Earth 2.1.2
Chapter 2
A/N: I'd forgotten how much reviews are like crack. Like caffeinated, sugar-coated, chocolatey crack. How did I ever kick that addiction for so long? Thanks, Nagging Cube! You're adorable. I had this chapter ready to go, so I decided, what the heck, go ahead and post it. Because I have no self-control. None.
On to chapter 2, during the reading of which you might want to remember the tagline of that great series, The X-Files: trust no one.
"What's the problem?" Julia said, coming into the med tent, but the moment she saw who was on the cot with Melanie and Rob standing over him, she knew.
"Don't even think about it!" Hardy said. "I am not letting her touch me!"
"Hardy, do you have any idea how close that bullet is to your…your…junk?" Melanie said, flushing.
Hardy went nearly as red. "I don't care! I'll take my chances with you!"
"Melanie, you have to do this," Julia said.
"What?!" Melanie said. "Are you kidding me? I can't do this! Look at this scan! The bullet's right next to the femoral artery! What if I—?"
"Mel, if he doesn't want me to treat him, I can't make him," Julia said steadily. "And as the only other option here, you have an obligation to do this."
All at once, Melanie realized what Julia was doing. She took a shaky breath, then turned back to look at Hardy, finally letting her hands shake the way they seemed determined to do.
"I need to go check on the other injuries," Julia said, glancing at Hardy to see if he had changed his mind yet. "Call me if you need a consult." She turned to leave the med tent.
"Okay, I think I know how to do this," Melanie said uncertainly, "but don't blame me if you end up dead. Or impotent."
"If you think that little performance is gonna make me let that Council spy work on me, you're wrong," Hardy said through gritted teeth. "Just do it."
Melanie bit back the retort she wanted to make. "Rob, give him the painblock," she said.
Hardy grabbed Rob's hand before he could administer the hypospray. "That better not be a sedative," he said.
"It isn't," Rob said evenly, but the disapproval in his tone was palpable.
Hardy let his hand go, and Rob injected the painblock. Hardy let out a minute sigh as the painblock took effect.
"Look," Melanie said, trying one last time, "this is gonna hurt, even with the painblock. If I give you my word that I won't let Julia treat you, will you—?"
"Just get started," Hardy said. "I can take it."
Melanie gritted her teeth. She scanned his leg one more time before starting the incision, then froze. "What the—?" she breathed.
"What is it?" Hardy said, looking up at her shocked expression. "You'd better not be trying to scare me!"
Melanie looked at him, her eyes wide. "It's…moving!"
"What?" Hardy said, confused. "What's moving?"
"What the hell is that thing?" Rob said, studying the scan and looking horrified.
"Julia!" Melanie said, slapping her gear to open a channel. "Get in here! We've got a bigger problem than we thought!"
"What do you mean?" Julia said.
"I mean, the bullet is moving!" Melanie said impatiently.
"Moving?" Julia said, incredulous. "How can a bullet be moving?"
"How the hell would I know?" Melanie said. "I'm just a comm tech!"
"Melanie," Yale said, cutting in on the gear, "how big is it?"
"Please tell me you mean the bullet," Melanie said.
"What else would I mean?" Yale said, sounding confused.
"You don't want to know…" Melanie hesitated, studying the scan. "Four…no, five centimeters, give or—"
"It is a worm bullet!" Yale interrupted.
"A what?" Melanie said. "What the hell is a worm bullet?"
"There is no time to explain," Yale said insistently. "We must get it out immediately!"
"I'd love to," Melanie said, "but I'm not sure how—it's burrowing into him! It's already two centimeters deeper than it was the first time I scanned it!"
"Melanie, there is no time to argue," Yale said insistently. "Worm bullets are designed to explode after a set period of time!"
"Explode!?" Melanie said. "This thing's gonna blow up!?"
Hardy went even whiter than he already had been. "This better not be some crazy plan to get me to let Julia work on me!" he said, glaring at Melanie.
Melanie looked from his face to his leg, then turned and grabbed a hypospray, slapped a sedative into it and injected it in Hardy before he could protest. "Julia, get your ass in here, now!"
"On my way," Julia said breathlessly.
Melanie studied the scan, then said, "Laser cut," and began making an incision just ahead of the trajectory the bullet was taking, carefully angling away from the artery and the nerve next to it. "Rob, get the hell out of here," she said quietly. "Please."
"Not a chance," Rob said.
Moments later, Julia rushed into the tent, with Yale right behind her. "Where are we?" she said, looking over Melanie's shoulder.
"I'm almost there, but I'm not sure I went in far enough ahead of it," Melanie said, and she sounded terrified.
Julia ran a scan using her own diaglove. "No, you're fine," she said reassuringly. "Just keep going. You've got it."
"You should take over," Melanie said.
"There isn't time," Yale insisted. "Worm bullets can be set to go off at any interval of time."
Melanie made a tiny noise. "You really need to stop telling me these things," she said.
"You're doing fine, Mel. The incision's deep enough," Julia said, glancing over at Yale uneasily. There was something unnerving about the nearly blank look on his face.
Melanie took a ragged breath, then turned and grabbed forceps off the tray beside the cot. She plunged them into the incision, holding her breath, and then slowly pulled out a frighteningly large bullet. It made a faint grinding noise as the rotation of the front end of the bullet fought the grip of the forceps. There was an even fainter chirp coming from it that seemed to be accelerating as she studied the bullet with a sick horror.
"Give it to me!" Yale said, and he grabbed the bullet from Melanie before she could even turn towards him. He ran for the tent flap. Melanie looked wide-eyed at Julia, then turned back to look at Hardy's wound, but before she could say anything, there was the sound of a massive explosion from outside the tent. Melanie let out a yelp, and Julia grabbed her to be sure she didn't accidentally injure Hardy. The tent wall on the north side bowed in for a moment, then settled back in place.
"Jeeeesus," Melanie breathed, leaning over Hardy and looking like she might faint. "That was close."
"No kidding," Rob said, smiling shakily at her as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "You did great, Melanie."
Julia turned to go to the tent flap, but before she could pull it back, Yale was there. "Are you okay?" she asked him, looking him over for injuries.
"I am well," he said. "The bullet has been destroyed."
"Thank you," she said fervently. "We'll finish up with Hardy and then get the story about those things from you."
Yale nodded and ducked back out of the tent. Julia turned back to Melanie. "Do you want me to take over?" she asked.
Melanie nodded wordlessly, took a step back and nearly fell onto her cot.
"How bad is the fire?" Devon asked Danziger as he came into the mess tent close to noon. They'd been careful not to let anyone go outside, but Danziger had insisted on checking on the fire, just in case it might threaten the camp.
"It looks like it's burning itself out," he said. "Rick was right—that was about the best place to use that stuff. There are rocks above and below that spot, so the fire doesn't have anywhere else to go. And Yale throwing that bullet up there actually helped. It blew most of the fire out entirely."
Devon nodded, relieved. "Any word on Hardy?"
