference.

"Quasar, this is Captain Gantu of the Flagship Aeremus-Sy. Come in."

"Captain! C-captain, we — the Quasar has b-been hijacked. The Kaizaxx — " Static cut off the frantic first mate's words.

"Quasar, this is Aeremus-Sy. Do you read?" No reply. "Quasar, this is Aeremus-Sy. Are you in distress?"

A faint voice cut through the static. Though the first mate was screaming at the top of her lungs, she sounded distant.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! REQUESTING PARAMEDIC UNITS TO FLAGSHIP QUASAR!"

Captain Gantu was caught off-guard by the panic in her voice. "Roger that, Quasar. Dispatching units immediately. Uh, your signature is unclear on the homing radar. What's your twenty?"

"I d-don't know. We've been marooned. W-we're on a desert p-planet in the Sunhd System. Could be Ertro or Naa. I'm not sure. The entire crew requires immediate medical attention. Please hurry!"

"I'm on my way."

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The signal seemed to be coming from the oasis. Captain Gantu landed his flitter on the harsh copper sand near the wreckage of a flagship. The Quasar. Two medical units followed, landing beside him. A small crew of paramedics scampered up the sandy embankment and onto the stony flat of the oasis. Gantu waited beside his flitter for the arrival of the rest of his rescue party. Moments later, five more flitters appeared on the bloody horizon and landed one by one at various points around the oasis. He watched his men pour onto the oasis with a tiny twinge of foreboding in his gut.

His attention was drawn suddenly to two paramedics lumbering back down the embankment, lugging a stretcher between them. He saw the face of the person lying on it as it passed: a face so bruised and bloodied that he couldn't even tell what race it was. The feeling in his gut thickened, and for a fleeting moment, he thought he was going to be sick. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling had gone. Gantu tore his eyes away from the victim and shook his head violently as if to clear it.

Get a hold of yourself, Gantu. You saw much worse during the Tzii-Bhek-Kaeuol Wars. You can face this. Gantu took a steadying breath before marching up the embankment and onto the oasis.

The oasis was a moss-covered stone flat roughly the length of a football field. Sparse foliage dotted the expanse with sickly-looking shrubs and an occasional tree. Toward the middle of the oasis the foliage thickened. Trees stood taller here, some even taller than Gantu himself. Most of the plant life on the oasis appeared either dead or in the process of dying. The only healthy greenery to be seen was the moss underfoot.

Gantu treaded lightly along, picking his way carefully around the wounded and the members of his rescue party. Being by far the tallest, he had a good view of what was going on around him. One sweeping look around told him that every wounded member of the Quasar crew was being tended to by his men. No one had been overlooked. Or had they? Even at his height, Gantu could not see everything. He could have seen clear across to the other end of the oasis if not for the thicket of dying trees in the center. He decided to stroll around the entire perimeter of the oasis, making sure that no one or nothing was overlooked.

By the time he reached the thicket in the center, he had passed by at least a couple dozen Quasar crew members. Five long strides brought him past the thicket to the other side of the oasis. One glance showed him that there was nothing to be found here. There was even less plant life on this side. For safe measure he walked along to the very edge of the oasis, cast a sweeping glance out over the endless desert, then about-faced and started back toward the other end to assist his crew.

As he approached the thicket again, he heard the faint rustle of dried leaves and another noise that sounded like a gasp. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. His warrior's reflexes kicked in and his hand immediately dove for the plasma cannon on his belt. Quick as lightning, he drew it out and pointed it at a spot at the edge of the thicket where a small fern frond wavered as though on a breeze. Suddenly, the rustling and the movement stopped. Gantu was not to be fooled. He stepped forward slowly, cannon poised to shoot.

"I know you're in there. Come out with your hands up or I'm coming in after you!"

There was the faintest tremor among the leaves, then stillness once more. Gantu growled and continued forward. He bent down slowly and reached a hand out to push a branch aside. His hand barely touched the branch when he heard it again: a tiny gasp, and a sound like sobbing. He paused before pushing the branch back and peering into the thicket.

There was a loud gasp, then a violent rustling as limbs flailed against dried leaves. Gantu jumped, nearly dropping his weapon.

"What the— ?"

Half hidden behind a bush was a young woman, Plorginarian by the look of her. A quick glance at her tattered uniform confirmed that she was another Quasar crew member. The woman lay on her side, propped up on one elbow, the other arm held up as if to block a blow. She looked terrified. Gantu stepped into the thicket and knelt down in front of her.

Up close, she was a wreck. Her uniform was torn in several places. Blood from unseen wounds soaked through the fabric. Her normally light yellowish-green complexion was darkened as though from smoke or soot, and through this thin layer of grime Gantu could see several dark bruises all over her body. Her long blond hair was greasy and matted with twigs, dirt, and dried blood. Her single large eye was red and swollen. Little rivulets of blood, most of it dried, trickled from the corner of her mouth, from her hairline, and from various cuts and scrapes all over her body.

