Chapter 22

Trance heard the commotion as the casualties were brought into the decontamination area. Men and women shouting out orders and the moans of the injured. Instinctively she headed towards the injured only to be stopped by Yan who told her, in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone in the aid tent and laced with enough profanity to remove any doubt that she had served in the Territorial Defense Force, that Trance needed to get back to work mixing the baking soda and water, and that she had no use for a damn fool snip of a girl who was too stupid to realize that she had been about to turn herself into another casualty by rushing out into a contaminated area without wearing protective clothing. Then, in a slightly less hostile voice she told Trance to brace herself. That it was 'about to get ugly.'

A thoroughly chastised Trance went back to mixing the baking soda and water which would be used to wash out the casualties eyes, noses and throats and hopefully prevent further gas damage to those parts of the body. She had just brought up a mixture when the first casualties were brought into the tent and she learned why Yan had told her to brace herself.

During the days leading up to the commencement hostilities the Oasis had been a hotbed of gossip and rumors. The younger men and women had talked with excitement about the battles they were sure would be coming. Rhade and Harper on the other hand were far less enthusiastic about the thought of fighting. They talked about the carnage of war. Rhade and Harper were the ones who were correct.

Juarez was the first one carried into the tent. If she hadn't known him well from his visits to the bar Trance wouldn't have known who he was. His face and upper torso were a mass of blisters. What un-blistered skin she could see on his face was an ugly purple color. Even from where she was standing Trance could hear his moans of pain and his gasps for breath. The gasps became coughs and Trance watched in horror as he began coughing up a green froth. Ione gave the stricken man a quick examination then ordered him carried over to the tent's oxygen generator. Trance practically breathed a sigh of relief. They only had one oxygen generator and it could only service two patients. If Ione was using it on Juarez he must have decided Juarez was a red tag case. He might survive if given supportive treatment.

Morgan was next. He came in supported by a pair of volunteers. Unlike Juarez Morgan must have had an EBD as his face was free of blisters and he was breathing more or less normally. He was also alert and aware of his surroundings. He caught sight of Trance and attempted to smile. "You should see the other guy," he said.

One of the men who had brought Morgan in beckoned to Yan. He took her aside and began to speak. Trance couldn't make out what he was, but she knew it was bad news when Yan's face lost all color and she put a hand up over her mouth. The man placed a hand on Yan's shoulder, spoke a few more words than hurriedly left the area.

Fearing the worst Trance almost ran over to Yan "What is it Yan? Did something happen to Rhade?"

Yan shook her head, but Trance couldn't tell if Yan was shaking it in answer to Trance's question or simply to give herself time to collect her thoughts

"No one's sure what happened to Rhade," replied Yan. "He was the last person to evacuate. He was using one of those hand cannons your friend Harper built, blasting away at the Tans right before they started using flechette rounds. No one's seen him since then. But it's worse than that. Matt was killed."

"Oh," said Trance not knowing what she should be saying. She knew who Matt was, but they probably hadn't exchanged two dozen words. "How did it happen?"

"The Tans dismounted infantry to pursue what was left of Rhade's unit," said Yan shakily "Matt brought his unit in to slow down the pursuit, give Rhade's men some more time to escape. It was little more than a skirmish, but Matt was killed in the fighting."

She paused visibly striving for control, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Inara and Matt have known, knew, each other since they were children. Inara's my best friend. I was her maid of honor when she married Matt. Now I'm going to have to tell her that her husband wont be coming home."

She took a moment to wipe her eyes then stood just a little straighter, making an obvious effort to appear as if business was going on as usual. "This isn't the time to tell her," she said. "I'll tell her when she's through supervising the decontamination teams."

"Trance another one of Rhade's men was just brought in," said one of the orderlies as he rushed up to the two women. "It's Dennic. Dr. Ione says you need to sit with him."

"But..." began Trance

"You won't be there long," interrupted the orderly.

Then Trance understood. Dennic was dying, and sinking fast. Ione wanted her to give comfort to a dying man.

Dennic was lying on a cot in one corner of the room. His face and chest were covered with blisters while his lower abdomen was covered with a blood soaked sheet. There were no chairs available so Trance was forced to squat on the floor of the tent beside the dying man. She reached out to take his hand. For some reason it seemed as if she had done this before. Sat by a dying man.

Miraculously Dennic was conscious and alert. When Trance took his hand his features twisted in what she hoped was an attempt at a smile.

"Tell Rhade that when he sends those Tan bastards to hell I'll be waiting there for them, and I'll kill them all over again."

"I'll tell him, Dennic," replied Trance.

"Good," said Dennic. He gave her hand a squeeze. "Be safe Trance," he said. Then his hand grew limp and the light went out of his eyes.

As Trance held Dennic's lifeless hand fragments of a memory began to come to her. - - She is running through a corridor. With her are number of men and women wearing uniforms similar to the ones worn by Rhade's deputies. They're escorting her, she knows that, but can't remember why. From somewhere behind her she hears the sounds of screaming and gunfire. Suddenly from out of a cross corridor emerged a group of creatures. She has a glimpse of claws and fangs before one of her escorts pushes her to the floor. The men and women escorting her form a barrier between her and the monsters. The creatures quickly close the gap and there is a blur of gunfire and flashing claws with blood and ichor spraying in all directions. Then, all is still. The creatures are dead, but her escorts are all down as well. She kneels by one man that has not yet died. She cradles his head. He smiles and says 'Be safe Trance' just as he dies.

With the remembrance of the man dying in her arms, the memories Trance had been suppressing returned. She remembered who she was and what she had once been. She remembered being purple, having a tail and living on the Maru. She remembered being worshiped as a goddess. She remembered being a golden warrior She remembered the SotA, the battle of the Arkology and expending her power in a desperate attempt to save her friends and shipmates. More importantly though she remembered her medical skills.

"No more, Dennic" she whispered. "No more of our friends and neighbors are going to die because I couldn't help them." She released Dennic's hand and walked over to where Yan was struggling to make sense of of a reading from the ultrasound scanner.

"I'll take it from here, said Trance."