"Rob's in with Melanie and Julia," Rick said. "I'm sure they'll tell us as soon as they know something."
"We have sentries back in place," Danziger said, "and I checked the perimeter alarm. As long as everybody stays inside, I think we're okay, at least as long as we don't get any more weird bullets flying around."
Devon turned to Yale, who was still looking a little dazed. "What the hell is a worm bullet?" she asked him.
"Worm bullet?" Alonzo said, and he sounded stunned. "That's what that explosion was?"
"Yes," Devon said, "according to Yale. You know about them, too?" But Alonzo didn't answer. He turned away, looking almost sick.
"It is a special use ordnance," Yale said, "one that was developed early in the history of the stations for use by snipers. It has never seen widespread use, mainly because in the environment of the stations it was far too dangerous."
"Yeah," Danziger said dryly, "an explosion like that'd be bad on a space station."
Yale nodded. "It was primarily used in suppression of mining revolts in the asteroid belt. The idea was that a person hit by a bullet would retreat back among his compatriots, and then the bullet would explode, taking many more rebels with it."
"That's brutal!" Toshiko said, looking as horrified as Alonzo.
"Yes, which is why they weren't used very much, despite their effectiveness," Yale said. "Some CSF forces were…" He paused, blinking rapidly, then continued. "…were reluctant to use them. I am quite surprised to see them here."
"I'm surprised you know so much about them," Devon said, frowning at him.
Yale looked a little confused. "My databases are extensive," he said, but there was an odd, halting cadence to his words. He looked like he was about to say something else, then stopped.
Devon studied him for a moment, worried, but he seemed to get over whatever was bothering him. But I need to get Julia to take a look at him, she thought. She turned to Danziger. "So what do we do now?"
"A sniper like this isn't going to give up easily," Alonzo said darkly. "Anybody willing to use one of those bullets has to be a Council true believer."
Danziger nodded. "We can't go anywhere, not as long as that guy's out there. If we start packing up, we'll be sitting ducks."
"I doubt if Julia will let us move until Hardy's stable anyway," Rick said. "But what about the sniper?"
"There's no way to get at him," Danziger said. "Those guys are trained for this sort of thing. And even though they're out of their element in this environment, they're still way better at being sneaky than any of us. I'd hate to see us lose anybody trying to take him out."
"But we can't just stay here!" Devon protested. "He'll just keep taking shots at us till he gets all of us!"
Danziger sighed. "Give me a little time," he said. "I might be able to work up some way to use the perimeter sensors to get a fix on him. If I can do that, we might have a shot at getting him. And for now, the area around the med tent and the mess tent should be fairly safe. We made sure to set those up in the area protected by the bluff. That's why that one agent had to come all the way in to get at you, Devon. We might be able to move some of the other tents closer in to that to give some more protection."
"But how do we even know he's still out there?" Devon said. "You said we got several of them."
Danziger glanced over at Yale. "You have a recording function, right?" he asked. "Can you review it, see if you can tell what happened?"
Yale looked uncomfortable. "I am not certain how much I recorded," he said. "There is a gap in my conscious memory."
"Just try, Yale," Devon said. "Maybe if you review it, you'll be able to tell what happened to you."
Yale finally nodded reluctantly. "This may take me a moment," he said.
Devon nodded.
"What about our Terrier friend?" Alonzo said.
Devon looked over at him, surprised she'd forgotten about her rescuer so quickly. "Can you warn him about the agents?" she said, worried. "I don't want to get us into a war with the Terriers because he runs into them."
Alonzo looked uncertain. "I can try," he said. But even as he formed the thoughts, he got an almost immediate sensation of righteous anger, then reassurance and determination. "Oh, crap," he breathed, then sent out a desperate negative. "Don't go after him on your own, buddy!"
"What?!" Devon said. "You're in contact with him now?"
Alonzo nodded, screwing his eyes shut and trying to convey how dangerous the agent was. The Terrier sent back a feeling of gratitude mixed with amusement and arrogance. "I think he's saying he can take care of himself," Alonzo said, and got a sense of approval.
"I hope so," Danziger said. "It'd make things a lot easier for us if he could take that sniper out."
"Tell him to be careful!" Devon said, and tried to convey her fear and worry through her own thoughts. Her headache came back, then faded slightly as her brain seemed to adjust to the bizarre form of communication. Please, she thought at it, don't try to do this on your own. I don't want you hurt.
She immediately felt a strong sense of reassurance, and then the feeling faded.
"He's gone," Alonzo said. "I sure hope that means he's calling out the cavalry."
"What sedative did you use?" Julia asked Melanie, studying the scan of Hardy's leg once she'd closed the incision.
Melanie blinked, then turned to look at the hypospray Rob had used. She showed it to Julia, who smiled faintly. "Why didn't you use methohex?" she said.
"I was kind of in a hurry," Melanie said dryly. "This was the closest sedative to me."
Julia nodded. "Well, that means we don't have much time before he wakes up," she said, and Melanie nearly laughed at the resignation in her voice. "You did a good job, Melanie," Julia added. "That incision couldn't have been in a better spot. His leg's going to heal pretty fast."
"Thanks," Melanie said. "But keep that information to yourself, okay? I don't want people thinking I know more than I do."
Julia smiled. "Sure," she said, bandaging Hardy's leg. She pulled a blanket up over him once she was done.
"How's everybody else?" Melanie said.
"Inez has a gash on her shoulder," Julia said, "and a few bumps and bruises. Yale was also banged up, according to Devon, but I hadn't gotten to the point of scanning him when you called me in. He seemed okay, though."
"More than okay," Melanie said. "I didn't think he could move that fast."
Hardy groaned and shifted slightly on the bunk. "Hardy?" Julia said.
"Get away from me!" he said groggily, pushing her hand away from his shoulder.
Julia pulled back as if she'd been burned.
"You are a cast-iron idiot," Melanie said to him.
"Are you kidding me? It's her fault I'm lying here at all, her and her Council buddies!"
"And here we go again," Melanie groaned.
"What the hell was that thing, anyway?" he said, looking up at Julia. "Only the Council could come up with a bullet that moves!"
"You'll have to ask Ya—" Melanie began, but Hardy cut her off.
"I wasn't asking you," he said.
"How on earth would I know?" Julia said. "I'm a doctor, not a CSF agent."
"So you say," Hardy said. "But I think you and your pals out there planned this whole thing!"
"Hardy, I was here, in camp, with you," Julia said patiently. "How could I have planned anything?"
"And who do you think is the most likely person to get blown up with one of those bullets?" Melanie said. "I'll give you a hint—she has blue eyes and she's standing about a meter from you. And my eyes are brown, FYI."
"Oh, come on! If Yale hadn't come running in to tell you about that bullet, she'd have been long gone, and we'd all be dead," Hardy said.
"Hardy, if you don't shut up, I'll sedate you again," Melanie said coldly. "Hell, I might do it even if you do shut up."
"Mel, let it go," Julia said tiredly. "I'm going to go check on Inez and Yale."