Gantu swallowed hard and reached out a hand to her. One look at it and she scrambled away into the brush, trembling like a leaf.

"Wait! Please, don't be afraid," Gantu said in a gentle voice. "I'm here to help you."

For a second, a large eye peeked out between two branches, then in a blink, it was gone. Gantu sighed and planted his plasma cannon back in its holster, then pulled something else from his belt.

"Here, look," he said, holding his badge out for her to see. "I am Captain Gantu of the Galactic Armada. Your first mate sent out an SOS and I answered it. My crew and I are here now to help. We have medical units here who'll have you taken care of promptly. Please come out."

The eye peeked out a second time as if to validate his claim. It stared unblinking at the badge for several seconds, then it was gone again. Leaves rustled as the young woman crawled slowly back into view. Gantu smiled and made a welcoming gesture with his hand. The young woman stared at him but didn't say anything. His smile faltered.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he kicked himself mentally. Of course she's not alright! One look at her and any idiot would realize…Thankfully she didn't seem to be offended. The young woman did not answer, but cast her eye to the ground. Gantu wasn't sure, but he thought she was fighting back tears. His heart melted at the sight of her. The poor girl. What in Blitznak had she been through?

"Do you need help? Can you stand up?" he asked her. The young woman shuddered a little, then planted her palms against the ground as she made an effort to push herself up. She barely got to her feet before doubling over in pain. She clutched her middle and gasped, and a drop of blood formed on her lower lip before falling to the ground. She keeled forward slowly, settling herself down on her two front-most knees. The third leg curled up underneath her. She sobbed.

Gantu ached for her. "Here, let me help you." He stretched both arms out to her as if to embrace her. The young woman glared at his massive hands with a look that resembled contempt. She did not move. Gantu reached for her and she pulled away, squealing.

"Ma'am, please, I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you, but you're making it very hard for me to do so." He leaned in closer to her, arms still extended. She tried to scramble away further but was stopped by the trunk of a fallen tree. She was trapped now, and had no choice but to surrender. Cringing as low as possible, she let out a loud sob as she felt Gantu's muscular arms slip underneath her frail body and hoist her up. Gantu held her against his chest, cradling her like a baby as he marched out of the thicket and into the glaring light of the red dwarf sun.

He looked down at the young woman and his heart withered. In the bright sunlight, every bruise, scratch and speck of blood looked ten times worse. Her eye was squinted tightly shut against the sunlight, and tears squeezed out to glisten against her bruised and sooty face. Her noodle-like body felt oddly stiff in his arms. In spite of this, he felt her begin to slip through them, so he hoisted her back up and hugged her firmly to his chest.

The sudden brusque movements must have hurt the young woman, for she cried out hoarsely, drawing her three legs up to her middle and curling into the fetal position. She stayed that way, sobbing wetly into her rescuer's chest, all the way back to the other side of the oasis. Gantu felt a sympathetic sting in the backs of his eyes, but tried not to show any outward sign beyond his professional diplomatic air. He tore his eyes from the young woman and focused them on the medical units ahead.

"Arkus!" he barked at one of his men. Arkus looked up and saluted.

"Sir?"

"Where in Blitznak are the paramedics? This woman needs immediate medical attention!"

Arkus winced at his Captain's furious tone. "I'm sorry, sir, but they're all busy tending to the others. Most of them are already on their way back to the Aeremus-Sy with their patients. There isn't room on any of the remaining medical units for another one," he said, glancing at the Plorginarian girl in Gantu's arms.

Gantu growled in frustration. "Fine. I'll take her back myself then." And without another word he turned and strode off the oasis down to his flitter.

With one arm holding the young woman securely, he opened the passenger-side door and then set her down with the utmost care in the enormous seat. Though still conscious, she lay as limply as a wet noodle against the armrest, staring off into space. The distant look in her eye bothered Gantu. He cleared his throat loudly and muttered something to her about seatbelts. Her swollen eye rolled toward him, tear-bright as it stared unblinking into his own sky blue eyes. She said nothing. Gantu sighed and leaned into the flitter to buckle her in.

As he tightened the belt over her lap, he noticed streaks of dried blood running down one of her thighs. He followed the streaks with his eyes until they disappeared up her skirt, the hem of which had apparently soaked up some of the blood. It took a moment for him to realize what this must have meant. The horror of that realization made him shudder. Tearing his eyes from her legs, he hastily finished tightening the seatbelt and then shut the passenger-side door. He stole one last, lingering glance at the wreckage of the Flagship Quasar before climbing into his flitter and heading back to the Aeremus-Sy.

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A/N: I have new fan art to go with this new chapter! You can view it at Fanart Central under the name Nevuela. The picture is titled "You Were My Oasis." For those of you having trouble locating Fanart Central, just do a search for fanart + central + dot +com. FFN won't let me post the actual web address, so you're on your own. Sorry. If you're still having trouble finding the site, or viewing my pics, drop me an email and I would be happy to send you my "Pleakley's Story" fan art.