"I'm coming with you," Melanie said, looking disgustedly at Hardy. "If I stay in here, I'm liable to kill him myself."
Julia hesitated, then decided Hardy might end up sedated again, and that wasn't healthy. "Rob, will you keep an eye on him?"
Rob nodded reluctantly.
"Thanks," she said. "Call me if anything changes—don't hesitate, okay?"
"Sure," he said.
Julia nodded at Melanie and ducked out of the tent. She made her way quickly around to the bluff side of the tent and started towards the mess tent.
"So what was that thing you and Rick came up with?" she asked Melanie, glancing back at her as they walked.
"Thing?" Melanie said with wide-eyed innocence. "What thing?"
"With that jug, and the cotton…" Julia looked suspicious. "Wait a minute. Mel, what did you do?"
"Don't stop out here!" Melanie said, hurrying past her into the mess tent. "It's a lot safer inside."
"There she is!" Rick said as Melanie came into the tent. "Hey, Mel, everybody was asking me how you came up with that great idea."
Melanie groaned inwardly. I am so dead, she thought.
"Yes, Melanie, we'd all like to know about that," Julia said dryly, coming into the tent behind her.
"I bet it was a VR," Devon said, grinning. "Mystery or action?"
"It was a documentary," Melanie said with dignity. "On the twentieth century." She hesitated, then decided she might as well get it over with. "They called them Molotov cocktails, after some Russian guy in the Second World War. You take a breakable container, like a glass bottle or a bioplast bottle that's degraded like the one Hardy broke the other day, and you fill it with a flammable liquid. Stick some sort of fuse in, like a piece of cloth, then light it. When you throw it, the container breaks, the liquid spreads all over, then ignites. Whoosh, instant fire."
"What sort of flammable liquid?" Julia asked, giving her a hard look.
"Well, I…uh…I used ethyl alcohol," Melanie said, then added quickly, "but I also added some magnesium from one of those firestarters of Rick's. I threw in a bunch of shavings so they'd kick up the temperature when they ignited."
"Smart," Danziger said, nodding admiringly. "That's why those trees went up so fast."
"Ethyl alcohol?" Julia said, raising her eyebrows. "And where exactly did you get this ethyl alcohol?"
"Oh, come on, Julia, you can't blame me for trying!" Melanie said. "If the synthlab can manufacture a disinfectant that's mostly alcohol, it made sense to try to make one that was all alcohol!"
"Oh, so you were just trying to disinfect your stomach lining? Melanie, do you know what pure alcohol can do to the human system?" Julia said angrily. "Alcohol poisoning is dangerous!"
"I couldn't have poisoned myself with that stuff," Melanie said defensively. "It tasted awful by itself."
"What?" Julia gasped. "Melanie—!"
"Kidding!" Melanie said quickly. "I'm just kidding, Julia!"
Julia glared at Devon when she started to laugh.
"I was trying to figure out how to cut it with something else," Melanie continued, "but I hadn't come up with anything yet. Then I had the idea for the cocktails—I mean, the Molotov kind."
"Julia," Rick cut in before she could say more, "she did get those agents out in the open. And I was the one who told her to go ahead with the idea."
"The idea to manufacture a toxic, mind-altering substance using a vital but delicate piece of medical equipment?" Julia said, turning her glare on him.
"No!" Rick said, raising his hands and backing away. "No, just the fire thing!"
Devon stepped in. "Okay, I think they get the point," she said to Julia. "How is Hardy?"
Julia glared at Melanie for a moment. "Hardy's going to be fine," she said, glancing at Devon. But then she turned back and jabbed her finger at Melanie. "But you won't be if you touch my synthlab again without my supervision. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," Melanie said contritely.
Julia glared at her for a few more seconds to make her point, then turned to look for Inez, and saw Alonzo sitting near the back of the tent, looking like he was a thousand light years away and it hadn't been a pleasant trip. Julia frowned, wondering what was wrong, but before she could go up to him, Toshiko had grabbed her arm to drag her over to Inez, who looked annoyed at the attention.
"How are you feeling, Inez?" Julia said, trying to focus on her.
"I'm fine," she said, glaring at Toshiko. "Like I keep telling everybody. It was just a little cut. But you should look at Yale. I think he got hit more by the blast than I did."
Julia turned to Melanie. "Give her another scan, would you? I want to be sure the cut is clean. I'll take care of Yale."
Melanie nodded, and Julia looked over at Yale, but his eyes were closed, though she could see the eye underneath the lid moving rapidly.
"Give him a minute," Devon said. "He's reviewing his recordings of the attack. We're trying to figure out how many of them there were, and how many we might have gotten."
"And if there really is still a sniper out there," Danziger said.
Julia looked nervously at Yale. "Are you sure he should be doing that? You said he might have been injured."
Devon frowned. "I hadn't thought of that," she said. "Do you think I should interrupt him?"
Julia frowned. "No," she said hesitantly. "That might actually be worse. Let him finish. Were there any other injuries?"
Danziger shook his head. "We got off lucky," he said. "At least for now."
"Julia," Devon said as Yale's eyes opened, but he looked strange.
"Yale?" Julia said. "Are you all right?" She stepped forward and began running her diaglove over him.
He looked up at her, but it looked to Devon like he wasn't looking at her, but through her.
"Don't you think I know that?" he whispered angrily, and all trace of his normal accent was gone, a standard Station 2 accent in its place.
"Yale?" Devon said, and he turned to look at her, and it was the Yale she knew, but he looked confused.
"Devon? What just happened?" he asked her, and his voice was back to normal.
"I don't know," Devon said uneasily, glancing at Julia. Julia caught the look and shrugged.
"His readings appear normal, but his brain activity is a little elevated," Julia said. She looked back at Yale. "What do you remember?"
Yale blinked at her a moment, then said, "I was reviewing the recordings of the attack. I cannot be certain, but I believe that there were nine different attackers. Of those, I can account for two who were hit before the ATV was blown up. I believe at least one was killed outright. The other may have only been injured."
"What about after that?" Danziger said. "After Melanie set those trees on fire."
"There is a brief gap in my recordings," Yale said. "I can only assume that there was an interruption due to the explosion. Then the recordings begin again, and I believe that three more agents were hit immediately. I cannot be sure about the remaining four, but I do believe the sniper is still out there. The shot that struck Hardy came from above the stand of trees that Melanie set on fire, and that shot came well after the fire began."
"And then?" Devon asked, wondering again about the strange words he'd spoken after the attack.
"Then there is a longer gap in my recordings," Yale said uncertainly. "Approximately four minutes."
"What do you remember?" Julia said.
"Nothing," he said. "If it is not in my databanks, I cannot remember it. That is a function of my cybernetic implants. Suppression of organic memory."
Julia looked down at her diaglove. "But—" she began, then stopped, looking confused. "I'd like to do a full brain scan of you, Yale. I want to be sure the explosion didn't somehow damage your interface." She looked around the mess tent. "Where's Valerie?"
"She's on watch," Rick said. "Do you want me to go get her?"
Julia looked uncertain, then shook her head. "No," she said. "It can wait. I'd like to run some scans, then I'll have a better idea of what to ask her."
"What do you need to know?" Morgan said suddenly, and Julia turned to look at him, surprised. "Look, I know a lot about the Yale program," he added, giving her a significant look. "A lot."
"Morgan, I don't think—" Julia began.
"What are his ACTH levels?" Morgan interrupted.
Julia looked surprised. She glanced down at her diaglove and frowned.
"They're high, aren't they?" Morgan persisted.
"Morgan, not here," Julia said quietly, pointedly not looking at the crowd of people around them. "Yale, come with me to the med tent. You, too, Morgan."
Devon grabbed Julia's arm. "Julia—"
Julia looked at her. "If something's wrong, Devon, we'll figure it out, okay?"
Devon bit her lip, then turned to Yale. "Do you mind if I come with you?" she asked.
Yale looked surprised, then smiled gently. "Of course not, Devon."
Julia looked over at Melanie, who was standing next to Inez. She gave Julia a thumb's up, and Julia nodded, relieved. At least Inez is okay, she thought uneasily, then shook herself mentally. There's nothing wrong with Yale, she told herself. The higher brain activity and the ACTH levels could both be explained by the stress of the attack, and maybe by his reviewing the recordings.
"Be careful, Adair," Danziger said quietly to Devon as she passed him, following Julia and Yale. "I don't think that guy's likely to try again today, and he'd have to be a wizard to get a shot this far into camp, but don't take any chances. Stick close to the bluff and move fast." Morgan gave him a wide-eyed look as he followed Devon out of the tent.
"Are you sure we can't do this in the mess tent?" Morgan said as Devon stepped through the tent flap.
"Morgan, just come on," Devon said impatiently.
"I'm just saying, I think it's unwise for a group of us to be outside," Morgan said.
Devon turned and poked him in the chest with her finger. "Look, Martin—"
There was the sound of a mag-pro shot, and Valerie yelled, "Everybody, take cover! He's in that stand of trees! Sergei, to your right!" There was a brief flurry of shots.
Yale grabbed Julia and she yelped as he threw her to the ground behind the nearest tent. He whirled to look at Devon. "Devon!" he shouted.
Morgan turned to run back towards the mess tent flap. For an instant Devon watched him, then she turned and started towards Yale. As she did, there was another shot, this one from farther away, and Morgan cried out, falling face down by the mess tent.
Yale lunged forward and grabbed Devon, pulling her hard towards him. They both fell into the space behind the tent.
"Morgan!" Julia yelled, and scrambled to her feet.
"Julia, no!" Devon yelled from where she and Yale had fallen.
Julia ignored her as she ran towards where Morgan lay against the side of the mess tent, struggling to push himself up.
"Morgan?" Bess's voice came from inside the mess tent.
"Stay inside!" Julia yelled. "He's fine!" He's fine, she told herself as she landed on her knees next to him. She couldn't see any obvious wounds on his front. He just fell down.
"Julia, take cover!" Yale yelled.
Julia grabbed Morgan under his arms and half-dragged, half-carried him into the space behind the mess tent.
"Julia?" Morgan said, and his voice sounded strange.
"Morgan, are you okay?" she asked him, starting her scan.
"Uh, I don't…I don't think so," he said weakly, his eyes wide with fear. "I…I can't feel my legs."
"Helen, what's going on out there?" Danziger shouted into the gear.
"He's gone," Helen said, sounding worried. "I don't know how, but he got in close enough to take the shot, and then got out again. He must have figured out how far the perimeter sensors reach. We're lucky Valerie spotted him when she did—he could have gotten off a lot more shots, and we'd be blown to kingdom come."
"Okay, nobody goes outside, at all, is that clear?" Danziger said. "Helen, you and the other sentries need to stay under cover. If he can get that far into camp, then out again, this guy is really, really good." He forced himself not to think about the fact that the primary target had likely been Devon, based on what Yale had told him over the gear after they'd gotten Morgan safely to the med tent.
"But—" Toshiko began.
"I mean it!" Danziger snapped, and Toshiko jumped, then blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, Tosh," he added gently. "Look, it just isn't safe yet, okay? We'll get this guy, somehow. But until then, we can't take any more risks."
"I know," Toshiko said quietly. "I was just going to ask about Morgan." She glanced over at where Bess was sobbing quietly in Phoebe's arms. "Can't we at least let Bess go be with him?"
Danziger shook his head reluctantly. "The last thing Morgan needs is to have Bess get hit, too," he said. "Julia's working on him, okay? He's gonna be fine."
Toshiko nodded and went over to sit next to Bess.
"What do we do now?" Rick said quietly, coming up next to Danziger.
"I don't have a clue," Danziger said under his breath.
"Please tell me I'm going to walk again," Morgan said plaintively as Rob and Yale lowered him onto Melanie's bunk.
"It's just swelling," Julia said, studying her scans. "The bullet didn't actually hit anything vital."
"Are you sure?" he said.
"Yes," Julia said, patting his arm. "But I need to go in and get the bullet out, okay? So I have to sedate you."
"If…if I blow up, tell Bess I love her," he said, blinking back tears.
"You're not going to blow up," Julia said, injecting him with the sedative. "I promise."
"Is it moving?" Devon asked, hovering beside the head of the bunk he was lying on.
Julia nodded sharply, studying the scan. "Rob, I want you to get Hardy out of here."
"Are you kidding?" Rob said. "With a sniper out there ready to take our heads off? I'll take my chances with you, thanks."
Hardy looked indecisive, and Julia almost laughed. She knew Rob was right. It wasn't any safer for them outside than it was in the med tent, but leave it to Hardy to assume the worst. I just have to get this bullet out fast, she thought, for all of their sakes, and began her incision.
It seemed to take forever, and she had to keep reminding herself to breathe. But she was finally able to get to the bullet and get it out safely without doing any major damage to Morgan's internal organs.
The bullet was beeping faintly, but it seemed faster to her than the first one had been.
"Give it to me!" Rob said, but Julia didn't hesitate. She ran for the tent flap, turned as she got outside and in one motion flung the bullet as hard as she could up towards where the trees had already burned. She didn't wait to see the explosion. She turned and ducked back into the tent, breathing a sigh of relief once she got inside, even though she knew it was irrational to think of the tent as any protection.
Rob tapped his gear to open a general channel as he saw Julia come back in. "We've got the bullet out, so if you hear an explosion, don't freak out, okay? We'll let you know how Morgan is in a few."
It was nearly five minutes before they heard the explosion that time, but Julia knew it was unlikely they'd have that much time the next time someone got hit. Come on, Danziger, you have to figure out a way to get rid of that bastard, she thought.
Morgan's injuries were serious, but not life-threatening. Julia had to do some work to repair some damage to his right kidney, but that was the worst of it. That took her over two hours to do that because of the damage to some of the crucial blood vessels. There were moments when she wished she had Melanie there, but there was no way she was going to risk having her come back over. The rest of the work took almost another hour, so it was late afternoon by the time she started to close.
"How is he?" Devon asked, looking over her shoulder.
"A lot worse off than he'd be if she weren't here," Hardy said. "And isn't it interesting that every time somebody goes outside, they get shot, but somehow she never does?"
"Rob, if he says another word, you have my permission to shoot him in the head," Devon said.
"Devon, that is not helpful," Yale said gently.
"Maybe not," Rob said, "but I'd be happy to do it."
Hardy looked irritated, but he didn't say anything else.
Julia finished closing Morgan's incision and looked up at Devon. "I don't think there was any damage to the spine. It was close—the bullet missed it by barely a centimeter. But the loss of feeling in his legs was because the initial shock of the impact, followed by the swelling, put pressure on the spinal column. The other damage was serious, but will heal." She pulled a blanket up over Morgan, then glanced at the tent flap. "I'd really like to get Bess in here. Do you think it's safe?"
Devon tapped her gear. "Danziger?"
"Yeah," he said. "How's Morgan?"
"Good enough Julia wants to let Bess see him. Is it safe for her to come over?"
"Not yet," Danziger said. "Rick and I had an idea about that. I'm betting this guy has a night vision scope, so dark isn't gonna be enough. But if we get a bonfire going in the middle of camp, it might make him think twice about trying anything during the night."
"But how are you going to do that without being exposed?"
"Leave that to us. You guys stay put till I give you the word, okay? I'll send Bess over as soon as it's dark enough and we get the fire going."
"Danziger—" Devon began, but he'd already closed the channel. She debated about trying to raise him again, but he'd probably just shut down his gear.
She hadn't needed to worry about Danziger, as it turned out. About twenty minutes later, he called. "I think we're okay," he said. "At least for now—getting more wood might be tough later on. But tell everybody to keep to cover if they do have to leave their tent. We dug a new latrine that's within cover over behind the Transrover."
Before Devon could respond, Bess tore into the med tent. "Morgan, honey?" she said, kneeling next to the cot where he lay.
"He's still sedated," Julia said quickly. "But I think he'll fine." She explained his condition, and Bess looked deeply relieved.
"Thank you, Julia," she said, grabbing Julia's hand in both of her and squeezing it.
"Don't—" Julia began, then caught Devon's look out of the corner of her eye. "You're welcome," she said. "But I want to be clear—there is still a small possibility that there was some damage to the spine. We'll know within the next couple of days, and even if there was damage, it is extremely unlikely to be permanent. But until we know one way or the other, I want to keep him here and keep him still." She smiled. "I may need your help for that."
Bess grinned. "Don't worry. I know how to handle my husband."
Julia nodded, then noticed Yale sitting crosslegged near the tent flap. She frowned and went over and knelt next to him, and he looked at her and smiled faintly.
"I suppose you wish to scan me again," he said.
Julia looked a little embarrassed. "If you don't mind," she said. "I'm sorry—I should have done it hours ago. I'd just like to be sure your readings are back to normal, or whatever is normal for you."
"I do not mind," he said seriously. "And to be perfectly honest, I am a bit concerned about what happened today. I have never experienced a…blackout like that before."
Julia ran her scan, then shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," she said. "Your scans read normal, with the exception of slightly elevated brain activity, but would you say that's within normal parameters for you?" She showed him the scan.
He nodded.
"Julia, there was one other thing," Devon said. "Right after the ATV got blown up, when I got to him, he said something odd."
"I did?" Yale said, surprised.
Devon nodded. "I don't remember the exact words because I'm pretty sure it was something like Latin or Italian."
"Italian?" Julia said, surprised. She looked at Yale, who shrugged, looking baffled.
"Something ohn-yay…" Devon said, her forehead crinkling as she tried to remember the words, "speranza, I think, and then voy something."
Yale looked thoughtful.
"Do you recognize it?" Julia said.
"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate," he said. "Is that it?"
Devon nodded. "What does it mean?"
Yale looked disturbed. "It is from Dante's Inferno, the third canto. You will probably recognize the translation. 'All hope abandon, you who enter here.'"
Dante? Julia thought, perplexed. I could see Alonzo quoting that, but Yale?
"Why on earth would you be quoting Dante in the middle of a firefight?" Bess said, looking over at them.
"That is an excellent question," Yale said gravely.
"And one I don't have any answers for in here," Julia said, gesturing at the diaglove. "I guess it's possible the explosion of the ATV might have given your system a jolt, and for some reason, that quote came up when you…rebooted." She smiled at him. "I guess, for now, you might as well go to your own tent and get some sleep."
"Thank you, Doctor," he said. He climbed to his feet and started out of the tent.
Devon started after him, then paused and looked back at Julia. "What about what Morgan said?" she asked quietly.
"I'll talk to him as soon as he wakes up," Julia said. "If I think there's any reason to be concerned, I'll let you know immediately. Just remember," she added under her breath, "this is Morgan we're talking about."
Devon smiled gratefully at her as she left.
That night, Devon woke to a splitting headache and the sound of mag-pro fire. But it wasn't from inside the camp. It was far away, and even as she registered that thought, it stopped, and she felt a wave of frustration.
Don't do anything dangerous, she thought at the Terrier, hoping it would understand. We don't want you to be hurt. Please!
She felt a flicker of surprise, then gratitude mixed with what Devon could only describe as the emotional equivalent of a friendly smile, followed by almost smug confidence.
Devon lay awake, hoping to get something from it again, but she felt nothing more. She drifted off into a series of unsettling dreams that left her feeling far from refreshed when she finally woke up the next morning.
She headed over to the med tent, keeping to the cover by the bluff, to get a pain reliever from Julia. The headaches were getting less intense each time she felt the Terrier, but they still hurt. And she wanted to check on Morgan.
He was still asleep when she entered the tent, with Bess draped across the side of the bunk in what had to be a terribly uncomfortable position.
Julia's looked even worse. She'd curled up next to one of the med crates and had her head pillowed on one arm at an awkward angle.
We should have brought in extra bunks, Devon thought, but the moment she thought it she knew it wouldn't have been safe with the sniper still out there.
"Devon?" Julia said, lifting her head to look up at her. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Devon whispered, trying not to wake anyone, especially Hardy. "Just a headache."
"The Terrier," Julia said, nodding. She clambered to her feet, grabbed a hypospray, loaded it and injected Devon.
Devon sighed in relief as the dull ache eased. "I'm happy to suffer this if he can help take out those agents. But I'm worried about him. I hope he doesn't get hurt."
Julia nodded. "Alonzo and I have both been trying to make that point to him, but he doesn't seem interested in our concerns for his safety. He's pretty confident."
"Yeah, I got that, too," Devon said, and sighed. "How are they?" she said, nodding at Morgan and Hardy.
"Both of their scans look good," Julia said quietly. "I think I'd be okay with Hardy being on his feet with crutches today."
"I'll bet," Devon said dryly, and Julia smiled faintly.
"Good," Hardy said, opening his eyes. "I don't want to be stuck in here with her any longer than I absolutely have to."
"Hardy, how did you manage to get that giant stick up your butt?" Melanie said, looking up at him from where she lay near his bunk.
"I've had plenty of time to think about this," Hardy said, ignoring her. "And I'm not buying her story. If she's telling the truth, then why didn't she just tell us what was going on?"
"She had her reasons," Devon said quietly, trying not to wake Morgan and Bess, but it was too late.
"What reasons?" Hardy said. "I don't get it—you seem convinced, but why won't you tell us what those reasons were?"
"He has a point," Morgan said, his voice sounding rough.
Melanie sighed explosively. "Fine, you want to know why she didn't say anything?"
"Mel, don't—" Julia began.
"There's another spy," Melanie said angrily. "Julia couldn't risk telling anyone because she didn't know who might report what she said back to the Council base and get her mother killed."
Bess gasped.
"Another spy?" Morgan said, horrified. "Jesus, it's like the Council Assembly Hall here! Next you're gonna tell me Danziger is actually the Council Chair in disguise!"
"Who is it?" Hardy said, looking sharply at Julia.
"I don't know," Julia said, resigned.
Hardy rolled his eyes. "Well, isn't that convenient."
Devon stared at him, astonished.
"Come on, Adair," he said. "That's the perfect excuse, because you can't prove it one way or the other. And all it does is make us suspicious of each other."
"Which is exactly why Julia didn't want to tell anyone," Devon said, looking pointedly at Melanie, who blushed.
Hardy shook his head, looking monumentally annoyed. "Just give me those crutches and let me go back to my tent. You can stay in here deluding yourselves if you want, but I'm not going to put up with it."
Julia turned and pulled the crutches out from underneath the lab table and handed them to Hardy without a word. He maneuvered himself off the bunk with some difficulty, but no one seemed inclined to help him, not even Bess, Melanie noticed with a bit of schadenfreude.
Devon turned to Melanie the moment he'd left the tent, and Melanie braced herself. "Of all the stupid things you could blurt out, why the hell did you have to say that?" Devon said harshly.
"I'm sorry," Melanie said. "I wasn't thinking, and…well, he just makes me so mad!"
Julia sighed. "Well, it's out there now," she muttered, sitting down at the lab table and rubbing her neck.
"And you know he'll tell everyone else," Devon said, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," Melanie said, sounding miserable.
There was the faint sound of a mag-pro shot from outside, and for a moment Melanie had the awful hope that Hardy had been hit, but then she heard Bill scream, "Helen!"
Devon turned to look at the tent flap, but before she could do anything, Julia had grabbed the med kit and was out of the tent.
"No, Julia, wait!" she said.
Julia paused outside the tent, then saw Helen lying on her back on the far side of the camp. She looked like she was trying to get up, but she was holding her side. Bill was running towards her.
Julia sprinted across the open ground towards her, and skidded to a stop just as Bill got there.
"I'm okay," Helen gasped. "It—it's not that bad."
"Let me see," Julia said, pulling Helen's hand away from the wound. She was right. The bullet had only grazed her ribs. There was a long, bloody furrow along her side, but the diaglove showed only one of the ribs had cracked slightly.
Julia pulled back, then looked suddenly towards the center of camp, her eyes wide. "Bill, get her to the nearest tent," she said. "Hurry."
"Julia?" Helen said, frowning, but Bill was grabbing her and helping her to her feet.
Julia stood quickly, looking towards where Helen had to have been. The end of the bluff had a little depression in it on the camp side, and Julia could see how she might have been hit there. Which means—
"Julia, get the hell down!" Danziger was yelling.
There was a momentary scream from somewhere in the distance, but it cut off abruptly.
Julia ran and knelt in the hollow the way she thought Helen would have, then looked out to where the shot might have come from and tried to calculate the angle in her head. She looked back to the center of camp, got up and strode quickly several meters in that direction, then got down on her hands and knees and started crawling forward, looking back and forth along the ground.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Devon said, running up and grabbing her arm. "Get the hell under cover!"
"The bullet!" Julia said, wrenching her arm free. "It didn't stop in Helen. It has to be here, somewhere!"
Devon froze.
"Will you two take cover?!" Danziger his voice rising comically.
"Everyone, be quiet!" Devon said after whacking her gear to open a channel. "Be absolutely quiet for a second!"
Julia nodded, glancing up at her, then listened for the faint beeping of the bullet.
"There," Devon whispered, pointing a few meters farther in. Julia scrambled forward, listening, hesitated, then turned and clawed at the dirt. The bullet she held up was mangled, but it was still trying to rotate at the front…and the beeping was getting faster.
Julia scrambled to her feet, sprinted back the way she'd come, and once she'd reached the spot where Helen had been, she flung the bullet as hard as she could.
Devon ran up next to her, grabbed her arm to pull her into cover, and the bullet exploded, throwing them both backwards.
Devon lay on her back for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Julia sat up, rubbing the back of her head, and turned to her. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Devon nodded, finding it hard to form words as she realized just how very close they'd come to dying.
"Devon!" Danziger said, running up next to them. "Come on!" He grabbed Devon's arm and started to half-carry her towards the bluff. "Julia!"
Julia staggered to her feet and stumbled after them, and the three of them fell into the hollow space in the side of the bluff.
Suddenly, the pain in Devon's head spiked. She slapped at her gear again. "If you see a Terrier," she said, "it's our friend! Don't shoot him!"
But even as she said it, the Terrier was already there, standing over them and holding out a mag-pro with an elaborate scope attached to it.
Danziger looked up at the Terrier, then took the mag-pro from its hands, and the Terrier turned and pulled a small pouch from a pack on its back and handed that over as well.
"You got the sniper," Devon breathed, and nearly cried in relief when she felt the strong affirmation from the Terrier.
"Thank you," Julia said quietly, and Alonzo ran up.
"Hey, pal!" he said, patting the Terrier's flank and grinning at it, then he knelt next to Julia. "Are you okay?"
Julia nodded. "Are those the worm bullets?" she asked Danziger.
Danziger opened the pouch and looked in, then nodded. "But don't anybody break out the champagne yet," he growled. "There are still Council agents out there."
"Not for long," Devon said as the Terrier turned and galloped off. "I think our friend sees this as a personal challenge." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think it's safe to let everyone come out now?"
Danziger hesitated, then nodded. "The chances of another sniper being in the group that hit us are pretty slim. And I doubt if there are more than three or four people in the entire CSF who had the kind of skills this guy had," he said, brandishing the mag-pro.
"Okay, everybody, you can come out," Devon said over the gear. "The sniper's not a threat anymore."
"How can you be so sure?" Hardy said over the gear.
"Because I'm holding his mag-pro right now," Danziger said. "Even if he's still alive, without his gun, I don't think he's much of a threat."
"He isn't alive," Julia said with cold certainty.
Alonzo nodded. "The Terrier killed him. Really killed him," he added emphatically.
"Good," Devon said harshly.
"I need to go check on Helen," Julia said, and Alonzo helped her to her feet. She shouldered the med kit she'd flung to the ground when she'd gotten to Helen, and headed for the tent Bill had taken Helen to.
Luckily, the injury wasn't serious. Julia gave Helen a dose of painblock, closed the wound and bandaged it, and told her not to do any heavy lifting for a few days.
Helen grinned tiredly. "Thanks, Julia."
"Yeah," Bill said, grabbing Julia's shoulder and squeezing it. "Thank you. That was crazy, what you did, but you saved Helen doing it."
Julia looked flustered.
"Relax," Helen said. "We won't make a big deal about it."
Julia smiled at that. "Thank you," she said, and made her escape.
She headed back over to the med tent and checked in on Morgan, who was still looking terrified.
"Is it safe to move him?" Bess said. "We'd both sleep better in our own bunks, and I hate to impose on you."
Julia hesitated, then ran a scan. "Okay," she said finally. "The wound seems to be healing well, and the swelling is going down. I'm betting you'll be starting to get some sensation back any time now."
"Are you sure?" Morgan said.
Julia smiled at him. "Yes, Morgan, I'm sure. Just be patient. You'll be walking again in a few days." She called in Rick and Rob to get Morgan on a stretcher and take him to his tent.
She was on her way back to the med tent when Hardy hobbled out in front of her on his crutches.
"Don't think for a minute that you have me fooled," he said.
"Give it a rest, Hardy," Rick said, coming up behind Julia.
"Did she tell you her little story about there being another spy?" Hardy said.
"Another spy?" Rob said, joining them. "What are you talking about?"
"Uh-oh," Danziger said, tapping Devon on the shoulder as they were headed for the mess tent with the kids. "I think we've got trouble."
Devon followed his gaze to see Julia facing Hardy, with a small but growing group of people around her. She groaned inwardly as she saw Valerie and Melanie join the group.
"Yale, would you take Tru and Uly to the mess tent?" Devon said quietly. Yale nodded and took Uly by the hand.
"I don't want to—" Tru began.
"Tru, please," Devon said. "I'm asking you to go, but I won't make you. This is going to get ugly, and I don't want you to have to see it."
Tru looked surprised, then nodded reluctantly and followed Yale away.
Devon glanced over at Danziger, who smiled crookedly at her. "Let's go rescue our doctor again," he said.
"I don't know what else to tell you," Julia was saying as they came up. "I've tr—"
"You can tell us who the other spy is!" Hardy snapped. "If there even is one."
Julia went white. "I don't know who the other spy is," she said desperately. "I swear, I don't know!"
"That's enough, Hardy," Devon said.
"I don't think so!" Hardy said. "Damn it, Adair, you're all so hung up on protecting Saint Julia. But she works for the Council! The same Council that guy out there trying to kill all of us works for!"
"And she lied to them about everything—where we were, how many of us survived, where we were going, all of it!" Melanie said. "Do you want to watch the VR?"
"So how do we know she's not lying to us now?" Sergei said, and Melanie whirled to look at him, shocked.
"Jesus, Sergei, she threw herself off a cliff!" Valerie said incredulously. "What else does she have to do?"
"I'm just saying, it seems to me that the Council benefits if we're all paranoid about one of us being a spy," Sergei said defensively.
"He's right," Hardy said. "This whole other spy thing could just be her trying to set us at each others' throats."
"Which is exactly why Julia and I were trying to keep this a secret," Devon said acidly. "As I already told you, Hardy. Come on, I'm not stupid. I didn't get the Eden Project this far by trusting people blindly, okay? Least of all people associated with the Council. I was as skeptical as anybody till I saw the VRs and saw what Julia did on that cliff." She paused, looking around the group. "That was enough to convince me. Julia did what she did to protect her mother and—"
"Oh, come on!" Hardy interrupted. "Her mother is a Council member! Do you really expect me to believe that the Council would really kill one of their own members?"
"If they're as ruthless as you keep saying they are? Absolutely!" Valerie said. "It would make perfect sense for them to threaten one of their own if she turned against them."
"And how do we know she turned against them?" Hardy persisted. "All we have is Julia's word that her mother warned her about the bomb. That could all be part of her plan to get us to buy her story about this fake spy! Same with that whole bullet thing!"
"Damn, Hardy, you're starting to sound like one of those conspiracy theory nutjobs," Danziger said. "You saw how close she came to getting blown up by that worm bullet. That was a helluva risk to take."
"So…there's another spy," Hardy said uncertainly. "And she knew it, so she was willing to die for the Council's agenda."
"Are you even listening to yourself?" Valerie said. "First you say that there isn't another spy, that Julia's lying about it, and now you say there is, and that made her suicidal? You're not making any sense!"
Hardy went even redder. "I'm just trying to—"
"Stop it," Julia said.
"You're just trying to be a jackass!" Valerie interrupted. "And you're succeeding!"
"Valerie, you're not help—" Devon began.
"Stop it!" Julia shouted.
Valerie looked over at her, breathing hard, then nodded. Hardy looked rebelliously at her, but didn't say anything more.
"There's no way for me to prove anything," Julia said quietly. "I can't prove there's another spy, let alone who it is. I even could have faked the VRs, couldn't I?" She looked at Melanie, who looked stunned.
Several of the people around her looked surprised at the comment, including Hardy, and Devon mentally congratulated her for bringing it up before Hardy could. It completely defused that line of attack. And then Devon had a horrible thought. What if she really did fake the VRs? But the moment she thought it, she dismissed the thought. Valerie's right, she thought. She threw herself off a cliff for us.
"I can't prove that my loyalties are to the Eden Project," Julia was saying. "Either you believe me or you don't. All I can do is try to earn your trust." She looked directly at Hardy. "And I will do whatever I can to do that. But in the meantime, I think we can all agree on one thing: we have to work together to get to New Pacifica, or we'll never make it."
Hardy looked at her for a long moment, then at the others in the group, and finally turned and started to hobble off on his crutches.
Julia glanced around the rest of the group, then turned and headed for the med tent, and Melanie ran after her.
"Hardy, could I talk to you alone for a moment?" Devon said, starting after him.
"Devon, don't go ballistic on him," Danziger murmured, leaning close.
"Why do I have to keep reminding people I'm not an idiot?" Devon said under her breath.
"I am so not answering that," Danziger said, grinning, and walked away. Devon had to resist the sudden impulse to stick her tongue out at him before she turned back to deal with Hardy.
"What?" Hardy said tersely.
"Look, I'm not going to ask you to trust Julia," Devon began.
"Good, 'cause that's not gonna happen," Hardy cut in.
Devon looked at him, her eyebrows raised, and he rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said. "Say what you have to say."
"Thank you," Devon said dryly. "I have more to lose here than just about anyone. This is my dream we're talking about, not to mention my son's life. And I take full responsibility for the lives of everyone in this group. There is nothing in the universe that I wouldn't do to protect each and every one of you. So you can't trust her? Fine. Trust me."
"What if you're wrong about her?" Hardy said.
"If Julia Heller ever does anything that puts any of us in danger," Devon said with a dangerous edge to her voice, "I will deal with it myself."
Julia leaned against the lab table in her tent, blinking back tears.
"Well, that was impressive," Melanie said, coming in behind her.
Julia breathed in through her nose, trying to get control of herself before she turned around.
"Hey," Melanie said, putting her hand on Julia's shoulder and leaning around to look at her. "Look at you! You're crying! That's wonderful!
Julia almost laughed. "Wonderful?"
"Yes, wonderful," Melanie said. "It means you're letting yourself be human for a change."
"It seems like that's all I can do these days," Julia said.
"And don't you feel better for doing it?" Melanie said.
Julia shook her head, fighting a fresh wave of tears.
"Oh, come on!" Melanie said, smiling. "Look at Tosh! She cries all the time, and she's just about the happiest person I've ever met. Quid pro quo."
"You mean Q.E.D.," Julia corrected without thinking.
"You say quod, I say quid," Melanie replied, hoping to get Julia out of her funk with some verbal tapdancing. "It's all Greek to me."
Julia smiled faintly, then sighed. "Nothing I do is ever going to be enough," she said.
"Then there's no reason for you to tie yourself in knots trying to do it all," Melanie said reasonably. "Just do your best, and let the Hardys of the world go to hell." That didn't seem to have any effect on Julia. "Look, if it's any consolation, Hardy didn't do himself any favors out there. I think there are a bunch of people who were on the fence who are starting to come over to your side because he was such a colossal dick."
"It's not much consolation. Especially not when he's right about so much of it," Julia said.
"Oh, come on, we're not going to wander off into Self-Pity Land again are we?" Melanie said. "It's a dark, ugly place, Julia. They have trolls there. Short, angry trolls."
Julia almost laughed at that. "Okay, no self-pity," she said. She wiped away the tears, then looked at Melanie for a long moment.
"What?" Melanie said, looking nervous.
"What would I do without you?" Julia said.
"Perish, I suppose," Melanie said archly. "So it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere."
Late that night, Alonzo was standing on sentry duty when he heard another flurry of mag-pro shots far in the distance. He sent out a worried call to their Terrier friend, and soon after felt a wave of reassurance and confidence.
Is that you, buddy? he thought into the darkness, and got an amused affirmative. So what's the good news? Are all the agents dead? That got him an even stronger affirmative, with a strong dose of pride.
Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a faint sound behind him, and he turned in surprise. It was Julia. "What are you doing out here?" he said. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I heard the shots," she said, and he could see the worry in her face in the moonlight.
"He's fine," Alonzo said. "Did you feel that just now? I think he got the last of them."
"For now," Julia said, not looking at all relieved.
"Hey," Alonzo said. "None of that. How many CSF agents can there be on this planet?"
"I wish I knew," Julia said. "I'd feel a lot better knowing what we're really up against."
Alonzo debated saying more on the subject, but decided he'd be better off trying to distract her. "How's Morgan?"
"Terrified," Julia said, smiling faintly. "He's starting to get sensation back in his legs, though, and the scans don't show any permanent damage. But try to convince him of that. You'd think both his legs had been cut off the way he's talking. I'm really glad I let Bess take him back to their tent."
Alonzo grinned. "How about the others?" he asked, wondering whether she'd want to talk about Hardy. He'd missed the confrontation, which was probably just as well. From what Melanie had told him, he'd probably have decked Hardy.
"Helen's injury wasn't serious, and Hardy's healing fine," Julia said tersely, looking out into the moonlight landscape beyond the little hollow in the bluff where Alonzo was standing. After a long moment, she looked over at Alonzo. "How are you?"
"Me?" Alonzo said, startled. "I'm fine."
"It's just…" Julia said, then hesitated. "Yesterday, in the mess tent, you seemed…strange."
Alonzo stiffened. "I was just worried," he said, then forced a smile. "Those bastards blew up my ATV, after all."
Julia looked skeptical, but nodded. "Danziger thinks he might be able to put it back together," she said. "But it's a little disturbing that they had explosives. They may be better equipped than I'd thought."
"Hey, don't worry," Alonzo said reassuringly. "Now that we took out this group, they're gonna have to hunt for us again. And it took them, what, two months to find us last time? And that was with a tracking device." And the moment he said it, he kicked himself. Way to throw that in her face, Solace.
But Julia didn't seem fazed by the comment. "I know. I shouldn't be so nervous. But we got lucky this time. If that explosion that hit the ATV had been just a few meters one way or the other, we could have lost Inez or Yale, and maybe more. And we still have the spy to worry about." She frowned suddenly, as though that idea sparked a thought, then turned to look at Alonzo with a curious expression. "What do you know about the Inferno?"
Alonzo blinked. "You mean Melanie's firebomb?" he said, confused.
"No," Julia said, shaking her head. "Dante. 'Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate.'"
Alonzo felt his blood run cold. What the hell? he thought angrily. For a moment he tried to figure out if there was some innocent reason she'd be quoting that, but he quickly dismissed that thought as ridiculously coincidental. But why doesn't she just come out and ask me?
"Alonzo?" Julia asked, sounding worried.
"I don't know the quote," he said, and he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.
Julia looked taken aback by his tone. She hesitated for a moment. "Did—did I say something wrong?" she said. "I didn't mean to—I mean, if this is about your mother—"
"No," he said, trying to control his voice better. "It's not. Listen, Heller, I'm on duty, so…" He trailed off, hoping she'd take the hint.
She did. "I'm sorry," she said. "If I—" She stopped, looking uncertain. "I'm sorry," she repeated, then turned and disappeared into the shadows under the bluff.
Alonzo turned back to look out at the rolling hills beyond the camp. I wouldn't have pegged her as the passive-aggressive type, he thought, seething. But how did she find out? Then he thought about her legendary memory and winced. She must have heard something about it once, and Yale talking about worm bullets brought it back. Or maybe Yale has something about it in his database—hell, they probably have the whole thing on a recording someplace. He almost wished the sniper was still out there so he could have a shot at him. Damn you, he thought, gripping his mag-pro so hard it hurt. If you hadn't used those damned worm bullets, none of this would be happening!
Julia slipped quietly back into the med tent and lay down on her bunk. She tried to get back to sleep, but all she could do was keep replaying that strange conversation with Alonzo. He hadn't called her Heller in what seemed like a long time, and it had stung. What did I say? she thought, trying to think of how she could have offended him. Maybe it's something about his mother, she thought, but that didn't make any sense. He'd been more concerned about sparing her feelings when the subject had come up before.
But what else could it have been? She ran through what she'd said. He said it took them two months to find us, and that was with a tracking device. And then I said—
She broke off the thought, her heart sinking as she suddenly realized exactly what she had said.
No, she told herself firmly. It's something else. It has to be.
But she couldn't come up with anything else. And she couldn't get rid of the cold knot of fear in her stomach.